Issue 3

JESS & AARON Issue 3 / July 2016

Purpose Hello! The purpose of this magazine is to let you know what we have been up to and to share about how God has been working in our lives.

Enjoy the photos and stories, and we hope to see you soon!

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Contents 1

Her/Him

3

Our Adoption Plan

5

Things I Learned

7

Our Home

9

Aaron’s Happenings

11

Jess’ Happenings

13

Japan Trip

15

Paris Trip

17

Family and Friends

19

Goals for Next Year

How do you feel being 26/30?

Favorite color Daily outfit Song on repeat Show of the year Favorite purchase Place to study Favorite restaurant tried Addicted to Favorite drink

1

Her

Him

It’s time to start a family

I’m not in my 20’s anymore

White

White

Casual dress, loose cardigan, Birkenstock sandals

Black shirt, black jeans, white Nike’s

Spotify’s Young and Free playlist

Disney’s Newsies Original Broadway Cast

Grey’s Anatomy

Agent Carter and Jessica Jones

Heavy duty guillotine paper cutter

Alesis keyboard

Bon Appetea Cafe

Home

Borneo Kalimantan Cuisine

Dip’s Grill

Netflix

Spotify and Podcasts

Honey green tea, less ice, with boba

CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice milk tea, no ice

5

3

Our Adoption Plan This year we made the big decision to adopt! In November we went to an introductory adoption class at Bethany Christian Services. By March, we submitted all of our paperwork, finished our counseling sessions, and completed our home visits. We are currently waiting to be matched with a child.

Here are three reasons why we want to adopt.

1. We believe that God has adopted us into his family to be his children. We would like to experience that firsthand.

2. We want to show the love of God through our family.

3. We want to be a waiting family to a child and family in need.

We are very excited for this next step and we are looking forward to see what God has planned for us.

4

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Things I learned about Aaron 1. He likes our home to be clean and organized 2. He is really good with kids 3. He gets sick easily 4. He enjoys leading us in a time of music and Bible reading

Things I learned about Jess 1. She likes popcorn and movies 2. She is not afraid to travel 3. She does not get sick easily 4. She likes listening to new Spotify playlists

6

7

aaron’s office

dining area

jess’ workspace

living room

our bedroom

8

Aaron’s interests

9

Aaron’s Happenings Our 3rd year of marriage! We are settled into our home in Alhambra and loving it. Jess and I enjoy walking around, eating, and grocery shopping locally on Main Street. I am still working as an RN Clinical Analyst at Kindred Hospital San Gabriel Valley.

I will complete my Master’s in Nursing Healthcare Informatics Spring 2017. I continue to lead music at church with various age groups and I teach 11th Grade Sunday School. Highlights of this year are playing a show for NPR with my band, Earth To Jupiter, being a guest music leader at a church retreat, and vacationing in Japan and Paris.

10

Jess’ Happenings This year was unexpectedly filled with travels. I didn’t expect us to visit 2 overseas Disney parks this year. One time was to visit Aaron’s brother in Japan and the other time was to Paris, which was our before-we-have-a-baby trip. I also enjoyed our little trips like celebrating Aaron’s 30th birthday weekend in Beverly Hills and going to Palm Springs. My favorite weekend date with Aaron is eating ramen for lunch, getting sashimi from a market in Little Tokyo, and bringing it back home to eat for dinner while watching a movie. I’m keeping busy designing wedding invitations and finding joy in creating art that makes people happy. I’m reaching my 4th year working at Liferay and got the opportunity to travel to New York and Chicago.

I’m also getting into interior design and decorating since we moved into our condo. I’m still teaching 1st and 2nd grade Sunday School and I will be an AWANA counselor next year.

I started a creative team at church and I am excited to beautify our church. God has blessed Aaron and me with a year of just spending time alone and I’m excited to grow our family.

11

Jess’ interests

12

July 29 - August 13, 2015 PLACES VISITED Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, Fukui, Tokyo AARONS’ FAVORITE MEAL Ramen in Fukui JESS’ FAVORITE MEAL Ramen in Osaka FAVORITE DISNEY ATTRACTION Monster’s Inc. Ride & Go Seek, Pooh’s Hunny Hunt, and Journey to the Center of the Earth MEMORABLE SITES Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, Nate’s house, Nate’s church, Nara’s deers, and Shibuya Crossing

13

Osaka

Nara

Kyoto

Fukui - Part 1

Fukui - Part 2

Tokyo Disneyland

Tokyo DisneySea

April 21 - April 30, 2016 AARONS’ FAVORITE MEAL Season’s acai bowl JESS’ FAVORITE MEAL Comptoir de la Gastronomie’s beef tartare FAVORITE DISNEY ATTRACTION Crush’s Coaster and Space Mountain: Mission 2 MEMORABLE SITES Disneyland Paris, Disney Studios Park, Eiffel Tower, Louvre, and Notre Dame de Paris

15

Paris

Disneyland Paris

Walt Disney Studios Park

17

18

Last Year’s Goals (July 2015 - July 2016)

Jess • Sell artwork • Decorate home • Finish projects I already started

Aaron • Finish Master’s in Health Informatics Degree • Have friends, family, and guests at our house • Be more creative

Goals for Next Year Jess • Keep my plants alive • Finish decorating home • Do something new

Aaron • Live healthier • Stay organized • Do something new

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CREDITS Lifestyle photos by Alison and Edwin jessandaaron.tumblr.com since July 5, 2013 24