wanderlust
That’s one of my favorite words. Wanderlust. Mostly, I appreciate it when it’s used in its proper context. But it stands just fine on its own I think. I find it fascinating how words can have such meaning to someone. {No lame pun intended, there} This word “wanderlust” inspires my dreams and, simultaneously, encompasses all of my greatest fears and “unknowns.” I want to wander but I am afraid to leave the “familiar.” My hope is to sail solo across the pacific but I’ve never sailed.
Is it true that sometimes you just have to take the leap?
When I first began to blog, I wanted to make my life updates available to family. Then I wanted to use blogging as thought outlet for my many wandering ones. Wanderlust. It is almost like every time I think I could take the leap, I end up choking. This word, wanderlust, has taken on a new meaning for the direction my life is headed now. Instead of setting too many and too extreme of expectations, I can choose to start small.
So here’s to baby steps and smaller goals for the near and distant future.
What are your smaller goals? Are you all about the “wanderlust?”
Things are about to get very very cute
This little man is very handsome.
I must admit that he is quite fun, too. 
The last time I spent the day with an eight-month-old I did not have, nearly, as much fun as I did with this dude.
And though I was very amused with him, I think he could have taken or left my company.
At times, he thought I was entertaining.
And at other times, he preferred to entertain himself.
Brace yourself. This little booger, he’s adorable.
While he enjoyed attempting to dislodge the house keys from their chain, I soaked in the sunshine.
Little bean may have gotten a bit sleepy.
But when he got a little bite sleepy, I tried to make a joke.
And though my joke may not have been that funny, he remained a gentleman and laughed a polite laugh.
We ate snacks together.
And he even hosted a trip to the Life and Sciences museum!
“Hey Jasper, why don’t you just take a seat with me on my nice blanket?”
“Alright, if you’re gunna be like that, I’ll just nibble on my mummum.”
“I think I hit a tooth…”
“Nah, there’s only three little teeth in there…”
“I am just too cute for words, aren’t I?”
Yes, you are too cute!
But not too cute to keep snapping photos!
“I think I see a rabbit!”
It was a funny-looking rabbit.
Trying to clap…
But just having too much fun to not laugh!
“I might take a nap…”
“Or I might not…”
Just livin’ life…
“What should we do next?”
“We should find the sunscreen, you say?”
This flannel blanket couldn’t match the grass better, could it?
Call me crazy but these might be the most fun photos I’ve captured in a long while!
what, the smell, happened to you!?
Last night on my walk home from the hospital I got to thinking {since my iPhone is deadzo} instead of tuning out to some classic JB tunes…which is sometimes a good thing and sometimes a bad thing, NOT listening to music, that is. Anyway, I thought of something weird, of course: What would be a good time to use this play on words: “What the smell happened to you?!” and it really only made sense in this context: if someone arrived at your doorstep after a run-in with an angry skunk. I know, I am weird, feel free to judge.
This guy is was completely secure in his costume and I wonder if one day I’ll find myself, the same kind-of confidence an all, in his spirit one day. For the last couple of days I have found myself sort-of dwelling on what “others” think of me and as much as I’d like to think it doesn’t ”get me down,” it does. But life is full of criticism for all of us. Good and bad. And we’re not alone in struggle. Many talk about it more or less than others but we are certainly not alone!
This chica is a talented, fiery, probably very kind lady whom I saw performing at a cultural arts festival. As much as I’d like to think that no one would ever make negative comments about such a fine lady, I am probably wrong. People might always have “something” to say but I sure am glad that no comments stop her from performing her art. Beautiful.
This morning I saw a robin just hanging out around a tree on Duke’s campus and next to him: a squirrel! And just yesterday I saw a rabbit and a squirrel chilling at the park. Tomorrow, I hope to see, both, a rabbit and a robing together although the likelihood of seeing two squrrels together would be greater. A girl can dream I suppose 
The feautured image on this post was an “artsy-shot-gone-wrong-fail” I took of my friend Bria’s engagement ring. It reminds me that life is full of spectacular things in the middle of simple, run-of-the-mill-regular days, like this diamond in a flower. It’s a stretch, I know but I don’t deny my lameness one bit. Happy Thursday folks ~ much love ~ Jasper Naomi
CGS youth venture onto the paintball front
Load up the ammo!
And don’t drop the paint balls on the ground or the referees will yell at you to “NOT LOAD THEM INTO THE HOPPER!” They take their work seriously.
Careful, these girls may look innocent but they’re fierce out there on the paintball battlefield!
Make sure the masks fit!
And do not be afraid of piglet-sized guard dogs.
Beware of welts. Big welts
And most importantly, have fun!
Lots of fun!
