year in review! part 1

january:

• i rang in the new year clutching a toilet in TULSA, OK while visiting my best friend's (now)ex-girlfriend. happy new year jeff, from you irritable bowl syndrome ridden stomach/colon.
  
  [caption id="attachment_158" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="seen dancing at a piano bar in chacos."][/caption]


• i double-handedly managed to gain 15lbs over winter break from bathing in boulevard wheat.

february:

• happy 21st birthday to me!


• fly to ARIZONA visit my brother & his fiance. celebrations!


• 5 days later, i got food poisoning from subway.


• 1 day later, i awoke in the middle of my slumber on a cold winter night, crawled into the bathroom, and said my prayers to the porcelain gods. next, i stumbled into patrick's room & gave my plea for my concerned stomach. "go away," patrick scowled from the room. i retreat to my bed, pass out, & drive myself to the hospital. 8 hours later, i have my appendix removed.

[caption id="attachment_157" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="guilty: i still wear/own a pair of hollister clothing. just one."][/caption]

march:

• by god's grace, i packed my fanny pack, gardening hat, and frisbee to venture on down to HARMONS, JAMAICA for spring break with some college friends.

april:

• the world's worst show came to columbia, missouri & set up this masterpiece of carnival.

[caption id="attachment_162" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="cheers, jeers, awkward, hooray, elated, irked, & baffled."][/caption]

may:

• once the semester ended with a bang, patrick & i set sail for a road trip.

A: leave KANSAS CITY, MO
B: DAYTON, OH - stay with Matt, patrick's  friend from L'Abri, played Scrabble, drank beer, et al.
C: COLUMBUS, OH - stay with Dave, a friend from Young Life Work Crew I met 5 years ago. Dave ran us into the ground with dirty Margaritas, fanny pack+mustache dance parties, hipster bikes, and late night hookah sessions into the morning. + Thurmans Cafe


D: MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, PA we decided to experience the "great outdoors" in the smoky mountains. pft. worst night ever.
E: NEW HAVEN, CT - YALE. the journey to Yale, to visit our prestigious pop-locking-dropping friend bryan.

[caption id="attachment_166" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="yalies playing beer pong on campus post senior festivities"][/caption]



Bonus Jonas: trekked to the beautiful town, (seriously) of AMHERST, MA to visit the birthplace of emily dickinson. thrifting ensued, tours of the home were crashed, amherst brewing company was seized.

june:

• definitely didn't do summer school.


• ventured to st. louis for an incredible wedding. ben & amys!

big love season 4 commercial

beautiful commercial. i've never seen big love, yet now i want to start watching.

broken windows theory

The broken windows theory was first put forth in a 1982 Atlantic article by James Q. Wilson, a political scientist then at Harvard, and George L. Kelling, a criminologist. The theory suggests that a disorderly environment sends a message that no one is in charge, thus increasing fear, weakening community controls, and inviting criminal behavior. It further maintains that stopping minor offenses and restoring greater order can prevent serious crime.

i found the "broken windows theory" while reading the tipping point by malcolm gladwell.

i buy it.

diy: black crocheted headband w/ red flower.

anna looks great. i knew who she was right away when rachel requested that i make one that is red & black.
photo credits to: bethany

diy: red meets black

i think i finally have the folding & cinching of the felt down. hooray, thanks anne.

christopher monro delorenzo | picture keyboard

my favorite one

picture keyboard by christopher monro delorenzo

Let the weekend begin

sale at Michaels this weekend. so I stocked up.
i'm also taking orders for headbands. $ please.

diy: crocheted head bands / earwarmers

i accidently crocheted a beanie way too tight, way too soon. so i ended up with a very small beanie. i split them in half & voila! 2 headband/ear warmers!



i literally found this beautiful gold felt in a "FREE" stuff box outside of a boutique in downtown columbia. i snatched it & started dawdling around with. a nice braid did the trick. the first one i used a single stitch & the 2nd one i used a 3 stitch process. :)

cargo pants, really jcrew?

