101 Things About Me: Jessica

101 Things About Me: Jessica

1.      I was born in Fridley, Minnesota at 9am on November 21^st, 1997.

2.      I am seventeen years old; probably the youngest in my grade.

3.      I moved to California when I was four years old, after my father passed away in November of 2001.

4.      I started kindergarten when I was four years old in Menifee, California at Menifee Elementary, and on my first day of school I came out to find a giant stuffed bear, bigger than anybody in my family, sitting next to my seat in the car, I slept on that thing for probably a month straight – it was comfy.

5.      I played softball when I was younger, starting at 4 until I was about nine years old, and then I took up soccer until sixth grade.

6.      My grandmother died in 2003 of cancer, she always took us on little adventures and was probably the best woman in my life, besides my mom of course.

7.      My little brother was born when I was seven, almost eight, on September 8^th, 2004, at 7:47, in the middle of my softball game (thankfully my mother had been at the hospital all morning, and my grandpa was taking care of me).

8.      I met my childhood best friend Stephanie Schledwitz in the play at our elementary, obviously we were kittens, with no lines, in the play Charlotte’s Web, which had been my favorite book at the time.

9.      My favorite amusement park in California had not been Disneyland, which we visited quite often, instead it was Knotts’ Berry Farm, an amusement park thirty minutes away from my Great Aunt’s house, which had the best funnel cakes ever.

10.  My childhood had been full of mini vacations, where my grandpa would take us to the desert, or the Colorado River, or really anywhere he wanted to take us; probably the highlight of my childhood.

11.  I was stung by a bee on my big toe during one of the mini vacations my grandpa had taken Cassidy and I, we were playing in the river when I stepped on a bee, luckily I was not allergic to them, but it hurt and I cried for a good thirty minutes.

12.  I got my first dog, who I named Jacob, after a guy in my class that I had a crush on, unfortunately we never dated in Kindergarten, or any other year. I got Jacob, rather comically, because we went to pick up our other dogs’ rabies badges, or something along those lines, and the shelter had a shelter full of dogs, and we went past the big dogs to the smaller dogs, and I found Jacob, told my mom that he was the ugliest dog I had ever seen and demanded we had to take him home because nobody would ever adopt him. My mom put a hold on him, and a week later Jacob was officially mine.

13.  I had a pet mouse, a name that I do not remember, who had thirteen babies, eventually twelve, (one didn’t make it, I probably cried for days), and the pet store we had gotten the mouse from refused to say they knew she had been pregnant (obviously they were lying).

14.  I moved to Missouri in third grade to California, Missouri where we lived on 31 acres, thirty minutes outside of Jefferson City; we as in my mom, her boyfriend Jack, my older sister, my little brother, a horse named Squirrel, three cats (Dr. Evil, Boots, and Mini Me), three dogs (Angel, Jacob, and Spirit), and myself.

15.  I won second place at a local hamburger contest when I was like nine years old, and probably bragged about it to anybody that listened.

16.  I loved Dairy Queen when I was younger, because it was the only ice cream shop in the small town, and I had it probably three or four times a week.

17.  I was involved in Girl Scouts, and my mother had been the leader in the group.

18.  When I moved away from California, after my mom had dumped Jack, and met her new boyfriend (later fiancée and husband) Rod, we moved to Ozark, Missouri just to get away from the country life, I guess.

19.  I was in sixth grade, and decided at that time that I wanted to play clarinet so I played the Clarinet, I was an alright to somewhat bad clarinet player, but I played until the middle of my eighth grade where I decided I didn’t want to further a career in playing the Clarinet and dropped out.

20.  My little sister was born Savannah Lee Wilfong, on August 11^th, 2009 at 1:59pm, and was probably the ugliest baby I had ever seen (I mean I was in sixth grade and didn’t want another sibling).

21.  A month and six days later my brother was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoma Leukemia, and my mom and him temporarily moved to the Ronald McDonald House in Memphis, Tennessee while he was treated at St. Jude’s Hospital.

