So long my friends....for the summer

Well guys, tomorrow I am leaving Chicago for Kenya. So you will have to follow my Kenya blog to find out whats going on in my life. I don't think that I will be updating this blog much if at all this summer. By the way I absolutely love Chicago, both the actual city and its suburbs. I am going to have to add it to my list of possible living places in life. For sure.


See ya in August! (Yikes, I'm really going to Kenya)
-j.

I'm not ashamed.

I feel that it's time to start acknowledging that my affinity for Zack Greinke is shifting towards a man-crush (if only we were friends, it could be a Bromance). The thing is, I'm not even ashamed about it. This kid, yeah he still should be called kid, is flat out amazing. Astounding. Unbelievable. Beyond superlative actually. He is dominating baseball and dominating life now too. If you haven't seen her, his fiance is beautiful. But thats beside the point. Or maybe not. If things don't work out, I'd have his babies (at the very least I'd hang out with him while he recovered).


true. blue.
-j.


ps- i went to four manhattan stores this weekend to get the newest SI issue that featured Greinke on the cover as the Best Pitcher in Baseball. Yeah it's sad but I love my Royals. Its the first time a Royal has been featured on the cover in more than a decade.

Firestone?.....More like Liarstone

So I've decided that I really drive a motorcyle under the disguise of a Mazda.

I would not recommend the services of Manhattan Firestone, or any Firestone for that matter, to anybody. I took my car in on Friday to get it fixed because it had been shake, rattle, and rolling whenever I drove it. Well, contrary to what you would expect, it didn't happen. Somehow after $500+ of repairs, the one thing that was wrong with my car wasn't fixed. I'm convinced that they purposely repair random, unrelated things just so you are forced to come back. Either that or they just get under the car and bang around with a giant wrench and see how many things they can mess up. Unbelievable.

rumblin through the streets,
-j.

Life Updates.

Here's the scoop:

1) I am proud to say that I am a Level 8 farmer on Farm Town. 2 Legit 2 Quit.
2)Lemmy's Pizza is flippin awesome.
3)The Royals may have lost a few but I cant get enough. Maybe this is due to the fact I cant watch all summer. Greinke is a flat out stud.
4) I officially have a job for next year (hopefully beyond) and it is by far the best job in the world, or atleast on campus.

that is all,
-j.

Facebook Freak

So unfortunately I have discovered a new application on Facebook that has turned me into a Facebook Freak. It is called Farm Town. Pretty much its the best thing ever. I get to have a farm and grow crops and sell them. Sounds lame but I can't get enough. I've even been known to take my laptop to class so that I can harvest my crops before they spoil. Wow. I can't beleive I just typed that. Don't judge me please. Atleast until you've tried it. So add the app. so we can be neighbors.

embarrassed freak,
-j.

Wonderful World of Sports.

So yesterday was supposed to be the greatest day in sports history. Atleast in my own life. Unfortunately mother nature had other plans so it was then supposed to be the greatest two days in sports history. Again, the universe had other plans. Only half my dreams came true. As everyone knows, my totally dominate Carolina Tarheels racked up another National Championship, and in overly impressive fashion. That in and of itself would be great news. But the cherry on top of the night was the fact that Carolina's victory placed me 2nd in my March Madness Pool and allows me to collect a serious payout. Baller.

**PS..if they can find some guard play, UNC will be back in the Final Four next year. Even w/o Hansborough, Ellington, Lawson, Green, and (dont forget) Frasor, they are a borderline Elite 8 team. That young front court (Thompson, Davis, Zeller, and incoming recruits) will be dominate.

