Alright, snow and coldness..

I now have protection against you! HAH!

BDG Trapper Hat & Urban Renewal Army Surplus Jacket

I wanna go sledding again, now that I have this kickass hat.

Knitting Project – Complete!

This is my first knitting project.. it’s my stepsister, Danielle’s, christmas present, and I’m just now finishing it! Only 6 rows to go! It WILL be done before I leave the house today. An awesome scarf with two cable knits going down the center. I can’t wait to give it to her! She better get her butt back to Lawrence, soon!

Oh, and I covered a song the other day.. I forgot to link it here. Bon Iver’s Re: Stacks. Amazing song. Listen to the original, too, it’s way better.

It’s snowing today! I haven’t seen/played in snow in… FOREVERRRR. Can’t wait!

Tags: Bon Iver, Christmas, Cover, Knitting, Lawrence, Re: Stacks, Snow

Lawrence, thus far

I can not accurately portray in words how much I have fallen in love with the atmosphere that surrounds this town! Maybe it’s just that I’m a newbie, but this is by far the most awesome place I have ever lived.. granted, I am landlocked… (no ocean :/). Regardless, I have had a blast in these first 4 days. Rachel, my amazing little sister, just left yesterday. She’s on class break from U of A and took time out of her vacation to help me move in.. isn’t that nice?! We got so much accomplished. My room is (almost) completely organized, with the exception of a much needed bookshelf for my library, and the kitchen is completely stocked with everything from an espresso machine to a KitchenAid mixer! It’s red, and I love it :) I couldn’t have done all of it without her.

On Tuesday, I made my first new friend! Rachel, her and I all made tuna-avacado sushi and drank sake.. it was SO good! Merisa is her name and she is an amazing photographer. She’s also a student at KU, but, alas, she is graduating this May and plans to move far far away to LA or something. Anyways! For now, I get to enjoy her company!

Back to Rachel – I dropped her off at the airport yesterday SO SAD! Before her departure, we strolled around the Plaza in Kansas City, which I came to find (silly me!) is actually in Missouri?! WHAT?! Who did that?! Hahahah. I felt so dumb, my geography is terrible :P They have great shopping there and Gap was having a killer of a sale. I got 2 very warm coats, 2 cardigans and 2 long sleeved shirts for … guess…. $115!!!! Seriously! It was awesome! Then, Rachel left :( But it’s okay! Because not only does she live a short 4 hours away, but my step-sister arrives sometime this weekend! She’s a TA at KU and is working on her graduate degree. It’d be funny if I got in her class lol. I won’t, Danielle, don’t worry! That’d be weird..

So, last night was officially my first night on the town. I met up with Merisa and a couple of her friends to do $1 bowling, which I haven’t done in about 6 years. I’ve always been terrible at it, but I WON one game! Crazyyyy! It was really fun.. I like her friends. After bowling, we went to pride night at some club/bar place and danced the night away!

This morning, though, I woke up feeling quite lonely. I don’t wanna keep bugging my only friend to hang out with me, so I’m determined to make at least 2 new friends tonight. I wish I knew more people before I got here! Anyway, I spent the day playing guitar, strolling around the campus (1 block from my house), setting up my financial aid and GI Bill stuff, and knitting. Oh, and I started a batch of Kombucha tea!!! I’ll let you guys know how it turns out.. this will save me SO much money. GT’s Kombucha is about $3.50 a pop! I drink one every day, so that’s.. what.. $24.50 a week? I did that math really fast, don’t judge, but correct me if I’m wrong. I hope it works! It has to grow a bacteria culture, which should happen over the next week or two. I also cooked butternut squash and brussels sprouts for dinner tonight for the first time ever. I’d say it was a success!

Well, I’m off to fulfill my goal of the day. 2 new friends tonight. The Bottleneck is having live music tonight, so I’m going and.. I dunno haha. I suppose I’ll just approach people and say hi? Does anyone know how to make friends?! Sheesh! Wish me luck!!

Tegan Quin rocks my world!

How is she so sexy?

I’m moving to Lawrence, KS on Sunday to start school at KU. Pretty sure I’ll be majoring in English.

Tags: Tegan Quin Whip My Hair Jayhawks Lawrence Kansas Sarah Kraus freckledknees

Whewwwwww man, Tea Party movement….

