Caution: Do NOT delete!

There are very few things in life that I wholeheartedly regret. I mean sure, there are things where I think afterwards "what on earth was I thinking?", or "wow, I probably could've made a much wiser choice". Here I'm talking about full out, 100%, with everything I have, REGRET the choice that I made. What did I do, you ask? Deleted my blogs.

Some people may think I am just silly for making a deal out of this, but let me explain. My freshman year in college I started a blog on Xanga. Nothing special, just random thoughts, event recaps, etc. My senior year in college, I caught onto the MySpace frenzy, joining and blogging in their blog section. Again, nothing too spectacular, but ramblings of current events, thoughts, and happenings in my life. Well, last fall (October 2006, to be exact) during a "I'm having a bad weekend and am grumpy so am taking it out on everything I own" weekend, I decided to go and delete every blog I'd ever posted on the two sites. Two days later I began to regret it. 14 months later, I am STILL regretting it.

This past summer I was discussing blogs with a great friend of mine and I was telling her how I had once had these two blog sites filled with the inner workings of Jaclyn Muns' mind from 2001-2006 and how in a grumpy moment had deleted those 5 years worth of postings and how nostaligic and remorseful I was about it. Turns out she, too, had a Xanga blog & Myspace blog. We went though some of her postings from the previous few years of her life and laughed, smiled and shared - which made me even MORE upset that I had gotten rid of my own personal (yet very publicized) words.

So, I will close with a few words of advice based on personal experience (which, I have found, are often the most useful): NEVER DELETE YOUR BLOGS! No matter how amateur, silly, rediculous, or uninteresting they may seem to you, one day I can guarentee you will regret it. You will. Trust me. So, just don't do it! Keep them. Cherish them. Continue adding to them. Somewhere down the line you will find yourself sitting with a friend reading through them, reminiscing about those great times in your life where you had taken the time, if only 2 minutes, to sit and track your thoughts. You will appreciate it...and so will your friend.


CURRENT MUSICAL OBSESSION: "SWEETEST GIRL" BY WYCLEF JEAN feat. AKON

"We Just Love God; We Just Love People"

I thought this was a very interesting special done by CNN. You do not often see religious leaders changing their viewpoints so drastically regarding many issues, especially when it comes to homosexuality and the church. I admire this man and only wish that other Christians would see the issue as he does (and as I do), with an open mind and an open heart. It just makes sense to me: "Why do you have to judge a person based on a label or a title by which you have attached to them?" Sin is sin and God sees it as all the same.

It's a very controversial issue with views differing from denomination to denomination, and individiual to individual, but in the end Bishop Carlton Pearson makes the point that I only wish all believers could understand: "Do you ever see anywhere in Scripture where Jesus rejected anybody...period?" No, you sure do not!!

Check it out here:

CNN Video Special

They Never Said It'd Be Easy, Just That It'd Be Worth It

Let me introduce you to the new Coordinator of Marketing & Promotions for the University of Rhode Island Athletics Department...ME :) I got the call last night at 7:32pm from a very complimentary and enthusiastic Gregg Burke, Deputy Director of Athletics, who will soon be my new boss.

I'm very excited and thankful that this opportunity fell through for me. It's been a difficult few months, with a lot of searching, anticipation, STRESS and reflection. Well, now I can say that is has been worth it. I am extremely happy and know that this position will be a great one for me at this point in my life - the staff that I met and interviewed with were absolutely fantastic and the entire atmosphere was very inviting, positive and enthusiastic.

It will be tough moving away from this place that I have called home for the past 17 months, but I know this move is going to bring a lot of good things to me, and soon enough I am sure that I will be able to call the South County of Rhode Island my new home.

A Re-Emerging Peculiar Childhood Obsession

Since I was a small child I have been interested in strange historical stories. I have always been a bit obsessed with reading about and researching things (for my own pure curiousity and enjoyment) such as Amelia Earhart's mysterious disappearance and Anne Frank's secret hideaway home. One of my all-time favourites though is the story of Lizzie Borden and how she was accused of brutally murdering her parents in their home in 1892. I read multiple books growing up, hoping to satiate my thirst for this unsolved mystery. I somehow thought that the more I read up on it, the more prone I would be to be able to solve the age-old question "Did Lizzie Do It?!" I came to my own conclusion eventually, but will keep that as my personal opinion :)

So, while sitting at work this morning, bored out of my mind, I went to the website How Stuff Works (which I discovered during college but never really vested much time in looking through the millions of descriptions of how just about anything works). Yesterday I was pondering (and don't even ask why) the question of what happens to Social Security Numbers when people die...do they recycle them? do they lock them up forever? do they just put them on hold for a certain number of years?...so I did what any person would do these days, opened my Safari web page and went to Google and typed "what happens with social security numbers when you die". It led me back to the amazing site (How Stuff Works) and I got my question answered. In the process I re-discovered the amazingness of this website, which brings me back to the topic at hand.

