Dear Jess...

Studies show that people who eat chocolate 3 times a month live almost a year longer than people who eat less (or more) of it.

This weekend my mind has been teeming with ideas, all of which I’ve shared with you. None of which I’ve been able to make the time to share with our wonderful blog. Hopefully, in a series of posts by me, I’ll be able to present those ideas without overwhelming the universe. Today, I’ll start with the events of the weekend itself for its absolutely amazing itself!

My world has been filled to the brim with homework, but somehow I’ve managed to fit that in along with the busyness of my wonderful grandparents coming up for these three days.

-Oma and Sampa (a picture from a previous vacation of ours to SeaRanch, California)-

On Friday was the first day we’d seen them in quite a long time, seeing as they live in Northern California, so the reunion and catching up was, as always, fantastic. Come Saturday we’d decided to get out of the house and venture out into the wonderful city of Seattle.

-Here I am, with my Oma, and my little step-brother, Garrett standing in front of the very popular icon of Seattle!-

There we saw:

A beautiful wedding, that has convinced my Oma that either my sister and I must have a red, black, and white themed wedding…

As well as an old time rockin' guitarist!

And a constructionist...who was about to jump!!

We stopped off to have a drink at Pike’s Places and got a seat with a view of the water that made a perfect background for a picture of the family.

After being hydrated, I had to play model for my Oma!

Along with having the time of my life, faith parked our car right next to an insanely expensive yet insanely cute boutique store; Free People. My heart nearly failed when I saw the prettiest jacket I’d ever seen; a white lacey jacket in a Victorian type style. When looking at the price tag, I sighed, and walked away. If it weren’t for my meddling Oma (which I love with all my heart) I would’ve been fine, and let it be…but she made me try it on. I am now obsessed and want it more than anything in the world, and, I would show you a picture but even their website has none! Chances are I won’t get it, though my Oma hinted about my 16th birthday, but, now I have another ‘dream on’ store to add to my lists.

This weekend was overall absolutely great! And after a weekend like this, it will only get better. 2 weeks from now I’ll be down in Portland for the wedding of my dearest cousin, Dallas, and her soon to be husband James, I cannot wait!

Love always,

Sam

Dear Sam

Did you know...

"The Two men who appeared in the wildly popular Marlboro Man advertisements died of lung cancer, earning Marlboro cigarettes the nickname “Cowboy Killer.”

I just wanted to take a quick second and tell you what thought really hit me today. I have two friends at my church who I've known for a while now and they are very good friends. Jessica Roberts and Mimi Hansen. Last year Jessica was dating a boy named Karl Johnson. Things didn't go very well and they broke up. Recently, a thing has grown between Mimi and Karl and they really like eachother. But Jessica is convinced that it's a bad idea for Mimi to date Karl and has taken it upon herself to convince Mimi too. For a week now, every time I see them it's hard feelings, words and tears.

This made me think of our Friendship Contract and the clause that talks about boys and other friends and how it's none of our business to get involved and that the contract friend is alwasy number one. I realized that, if we follow the contract, that we will never have to deal with ugly problems like the one above! And that is so nice to know and I just wanted to clarify that fact. If you are interested in a boy that I think is bad news or vice versa, then we just wait with a box of tissues. Unless an opinion is asked (which it will probably be) then it's the other persons decision and we have to respect that and just let them learn the lesson OR enjoy a good relationship. Because people can change or behave differently around different people.

So I hope that we never have to deal with stupid boy fights. They really are so petty... Well, that's all I wanted to tell you. Hope your day in Seattle yesterday was fabulous! :) Post your pictures soon! :)

Love,

Jess

Dear Sam

Did you know...

"Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better."

So I'm posting again because I had a really good day today and because I wanted to share with you my Dhalias!

Here are the gorgeous flowers

There are red ones too, I just need to wait for a sunny day to take more pictures. While I was in Utah my mom was telling me about how I probably missed them and wouldn't get to see any blooms and I was kind of sad about that. And then I got home and they exploded with beautiful brilliance and I just shook my head. Now I know to take what she says with a grain of salt.

