Christmas Letter 2013

Merry Christmas!

                                                                                                              

I hope this letter finds you and your loved ones well and blessed with good health, peace, and joy. I always feel a little sheepish about writing Christmas letters just about me and me alone, but I convince myself that since I love hearing news about you so much that I figure you’d feel the same about hearing about me, right? Ha ha! I have been truly blessed with many grand and wonderful opportunities this year . . . as usual.

First, China. Yes! I went to China for five weeks this past summer. It was a mini study abroad of sorts. I went with seven other graduate students in my Master of Public Administration program, as well as a professor, and an administrator – also from BYU. The professor that went with us taught an Ethics for Management class to us and eight Chinese students at Xiamen University in Xiamen, China – that’s where we were home-based. We were in class on Monday and Wednesday mornings. It was so fascinating to hear the Chinese students’ perspective on ethics – here’s one good example: they will break any law or rule for the sake of helping a family member or really good friend because helping that family member or friend is more important to them than obeying the law or rule. Interesting, huh? Then every Thursday we would fly out to a different city in China for the weekend. Xian to see the Terra Cotta Warriors; Hong Kong; Shanghai; Guilin to see those amazing mountains; and Beijing for a week at the end of our trip to see the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City. I picked up a tiny bit of Mandarin: thank you, yes, and no. I also learned their hand signs for numbers so I could barter with the vendors. By the end, I could recognize the Mandarin characters for exit and entrance. I can’t say that I ever got really good at hand washing my clothes in my hotel shower, but I did learn a few tricks. Lastly, I became much more grateful for a few luxuries we enjoy in the United States: timely air travel, potable tap water, unrestricted access to websites, and queues to check out at the market or get on the bus.

Secondly, I graduated with my Master’s in Public Administration in August. Three years in the making and it feels quite nice to be done with homework. Although, I already miss the classes and my classmates. To toot my horn a little, I guess I’ll share the big news that came with my graduation: I graduated valedictorian of my class, and I had to speak at convocations for my college, the Marriott School of Business. Speaking was quite scary since that was the biggest audience I’ve ever addressed – approximately 1,200 people! But I survived and lots of people took pity on me and told me that I did a good job. 

Lastly, no year of mine would be complete without an epic backpacking trip to the Uintas, bagging the peak of Mount Nebo, running into a ton of animals while mountain biking (a black bear, a skunk, a moose, and a badger), and taking up cross-country skiing! And the cherry on top: I endured a little bachelorette show of my own earlier this year when I was going out with three or four different guys for a few weeks and came out with one bachelor that made it through my gauntlet.  We’ve been dating and having a blast together ever since. The lucky bachelor is Mike Kniephof, originally from Denver, and he is so wonderful. I’ll finally have someone to kiss at midnight on New Year’s!! Ha ha!

Well, that’s all I’ve got! Have a merry, merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope you get to spend some time with family and loved ones and cherish those moments.

Love you tons,

Jessika

Southern Lovin' in New Orleans

I had a business trip to New Orleans, and per tradition, Mom went with me! We had some of the yummiest cajun food and we enjoyed the yumminess and messiness of Cafe Du Monde's beignets. We walked a million miles all over the French Quarter, and successfully avoided Bourbon Street. We stayed at the Ritz Carlton - that was super fancy. And, in my opinion, the highlight of the trip was the plantation tour. It was so interesting to hear about the families that lived on the plantations - but then again I love anything family history.

The Laura Plantation

Slave quarters at the Laura Plantation

Rebuilt slave quarters at Oak Alley Plantation

300-year-old Oak tree at Oak Alley Plantation

Oak Alley Plantation

Mom standing by the Mississippi River - see the boat?!

St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans

The crazy Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans

Beignets and hot cocoa at Cafe Du Monde, New Orleans

Check out all the fortune tellers in the St. Louis Cathedral square! New Orleans

Pretty building in the French Quarter, New Orleans

Pretty little aisle in the French Quarter, New Orleans

Another pretty building in the French Quarter, New Orleans

The Great Thanksgiving Spider Hunt

Yes, I said "spider hunt." I'm not kidding! But first, now that I've got you hooked, I'll give the regular specs on the holiday before telling you the spider story.