And then there's the Royals....
My seasonal love affair/fling with the Royals was set to begin on Monday. I was prepared to miss class and everything to watch Opening Day. Then it decided to snow in April in Chicago. Awesome. So it got postponed until today. So i rushed home from class, made me a hot dog on the grill, ate some Classic Lays, and savored some David's Sunflower seeds and watched the beautiful drama that is the Kansas City Royals. All game it looked like a much improved team offensively and an just an overall more mature, professional ball club. Then comes Gas Can, er Kyle, Farnsworth in to blow everything for me. Gil Meche's 7 innings of stellar pitching, gone. My boy Alex Gordon's 2nd pitch bomb to center field, gone. Everything, gone thanks to some tatted up freak-show who I hope gets pushed back into middle belief where he belongs. Anyways, its just one game in a long season. Blah blah blah. This year is different though, yada yada yada. Truth is, this very well could be there year and knowing my luck it prolly will be. The Royals will once again be a legitimate contender the summer that I decide to pack up and book it across the Pond to Africa. Oh well, so it goes.
**PS #2.......the Royals offensive approach honest to goodness did look much approved. I don't recall seeing that many full counts by Royals batters all last year. This is good news.


boy in blue,
-j.

Exhausted!

Wow..what a long day. First of all Wednesdays are always my longest days seeing as I have the most classes on them. But today was especially crazy. Here is a general rundown of events:

• Terrible Expos class
• Enrolled in classes (my schedule is super awesome **more on that at later time)
• Ate lunch
• More class
• Service Team Kenya class (always best part of my class day)
• Dinner and frantic prep for the Radina's benefit concert
• RADINA'S CD RELEASE BENEFIT CONCERT (visit my Kenya Blog for a detailed recap, lets just say it went great)
• Complete exhaustion, rapid e-mailing, catch up reading and a litte FUZION

Not only has this week been soooo long and busy with trying to get shirts tie-dyed, finishing a Rebuttal essay, and CD covers made (and filled with discs and inserts) for our Kenya, but I've also supposed to still be a normal student with classes and school work. Unfortunately not both could coexist this week. Soooo I'm a little behind in my reading for history class and school work (also not my fault that Amazon didnt get me my book till Monday though and I was supposed to have it finished on Tuesday).

super tired and playing some Fuzion,

-j.

Fun Times with the Roomsta.

Yay to Fuzion Frenzy. I suck horribly at it but boy is it fun. Looks like we found a new way of distraction here at Apt. 158. Come on over and enjoy it with us!

from back here in last place,
-j.

Paparazzi.

So I got my new camera in the mail today. Its pretty funny because I have been such a little kid all day with it. Its my new toy. I can't put it down and I don't wanna share it. I am such a nerd with it already. I have been walking around my house taking pictures of all sorts of random stuff. I have a feeling my new method of distraction and time wasting back in the Hatt is gonna involve taking pictures.



For instance: My old shoe.

.....and my possibly dirty laundry.

say cheese.
-j.

Fingers Crossed.

I am sooo hoping that Ty Lawson can get healthy and my Tarheels can finally play to potential and cut down those illustrious nets. Not only is this good for me as a fan, but given my involvement with a not so legal matter called, Bracket Challenge, North Carolina pulling through could have advantagous results for the financing of my trip to Kenya. So in other words, GO TARHEELS. If they win I feel it will be only appropriate to make them my unofficial sponsor for my summer in Africa.

fingers crossed,

-j.

Expert Opinion

Ah yes...its that time of the year again. As you very well (probably) know today was Selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament (referred to by many as simply "The Dance", "The Show", or "March Madness"). And yet again my much beloved Tarheels are a #1 seed. And once again I will be filling out my brackets by first writing in my baby blues all the way through, and the rest shall follow. Aside from this here are my expert opinions on this years bracket and tournament (feel free to disagree but you and I both know who is right):

