Swimsuits and Social Lives

Ohhh the dilemmas i have. Today I will cover two: Swimsuits and Social Lives.

SWIMSUITS!
Yes, tis the season. At this time of the year, most people re-activate their gym passes, order the newest diet fad, or fork out that money for lipo. After all, it is the season of bodily exposure. But me?? naaahhh. I'm happy just the way my body is. Don't get me wrong- I still work out and try to watch what i eat to prevent weight gain, butttt i'm quite content. And so! With that being said. I was pretty stoked to go swimsuit shopping this year. Usually it is a self-esteem bash and internal confidence battle in the dressing room, but with my new found security, I assumed this year would be different.

I assumed wrong. Well sorta. No, I did not suddenly get the urge to stop eating for a month when i looked in the mirror, but i was STILL super frustrated!!! I could not get a swimsuit to look good on me. And believe me i tried on pleeeenty. But then I realized- its not me, its you!

Let me expand.

My body... it is unique. (As all bodies are). But apparently it is Very different from what any clothes designer claims to be 'normal'. I would really like to see the mannequins these people are using...

I'm tall. I have a lonnnngggg torso. Big big big booty. Big. Booty. Descent hips, small waist. Tiny chest. Thick legs. And such is my body that i love so much. BUT! do you think they make a swimsuit to fit this? Negative.

The easiest thing to do is to get a bikini so i can mix and match, and then it only has to fit in a few areas... because it only covers a few areas....

But! modesty please!!!

One pieces... not a chance. But it's not because i wouldn't love to wear one. I try them on all the time because Freak! there are some cute ones! But never in my life will i find a one piece that fits me. Why? Because by the time I get it long enough for my torso and covering my Entire bootay... Its sagging all around my waist and 6 sizes too big in the chest area. So I gave up on one pieces- thank goodness for tankini's!!

So I finally found one i like.

Sizes-
Top: SMALL
Bottom: XX LARGE

What is wrong with that picture???? Oh well, ya know what if it fits i'm happy! the top is kinda sexy while covering my stomach etc. And the bottoms have a skirt that covers that big booty of mine and flatters the legs even. But it is a bit large in the waist, nothing mom can't fix. Or grams... haha.

And really, it is not just me! All the ladies and i in the dressing room had a nice bonding moment over ranting and raving about the absurd sizes and styles of swimsuits, all nodding in agreement to one another offering up what grinds their gears. . Even the workers joined our mini pep rally.

And so the swimsuit dilemma goes....

SOCIAL LIVES!
Oh how i looove being social. I LOVE having a social life. But here is the dilemma: A social life has its side effects, if you will. We will use my current situation as an example.

The first problem is gas. Which leads to the second problem of money.
Almost all my friends live in Lehi, Orem, or Provo. So much gas usage!!! Which means so much money usage.

It's expensive to have a social life!

Money. Gas money aside... Going out to eat, catching a movie, laser tagging, grabbing lunch, buying food to make dinner, a second movie, more food, buying cute clothes to wear to the movie, getting into clubs, attending festivals... you get the picture. So expensive!

Time. There is never enough! By the time I get off work, head to wherever i'm going, there are only a few hours til midnight. Unless i choose to stay out later which leads to our next issue...

Sleep. If you didn't know, I am a woman of sleep. I haaave to sleep. A lot. I hide it well. And i'm learning how to better go without. But it ALWAYS catches up to me. None of this 7-8 hours crap. I need a full ten to be fully rested. Unfortunately, I can't always sleep in because i've trained my body to wake up much too early for work. So if i'm going to bed late and waking up early... kill me. I complain basically every day of how tired i am. I am always tired. Usually it is manageable, but when it gets bad my body shuts down, i get sick, and have to sleep for at least 15 hours to feel better.

Priorities. My priorities get a little screwed when i have a social life. This one goes with time as well... but too often things like working out get pushed to the backseat. If i'm working all day, and playing all night, and lacking sleep, there is NO chance i'll work out. This is a serious problem, the biggest one that i'm dealing with right now, so i'll let you know how it goes!

And such are my dilemmas! Please feel free to offer any advice on these :)

xoxo miss jer bree

Weekend Lovin

As always, weekends are where it's at. And so here is mine, mainly in pictures:

Thursday!
Why wait til Friday to start the weekend???
ARTS FESTIVAL!
With Maria && James

3D art!
We can get artistic toooo!

crazy mannn

lovers much???