november 2009 men's shop jcrew:



cargo pants. hrmmm... i don't own a pair of cargo pants & i don't recall ever recall owning a pair that latest longer than a week. after i realized how awkward they are for me-even cargo shorts, i threw in the towel. they may be "functional" & have huge pockets (ie: store items when you're outdoors, *gasp*) but other than that they look bulky and aren't very flattering. have you ever tried running/briskly jogging/power-walking in fully-loaded up cargo pants or shorts? it's nearly impossible. it's like having full cans of paint dangling above your knees. and you're running.

i remember when i had cargo zip-away pants in 7th grade. right after gym class, i would put my zip-away pants on and go to lunch. i would then proceed to make a scene out of zipping off the leg sleevesof my pants, transforming these wretched pants into comfortable, breathable shorts because lords knows after gym, your calves just cannot be contained in canvas sleeves. (note: no armpit hair was present, not until 2004)

great colour scheme

-the Sartorialist

the only thing i don't like, personally, are sweaters. i prefer cardigans. i find sweaters to be oppressive & when you're on a college campus that regulates the building temperature between "hell" & "sauna," shedding layers is necessary and frequent. layers, layers, layers.

nachos!

hilarious tweet from yesterday.
*miss katie is a k-5 elementary art teacher in an urban school in downtown kansas city.

13.1

i started training for this past weekend's half-marathon in august. i trained all throughout august & september and tapered in october like scheduled. i feel healthier and more accomplished. i mean, its okay to have this neat feeling of accomplishment. i put in this effort & i get this result. boom. cause & effect. this helps my engineer and formulaic side of myself make sense of life.

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lynnette, kaitlyn, meredith & i set sail on friday night for kansas city from columbia. on the drive, we debated and discussed who was the least healthiest/trained for the race. all the while stopping at quiktrip to ensure that we were all on level playing field the night before. diet cokes and taquitos, chips, & other things that are generally not-not-healthy were consumed in justification of "resuming normal eating habits." i usually have a diet coke, 3 cups of coffee, and 2 nalgene's a day.


lynnette had a great idea to preoccupy our minds/hearts/souls/brains during the race. for each mile, write down a name/group of people to be praying for while we ran for that mile. it worked out so great and really felt pretty content while running. not focusing on my stride, my steps, or little things in front of me that usually distract me & my groove.

pre-race photo at 6:00am. nope, i'm not going to sorority recruitment. or confused that tights constitute as actual pants, but am wearing my uggs pre-race to ensure my toes are not oppressed anymore than they are everyday through shoes. knowing i would have to wear blasted shoes & socks for under 2 hours.

post-race photo at like 9:40isham. kaitlyn (on the far right) vom'd during the race & still finished. she's a D1 athlete, so that was no sweat. i would have marked it as a loss if anything besides sweat or pee came from my body at an unexpected time during the race. notice: im clutching my iphone like a little boy returning home from camp without his blanket because his mother wouldn't let him take it with him to camp because of other kids making fun of him. after the race, i enjoyed my free boulevard stout beer. :)

however, i didn't actually run as myself though. i ran as someone else. (i don't know how illegal that is, probably a liability) but that one goes down in the books for emmy. i forgot to register & emmy got sick.  overall, i ran a 1:47:40. my goal was under 2 hours & i done did it. :) i plan on running the st. louis half-marathon in april & beating that time.

pomplamoose!

single ladies by beyonce, as covered by Pomplamoose

her eyes kind of scare me, and i feel like she is peering into my soul.
however, this interesting take provided some quirky indie flair.

diy: crochet slouchy beanie w/ flower

i crocheted my first flower onto a beanie. a slouchy beanie. so far mike & doug have been wearing it around the house, however, it needs a real home. is this etsy worthy?

i love the soft colors of this hat. and it took me probably 4 hours total to make this. yeah, i bring my crochet hook and yarn to church. i can cook through a hat & listen. boom.  but seriously, if you would wear it. let me know. *cough*

eat your heart out anthro & urbn.

home, home, you are me, and i am you

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
featured on LSTN #7 from URBN, it's free. So are the other mixes.

