Sneaking Out

Ellie called Jorja this morning and asked if she could come to the school right then to help with teacher appreciation day. Jorja hurried down there as quick as she could then went to breakfast with Kelsey afterwards. Elections for student government are going on right now. The paperwork to run is due on Sunday. I am soooo glad Jorja doesn't have to do that! Jorja's friend Alex is running for junior class historian. They take pictures. She sent Jorja this picture she took for the yearbook. (Alex is really good!) This is from the pep rally at the beginning of they year.

Aysha, Annie, Eden, Kelsey, Seurette, Chloe, Jorja, Jordan, Joe, Johnny, Luke, Marshall, LJ

 Jorja and Kelsey

 Jorja being a weirdo

 Bear smelling the flowers Scoop and Cori gave me for Mother's Day

Jorja worked tonight. She closed. It took her longer to get home than usual because when she went outside someone had spread trash all over the parking lot. It took her about thirty minutes to clean up. That's annoying. We were anxious to have her home because we planned to go night swimming! The pool is ready to use now and we wanted everyone to be there for the first time of the year. Stockton couldn't be there of course. We ended up getting in the pool about midnight. It was so fun! We swam for just over an hour. Jorja and Preston were crazy. They kept being dolphins and spitting the water at each other dolphin style. They would laugh and laugh. Mike had the pool so warm! I think it was 98 degrees. It was perfect!

We got inside a little after 1:00 in the morning. We started getting everyone ready for bed, but we were all pretty wide awake. I got Preston settled. He has been sleeping in Jorja's room for the last month or so. I asked him if it was because Maysen's bed was cozy. He said it was because Jorja was there. So sweet! (We have now made the guest room Maysen's room. She wanted her own space after having her own room at college for four years. I agreed that that was a good idea.) I went out to hurry Jorja along and she was by her phone. Right before we got in the pool she noticed a message from Conner. Just a how are you message. She responded so good! How are you? She looked at her phone after swimming and saw that he had said something So good! We need to hang. It is now after one in the morning and Jorja wrote something like Yes we do, I miss you! I get my work schedule next week. She was surprised because he responded right away and said Wanna sneak out? I'm just driving around. Hahaha So, when I went to hurry Jorja to bed, she showed me Conner's message. For some reason I thought it was hilarious. I know it doesn't make any sense. I should have been livid. I wasn't. I just thought it was really funny. I looked at Jorja and said, "Well, what do you want to do?" I think she was a bit confused because I get so angry if she isn't home by 12. She said she would like to see him. I told her it was okay as long as he knew she wasn't sneaking out. She also had other rules she would need to abide by. Now I regret not saying that she could go if Conner would pick her up at the door. That would have been hilarious! Anyway, Jorja wrote back that her parents said it was okay and asked if that took the fun out of it. Haha. Anyway, Conner picked up Jorja around 1:30 in the morning. I forgot that there is a call ahead order in place after 12. So, the guard had to call Mike in order for Conner to get in. If they had been trying to sneak out, I wonder how that would have gone! Haha Anyway, I got out my sewing and worked on Kaylee's stocking. Jorja kept me updated on where they were. Jorja hasn't seen Conner since he left on his mission, so October was the last time she had seen him. He was sent home early because of the fun coronavirus. They caught up with each other and talked until almost four in the morning. Conner showed her pictures from his mission. He also showed her some pictures he found in his camera role. These are from Jorja's sophomore year and Conner's senior year, when they became good friends. He sent them to Jorja which she was so happy about. She had been disappointed that she didn't have any good pictures of the two of them from that time.

Conner & Jorja

They took a selfie in our driveway when Conner dropped Jorja off. Jorja and I then talked for about thirty more minutes before we were both exhausted and ready for bed. I was so proud of Jorja for showing me that message. I know I surprised her by letting her see Conner this late. I talked to her about how she actually has more freedom when she lets me know what is going on. I'm okay with a lot of things if I understand the situation. Also, I made sure she knew this was an unusual situation and not to plan on other rondevuets like this in the future.