22.  My parents moved us to Aurora, Missouri in January of 2010, the middle of seventh grade year, while my brother continuously went to St. Jude’s every other month or so it seemed.

23.  I took up track my eighth grade year in the spring, and was pretty good at the Discus, but not so much at running, even though we had to run a mile and a half before practice, along with other running exercises, and another half mile after practice to ‘cool’ down, when in reality I did not get cooled down. After track I would walk a mile back to my house, so I was in pretty good shape to say the least.

24.  I hate, hate, hate running, but if I have the right motivation I can work out, just minus running.

25.  I love biking, I used to bike all over Aurora, averaging five miles a night, about three or four times a week. Now my bike is in my garage, and has not been ridden for over two years now.

26.  I found my love for writing earlier in life, but embraced it when I walked into my eighth grade Journalism class and became co-editor of the paper.

27.  I moved to Springfield a month into my Freshman year, and made best friends the first day of school, make it cliché as you want.

28.  I love to write, but I don’t like to write something that people tell me to write, it has to be an idea that I came up with on my own.

29.  I love music, and I would love to be a musician except I can’t sing, and can’t play an instrument, unless the clarinet for two-ish years count.

30.  I love bands, I couldn’t even start on listing all the bands I listen to.

31.  I went to my first concert with Liana this year in August, I went to my second in October to see Enrique Iglesias. Concerts are the best and worst things out there, PCD is hardcore.

32.  The fangirl life is my life. Simple as that.

33.  I got sixth row tickets to see 5SOS in Tinley Park, Illinois next year with three of my friends and I have already started counting the days. They’re my favorite band.

34.  I have had two missed opportunities to see One Direction because my dad absolutely hates them, and refused to let me see them.

35.  The fangirl life is a life where you meet a lot of people, and I have met multiple girls that have impacted my life for the better, they’re the ones I can run to with problems even if they live in Pennsylvania or England.

36.  Two of my best friends that I have met through my fangirl life would be Hannah and Natasha. They are both best friends, and live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

37.  Hannah is a senior in high school like me, and she graduates on May 29^th, which I am going to. Hannah has a strong love for Calum Hood, and I totally ship her with him. Cannah is life. Natasha, or my ‘boo,’ is a freshman in college in Gettysburg, where she is on the cheer squad and the bomb squad, a dance team that is amazing. She has a strong love for William, who is in The House on Cliff, the bass player – and I ship them too. Willsha is also life.

38.  I have a dream of traveling the world, and one day I will accomplish this.

39.  I would love to live in another country, England, Italy, or Australia are my top three places.

40.  I want to speak fluent Spanish and Italian, maybe French.

41.  I want to be a Journalist or an author when I grow up, but I’ll probably get an English degree and decide from there.

42.  I could not live without my family, music, and books.

43.  I love to read, and I would love to own a personal very large library. I am a total bookworm, but totally fine with it.

44.  Books are better than the movies, and I refuse to let anybody tell me otherwise.

45.  I have seen Catching Fire and Mockingjay Part One the day before it comes out, the Hunger Games I saw the Sunday after it came out.

46.  I have seen every Star Wars movie except the fifth one, I don’t know how that happened.

47.  I was, and still am, in love with Paul Walker. It was a year a couple days ago of his death; I’m still not over it.

48.  The Fast and Furious movies have got to be one of my favorite movie series, and have made me want to race cars, except I’m terrified of being in a car crash.

49.  I can listen to any type of music, but Pop Rock and Country are my favorites, along with Old Time Rock and Roll.

50.  I would love to live in the 1960s and 1970s, the music then was amazing.

51.  I could probably eat pizza, spaghetti, or lasagna the rest of my life.

52.  I once spent over $100 on Starbucks in a week and a half, needless to say I limit myself with it now.

53.  My first job was at Which Wich, and I was promoted to Shift Leader, which meant I closed at night on my own, it was one of the best and worst things ever.

54.  My second job was at a pizza place, but the owner was rude so I quit and left the food business.

55.  Now my third job is working at JCPennys and it’s okay, besides the long hours, I enjoy it, the people that work there are amazing. The 25% discount is nice too.