Marta, you love this.

topanga!

my friend jake is in a botany class & he had an assignment for traits & gene mixing of fruits. he came up with this. he better get an A. if he doesn't, my hope decreases in our educational system of grooming creative minds.

awesome. little boy meets world reference for the day. i couldnt stop laughing.

fall 2009

An ode to Domino mag's 10 things that make me happy, I decided that I would create one for "these are a few of my favourite things," in the autumn. okay, so i didn't make it to ten items, i made it to ten because i've spent over an hour working on this. i'm not that dedicated. SO HERE ARE JEFF'S TEN EIGHT FAVE THINGS right now.

1) ROCK QUARRY ROAD
probably the most beautiful/dangerous road in columbia, but baby, once it's fall. this road is beautiful. i'm not going to try & pretend i'm poetic or anything, but the way the trees create a canopy of pumpkin, rust, gold, and yellorangred (thats a combo of 3 colours)- it's just beautiful.

2) CAPEN PARK
i'm not big on the outdoors, but if i were. i would for sure go visit this place more often. start expecting facebook albums to be popping up soon of lovers atop the bluffs with some sucker getting suckered(ha) in taking these shots.
3) KALDIS COFFEE SHOP
i mean, it's really fall here all year round. the colours are warm, calming, and natural. i love the aesthic look of laminate wood and the tiles. great look (but cheap.)

4) PATAGONIA SYNCHILLA MARSUPIAL FLEECE
if you are going to drop some bones on any outdoor performance gear this semester, which you are, buy a patagonia synchilla fleece. love it. so warm & soft & comes in really legit colours. here, i used mine not only as a means to get my chest warm, but also an emergency pillow in the middle of freaking nowhere pennsylvania.

5) LADY GAGA
i've explained this before in person, but lets face it. lady gaga is talented, successful, & a hot mess. she ain't trying to be cray-cray, she just is cray-cray. she's not like brit brit after a couple years & then goes to the deep end of the pool. nor like jessica simpson, after she saves herself for 98 degrees, and then falls apart, then joins the deep end. lady gaga is the deep end. & her favourite designer is alexander mcqueen (one of my faves). i also feel that since i enjoy gaga's outrageous feats & ensembles, i can surely manage & deal with just about anyone. the lady gaga effect.

6) HALLOWEEN COSTUMES
now that i've come to realization that i might be a "leader" in "the community", or at least acknowledge the unfortunate fact that since i'm older; younger people think you are automatically a) cool & b) responsible & c) look up to you as a model. i don't think i can top last years costume due to those factors. i've been leaning on my irresponsible & immature crutch for too long, but i still have that crutch at my house on east campus. 2 grad students & 2 super seniors & 1 senior (myself.)

adam (post-fall) & a very clothed & concealed molly

7) COFFEE CREAMER

all of you coffee elitist can enjoy your coffee however snobbishly you prefer. ;) but i love creamer in my coffee, it cools the coffee faster & instantly makes sucky coffee into great coffee. mike & i easily go through one a week. i can't wait to pick up the seasonal pumpkin spice flavour. we have french vanilla on tap, sugar free hazelnut from last week (we bought a big one) & some  parisian almond creme. so good. and instantly makes a lot of things awesome. i'm sure i could put it into my cereal in the morning.
plus i can now really have an excuse to drink coffee all throughout the day because it's getting colder, thus reducing mobility which need be the consumption of caffeine to continue throughout the day.

8) CARDIGANS & SCARVES
i've achieved the level of having an entire plastic rubbermaid storage container for scarves that is soon needing an upgrade. i just got a new slouchy & long cardigan from urban for 10 bucks this weekend in kansas city. i can't turn down a great cardigan for that price! i also snatched this obnoxiously large keffiyeh scarf, that could be offensive for cultural reasons towards showing support of palestinian allegiance? gotta be careful when you're in a really liberal/tolerant-but-not-really-tolerant department.

tweet tweet

beautiful iphone wallpapers found through design*sponge @ lumadessa

cupcake trees in eden

i crafted with the kindergarten class today. while creating the garden of eden with construction paper, magazine clippings, markers, and crayons, one of the kids made a cupcake tree. awesome.
i bet there were cupcake trees in eden. everything was perfect before sin entered, right?

