April is...

HERE! Wow... This past months has literally flown by. 


Let's recap. 


New job...and a bittersweet goodbye to my old job!


My co-workers with the City of Mesquite are absolutely amazing! On top of receiving the coolest goodbye cake EVER, the City of Mesquite placed a bench in honor of me at the Opal Lawrence Historical Park - a national park in Mesquite and what I helped to get certified as a Nature Explore Classroom (http://www.arborday.org/explore/) for our kids in Mesquite. What an honor! 


As for my new job....Capital One has been wonderful!!! I sit on the Chief of Staff Team in the Financial Services Division and work with all of our nonprofit partners in Plano. What an amazing opportunity! I help plan special events (i.e. charity golf tournaments, employee volunteerism event), raise money for our nonprofit partners and engage our associates in volunteerism efforts. What a perfect fit - I love what I do. Praise God! :)

My goodbye cake! It is Pickle and Sundae - how cute!!!

Flowers, a gift and letters from my Board of Directors.

My bench! How cool. 

Prayers going on to our grandmothers. 


As several of you know, Richard's grandmother (Dad's Mom) has been in the hospital/nursing home for a long time now. This past month, my grandmother (Mom's mom) spiraled down the same path. Although, she was doing 110% better when we visited her in the nursing home this past week. Please keep both in your prayers!


CARES activities: 


We've held a St. Patty's Day breakfast (and then tried to steer clear of the Greenville St. Patty's Day Parade....although we got sucked into traffic for an HOUR), hot dog night, and another yummy breakfast! We have such a great time meeting our neighbors during these events. Our property has people from all around the world and they have the coolest stories! Not gonna lie... we sometimes dread cooking for 100, but it is SO rewarding afterward! Thankfully Richard can cook...otherwise, our residents would be having game nights every month. Ha! 

Preparing for a breakfast event.

The crazy raccoon!

Residents during a CARES event.

Richard shopping for an event at Sams!

Green Eggs and Ham for St. Patty's Day!

The dental saga ~ 


Let's sum it up. This was a 4 week nightmare for me (luckily it ended 4 days before starting my new job):  2 deep cleanings... received a porcelain onlay (basically a crown)...the porcelain onlay cracks... go in for a "fix"...the "fix" didn't hold and after the painkillers wore off (without any backup meds)...Richard stayed up with me ALL night long as I cried for hours on end and debated going to the ER....I go back to the dentist the next morning....they figure out that the that the temporary "fix" did not completely cover my tooth (really?!?!) and left a nerve exposed that went straight to my head...thus, the pain....received another temporary fix with several pain killers... while waiting for my 2nd permanent porcelain onlay to come in, I get to have oral surgery... (side note: After oral surgery, they brought Richard in the room and warned him that women can be emotional after surgery. As Richard told me later (b/c I have no memory of this), I was so confused when he walked in the room... I asked him when they were going to do the surgery...told him they took me to Antarctica (they used a cold numbing method on my hand...hence my Antarctica thoughts)....I couldn't walk so they put me in a wheelchair and then I looked at Richard with a serious face and grabbed my stomach like I was pregnant and kept telling him that I couldn't do it...it just wasn't going to happen....to which he replied, "it's ok Jessa, they took a tooth out, not a baby"....ha! I'm sure the nurse thought I was crazy)... After being on painkillers for weeks, I finally get my permanent porcelain onlay.... and heal from my surgery. I also gained 5 pounds, b/c I drank too many Ensures and loaded up on mashed potatoes. :) 


TREE MASSACRE!


I just had to share this! Our apartment complex is in the process of cutting down several trees because they are about to renovate the entire property (not sure where we will go in the meantime...ha!)....as many of my neighbors, I am not happy about this either! We saw this sign of protest today... love it! 

And all the activities in-between... 


What a blessed life we lead! Just when we think we have a set path and plans set in stone, God redirects and shows us what His ultimate plan is...which is so much more powerful than anything we could have dreamed on our own! 

Richard and Sean training for a half-marathon...then marathon! 

Pickle teaching Sundae how to play tug-a-war.

One of my bf's son's baseball game in Allen!

Rusty Taco with my parents after church. Yum!

Lunch with my sister at Chicago Rick's....Richard's awesome recommendation!

Oscar watching party

Saying goodbye to my sweet intern, Alisa!

Fun night with our friends, Kristi & Ben!

Amy's birthday!

Brenda's birthday!

Tennis date with Mindy and Evan!

Evan and Richard creating their own version of tennis and basketball. :)

A New Chapter.

I have absolutely loved serving as the Executive Director of Keep Mesquite Beautiful (a 501 c3 nonprofit under the City of Mesquite). I have grown so much professionally and it has been a blast! It has been such a blessing to build wonderful relationships throughout the City of Mesquite, Mesquite ISD School District and Businesses while making positive changes in the Mesquite community.

However, a few weeks ago I was recruited by Capital One's Corporate Community Relations Office in Plano. As several of you know, before my current position, I helped run the Community Relations Office at Alliance Data. Positions such as these are extremely difficult to find and to have one fall into my lap is an opportunity that I can't pass up. I will once again have the opportunity to take corporate dollars and plug them into the nonprofit realm while having the opportunity to engage in several nonprofits throughout the community and employee volunteerism. This will be a new and exciting chapter in my life. It is very bittersweet to leave a position that I love, but I am confident that I am walking into another wonderful position that will help me grow and give me new experiences.

