and it’s finally starting to feel like fall.

oh and i moved to st louis

so up until this point, i haven’t been involved in any automobile mishaps or wrecks. at least not my own…once i had a flat tire, and there was a rattling noise..but otherwise a clean record. however, this is no longer true.

on friday i was driving along, minding my own business on a 2 lane road near downtown st louis, just trying to get a hot dog or perhaps a chicken wrap from dairy queen, when all of the sudden the taurus (fitting) in the next lane decide it would like to be in my lane too. this would have been acceptable except that i was currently utilizing that lane.

so before i knew it there was a vehicle coming at me from the side. my first reaction–slam on the breaks, okay, good, fine. second reaction, turn the car away. this would have been fine, except that in soulard the median’s are quite large and very much solid. not exactly conducive to a comfortable exit from disaster. perhaps i should have let the car hit me. this seems to be the advice i have been receiving from insurance.

my front left tire rammed up against the median and exploded. but not only that, it jammed up against the curb hard enough to efffff up some other important parts, so a tire change wasn’t good enough. she’s out. locked up in a midas for at least a few days. oh and there is a dent. i was worried about the small door dings. now i have quite a large dent and area of paint scrape-age.

the best part? the taurus stopped about 100 feet up, looked back, and drove away. yes. they drove away. i cried for a few seconds, then climbed out my passenger side on a busy street. luckily a nice passbyer saw the event and stopped. he helped me put on a donut and get out of the street.

because i was so close to work, 2 of the girls were able to come to my rescue very quickly and stayed by my side until the police came, and then took me back to work, but not until they bought me some dairy queen.

work was followed by a beer with a bunch of folks from the office.
a necessary component to an awful day, it seems.

i have some very good friends, and a lot of people that care enough about me to listen, and drive me around, and make me feel better. i’m glad to know i can count on the people around me when i’m down and out, because i was certainly down this weekend. perhaps i still am.

i’m also glad to know that some strangers will stop and do a good deed while others will eff up your car and drive away with no remorse.

lucky for me, larry, a guy i work with is out of town this week, and has lent me his truck (yes truck!) to get to and from work. this is a huge lifesaver. i was completely worried about the commute and how i could make that happen without a vehicle.

when i get married and my husband and i are picking a car insurance, it will most definitely include a car rental component to the accident insurance. yes. we will get a nice car from enterprise or something–it will pick us up. or maybe i’ll just not get in any more wrecks.

speaking of trucks–there was one bright part of my weekend. my boss had some free monster truck challenge tickets last week that he was giving out. i took a few on the offchance that i could find someone willing to attend such an event with me.

without much hesitation my little sister, her fiance, 2 of her friends, and my cousin and i ended up with thousands of other excited monster truck fans at gateway on saturday night.

i have never attended a monster truck rally before–but, hey, first time for everything. it was actually more fun that i would have ever imagined. large trucks flying through the air, crushing things…how can you go wrong? unfortunately, none of them flipped over or caught on fire. they did put on a good show though.

additionally, there were motorcycles flying 80 feet through the air, doing flips and tricks. oh, and a stretch monster truck with lights and smoke.

as i said–how can you go wrong with all of these components. we each picked a truck to be “ours” and got into the competition. mine was awful and lost right away. just in case you ever do this, a little advice, the best ones are the ones that actually have a truck on top of the giant tires. for whatever reason, sticking the neon green body of a car onto 4 10 foot tall tires, doesn’t result in a winning monster “truck”. i should have considered this before picking–i was just distracted by it’s bright colors.

we even spotted several mullets–which always makes for a good night. i couldn’t possibly be down when witnessing all of these things in one action packed evening.

t minus 12 days.

-jessica

There’s no need to complicate
Our time is short
This is our fate, I’m yours

jason mraz ~ i’m yours

my guitar loves me right now. i play it all the time. i’m not sure what brought on this incessant need to play, but it has arrived and is taking over my life.

and i like it. i like that i’m trying not to suck. that’s really great news for me and everyone, i think.

my life is drastically different than it was 2 months ago. i do different things in my free time, i hang with different people, i go to different places, i eat different things, i ENJOY my job, i would have to say i’m generally happier.

i hope to move to st louis soon. for whatever reason i have this idea in my head that i should be living in the city in a loft with high ceilings and brick walls. i want to kill carpet cozy. i’m not sure what brought on this sudden for distaste intricate layouts, detached kitchens, and feeling safe at night, but i don’t want this anymore.

well, i want to feel safe at night, but i suppose i can bargain safety for style. haha. priorities.

mexico plans have been finalized, sort of. we won’t know where we are staying until the day we leave. this sort of uncertainty typically makes me feel rather uneasy, but right now i’m pretty chill about the whole thing. probably because i’m even going to mexico. i was a bit worried that the whole thing would fall through. it didn’t. let’s pray for good weather and minimal sunburns.

okay, i’m going to visit guitar center and visit my wish list.

i’d like to leave you with this piece of advice, however unsolicited it may be:

cheaters don’t deserve explanations.