After reading up on topics such as "How Income Tax Works", "How a 401(k) Works", "How The Apple IPhone Works", and "20 Things You Didn't Know About Popcorn", I stumbled across "6 Peculiar Museums in America". I knew I'd like this one very much...and low and behold "Peculiar Museum #5: Lizzie Borden Museum" came up. I got extremely excited! My childhood fascinations with learning about Lizzie and her axe came flowing back to me and I delved into researching more about this fantastic museum. I found the website and immediately typed it into my Sidekick's "notes" section where I putin things I need to do, see, remember, etc. I will be visiting this bizarre place at some point in the near future!

While at the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast website, I also discovered another very cool website, O.T.I.S., which I am reading over and envying as I type this. Odd Things I've Seen (O.T.I.S.) is a blog about the strange and obscure places this man (the blogger) has been to, seen and photographed during his life. His two latest blogs happened to be entitled "Lizzie Borden B&B Part 1: You Stayed Where?" and "Lizzie Borden B&B Part 2: You Did What There?". I am now obsessed with this man and his blogging. He has been to some incredibly interesting places, but I have a feeling not many others would be as intrigued about them as I am. You have got to check it out!

So, my goal for the rest of today: figure out when I can visit the Lizzie Borden B&B and continue reading O.T.I.S. to entertain my desires to see some of the things this man has seen.


CURRENT MUSICAL OBSESSION: "LOVE LIKE THIS" BY NATASHA BEDINGFIELD

Global Warming Diet

I just finished reading an excellent article on CNN.com recommendaing American's begin a "global warming diet".

Did you know that "if all Americans between [ages] 10 and 74 walked just half an hour a day instead of driving, they would cut the annual U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide" and "about 6.5 billion gallons of gasoline would be saved" and that "Americans would also shed more than 3 billion pounds overall"???

WOW! Point well taken by me. What a huge difference can be made by simply tying up your tennis shoes rather than revving up that engine.

Short Term Goal (for the rest of 2007): DRIVE LESS, WALK MORE (when possible)!!!

Current Musical Obsession: "CLUMSY" BY FERGIE

IT'S OVER!!!

We won it all!! I'm so proud of this team and that I can call myself a fan of them!! :) Another World Series sweep for this Boston team...they swept St. Louis in 2004, and now Colorado in 2007. To top it off, my favourite player/man crush Mike Lowell was crowned series MVP!! It can't get much better than this...

CURRENT MUSICAL OBSESSION: "BOSTON" BY AUGUSTANA

For The Second Time In Four Years...

MY RED SOX ARE THE ALCS CHAMPIONS AND HEADED TO THE WORLD SERIES!

It was an incredible fight, resulting in a very well deserved title going to the Red Sox of Boston. They came back to beat the Indians in 7 games after being down 3 games to 1 just six days ago. The Sox will face the red-hot (although perhaps over-rested, having swept the ***DIAMONDBACKS*** (i accidentally put Cardinals here- wrong sport on the mind apparently- thank you, ross, for pointing out my horrendous mistake!) over a week ago now) Rockies, who are appearing in their first ever WS. Game 1 will be this Wednesday at the historic Fenway Park in Boston, set to commence at 8pm. You had better believe that my eyes will be glued to the television screen, my blue sox hat atop my head and white sox hoodie upon my body, with my fist pumping as I cheer like a madwoman!



LET'S GO SOX :)

Current Musical Obsession: "HERE IN YOUR ARMS" - HELLOGOODBYE

Whoops...

So, 2 months ago I declared rather excitedly that I would stop being so awful about updating the blog...but I guess I lied. Sorry! There has been a lot of change, chaos and disappointment in my life since my last blog in mid-August. Most of you already know everything, so I will refrain from going into it yet again. I have put the bad things past me (at least for the most part) and am looking to the present and the future with high expectations and optimism.