Conner & Jorja

Onward

We helped Jorja film a video for her election today. Jorja got permission from the owner to climb out the Chick-Fil-A window yesterday. Haha - glad he was on board with it. Chick-Fil-A has been pretty slow, until today. Jorja went through first and ordered. Her friend Ben took the order and made me laugh. Especially when he said, "Does my hair look good? Wait a minute, it's me, of course it looks good." Hahaha. That isn't in the video, but I laughed and laughed. Once Jorja ordered we went back out and Jorja gave her sweatshirt for Mike to try on. We then waited until the line was gone. We actually had to go through a couple of times. We thought the line was gone, but then someone would come. Anyways, we finally got it and the video turned out so cute. Haha. Jorja makes me laugh. Mike and I left her there because she, once again, worked today.

Pretty rainbow driving home

Mike and I have been closing up the church for the last two weeks. We only had to kick someone out one time. A teenage boy and girl were in there eating food. I guess there are not many places to date right now. I brought Rachael McHenry's missionary plaque so we could get it hung up. Thomas Mogensen's missionary plaque was gone. He must have come home. He was scheduled to finish his mission in April, so that's not too early. I took this picture and sent it to Becky to show her how Isaac is in first place now. Haha Stockton is also moving up in the rankings.

 Rachael's plaque

I sent these pictures to Rachael's mom to show her the plaque was up, even though she won't be able to see it for awhile. I'm still waiting for Ian Valentine's information and Darby's picture before I can do theirs!

We watched Onward today as a family down in the movie room. Maysen has been looking forward to that movie for a long time. She loved it. Yay! During the movie Jorja leaned over to me and said, "Conner's coming home from his mission." Oh wow. I guess he is being sent home because he has asthma. That's got to be hard. So many missionaries are being sent home right now. Weird how quickly the world changed.

Not Going Blind

We had Jorja's huge eye appointment today. I was so nervous. Things went better than I imagined. The office was great. The tests were varied and kind of crazy. I think Jorja has on 3D glasses in the picture below. They did more OCT tests, which takes pictures of the back of her eye. We had planned on spending the entire day at the doctor's office, meeting with specialists. Luckily that is not what happened. Dr. Seay met with Jorja and did several more tests, but she told us good, good news. Jorja's nerves aren't swollen and they aren't pressing on her brain. Her nerves are thin and kind of twisted, which is causing her migraines. So her struggle reading because the words get kind of fuzzy and move around a bit and her headaches are actually migraines. Never been SO HAPPY to be told she has migraines! They said she is at NO RISK to lose her vision. I'm not sure how the test results went from swollen nerves to thin and twisted nerves, but I'm happy she won't be blind. I had been so scared. How would I even prepare her for that? Would she need to learn braille? Do we practice with blind folds and teach her how to navigate? Would she need a seeing eye dog? What the heck do we do?

Eye technician and Jorja

Jorja and I spent the rest of the school day together and it was glorious. We went out to eat at OHP went shopping at Fashion Place Mall. We got home around the time school was getting out with light hearts. Jorja took a nap when she got home and then spent some time writing Conner a note and putting a few things together for him. He leaves for the MTC tomorrow, but Jorja was able to come by and say goodbye again tonight.

Jorja

 Conner & Jorja

 This must be the picture Jorja liked best because she put filters on it

 Conner's sister Sophie

 Jorja & Sophie

Mike and Preston went shopping to get some last minute things for Preston's costume. He is going to be Luigi from Luigi's haunted mansion. They brought me back this pez. Candy corn flavor? Not my favorite...but still, it's pez.

 Preston's costume so far

Okay. Let's talk about the World Series. That game was CRAZY! My brothers and I texted through it non-stop, which was pretty fun. We could not believe when Turner was called out at first on an interference call. Worst call in the history of calls! I snapped a picture of Martinez getting thrown out for arguing over that call. He was MAD. He had a right to be, that call was awful. It could have changed the outcome of the entire series. Luckily Rendon hit a two run homerun right after. Should have been a three run homerun though. Anyway, that seemed to light a fire under the National and they won! Game seven will be tomorrow! Mike called up Mattress Mack and he followed through on his promise to GIVE Mike two tickets to the World Series! He told him he would leave the tickets for him at Will Call. How awesome is that! Mike didn't want to take me though. He picked Blake. Fine, choose your son over your sister. Haha. Just kidding. So excited for them!!!

