Day ninety.

Today we celebrate Cesar Chavez, the Mexican American labor leader who gave himself to the cause of farm workers' rights.

While walking back to my car after my last class ended, I saw a group of students marching through the street. I didn't know what was happening, but then I heard them chanting, "Si Se Puede!" They were celebrating Chavez's birthday.

Here's a flashback from March 30, 2009. My AmeriCorps team was given the opportunity to hear Paul F. Chavez (Cesar's son) in Fresno, CA. After his speech we laid carnations on a memorial statue.

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It's day ninety, and week 3 of my no-trash challenge. Here you'll see some of what I've accumulated so far. Chipotle burrito wrapper (cleaned, yes), gum boxes, teabag wrappers, receipts, and I don't know what.

Day eighty-nine.

Even though the sky was dull and temps remained at a low today (40°F -ish), I could feel Spring trying to make it's way into the air. I walked by this flowery bush (honeysuckle maybe), and the smell was so fresh & sweet it caught me off guard.

Day eighty-eight.

My mom was born 45 years ago today. When I found this picture of her as a youngin', I had to ask if she was being serious. Oh the 70's boombox! To celebrate, my family went to Los Cocos for some Mexican food. Unfortunately, the restaurant got rid of their birthday sombreros and ice-cream-in-the-face tradition. Ah well. Happy birthday, mama gordon!

Day eighty-seven.

Monday, March 28, 2011 The first day back from Spring Break. Which means 7 AM mornings again.

Day eighty-six.

Food again.

For dinner I went to Chipotle with friends, and something cool happened in line. The girl in front me (whom I have never met) intentionally paid for my burrito. When I asked why, she said 'mm, because.' Random act of kindness, I suppose. Being so excited about this makes me want to do the same for someone else.

Day eighty-five.

Brooke and I watched a video of old high school pictures and clips I put together after graduation. Sweet memories of school dances, jumping photos, extreme makeup sessions, and two-woman water balloon fights.
After reminiscing a bit we baked some de-lish pretzels.

Day eighty-four.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Brooke studying a Monet at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.


We finally made our way out of Manhattan for once this Spring Break. Navigating around the city was different & fun. Luckily Mary Beth could direct us where to go--and later we met up for some frozen yogurt.

Day eighty-three.

Week 2 of No-trash Challenge. I find it more difficult to not throw things away when I'm living in a house with 3 other people. We accumulate garbage when we buy a certain way. Which means, you must really go out of your way not to collect waste. “If you can’t use the by-product, then don’t use the product” says Michael Reynolds.

(Friends and I were amazed by this wall made of green bottles when we visited Cedar Point, Ohio--Photo was taken in 2008, not today.)

I was in a grumpy mood today. It was just one of those days, ya know. (Entschuldigung mama bear!) But then I watched this documentary called "Garbage Warrior," and it lifted my mood.

The video showed dozens of 'earthsips' designed and built by Michael Reynolds. These homes have no mortgage payments or electricity bills, and they're completely sustainable. It's great.

They also talked about an 8.9 earthquake that created a devastating tsunami on the Andaman islands in April 2005. Reynolds and his crew went to the island to create earthship structures, and show the locals how to build them. The same with hurricane Katrina in 2005, and Haiti in 2010. The first few minutes of this video explain the design of an earthship model built in Haiti:

I get excited about watching things like this, because it doesn't seem normal. For a while Renyold's architect license was taken away for this reason. Building structures out of garbage is not the norm, and people are afraid of change.

Here's the trailer.

Day eighty-two.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011


My friend Emma and I worked on a board for the 2011 Stop Slavery Summit, hosted by K-Staters That Care. It took about 5 hours to do, with fun chatting & popcorn breaks in between.

Day eighty-one.

Tuesday March 22, 2011

I went for a run in the wind today. The air was so strong on my face and mouth, I felt like I was falling out of an airplane, for real.

Day eighty.

I opted for not cutting my own hair today.

Day seventy-nine.

I just spent a ridiculous amount of time rearranging boxes, picking fonts, and trying to make the appearance of this daily blog journey look cool. Ah, I wish I didn't. My time could have been more productive.
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But anyways,
Today is the Vernal Equinox, which marks the first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Since I'm taking Astronomy, I know what this means !

