"no subject is terrible if the story is true, if the prose is clean and honest..." ernest hemingway, B.A.M.F

i'm going to trust in the words of my man ernest hemingway.  i'm not going to assume that simply because i have moved 1500 miles east that my life is all of a sudden interesting - so i'll spare you the pretentiousness of pretending that it is.  however, i love and miss a shiz ton of people back home with whom i don't speak as often as i should (that and... my husband averages 5-6 hours of homework a night) so i'ma revamp my blog. lucky you, reader.

mike and i moved to lake bluff, il (35 minutes north of chicago or 2 hours in rush hour traffic) and he attends chicago medical school at rosalind franklin university of medicine and science. it's a great school and have met some equally great people. we're really lucky.

i have a gluten intolerance which sucks because i'm living in the land of carbs. i should be better and stronger than i am but i'm not. i have easily eaten my weight in deep dish pizza, popeye's, hot dogs and italian beef and i don't care. it's totally worth it... because i'm a fatty.

we've become pretty good friends with a few other med school couples out here: one is a 3rd year and the other a first year like mike. they are awesome people and it's a total blessing to have met them and have "family" out here when we are so far away from our actual ones.

      it's been an interesting transition moving out here with lots of opportunity to reflect on the process of getting here and adjusting to the new digs.  applying for medical school was one of the most miserable experiences of my life. it is so time consuming (personal statements, service, applications, secondary applications, interviews, etc.) and expensive, factor in stress/anxiety and look at your product - then multiply that by two.  mike and i religious people.   so throughout the process a lot of prayer, obedience and sacrificing were made to show our intent on getting into medical school and we can definitely testify to the truthfulness of the lyric "sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven." I can genuinely say that without the grace and love of our Heavenly Father and Savior - we would not be here.

unlike my hero,  e. hemingway, who could end a story like a boss, i can't. and this is where i leave you. with a short blurb of kind of nothing. there will be more to come when more happens...or doesn't.  either way, it will be documented.


november 6, 2014.

i have a bad habbit of writing blog entries and being too insecure to post them.  after re-reading this one that was written over 2 months ago i have decided to finally post it.  the reason for my addendum is this: looking back over the past few months and even year, i am astounded by the presence that the Savior had in our lives while applying for medical school.  although it wasn't necessarily made known to us at the time, having come though that whole near life ruining process, my relationship with my Savior is so much more personal and so much more tender.  it was hellacious year but wow, and i grateful and forever changed.

isn't it funny how life works like that? the whole "refiner's fire" aspect of life. sacrifice truly does bring forth the blessings of heaven.

.i'm not creative or funny therefore i mooch.

the following are images/videos/gifs that i have seen recently (about 4 weeks ago when i started this thing) that i thought were share worthy.  i didn't include a bunch b/c i'm not that funny and i figure no one would think they were good (i'll spare you of my morbid humor and maybe save it for a day when i'm feeling brave or i've got a forget me now in my system or something).

please enjoy the following {again, not the most funniest but made the short list. the long list consisted of  a lot of grumpy cat, several and i mean several JGL videos/ gifs and other random images that i feel would ruin my image}

portlandia. my hero.

i'm thinking of getting this and filling it with snacks. looks like easy access to my funyons and string cheese

for the classical nerd inside us all...or at least me

i know i know. everyone in the world has seen this. i started this post 3 weeks ago when it was kind of fresh-ish

 

 i'm sorry if you find this wildly inappropriate but.. you're (secretly) welcome

 

 

after working on this i removed 5 that's right 5 additional JGL images/videos (i'll pay homage to him on another date. possibly his birthday) this one is still funny and scandal free.

  

my love of grumpy cat is reaching unhealthy levels

viva les freaks and geeks

{dear blogger, your inserted link above was extremely underwhelming for the quality of entertainment it offers. shame on you)

end with grumpy cat gif.

 

in unrelated matters andrea from the walking dead is the worst. 

fin.

two {and a half} years later and i still do.

it's a surreal thought. knowing that i have spent everyday (literally everyday - we haven't spent a full day apart since i got home from my mission) with my best friend. it definitely doesn't feel like it has been that long and i don't know what i have done to deserve him. he is everything i wish i could be and i look up to him so much. neither of us are perfect and every great relationship takes work, sacrifice and compromise but it has paid off and what we have is so good.

here are some pictures of our past two years together.
they may not be in chronological order but you get the idea:

{prepare yourself for a kajillion pictures}

 

  

the past two years have been the best two my life. i love him more everyday and i can't wait to see what our future has in store for us.