56.  I like to sleep in until the last possible minute so I usually don’t wake up until about 6:43ish.

57.  I am a total night owl, I stay up until 3:30am on a daily basis.

58.  I used to hate sleeping in, and staying up late, but something changed the middle of my junior year.

59.  My immune system is cursed, I am always sick it seems. My friend says my immune system is the immune system of a bacteria. I couldn’t agree more.

60.  I once tried to ride a skateboard and instead ended up twisting my ankle, I still want to learn to ride a skateboard though.

61.  I would love to be a host of a talk show, or a news anchor or something, but have never taken a broadcast journalism class ever.

62.  I am the biggest procrastinator on this planet, even if I don’t try to procrastinate.

63.  I always have the best ideas, like cleaning my room, or putting away my clothes, at one am.

64.  The 7 layer burrito at Taco Bell and a Baja Blast is probably the way to go, along with a potato taco.

65.  Coffee is my life, but lately I haven’t been drinking any, and in a weird way I miss it.

66.  I used to hate jeans, but now I wear them a lot.

67.  I somehow have ended up having over ten pairs of shoes, so its pretty difficult to decide what shoes I’m going to wear that day.

68.  I have been to all the states from Missouri to California, the whole West coast, along with Iowa, Minnesota, and Florida.

69.  I want to go to Chicago on vacation, and to New York City where one of their big parades are, because let’s be honest with ourselves that is a great day.

70.  Although I’m not athletic, (I’d rather sleep), seeing the Olympics in person in front of  you sounds amazing, and I want to do that one day before I die.

71.  I want to learn to surf, but I would want to leave in like Australia or something like that.

72.  I can become an instant fangirl in less than .0002 seconds, because it’s always bottled deep down inside and it can explode at any point in my life. Fangirl 101.

73.  I’m going to be honest and say I was disappointed when I came to High School and saw it was nothing like High School Musical, that was probably one of the worst days of my life.

74.  Camp Rock and High School Musical were literally my life as a child, and I could watch them over and over again.

75.  I hate books that leave the whole thing in a cliff hanger and they author will never write a sequel. WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT.

76.  Twenty-one is my favorite number, ironically it is also my birth date.

77.  I am super clumsy, my talents include tripping over my feet, running into walls and poles, and various other items.

78.  My room is either messy for a week or so, laundry unfolded, or it is neat and clean and you better not touch anything, because you would ruin everything.

79.  I do not have an artistic bone in my body, unless stick figures count, and even then they look like whales or something.

80.  I had a dog with three legs before, her name was Angel, a german shepherd Rottweiler mix, and she was bit by a mountain lion (on our property, terrified me for days), and ran over by a car, twice. She was put in a cast first, but the vet ended up amputating her leg.

81.  I have a ton of scars that I have no idea what happened, and sometimes I try to think of how it happened, but end up empty. Except the scar on my left palm from my sister cutting me with scissors (we were like eight and ten), we obviously were not using the kid scissors.

82.  I have never broken a bone in my body, but I have had three stitches, my Freshmen year when a guy in my Food and Nutrition class decided dropping a wet glass right next to me was a good idea, and the glass cut me right under my palm. You could see several layers of my skin, my mom, being the nurse she is, was fascinated, I almost fainted.

83.  I was born with hypoplasia, meaning my hip was out of place, and I wore a nice leg cast for the first six months of my life, lucky me.

84.  I have a terrible fear of dying.

85.  Sometimes I wish I could be a rebel, but that would involve getting up and actually doing something, and I’d rather just lay in bed watching the Voice.

86.  I want to have highlights in my hair such as purple, blue, or something along those lines but I feel like it wouldn’t go good with my hair.

87.  I’m allergic to cats, and somehow my family still got a cat. My parents named the cat a name that I can’t remember or spell, so I call her Ninja because she literally attacks my feet/ankles at midnight in the dark hallway as I go to the bathroom, or just any other time the ninja inside her wants to come out.

