xmaybesomedayx

I have unanswered prayers
I have trouble I wish wasn't there
And I have asked a thousand ways
That You would take my pain away
That You would take my pain away

I am trying to understand
How to walk this weary land
Make straight the paths that crookedly lie
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine

When my world is shaking
Heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave Your hands

When You walked upon the Earth
You healed the broken, lost, and hurt
I know You hate to see me cry
One day You will set all things right
Yea, one day You will set all things right

When my world is shaking
Heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave Your hands

Your hands
Your hands that shape the world
Are holding me, they hold me still
Your hands that shape the world
Are holding me, they hold me still

When my world is shaking
Heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave You when...

When my world is shaking
Heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave...
I never leave Your hands

On a cold, late autumn night in the quaint suburban town of Midlothian, Illinois, a 27 year old woman stayed up until 2:00 A.M. on a Thursday watching the Sex and the City movie.

I can't even stay up until midnight on most weekend nights.

J

Just when you think The Internet! couldn't get any more loser-y, you find this:

note_to_cat


J

OMG.

THERE WAS ALMOST JUST A LEGITIMATE OLD LADY FIST FIGHT AT WORK.

Seriously.

Old ladies were about to take swings before it was diffused.

What a bizarre week!!
J

Exhibit A:
Monday morning, 8:55 A.M.

I am sitting at my desk when a resident storms into my office and begins to yell at me.  Literally, yell. 
Reisdent: "There's no place for me to SIT out there!!"
Confused Jacki: *curious head tilt* "There are chair--"
Resident, cutting off Confused Jacki: "I'm here for my nine o'clock appointment.  It's 8:55, and there's no place for me to SIT."

I then escorted the resident into my co-workers office, where her appointment was.

Then, I went outside my office to snap this picture.  I sighed.  This is my life.



Not to mention, I'm pretty sure I saw one resident doing the Walk of Shame this morning.
Disgraceful.  Old people aren't allowed to have sex.

J

Livejournal, hello.

I had an interview today for a part time job with a women's gym.  It seems pretty positive, and I'm like, 80% sure they're going to offer me the job. 

I was very upfront with the owner, Darlene, about why I was looking for work.  This is just to help me pay for the wedding.  And if I NEEDED it, I would keep it past then to give us newlyweds a few extra bucks.

Everything was looking great until she laid this on me: she's looking for someone long term.  She doesn't want to hire me for a year.  She said the MINIMUM she'd like is two years.  So she asked me to do some "soul searching" on whether or not I'd be able to commit to that.

Here's the thing, uh, no.  I don't want a long-term second job.  I want some money so that I can frivolously buy things like customized cocktail napkins with our names and wedding date on them.

This lady was so, so nice.  And I don't want to take the job under false pretenses, saying that I'd stay for two years and then skidaddle after the wedding.

ARGH!!  I just don't know what to do.
J

Our Engagement Story

Thursday night started like most other Thursday nights. I have class that day, and made the trip to school straight from work. While I was toiling away in Biology class, Wes was at my parent's house asking their permission to marry me.

It was a beautiful night, and I suppose my professor wanted to leave as much as we all did. While I usually leave school between 8:00 and 8:15, I was blessed that day to be let out early at about 7:30. I was walking out with and politely chit-chatting with my lab partner when I got a text from Wes, asking if I wanted to hang out after school. I called him and let him know that I was out of school early, and started to try to plan a place to meet for the night.
As I was walking up to my car, I told him "Well, let's decide where we're meeting, because I'm about to get to my car."
"I KNOW you're about to get to your car."
It was then I looked up and saw Wes in the parking lot waiting for me. It was a nice surprise. But not completely uncommon - Wes has shown up at work before just to say hello and surprise me. He told me that he got a text from Aaron and Michelle, and they had a birthday gift for me. He said they talked about it, and it made more sense for them to give it to me that night instead of Friday, which was my 27th birthday. My best friend (and his sister) Kara have the same birthday, and so part of going to Aaron and Michelle's involved picking Kara up from church and taking her with us.