Then we made a little trip to The Pie...





























And then to the Capitol...

And after such a longggg night and hott day, nothing seemed more appealing than my bed!

Friday!
Friday was a holiday- Michael Jackson's one year death date anniversary. And so, we had to celebrate accordingly.

At work with my lover Marissa!

And with the family!

There was another big event... My little brother, Jaxon's 15th Birthday Party!!! James and I headed to school of rock for a fun get together!

*My amazing brothers! And beautiful step mom!

















JD && JAX!

bIrThDaY bOy doin what he does best!

After all the festivities, we took grampa van some big balloons to his care center so he would feel better.

And then it was time...
SALSA TIME!!!!

A THIRD celebration for the day: The gorgeous LaShawn's birthday!!!

And after a quick run to taco bell, we called it a night. A FABULOUS night!!!

Saturday!
Pool day! We do have pics from that, but they're on mom's camera. Sorry.
But Saturday night was definitely worth documenting!
I went on a blind, group date with Miss Maria and some friends. Cannoli's and Karaoke! What more could you want?














I needed James for the mj songs...

Basically the audience LOVED us!!!

Let's just say we had a blaaaast!

Sunday!
ahhh what a day. It was my first day in nursery, and literally heaven on Earth. This post is plenty long so i'll spare you the details, but the point of this whole story isssss:
I love weekends! Especially when they're spent with such incredible people! :)

American 'Whore'itage

It's the whore of all classes at byu... AmHtg100.
It is the only class that has it's very OWN department. I suppose you can expect that from such an evil class... And I would go on to tell you that it is from the devil, but apparently the First Presidency is to thank for this monster.
Literally tho- there is a mandated gpa ave that must be kept: 2.9! How rude! So if a class is above that, they curve all scores down. Why? To keep an equal level of difficulty throughout professors and locations. Clever, i guess. But still rude.
And the reading! My word! It doesn't help that I took the class in Spring, thus doubling the work load. But between multiple daily quizzes asking for specific names, concepts, and terms that were supposedly embedded somewhere in my 120 pages of reading... a huge fat major research paper... and century long tests that gave me hand cramps and anxiety attacks!
This class was my nemesis.
It consisted of 3 topics: History, Politics, and Economics. I am convinced they said, "Lets take all of Jerica's weakest possible subjects and throw them into one class and then require she take it."
RUDE!
He gave us a quiz on the first day trying to see our background on the three previously mentioned topics. I got a nice big ZERO!
But on my defense, I kept myself naive for a reason. I saw others deal with these technicalities... and it causes so much stress and turmoil! Plus we've heard time and time again how corrupt our government is and how hopelessly fast things are spiraling downward. Why would I want anything to do with it? I mean i vote... isn't that good enough? This class taught me that no, it is not good enough.
So alas, this class gave me no choice. And so i bit the bullet and dove right in. It was brutal. And it hurt. But I came out alive! And let me tell you about how it affected me.

BYU's motto is something about "enter to learn, go forth to serve"
This class brought the motto to life.
I learned more information in this one class then I think I have in my whole lifetime. I mean it's not like America was born over night.
I had multiple testimony-fortifying experiences in this class.
You know BYU's doing their job if you're sitting in a non-religion class thinking "Dang the Lord really knew what he was doing. He is genius, and I couldn't be more grateful for Him."
(That was during an economics lecture.)
At the beginning of the class, i tried to figure out a way to avoid the reading and get away with not learning all of that boring absurd political economic history crap.
But I couldn't have been more wrong. I am forever grateful for this class. I managed to slide by every history class, not learning a single thing up to this point.
But it was no longer avoidable. I HAD to learn how the government worked/works. About the wars. About the economy.
It was fascinating.
I've been told many times in my youth that I should go to law school. I have the drive, the ability, and the potential for it. But not the desire. I gave law school a second thought...
(This is coming from a blonde, juicy-wearing, dancer in Cottonwood Heights Utah. Stereotypes my butt!)
This class changed my life.
I could write a whole book about half of what i learned and how it has impacted me, but i will spare you... (although i Will write a book before i die)
And maybe i didn't always finish my readings, or do fantastically on my tests, but that is because i am more interested in learning than performing. Right now at least. For instance: now that i'm done with my boring psych professor, i think i'll go back and actually read that book.
Point of the story: Although I will rightfully call it American 'Whore'itage, I thank the Brethren for forcing me to take the class and changing my life because of the enlightenment and inspiration it provided.
I can now tell you all about why it is horrible to raise min wage, which kings were gay, how American came to be, all about the major supreme court cases/judicial review, and what laissez faire means for the economy. And that's only the tip of the ice berg.
*My AMAZING professor Bro Fish is very much to thank.
Thank you, thank you American 'Whore'itage.