1. KU a 3-seed?!!----I am not saying this purely out of my deep resentment of all things Jayhawk but what in the world are they thinking! From my understanding a 3-seed should be a legitimate Top 10 team and lets face it, KU is not there yet. It would have made much more sense for a team in their own bracket even, Wake, and KU to switch seeds; considering Wake was actually ranked #1 at some point this season and has consistently been in the Top 10 for the majority of the year. The only thing that does appease me some is that a much deserving MU team so too got a 3-seed (i'm not a total homer).
2. Glad to see Arizona made it. Not to take anything away from other bubble teams like St. Mary's, Creighton, or San Diego St. (notice no mention of Penn State--see below) but this was the correct choice. First off nobody would have cared to see any of those three teams play Utah and second Arizona is more talented then all those teams. They should actually win their first round game and possible go even further. Zona also had better (albeit it home-court) wins.
3. Alls I want to know is how the heck is Philadelphia considered West? West of what? New York? Being the world class geography bee-whiz I am, it seems odd to me that the City of Brotherly Love is playing host to first round games in the West Regional bracket.
4. Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan????------I mean come on. Who in their right minds puts 7, count em, 7 Big Ten teams in the tourney. How can one even begin to say that they are deserving of the same number of bids as the vaunted Big East or the under-ratedly (is that a word? is now) difficulty ACC? I am sorry but Big Ten basketball is flat out boring and will not get the job done. I will venture to say that all three of these teams will bow out in the first round. And to think, Joe Schmo Lundardi once said 8 Big Ten teams would make it (sorry Penn State, your not legit).
5. I am not saying that K-State is more deserving than any team currently in the field (save a few Big Ten teams maybe) but I found these stats (found them myself) interesting-----Seeds that KSU beat: 3, 7, 13, 9------Seeds that KSU lost to: 3, 3, 2, 8.....Not bad, I'm still proud of my Wildcats. WATCH OUT ILLINOIS STATE!!

so long for now,

-j.

PS----watching Planet Earth in HD is the best thing ever.

Spring Break, Day 1

Day 1 of Spring Break was pretty uneventful. I spent prolly 90% of my time sitting on my couch watching basketball. Unfortunately that included watching my beloved Tarheels struggle without the reigning ACC Player of the Year. It's ok cuz they put up a good fight and all that matters is that they are healthy for the Dance. Still well on their way to another National Championship if you ask me. The rest of my break doesnt look like it will vary much from today. Yikes. This could be boring. It seems that everyone and there mamas (myself included) are off to some warm location for fun and relaxation. Oh well, you all will be wishing you were me come May 23rd. Besides, I techinically have plenty to occupy me this week between trip prep, school, and March Madness. Oh and plus I ordered a new camera last night that I can fiddle around with when it comes!

sincerely bored and yours,
-j.

almost there.

Well Spring Break is almost here. Unlike many people I am not going anywhere (most likely due to the fact I will be GOING TO KENYA THIS SUMMER instead). But who am I to complain. I am actually looking forward to spending an entire week at home just doing absolutely nothing. Well thats not true, I have some stuff that I need to get done. But you get the point. I am just hoping that the weather can atleast be bearable, no more of this single digit wind chill junk. In other news, I have my advising appointment tomorrow, which is mostly undeserving of any mention. Point and case, my last advising visit went something like this:
-Advisor: "So Jamie, do you know what classes you want to take?"
-Me: "Yep, sure do."
-Advisor: "Great. I'll lift your flags and let you go."
So like i said. Nothing special. But the reason I do mention it is because I am uber pumped to sign up for classes upon learning that never again in my K-State career do I have to take more than 12 hours, and I dont plan to either. Looks like smooth sailing from here on out. Thats right, two years of 12 hour semester is on my horizon. Be jealous.

BREAKING NEWS: The Kansas State Mens Basketball team has once again led to great heartbreak on my part. I know I should not have gotten my hopes up this year but I really thought deep down that I was looking at a team that was going to put a string of (minimum) 3 straight NCAA Tourney appearances. But once again (with some assistance from our 6th man of the year--Big XII Refs) we choked up a lead in the second half and just didn't have the gumption to get it back. So goes the life of a Wildcat I suppose. And so goes the life of Jamie's Sports Teams (see Royals, Chiefs, Nebraska, etc).

thats it.
-j.

Quickie.

This is a simple post. I have created a new blog that I will used just for Kenya stuff. Here it is (all the kinks arent worked out so bear with me):



http://karibuni-nyeri.blogspot.com/

That is all.
-j.

Back by Popular Demand.