So I got into my car, and he in his, and we drove to church. We arrived and got out of our cars. Wes told me that I looked beautiful (which I certainly did NOT, I smelled like Biology lab and wasn't wearing any makeup) and handed me a bouquet of flowers. (Lillies, to be exact.) He held my hand and repeated a quote from our first date. (At the end of our first date, he said "So, if I don't at least TRY to kiss you, I think I'm going to drive my truck into the rock quarry or shoot myself in the face." LOL.)

As we were entering the church, he admitted that this visit had nothing to do with my birthday, and that we were not going to Aaron and Michelle's. We walked into the sanctuary, where Kara was behind the piano playing some music. Wes brought me to the front pew and asked me to sit down, and that he had written a song for me. He walked on stage, picked up the mic, and began singing me the sweetest song ever. (Who knew drummers could write songs?? Seriously.) I sat there listening to the lyrics, telling myself over and over that I had to LISTEN; not CRY. I repeated that in my head for awhile. ("Don't cry - listen. Don't cry - LISTEN!")

After the song, he came down from stage to me. He said a lot of amazing things that I won't share, unless you all want to throw up from mushyness. After that, he got on one knee, showed me this GORGEOUS ring, and asked me to marry him. To be honest, things all kind of blend together in my memory of that night, but I do remember the last words he said were "Jacqueline Sue Johnson, will you marry me?" I, of course, responded with an excited "YES!" and dropped to my knees myself to hug him. He held my shaking hand and put the ring on my finger, and we just hugged for a long time.

Kara was also video taping this. (And no, you can't see it.) So after that, I got to hug my best friend for awhile.

Then, Wes said he had one more song that he wanted to sing to me. This one wasn't one that he had written, but Love of a Lifetime by Firehouse. He had a lot of fun with it, and acted a little silly during it. I loved it!!

After the second performance, Wes told me he had a slide show prepared. We sat in the front pew and watched pictures of us scroll by to "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" by Aerosmith and "Thank You For Loving Me" by Bon Jovi. I had never heard that song before, but it pretty much makes me bawl whenever I hear it now. Ha.

After that, Wes asked me to join him at our church's alter. We prayed for our marriage, and pretty much gave it to God, praying that we would always keep Him first in our lives, our marriage, our family.

Next, Wes walked me to the church gym. All the lights were out, but there were LITERALLY about a hundred or more candles lighting the path to the gym, which was also marked out by rose petals on the floor. When we got to the gym, there were more candles and some more lighting effects. (We are now the proud owners of a small disco ball, for example. Ha.) Wes has prepared a CD full of my favorite songs and songs that had meaning to us, which was playing in the background. We sat down at a candlelit table and we ate chocolate pie and drank soda from champagne glasses.

There was also a small dance floor set up at the opposite end of the gym, where we danced to a few songs and just talked.

We made calls to our parents and immediate families, and then I began calling my close friends. We stayed in the gym talking for a while, and then headed home to our parents' houses for hugs and congratulations.

We spent the night at my apartment, recounting the weeks prior. Which apparently were filled with him lying to me in order to keep the secret!

The next day was my birthday. Wes had arranged for me to have the day off work by calling my boss without my knowledge. So, that day our first stop was to drop by work to show them my ring. :) From there, Wes had made us reservations at the Signature Room, which is on the 95th floor of the John Hancock Building. It was a beautiful clear day, and our view was phenomenal. It was very posh and romantic.

After that, we headed to my sister's office so that I could stop by and show her my ring. I didn't get to see her for too long, but at least I got to show her.

We went to the Thompson Center to kill some time. I found a nail shop and got my nails "did." It was the second manicure of my entire life, and I have to say I rather enjoyed it. I figured though, that if I was going to be showing people my hand all weekend, that my nails should at least be equal to the task.