Each point where the celestial equator and ecliptic intersect is called an equinox because when the Sun appears at either point, day and night are 'equal' (each about 12 hours long) at all locations on Earth. The Sun passes northward across this special point at the vernal (Latin for Spring) equinox.

As I'm reading in my astronomy book right now..."since the seasons are opposite in the northern and southern hemispheres, for Australians and South Africans the vernal equinox actually marks the beginning of autumn.

There's your science lesson for today.

I'm watching my friend's family chickens while they're away for Spring Break. They seem like unintelligent animals, but I like 'em. Each night I find three brown eggs in their coop, lying there like presents. Some day I'd like a big backyard where chickens can roam around happily and lay some eggs.

Day seventy-eight.

Saturday, March 19, 2011


I worked an overnight shift Friday through Saturday, and one of the weekend tasks is to wash the van. The guys get excited about going through the super car wash, as I did when I was younger. So, we took the van through the wash Saturday morning--even though it rained all day.

Day seventy-seven.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Today I pulled out some old photo albums and browsed through memories of my parents' younger days. The pictures made me laugh--full of great clothing styles, ruggedness, and simplicity. I always get in this sort of nostalgic mood while looking at old photos and home videos on VHS. This one here is my mom's side of the family. I'm the little one sitting on my grandpa's lap, wondering what my sister's doing. Such pleasant memories.

Day seventy-six.

I planted me some peas today.

Day seventy-five.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Sidenote: I spend way too much time on this blogidy blog, when I could be sleeping.

Tonight while driving home from a late meeting, this song came on the radio.
I'm with ya, Bruno. However! you won't get anywhere with that sort of attitude--especially if you're looking to be a billionaire and have a show like Oprah.

An Update:
It's been one week since the start of my NO-trash Challenge, and boy oh boy, trying to go about my day without producing waste is a difficult thing to do. It is possible! Taking small steps in the way I buy things and eat food can make a great difference.

-Instead of using plastic lunch baggies, I make sure to carry tupperware wherever I go. I'll bring my own plate and silverware to group functions whenever there's a meal provided.

-Reusable water bottle

-Every year, Americans use approx. 1,000,000,000,000 shopping bags. My Chico bag is my best friend. It's extremely handy, durable, and a great alternative to the Majestic Plastic Bag.

-I've stopped using paper towels to dry my hands (the air does a mighty fine job.)

-My pile of compost and material to be recycled is growing larger.

-Every once in a while I'll run into a piece of something that can't necessarily go back to the ground, or the recycling center (like higher numbered plastics on the plastic scale) . I've been collecting those items in this pink bag, and my goal is to use this no-garbage pile for something later. So far I've collected yogurt cups, granola bar and gum wrappers, cloth, and other bits of things.



This is where we compost. I've noticed that saving fruit & vegetable peels, egg shells, paper, and other biodegradable things reduces our household garbage waste considerably. The benefits of composting are many! My dad constructed this wooden box contraption a few years ago. To start you own compost, you don't need a vast amount of land, or an elaborate wooden box. It can be quite simple and beneficial. Howtocompost.org gives a lot of information.


Peace.

Day seventy-four.

The Protection Plan from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

Tonight I watched an Invisible Children showing at Town Hall. I'd urge everyone to learn about the background and what's been going on in Uganda for the past 25 years. Even though there are sad stories, it's good to know these things and how we can help in little ways.

S p r i n g i s c o m i n g .

Day seventy-three.

Tibetan monks are visiting K-State this week. They're are in the process of creating this sand Mandala. It's incredible the way they work. These men stand over this sand art for hours forming the design with basic tools.

The winter wonderland vanished pretty quickly today. Tomorrow looks like it'll be another sunny day. Thursday's forecast reads a high of 79 degrees!

Day seventy-two.

Yesterday was sunny and 70 ° F. Tonight is a winter wonderland.

Kansas weather is bipolar.

Day seventy-one.

Chasady and I ran around campus tonight. Five miles! My ankle is getting better every day. It's Fake Patty's Day, probably the most anticipated holiday for students at K-State. I dislike this tradition Manhattan has going on, but it can be pretty entertaining. Every passerby in green smelled of beer and had something to say to us. Hopefully people were safe.

