Jess in Jerusalem

So I'm 20!!! I turned 20 years old in the Holy Land this year, which has officially begun my goal to turn every age in my 20's in a different country. Next year is covered in the West Indies, then I guess my 22nd birthday could be in the USA and if needed I will make a midnight drive down to Mexico to turn 23 and by then hopefully my poor college days will be over and I can make this goal a reality! Life is good.

I woke up on February 24th and got in the shower as normal. When I came out of the bathroom I found my bed decorated by my adorable roommates!!! I love Anne, Jacque, and Lindsey so much.

I got all ready for the day and headed out to meet the vans that were taking us to the party city of Tel Aviv!

Riding over I talked to Rachel, Kari, and Jeff for a bit and then put on my headphones and watched the country of Israel past by me. Listening to music while driving has got to be one of my favorite things to do in the world. We got to Tel Aviv and as soon as I jumped out the vans I saw this. Yeah, considering my love for the ocean it was bound to be a good day.

We ran around the ocean for a little bit taking lots of photos and videos and enjoyed the sand and the sea.

Then we decided to go check out the flea market. It was essentially the largest garage sale in the world. So pretty much everything I love. It was awesome and I got an adorable pair of earrings.

After spending some time walking around and eating our lunch I left the group I was in for the morning and met up with a huge group of BYUJCers down at the ocean where people were swimming, building sand castles, playing frisbee, and loving life. I changed into my swimsuit and ran into the waves of the Mediterranean Sea! Lindsey has a underwater camera so we had plenty of fun filming videos and taking pictures while trying not to be tackled down my the ever growing waves. I'm pretty sure I was laughing the entire time. I mean honestly, how lucky am I? I turned 20 in Tel Aviv, Israel!!!

Matching white vnecks!

After a few hours at the beach Jenessa, Hannah, Emily, Lindee and I decided to rent bikes and ride along the boardwalk. BEST DECISION EVER. I was saying earlier how driving and listening to music is my favorite thing to do, only second to riding my bike and listening to music, especially when riding along the ocean. I was on top of the world. I blasted songs such as "Unwritten", "Live While We're Young", "L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N." by Noah and the Whale, and of course the Beach Boys. It was just perfect. I haven't been that happy in a long time.

We found a Restro Bar named "Jessica"!

Notice my crazy beach hair. Classic.

So happy I got to spend my birthday with these amazing girls {plus Lindee who was so kindly taking the photo}.

After our long beach bike ride we were getting pretty hungry so we found a little, adorable restaurant (notice we are sitting by a wishing well. Adorable) and had the most delicious meal!

Yum, yum, yum!

Afterwards we got our gelato and the girls sang "Happy Birthday" to me on the streets of Tel Aviv. I felt like the luckiest girl in the entire world. 

It was an amazing day and I am officially 20 years old! Let the good times keep coming :)

Thanks to everyone who has made the past 20 years of my life the best. I seriously don't know how I have been so blessed with such a great home and family along with so many wonderful friends. Life is good, and it's just getting better :)