The Jones Fam Damily

If you haven't noticed, I have adopted myself into an additional family: the jones (shoutout to my original family so you don't feel bad- you're still number one and i love you). Funny thing- my grandma's maiden name is Jones and I always told her how i loved that she was a 'Jones girl'. Well this family is everything i could hope for in a second family and more. They feed me, love me, entertain me, humor me, love mj, love god, love to dance, love my booty, and are basically one of the greatest families on the earth i am convinced. My first time over there I knew it was a perfect match. It all started Winter semester when i had class with the only son of the family- James. We realized we were meant to be friends, and so it went on. Then i met his sister, Niecie, and decided that I liked her better. (air cursive l.o.v.e. james). And so it went, an unstoppable spiral from there. Let me tell you about each of them.

We'll start with the head of the family: Mama jones. This woman is indescribable. Yes, she is THAT amazing. She will give you the business, and she will love you like none other. She just had a garden party that was kick butt. Talk about natural born hostess. She also just recently received her doctorate- all that with a family of five! Def one of my heroes :)

Next is her hubby, Jim. He can barbecue like none other, and provides probably half of the food i consume when i'm there. He is retired from the Military, and now spends his days cooking and cleaning after the family haha. My favorite part about him is his wooden shoes that he wears around. Because I have all that Dutch blood, I feel just at home when I'm there.

The oldest and wisest of the siblings ;) is Mrs. LaShawn. Mmm how i love me some LaShawn! This woman knows whats up. She is married (they met online, ask her for the story its fantastic) and has two irresistibly adorable kids. LaShawn keeps it real. When I need advice or help with anything, she is the go-to gal, the big sis i never had. And she is such a fun mom with a cute little family of her own!

The one and only Jones brother: James C. Like I said, he is the first one that I met and we've now been good friends for half a yearish. James is awesome, like literally such a genuinely good guy. He would do anything for you if you just asked. He got home from his mission in South Africa about a year ago. We have the exact same taste in music. Exact. He is in an Acappella group called Piso Mojado with Niecie, which i just found out means 'wet floor'... Haha Anyway it would be impossible for James and i to be in the same room together not having fun. He likes to tease me and I like to beat him up. Oh and he thinks he's a better dancer than i ;) Plus he's getting super ripped and he loves when people feel his muslces....

Moving on!
The lovely Niecie. Ahhh Niecie. She's like a breath of fresh hair. Haha but really. This girl... This Girl! First off she is gorgeous. Why am i never seen in public with her? Because even if we were together nobody would be looking at me. She is le-git. We are a loootttt alike. We both write like crazy, and we get each other. She always calls me out on stuff haha and I love it. Like this one time i was verbally painting this glorious image of what i was trying to explain and she goes, "Oh like in Hercules?" Well yeah- i was just describing a scene from the movie... Lots of laughs when we're together. Niecie is the definition of trustworthy, and the only reason i passed Spring semester. Oh and boys... she's single!!!! Except one minor issue... she's about ready to turn in her mission papers!!! NIECIE DON'T LEAVE ME!!!! jk ;)

Miss Jette. This girl has grace. BYU's newest Jones child (She is single and ready to mingle). Jette is the girl that guys want to show off. Beautiful voice. She is all sorts of mature and stable but still knows how to have a good time. She is such a sweet little thing and now that she's at byu, James and i are going to have to keep all the rm's away from her!

Mo ho. Awww Morgan (dot dot dot) haha. Morgan is hawt i will tell you what. And the fellas agree. I think she's had more boyfriends this year then i've had my whole life. What can we say she is just high in demand. She has flawless style and is reeeeally good at doing make up. She is the confident fun-loving attitude girl that you can't get enough of. Super chill, and always coming up with something ridiculous to say that will make you roflol.

