Jess

So on a break from studying for finals I turn on the T.V. and much to my suprise we can see Animal Planet is doing a special on K-9 Cops from East St. Paul, literally blocks from where I live. As I watched the police officer and his german shepherd patrol my city I couldn’t help but appreciate Animal Planet for making my house look like a narcotic infested, drive by frequenting, gangeland. Which sure maybe it is but it’s one of those things where it’s only okay when the natives say it, ya know? Don’t talk shit until you’ve lived there people, if you really want gangsta head east a bit to South Minneapolis. I digress- so this officer and his dog pull over a van because apparently there was a drive by. The van had three black men in it and looked like it easily could have been used to kidnap and saftly house 13 little boys. The officer said he pulled the van over because “two of the men ducked when they saw him.” Okay, right. These three men, (who turns out had no fire arms, drugs, or anything illegal) were obviously pulled over for being black and driving a rapist van in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’d have had more respect for the officer if he’d just admitted it. The only criminal record among them was a warrent for an arrest the driver had. For a missed court date from an expired parking ticket. The officers got right back in the men’s faces when they were upset about being violently torn from their vehicle, humiliated, and searched. Really?!?!? Enough said.

As I sit at the Dish and the Spoon cafe in River Falls drinking my tea latte and eating my bowl of fruit I can’t help but wonder how I got so lucky. My life couldn’t be any more charmed, I’m about to get a new car, I have a new boyfriend, I have a new love for my health that just needed a little inspiration (quitting smoking), I have friends that are always there for me and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

A very close friend of mine recently went through some rough times, and through helping him through them I met an amazing guy who is full of less bullshit then anyone I’ve met in so long. It’s so refreshing to spend my time with someone who appreciates the crap out of me for all the right reasons! I’m so excited to see where this goes, and for now I’m just excited to see him tonight :)

I’ve been running and doing yoga every day since I quit smoking cigaretts. They say that it takes a new addiction to quit an old one, and I couldn’t agree more. I sarted physically exhausting my body to drive out the desire for ciggs, then after a while I started to notice how easily my body was moving. I had to push even harder to feel the same burn and I find myself now feeling energized after a difficult work out instead of tired. It just goes to show that the only sustainable life changes are the ones that are intrensic and the ones that are positive. I feel better now than I ever have in my whole life, I hope everyone gets a chance to feel how amazing it is to have your feet on the ground and your heart in the right place :)

My life has been so good lately it’s hard to count the ways. Starting with my last cigarette, April 17th, thank you very much. Every person I told (which was like 3) had the same reaction, “Talk to me in (insert irrelevent time frame here) and we’ll see how that went.” My mom said she was proud of me. Well, here we are two full weeks later and I still haven’t had a single drag, crazy right? Goes to show that being a douche doesn’t always mean you’re right, and just because you couldn’t do something on the first try doesn’t mean I can’t either.

I’ve also been doing yoga on the extreme regular, like every day. I’ve been running, jumping, climbing, generally just trying to keep myself moving. I’ve found this lifestyle change necessary to keep myself from going back to the pack. Which leads to why I have been so successful at my ventures: intrensic motivation. I think the best part about me quitting smoking is the irony of the day it happened. I had been dating this bro who was quite too old and had his nose so high in the air I wondered how he managed to not trip over things. He hated more then anything that I smoked and was very clear if things got serious I would have to quit. The day we stopped seeing each other I stopped smoking and it was so easy. It wasn’t out of spite for the dude, or because I wanted to show him what I was capable of, no I was just over it. Thank god too, because I think everyone should smoke so they can feel how great it is to quit :)

(Source: jensnapbowls, via thatsgoodweed)