I enjoyed eating with you today. And I apologize for rubbing the fact that you denied my offer in your face. That wasn't very civilized. However, I do wish with a good portion of my heart that you had made the decision to come up because it has revolutionized my life and I have so many more opportunities to learn and participate in things and make friends that I otherwise wouldn't have ever gotten to meet.

There is a downside of course. The fact that I don't get to drive until senior year, the fact that I will probably not go to homecoming or prom for real, the fact that people always ask "What?! How does that work?" and always moving up in things like girls camp and Aspen grove things because I want to be with the people that are at my maturity level.

But, nevertheless, I am still grateful for the wonderful people that have come into my life because of this choice and I really wish you had said yes, but I know that it's not all over and that even though Lee and his brother and the school district are being douches, you can't let that get to you. You are just as intelligent, if not more, than they are. You have so much more passion for learning and the specific subjects and, you have social skills. So even though you are at the wrong end of a gross injustice, take comfort in the fact that you know they are wrong.

Anyways. I told you why I had a good day, so I don't think I need to rehash it except to say that it makes me feel peacfully happy inside instead of giddy happy. And I like the peace more because it is more stable and lasts longer. I just hope that we can be friends.

Hope you have a good night. Text or call me or something because I knew that we had talked about that at some point...
Love,

Jess

Dear Sam

Did you know....

"Because sharks very rarely get cancer, scientists study their cartilage in the hopes of finding a cure for the disease. "

Holy smokes girl! I just had the best day of my life... but sadly since this thing is public I'm not sure if I feel comfortable talking about all of it and using names. So can we please make it private? I'm going to to it anyways and tell you all about what happened and then we can talk more about it later

Anyways: I got to third period today and there he was sitting over on the other side of the room facing the door and I tried to say Hi to him but I couldn't! :) So I sat in third period feeling lame and chicken.

Fourth period went by (And I'll tell you more about that later :/) and I ate lunch with you. Crunching on carrots in an otherwise quiet room... :) and I was on my way to fifth period, hoping that he would be at the end of the hall by the theatre, when all of the sudden I heard "Hey Jessica M." and I was totally caught off guard and could not keep my thoughts straight. That is not normal for me but we had an acceptable conversation nonetheless. We walked all the way from the commons to the theatre and I was so happy.

Fifth period passed pretty uneventful. He had to leave half way through the class (Which he isn't really in) and left James to help Lloyd with the music. Sixth period passed boring, but quickly, and it was the end of the day. The bell had just rung and I thought I should stay here longer and I'm not sure why but I did. I was talking to James about the Domestic Violence skits and from the front parking lot stage door in he came. He gave James an over dramatic hug (to which James played wonderfully along with) and then he looked down at me (Because he was on the stage and I wasn't) and smiled soo wonderfully and said "Hello Jessica Maloy" and I looked up at him and smiled so contentedly and said "Hello David" and it was so wonderful. And as speedily as he came, he was gone. Neither of us (Jessica or James) knew why he came in. But he did and I was glad for that. Both the walk to 5th and the post 6th encounters more than made up for the poor showing in 3rd.

And that is why my day was so unbelievably wonderful.

I friend requested him on facebook and he accepted and immediatly liked my status and commented on my wall. Samantha, you don't even know how cute he is! AHHH!

NEW TOPIC

The reason that APLAC today was so odd and dissappointing is because we analyzed a poem from the 20th century that was said to be the best of it's time period. It goes like this:

so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.

And nobody understood why it was so amazing. I still don't know either. Granted, it does paint a beautiful picture in my mind and the words are simple. But When Newton talks about how every word was carefully chosen and placed and everything has deeper meaning.... I just lose interest.

I don't believe that when William Carlos Williams wrote this he used red because it symbolized blood and white for purity and the rain was for ... whatever. I have reached this conclusion:

Writers hype up alot of what they do to make it seem deeper and have more meaning than it really does. It helps distinguish them and makes them feel more sophisticated and cultured when in reality they are just simple and pretty words on a page; no further.

Same goes with Chefs. Thinking that caviar is to die for and that spending thousands of dollars on exotic and rare mushrooms (truffles) and all that hype. I just don't buy it. Yes, it tastes good but it's not that earth shattering.

Anyways. I had a great day. Thanks for letting me eat lunch with you again!

Love,

Jess

Dear Jess

I’ve finally found the one thing that doesn’t go with black; tomato soup.