88.  I got my first pair of Vans in September, but have yet to wear converse, which I feel like I should get.

89.  I’d rather be comfy, than dressed up.

90.  I sometimes wish my siblings were closer in age to me, but other times I don’t.

91.  People that have relationships make me feel lonely, so I go home and hug my cat.

92.  I will probably end up as the ‘crazy cat lady,’ even if I’m allergic.

93.  I love, love shipping people with famous people.

94.  The Voice is the only TV show I watch on a regular weekly basis.

95.  Sometimes Fantasy is better than reality.

96.  I love when I read a book and the world disappears around me.

97.  I hate it when people talk to me when I have headphones in, one earbud in or not, don’t talk to me.

98.  I am perfectly fine waking me up on my own, or the alarm clock, if you wake me up just because then you can guarantee that I am going to slam my door in your face. Do not wake me up.

99.  I like making inside jokes/nicknames, along with new words. My friends thought 2% angry was the funniest thing they have ever heard.

100.                      My goal in life is to eat healthy, but cake and ice cream are close friends of mine.

101.                      If a song described my life it would probably be Long Way Home by 5 Seconds of Summer, just because I listen to it multiple times a day.

Learning How to Read

We traveled far, we were leaving,

The bags were packed, the boxes were sent,

The only thing left to be put in the car, was me

I was buckled tight, given books, a notepad, and a pencil

My mom and uncle sat up in front, preparing for this

The first couple hours, I napped, then I awoke

In my four year old voice I demanded my books,

They had fallen, and I, the boss, wanted them

Once they were back in my hands, I devoured them

I read the pages, telling my mom them,

When my mom slept, I told my uncle,

‘Practice your words,’ my mom told me, so I did

If I didn’t know a letter I yelled, ‘What’s R?’

‘What’s S?’ ‘M?’ ‘MOMMY.’

I might have almost caused a few accidents, but I didn’t

By the time we made it to California,

My books were read multiple times, my notepad full of letters,

I could read, I could write.

Music and Writing

            My favorite song currently is Runaway by Ed Sheeran, I love Ed in general but this song cuts deep. It’s about an alcoholic father and he leaves throughout the night, the son is tired of this and wants out of the house. Although the song doesn’t simply state that there is a girl, the lyrics say, ‘I want to runaway with you.’ The main emotion I feel throughout this whole song is loneliness, and I have had alcoholic people in my life when I was younger and relate to this song, although I have never met somebody I would want to runaway with.

            Without music, the world would be bland, and nobody would be able to connect with something a lot of people love. I mean, when I was younger I remember singing, ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game,’ a classic, if I might add. My dad knew it, my mom knew it, my grandfather knew it, it was something people knew and liked. The world strives on music, it brings out the best in things, and brings out the creativeness in everybody. It brings friends closer, it brings students closer, it brings the world closer. We would not learn about other cultures if we did not have music; you can learn a language until you’re blue in the face but you won’t learn everything if you do not listen to the music of that language. In the Hispanic culture, and their songs, they use slang words, words I had never heard of before. It was something new to me, but I felt I was learning more about this culture than my four other semesters of Spanish.

            Without music, my life would be lost. I listen to music on a daily basis, I am listening to music as I type this. Even if I can’t sing, or play an instrument, music is a part of me like any of the people that can sing or play an instrument. Music has brought me closer to cultures as I stated earlier; I went to a Hispanic singer’s artist, because I love their music. Yes he sang English songs, but he also sang in Spanish, and that was an experience that I will never forget. I’ve found artists, both big and unknown, and joined their fandoms, from these fandoms I have friends all over the world. I talk to these people on a regular basis, I have group chats with a lot of the people I have met, and it’s an amazing thing because music did this. Music brings people together, and if I didn’t have music I would be lost, indefinitely.

Six Word Memoirs

Lighting up the dark with sass

Life is better with boy bands

The Pumpkin Patch

            It wasn’t even eight in the morning when little footsteps were heard running down the hall.

            “KATE! KATE!” a little voice screamed as the door was opened to my bedroom and a ball of fire jumped into bed.

            “Maddy, stop,” I said burrowing into the blankets deeper, trying to get her out of my room.