We hopped in a cab after that and headed to the Cell, because Wes had gotten us some pretty awesome seats for the White Sox game. We sat through most of the game, in which my team lost 14-0. (Oh yeah, you read that right. 14-0.) It was the best "bad" game I've ever been to. Seriously, nothing was bringing ME down. Also, in the third inning, Wes had gotten us a Score Board message. ("Congratulations, Wes and Jacki!")

We left the game (when it was only 12-0) and headed home. We celebrated with Aaron and Michelle for awhile, and I actually ended up going to bed early. I was mentally EXHAUSTED.

....


This has been, hands down, the best weekend of my life. Everything about it was perfect, romantic, and wonderful. I'm thrilled beyond belief. I'm so excited to be Wes' wife and to start our lives together. He is without a doubt the man I am meant to marry. I feel like the luckiest girl on the planet.

Oh, and you wanted to see pictures of the ring, right?
Well, I'm always happy to oblige my readers.





J

There are 8 days left until my birthday.
Next Friday, I'll turn 27.
This officially qualifies me as ANCIENT.

Quote of the day:

"It's hard going to birthday parties for ugly kids."
-KJK

Danks is getting ROCKED right now.

I know it's only ST, but this is slightly discouraging coming against Cleveland.

J

I made a journal dedicated entirely to my weight loss efforts.  It's friends only, but it's here. 

hellojacki 

It's actually a really cute username, I think.  I may one day make that my day-to-day.
J

Valentine's Day 2009 was. awesome.

We had aquired a free stay at a Sheraton Hotel, and we chose the one downtown on Water Street. (That's just a few blocks from Navy Pier.) From the moment we walked in, I was just floored at how beautiful this place was. I think I took about ten pictures of the lobby alone! We were also complimentary upgraded from our standard room to the "Illinois Suite." Which was sweet. (Pun intended.) The thing was huge! We had our bedroom which had a mini bar, a couch, our bed, a desk, and a bahtroom. Then, we had the suite, which had a dining room table which seated six, a crendenza, another couch, two reclining chairs, another tv, another bathroom, and another side room with a sink and coffee maker (kind of a kitchen thingie.) Holy moly was it huge. (PICTURES TO FOLLOW!) Oh, and our view. Our view, friends! We had a great view of not only the lake, but the city. Just awesome.

After we checked in we used our repective showers and got ready to hit the town. It was unseasonably warm, and by that I mean not bitterly cold, so walking around the city wasn't terrible. It was actually enjoyable. We walked a long way down the mag mile, just kind of taking in the lights and sights. We even saw some fireworks! And not the Navy Pier ones, but just some random ones near the river. They were all pink and red and purple... it was really sweet. After awhile we returned to our hotel and ordered in our dinner from Lou Manoti's. (Mmmm stuffed spinach bread!) We watched a little bit of the Hawks game. Wes also had bought me some earrings. They are delicate and perfect, something I would have picked out for myself. I've literally worn them every day since. I love them.

Most of the night, though, was spent with Wes on the couch in our bedroom, looking out our window into the lit-up city. We drank a lot of mixed drinks (Jack & Cokes and Malibu & Pineapple Juice, respectively.) and just talked all night. About nothing, and everything. Laughing alot. I swear, that boy's my best friend.

Sigh.
Best Valentine's Day I've ever had. Ever. For real.

My boyfriend is a f***in' rock star.

If I could say one thing to my new President, I'd keep it simple: "Please remember, Sir, that you are not the one with all the answers, only a servent of the One who does."

I'm excited about our new leadership, and consider myself lucky to have watched history with my own eyes. I hope that everyone remembers amist this very proud moment in our country's history who REALLY runs the show.

"Who holds your freedom?
Who holds your liberty?
Who holds your freedom? Jesus Christ!"

I don't know why I keep playing these word games online when I OBVIOUSLY suck at them.

Because since the introduction of Flickr, my livejournal has been so deprived of my hedonism.

I AM ON TEH INTRANETS!!!1!!

My "new" 1996 Chevy Cavalier.

Check out the "bad ass" decals and tinted windows.

Now, it just needs a name...
J