Sadly, I had to find this out the hard way by spilling nearly an entire bowl of close to boiling tomato soup all over myself and my couch.

Have you ever noticed when you’re sick, everything seems a whole lot worse and a completely miserable? That was my day today. But enough about being sick and horribly horrible days; after a good half an hour of open windows and Ingrid Michaelson my current situation will more likely than not improve!

School work has been exploding into my life and making it nearly impossible to do anything else with my time. From AP Bio to Pre Calc/Trig, I fear that I will go insane. It’s prevented me from making any more progress on my soon to be ‘own room,’ a project I had just launched towards the end of the summer that is so close I can taste it!

I had planned projects within this ultimate project like a ‘colormekatie’ style silhouette frames, and my fantastic interior designer mother’s idea of framing a rather large textile in three pieces above my bed, as well as finishing up the painting of the walls.

(Katie Soloker of colormekatie.blogspot.com. Click the pic to go to her post!)

In the meantime, as I said before school work has become the number one occupant of my time, but not all of it is bad. Starting Friday my first Studio Photography project begins. Photography has always captured my interest (no pun intended!) and over this weekend my assignment is to take photos of landscape and flora and already I have places in mind to go!

(not mine-click the pic and follow the link!)

I can’t wait to get the film from my teacher, and to sum it up, it’s a film camera (hence the film from the teacher) and is purely black and white. Out of the numerous photos I will take 4 will be developed and hopefully I’ll find a way to but them on the blog within the next month!

(now, this one's mine!)

Until then, work work work work work….

Love,
Sam

P.S.
Check out the About Us- I’ve put up a picture of our wonderful journal!

My Neighborhood

This afternoon I "borrowed" my dear father's camera and snapped some shots of my neighborhood.

Spinning and taking pictures.

Crunchy red leaves on the ground, already?


The gorgeous sunset


The huge lavender bushes in my front yard

... and I lived (and still live) up this one.

I love where I live. I love the rain, the overcast sky, the evergreens, the crisp smell of out doors. Short beautiful days and long starry nights. I love my community and the people that are a part of it. I love all the blue recycling bins that magically appear every Friday morning. I love the smell of hot coffee in the classroom every morning. I love beating the sun to school. Growing the small little garden in the postage stamp backyard. I love rain puddles and being able to safely jump into them. I love Colombia. I love being warm and snugly inside while it pours outside. Making slushmans in the street. The Seattle Macy's Thanksgiving/Christmas parade. I love moss and ferns and the busy streets of Seattle. I love how looking at the nature in the Pacific Northwest is like a refreshing drink for your eyes.
I love my life.

Dear Sam...

Did you know...
"Americans are more likely to recycle than vote."

Your pictures are so cute! I love the Confused turtle :] And sorry about your mouth, there will just have to be another cheesecake made.

There were a few things I wanted to tell you real quick. First: Guess what my dear mother brought home from the store late last night?

Yep, two whole boxes :] And I had a cup of it when I got home from school and it was just as delicious in my home as it was your.

I also switched seminary classes and am in a brand new one where I only know like... 2 people? So I have ample oppourtunity to make friends and start fresh.

Also, I keep chickening out of coming into your class because I don't know what's going on in there and the desks are all cattywompus. So someday when you guys are genuinely doing nothing, let me know. I have something for Mrs.Stowell.

In APLAC sometimes there are in class writing days when we will have either 1st or 3rd lunch instead of 2nd. On one of those days we should do a split lunch... and come up with something entirely new.

Story Time!!

It was a good thing that Labor day Monday was no school, because late into the wee hours of the morning did Jessica M. stay up finishing the absolute BEST book she has ever read in her entire existence.

It all began with a cash laden Jessica M. in the Salt Lake City airport and a lone little book store. Walking down the departure terminal, she spotted the small shop and curiostiy snuck in. Never having purchased a new book in her life (aside from the Little House on the Prarie series in 2nd grade) the idea was enthralling. Usually frugal, this would be a scandalous act.

She meandered her way around the loaded shelves, but alas, nothing grabbed her attention. Quickly loosing hope, and needing to get to her boarding wing, she glanced over the last row of books... But wait! Something caught her eye; A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khled Hosseini. She reconized the sister book, The Kite Runner, and remembered enjoying it.