-jessica

it is really starting to feel like summer now

i went to my first cardinals game of the year

shorts are now acceptable apparel without getting that weird look

we grilled some hotdogs tonight

it’s good stuff!

as far as the job is going, i feel much busier than I used to. it’s very different, but i really enjoy the environment, the people, the overall concept. it’s good stuff too.

so i don’t know if i told you, we’re going to mexico this summer. i’m super pumped. some of the details are still a little fuzzy, but we know the dates and place.

it’ll be so nice to just relax for a week–surely i’ll be in need of a vacation by august.

i’m also doing a short weekend trip to Chicago in july (i think) actually..for 4th of july. staying near navy pier, seeing the fireworks, shopping, very exciting!

things are good. they are busy, but good.

i’m sorry if you haven’t heard from me in awhile…hopefully i’ll soon become accustomed to this schedule that doesn’t allow for much sleep and even less free time.

i think i’m having a luau soon. i have lei’s, grass skirts, hawaiian music. yep. it’s gonna be a good time. when i finally get around to planning the silly thing, a facebook invitation will surely go out.

-jess

what if i stopped
just for a while
to see where the sun goes
still up the night
just for a while

the bird and the bee ~ spark

woooooooooooooahhhhh

so a few minutes ago (like 30)

i woke up to my bed shaking

my walls trembling

my pictures rattling.

and i was terrified.

only a few seconds, but enough to scare the crap out of my roommate and i.

i called my mom, to see if i was crazy…

i’m not, at least not about this.

but anyway, i’m wide awake, and watching the news.

checking out the 5.4. waiting for the aftershock?

they just said people felt it in Chicago.

i guess we’re just not accustomed this this sorta thing here in the midwest…

crazy earthquakes.

goodnight.

-jessica

i’ll be trading in my suits for jeans.

i accepted a new job at an advertising agency called switch

it’s near downtown stl.

i’m pretty excited :)

i start on April 28th.

-jessica

This is one for the good days
And I have it all here
In red blue green
Red blue green

Radiohead ~Videotape

…when i have to work early in the morning.
additionally, i feel pretty crappy. probably from lack of sleep.

i do love taking the weekend shifts.
it is nice, though, having a day off in the middle of the week. after work tomorrow i’m heading home to the good ol’ town of Vandalia.

you’re jealous….aren’t you?

i feel like i haven’t visited home in forever–probably because i really haven’t.

so today i kicked off a new promotional program at work. it’s a referral program I put together for our branch. i hope it works. if not, it’s possible that i’ll look bad. so probably I’ll need to push this.

and if you don’t bank with Regions already….you should maybe start :)

and you can win an ipod.

yep!

so i haven’t really been overly busy, at least I don’t think that I have. i’ve been doing a lot of fun things lately. last weekend in particular I spent a ton of time in stl.

friday i was lucky enough to get to go to the melting pot.
in case you haven’t been–it’s absolutely fantastic. after an amazing dinner, we hit up a movie at the Tivoli called Troll 2.
oddly enough, it had nothing to do with trolls….just goblins and was so awfully bad that it was good, maybe even…great.

are you cuuurrrrrrrrriouuuuus?

It was hilarious.So on Saturday my friend Jackson and I met my friend John and his girlfriend, Katie, for lunch/dinner at Joe Boccardi’s, which was pretty tasty, and then went paddle boating at Forest Park.It reminded me that I love summer.I was also reminded this past week how much I really miss college and all the people at SIUE. I had a day off Tuesday so I had some time to visit some of the people I have missed the most. After a few minutes of hanging out, and answering the phone, it felt like I had never left. Those people are so amazing.I guess I should include a few pictures.

-jess

This feels the same
complications in different situations

between the trees~words

my mother has informed me that i need to update this here website. and so, in my saturday boredom, i have decided to do so.

i can’t think of much to do today, i already slept until 2 which took care of a good portion of the day. i’m not sure how i feel about that, but i suppose it’s too late now.

last night we celebrated my friend justin’s 21st birthday. it was pretty darn exciting to see him again, and to see him in this altered state of mind for the first time. we spent a few hours watching an amazing folkish group at a bar in Soulard called McGurks. in the past i haven’t enjoyed the place very much but last night we had a ton of fun. the banjo playing, the good friends, the atmosphere–it was a good time! we stayed a little too long though because by the time we left, every other bar in the universe (aside from the terrible Buka) was closing. we spent a few good minutes at the Venice Cafe, also in Soulard, before heading to a diner to get some middleofthenight snacks.

that’s me hugging the birthday boy–he’s been in cali for the summer so i haven’t seen him in quiiiitte some time

i am a big fan of the Venice Cafe–last night was actually only my 2nd time going there. it has a really really laid back feel to it–it’s very..hippieish. i like that about it, though. there are tons of random things nailed to the walls and they have a palm reader on staff in case you need a little advice or just want to see the future. (she read my palm a few weeks ago, but i’m not sure how much i actually learned from the exp.)

it was really cool though.

practically everyone i know is getting ready to start school back up..i, however, am old. and i am getting ready for another week at the bank.

nothing new.

i really really miss college. hanging out with my college friends last night only reminded me of that fact more. don’t get me wrong, my job, it’s alright, i just miss staying up late and seeing a million people i know each day. i even miss classes and homework. i don’t learn as much now and i really like learning (because i am a total nerd.)

i will probably go back at some point, but it’s just not the same in grad school.

i am old now.

i must deal with that.

and watch the cardinals game–which, by the way is going horribly. 0-5 against the cubbies. yep.

i’ll be sure and try to update more frequently now.

-jess

My city’s still breathing (but barely it’s true)
through buildings gone missing like teeth.
The sidewalks are watching me think about you,
sparkled with broken glass.
I’m back with scars to show.
Back with the streets I know.
Will never take me anywhere but here.

the weakerthans–left and leaving