I had an interview with URI (the University of Rhode Island NOT Urinary Tract Infection!) this past Wednesday and it went extremely well. Thorr, who was one of my bosses at UMass, is the new Director of Athletics there and he called to tell me about the position after he learned that UMass did not re-hire me. He asked for my resume and said he would pass it along to the Search Committee. The committee was very nice and highly entertaining...there was a lot of laughter amongst discussion about my qualifications and expereiences. It ended with Gregg Burke, Deputy Director of Athletics and Search Chair, saying "you come highly recommended and your experiences are just what we are looking for"...sounds rather promising to me! I should be hearing something next week about whether they would like me to come to campus for further interviewing. Cross your fingers for me.

This past weekend I spent in New York City volunteering for the Women's Sports Foundation (where I did my internship from May 2005-June 2006) at their 28th Annual Salute to Women in Sports Awards Dinner. It was my 3rd consecutive year at the event and this year proved to be even more exciting and productive than the past two. For the full scoop and photos, check out the link above. I will try to post some on here as well. I saw a lot of my favourite athletes and even caught up with a few that remembered me from the previous years! I loved seeing Sheryl Crow again this year as well as sports legends Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Michelle Kwan, Monica Seles and Billie Jean King herself. I look forward to this event each year and hope that I will be able to go back as often as I can!

That's about it for now. I do hope that I will be able to keep current on here from now on and I will definitely try my best :)

Current musical obsession: "NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE" - MAT KEARNEY

The Decline of the Blog

So there are several excuses that I am going to use to try to make up for the fact that I have no posted an update since July 11th. Here is my past month of chaos in a nicely organized timeline:

Wednesday, July 11th: Last PostingFriday, July 13th: Leave work at 4:30pm to drive to Lawrence, MA to Jess' Riptide game. I stayed with her that night since the airport is only a 15 minute drive.
Saturday, July 14th: My parent's arrive into Boston Logan International Airport at 6:26am. I pick them up, we head north. We spend the day driving with stops along the way including: Salem, MA; Portsmouth, NH; Kittery, ME; York Beach, ME; with our final destination being Portland, ME.
Sunday, July 15th: Explore Portland, ME and hit the road again for Boston, MA. See a couple sights and head back to Amherst, MA.
Monday, July 16th: Attempt to get back to Boston by 9am for a free whale watching trip courtesy of my lovely friend Stephen, but fail due to massive amounts of traffic. End up taking the Duck Boat Tour around instead and had a blast. Spent the entire day there then drove back to Amherst, MA.
Tuesday, July 17th: Hit the road headed south with stops along the way including: New Haven, CT; New Rochelle, NY; Newark, NJ; with our final destination being Philadelphia, PA. We arrive and do the touristy sights (with WaWa of course being one of the first stops!)
Wednesday, July 18th: Hit the road headed west with a stop at Valley Forge, with our final destination being Hershey, PA. Hershey was amazing and I recommend Chocolate World to anyone and everyone.
Thursday, July 19th: Hit the road headed north headed for NYC. Did some tourist attractions (Dad was not a big lover of the chaos that is Manhattan) then headed east out to Long Island to the "family" there. Went to dinner at TR's, where I waitressed/bartended while I lived there during my internship at the WSF.
Friday, July 20th: Today will be a relaxing day (or so we thought). Head to Roosevelt Field Mall ( the largest shopping mall in the state of NY and 9th in the USA as measured by gross leasable area at 2,189,941 sq ft. Then head north for Uncasville, CT to catch the Connecticut Sun take on our beloved Seattle Storm at Mohegan Sun Arena. We get stuck in bumper to bumper traffic the entire way and miss the first half of the game. It took over 5 hours to get what should have taken under 2 hours.
Saturday, July 21st: Finally a day to relax. We hang out with the "family" there (these are the people I lived with while living in NY). That evening I went to a reunion of sorts with the interns I worked with in the summer of 2005 at the WSF. My parents hung out with the "family".
Sunday, July 22nd: Hit up Coney Island before taking the parents to JFK International Airport. That was a LONNNNNNNNNNG 9 days! I drive back home to Amherst, MA that night.
Monday, July 23rd - Thursday, July 26th: Relax, sleep and recuperate. Also, begin packing for Amanda's wedding weekend in Arkansas!
Friday, July 27th: Depart for Bradley International Airport in Hartford, CT at 4am. Flight to Arkansas departs at 6:20am. I have a layover in Cinncinnati, OH before hitting my destination of Fayetteville, AR. Taja had arrived just before me from Seattle, WA and Amanda was there waiting for us both. We head to her apartment and right to the pool to catch some rays before the rehersal dinner. After the dinner we hit up the town (photos are on my myspace page).
Saturday, July 28th: Luncheon, hair appointments, get dressed and wedding. Was a beautiful day! Hit up the town again with the wedding party afterwards (sans Amanda and Jesse, of course!).
Sunday, July 29th: Taja and I layed at the pool all morning and afternoon until Amanda's dad came to take us to the airport. I'll miss this place! My flight was canceled, but I got on the same flight as Taja to Chicago, IL before she left to Phoenix, AZ to visit her friend Aubri and I returned to Hartford, CT.
Monday, July 30th: Arrive back to Amherst, MA at 3am. Sleep until 3pm. Find out I have to move out of the sorority (they suck at life, long story).
Tuesday, July 31st - Monday, August 6th: Try to find a place to live. I need to move in by August 10th. Had success and move into Cliffside Apartments on Friday, August 10th.
Tuesday, August 7th - Thursday, August 9th: Packing.
Friday, August 10th - Sunday, August 12th: Moving. Oh, and shopping for the new apartment since it was tax-free weekend in MA!
Monday, August 13th - Tuesday, August 14th: Getting settled. I love it here :)
Wednesday, August 15th: That is today. See how busy I have been?! Now you can apologize for thinking to yourself how lazy I was this whole time. Oh, and keep in mind that this entire time I was without a computer. My ibook hard drive crashed. I just got it fixed and back this past Sunday. Thank goodness as my life is complete again.

