Berkshire Soccer Academy for Girls

On March 11th I started working as a seasonal office temp for the Berkshire Soccer Academy for Girls.  I didn't think it would turn into much, but it was a nice part-time gig, close to home, and was enjoyable enough.  Now here I am, not even two months later, working full time, doing what I love (graphic design) and about to be sent on the adventure of a lifetime.  I guess that might be an overstatement, but not by much!

BSA is an elite girls soccer camp that runs 6 weeks out of the summer in East Otis, Massachusetts.  They have 5 week-long sessions with short bridge sessions that connect the weeks for campers staying for more than one session.  They have amazing US Women's National Team stars like Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Tish Venturi-Hoch, and Heather O'Reilly coming to coach, and the rest of the soccer, elective and facility staff are creme of the crop.

When they asked me to come along for the summer I'll admit I wasn't initially interested, but mostly because I didn't want to leave my hubby alone at home with my family for two months.  But when they asked if I would come as photographer, and when they said they could make a place for James to work on campus as well, well that definitely sweetened the deal.

So here we are, 4 days from departure, ready to pack up and ship our lives across the country for the next 10 weeks.  I'm apprehensive and a little anxious (mainly because we found out on a moment's notice and I've hardly had time to even pull my suitcase out of the shed!), but I'm also so excited for this opportunity and chance to round out my photography skills.  I've always said sports photography wasn't my forte, but now that I'll be photographing soccer celebrities I think I can expand my repertoire. ;)

So you can probably expect this blog to be quiet for the summer, due to lack of internet access, and TIME for that matter, but you better believe I'll have some great stuff once I'm back!

Oh, and the sweetest part?!  Since we're all the way on the east coast already, and we end "work" on August 8th, we will be spending our [two-year] anniversary weekend/week celebrating in New York City! :D  I haven't been since I was maybe 10 years old, and James has never even been outside the airport, so we are SO stoked to be tourists and see all there is to see.

Anniversary Celebratin'

Originally for our first anniversary we wanted to do something awesome, like go out of town and spend the night in a beach city, or even hop on a plane up to San Francisco, but 3 weeks before our big day James got laid off and money got a lot tighter.  Some friends of ours also happened to be getting married the day after our anniversary so we knew that meant we weren't going anywhere for the weekend (not that we minded! I love weddings!).

Instead we merely drove out to Lake Forest, had a wonnnderful dinner out there at a fancy restaurant called the Bru, then headed to 1,000 Steps beach and watched the sunset before returning home.  In the morning we ate our One-Year-Cake, and not that it tasted bad or anything, but that tradition is just bizarre.  Who wants to eat cake that is one year old just for the heck of it?

It was a lovely little day, one that we joked could easily be topped in the future, but one which was perfect for us right now.  I can't believe a year has already FLOWN by, and that we are no longer newlyweds...

Here are some pictures from the day!

Delicious food!

They gave us this free dessert and decorated it for our anniversary, but it was possibly the best dessert we've ever had.  On our honeymoon cruise I used to order this dessert every night--the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake--and without even knowing it this dessert was just like eating it again! It was half baked, half melted brownies with vanilla gelato and a shot of hot whiskey poured in the bottom, topped with whipped cream.  IT. WAS. SO. GOOD!

A year ago we took this photo on our honeymoon when we were in St. Maarten, so this year we decided to continue the trend:

A beautiful night.

We were only able to eat about 1/16 of what was on this plate... it was so rich! Especially after a huge dinner the night before!

Until next year!

xoxo, the Doskocils

The First Year

A year ago today was honestly the best day of my life.  I have had many great days since then, but there is no comparison to our wedding day when everything was perfect, I felt like an absolute princess, and I got to marry my best friend.  

I am so thankful for James and his optimism, and more importantly his love for God.  He is truly a great partner, someone who can always lift me up and encourage me even in my lowest lows, and can remind me of what's really important at the end of each day.  It's a remarkable thing to have a friend like that.  Marriage has been such a humbling experience, and one that has taught me more about myself than anything else I've ever experienced.  Im so glad I have a patient and understanding husband who is willing to put up with me through the learning process, someone who I can be totally weird and silly around and who loves me for all of it.  I don't know what I possibly could have done to deserve a guy like you. 

One down, many, many more to go--there's no one else I'd rather do this with, I love you James!

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January and the Happs... happenings, that is.

I think the last time I wrote was just shortly after graduation... and now school is underway again! But not for me ^_^

Many people have asked, and I don't mind sounding like a broken record here, but I honestly LOVE being out of school and having very little scheduled on my plate each week.  I'm not even job hunting.  I have been made to feel very guilty and ashamed for admitting that I don't want to be working full time any time soon, because I would rather catch up on the life I missed the last 6 months (especially my new marriage), but I am trying to let those voices fall by the wayside.  I will have my entire life to work full time, and while we can afford it I would really just like to soak up life right now, exactly the way it is.  Got it? Ok.

Christmas came and went and what a lovely time it was.  I actually had time off this year so I was able to go home for an extended period of time and enjoy my family and San Diego, as well as getting much needed quality time with James before he returned to work and was inundated with his usual holiday load.

