Pizza

Life is going smoothly. Well, my own personal life, not life as in the world...the world has been pretty messed up lately. But Skippyjon Jones doesn't know that.

 

Doesn't this make you want to curl up
and forget life's problems

This blog is literally going to be me rambling about random things.



This pizza. Look at it in all its glory. It is a white pizza with squid, shrimp, scallops and jalapeños. It is my new favorite pizza AND it's gluten free. The restaurant is just a hop, skip and a jump from my house. Dangerous.

Yes.

Here it is another time I ordered it, next to a caesar salad. I also recommend to pair it with a nice red sangria.

My local coffee shop is having special summer drinks. Here is a peach/strawberry daiquiri and a piña colada.

Yum

My student wouldn't stop laughing the other day. Just laughing by himself. I wrote him a note and he responded.

Touché

I then became bored at work so I decided to form all the bananagrams into a scrabble.

Ok. I have to tell a story. So my second job is a dog walker/cat sitter whatever. So on Saturday, I had two sits scheduled. My boss texts me asking if I could do a few more. Well it turns out I was then given 6 sits in a row on a Saturday night. I complained internally, but I wanted this job and I really need the money. So instead of hanging with my friends on a Saturday night, I head out to begin my 6 sits. The first four were cats, so those were pretty easy. You come in and you feed them, scoop litter, and give them love. The 5th sit was an old dog who was fun to hang out with and they had a fenced in yard. All is well I thought.
I get to the 6th sit which is this HUGE house. As I pull up, another car pulls up. I think oh crap I must have gotten the wrong time or the wrong house. I go and apologize to the man and asked if I was too early. He looked at me strangely and said "uhh...no..you're good". OK so this is weird. I go into the house and unlock the door and the man follows me in with a ton of groceries. Who is this guy? The son? The housekeeper? Whatever. I want to get this sit done and leave.
Every house I go to there is at least a note or two explaining what to do. There was no note. There were also no animals. What is happening. There is also a strange man putting groceries away. I start to go into full anxiety mode and of course awkward me doesn't say "Hey, can you help me find the dog food or something". Instead I awkwardly just stand there and pretend to write down stuff on a napkin. I literally do not know what I am doing.
I decide to walk around the house. Maybe then I will at least find something or I don't know, the DOG. I finally find a litter box and some cat food. Ok so there is a cat. Somewhere.
I go back to the kitchen, where the man is still unloading food. I go on my phone to the database of customers and look up the house, to see if there are any notes. The last notes were made years ago and it says that the food is in the hallway closet. No it's not.
It's been 15 minutes, where is this dog? Did it die and they just forgot to tell me?
I decide to go out to the car and get my binder of notes and perhaps call my boss. I go to the front lawn, and lo and behold there is the stupid dog just sitting there staring at me. What?? Does it live outside? No. Strange man let out the dog. Did he tell me? No.
I have the dog come inside, totally unaware if it had peed or pooped. I text my boss basically saying that I have no idea what to do. 15 more minutes go by, strange man left, and I have no text from my boss. Alright, I give it one more go to look for the food.
I finally find the stupid food in the stupid closet behind some other random stuff. I threw the scoop of food at the dog, just kidding. I wanted to.
OK, dog has eaten, cat is missing but will eat later. I decide to take the dog out one more time to see if it needs to use the bathroom before I run away. This should be easy because there is an invisible fence that the dog uses. Well after a while, the dog doesn't go to the bathroom, so I decide to go back inside.
The door is locked. My stomach literally sunk. I left the keys on the counter and the door is now locked. I start to panic. I run around the entire (HUGE) house looking for a window or unlocked door, while trying to keep an eye on the dog. I find nothing. I am on the verge of tears (hah, just kidding it wasn't the verge I actually cried). Do I text my boss? She still hasn't texted me from before. As I try to figure out what in the world to do, I look up and see the smallest window cracked in the bathroom. It is about six feet off the ground and barely two feet across. I take out the screen, basically desperate at this point. The only thing around me is a rocking chair (pretty unstable). I sit on the ground and ponder my life while this stupid dog runs around.
I decide it's time. I stand on the rocking chair. The window has a bunch of jewelry on the sill in the bathroom and I push it all off. I used every muscle in my body to pull myself up, squeeze myself through the window, and fall into the bathroom sink. Victory is mine.
I hurriedly let the dog in, and then recreated what the bathroom might have looked like.
I grab my keys, and basically run out of the house. This what should have been a 30 minute sit has now been well over an hour. I never ever want to come back.

They are my first visit tomorrow morning.

-Jo

Nebraska

Hello


I am currently in the airport enjoying my 3 hour layover (yay!) while drinking an overly expensive drink and thinking about getting a $20 burger.  So I figured I would blog about my time in Nebraska.

I love visiting Nebraska. My family is there, my best friend is there, and basically all my childhood memories are there. Let's look at the week I had shall we. Please forgive formatting I hate this stupid website and it's stupid stupid stupidness.

It all started the night before where I watched the one and only Bob Ross

What is he even saying

The day I arrived was June 19th which happened to be both Father's Day and my Mom's birthday.
I got to celebrate the best parents in the whole wide world. Thank you so much for having me and loving me. You are my rock (s).

 



They picked me up from Omaha and we got to celebrate the both of them. We got a Champagne Gluten-Free cake that was filled with Raspberry and Strawberry filling. Throughout the week I had 4 pieces.

