Road Trips
- POSTED ON: Jun 12, 2011

     So here goes blog number two....yes I know, I really need to get this daily blog thing under control..daily Jess...daily. Alright I promise to try. Harder. So today....or tonight rather, I want to talk about road trips. Random I know, but I was thinking today what it is that relieves my stress, or what it is that makes me most happy when I just want to relax, and it's getting in my car and driving.

     I love love love taking road trips, with no destination in mind and no directions (ok I cheat a lil with my IPhone GPS) and just reaching a place that is unfamiliar and exploring. So a recent road trip Corrine and I took was this weekend when we drove to Pismo Beach and stuck our toes in the sand. We got up early, went to Starbucks and got green tea and fruit, and then just started driving. Corrine rolled down her window and stuck her hands out to watch the shadow her fingers cast upon the ground, and the colors the sky created on her palms as we drove through the hills. The air was fresh, we were listening to Mumford and Sons, and how nice it was to know that even though we weren't talking, that we were both really enjoying our settled thoughts and freedom of the open air and road.

     We got to the beach and walked to the beach to flick off our shoes and bury our toes in the white sand....the part that is cold after you've dug past the first few layers. Corrine took pictures with her fish eye camera and I read my book and listened to my ipod. It was the most relaxing and destressifying (<---- this is my new word) afternoon that we've had in a while. Corrine finishing school and me finishing my  college semester, so it was so nice to get away and have the waves take with them our stresses for the moment.

     There were swings in the distant and there was a little girl pushing her little brother until his feet reached the sky line and then he would giggle and scream for her to push him higher into the air. It reminded me of my dad for some reason, and how me and my lil brother and sister would fall asleep in the car and he; instead of waking us up to walk to bed, would carry each of us one by one to our rooms and tuck us in, as to not disturb our peace.

     So after three hours our meter on our car was out, so we walked back to our car, shoes in hand, sand invading everything we owned, and taking one last breath of the cold sea air. We decided to get some ice cream before heading back and then enjoyed the open road and all it's freedom for another two and half hours. It truly amazing the kinds of things you see when you leave your comfort zone of a familiar place and explore other towns. We passed through green pastures and herds of sheep and cows and horsies (yup I said horsies) and it was so beautiful to enjoy the country and imagine what swinging from tire swings in the back yards of the barn homes would be like for kids Corrine's age.

     Then it made me miss living in the country. I am such a country girl at heart, and although I adore the city, my mom listened to nothing but country when I was growing up and my dad was hard core rock and roll, so sometimes I just like listening to songs that talk about losing your dog and the cow jumping over the moon ;) So that was one of our awesome 'enjoying the great outdoors adventure' days and so I guess my question for you is what do you do to reset your mind and reground yourself? What makes your stresses melt away and what inspires you to be positive each day? Is it going to the beach every now and then and feeling the ground beneath your feet? Is it hiking up a mountain and enjoying the view from atop the world you know? I know for me, it is writing poetry, reading and listening to music, and sometimes just getting in my car and driving to places unknown and making them known for the day. So that was my blog for today, tonight, wha...

Being a mommy
- POSTED ON: Jun 01, 2011

     I'm sitting here looking at my first real blog about a day in my life and I don't know where to begin. I have so many things I'd like to talk about, but I want to talk about what it's like being a mommy first because it's the funnest thing for me to talk about (and yes funnest is now a word). Ok so I'm a mommy, if you already didn't know and I shared this with the You Tube world on Mother's Day because it's something I really wanted everyone to know about... and although some of the questions I've been getting are difficult for me to answer, it's definitely not something I'm ashamed of. There are definitely some questions I would love to address, but there are also some things I just won't answer for the sake of personal privacy...plus there are a few things Corrine and I don't want to talk about with anyone else other than each other.

     When I started You Tube, I already knew I wanted my personal life to be kept personal, so there was and there still is a lot I keep to myself or within my personal group of people I share my everything with. So let me begin with what it's like being a mommy to a teenage. A TEENAGER OMG!!! Now this is very challenging for me at times because I have to pick and choose my battles with her as she tends to want to change her appearance or name every other day, but it's also extremely rewarding because here I am with this amazing daughter who is far smarter than I ever was at her age, and she's funny and she's witty and eclectic, and she has these goals that I don't even think about as an adult.

     Every decision I make effects her in one way or another so I wanted the way in which I revealed her existence to be very organic and I wanted to make sure she was comfortable with who, what, when, where, and how it all happened. I especially want her to be comfortable being in front of the camera and it isn't something I want to push on her or force her to be a part of. So for those of you asking when she will do a video with me or a Q&A type video, please understand that it will happen, I just don't know when. There are a lot of topics she would like to talk about and that I would love to talk about because I know there are a lot of teenage parents out there and parents in general. I also know there are a lot of teens who feel lost, parents who feel lost, teen parents who feel lost.... and I was there. I know what it's like to struggle and hurt, I just had the added element of having a child that depended on me for everything in her world to be ok, and she still does.

     I was a teen mom. I am now a single parent. The details about the whereabouts or level of involvement of Corrine's father I choose not to talk about, but I will say that I am both mom and dad and that is just fine with me. When I had Corrine, my parents probably did the most amazing thing for me in that they did nothing for me, and they didn't help me with anything. No baby sitting, no diapers, no formula, no money, they literally sent me out in the world to take on the responsibility I chose to take on. Back then it seemed like the most horrible thing, but now I realize that it forced me to be stronger than I thought I was. I graduated from high school a year early (I earned a Presidential award and a scholarship! word up), it forced me to get my first job at seventeen, and it forced me to be an adult. So it is possible to go through hardships, no matter how big or small, no matter the situation, and come out of it alright, with a few bumps and bruises from the road trip that is life, but stronger none the less. So if someone asked me to describe myself in one word. First I'd say I can't do that because I'm a babbler, but then I'd say that I would describe myself as a fighter and an optimistic person. I fight for what I want in life, and I do so with the optimism that I will not fail because it isn't an option. Being a h...

COMEDY VIDEO: The Wrong Plane
- POSTED ON: May 22, 2011