Story time! The other night, I was out with Heather for a drink (we had a flaming volcano.. so cool) and had the pleasure of meeting this really nice woman. We got into this discussion about politics. She seemed pretty liberal, and I always thought Heather was, too (I really don’t know though, it was actually just an assumption).. but then they started praising the tea party movement, which totally caught me off guard. I mean, I was under the impression that the Tea Party was essentially a large group of conservative “rebels” dissatisfied with the way our government is working, lately. The reason “rebels” is in quotes is because all of their views reflect conservative values.. it’s nothing more than a bunch of angry Republicans! Heather and this woman (alas, her name has evaded my memory) preceded to try and convince me otherwise.. but I didn’t really know how to respond, probably in part because of that damn flaming volcano (mahah), but really, I wish I was more educated about politics and economics and whatnot, so I could have better known what to question. Good thing I have wikipedia!!

A couple of quotes that struck me when researching the Tea Party.

“The movement’s primary concerns include, but are not limited to, cutting back the size of government, lowering taxes, reducing wasteful spending, reducing the national debt and federal budget deficit, and adherence to an originalist interpretation of the United States Constitution.”

“New York Times journalist Kate Zernike reported that leaders within the Tea Party credit Seattle blogger and conservative activist Keli Carender with organizing the first Tea Party in February 2009, although the term “Tea Party” was not used.”

A quote from Carender regarding the first Tea Party gathering held in Seattle, WA. “[The turnout was] amazing for the bluest of blue cities I live in, and on only four days notice! This was due to me spending the entire four days calling and emailing every person, think tank, policy center, university professors (that were sympathetic), etc. in town, and not stopping until the day came.”

In order to gain publicity, she “contacted conservative author and Fox News contributor Michelle Malkin, and asked her to publicize the rally on her blog.”

“Critics say that the Tea Party is nothing but the Republican Party in disguise, since nearly all of the candidates endorsed by the Tea Party run on a Republican Party ticket.” (Wait a sec… didn’t I just say something like that?)

Here are some demographics…

The Bloomberg News poll showed that 40% are 55 or older, 79% are white, 61% are men and 44% identify as “born-again” Christians.

According to a poll conducted by the University of Washington consisting of 1,023 registered voters in the state of Washington, 73% of Tea Party supporters disapprove of Obama’s policy of engaging with Muslim countries, 88% approve of the controversial immigration law recently enacted in Arizona, 82% do not believe that gay and lesbian couples should have the legal right to marry, and that about 52% believed that “lesbians and gays have too much political power.”

Of white poll respondents who strongly approve of the Tea Party, only 35% believe that blacks are hard-working, compared to 55% of those strongly opposed to the Tea Party, and 40% of all respondents. However, analysis done by ABC News’ Polling Unit found that views on race “are not significant predictors of support for the Tea Party movement” because they are typical of whites who are very conservative.

I think that’s enough information to give you in support of my final analysis of the Tea Party movement. In all honesty, I would consider myself moderately conservative on fiscal policy and strongly liberal on social issues. So, my opinion is coming from a pretty balanced place. You can say that I’m biased cause I’m a lesbian, and maybe that is so. In my defense, I’m probably the biggest Libra you will ever meet, I’m very fair when making decisions, and try to incorporate every piece of information as accurately as possible. This movement frustrates me SO much. The vast majority of it’s supporters come across as racist and intolerant towards minorities. The behavior of participants in their rallies and protests is unethical, using vulgar racial slurs and calling queers “faggots.” Any coverage I’ve seen of this movement reflects a quite bigoted and pompous attitude. No me gusta!

In order to have any power in our government, you have to be an extremist. There is absolutely zero political clout for those of us who fall more in the middle ground. Why do you have to sacrifice social issues to support the opposing parties fiscal policy? Or, why is there not an feasible option that provides a moderate standpoint on both? That’s what I feel like the Tea Party claims it is, but really, for the most part, it’s overwhelmingly narrow-minded and reflects conservative values on EVERYTHING. They’re just mad that they don’t get their way. BLEH.

Like I originally said, I wish I was more educated about ALL of the issues surrounding this movement… my opinion is just based on what I’ve been exposed to. I don’t judge anyone who disagrees with me, and I’d appreciate it if you did the same :) In short, DON’T LET THIS PISS YOU OFF. That is all.