            “Kate! Come on! Let’s go to the pumpkin patch! PLEASE!” the five year old screamed into my ear.

            “Leave me alone, it’s too early,” I groaned, I had just gotten in bed not even two hours before, another night shift under my belt.

            “Mom said you have to, it’s now or never, and you promised,” she said as I sighed.

            “Let me get dressed,” I told her as I uncovered myself and stepped out of the bed, “Go get into something warmer, it’s chilly outside.”

            As Maddy ran out of the room I changed into jeans, a long sleeve shirt, and a pair of my trusty boots. I slipped on a jacket and walked downstairs where my mother sat in her favorite chair staring at the news on tv.

            “Morning mom,” I said as she looked up smiling.

            “Hi honey, going to the pumpkin patch?” she asked as I shot her a glare.

            Instead of answering I walked into the kitchen and poured myself a cup of coffee ignoring the medical bills on the counter, and the medicine bottles lined up against the counter walls.

            “Are you coming?” I asked my mom as I walked out.

            “I don’t think so, you two go ahead,” she said as I nodded and walked to the door.

            “MADISON LYNN LET’S GO!” I yelled as feet thumped down the stairs and my sister appeared in jeans, a sweater, a jacket over that, and boots.

            “Ready!” she screamed excitedly as I shook my head.

            “Hat,” I said grabbing a beanie as she pouted.

            “No fair! You don’t have one,” she said as I shook my head and placed the beanie on her bald head.

            “I don’t need one, come on, let’s go to the pumpkin patch,” I said as she squealed and ran to the car.

            I followed behind slower, watching my sister, as she ran around like any normal child, except she wasn’t a normal child. She had cancer, and the doctors gave her till the end of October to live.

            Halloween was her favorite holiday, and she refused to miss it, she was strong, but the cancer was stronger. Bad days were outnumbering the good days, and soon she’d be in the hospital preparing for her last day.

            “Kateee,” Maddy groaned near my car as I sighed.

            “Okay, okay, let’s go,” I said walking to my car, unlocking it as Maddy climbed inside and was buckled before I even got in.

            “How many pumpkins are we getting?” I asked pulling out of our driveway as Maddy grinned at me through the mirror.

            “All of them,” she said.

            “Then let’s go then,” I said as she clapped excitedly.

            Nothing was going to make this day bad, except how the day would be ending marking a day closer to my sister’s death.

A Restless Night

            In the morning everything would be different, that was one thing Penny knew. There would be no more time with family, no more attacks on her parents, no more anything.

            Penny, the heir to the crown of Meadens, would be giving up the crown; she was leaving.

            She tossed again, and again, sleep never coming even when she willed it to. Nothing. Memories of the palace ran through her mind, reminding her why the seventeen year old had to leave.

            After another hour of tossing and turning the princess slipped out of bed, she crossed the room to where her riding clothes were. Pulling them on she slipped a cloak on, made sure her hair was hidden, then crept to her window.

            She knew goodbyes were hard, she wasn’t going to put her family through that. With one last look at her bed, she opened her window, and shimmied down the tree that was conveniently placed next to the balcony. Before her feet even touched the ground she was already running across the courtyard hiding in the shadows towards the barn.

            She smelt the familiar barn smell, and inhaled it, she loved this place, loved everything about it, it was better than her fighting lessons. She stepped into the darkness and walked down the aisle of stables, past her horse, Queen, who neighed softly. Instead of taking her Penny walked towards the very last stable.

            One of the stallions of the neighboring prince neighed at her as she crept into the stable. She shushed him by petting him, then by his halter led him out of the stall towards the tack room. After everything was in check she swung up onto the saddle and sighed.

            Nudging him into a walk she led him by the reins out of the palace, past Queen who was now neighing louder, past the palace where her family slept in their beds safely, and past her room where her childhood sat.

            Past everything that had once been hers but now was nobody’s.

Mr. Linden

     He had warned me, don’t stray to the books on the west side of the library, but you cannot tell an eight year old girl that and expect her to listen. I had been full of curiosity; what books were on the west side of the library?