So, stepping out on a limb, she took it to the check out counter and handed the cashier the $15 and some odd change the book cost (and swallowed the baby lump that had formed in her throat at spending money on this). But little did she know that this would be the best $15 and some odd change she would ever spend in her life. On the plane a third of the book was read. But as school started and her life picked up, it began gathering dust on the shelf. Until one night, when she picked it back up.

Long story short, she wouldn't put it down unfinished and after it was all through it took her 2 1/2 extra hours to fall asleep because it was that epic. She highly reccomends it to anybody who likes reading at all, no matter how little.

She loves this book because of the struggle and strife those poor women made it through, and how strong they were. And how good triumphs over evil always, even in the darkest places. And most of all, for the beautiful romance in the end :)

She also hopes that Sam has a great Thursday (because it is the best day of the week after all) and she will hopefully have a good thursday as well.

Love in the third person,

Jess

P.S she also wants to see how Sam's school picture turned out!

Dear Jess

Fact: according to various business’ (none of which my mind will allow me to remember) there are only 4 categories of teens influencers, conformers, passives, and edges…and I can’t seem to figure out which one I fit into! Can you figure out where you are?

To answer your question, I couldn’t enjoy your scrumptious cake due to a very bruised jaw. The day before I had gotten my very first cavity filled and the needle left a very painful bruise there; I couldn’t even open my mouth! Thus, the cancellation of that wonderful meal with you. I have to tell you, that cake looks amazing! The candles too! (and yes, we will definitely be using that platter for my mom’s birthday)

On a change of subject I’m terribly upset. After spending a good part of my day looking for my camera, and an even better part looking for my camera charger, I came up short with only a camera with no battery. Since I want to litter my posts with pictures too, I’ll tell you about an event that was photographed by another camera.

This Sunday I went to the zoo, which is not only a fun place to see animals but a fun place to be an animal yourself!

I turned into a very confused turtle.

Found myself high up in a hollowed tree trunk as a little bird.

And when I was completely wiped out from my day of monkey-ing around...

...I decided to chill out in a tree.

As I went around the zoo, I was completely enthralled by the simulated scenery and, I hope that someday I’ll get to go to the real thing and see these amazing animals in their absolute natural environment.
That’s all for now!

Love always,

Sam

Dear Sam,

Did you know...

"DeForest Kelley (Star Trek's Dr. McCoy) was originally offered the role of Spock.

I thought you would appreciate that interesting tidbit. Anyways. I thought about what I was going to write all day today and it took a long time to come up with something. I did decide, however, that I am going to try to include a relevant picture everytime I post. Blogs without pictures can get a teensy boring.



I am going to tell you about the delicious cheesecake you missed:

When I make cheesecake, instead of putting custard powder I usually put in j-ello; either vanilla or chocolate. This time, I was out of both of those flavors so I tried banana j-ello. My entire family protested but I did it anyways and I thought it turned out wonderful. Megan came over and had some and took some for James, and Stephanie snagged a piece as well. They all thought it delicious. I wish I could've saved some for you but my family got to the leftovers first... Sorry. Why exactally could you not come?

As you can see, I got to use my new cake plate!! :] That thing is so dang cute. When we make your mothers birthday cake we can put it on there... along with these candles:

But just look at the candles, not the cake. Aren't they so cool!? Here's an excerpt from the journal:

July 24th, 2010

" P.S. I thought of another thing. We should write a note in the front of this book talking to the person who finds this if it ever gets lost. I have written a note and put my contact info in the front on the first page. You should put your contact info in too."

Here's the note

" Dear Finder,

Hello, My name is Jessica M. This is a very special book that my friend, Samantha L., share as a journal. Unfortunatly, you are reading this because of a tragic mishap that has rendered this book missing. Please return this book to either of the contacts listed below. Thank you so so much. Jesus will bless you.

x Jessica R. M.
x Samantha L. L."

Well, that's about it... Hope your Labor day is wonderful and relaxing :] See you on Tuesday.