Day seventy.

SEA- students for environmental action- craft party in preparation for Earth Day.

I laugh & have a good time with my friends while people in Japan are going through total chaos. The footage from the earthquake and tsunami baffles me. Nature can do mighty things, which brings me back to Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.

"When we forget how close the wilderness is in the night, my grandpa said, some day it will come in and get us, for we will have forgotten how terrible and real it can be." -Granger

My thoughts & prayers go out to them.

Day sixty-nine.

March 10, 2011

Thursday night I joined a large group of people for a game of Madgab. It always makes me laugh to tears. I didn't have my camera on hand, so here's a photo from our high school days.

Brooke took this one of Monica trying to guess the word. I'm sure it was something hilarious.

Day sixty-eight.

For the next 40 days I will attempt to go without garbage. About everything we do produces some sort of waste--styrofoam cups, fast food packaging, gum wrappers, tea bags. But certain things we perceive as trash can easily be put to good use.

My plan is to go about this in a few ways. Hopefully these steps will not sound too extreme. :)
1. Reduce
2. Re-use
3. Recycle (& compost)

Obviously, there are certain items you must dispose of for sanitary reasons. I won't be saving my TP, or gum.



I know this is weird & makes me seem even more like a granola woman. But I'm okay with that if it means less garbage will make its way into landfills & oceans.

Day sixty-seven.

This morning all of our water made its way downstairs to the bathroom floor. A problem with the pipes, maybe. I wanted to complain and grumble to myself while using the shop-vac to soak up my shower water. But I quickly realized that I'm fortunate to have such a problem.

Later on my car battery died while at the public library. So, I walked to class through a light mix of snow & rain. I wanted to complain some more. Somehow I made it to my class only a little late.

My parents came later in the evening to revive my car. It started on its own! strangely enough. Can cars do that?

Today was a wacky day, but I learned some things--aside from remembering to turn my headlights off after parking. Maybe my few unfortunate events were God's way of reminding me to give thanks in all circumstances, as Paul said one time.

I'm especially thankful for

-not being on crutches

-clean water

-a car

-my parents willingness to help me out

-my dad's positive attitude when it comes to fixing our plumbing

-and many other things.

Day sixty-six.

Fair Trade Advocates on campus showed The Dark Side of Chocolate, a documentary which reveals the dirty business that goes on behind chocolate manufacturing--mostly smuggling & trafficking children to work in the cocoa plantations in and around Ivory Coast.

Day sixty-five.

I went with some friends on an exciting road trip to Salina, KS where we ate at Coop's--our friend Jerah's family owned pizza place. Yummy yum.

Also, Donald Miller is one of my favorite authors. His book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years officially releases in paperback today. It's on Amazon. It's great.

Day sixty-four.

The fam went out for a game of darts.

Day sixty-three.

Ichthus leaders ate some pizza and went through a Friday night training session.

And it's my aunt's birthday. Herzlichen gluckwünsch, Tine!

(A picture from the Badlands, South Dakota)

Day sixty-two.

Bassem Yousri came to K-State to talk a little bit about his life & art. I'm so glad I went to hear him speak this evening. Bassem is a painter, sculpter, and independent film maker from Egypt. He also shared what it was like gathering in the streets during the recent revolution.

Very cool guy.

Day sixty-one.

I could have taken a photo of little Ethan pouring glue all over the church's carpet, or my Astronomy teacher demonstrating the laws of planetary physics by spinning himself around a stool. But I did not bring my camera to document these things, unfortunately. So today is a picture of food, yet again. Cereal is one of my favorite foods--I made some homemade granola filled with:
2 cups oats

1/4 cup flax seed
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup dates

1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup natural crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
5 Tbs butter
and baked at 300 ºF for 30 minutes.

So good, especially with soymilk.

March 2nd is also Spread the Word to End the Word day! As Mary Garner once said in her book The Hidden Souls of Words, "All too often, we are unaware of the words that control our lives." I hear the r-word being used daily in several of my classes. I know people aren't out to offend others, but the word retard(ed) does do that.

Day sixty.

A little bit of Spring was in the air today.

Happy March ¦!