 

Now that it's the new year I feel like things are already changing, already new, without my even trying.  More and more I get the sense that I am living the life I have always held in the back of my mind, and that is one of the happiest feelings.  I notice it in the little things, like changing the way I dress and wear makeup, or how the light streams in through the bedroom window in the mid-afternoon, or even the way I spend my mornings reading with multiple cups of tea.... It's difficult to put into words but I really just love the way our life is coming together right now.

A week ago I cut off a chunk of my hair and donated it to locks of love; something that was never on my bucket list but which materialized in a moments notice leaving no time for regrets.  My long hair was so disgusting, for lack of a better word; it was damaged, uneven, fried, and lifeless.  I couldn't even get it to hold a curl anymore!  So I traded it in for a versatile short 'do which I am also quite happy about.

The flu AND sinus infection rolled through our little house starting on New Years Day and have claimed us both as victims.  I had never honestly called in sick to work, but this infection had me out for 12 days.  I think I secretly didn't mind, because it gave me an excuse to truly rest for days on end, which, if you know me (/us), that is practically unheard of.  I was so miserably ill that I could hardly take care of myself, let alone house upkeep, and I had to surrender and retreat to my bed with snacks and movies.

January brought more wedding planning for Heather and me, but I was also very delighted to attend the wedding of our dear friends Andy and Lauren Turner.  Their day was so beautiful, I just watched their wedding video yesterday and nearly cried.  It was my first wedding since my own and it was so cool to me to see how they did theirs differently, but to also have the relief of knowing mine is done and never has to be planned ever again!

Recently James also got a promotion at work, making him into one very happy camper.  It never ceases to amaze me how good his company is to their employees, and I have really seen that in the past few months as the holidays came and went.  Most days I'm jealous--I wish my boss would buy me a snuggie and bring me ice cream sandwiches on my birthday!  Either way, I'm very grateful and excited for this new turn in James' career, and I am always so proud of him for how hard he works to give us the life we have.

February means our 6-monthaversary... can you believe we've been married 6 months already?! I can't.  It feels like yesterday, but it also feels like 5 years ago.  It also dawned on me that now being graduated and married, along with a few other personal achievements, I have completed most all of the "second decade" goals that I made for myself post-high school, and have little that I long for.  Perhaps that's what's been morphing my time?

I still swoon every time I gaze at these guys too long.  Love my rings.

Right now a few of my favorite things are:

Daiso is my new favorite store--it is conveniently out by us in Anaheim and it is the cutest little Japanese $1.50 store, but it carries everything and it's NOT junk.  I know our dollar stores tend to carry cheap or generally crappy looking items, but this store sells everything from men's neckties, to women's slipper socks, to a fully stocked electronics section, and the BEST assortment of school/office supplies for those who like to keep it colorful, and it's actually good quality--I tell everyone about it!  I have to force myself to stay away most days, and I think from now on I'm going to start going in carrying only a specific amount of cash.  If you haven't been, or if you are in need of anything, you should definitely try Daiso.  Just off the 5 at Euclid!

 

Vine is a new app that just surfaced, very similar to Instagram but instead of photos it's a feed for 6-second video clips.  There are so many times that I have wished for an app like this, and now that it's here I'm elated.  I know they still have a lot of kinks to iron out but its so fun to make little video clips and also to be saving these snippets of our life.  I smell a complication in the near future...

Foster the People. Everyone knows them for their overplayed, hipster-esque "Pumped Up Kicks" and for this song I had crossed them off my list, labeling them as annoying.  But lately I heard a few more of their songs and I actually have been enjoying them very much.  Great music for cleaning the house ;D

So that's our January, into February we go! Next weekend I am going to my friend Melissa's wedding (not my bridesmaid Melissa, a different one!).  I am secretly really excited because it's my first ever African-American wedding.... did I just say that?! Anyways, I can't wait to witness another beautiful day for some precious friends, and also experience a great dance party! :P  Posts to come!

Endless Summer

I feel like every day there is something new happening and something to be terribly excited about! My birthday is only 5 days away, and our wedding is only a month out! Not to mention all the other little excitements happening in my friends' lives, like Kacie and Todd's new little Gemma, or Kasey and Sam's recent wedding, or Andy and Lauren's engagement, and I can't forget that Deb and Rachel (and many of my other close friends) are leaving today to CHINA!  Tomorrow is my Parents' 30th wedding anniversary (WOW) and I also get to go to my first Padre's game of the season (late.. I know..but better late than never)!  I hope it doesn't end here :]

If Happy-Ever-After's Did Exist..

As soon as you get engaged people rush to congratulate you and tell you what a happy and romantic time "engagement" is--let me tell you, that is not true.  Maybe if you have a year and a half engagement period and plenty of time to sit around it might be a bit less stressful, but overall engagement is hard.  Trying to please everyone with your decisions, trying to have the wedding that you actually want, trying to stay out of debt and still have a beautiful day, on top of all the legalism involved in maintaining your current "dating" relationship, it's just not very fun.  But there is a silver lining.