.all things.

 maybe it's because i'm a little older. maybe it's because we've been faced with a lot of challenges and change lately. maybe it's because i'm feeling extremely hormonal right now. or maybe it's because i'm not as busy as normal and i finally have a chance to step back and take some things in.

i have a daily routine:  i get to work. i check my voicemail. then i spend about 20 minutes reading news articles on various websites. i don't want to be mistaken as naive - i know i'm not alone in this but i just feel like there has been an excessive amount of hate lately.  international conflict. political heat. even entertainment news. there is no shortage of  negative or hateful commentary. i'm not pretending to be perfect. i'm an extremely sarcastic and opinionated person and trust me i love being right...all the time. but lately, i've just been feeling the weight of so many things; some that directly effect me and some that really don't. as i was running to FedEx earlier today, i was reflecting on some of these awful things in the world and wondering what can be done to help resolve them -  then one of my favorite scriptures popped into my head:

"all things have been done in the wisdom of Him who knoweth all things."
 2n 2:24

for those of you who aren't religious or aren't familiar with my faith or the book of mormon. this doesn't mean that our Heavenly Father makes these bad things happen but rather because of his love for us he doesn't interfere - he let's  us all exercise our gift of free will (even though we are subject to bad consequences just as often as the good). this seems cruel to so many. if we have a "loving God" why doesn't he intervene? it's because of the principles of justice and mercy,  their role in the plan that He has for us and our need for a literal Savior. someone to compensate for the injustice, the hurt and the hate that we all have had and will have to endure.

i am so grateful for that small moment, i needed it today more than ever. i am grateful for the tender mercies that come as reminders -  that amid all the chaos, there is someone so perfect, so loving and so aware of each of us and what we need and when we need it.

i know that i'm not the lone citizen of the world that contemplates it's problems but i truly  hope when you are plagued by the weight of life that you turn to the one who offered, from the very beginning, to bear our burdens.

"Then with water in my eyes
The words began to rise from their place
They were beautiful and dread
I reached for them and fed on each phrase
They were honey on my lips
Then a bitter twist in my side
I knew they'd lay me in my grave
"Is there no one who could save me? " I cried
And when I lost all hope to look
Someone took that heavy book from my hands
All it's weight they set aside
After they had satisfied it's demands
I felt white and black reverse
And the lifting of a curse from my heart
Then like one receiving sight
I beheld a brilliant light in the dark"

.thanks huluPLUS.

it's no secret. i'm not what you might call the tidiest person. i mean. i'm sanitary. i just hate hanging clothes up (one more reason why i look up to my husband - he's so clean!). however, after several of episodes of a&e's 'hoarders' things may be changing here soon. there's a somewhat massive pile of clothes next to my side of the bed and "thanks hoarders," now i'm afraid there are mice or dead cats living in it. that being said, i saw this and thought it was appropriate... and sad but somewhat true.

 

great job on that thing you did

i recently returned to work after a five week european vacation and boy oh boy has the transition back been hard! i have now been back to work for two and a half weeks and there is a lot of pressure for typical end of month stuff. there have been some really... underwhelming (in terms of excitement) and overwhelming (in terms of how much work the specific project needs) work to do and i have waited until the last moment possible. well, i bought a bag of cookies and a red bull at lunch today - determined to at least make a dent on the project (surprise surprise i'm blogging from work instead) and as i was getting deeper and deeper into the project i realized that the majority of the crappy part has already been done and i thought "HEY! i remember doing this!" so, way to go me, on being kind of motivated a few weeks ago and making a good start on something that sucks!

this may seem like a random thing to be proud of  but...i have a tendency of being REALLY unmotivatable at times.

HOORAY!!!

this is why you can't have nice things america

so... you know those times when you are working so hard and have so much to do that the only thing you can do to keep your brain from going full zombie {pangs for face meat included} is to mindlessly surf the web... 

well today... this is what i found...
and it's worse than people taking pictures with iPads

america. 

this is why you cannot have nice things

baby wigs. 

for purchase.

for the low price of $30.00.
"for the girl who has everything...except hair"

http://baby-bangs.com

{hangs head in shame}

only two people follow my blog.

so there it is... i'm admitting to the world that i only have two followers. that' s right. it's high school all over. two friends. at least now i don't have to make excuses for not going to dances {or at least i don't feel obligated to do so}. aaaaannnnyyyyywwwwwhhhhoooo. i feel like things are starting to pick up again. here are the highlights of the past six months:

• i got a promotion
• i made a pintrest account
• mike and i watched 5 seasons of 30rock
• mike graduated
• we went to europe
• ran ragnar
• mike applied for medical school

 there it is... some awesome things and some less awesome things.

so since this post is boring. here ya go

old man crushes

i don't know what it is. sure, i could blame it on the fact that the main father figure in my life was my grandpa or possibly that since my grandma and i are so close maybe we're developing the same taste in men. there are lots of possibilities, but one thing is for sure...

my name is
Jess Reynolds
and i have some serious old man crushes.

it's no secret to my husband that i am obsessed with liam neeson. in fact, i have convinced mike that when the time comes and we have children, we will be naming one of our sons {ins-alla} liam and raise him well aware of his namesake.

so here it is. a tribute to all of my old man crushes.

