A Year in RETROspect...

New Year's morning, Switzerland.
January
I woke up shivering with a tweaked neck after spending the night sleeping in the car and eating way too much Lindt chocolate on New Year's Eve in Switzerland. Wendy had burnt the asparagus risotto the night before and left it in its charcoaled state in the car and it smelt like carbon and rotting produce. I thought, "So welcome 2005, you better be one heck of a good year."

In my journal, I asked God for a year of the following: Relaxation. Simplicity. Humility. Exploration. Purposes. Choices. Silence. Acceptance. Happiness. Delight. Relationships.

Eleanor Roosevelt's quote, "People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built" was on my mind.

I listed my needs as being: early morning rituals with myself and God, reconnecting with God, to feed my soul with silence, to have friendships where love is passed and received, spiritual growth, moments of creativity and originality, and to create beauty and order in my life.

I slowly discovered my deep appreciation and love for the experience of teaching. Sunday mornings were the declared the official Downtown Coffee Heaven Mornings. Joy, Wendy, Linsey, and I would walk to Old Town, order our traditional Caramel Macchiatos and raspberry pastries and watch the snow fall outside. We always bumped into other Americans and British and this was one special perk.

February

Weekend of snowboarding in the Austrian Alps and met a kindred spirit who ran the adorably cozy B&B where we stayed. Bode Miller, hailing from good ol'Montana, won the skiing championships! Joy and I had the best "get dolled up and get out" evening at Jana Koubkova's jazz concert at U Stare Pani, our favorite Jazz club.

My favorite verse of the month was: "In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength." Isaiah 30:15

My favorite quote was: "You were born to be who you really are. You were created for that purpose and the way you behave is how you portray what you have inside." Israel Wagner Cilio, who just happens to be a SM in Prague this year.

Robert hacked all of my hair off to my dismay. Thanks for the Euro look, Robert.

March

By far the highlight of March was Matt and Lucas coming to Praha for Spring Break! Praha-Beroun-Karlovy Vary-Kutna Hora. We tripped and spa-ed it up! Lots of climbing Petrin and Letna Hills, coffee, pub night in Beroun with Lucas' crazy relatives, Cuban Jazz Night, more coffee, Easter Festival, sword fights, Honey Cake, spa treatment....it was ever so memorable, boys.

After they left, I was hit hard by feelings of spring fever, homesickness, etc...

I was encouraged my this quote: "Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost."

I journaled, "I was reminded that I need to look within myself everyday and ask if I'm doing everything for God because that's all that really matters. The sun is streaming in and awakening my energy to go for a run and to play another game of basketball with the girls. This spring weather has made my spirits lift and be content with my place in Prague for these next 3 months. Today, I feel at peace with my work and inspired to do more and be more for these students..."

April

My favorite quote, "You must create a circle of love and giving where love is passed on from person to person" as my workload increased enormously.

Hiking from Karlstejn to Lake Amerika. My hair in its awful "mullet" stage.

May

I spent many hours painting in the Francouzska Rose Gardens where I met some incredible Czech and German women who lived through WWII in Berlin and Prague. I bought gelato and people-watched. I ran Prague's 8K with Brenda and Wendy.

June

The beautiful month of closure and sealing friendships. Graduation and Mom and Jen arriving in Prague--by far some of the sweetest memories to close my year abroad with.

July

Road-trippin' Europe with my Mom and sis! Oh, the many hours we were lost...

Soft-boiled egg, ewwww....B&B in Austria

Flew first class from Vienna, Austria to JFK NYC. Feels good to be a gangsta...

First High Priority Stops when I arrived home--Starbucks for a Venti Chai Frappucino and Taco Bell.

August

The Rubicon with the Pahls and the Yaegers and then my first and last job as a Hotel Maid! "Welcome back to America, Jessica!"

September

My 22nd birthday, more rockclimbing, and back to school.

October

Unforgettable rockclimbing weekend in Bend when Lauralen's car got stolen at the Super 8 and we lost over $5000 worth of belongings to a Meth addict.

November

The stress of school and the reward of a weekend in wine country and San Francisco with Randy's family.

(Don't have pictures yet)

December

Completion of one of my longest and most draining quarters of my college career. Cassie moved to Portland.

Seven

Seven things to do before I die:
1. Own a bookstore with an adjacent coffee shop
2. Become fluent in German and Italian
3. Travel to Bali, Thailand and East Timor on the same trip
4. Work for a NGO setting up health clinics in developing countries
5. Live in another country for a year or longer
6. Climb Mt. Whitney
7. Take a cross-country rockclimbing roadtrip one summer

Seven things I can (or will) not do:
1. Smoke
2. Be afraid to speak up when I think someone is being abused or harmed
3. Compromise my standards
4. Listen to Elton John and like it
5. Vote for Hilary Clinton
6. Karaoke
7. Gain the world and lose my soul

Seven things I say most often:
1. I hate being a poor college student. (to my parents regularly)
2. You're kidding me?! (to everyone)
3. So I've locked myself out again...(to the locksmith)
4. So I've been thinking...(to my parents--they hate this one and fear that it's regarding me dropping out of college)
5. Well, I better let you go... (to John)
6. Let's DO it! (to everyone)
7. My advisor is driving me mad! (to anyone within earshot at least once a week)

