It shocks me how much stuff is made with conflict. Conflict with animals, conflict with people, and conflict with countries. Although I hated, despised, loathed my anthropology class; it was pretty eye opening to see what was going on in other parts of the world. I have found different websites that show the practices of different corporations or websites that give a real view of what countries are going through to build their economy.

I would love to consume without conflict. Does anyone know of cool, good quality companies that do not test on animals, exploit labor, etc. and still have beautiful things? Its really all about price because I'm a student... but I feel I'm more willing now to cough up the cash if it means no one was hurt in the process - human or non.

P.S. there is 15 inches of snow here in Columbus! Anyone else hit by the storm?! Mind you, it was 70 degrees on Monday last week. It's now Sunday and its a total of 18 degrees. Oh Columbus! I am so confused by you.

Here are some pictures taken by one of my co-workers:

Obviously as you can see I put up a new layout for march. I still need to put up links and finish up the bottom a little bit. But, meh, it'll stay for now. I need some ideas for the header... I want to put myself into it and more images but I'm lazy... and I have no recent pictures of myself.

I am a freaking baking addict... Heck, just kitchen addict. I love how kitchen utensils look and what they can do. I swear, I'm going to have the most p-i-m-p kitchen next to Emeril or Paula Dean. haha! The past couple days I've made raspberry-banana bread and big, fat, chewy heathbar cookies... cause I didn't have chocolate chips... and I'm not a fan of chocolate anyway. Follow the links and try out these recipes for yourselves... The raspberry-banana bread was okay... needed more flavor.. It was a "healthy" version of the bread so of course I didn't add butter or oil... but it still surprisingly came out moist... a little crunchy on the outside but good inside... my roommates liked it.. it was gone by the end of the day. When I came downstairs in the morning, there was just one end piece left. I rule in the kitchen!!

Snow. In Ohio there is a lot of it. I'm kind of tired of this white stuff. But I was walking to French yesterday morning and the snowflakes were falling down in chunks... and I looked across the oval and for the first time I was like "wow... it's actually really pretty" cause I'm usually too tired of trudging through the snow to notice. But yay, take in God's beauty once in awhile :)

"Some nights alone he thinks of her. And some nights alone... she thinks of him. Some nights these thoughts occur at the same moment. And Ray and Mirabelle are connected without ever knowing it. But Mirabelle, now feeling the warmth of her first reciprocal love has broken away from him. And as Jeremy offers her more of his heart, Mirabelle offers equal parts of herself in return. One night, sooner than she would have liked, which made it irresistible... they make love for the second time in 14 months. At this point, Jeremy surpasses Ray Porter as a lover of Mirabelle... because what he offers her is tender... and true." - Ray Porter in Shopgirl

EDIT (7:00pm):
1. What is your prefered type of candy?
I like sour things. I'm not a hard candy person... although I do like some jolly ranchers... but my favorite candy by far are sour keys and cherry blasters (both only found in Canada... oh how I miss the motherland! :( )

2. What is your favorite meal?
I love anything with roasted veggies... and bbq pineapple... and I like tomatoes... sushi is amazing too. Dangit, don't ask a growing foodie what her favorite meal is! Its everything! Everything delicious of course... ;)

3. If you could only have one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
anything my mother makes... or sushi. yummm :)

I've been slacking a whole ton... not on purpose... I just get so tired that my brain feels like its putty oozing out of my ears when I am reading my homework. But at the same time, life is pretty good right now. Things aren't really going wrong and I really realized how awesome my friends are due to a comment that was made by a new friend of mine. He said that my friends are really awesome... and I was like.. Yea... YEA they ARE! haha.

Can we saw off some of the United states so that Ohio can have a beach? K Thanks. I'm kind of tired of this weather.

Sorry I'm absent from this blog... I need to start updating it more. I'll get more organized and I'll finally do everything I was planning to do. Take care for tonight. :)

life is good. and I'll leave you with uber cuteness... :)




enjoooy! :)

"You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth." - Deuteronomy 8:17-18a