Jorja and another PLT video

Red Ribbon

Conner had his mission farewell today. Jorja said he did great. She was grumpy when she came home and I wondered what the heck happened. Mike said she was just sad because he is leaving. Turns out that was the case and she became super happy after awhile. Jorja went to the farewell with Bode and Kelsey. I'm glad she had people to go with, she gets really nervous going to things alone.

Conner & Jorja

 Kelsey and Jorja making fun of Bode's bicep

Game five of the World Series happened today. The Nats lost. They lost all three games at home. That's disappointing. The Astros now lead the series 3-2. Hopefully things will go better next week! I did get a lot of Mina's stocking done during the World Series. Almost finished, but there are sooo many French knots. It is beautiful though. I am very happy with it.

Jorja walked by while I was texting Rachel. I snapped this picture of her. I love it when Jorja wears this shirt. It makes me laugh. Rachel gave it to her years ago.

Jorja

Jorja is in PLT (peer leadership team) and LOVES it! They were supposed to post about the different events going on for red ribbon week. Jorja, of course, has to be a wacko about it. Haha. I love her. She makes me laugh!

Preston and Jorja during scripture study

 Jorja

Prayer Duck

Maysen sent me this screenshot. She said, "Still nervous about marketing project due tonight but less nervous after seeing this." She has a super long research paper that is a group project. How nice of this kid to recognize Maysen's hard work. Maysen said, "I felt like the weakest link and doubted myself. Glad I could contribute and wasn't looked down on." Most of the people in her class are marketing majors. Maysen is an English and Psychology major. They did the research and she wrote it up. I don't think Maysen realizes how much most people hate writing.

Jorja got to hangout with Conner for a few hours and came back so happy. She said they talked non-stop and it wasn't weird at all. She was worried because they hadn't really seen each other in awhile. She loved every second of being with him, but when we talked about it after she started tearing up. She says she was reminded how much she misses him, and he is going to leave on his mission in three weeks. She was basically useless the rest of the day though. She was going to get her room cleaned, but couldn't stop shaking after being with Conner. Haha. What a Porge. I love her.

In cuteness news....Preston is adorable. Why did he want to pray with a duck on his head? I don't know. He makes me laugh.

Preston

Shoe Clerk

These were some questions that were handed out for the yearbook. Jorja never even turned hers in last year. This time she answered the awkward door step question. "He asked for a goodnight kiss, I gave him a goodnight fist bump." Hahaha. True story. I love her.

Jorja asked if she could go with Ben to Chick-Fil-A after school. She wanted to order a chicken mini platter for breakfast tomorrow. Ben was ordering one too. They get 25% off because they work there, so that's nice. I told Jorja it would be okay to go as long as she would go shopping with me after. She took forever getting home and I was annoyed with her. I was worried she would rush off to the game and I would be stuck getting last minute homecoming stuff. I absolutely hate shopping.

Jorja & Ben

We had to pick up a few things at Target and were also hoping by some miracle they would have red heals. They had perfect ones, except they weren't in Jorja's size. We had them call other stores, but no one had her size. Sad. While we were at Target Jorja got a phone call that made her sad. I won't go into details, she just felt bad after it. She wanted to just leave and check JCPenneys for heals. We are in the store for two seconds and I've lost Jorja. I turn around and she is talking to the shoe salesperson. Who just happens to be Conner. She had no idea this is where he worked. She was sooooo happy. Her mood instantly changed. We talked with him for a long time. Made Jorja's day. Made her week actually. Preston's friend Jack called while we were there. I walked away to answer the phone. Jorja and Conner finished talking while I was away. I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to get a picture of them. Jorja showed me the selfie she took.

Conner & Jorja

We stopped and were looking up places for other shoes before we left the store. We ended up walking right by Conner again. I told them I needed another picture because the selfie just wasn't going to cut it.

Jorja had tears in her eyes when we walked away. It made me nervous for what had happened when I was talking to Jack. I asked her if she was okay. She said she just forgot how much she missed him, but there was no way she was going to let him see her cry because he teases her for crying at everything. That made me laugh. She doesn't cry that much. Mostly when she leaves her friends without knowing when she will see them again. We found some shoes in the mall that will be perfect. Jorja made me leave by another exit so we wouldn't walk by Conner again.