eagle eye

this isn't my secret, but it could be.

this past winter, patrick needed new glasses & he was trading in his clark-kent-hipster-thick-black-framed glasses for a new fancy pair. he was transitioning out of "youth-pastor/journalism major" pat into "i'm an english major/im buying designer glasses" pat. i was supportive of this decision. little did i know, that i wanted glasses also.

however, i, the black sheep in my nuclear family concerning genetic eye make-up, have 20/20 vision. which is also, apparently, not the best vision? this is news to me. whatever, i've got great vision. i have such great vision that the eye doctor decided i didn't need to come back every year. therefore, i missed less days in school & skipped out on finals. yet, this year, this time, i was determined to get glasses because i found these:

i wanted to cheat. i think i did cheat and skip over some letters. he knew me too well. the old man had been checking my corneas for about 16 years anyway. i remember the whole ordeal, calling my parents & telling them i needed glasses. it was like telling them i need braces...oh wait. i never got braces either.

i didn't get them. yet, i still pine. i've never wished for bad things to happen to me (that i recall), but i wouldn't mind if my vision dropped a hair, just enough for "reading glasses."

/sarcasm
/materialism
/i'm kidding
/but seriously.

i wish i had secret siblings

i downloaded this today after wanting it for awhile.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="mike crawford & his secret siblings"][/caption]

happy monday to me!
my favorite tracks are: lord i believe help my unbelief, search me, & words to build a life on.

so good! soo good!

matt & kim

after marta & chad point me to matt & kim, i finally gave them a chance.



cheers to daylight.

diy: braided scarf

i want to/can easily make one of these, no?
i like the colours though. but not for 3 months rent. c'mon.



made by damir doma? whatever. neverheard of them before, but i dig their scarf.

when in home, do as the homebodies do

[caption id="attachment_40" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="the essentials: iPhone, Kleenexes inspired by Vicks, cup of sleep-time tea from last night, nalgene bottle of water/pee bottle (just kidding, but a good idea), teabag depositorium, book, etc, and pile of coughdrop wrappers + used/soiled kleenexes"][/caption]

yesterday, i went to walmart during my bout of the flu. i have something. i called the student health center & they turned me down? apparenty, i wasn't sick enough for them to motion a visit. i somehow made it to my car in a day-quill induced, menthol cough drop infused state of delirium.

i started to feel a little grumpier considering i was purchasing medicine again for the 2nd day in a row. i forgot cough drops and emergen-c. my mom would also carry emergen-c in her purse growing up and pass it out like candy whenever we sneezed. or  a set of wet-ones. i blame my mom for my poor immune system. wanna talk about overkill on washing your hands and remaining clean? let's talk about how i near zero anti-bodies, so when i get sick. I GET SICK. i really get sick about 3-5 times a semester. i somehow manage to catch each & every strain of the flu virus. (no, i don't think i have swine flu, but i did have an urge to watch Babe: Pig in the City)

my sister was bathed & cleaned so much as a child ( you're not supposed to give babies tons of baths, however, my sister was apparently too dirty for baby dirty ) & therefore she now has eczema, which is like permanently dry skin. oh mother.

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once i picked up round two of ammunition, i decided if i was going to miserable in my bed that my stomach would at least be happy. so i picked up the typical: indulgent trail mix & chex mix. love it. and luna bars. i don't care if they are marketed towards woman, some of the best tasting food products are marketed towards women. plus, i'll just pull my "gender studies card," and say i don't subscribe to yadda-yadda and that usually works when i do something gender deviant. but seriously, luna bars are great. what essential nutrients & vitamins do women need that would possibly hurt me?

also, as a reward for enduring this bout of an upper respiratory infection/flu/whatever. i decided i needed netflix. like i said, if i'm going to bed ridden. my stomach is going to be happy & my mind is going to be zombified. zombified is a word, a red underline did not appear in my wordpress new post document.  so i ordered madmen season 1 & i love you, man. looking forward to these gems.