I promise to write more often from on, pending any more extremely busy timeframes!


current musical obsession: "SEE THE DAY" - SCOTT FISHER & 1 A.M. APPROACH

Wonderful Weekend

i had a fantastic weekend spent in new jersey and new york. i left amherst saturday morning and had a nice drive down, which a quick stop in manchester, ct at david's bridal to pick up my bridesmaid dress for amanda's wedding on july 28th. i didn't hit any traffic until i had to cross the george washington bridge in the bronx...and even that wasn't too dreadful. i made to the jersey sky blue office in beminster, nj by 3pm and started helping nat with some final things before the game (i.e. i counted tickets and helped her lug heavy boxes from the basement into the van :)). we arrived at the field only to find that NONE of her volunteer interns were there! so, i ended up being her sidekick for the rest of the day - selling tickets, being the away team liason, heping her with on-field promotions during hafltime, and throwing shirts into the crowd. it was tedious, but a lot of fun and i was glad that i could help her out :) the sky blue ended up losing to the washington freedom 3-2, but it was a good game ( even though i'm not a huge fan of soccer!).

we woke up and went do breakfast at this great diner and then i hit the road north to new york. i drove through staten island for the first time, which was pretty cool and even got to drive across the verrazano bridge (see left) ! i love bridges and this one is pretty sweet, so it was great for me :) i hit quite a bit of traffic crossing the bridge and into brooklyn - the beach traffic i was told. i made it to west hempstead finally to my old stomping grounds and the house of my "new york family". it is always wonderful to see them and spend time with them :) we had an amazing dinner of london broil (which kevin always makes so perfectly!), roasted chicken, salad with fresh feta, almonds and a cranberry almond vinagrette, and liz's amazing black bean dish. SO GOOD! then fresh brownies with vanillla ice cream for dessert... they treat me so well, haha. a bit later i went to sunny and court's place to visit for a bit then went back and watched the 2007 world series of pop culture with the boys.

monday i woke up early and hit up long beach (see right) - i got there at about 10am and stayed until after 2pm. camille joined me - she is dating michael, the youngest of liz's (mother of the house i lived in while i lived in ny) 3 sons. we had a great time then went to lunch at this cute restaurant with patio seating and a view of the water. we went home, i showered and got dressed then met stacy, my old boss, for drinks. we caught up, talked about all sorts of things and it was really a nice time. then i headed back up to amherst. all in all, a wonderful weekend indeed!