Jorja was tempted to miss the Homecoming game. She was tired. She ended up texting her friend Luke. He went to Alta for two years and now goes to Corner Canyon. She asked him if he wanted to go see the halftime show and not stay too long. He texted back that he was on his way to the Corner game. He called her two minutes later and said he was turning around to go with her. They met at the game and then left for dinner somewhere. She had fun hanging out with him, but told me seeing Conner was her favorite part of her day. Hahaha

Joe, Gage, Seurette, Jorja

 Abram & Jorja ~ both years Jorja has escorted at the pageant, her guy has won homecoming king :)

 Jorja & Luke

Drama

Jorja got in trouble in theater today. It is frustrating because I tried to pull Jorja out of that class at the beginning of the semester. Jorja and I talked to Strucks for a long time about it. Jorja was so sick and theater was at the end of the day. Jorja was completely exhausted by the time she got to her class. I was hoping I could get her into some kind of study hall class. The district started counting digital photography as an art credit, so Jorja didn't need the last semester anyway. Strucks told her to stay in her class and drop out of Region and State. She told Jorja she could just sleep in the back and she would understand when most teachers wouldn't. Well, it didn't turn out that way. Jorja said Stucks was only nice to her when I was around. She was not sympathetic to Jorja at all. Jorja texted me on Tuesday and said, "I'm so sick of movies!" She sent that in theater and that was the only text she sent. Strucks got super mad at her for that. Today Jorja needed to go to the bathroom. Strucks let her leave. She went to get a drink of water. We couldn't find her water bottle this morning. Ever since she got sick, when she doesn't get enough water she goes downhill fast. So, she got some water because she felt herself sliding. On her way back to class one of her friends walked with her. Strucks came out and saw Jorja walking back to class with someone. She lit into her. Yelled at her to just leave. Jorja went back to class. Strucks dropped her grade to an A- for this. Jorja said she just never wanted to deal with her again. That is sad. Strucks was originally her advisory teacher before Jorja got into student government. I was so excited for this. I thought she would be perfect for her. I guess I was wrong.

Conner brought Jorja home from school for the last time today. He likes to honk his horn while she walks to the door. He honked for a long time today. She came in laughing. She said the entire ride home she just kept saying, "This is sad. This is so sad. I'm going to cry." over and over. She gave Conner a hug and tried to thank him, but her voice caught. End of an era right there. I can not believe he brought her home every other day for an entire school year. There is something special about that kid. Jorja said she is going to repay him by taking his little sister home every day next year. Good thing she likes his little sister!

On an unrelated note: Mike's contact is not doing great

Four Times

Jorja was crazy busy today. She had plans to hang out with Gavin and Connor. Gavin wanted to go to a trampoline place. Jorja hinted that she didn't want to go there, but didn't tell him no because she thought it would be rude. I told her to just tell him and he would understand. When Stockton was here he would always try and get Jorja to hang out with him and his diving friends. She would always tell him she would feel stupid because they would be doing flips and stuff and she wouldn't be able to do anything. She knew the same thing would happen here but didn't feel she could tell him she didn't want to go. Anyway, Jorja looked super cute when she was heading out the door. She didn't look like she was going to a trampoline place. I saw her put shorts into her bag so I just figured she was changing there. Nope. That was for her date tonight. She texted me and said, "Apparently I was supposed to bring clothes to change into???" She thought you wore normal clothes there. She texted me on and off while she was there. She did not have fun. The boys, who are both divers and both have taken trampoline classes, had fun showing off their flips for Jorja. They didn't realize that she was not enjoying watching them, she just felt completely embarrassed. One thing that Jorja is super good at is she is hyper aware of making the other person feel comfortable. Whenever she is planning an activity she is always talking to me about who she should ask and what she should do based on the comfort of the other person. Take Sweethearts for example. For a year and a half she had talked to me about wanting to take Evan to Sweethearts. When she was at student government camp she texted me that Sweethearts would be on Evan's birthday. I asked her if she was still planning on taking him. She texted back 'Absolutely'. Then when it came down to asking the boys she changed her mind. She was going with the student government girls. She said Evan wouldn't know anyone and he would feel uncomfortable. She talked to me about the personalities of the people going and Evan's personality. She didn't ask him. Not because she didn't want to go with him, because she knew in this situation he wouldn't feel comfortable. I love how she does that. Most people don't. Gavin certainly didn't think about if Jorja would be comfortable in this activity. But he is learning. He felt bad that Jorja didn't have fun. Later Stockton told her that he always avoided going to the trampoline places with Gavin and Connor because he knew he would feel stupid around them. If there isn't water, he doesn't feel comfortable with the flipping. If Stockton feels that way imagine how Jorja felt.

