jessica + matthew

jessica + matthew.
nipomo, california.
7.14.04

ah, this wedding was amazing. i got to work with such a great couple in a gorgeous location. i loved every moment of it. here are a few highlights from the weekend.

any given sunday.

today i spent the better part of the day basking in the sun at the beach near la conchita with my buddy Jordan. we surfed for a while until i discoverd my boards nose was damaged and taking on water. i was like jack sparrow in pirates out there. so i just sprawled myself out in the sand and cooked for the rest of the afternoon. literally. i am so sun-burned. apparantly self application of sun screen to the back is never a good idea and never ends well. i still haven't learned that lesson despite the many a protected area of skin in the form of a hand-swipe across the shoulder blade that is surrouded by emblazoned red flesh. neither is a good idea to apply the sun screen and then go surfing right after, only to deposit all of it onto the surfboard. re-application after said mishap would have been all the wiser. but of couse, the brain was not in full function today much to my own chagrin. how i am just grumpy and sun-burned. so the fun-filled day at the beach ended in a un-rideable surf board, scorched skin, and exhaustion. oh it is so miserable living in santa barbara and getting to go to the beach every day. haha.

i did however find a fun and yummy jewel of a resturant in carp. it is called the beach grill at padaro. love it. i orderd a turkey club with avocado and a salad, but only to spill my vinagarette on the table. it was just one of those days.

i then met some friend at the evening service at Reality and then somehow i managed to get myself back to the apartment in one piece and to have a semi-coherent phone conversation with my grandmother. what a day. and it is now time to call it and head to bed only to arise in merely 7 hours and start another long week of work and summer school. oh the misery. lol.

the apartment life.

[So this evening I was reading my friend Megan's blog and was compelled to attend to the poor unused and neglected blog of my one. Alas, here I am back at it again. Hopefully I can find the drive and motivation to keep it current and write a post or two each week.]

These vernal months have been characterized by perfect Santa Barbaran temperatures, various adventures with friends, repeated and habitual grilling of the frozen chicken breasts in the freezer, countless trips to the gas station to spend my entire month's earnings, and of course, those long days at the beach that enivitably result in exhaustion and some form of sunburn. All and all, it has been a pretty good summer thus far.

Living in my own apartment has proved to have its pros and cons, as does every living situation I suppose. The joys and excitment of cooking homemade and fresh meals lasted about a week and the strange desire for the easy and ready-made meals of the D.C. at Westmont manifested itself. I thought that day would never come. Now I just cook the same thing over and over again. Grilled marinated chicken breast, attoped with grilled pinapple. Rice pilaf. And a Geek salad. Maybe some biscuits if I am feeling adventurous. This only changes if there is an invite to dinner from a friend or if I venture to the store and scower the aisles and score on some item that is on sale. The sale items are the only items that can even be considered to be purchased. But, occasionally I splurge and buy an avocado or some yummy new salad dressing. The dishes always need to be done. The bathroom always in need of a cleaning. And the fridge always need of refilling. I get excited when spinach or yogurt is on sale or when slow-churned ice cream is two for $5 (usually when Allyson Arendsee is around. Our tradition is to eat slow churned straight out of the tub. Page-style). The trip to the store usually involves at least one phone call to my mom to see if "this much is too much to pay for this many of that." I am learning though. Grandma is always giving me grilling tips and teaching me the ins and outs of buying and seasoning meat.

summer spontaneity.

i was feeling spontaneous. which never really happens for me. i like to plan. i am a "j" after all. but this time i put my j tendencies aside, called up some friends and we headed down to malibu for the day. what a blast. larissa, jordan, debby and i piled in the jetta and headed south to meet up with shannon and spend the day beachin' it up malibu style that that we did. i was a hoot. shan and rissa are bffs now and it it hilarious. i love it when my friends from home and my friends from westmont like each other. i must make friends with cool people or somethin'. hehe. :) here a some fun pics from the trip. check it!

my one week summer vacation.

so my summer has been a bit awkward. i have been doing that summa skweel thang. it has been rough. mayterm ended and then a week later summer school at city college started. lame. meanwhile i was working every day. knarly. so in that week of summer, i took off a week from work and headed home to the sierras for some crowley fun. as my crew from crowley knows, there is nothing like summa time in crowley. skating ojah. playing on the lake. hiking. bbqs. quading. fishing. ah, so much fun. so i had to sneak home for my fix of crowley air and my family and buds. ah it was great. here are a few shots from that weekend.