Oh, and my parentals fly in on saturday morning!!! that will be so much fun, lots of travelling and i will post more then :)



current musical obsession: "REHAB" - AMY WINEHOUSE

happy 4th of july

wishing everyone a splendid independance day! i'm spending mine cleaning and doing laundry. awesome, eh?

looking forward to spending this weekend down in new york city/long island/new jersey. going to get some beach time in, friends time in as well as attend one of my friend natalie's soccer games - she works for a semi-pro team in jersey. should be good times :)

current musical obsession: "THE WOMAN WITH THE TATTOOED HANDS" - ATMOSPHERE

the pink papaya

so if you know me, you know that my favourite colour is pink. i love it. adore it actually. and as well if you know me, you will know that i am a bridesmaid at the end of this month in my friend amanda's wedding. well, turns out, we're getting our hair and makeup done at a salon in fayetteville, arkansas (the location of the wedding) called the pink papaya. can you guess how excited i was when i found this out?! oh, and not to mention, our dresses are pink too :) here is an image of it (on the left) just imagine it as a pastel pink.


the weather has been beautiful lately. the humidity has ceased and the warmth of the mid-day sun seaps through the window to the left of my desk in boyden 248a and i get a slight flirtation of what it would be like if i were to be outside basking in the complete amazingness of what the sun has to offer on days such as these. for now, though, i will sit in my air conditioned office (finally got it to work after a year of being here and it not working!) and dream of the outside. and of other things, such as what is happening in london right now, other than wimbledon, of course :)


current musical obsession: "DREAM OUT LOUD" - THE HIGHWAY BEAUTIFUL

the beauty of best friends

so i don't know about the rest of you, but i love my friends. i love all of my friends, those that i've known for a few weeks to a few years. however, in this group of friends that i love so much, there are a special group that i hold the closest to my heart. i know a lot of people who moved around a lot as children and did not have the opportunity to develop friendships that would last a lifetime - or at least several years. having been born and raised in the same place i have been lucky enough to have this. i have 5 friends that i've known and been close to for at least 17 years. it baffles me in such a incredible way!!

we've each gone our own separate ways throughout the years, especially since all graduating high school back in 2001. but the best part about these amazing friends of mine is that, despite going away to different colleges, careers, states and cities - each and every time i get together with these girls it's like no time has passed at all and we are just as close, if not closer, than ever before. although we've each grown up, changed our beliefs and opinions, gone through stesses, heartbreaks, marriages, pregnancies, loves, losses and much more, we still have each other and can, no matter what, count on one another always.

i recently stumbled across a short poem that rings so true to me when i think of these 6 incredible friends of mine, who i have had the privledge of watching grow up from wild and crazy children to beautiful and successful young women:

"make new friends, but keep the old.
one is silver and the other gold"

i love each of them so dearly and cherish each of them so much and know that, no matter what happens in life, i can count on them to be right next to me, loving me, supporting me and believing in me. i know that when we are in our 60's we are going to be able to sit down and laugh, smile and talk about all of the crazy things we did when we were 8 years old, 16 years old and beyond. i don't know what i would do without them! and as much as i adore all of the firends i have made since in my many places in life, it's hard to hold a candle to these girls who will forever hold a place in my heart.


current musical obsession: "MY NUMBER" - TEGAN AND SARA

lasme drafted!

last night during the 2007 nba draft, umass' very own stephane lasme went to the golden state warriors in the 2nd round, 47th overall. lasme leaves umass as one of the most decorated players in school history - coming off an incredible senior season as he led the squad to its best season in a decade with a 24-9 record and a second-round NIT appearance. click here to read more about this exciting time - he is the first umass player drafted since 1999!

i feel privledged to know him and to have been able to see him play during his senior year. he is truly a masterpiece to watch - incredible athleticism and skill, but also a very humble and genuine person. i am excited to see how this new chapter in his life emerges. GOOOOOO LASME!!!!


current musical obsession: "CATCH MY DISEASE" - BEN LEE

amazing...

i'm in the most amazing mood right now. life is just....incredible! want to know a secret? i often go through short time periods in a day where i think to myself "i am so undeserving of all of this"...then someone is there to put it all into perspective. i like that. i love it actually.

earlier i was watching the sky and it was one of the most beautiful sunsets i've seen in quite a while. there were a lot of dark clouds (like it was going to start to thunder & lightning again like it has been every evening for the last few weeks) but sort of all around the dark grey clouds were thin pinkish purple streaky clouds and it was just...whoa...amazing!

until next time...
JM


current musical obsession: "PICTURES OF YOU" - THE LAST GOODNIGHT

welcome!

welcome to my new blog. i've decided that since i randomly (and in an incoherant state of mine) deleted my xanga site as well as my myspace blogs several months ago that i needed to jump back into the blogging realm and update people on my life happenings. i hope that you will enjoy and i'm dedicating myself to keeping this (somewhat) up to date :)

i don't have much to say right now, so i'll leave you. work has me busy today with preparations of the upcoming year. good times.

until next time...
JM



current musical obsession: "NEW SHOES" - PAOLO NUTINI