Seven books (or series) I love (these aren't necessarily my top 7, but they are 7 I love):
1. Gift From the Sea, Anne Morrow Lindbergh
2. The Purpose-Driven Life, Rick Warren
3. The Kite-Runner, can't remember the author's name
4. Simple Abundance, Sarah Ban Breathnach
5 The Life You've Always Wanted, John Ortberg
6. Travels with Myself and Another, Martha Gellhorn
7. I'm a Stranger Here Myself, Bill Bryson

Seven movies I can watch over and over again:
1. Any of the old James Bond movies with Sean Connery
2. Amelie
3. You've Got Mail (I love Meg Ryan in this movie!)
4. The Godfather I and II
5. Blue Crush (ha!)
6. Under the Tuscan Sun
7. Casablanca

Seven CDs that you could listen to over and over again without skipping any tracks.
1. A Day Without Rain, Enya
2. Destination: Beautiful, Mae
3. Waking Ashland's new album
4. The Final Straw, Snow Patrol
5. Farewell to the Familiar, Slow Coming Day
6. First Sessions, Norah Jones
7. Surfacing, Sarah McLachlan

December Days

Christkindlmarkt! (Christmas market) December, 2004

Hallstatt, Austria. December, 2004

Prague, December 2004

one of those evenings...

Sometimes we are best described by the things we love:
Picnics, sweet peas, vintage jewelry, Venetian glass, dinner parties, lemons, Gemutlichkeit, pink necklaces, quotes, starry skies, snowy mountains reflecting pink sunsets, snowboarding, outdoor concerts, Suisse Mocha, Arcangelo Corelli, Vivaldi, used bookstores, antique stores, nutmeg, peach pie, sandals, French manicures, fireplaces, cashmere, smores, camping, bonfires, Yosemite, rockclimbing,white lights, tea lights, antique fabrics, gardens, Bruschetta, crepe and fondue parties, Amalfi, Italy, tea talks and art walks, holding hands, Greek architecture, olives, French pastries, praying, running, flying, waterfalls, Newsweek, political speculating, duvets, bamboo, ginger, Latin American music, scarves, the beach in the early morning, daffodils, mangoes and pineapple, art on the floor, road trips, skylights, pictures, journals, key lime pie



Venice, Italy. July.2005


Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic. November.2004

Cesky Krumlov

I lit candles, made Tazo Chai tea, and declared it art on the floor night. Sore from an afternoon of snowboarding icy runs and lifting weights at the gym yesterday, I needed a good reason to sprawl in the living room and scatter my paints and brushes. I painted some vintage postcards for friends and began to create my line of "summer postcards". Can you tell I'm craving the sun? I'm so cold that I'm still wearing my beanie that I wore snowboarding .

College Place is so awfully quiet right now. The masses have fled this holy suburb and left the cold and fog behind. Other than dinner with Jen and Corey the other evening, my social life has diminished into complacent solitude. I've finished reading "Gift From the Sea" by my newly-found heroine, Anne Morrow Lindbergh and have been scribbling excerpt upon excerpt into my journal. This is one insightful book that stirred my soul immensely and I would call it a book for a lifetime. You will never be too old or too young to read this amazing work.

I really miss my digital camera these days and am holding out for the compensation from the court. Yes, they caught the unruly crook who stole Lauralen's car and so many of our prized possessions. He has to have some drug bounty looted somewhere that can be promptly sent to us in a big fat envelope entitled "Reimbursement for your unnecessary suffering". I check the mailbox everyday.

Vivace: Italian for lively.

Merry CHRISTmas season with wishes for an infusion of liveliness in all that you do.

Currently listening to: Snow Patrol's Final Straw Album

The Grand Opening of my Thoughts

Amalfi Coast, Italy *** December, 2004

A year ago I was finishing up classes and getting ready to test my students before Christmas break. I was packing my backpack and preparing for an Italian holiday that would consist of lots of backseat time reading Frank Peretti, stretching my four tomatoes and penne for as many meals as I could, and frigid cold camping with my Nalgene as an excellent heated water bottle on my feet.
Here are my archived thoughts upon returning from this unforgettable holiday trip: http://www.jjmoore83.bravejournal.com/archive/01/3/2005
http://www.jjmoore83.bravejournal.com/archive/01/5/2005

So here it is a year later. I've returned to College Place and even though it doesn't have the same intriguing allure as my travels in Europe did, it is homey and it is cozy security. I'm not planning a whirlwind roadtrip, I'm just simply working in my fourth-floor blue office in the library for a few extra days before journeying home. I won't be riding the Alps at fantastic Hintertux and Finkenburg resorts this February. Rather, I will be riding the Walla Walla Valley's finest--Bluewood tomorrow and then Tahoe later this break. But it's good to be back!

Although, my heart feels torn between Prague and the States lately. I miss my agenda-free Sunday mornings in Praha when I would spend hours browsing design, travel, and fine cooking books overlooking Vaclavske Namesti where the tourists scurried around below. I would buy my favorite Caramel Macchiato and meander Parizka Street to the bridge near the park. I would stop by Golden Pralines and buy specialty Belgium chocolate to send home to my family and then justify taking a couple out for myself. These were weekend mornings of content when my journal was always in tote and so was my camera. Everything was worth being captured either by words or picture. I sought out interesting, intriguing strangers to strike up a spontaneous conversation with. I noted how the many different cultures of tourists converged there in Praha and what I respected and wanted to emulate from each of their cultures. On Sunday mornings, I felt like I met the entire world in the marketplace and I absolutely loved it.