Samantha's 12 Questions

Hello, my name is Samantha L. and these are my introductory 12 questions…

Memories…

Ever since I met dear Jessica, cooking has been thrown into my life. Each time I’d go to her house a new meal would appear made by our very own hands! …and sometimes destroyed by them. When we decided to make my favorite pie of all, apple, tasty catastrophe’s followed as we stayed up late and ate our creation with out bare hands; the best way to eat pie!

Color…

My favorite color has changed from day to day, and yellow keeps making an appearance. Whenever I look at the color yellow it always reminds me of those rare sunny days that come to my hometown. I think yellow is a generally happy color.

Food…

My favorite food varies as quickly as my favorite color, so, continuing on in the theme of sunny days and summertime feelings, caprese anything (salad, flatbread, you name it!) brings a smile to my face.

Place…

At the moment Seattle is my favorite place. Its filled with so much variety and fun stores to see, and can be such a diverse city, as far as places, going from Pike Place Market, the Experience Music Project, to University Village; the adventures never end!

Subject…

Seeing as the two of us are still in school, the favorite subject was a requirement. Having known my entire life I’ve wanted to be a wildlife biologist, and keeping to my fascination with animals, biology has always come to be my favorite subject. Life of all sorts sparks hundreds of questions in my head!

Career…

I’ve said this whenever I could throughout my Q & A’s and Profile information as well; Wildlife Biology. Is there room for change? Absolutely. But knowing who I am, I’m nearly 100% positive if any change comes, it won’t be entirely different from where it is now. Starting in the 2nd grade I’ve known I wanted to work with animals, though I‘d decided then and there marine biology was for me. As I progressed through life, and stumbled upon work at the zoo, I found that I didn’t want to work with only aquatic life but land lovers as well! Thus, the fantastic career of Wildlife Biology was introduced.

Store…

One of my favorite stores of all times is Anthropologie; an amazing store filled with delights from clothes to candles and shoes to books. Every time I’ve ventured in, its always been top notch ahead of the game as far as fashion, wants, and creativity goes. Is most of it terribly affordable? No. But its full of inspiration and ideas that are entirely free!

Blog…

I haven’t been an avid blog follower, I admit, although there’s one blog I found that I’ve fallen in love with. It always makes me smile and fills me with happiness right down to my toes. colormekatie.blogspot.com

Smell…

There’s only one smell that I can say I’ll love forever and always. To make it short and sweet: Lavender.

Musician…

As far as favorite musicians go, its incredibly hard to choose one. For the sake of this blog, I will. Ingrid Michaelson’s music always fits no matter what my mood is. Whether I’m happy, sad, or angry, if its sunny, raining, or snowing, her songs seem to fall perfectly into place and take you somewhere entirely different and blissful. (Guess who I'm listening to right now!)

Season…

With each season I love different things. I love the smell of each season on its own, the heat of summer, the crispness of winter, and the feelings of spring and fall, but, although I am winterborn, I’m definitely meant for summer!

Movie…

I don’t think I’ll be as deep for my favorite movies. While you can never have enough musicals, sci-fi, Jane Austen, or action movies, Finding Nemo is one I’ll never get tired of (even after a summer of Nemo references in the aquarium at the zoo!) Lord of the Rings is definitely tied!

Jessica's 12 Questions

Hello, my name is Jessica M. and these are my introductory 12 questions.

1. Memory
I met Sam in 4th grade as a new student in a strange school. We hit it off and became great friends quickly. 4th and 5th grade both flew by unbelieveably fast and before we knew it we were entering 6th grade and at standing at the threshold of what we would both later lovingly title the best year of our lives. That year was filled with so much happiness and joy and so many friends and events and milestones and ideas. One I’m particular fond of was eating our split lunches together outside in the sun. Leaning up against the outside of the warm, rough, brown bricks of the school, watching as ants scurried to and fro on the hot concrete and listening to the shouts and buzz of the younger children frolicking around the playground. I’m not sure who came up with the idea, whoever did was genius, and it went like this: Collectively we decided upon a lunch, (The first was peanut butter, honey, chocolate chip sandwiches) and then divvied up the shopping list. One would bring the peanut butter sandwiches and the other Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips and honey. Once outside, stomachs rumbling and in want, we would peel apart the peanut butter coated bread, strategically place chocolate and drizzle honey, re-assemble the sandwiches and eat. Meanwhile laughing at ourselves for the sticky mess we were slowly becoming and at friends and jokes and stories.