Alright so I guess its been a while since I posted last, too long for some. So here we go. As I said in my last one, I am gonna fill everyone in on my Kenya trip. Well today isn' t that day. Well sort of. I will just give you a short run down. Heres the scoop:

• As most of you know, I have been dreaming of going to Africa for a long long time. Well this year, through the K-State International Service Teams Program I finally found my opportunity. After being acccepted into the program I learned that I was going to be sent to Nyeri, Kenya for 10 weeks this summer. Nyeri is a city about 70 km (not sure what that means haha) North of Nairobi. While there we (3 other members on my team, they are great) will be working with the Children and Youth Empowerment Centre. Basically it is a center that provides shelter, food, education and other services to the many "street" children (otherwise homeless children). There goal is to provide services and education that will allow them to become self-sustainable adults and keep them off the streets upon reaching adulthood. Its a very cool program and I am super excited. So there is the basic rundown for now. I am in the process of creating a seperate Blog that I will link up to this one that and Notes. I will update it throughout this semester and during my trip (duh).

****TODAY AND TOMMORROW: My team and I will be in the Union "selling" Fake Pattys Day t-shirts in an effort to raise money for our trip. I appreciate any and all support and hope to see everyone there. If you are not able to or dont want a T-shirt there will be plenty other opportunites to support us later in the semester. Non-monetary support is equally valued as well. Ha I am not just saying that either. I am always more than willing to talk about my trip, answer questions or any of that.

That is all,

-j.

Kenya Represent

I am going to Africa. I mean come on! What more do I need to say. I have to keep telling myself that it is real though because I don't think it will set in till I am on the plane over the Atlantic. I mean I can't even put into words how I feel (all the ways I feel) about this trip and opportunity. Right now I am in the library trying to write a paper so I don't have the time to go into a full description of my trip. But I will do so soon because I feel like I haven't done anything like that to anyone yet.

Africa...Me....This summer...Enough said (for now)

-j.

Ambitions

so i read an article today that has drastically changed my career goals. I now plan to be Major League Baseball's Commissioner for one calender year. The commishes pay is commensurate (new word i learned) to that of the games top paid players, meaning good ol' Bud is making bank. $18 million dollars to be exact. So that is my ambition.

That is all.

-j.

Super Bowl

Well as some of you might know the NFL had a small game tonight that they like to call the Super Bowl. (*fact of the day: Americans eat more food today, Super Bowl Sunday, than on any other day out of the year besides Thanksgiving; Thats pretty big time!) Though much of the hype typically surrounds the unveiling of new commercials. The latter seems to me to be a complete let down compared to previous years. Luckily the game lived up to the name. It really was a great game with good defense, big plays and late game heroics. What more could you ask for right? Aside from game things were pretty hit or miss. The National Anthem was very very good and it was really cool to see Jennifer Hudson in her first appearance since the tragic deaths of mother, brother and son. Her rendition (aka recording) was very good. The halftime show was so-so. I'm a big fan of The Boss but and was excited to hear him perform. Unfortunately he only had like 12 minutes to play or something and didnt chose the best song list in my opinion. And then there were the commercials....

Like i said overall it was a weak class this year but here's a list of a few of my favorites:

• Pepsi commercial- Bob Dylan and Will.i.am had a pretty cool commercial playing on the whole "Pepsi" generation theme intertwined with our current generation. I'm always down for some Dylan.
• Bud light- The first Bud Light commercial in the meeting room when they are talking about decreasing the budget or what not and the dude gets thrown out of the window. Pretty funny stuff.
• Doritos-This is probably the commercial that made me laugh the most of the night. The guy has a snow globe and acts like its a magic 8-ball thing and throws it through the vending machine for "Free Doritos" and then his friends tries to get a promotion by chucking it at his boss's junk. Hilarious.
• Budweiser- What more does Bud have to do than put dalmations and clydesdales in a commercial. Always a win.
• e-trade baby- Much like Budweiser, e*trade always has great commercials. They hit the jackpot with the little baby (better hope he doesnt grow up). This year they added a little friend for him (notice the diversity) and that was funny. The golfclub one at the end was funny as well.
• NBC Thursdays- The LMAO NBC commercial was the only one of the bunch that was good. The rest just got old and needed to get cut. But this was awfully funny to me.
• Coke Bug Commercial- Coke has sweet commercials. End of story.
• GE- Their "green" commercials (OZ, capture the wind) are nice to see and definately probably not meaningful at all but they were nicely made.

Welp folks thats my review of the Super Bowl....Can't wait to see the Chiefs in it next year.