Thanksgiving at Teri and Kelly's was wonderful, of course. Traci and Greg and their baby, Jude, were there. Nick and Sierrah and her parents were there. Jeremy and Megan and their kids, Cecily and Simon, were there. And then me and Mom. Thanksgiving day itself was filled with eating, cleaning up, preparing the next meal, eating, cleaning up, a nap (for me), preparing the next meal, eating, cleaning up, and finally preparing the next meal, eating, and cleaning up. It was a day of gluttony for sure. But the food was all sooooo delectable! I certainly wasn't eating to satiate hunger pains - I was eating to feed my taste buds and gluttony. We are beginning to wonder if we do too much cooking and eating on Thanksgiving . . . On Saturday we had the privilege of attending Nick and Sierrah's temple sealing. Oh and we watched some movies, as usual, too.

On Friday, Mom and I went to Ogden to take some Christmas decorations to her dad's and grandmother's grave sites. Then we stopped at Farr's for some ice cream, and then Maddox's in Brigham City for lunch. (Mom loooooves Maddox's and goes every chance she gets.) Then we stopped by the Logan cemetery and visited some more grave sites of grandparents on Dad's side of the family. It was on the way to the Logan cemetery when the spider hunt begun . . . in Mom's car!

We stopped to get some gas and while mom was filling up her car and I was sitting in the driver seat, I noticed a black, hairy spider on the windshield. Thinking the spider was on the outside of the windshield, I thought, "That's funny. That spider is upside down on the windshield." And then I realized, it wasn't upside down: it was INSIDE the car on the windshield. So I tried to kill it with my shoe - you can guess how that turned out - but it went down into the heat vent by the windshield. And then as we were driving along, thinking that we'd get it later, it decided to reappear on the dashboard. So Mom tried to kill it (while I'm driving) to which it responds by bolting over to my side of the car and coming down the dashboard toward me!! And for those of you that don't know me, I have recurring nightmares about spiders. Every month. I. Do. Not. Like. Spiders. At all. I can't even stand to kill them with a tissue; I always use a shoe or something.

Anyway, so with the spider bolting over toward me and while I'm driving, I take my shoe off and try to smash it. But it escaped into the heat vent between the steering wheel and the driver's window. Knowing that I cannot drive any further with that thing scurrying around at will, I pull off onto the next side street and immediately pull over. I jump out of the car and so does Mom. And then we think, "How are we gonna kill that spider while it's in the heat vent?" Well desperate times call for desperate measures: I turn on the heat and fan full blast! The spider then flies out of the vent and I think it landed in the car, but Mom is pretty sure it landed outside the car - but I trust her because she was over on the driver side, so closer to it, when the spider took flight.

I walk back over to the driver side, get in the car, and am getting ready to roll again, when I notice something black in the corner of the floorboard. I remove my shoe again and commence trying to kill the "black thing" which then runs around like a crazy spider and again I jump out of the car. The spider escaped under the seat and went under the carpet that is under the seat. Mom gets her flashlight for me and we're moving the seat forward and peering underneath it from the backseat with the flashlight shining in its beady little sparkly eyes. Ew. I can see it under the carpet, but I'm unwilling to try to kill it because I can't get my shoe in there: I'd have to use a tissue and jam my hand in there! So Mom, in heroic fashion, gets down on her knees (on the hard ground), bends down onto the floor of the backseat, and, with tissue in hand, begins the blind hunt and kill project of jamming her hand into the small space. We don't know for sure if she was successful or not, but we never saw it again. I consented to drive for the reason that Mom would have the bravery to kill it (without a shoe) if it start crawling all over my lap while I was driving. I don't think I would have been able to do the same if she was driving and it was crawling all over her. Yick.

Mom and I laughed for a long time over the scene we must have been giving everyone on that street! Ha ha!