What's Up With Jessica?: Day two!

Sunday, January 7, 2007

Day two!

Good evening! This is my continuation from my blog earlier today. But before I say anything else I just want to say that day two with my new host family was incredible busy fun! So who is it that I am staying with for the next 5 weeks? Mike, Ellen, their daughter Rosie, and two dogs, Bruno and Bunkers (big sweethearts!). I also have a wonderful roommate from our cast from China. Her name is Lijing or Sandra for short. Sandra is almost 25 and the last two days we have chatted up a storm about each other and what our likes and dislikes are and what our similarities and differences are as well. Sandra currently works for a consulting firm in Shanghai, China and hopes to one day work with a non-profit organization. She has a very positive personality and I'm so glad to have her as my first roommate of the semester! So a little about our new family... For Mike and Ellen, Sandra and I are the 23 and 24 students to ever stay with their family. They have been hosting since 1999 (I think...I need to double check on that) and have had people from all over the world stay with them. They have a daughter, Rosie, who just turned 7 today! And like I said in the beginning...wow! What a day!

Sandra and I got to help out with the party, themed like a movie premiere. Each child-there were about 10- came dressed up as a movie star and were greeted on the "red carpet" by the reporters (Sandra and I). The children were then escorted to the basement which was decorated like a movie theater with a big screen and even a concession stand! Upstairs the kids got their faces painted and ate lots and lots of candy! All in all is was a fantastic party. As the kids left, the adults arrived from about 4-7:30pm. This group of people were all of the family including; aunts and uncles and grandma and grandpa. We had a very yummy dinner (and very homey too) brats, hot dogs, burgers, chips and beans! I was so full after that I could hardly eat my really yummy birthday cupcake! After dinner and after all the guests left for the evening, Sandra, Mom, Rosie, and I played a game of Slap Jack. Sandra won the first round (beginners luck!) and I won the second! It was a lot of fun and I haven't had such a great laugh like we did last night and tonight in a very long time. It was truly a wonderful day. We live in the suburbs of Denver and I feel very at home. It's quiet here but not too quiet and the weather is very similar-except that they (Denver) have all of the snow that should be in Wisconsin! The surrounding also seem very much like Wisconsin right now except for one major thing...Wisconsin doesn't have mountains!!! And wow are they beautiful with all the snow around them!!! Ok well I'm going to head off to bed for now. Have a great night!

This is Saturday, January 6th, 2007

This is Sunday, January 7th, 2007

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: It looks and sounds like a great start. The picture buckets are really neat. Of course, I cried the entire reading and music. Angel is just fine. Love you MOM; January 8, 2007 at 7:58 AM
Gaby said...: Wow, thanks for sharing the pictures, they are wonderful. I am so glad you are so happy. I love to read all about your adventures!
Sending you a big big hug,
Love you,
Gaby; January 8, 2007 at 9:43 AM
Gaby said...: Hola!
Check your e-mail.
Hugs,
Gaby; January 8, 2007 at 12:25 PM
Unknown said...: Jessica! I love your blog! How did you do this!?! Is this all from a laptop? And the photos! Wow! It is going to be so fun to keep up with you while you are on your journey. Will you be able to keep this forever and ever like a scrapbook??

When I read your bio, I cried. When I saw the pictures, I cried. When I heard the song I cried. When I read your mom's note, I cried. What a wonderful experience you will have!! And it looks like we are all going to be crying alot like last semester when we would get e-mail updates from BecBec's and Ralfito & Maru's daughters! :-)

Each host familiy and roommate will be so special for you-- each very different-- by the end of the trip, you could make like a quilt out of the memories from each stop along the way. I did PR for Cast D so I did not get to travel with the cast much.... but Gaby was one of my special roommates and I will never forget her ..... but which city was that??? Maybe somewhere in Mexico!?!

And seriously, when you have a chance, I really want to know how you did all of this! This is so cool! You must be a whiz on the computer!!

Absorb as much as you can from your fellow cast members, host families, the cities and all of the people that you meet along the way! And then you can go back, share what you learned with your community, and help make this world an even better place to live-- one person at a time!

XXOO Cindy Walton; January 8, 2007 at 2:19 PM

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Tour Schedule

North America Denver, Colorado, USA (orientation) 6 January – 5 February Farmington, New Mexico, USA 5 February – 12 February Tucson, Arizona, USA 12 February – 19 February Dallas, Texas, USA - 19 February – 26 February Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA - 26 February – 5 March New Orleans, Louisiana, USA 5 March – 12 March Nashville, Tennessee, USA 12 March – 19 March Greater Valley, Georgia (Alabama), USA 19 March – 26 March Venice, Florida, USA 26 March – 2 April Europe Dates Antwerp, Belgium 2 April – 9 April Utrecht, The Netherlands 9 April – 16 April Leipzig, Germany 16 April – 23 April Bremen, Germany 23 April – 30 April Gothenburg, Sweden 30 April – 7 May Copenhagen, Denmark 7 May – 13 May Asia Dates Thailand, Bangkok weeks 1, 2 & 4 Chaing Mai week 3 14 May – 11 June

A Thank You

Thank you to the following people who have helped me to reach my goal, emotionally and monetarily, to travel with Up With People. I hope it to be a life changing experience that will give back not only to me but to others for years to come. I can't thank you all enough! My mom, I love you so much! Gabriela Moersfelder and Family, you are truely a great friend and my Guardian Angel in disguise! Mom and Gabriela, without your strength and motivation I wouldn't have gotten this far. Thank you to my friends at Applebee's who were willing to volunteer their time to help fundraise! Mr. and Mrs. Bryant of Century Fence in Waukesha and Roy at Applebee's- for the most generous and touching tip a server at Applebee's could get; you made my day. More donations that made this all possible: My sister- for having connections, American Legion 375, The Schmidt Family of Mukwonago, Mrs. Kuehl's 3rd Grade Class and everyone else that helped in the coin drive at Section Elementary in Mukwonago, Eddie Reinke, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Wisconsin including the agents that supported me during my raffle, Kinex Medical in Waukesha with the help of my roommate Patty, Carol Alex, Mary Kosalos and Grace Magnus, Pick 'n' Save in Mukwonago and West Allis, Wisconsin, Cathy Walters and Family, The Johnson Family, Bob Stigsell, Janet Curtis, Ernest Patrick III, Ralf Hollmann and Maru Medina, The Burmeister Family, Raffle Sponsers: Country Inn and Suites of Brookfield, Great Frame Up in Brookfield, Panera Bread in Brookfield, Starbucks in Brookfield, Gooden's Sporting Goods in Mukwonago, Antigua Real in Mukwonago, Marcus Movie Theatres, Outback Steak House, And of course, Up With People! I apologize if I have forgotten anyone as there are many to thank. Shoot me an email if I left you out and I'd be happy to add you!