Tags: conservative, freckledknees, liberal, movement, politics, sarah kraus, tea party

Dancing Along To Songs From The Past

IT’S SO HARD TO BE A VEGAN IN ALLEN, TEXAS!!!!! OMG no one understands and everyone tries to make you cheat all the time, which makes it easy.. I have to admit something… right now… I feel terrible. I… (ughhhhh) I ate… 2 PIECES OF SALMON SUSHI AND DIDN’T EVEN CARE!!!!!! Oh, AND they had cream cheese in them. Just an itsy bitsy bit. OMG I suck. I cheated. I suck.

Anyways, on a lighter note, today was awesome. First, I got a vehicle!!! Well, I put the deposit down :) It’s awesome. I’ll tell what kind it is when I get to take pics of it. Second, I got accepted to University of Arkansas!!!!!!! I know, it’s not the college I really want. Colorado would be … so… cool….. hmm…… But, it IS the first place I applied to, so, naturally, it’s the first place I get accepted. It is now officially the back-up plan to the other schools! Regardless, I’m definitely out of Texas this spring… both a good and not so good thing, which brings me to my next topic.

It is so much easier than I thought it’d be to fall back into my old rhythm here. I honestly didn’t expect to feel comfortable here, didn’t expect to feel tied to anything here again.. but I do. I forgot how much I really love my friends, and how much I missed them, and WHY I missed them so much! I love being with my family, too. I missed my dad. I missed my stepmom. I feel at home in the place that I least want to be my home! WHHHHAT THE HECK. Not only that… sigh. I really like this girl I used to have a thaaaang with.. NOW, the problem is that I know I’m leaving soon. It’s not a problem.. it’s just a bummer. I do love living in the moment, so that’s how I’m approaching the situation. She’s wonderful and beautiful. I’m lucky I get a couple of months to be with her, again :)

Is it too early to set up the Christmas tree?? Cause, we definitely did it lol.

Remember that one time…?

Kristin made an awesome video of our summer in NY together. I must say, fantastic video editing skills, don’t you think?! Too bad she lost her iphone. Most of our footage was on it, but luckily we had an itsy bitsy bit recorded on the flip. Enjoy!!

Since I still don’t have my voice back, I took a day of silence and made an incredible vegan pumpkin bread… which I overcooked for about 20 minutes. I ALWAYS DO THAT! Grrrr… I peeled off the hard exterior, though and the inside was warm and mushy :) On my way walking to Kroger for ingredients, I ran into some super cute calfs! At first they all ran away from me, but then I sat my butt down on the ground and started playing with grass/listening to music, and 4 of them meandered over. SOO cute :D




Then, of course, I watched GLEE! <3 @Tyler Jordan Bennett – If you ever read this, which I doubt you will, how on earth could that episode have disappointed you?! I thought it was so good! You, my friend, are loony.

Tags: baking, bread, cows, life, nyc, pumpkin, skinnyintern, spice, vegan, video

Fun in the Sun!

Meet one of the only liberals in Texas – my private voice coach from high school, Melissa Baland Lee! We had lunch at Whole Foods yesterday and it reminded me of how important her presence was in my life. This woman taught me SO MUCH during the 4 years we worked together. She had about … hm, maybe 60 students in our entire choir (maybe more, I’m honestly not sure) and knew each and every one of us inside and out. Every student talked to her about all of our drama, and she was basically known for giving the best advice, as well as for being the best listener. When I came out, had my first love/heartbreak, parents divorce, literally ANYTHING, she gave me support and insight. Her lessons were not just for learning how to sing, but learning about who I was. Looking back, I realize how much of my confidence is due to her influence. Ultimately, she made me realize that I was beautiful, strong, and no matter what happened, I could get through it. That, and she also let me cry on her shoulder on multiple occasions lol. I love this woman. And her cute, little daughter, Bailey, too :D

I applied to several other schools – University of Colorado at Denver, CSUMB (California), Kansas University, and University of New Mexico. Honestly, though, I think I might be pushing it on deadlines. I won’t be surprised if I don’t get in anywhere for the Spring :/ Buuuummer! On the other hand, I’m having a blast being back in Texas! It’s really not such a bad place, after all :P It’s warm, sunny, and…. look at all this open land! I went from being in NY to THIS! Awesome! People here don’t wear rompers, though… especially not with tights and heels, so I got a few awkward looks hahah. Oh well. I like it and that’s what matters :P
PS – I’ve lost my voice :( Sad day. AND I’m sick. Do you think it’s possible to get sick from moving from all that pollution to this clean air? Maybe my body is cleansing? Thoughts? SOMEONE BRING ME SOME DAMN SOUP. Hmph.