~liam neeson~

even as a jedi he is beautiful

and don't forget his "particular set of skills" in taken


and of course (not that anyone ever doubted he wouldn't) he's beautiful naked

~gary oldman~
(right there in the name. old-man.)

c'mon! he has been dracula AND sirius black!

and last but not least....

~alan rickman~

he's awesome!
he's been col. christopher brandon, that guy in die hard, the voice of God

snape

the boss in love/actually that made every girl in the world wish they were that skank that works for him...

you know....
this one?
{lucky skank}

anyway, to the old man loves of my life, just know that if you ever come to salt lake,
you'll always have somewhere to stay.

our first house

Mike and I both come from families that have had a lot of problems - they're better for the most part and very functional now but ya know, we both had it a little rough growing up. We decided before we got married that no matter what, our relationship would always come first. This has been one of the greatest blessings in my life. No marriage is perfect but our relationship is so strong and we really are the best of friends. We agreed that one sure way to maintain a strong and healthy relationship is to take time every week for
"date night" and I am happy to say that (in our whopping year and a half of marriage) we haven't missed a single week!

Below, you will find our very first Christmas date of the year!

yes, it was disgusting but don't let him fool you...

it didn't keep him from eating it.




That's right. this house was made in memory of the late great Michael Jackson... just kidding Mike and Jess FTW!

Mike and I both love Christmas. We love thinking of the perfect gifts for others and anticipate watching them being opened. In my teens I had a friend whose parent had this AMAZING idea that for Christmas (since they had a large family and kids tend to get jealous over presents and what not) they would buy a specific wrapping paper for each child and only the parents knew which paper (and present) belonged to which child. Now, Mike and I a ways away from having any children but we both love this idea and so we decided to start the tradition. We each picked out what wrapping paper we wanted (well... i let mike pick from a selected few. I refused to let sponge bob make his home under our Christmas tree this year). Mike chose gold and I chose this cute green damask print that sort of resembles our curtains. THANKFULLY not enough to be tacky.

This year (after getting this FABULOUS idea from a friend of mine Tigan Robinson) I decided that in my quest for perfection ( it'll be a LOOONNNGGG quest) I would make all of our Christmas bows. Below are pictures of a few of them and then you can see the cute sparkly bows i made for my presents (they are in the pictures with the tree)

*side note* i would quickly like to apologize for the poor picture quality. as you may remember reading about our mishap in Peru, my camera (and all of my other tech-y gadgets) were stolen. My wonderful uncle was nice enough to give me one of his old android phones; however, the camera on it doesn't have a flash so... a lot of my pictures are blurry for the time being.

good news to my husband and people who care about random junk like this EVERYWHERE!

i came across this article today during my lunch break. some of you may remember that a few months ago mike's poor little car was totaled. during the interim period between cars, the insurance of the guy who hit mike paid for him to have a rental car. it was an hhr. i think the picture speaks for itself and mike's feelings towards it.

i drove it a few times and i have to admit, not only is it hideous on the outside but it is a BEAST to drive...for so many reasons.

anyway, here's to you chevy hhr. you are an abomination.

don't come back.

Cars Being Retired in 2012

Once upon a time Chrysler took a boring small car (the Neon), grafted a body that recalled 1930s-era roadsters on top of it and created the PT Cruiser. Seeing Chrysler's initial success, GM copied Chrysler's play step by step — hiring the PT Cruiser's designer to draw a body meant to evoke the 1930s-era Suburbans and using the chassis of the compact Cobalt sedan. Imitation may be flattery at its most sincere, but GM didn't copy Chrysler's sales; the HHR was big and cheap but thirsty, and like the PT never received enough updates to stay current — although the supercharged SS version ranks as one of the best modern sleepers available.

what's better than an adorable pendguin or a nice sweater??? an adorable penguin IN a nice sweater!

for those of you who don't know, i happen to LOVE all things penguin. i just think that they are the most adorable things on the planet. just today i stumbled across this little story that i couldn't keep from blogging.

Knitters make sweaters for penguins after oil spill

It's a sad story with a happy twist. Blue penguins in New Zealand have been soaked with oil after a container ship ran aground near the east coast of the country's North Island earlier this month. New Zealand’s Environment Minister Nick Smith has described the oil spill as the nation’s "most significant maritime disaster."

In their oil-soaked state, the birds shouldn’t preen themselves because their feathers are contaminated. They also need help staying warm before and after rescue workers do what they can to clean them up.

So Skeinz, a knitting shop in Napier, New Zealand, put out a call for knitters to make little sweaters for penguins in need. And boy, have knitters around the world responded. One blog post from the folks at Skeinz.com ran under the headline “It’s raining jumpers.” Another ran with the headline “We have Critical Mass” — but Skeinz is still encouraging determined knitters to send their handiwork along to “keep stocks available for the Wildlife Rescue Team to draw from if required.”

leave it to sweater clad penguins to make an oil spill story ADORABLE!