After several prayers, I believe this is where God is calling me at this time. Wish me luck! :)
PS- I will now work next to the Shops of Legacy and Stonebriar Mall – LOVE this area!!



My very sweet husband suprised me with flowers and sushi to celebrate my new job!

The Adventures of Richard's Beard. Brace Yourself!

Richard's employer, TPN, held their annual beard contest this month. Richard won the "Best Named Beard".... Richard "Truck Stop Bathroom" Thomas. Sometimes pictures speak louder than words.... ENJOY!

The "OFFICIAL" Photo
Richard "Truck Stop Bathroom" Thomas

Why do we listen to a groundhog?

Seriously... 

This winter weather has been absolutely crazy! I have to say, one of my favorite "weather" stories came last Thursday night. I was on my way home from work (yes...the city never closes...lucky me).... after a quick slip during my drive into The Village (ekk!), I called Richard to make sure he got home okay and to see if he was ready to go to the grocery store with me. What I didn't know, was that Richard was trying to walk on the ice, while holding Pickle's leash and answer his cell phone while picking up Pickle's business with a doggy bag. At the same time the cell phone was ringing, Pickle darted across the snow....sending Richard sliding down a hill on the ice into the fender of a parked car ...and Pickle just stopped and stared at him like he was nuts! When Richard made it to the car...I said, "why didn't you answer" and he handed me his phone in three pieces. hahahaha :)

Northpark Mall in the snow!

Pickle warming up after playing in the snow.

Sundae preparing to battle the cold.

Well…if we are snowed in…might as well watch a movie or two…or three or four….

No, really...you are going to think we are nuts. We don't deal so well with down time... or do we? Ha! We always seem to be so behind on movies....not anymore!

Black Swan - Very good performance. 
The Fighter - Wow!
Exit Through the Gift Shop - Interesting, but good.
The Kids Are All Right - Very, very, very strange.
The King’s Speech - Amazing, with a capital A!
The Social Network - Great job!
Toy Story 3 - Cute.
Dogtooth - Good, but very different.
I Am Love - Also very strange.
Animal Kingdom - Pretty good.

January is rolling to an end!

morning wake-up

2011 has proved to be a very cold year! Last week, I was warming up my car and waiting on the ice to melt off my windshield. To speed up the process, I opened my door and threw a cup of water on the windshield...at the exact moment the windshield wipers came on and splashed water, ice and sludge all over my face, hair and work clothes. Perfect 7:30AM wake-up call! Ha!

vicious dachshund
Sundae (one of our dachshunds) is so spastic on her leash. She recently rubbed her neck soraw that it started bleeding....she loves to chase squirrels and leaves. So recently, we had to switch to walking her with a harness. Well, little Sundae learned that if she backed away from us she could actually slip out of the harness. Sundae is the complete opposite of Pickle, she will run right back to you and listen....most of the time. Last week, I was walking Sundae and she did her magical escape trick and sprinted toward Richard and Pickle...or so we thought....we didn't see the HUGE dog (luckily on a leash) about 20 yards behind Richard. Sundae doesn't give Richard or Pickle a second glance...she is in attack mode going toward this huge dog. Suddenlyit become a relay race. Richard and I pause, look at each other and then I run to Richard to get Pickle, Richard then takes off toward Sundae (who has now turned the corner and we can only hear horrible screaming/growling noises)....as Richard is running toward our vicious little dachshund his shoes fly off (like we are in a a slow motion movie).... When he gets there (shortly followed by me), we see that the other dog's owner is standing there, his dog has his head tilted and Sundae is acting like a complete nut. The other guy says, "wow, that was weird".... Needless to say, our vicious little Sundae now has a new harness, thanks to our sweet neighbor!




Bowling @ 300 in Addison!

Celebrating Ashley's (my sorority sister) birthday at 300 bowling in Addison!

Celebrating my parent's birthdays! Cupcakes and a kindle!

Us with Sean and Jessica after playing games on the Xbox Kinect game system!

Richard and Sean at the Mavs vs. Lakers game!

Dinner and games with our soon-to-be married friends, Evan and Mindy! :)

2011 blows in with fireworks, babies and snow!

New Year's Eve
We headed to our friend's (Ben and Kristi) home in Forney for some homemade lasagna, wine and fireworks to ring in 2011! We also managed to watch three different countdowns (including Snooki's ball drop...which was only about 2 feet in the air...haha! ).

Celebrating 2011 with the Petty's!

Our super cool sparklers.

Richard and Ben plotting what they will do next... we couldn't leave them alone with the fireworks!

Amy's Babyshower
I've known Amy since the 6th grade! It was such a joy to help throw her a babyshower (my first one to put on)! I had a blast planning with my other two friends - Olivia and Brenda! We took a ton of pictures, played lots of games and had a blast...plus, the snow made an amazing backdrop!

Brenda's awesome cake!!

Yummy!

Me with Brenda, Amy, Olivia, My Mom, Amy's Mom and Amy's Son

Olivia playing the "Dirty Diaper Candy Bar Game"...hahaha

Our snow picture!

Snow!!
...Texas Style! I know our friends (Jen & Matt) from Minnesota are laughing at the amount of snow we received...but hey, we were extremely excited! :) Richard is beyond thrilled that we are officially having a winter...as for me, I'm missing the warm weather.

Sundae running from the snow!



Outside of our apartment in Dallas in the snow!

Richard and Pickle playing in the snow!