Tags: babies, college, friends, life, sarah kraus

There’s No Place Like Home!

First day home – finally made a new video… even if it was a song I’ve previously covered :P

I got to see my Nana and Grandpa annnd neither of them were too pleased with my lip ring… it was pretty funny lol. My dad had my back though :) Hung out with my little sister, Anna. She’s 13 years old… Sometimes I forget how dramatic middle school is! All it took to remind me was listening to her rant for a while about her friends and boys.. SO CUTE! <3 that kid!

I'm gonna go get a job today. Even though I'm only planning on staying for 2 months, I should be employed. I mean, who knows what I'm going to decide come the end of December?! I already have a job waiting for me at Chili's and Pei Wei, but I thiiink I'd rather work at the only indie coffee shop in the city, which happens to be only a mile and a half from my house. Wish me luck!

Tags: Acoustic Guitar, Allen, Bright Eyes, Chili's, Coffee Shop, Cover, First Day Of My Life, freckledknees, Pei Wei, sarah kraus, Texas

New York, I love you, but you’re bringing me down

I feel like I’ve explored so much of myself just by living here. There are so many different people who have found their way into my life, so many good friends I’ve made here, and experiences I will always remember. Particularly, having the pleasure of meeting mine and Tyler’s roommate, John. He’s absolutely amazing. SOOOO funny. He literally has me laughing ALL the time! I loveee him.

There’s not another city in the world where you will find a completely different environment from block to block, or so many different backgrounds and cultures having an equal representation. People from different, more remote areas of the country depict NYC to be filled with cold, unfriendly people, too much crime, dirt and grime. Of course, these things are often seen in the city, but its overwhelmed by an underlying unity of it’s citizens. Differences really ARE celebrated here, instead of discriminated against, for the most part. Of course, there’s the occasional discrepancy, but really, I think this is the most friendly city I’ve ever lived in. You’re allowed to be comfortable with who you are, and people love you for it. Even your weirdest, most ridiculous traits are just laughed at and accepted – making you even more loved by whoever you’re meeting. It’s AWESOME :)
Working with Green Peace, though it was for a short while, provided me not only with the opportunity to tell people about things I cared about and inspire them, but I enabled them to ACT. Definitely the most amazing job I’ve ever had. I left to get a better paying job, though. It’s an expensive city, ya know? :P I’ve been doing real estate. I got the job through the guy who sold me my apartment. We had become friends and, it just sort of worked out that way.

Then it hit me. Inspired by my best friend and roommate, Tyler and a weekend getaway to Florida to see Kristin and Josh. Why am I here?Although all the things I’ve mentioned about New York are true and I love it for that, most of the time I’m working or stressing out about money, with the occasional fun time every now and then. Any area I can afford to live in is dirty, littered, and lacking nature. I’m not pursuing a dream here, and I’m actually trying to get into an overpriced school, only so expensive because its in Manhattan. Why?

I’m pretty good about admitting I when I’m wrong. It happens more often than not, and that, I’ll acknowledge, is because I make really rash, spontaneous decisions. I’ve always been like that, and I love that part about myself, even though it means I make silly choices sometimes. I’m going to go back to Texas with Tyler for a couple months, and then starting college this spring at University of Arkansas. I miss trees, camping, having fun and not stressing about rent money every month. Nonetheless, I do not regret coming here. I LOVE THIS CITY. And I will be back, one day. I won’t rush it next time, though. :)

Follow your heart, be spontaneous, be happy in the moment. You’re allowed to make mistakes. You have fun and learn from them. Explore and don’t always take the safe way. Life is about balance. Socialize, meditate, go out and party, stay in and read a book, cook more, eat out less, exercise, relax, treat your body well, indulge every now and then for your soul, love, forgive, don’t hold on to the past, anticipate the future and be excited about your present.

I guess I’ll keep blogging… maybe. I’ll just have to change the theme haha.