2. Color
The Ocean

3. Food
Shepherd’s Pie. But not just any kind, my kind :]

4. Place
My neighborhood’s park. Many a happy days were spent there…

5. Subject
History! It’s all just like one big story book and I absolutely love it.

6. Career
I wanted to move to Paris, France and be a chef for a while but soon the reality hit that that would probably not be a very wise idea. The chef industry is pretty much black or white. You make it or you don’t. You become the next Bobby Flay or Rachel Ray or live in a small unknown kitchen getting paid somewhere near minimum wage. I then changed my focus and now want to become a dentist and travel the world.

7. Store
I live in Old Navy clothes. From my pajamas to workout clothes to cardigans for school. Their jeans fit me like a glove and it makes jean shopping so much less emotionally draining.
IKEA is beautiful too!

8. Blog
I like Mackville Road and its simplicity and pictures. The woman is so talented behind the lens, I wish I could create and see the world like she does.

9. Smell
Easily, the smell of my elementary school. The best year of my life, as you know, happened there and the second I inhale I am instantly taken back.

10. Musician
I really enjoy listening to Jack Johnson, Ben Folds, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Onerepublic and La Roux. La Roux is a London-based electro-pop duo consisting of a girl named Elly Jackson and co-producer and co-songwriter Ben Langmaid that was on the Zune marketplace homepage. I was hesitant to listen at first, but once I did I couldn’t stop. I also like all music that has a heavy beat.

11. Season
At the moment I am giddy with excitement for fall. The crisp, cold, fresh smell of earth. The trees changing and turning wonderful shades of red and orange and yellow. The crunch of those leaves under my feet. Pumpkins, Pumpkin pie, snuggling into the sheets and short days that nip your nose. Oo! And layering yourself deep into happiness. Jackets and sweatshirts and being all wrapped up under scarves and mittens. Ah… Just thinking about it makes me happy.

12. Movie
Movies that are emotionally intense. Whether it be bawling, laughing so hard I can barely breath, white knuckle with suspense; I love it all. Recently I saw Letters to Juliet and it was stupendous. I cried, but with tears of joy.

In the Beginning: The Contract

Contract of Friendship

On the 19th day of the 1st month of the year 2008, Samantha L. and Jessica M., swear, in the oath of friendship, to stay friends for all of eternitt. In this, we agree to these terms:

1. To always stick together through thick and thin, no matter what comes.
2. We must always forgive each other, in the act of friendship, and never let a wrong doing get between us.
3. We must always be truthful, understanding, and never judgemental.
4. We must never put our relationships before our friendship. They will either be equal or friendship first.
5. Never, out of anger or pure gossip, will we spread rumors about each other.
6. No put downs, even if said in a 'just kidding' way.
7. We may have other friends, but that is our business; we are not allowed to meddle the other person's frienships.
8. We will always be there to give a helping hand and listening ear to each other, giving constructive criticisim on whether we think it is right or wrong, or how to improve; the contract friend will always come first.
9. We will always be ourselves. Never shall we follow along with the others idea if we don't believe in it.
10. No matter how far apart we are, no matter what grade we may be in, we will always be friends and never leave one another behind in our hearts.
    

20 Years From Now

On the 19th day of the 1st month of the year 2008 Samantha L. and Jessica M., swear once again to the following terms of agreement of friendship. Though we may leaveour houses over the years, we must agree to the rules below:

1. No matter how far away from each other we may be, we must always find some way to communicate with each other
2. We must always keep up with each other and never lose contact.
3. We must hold bi-annual reunions with each other and constantly send pictures of our life.
4. Never shall we leave the other in a difficult situation and we must do whatever is in our power to help them out.
5. We must attend to the other on their death bed, at their funeral, when their child is born, or about to be born, and at their wedding, whether you are their bridesmaid or not.
6. Whenever there is a change in address, phone number, or email address the other must be informed of it.
7. We shall provide a place of living if the other has no place to go.
8. If the other has gone into a bad situation, do all in your power to help as long as it will not hurt you and other loved ones.
9. All of the rules in the first clause apply.

Our signatures below are proof that we have committed ourselves to this contract. This contract shall be law forever more.