Jessica came over today to meet the family. Everyone really likes her. She’s such a great girl. Here’s a picture of her I took today, so you guys can put a face on this wonderful girl with whom I wish to share many adventures:

So let me tell you a little bit about Jessica. First of all, as you can tell, she is adorable. She is weird and crazy and wild. She loves to have fun, and she even finds my awkwardness and weirdness absolutely hilarious and cute. She is a deep thinker and very smart. We have many conversations about the bible and theology. We’ve been talking for a while now. I first got to know her during the first two weeks of school, and she was one of the ones who stuck really close by me and listened to me during my phase of brokenness following my breakup with Julie. She would sacrifice her time and energy just to give me some peace of mind. One time she even took me off campus at 1:00 in the morning so I could settle down, breathe, and figure some things out. We’ve continued talking over break, hanging out every now and again, and I’ve had lots of fun. I feel open to be myself around her, we’re really honest and comfortable with one another, we have the same dreams and desires in life, and we’re both really dedicated to God and His kingdom (she more-so than I). Strangely, she thinks I am absolutely adorable inside-out. I am really excited about getting to know her over the next couple months. We will most likely become boyfriend-girlfriend during the first two weeks back at school. I’m really excited about it.

On a different note, here’s my “loot” from Christmas (minus clothes and money):

Most of my bounty included many books I have been wanting. On the top shelf in the background you can see Revelation: Four Views, a great commentary on Revelation that covers the four major interpretations (historicist, preterist, futurist, and spiritual); it also covers the three major interpretations of the millennium (a-millennialism, pre-millennialism, post-millenialism). I also received two other books that deal with studies of ancient Palestine in the days of Jesus (The Holy Land, The Ritual of the Temple in the Time of Christ). My other books cover the bottom shelf. From right-to-left, I received four nonfiction books: An Historical Survey of the Old Testament, The Bible and the Ancient Near East, The Distressing Days of the Judges, and Israel's United Monarchy). I received two DVDs (both seasons of the American version of "The Office"), the book All Quiet on the Western Front, all of the Shaara books (excluding the newest one on WW2), Bram Stoker's Dracula, a fictional book dealing with an ancient Roman legionnaire's experiences in combat, and the collected works of Edgar Allen Poe. I also received from my grandma several wonderful museum-quality dinosaur figurines! Yay!