     “Jemma, don’t go to the west side of the library,” Mr. Linden reminded me as I skipped through the doors and I shot him my eight year old smile, “And don’t look at any of the books.”
     “I won’t!” I promised as I continued to skip through the library until I got to the children’s section.
     After finding two or three books I plopped myself in a chair and began reading.
     My mind strayed though; I kept looking to the west side of the library; what books were over there? I had to know. I just had to.
    I set the books I had found earlier back onto their appropriate shelves, and quietly tip toed to the front desk, Mr. Linden’s desk.
     Instead of the older man that usually was there, a young woman sat behind the desk instead. She hadn’t seen me, the desk was very tall.
     I walked over and grasping the top of the desk pulled myself up to peer over, “Hello,” I said as the woman gasped, her hand going to her heart as she stared at me.
     “Hello,” I repeated as she shook her head.
     “What are you doing?” she asked as I smiled at her; my perfect eight year old smile.
     “Where’s Mr. Linden?” I asked as she shook her head.
     “I don’t know, I was called in, there was an emergency somewhere,” she told me.
     “Oh. When will he be back?” I asked; my plan was already forming in my mind.
     “Honey, I don’t know, do you know where the child books are?” she asked as I nodded.
     “I’m going to go back to read! BYE!” I said a little too loud, but I raced away before she could shush me.
     I made it seem like I was walking to the children section, it was on the East side, but once out of her view I took a left instead of taking a right.
     I was going to the west side of the library.
     As I walked into the west side I noticed drastic changes. For one the lights were darker, and there were shadows all over the place; just that scared me. As I walked deeper into the library I saw a single book on a podium.
     Curiosity killed the cat they say, and I walked closer to the podium; what was the book?
     The podium was high, so high, I glanced around quickly, but I didn’t see or hear anyone. I raced to a table, grabbed one of the chairs, and dragged it back.
     SCREEEEEHHHH.
     I stopped dragging the chair and looked around, I didn’t see anybody running towards me and shushing me, so I hurried dragged the chair to the podium.
     SCREECH. SCREECH. SCREECH.
     I stopped constantly; checking every direction, but nobody was looking, or racing to tell me I was not supposed to be in the west side of the library.
     Finally, I reached the podium; I dragged the chair right next to it and climbed up, up, up, until I could see the book.
     It was old.
     Probably older than Mr. Linden, it was so old I was afraid I might break it, was this why I couldn’t go to the west side of the podium?
     I heard talking, and I could have sworn I heard Mr. Linden; I had to get out of here.
     Taking a deep breath, without a second thought, I grabbed the book and stuffed it into my backpack. I grabbed the chair and dragged it back quickly to its right spot.
     It was hard work, but I had to make sure nobody knew I was in the west side of the library.
     Once the chair was back in the exact position I had taken it, I raced back to the children’s section. Then I made my appearance.
     I walked back to the desk, and this time I saw Mr. Linden and the woman there talking in hush tones, “Bye Mr. Linden! See you tomorrow!” I called out and I quickly raced out the doors without a glance back.
     I ran down the sidewalk and to my house. I clambered up the front steps, through the door, shouting a quick, ‘I’m home,’ to my mother before I ran upstairs to my room.
     I jumped on my bed, took the book out; I was ready to see what this book was all about. Did it hold any secrets?
     The book was hard to open, it felt like it was glued shut, annoyed I threw the book across the room, just to see if the book pages rustled, and hopefully the book would open.
     No luck.
     The book hadn’t opened; annoyed I stomped over to the book and brought it back to the bed, was it glued shut? I looked at it and tried to think, how I was going to open the book?
     “Open,” I commanded and at first nothing happened, but then I saw the book shake slightly, and then it opened.
     Vines poured out of the book, heading in every direction, I let out a squeal and backed up against the wall trying to get away from it.
     I was not fast enough, because just as I hit the wall a vine wrapped around my wrist and I slumped, my body hitting my bed, and just as my eyes shut I saw the vines. They were moving much slower to lay in the book, and then I shut my eyes.

     Forever sleeping.