On another level, being engaged is like having something small and wonderful happen to you every single day.  I can't speak for everyone else, but for me it usually hits just before I fall asleep, or sometimes first thing when I wake up.  That one tingling little moment where I remember that in x amount of days I will be married to my best friend, forever, in our own little place, free to do whatever we want, (and away from the evils of wedding planning).  That is the moment that makes all the stress worth it!

"Jenny and me was like peas and carrots"

This past Sunday was James and my official 1-year anniversary, despite any of our other milestones in between.  This is actually pretty startling to most people's ears, but that's when we can tell our real friends from our judgmental friends.  It boils my blood every time I hear people imposing their own opinions on what is an acceptable period of time to be together before getting married.  Especially from our "Christian" peers.  Every day I have customers telling me that we need to just live together for a year before we decide if this is what's right for us, or that we are just too young to know what we want.  Don't even get me started on that bit!  But if I may, I would like to clarify that we have known since day 10 that we wanted to get married, and we have been dating "in light of" that the entire time.  We have been extremely careful with our physical and emotional boundaries, we have always been planning and budgeting for our future, and we have been staying in the Word and trusting God to confirm our timing, as opposed to those around us.

[diary snippet from last year]

While I get the pleasure of being James' first girlfriend, many people know I have had other relationships in the past.  If there's anything to be gained from them, it's knowing what I want and don't want, but more importantly knowing what I deserve.  James is the most amazing guy I have ever met, and he is perfect to me.  It's so crazy when you find that one person in life that fits you like a glove; who isn't your twin but who compliments your personality and meets you on your own "level."  I know so many of my friends who could have never dated James, but for me he's exactly what I needed.  We have some of the funniest, most honest conversations I think I've ever had, we are naturally inclined to such similar thought processes (to the extent that he has become my personal mind-sperlunker), we have the same goals and direction for our future, and we seriously love every minute we have together.  In the past I've always noticed that too much time together eventually makes you snippy and irritable, but I don't think we've ever experienced that.  We would tell you it's because of our foundation in the Word and our commitment to being renewed by it, but I also think we are just two peas in a pod.

So Sunday was spent doing things we wanted to do and needed to do--mostly, rest.  We went to church, had lunch with a group of our friends, then headed to downtown Disney to take in the beautiful afternoon and leave with a cute build-a-bear we conveniently named Jaycub (like Jacob, but bear style).    We had a delicious date night to Kobe's Japanese Steakhouse (if you haven't been, it's a really cool restaurant much like Benihana's where they cook your food right in front of you) and then loaded up on sweets and snacks before catching the solar eclipse and watching Avatar in-home-movie-theater style.  Nothing too fancy, but no regrets here.

I really really love my best friend.  I'm sad when I see other couples who aren't as lucky as us, or when people take each other for granted.  I'm so glad that life took us both on our own journey to get us to this place where we are now, together.  We're blessed, to say the least..

In All My Dreams It's Never Quite As It Seems

So, today I bought my first full-year planner, thanks to Debbie.  (Debbie, my new roommate!)  I started filling it out with my upcoming plans for the month, and maybe February and March, but when I ran out of immediate events I started doing the usual fill in of all my family and friend birthdays that I must remember, along with anniversaries, memorable observation days, and anything else that I can already peg long-term.  Then something bizarre happened... I got sick to my stomach and really sad and uncomfortable doing it.  I flipped to October 24th, to write in "Dad's 61st!", but with trembling hands.  I flipped to July to fill in for my mom's birthday as well, and I accidentally, absent-mindedly wrote "Mom's 23rd!"...err...56th?  I had the most uneasy feeling about it and I think it was because I am scared they won't make it.  This doesn't make any rational sense, because they are both fairly healthy, but I had the worst pit in my stomach thinking that they would be dead and that these birthday prophecies would not come true.  Don't even get me started on anniversaries and such...

I have only felt this feeling one other time that I can remember...kind of.  I relate it to the feeling I have when I'm driving.  I have only ever been in two car "accidents," one of which was more of a fender bender and the other was the legitimate accident that wrecked my baby from behind.  I have never been T-boned and I have never totaled my car, but for some reason I feel like it's imminent.  It's coming.  I feel it when I pull up to intersections and when I turn left on a left-turn-yields.  I feel it when I'm pulling out of parking spaces and I feel it when I drive through small side streets.  With the rate of drunk driving and now text-driving I am scared at how much of a real possibility this is, unlike the aforementioned family-birthday-fears.  It's not the normal nervousness that people feel when driving in risky situations, it is like I-know-this-is-going-to-happen-to-me-one-day.  Sometimes it's enough to keep me inside for the day; it gets overwhelming.  A more spiritual person might say that's a guardian angel telling me not to drive...but that's not necessarily the kind of thing I buy into.  God has protected me thus far, but I know plenty of well-meaning innocent Christian lives that have been taken by car crash and I don't feel any safety aside from the fact that I know where I'm going after the pain is over.  I realize this is incredibly morbid, but if I'm spending the night inside feeling bad about it I thought I'd at least vent online.  Lol.

Cheers...DNR!