And such is the jones home! But you'd really have to meet all these wonderful people to see how great they truly are. I love spending time with them and will stay in the family as long as they'll have me! ... and keep feeding me and letting me play jin go mo fo on just dance bahaha. :)

Complex

So I was blogging about my day yesterday and going off on this one event. I decided it deserves a blog in itself, and so here it is.

At 11 mom and i headed over to the dentist. The whole way there we argued what each person thought sucked the worst about going to the dentist. We ended up in a tie between the goose bump scraping and the brain freeze ice cold water bursts. But nonetheless, we had to grin and bear it. Turns out it isn't as bad as we had made it out to be. I told the dentist my teeth were in perfect health, and he laughed, but then agreed after a quick mouth examination and glance at the x-rays. Then we got talking, and this is the part i wanted to talk about. So this is our family dentist who as been seeing us since I can remember. He's older and thus a bit out-dated. (When i say out-dated i mean he doesn't blog, think plastic surgery is essential, and has no clue who Justin Bieber is. But he's not going gray yet or anything). So anyway, we get chatting about my teeth (as one does at the dentist). And, if you didn't know, half of my front tooth is fake due to a tragic scooter accident in 7th grade. If you look close enough, it is quite obvious. But a passer by would have no clue. Well Dr. D was giving me some options like doing a veneer etc. But this unleashed a complex of mine.

Complex: a system of interrelated, emotionally charged ideas, feelings, memories, and impulses that is usually repressed and that gives rise to abnormal or pathological behavior.

a fixed idea; an obsessive notion

My complex (well one of them) is me obsessing with my teeth- my smile. I feel like my teeth are crooked, like i just don't have that ideal smile. i was in braces for 6 years and retainers for about the same, trust me, my teeth are anything but crooked! But then i think well maybe they just aren't white, or my mouth is too narrow, or they could be a wrong shape. Whatever it is, i don't like it. So I was sharing this with my dentist, and he just kind of looked at me. He told me my smile was as close to perfect as he'd ever seen. I shot him down (refer to previous body image blog to note the hypocrisy). I asked about bleaching trays, and cosmetic re-shaping. He basically told me I could possibly get them a little whiter, and maybe shave off a tiny here and there even tho that would be counterproductive, but overall there wasn't much i could or should be doing to it. He told me they make dentures to look how my smile looks, meaning there is nothing wrong with it. When I persisted, he gave me my last option: Veneers. On all my front teeth at $800 per tooth. He told me thats what the celebrities do, as if to avail some desire i have to look like hollywood... And thats when it hit me.

I like to watch those shows with the dumb girls who get mounds of plastic surgery, wear layers of pricey make up and still never become happy so they end up going to counseling and are told that they have a severe body image fixation disorder. I think of how ridiculous and silly that is. I remember one episode where the doctor told this girl there was absolutely nothing more he could do. She didn't want the bigger boobs, but the smaller ones were too small. She was relying on external factors for her happiness, and it wasn't happening. Her chest size was being determined by her mental state.

I was acting like one of these girls. I finally snapped back to my senses and told the dentist that i do remember seeing my smile in pictures and thinking that it looked prettier than it does when i stare in the mirror for minutes at a time. He told me that was a much better judgment of how i really look. I was so embarrassed at this point. This man, who has lived years of a meaningful life, embraced religion, and knows hardship and love listened to a little 19 year old girl whine about her already perfect smile. I was ashamed, but not too hard on myself for i am human. But it scared me that hollywood had gotten a hold of me and i didn't even know it. Trying to be your best self is completely different. It is good to look your hottest and dress your best, but its when we start comparing ourselves to others that we get in trouble. When our best is not good enough and we have to turn to some artificial means, that is a problem. As i tried to explain to him what i wanted, the image of my friends' gorgeous teeth was the one i was attempting to articulate. But i realized that i don't want their teeth, i want mine. I love my smile just the way it is... perfect :)

freaken weekend

Last weekend was a whirlwind of events! And unfortunately, my weekend started early. Allow me to explain...
Thursday I woke up at 7 with the worst stomach ache in the world. I don't have a stomach of steel like i used to, so this was not unusual. I thought it was just stress or worry about something because that is also frequent, but I was wrong. I won't go into detail, but by noon my stomach was entirely empty and my body felt like I had been hit by a truck and then beaten with a baseball bat. Miserable. Every time i sat up i thought i was going to lose my lunch... but the problem was that i had already lost it multiple times and there was no more lunch to lose. Miserable. So that is how I spent my day. The worst part was that I had told my friend Lizzy that i couldn't go to her wedding dinner because it was the last day of classes and those were lectures that I absolutely could not miss. Welp, not only did i miss the dinner, but the crucial classes as well. But finally after what felt like a year, Thursday was coming to an end and the diagnosis was made: Food Poisoning. (Thanks ma for taking care of me)