I ate a flower too

Someone also near and dear to my heart had a birthday this week. Happy first birthday Skippy-jon Jones

Have you ever seen a cuter cat

Hilary my dear you are the bean to my burrito. The truffle to my mayo. The gouda to my buddha. I would literally be a bowl of soup without you.

 

God save the Queen 

Goldenrod bakery was fun to look at, especially the fact that they had a ton of gluten free food.

 

We went to the escape room and dinner! It was supa fun and we escaped with moments to spare. 

  

Ashley's bachelorette party was a blast! I loved getting to know all the girls. 

    



I got new glasses

Cute

As always I loved seeing my main man Devin. Thank you for always being there for me and being one of my biggest cheerleaders. Snapchat me every day so I can pretend I live in Nebraska.  Love you always RIPORCSLAYER.

 

Sam and Ashley's wedding was beautiful. Ashley was absolutely gorgeous and so were the rest of the bridal team. The decor and food were fantastic and the dance floor was bomb. It was so fun being able to have my entire family on both sides there showing support for Sam and Ashley throughout the whole night.


Getting pampered was always great. I loved the hair and dresses Ashley picked out for her bridesmaids.


 

 


After getting ready we had a blast with pics. Here are some behind the scene pics.

bird

Where are you looking

 

The Reveal was adorable. They used white balloons to cover themselves until the 'moment of truth'.

 

The Grand Manse was the perfect setting. Lots of amazing decor done by Ashley's family. 

Seth gave an amazing toast and Sam and Ashley lit up the dance floor with their first dance.







Leftover food always rocks

I had a little bit of a hard time not making this day about me and fighting some sad feelings, but I'm glad God was able to pull me out of that pit and allow me to have an amazing night. I was able to turn those thoughts of self-pity into super fly dance moves. Thank you for your prayers; it means the world.

I didn't get to make a speech but if I could...this is what I would have said.

Sam- Sam, I always like to think that I took care of you as a big sister, but looking back, you really took care of me. I remember once being sick and crying on the couch when you were really little (like just started walking) and you brought a blanket over to me and covered me. I remember when I was having boy troubles the week before Valentine's Day, and when I woke up on V-Day I went to my spot at the table for breakfast, and you had left me a box of chocolates that you saved up for with your allowance. I remember another time I was sad (who knows why at this point, probably something really dumb like my tamagotchi died) and you made me one of your desserts from your cook book. I could go on and on. Those little moments in my life really added up and you brought me lots of joy when I was struggling. I want you to know that none of it went unnoticed and I am so blessed to have you as a brother. I love you so much and I could not be more proud of the man you have become and the woman you have chosen (but you already know that).
Ashley- I have never seen my brother cry. I'm sure I've seen him shed a few tears here and there, but when you came down the aisle and I saw the way Sam reacted, it was contagious. You must be one helluva woman to make him cry like that. I wish we could hang out more, but this past week I got two days to really hang out with you and it was the best. I got to see a new side of you and get to know your awesome sisters. You are hilarious and beautiful and strong. Thank you for choosing my brother and please keep him in line. I always said that I would have hated having a sister, but I guess I can make an exception for you.




-Jo



















P.S. Don't forget before you fly next to...

An Enticing Title

Hello-

My workplace is gorgeous. I must share pics from over the years.

I realize it's only pics of the backyard. Here's the front

I can't really think of what to write about..so I figure I'll go through all the emotions of my being right now:

Sad: Seeing people my age on Facebook with children and what appears to be 'happy perfect lives' kills me inside. I want that so bad. I'm sorry that I don't get on Facebook that often, but I don't have shame in admitting that it can be emotionally unhealthy for me.

Anger: This whole Stanford rape case is so upsetting. I could barely make it through reading her letter. I have absolutely no idea what it's like to be abused in that way, but I am livid for her. Should she have been drinking to the point of blacking out? Of course not. Did her drunkenness and immodesty give that man the right to attack her? Absolutely not. I could write more, but I honestly don't want to give that man any more attention than the media is already giving him.

Stress: My new position is only 30 hours. I accepted a second job as a pet sitter for my town, but my new boss keeps putting off sits, which means I've gone two weeks not getting what I was expected. I am stressed that I will have to start over and find another second job, even though if this works out the way it's supposed to then I will be super happy.

Surprised: My cat fell into the shower today.

Calm: I love my house. I love my sun room and I love my living room and I love my bedroom. I love coming home after work and curling up in front of the TV, and enjoying those few minutes of being calm between anxious thoughts. I love Saturdays and just being able to calmly lay down and do nothing. I enjoy being a bump on a log sometimes. Somedays I just need and want to do absolutely nothing at all, and that's ok.

Happy: I am truly blessed. I have my dream job, an amazing church (in one of the most liberal parts of the country), a family who loves me, amazing friends who encourage me, and above all else I have God. I remember when I was in 4th grade, I heard someone speak at chapel who 'warned' us of the percentage of people who turn away from God (or something) in adulthood. I went home and I remember in my perfect little 10 year old brain thinking 'Ha, I would never turn away from God! Not even if I was given a life like Job!' I then prayed a prayer that night along the lines of 'bring it on, I will never turn away from God no matter how hard my life is.' Well I wish I could go slap that 10 year old across the face because I'm pretty sure God said 'alright game on'. But throughout my pain, anguish, depression, anxiety, and constantly asking God, 'why did you do this to me', I am still proud to say that I am a child of God. And that prayer that I prayed still stands true to this day. So, sure, bring it on.

That was actually pretty interesting writing out all of that. I literally went through the emotions as I wrote. Cool. I don't want to end on a 'aww' note so here is a comic of me at night.

-Jo