dear winter,

let’s consider this your last hurrah.

thanks much,

jessica

so for the past couple weekends i have skipped town.  2 weeks ago my little sister and i set-out on a last minute drive down to memphis.

we checked out the memphis zoo, saw an armadillo, some pandas, and a few sweet cats, and spent the evening on beale street.

 it was a great getaway.  though i’m not sure i recommend coyote ugly.  in fact, i’m sure i don’t recommend it unless you are a lonely guy looking to stare at a few girls dancing on a bar with a few hundred other lonely guys and the occassional confused/very drunk lady.

there are so many better places one could go.

we did karaoke, met creepy guys, ate chicken strips, met a not-so-creepy & actually really friendly older gentleman (like 60) who kept us company while we watched a sweet blues band sing the evening away.

 aside from the lack of potato products at denny’s during our Sunday morning breakfast and a rude hotel receptionist who refused our $5 off parking coupon  (promised, but not delivered by travelocity & benchmark hotels), the weekend went quite smoothly.

i suppose i can upload some photos soon now that i know my laptop is not dying, or dead, but is actually alive and well after the help of a fantastic member of the geeksquad at best buy in Clayton, MO.

last weekend, however, we did run into a snag or two.  a few girls from college and i drove to Evansville, IN to visit our favorite Edward Jones financial planner, Melissa Khan.  Evansville was bigger than i imagined it would be. 

we arrived late on Friday, and headed out to visit some fine local establishments.  we parked in the free, lit, camera secured parking garages near the casino.  fantastic!  covered parking downtown for free!

or so i thought.  apparently the cost of parking in the garage is that your car might be raided.  i suppose this goes with basically any parking lot, but somehow i didn’t think someone would find my coat to be a hot item.  

i guess someone is warmer because of me, but a part of my heart went with it, i think.

i am still quite bummed.  (obviously)

the rest of the trip was rather uneventful.  just hanging out.  80s night at a place called hammerhead’s.  a terrible cover band & unappealing crowd at fast eddies.  tasty italian dinner.  drunken red-headed bachelor–good for a laugh.

 this weekend i’ll be happily relaxing in good ol’ st louis.  doing laundry, reading, working out and other boring things.  and i’m totally exited about it.

 i’m even thinking about checking out the weiner dog race

-jess

and i wanna change
change the way we always had
and to make different plans
and try not to make this sad
and i always choose another way

shout out louds ~ very loud

so i’ve lived in belleville at the same apartment for a year and a few months.  for the most part we haven’t had a lot of issues, for awhile our dishwasher wouldn’t drain…they fixed that..it doesn’t really clean dishes that well, but at least it drains.

it’s a nice place, big enough, clean, but a few months ago, this spot showed up in the hallway.  just a small spot of water.  at first i though maybe megan spilled something and forgot to clean it up.  whatever.  so it goes away, and a few days later it returned.  and i though, hmm, that’s weird.  and it went away again.  and then it came back, only bigger.

at this point we called the landlord and told her about the mysterious spot.  it’s in the middle of the carpet.  there is nothing leaking around it.  there is no leak spot on the ceiling–sort of baffling.

a month goes by, and nothing happens, except for that the spot continues to grow, and grow, and grow.  it’s right outside my bedroom, so i have to consciously avoid it in order to not step it in.  stepping in it is awful gross.

megan and i both called again, and i asked the landlord if someone had been out to see it.  apparently a guy had come by after our original call and done nothing….

so they came by the other day when i was home sick from work, the guy just looked it it.  touched the carpet, and left.  and now days later, it’s still getting bigger.

the worst part is that it’s started to get moldy.

i’m kind of worried about this spot as it is taking over my hallway, and with as wet as it is up here, i can’t imagine that the people below us aren’t affected.

i’m baffled.  and pretty sure it’s not a good thing.  but we won’t be living here much longer.

-jessica

Help me I’m just not quite myself
Look around there’s no one else there

the strokes ~ heart in a cage

 

i had so much turkey this weekend.  i loveeee turkey.  it was nice to see my family and spend a little time at home.  i did, however, have to work friday and saturday, so i didn’t get a lot of down time.

i guess that’s how it goes when you’re old.

my birthday is coming up soon.  as i have probably mentioned a few times before.  on saturday, dec 1st, we will be going to a few locations in edwardsville.  it’s pretty much just anyone who knows me that feels like celebrating my birthday.  and if you’re just coming because you like going out, that’s fine too.  bring a friend!

it will be pretty low key, no big production involving st louis bars this year.  just a night on the town in happy little edwardsville.

beforehand my family is coming to town to have some dinner with me.  should be fun.  for my “early birthday party,” my parents DID purchase apples to apples for me.  i’m pretty pumped about.  we played for a bit, but my family members have attention spans shorter than mine, so it didn’t last long.  i want to play it, but sadly it requires more than 2 people, in fact, probably need at least 4 to make it work.

so if anyone wants to play….

i think i have found the guitar i would like to own.  it’s a takamine (like my current guitar) and it is beautiful.  i know some folks don’t like a non-natural finish on an acoustic, but i prefer it.  i think acoustics all look so boring.  so here is what i want.

alrighty, well, i need to make this apartment look presentable before megan gets home so she doesn’t kick me out onto the street in the cold!

-jessica

When I hear beautiful music it’s always from another time
Old friends I never visit, I remember what they’re like
Standing on a doorstep full of nervous butterflies
Waiting to be asked to come inside
Just come inside

Bright Eyes ~ Lime Tree

so

lucky me, i’ve managed to catch the flu. this is day 4 of it’s loveliness. day 3 was the most tragic. a perfectly good saturday, wasted away in bed.

i awoke yesterday morning with a fever of 104.9. i realized how terrible that is, but i also realized how very expensive a trip to the emergency room can be. so i decided that i would get the temp down on my own and hopefully avoid that whole experience. within an hour or so i was down to 103 where i spent the majority of the day. yayyy.

i slept. watched a lot of movies. played the sims 2. read. made play-doh animals. the usual.

anyway–i wanted to share some of our creations with you, but once again, i find myself with little to do.