-j

Joy in the Presence of Others

So tonight I was reminded of one of the greatest gifts God provides us, and that is joy. In the truest sense of the word. It is amazing how in the most unlikely of times and after the most stressful of situations, God brings joy. And between school getting in full swing, plans for Kenya starting and my increasingly failing effort to find a job, joy just wasnt happening. But God is great and he always knows how to use impeccable timing. I had alread been looking forward to Ichtus all week, as I hadnt made it to it yet this semester. And it did not disappoint. There is just an indescribable energy (as John said tonight, a power) about taking part in a community of God like that. As soon as I walk in I am just overtaken with joy and hope and a sense of calm. It really is indescribable which means there probably isnt a point in trying haha but I just really felt the urge to share this. And added on to the joy of being apart of an incredible community of people who share a love of God and a true sense of faith and purpose, getting to know my team that I will be sharing 8-10 weeks of my summer with has been awesome. I am getting more excited by the day and truly feel like this experience could be life changing and something that stays with me forever. In addition to my summer team another group has really been tickling my fancy lately and that is my life group. Again this comes back to joy in the presence of others. Between our Sunday night get togethers, the trip to St. George, dinner at Little Apple Brewery, and Wednesday lunch it has been a week full of community in the true form that God intended for it. I'm really excited for what the rest of the semester has in store and am encouraged/hopeful that some great things will come out of all this.

p.s. I hadn't blogged for awhile so it all sort of just came out just now. I'll try not to make it so incredibly long ha.

First Day

Well today was the first day of semester. i can honestly say that i was actually sort of looking forward to it. my classes went well and i think that my history class is going to be interesting and possibly even fun. but im a nerd for that kind of stuff.

American Idol Recap and Observations:

• the new judge can sing better than a pretty girl in a bikini. nice work.
• the new judge has some tude....i like it.
• Favorites so far: AZ- Stevie (girl named after Stevie Nix) and Scott (blind guy who seemed like a real cool dude); KC- [*forgot names for this one] girl from Wamego (gotta pull for the "hometown" girl), teacher whose wife died, and the woman at the very end who had three little kids.

Ichthus starts up again tonight and i am very excited about that. I definately feel that i will be leaning heavily on my faith and the positive energy of ichthus and the people associated with it a lot these coming months. I am also excited to start up going to life group again. It was something that i slacked on late in the semester but not out of a decrease in desire. I just had a lot of things get real crazy towards the end there and am super anxious to start up again.

Back in the Hatt

Well suprisingly enough my return to Manhattan has been quite productive so far. I guess I got my beginning of a new semester "jolt" of diligence. Just to prove my productivity I will add that not only have I turned in to applications, but I have taken down all the christmas decorations, almost finished the book I've been reading (A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier), but also made three trips to the rec. Dang I'm awesome. I also vacuumed which is something I just don't do. All of this kinda got me thinking about things to come and this semester in particular. I guess because I'm hoping I continue to get stuff done haha. But here's a short list of things I am excited for:

1. American Idol new season (always good)
2. House on Monday nights
3. Going to Ichthus again
4. my classes in general
5. preparing for my trip to Africa
6. actually going to Africa
7. K-State beating KU (home or away, no preference)
8. Royals Spring Training (watch out for the Royals offense this year!)

New Years brings New Things

Welp I came back to Manhattan today and I couldn't have waited any longer I dont think. Most definately it was time to get back and away from the whole home scene. I'm looking forward to having these next few days to just relax and get settled again while having some peace and quiet. Alone time can be good sometimes and perhaps that is just what the doctor ordered.

Obviously its the New Years and that means everybody has there resolutions to get fitter, eat better, blah blah haha. Personally I am not into that whole thing that much I guess. But i decided to come up with a few things anyways. They are as follows:

1. Blog more (hence what I'm doing)
2. Read more (other than crappy school stuff, but i also should do that more)
3. Learn more names in my classes (i am horrible at names)
   3b. Meet as many new peeps in my classes as possible
4. Get a freaking job!
5. Have more fun this semester
6. Go with the flow

Ok so those are the basic pretty boring resolutions that are typical and most likely won't come to fruition (oops).