Jorja

They were only able to be at the tramp place for a little under two hours. It was up in Provo and Jorja had to be to work by 4:00. She was a little stressed she would be late. She hates not being in control. I understand that feeling. They did have time to stop by Panda Express. I thought Jorja's fortune was awesome and accurate. Your sense of humor is a joy to all.

Gavin & Jorja's fortune

Jorja texted me about her grades while she was there. She found out she got a B+ in Packer's class, which is a lot better than the D+ she had awhile ago. It stinks because if she hadn't had mono she would have had an easy A in this class. Not as bad as the B- she got in chemistry, which also would have been an easy A for her. When will mono end? Jorja changed into her work clothes in the car in Gavin's driveway. She told me not to worry, Gavin wasn't there. Haha. Jorja asked if I would pick up some bright pink leggings for her at Zurchers for her date tonight. I decided to do that because I saw the pink shorts she put in her bags. I would really want her to wear leggings under those shorts. I did that and stopped by Chick-Fil-A. Jorja was driving the pilot because she was going straight to her date where she would need more seats than her bug has. I drove the jeep, but forgot to bring the pilot keys. I ended up putting her bag on the windshield. I then went through the drive thru and ordered a frozen key lime drink and chicken soup. Jorja was on headset when I ordered my food. I told her where I put her stuff. She didn't like that. She told me she would give me keys when I was at the window. Haha.

Anyway, Jorja coordinated a disco skating night with her friends. She has wanted to have a date with Drew for a long time. He is awesome and so funny! She got Emily and Madison to come. Madison asked a boy named Isaac. Emily had Jorja find her a date. When Jorja was at Madison's birthday party she asked a boy named Cinco if he wanted to go on a triple date with her. He had never met Emily before but said it sounded like fun. He is a football player and yesterday was the first day that Jorja had ever talked to him. That girl is fearless. (Jorja told me she really wanted Madison to go on this date so Cinco would feel comfortable. Also, she knew Cinco was extremely good at roller skating, so he would be a great person to ask.... Another example of her always being aware of how others will feel. I love her!) Unlike the activity this morning, Jorja was super excited about this. I was excited for her too. I knew she would have the best time. Jorja changed into her bright pink clothes and then picked up Drew, then Emily and Cinco. Next was Madison who had to work a bit longer than Jorja. Madison's date couldn't come until 10:00 so they went to Iceberg first.

Isaac who wasn't there yet, Drew, Cinco

Cinco, Drew, Madison, Jorja

A little before 11:00 Jorja send me a message that she threw up. She told me that they had just arrived at Classic and gotten their skates. She was putting on her skates when she felt sick. She hurried to the bathroom and threw up. She said she felt so sick. A few minutes later she told me she was in the bathroom again. "It just happened again. Like a lot. I can see my Panda Express. I feel so bad for everyone." Then about thirty minutes later, "I thew up again. Is it okay if Cinco drives home? I'm not sure I can. He's a junior. He'll be very safe." So, the date Jorja coordinated and was super excited about ended up being a bust. Lame! I hope the other people had fun. Jorja was out of it when she got home. She was posting videos and sounded just like she did when she had mono. I sure hope the mono isn't returning. Jorja ended up throwing up four times at the roller skating rink. I had the guest room ready for her when she got home. She likes to sleep close to me when she is sick. She crawled into bed as soon as she walked in the door. She asked if I would take off her makeup for her. So, I sat on her bed and took off her makeup while she talked to me. I felt so bad for her. Definitely not waking her up for church tomorrow morning. Jorja has rarely been sick her entire life. She had pneumonia once, but that didn't last long. When she was a baby she had to be taken in an ambulance with a high fever, but still that was over after a few days. A couple of times we had to do the nebulizer for her breathing, but not as much as Stockton. The mono has been absolutely awful! It feels like it is never going to end. Jorja hasn't been healthy in a long, long time. We are almost at the four month mark of her being diagnosed. I have heard it lasts 6-8 months. This is ridiculous. Crazy how Jorja has been effected so much more than Preston. Huge difference in getting mono at 12 instead of 16.