Friday was worlds better. I woke up feeling like i could live again, but the body aches had turned to soreness. I was able to eat a whole cracker by myself with out having to give half to fat izzy. I got up and got ready, then headed to the SL Temple to do pictures with the gorgeous bride miss liz lyon! (now liz payne). I met up with chills and boyfriend (aka fiance), and we got to share this fun time together. After, I had to go into work because for some reason I had people calling my cell phone the night before about work-related things. So I drove to Provo, still terribly weak. I took care of what needed to be taken care of and then headed home, slept for an hour, went to Lizzy's reception for about 7 minutes, ran to grandma's birthday dinner at Cowboy Grub- downed some soup, and raced back to the reception in time for dance, cake, and car decorating. It was faaaantastic! Chills, Lizzy and I had a BLAST! My favorite part of weddings? Dancing of course. And so the night went on. The couple left and chills and I headed to take boyfriend a treat, but we experienced a quick turn of events.

I got a 911 text from my mom and instantly called her. She said it was about grandpa and I needed to get to the care center immediately. By some miracle we were just approaching his exit, and so chills took me straight there. I was nervous, but hopeful as I walked into the somber, tear-filled hallway. It wasn't a comforting sight as the ambulance rushed my sweet gramps to the ER. But before they stole him away, the family shared a moment as he was given a blessing, and then to the hospital we raced in the pouring, mood-perfect rain. It was black outside, and we drove in fear wondering if he would make it through. The rest of the night was a blur as we waited and waited while the news kept getting worse. "His organs are shutting down", "He's going downhill fast", "It's worse than we thought". But we clung together as a family and kept the faith and prayers flowing. And despite such scary times, the hours of waiting held hopeful laughter and distracting time passing activities. They finally told us he was being moved to Shock Trauma. The name itself is not easy to swallow. There he would have the attention he needed. So up we went, and the long, draining hours continued. We tried to sleep... ate a bit...managed to entertain ourselves...

Finally, around 3am, grandpa was stable. They spoke with the adults in charge, discussed legal matters, and then told us to call it a night. And so we did...

My Saturday began a little after 10am. Still exhausted from the sickness on Thursday, and late night on Friday, but happy to be starting a new day. I got ready at my own leisure, and headed out the door to my new favorite hang out: The Jones Home. James and Maria met me there, and we played our newest form of entertainment: Just Dance! The rest of the day was equally enjoyable. James, Maria, Niecie, Jette and myself headed to American Fork. It was funny because I know James from school, and i know his awesome family, but i have never entirely associated the two. Niecie and sisters are my girlfriends, James is my guy friend, and seeing them together as a family... tripped me out for a second. But only a second. Oh and don't worry- he didn't mind being the only guy on our outing, with 4 sisters and a strong-souled ma, he's used to it. So we did some browsing in a boutique (it was called Modest Sexy or something... most of their clothes were neither modest nor sexy... go figure), and we went to eat at in-n-out, then to the movies! We saw the Karate Kid. awwww yeah! It rocked my world. Seriously tho. I was crying then i was laughing then i was empowered and inspired all at the same time. I absolutely love it. And seeing as Will Smith is my ultimate celebrity crush... his son slayed me. So irresistibly adorable. This movie- go see it. As niecie said, my friends and i were the oldest ones there without accompanying little children, but it made no difference to us! Oh and it was sooo good to see my long lost lover Maria- she is amazing. And so it went. Afterwards, i helped Mrs. Jones unload patio furniture for her party on Wednesday that I am pretty stoked for. There may even be a blog about it :) That night I also got to go meet LaShawn's husband. He is a man in uniform, and my word they are such a kick-A little family! I absolutely love it. Would i normally put those two together- probably not. But once you see it, sooo great! I loved it. So then we brought treats back for the fam bam and Niecie and i wrote that blog you can read below titled "Soul Rapist". And after we were all tuckered out, i packed up my stuff and headed home.
So as you can see I had a crazy weekend with highs and lows alike! :)
Now if I can just survive this week and get finals over...