Its obvious that I shouldn't be in Ohio and it is plainly obvious that I am not from here either. I don't have ANY really nice cold weather essentials. you know... oh like if its raining, actual good rainboots... Or a rainproof jacket. I don't even own an umbrella. Living here for a little bit over a decade would really tell a normal person.. but nuh uh, not me. More is that back home, I live in a one story house with no basement... which was a big no no growing up because every spring theres always these huge tornado warnings... but luckily they never come our way. It makes for a good story thought when I tell my friends that my mom always screamed for us to get into the bathtub with our cats. I don't ever want to die that way, just to let you know. I also don't follow ohio sports... whatev. over iiiitttt

so to be a proper midwesterner:
1. have a northface (if you want to hop onto the bandwagon) or some other really warm jacket.
2. An umbrella should be a no-brainer... hey i'm blond give me a break!
3. proper footwear. It makes me cringe seeing girls wear flip flops in 27 degree weather.
4. like football.

the one thing I did get right and I will be a customer of forever... The Palmer's Cocoa Butter Stick. Its a over-sized tube of chapstick that you can buy at CVS, Ulta Beauty, Walgreens and your other pharmacies. Its good for your scars, any dry skin, and its amazing for your lips. Tastes really good too. I am an absolute chapstick-happy fiend and I apply it every five seconds (gotta keep those lips soft for my imaginary boyfriend right? haha) and I never get tired of the taste and it does not build up to make it seem like your lips have a layer of gunk over them. The vitamin E soothes and makes your lips real soft!And being that into my chapstick... I go through a lot and this has lasted me since july and I still have over half left! awesome! for a mere 3.29 a pop this is a GREAT deal for students and any beauty lovers alike. ;) I've also put this accidentally through the wash/dryer and no melting or anything. This is like, the mother of all chapsticks!

So all in all:
Taste: 5 out of 5 stars. Tastes pretty good, I like the mild cocoa butter flavor because it never seems like overkill.
Size: 4 out of 5 stars. All my friends thought I was putting on glue cause the tube is so big. So you might get a few weird looks... thats the only reason its 4 out of 5. But it fits in your purse, manbag, pockets just fine.
Lifetime: 6 out of 5 stars. its lasted me almost 6 months. 'nuff said.
Price: 5 out of 5 stars. $3.29 for .5 oz but it lasts FOREVER. You can't beat it. :)

Today we salute you, Mr./Ms. Buckeye Student. You, adorned in your buckeyes, teach us that there is no limit to the things you can do with nuts. Sure, your drunken shenanigans have been in every newspaper and magazine in the country, but you know that you were doing that on purpose. Where others attend college soley for a good education, you preach of true higher education. With a major at OSU, an automatic minor in leisure activities and drunkology. You preach of a world where it's okay for someone to get drunk at 7a.m. and pee in public. You ask "Why can't we have bars in the library, and have beer pong as a varsity sport?" So crack open an ice-cold Bud Light, Mr./Ms. Buckeye Student, BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW THAT THERE ARE ONLY A FEW PEOPLE WHO KNOW WHAT 20 DEGREE WATER FEELS LIKE IN NOVEMBER!

Today is the Mirror Lake Jumper Inner's day of celebration for michigan week. it is currently...37 degrees out and is probably going to get a lot colder. I'm so pumped. Despite all the crap thats at the bottom and the water probably tainted with disease... its probably one of the most fun nights ever... Seriously, these kinds of traditions are why people want to go to a University like Ohio State.

I'll show you a youtube video of the chaos that ensues... SO PUMPED!


A couple I will offer the newbies of mirror lake jumping...
1.) Keep the bodypaint to a minimum, seriously. for your own good. When you jump in and it shoots into your eyes from the 2000 people that jumped into the water previously... its gonna burn your eyes.
2.) Get good old sneakers/water shoes/etc that will STAY PUT on your feet. You don't need to be contracting HIV from the broken glass/duck feces/mud living at the bottom
3.) Sing "We don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan" as loud as you can for as long as you can.
4.) The more creative your outfit the better. Wear friggin anything and bring props. Floaties are a popular choice.


Above is proof of my stupidity amazing awesomeness last year in 2006 with some friends of mine. Notice my hatred for Michigan on my shirt. I can't believe they sold michigan shirts in columbus! Granted it was at a thrift store... but hey... And I know I'm not the biggest football fan... but I know that Michigan is NO GOOD. so if you're in columbus and one of the cool 5000 people that jump in every year... I'll be seeing you there!

good music from ohio... I mean seriously, what else is new? :)

step one.) Take a listen :)


step two.) listen more at http://www.myspace.com/stevenhowell or http://www.purevolume.com/stevenlokihowell (both open in a new window).

step three.) add this on your myspace, webpage, just get the word and buy some of his tunes :)