 

 

so, it’s practically a zoo here. playing with play-doh made me feel like a kid again.  megan made the dinosaur.  i made the elephant and the zebra.  zebras are hard to make, i’ve noticed.

by the way, did you notice what an incredible day it is? beautiful weather, perfect fall day. and i am stuck, laying down, doing nothing. i want to go for a run through the rich neighborhood, but i need to get better.

good news, though–i don’t have to work tomorrow. thank goodness for holidays that almost no one but the bank celebrates. can’t skip class on veteran’s day, but you probably better skip the bank because it is CLOSED :)

lovely!

so i suppose i’m going to move on to my next pointless task. perhaps i’ll work on my christmas wish list (it will be short, as usual), maybe i’ll take a nap, i might make another play-doh animal. maybe a giraffe, i have a lot of orange left…

oh man, i’m bored.

okay, have a good day. go outside. play in the leaves. have a bonfire. do something fun.

-jess

We all go ’round and ’round
Partners of lost and found
Looking for one more chance
All I know is,
We’re all in the dance

feist ~ we’re all in the dance

on friday night i went to the grocery store.

i’m so old.

we are funny :)

-jess

allllllllllright, folks. i’m prettttttttty excited to be typing to you from my brand new laptop. a computer that functions efficiently and is reliable. this is big news!

so as difficult of a decision as it was, i ultimately purchased an hp. sure there are things about it that i don’t like as much, but that is with any computer. when i weighed the pros and cons, this is where i ended up, and i’m pretty happy with it.

so now i can update more frequently. and not be so incredibly lame.

okay guess what else is exciting?!

new episode of the office tonight

YESSSSSSSSSSSS

in 5 minutes.

in the mean time

i have a few pictures i thought i would put up for your viewing pleasure

it has been QUITE some time since i have updated, and therefore, i have many pictures to share.

so this is my ginger. she’s a sweet little pup.

this is me with the flag of our ship. it represents all that we stand for in the kreinheder pontoon.

i have the cutest cousin

the older sister and her boyfriend, mark

this is my kizz. she is precious.

abby’s halloween costume

my feet.

our workhourse

our feet.

i just won $27. that’s why i look so happy.

this guy guards our garbage.

some people i really miss.

jakob

totally normal.

my old roomies

i wanted to buy one, but the trunk wasn’t big enough

that’s my grandie in the red

the amish

happpppppy birthday este

everyone loves a party hat

you are jealous of our finger goblins

bahhhhhhh!

 

alright, well, i hope you have enjoyed these fotos. they are quite entertaining if i do say so myself.

i have to be up rather early tomorrow so i’m going to get to sleep, but i promise i’ll tell you all about my new computer in the very near future. and then i’ll tell you other exciting things.

so come back.

and read.

-jess

 

I will live a simple life
In a place i understand
You are always welcome here

denison witmer~simple life

…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

 

 

 

it’s pretty gross outside today. lots of rain. very humid. luckily not 105 degrees as it has been the past few weeks. survivable, but not preferable.

something about the dreariness makes the day go even slower, and just makes me that much more tired.

now, however, i have had enough caffeine to keep me up until tomorrow. somehow it seemed like a good idea to down a medium white chocolate mocha with a shot of raspberry then follow it with a diet coke and a cup of tea. now as i find it difficult to sit still i am beginning to rethink the idea.

the coffee was deliiiicious though. after work i met a friend of a friend for coffee at Cafe Avanti. i wasn’t sure what to expect when i ordered my drink of choice, because typically everyone but starbuck’s makes it taste awful, but i must say i was quite pleased.

perfect amount of whipped cream and raspberry.

so this is weird, until just now, i never realized that raspberry is spelled with a p. somehow i always just thought it was rasberry.

i mean, that doesn’t even really look right, and spell check confirmed my suspicions, but really, a p?? who knew?!

i’m not really sure how i’ve missed that for all these years…

surely i’m not the only one.

today i was watching my super sweet 16 (i know, i know, i’m ashamed for myself as well), but anyway, i was watching it, and the girl on the show had my EXACT bedding, and matching sheets. it was rather creepy. but kind of neat, because she has a lot of money, and presumably with money comes style. thus, i must have style–despite my lack of money.

i’m so logical, i know.

so on a whim my little sister and i did some shopping on saturday. i made out like a bandit.

listen–i am now the proud owner of red, polka-dotted flats.

and i got them for TEN dollars at Baker’s. now i haven’t quite found anything to wear them with yet, but i know that the time will come when these shoes will make the outfit.

i’m not typically one to match outfits to my shoes, but these are probably worth it due to their extremely high cuteness factor. perhaps when my laziness subsides i will show you what they look like. until that point, you will have to imagine their awesomeness.
okay, and finally, i need opinions.
i’m looking to purchase a laptop. nothing over the top, but more than just the basics. it will become my primary machine, so it needs to be of decent quality and speed.

i don’t want to spend more than $1000.

what should i get…?

i keep hearing, “get an apple, get an apple,” but i’m just not sure i’m convinced yet. please offer your argument here. or not.

but really though, i do need help in this decision. i want to feel as if i am not the only deciding factor here. thank you :)
-jess

but I guess i’ll have to settle for a few brief moments
and watch it all dissolve into a single second
try to write it down into a perfect sonnet
or one foolish line

bright eyes–a perfect sonnet