That’s what the pup was telling us, I’ll bet…”HAVE FUN!”
how to finish what we’ve begun
One of my favorite things, lately, has been turning “draft posts” into published posts! For some reason I just LOVE to begin things and then NEVER finis
Okay, okay, my “finishing things once I’ve begun them” change is not going to happen over night but where better to begin than SMALL with my little finishing-blog-posts-by-editing-and-publishing-once-I’ve-begun’them ain’t a shabby place to begin!
Originally, I wanted to make them posts a sort-of-reader-of-my-0blog-working-encyclopedia-of-my-office but then I thought: “How boring” … So I have turned a collection of random coworkers into more of a little-things-in-life-tutorial.
Isn’t it crazy that February 2012 is, nearly, finished! My parents will arrive from Africa on March 6th and I have not seen them, in person, for over three years, now. It’s surprising to think about when I actually chat within and write to them and have more interaction with them than I do with other folks.
And the more I sort-of reminisce over how much I have learned, how challenging the year has been so far and how I’d like things to “look up,” I realize that 2012 is going to be a pretty swell year, after all, no matter what my life weathers.
Look at all these happy and smiling faces at my work…I mean it’s a nice place to work and all it just always gets me thinking….I am behind the camera so often and hear comments like “THAT BETTER BE A GOOD PICTURE”…but everyone covers their face when I try to snap a shot (how am I suppose to ensure “A GOOD PICTURE” when you are doing everything possible to make yourself look wretched…sorry folks, don’t send me hate mail 
)
But somewhere, deep inside everyone, is this desire to smile. To really smile. One day I will learn more and more of the endless depth to the human soul and spirit, I believe, through snapping photos and portraits.
For today, I’ll let others be the teachers while I am, still, very much, the student.
Sorry I have been MIA for a couple of days! Hopefully I’ll have some good posts coming up here soon! Happy Tuesday for now!!!!!!!!!! much love – Jasper
rubber band balls for dummies
So my home gym consists of Netflix-stremed exercise videos, a jump rope, running shoes and an indoor poor + slide plus 2.5 lb free weights. Right now, though, I m in the process of making one new addition to the home gym! A medicine ball!
Don’t mind the iPhone and nail polish, they’re just for good measure. Literally! The rubber-band ball continues to grow as I continue to add pound after pound of rubber-bands to the ball!
YOU get a vote, too! How many pounds, more, of rubber-bands shall I add to my rubber-band ball for making my home-gym-medicine-ball? 1? 2? 3? 10lbs more?
All it takes is more and more bags of rubber-bands to add to the ball!
For tomorrow! “Postcard writing/making for Dummies!”
mmmkay
It’s the little things in life that make me smile. That make us smile.
Sometimes its the little, little things in life that make us smile!
So, I talk with patients on the phone every day at work. And they say some of the funniest things:
One day some guy was getting really annoyed with me and my questions and after I asked this older male pt the question: “In the last four weeks, how many days per week did you exercise, for at least twenty minutes at a time, outside of your daily activities?” …to which he replied: “Well I ain’t gunna go outside and turn flips or climb trees if that’s what you’re asking!”
The man was annoyed with all of my questions and fired off witty, cynical and cranky replies to every, which, one of my questions. And though the man was making me giggle, he was not having a good time at all. If I really thought about it, I might assume that the man had no real joy in his life if he were ready and able to be rude and impatient with a perfectly pleasant ( me 
) stranger.
Two other patients last week sounded a little bit like Julia Child…which reminded me of one of my favorite movies, Julie and Julia, which includes a funny SNL clip of Dan Aykroyd playing Julia Child…the clip isn’t available on YoutTube but this one of Julia Child’s “Chafing Dish Dinner” is pretty cute…when Amy Adams’ character, Julia, and her husband watch the SNL skit making fun of Julia Child, it just cracks me up!
Anyway, this post has gone in all sorts of directions in two short paragraphs! Nonetheless, I think it is important to say that we can find little things every day that make us smile! People are all around and, not that, their smiles are the most important things but it can be said that the things that make us smile and, simply, the smiles we see are incredible gifts! And I am grateful, today, for the little things.
only nineteen
broken lens motor? bad lighting? no problem!
So the title for this post was supposed to be a spin-off of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen…only seventeen…” except Ciara is nineteen … And there ya have it!
little secretary
So when I was a wee 9-yr old, my BIG DREAM was to be a secretary. Maybe I watched the movie Working Girl too much – I might add that no 9-yr-old should be allowed to watch, even the edited-for-television version of, Working Girl. Nonetheless, I’d set up my grandmother’s typewriter on our rickety, old, wooden piano bench and would break out the stapler and, occasionally, the adding machine, pen-cup and ruler (for good measure, of course ) – did anyone catch that ? Well NOW, that I just finished with my Facilities Management “Ergonomic Evaluation,” I realize that my childhood dreams have come true. Now all I do is run around trying to avoid the work I once idolized: a cubicle of my own and a copy machine to crouch over…yipppeeeeee?!
And I find friends at the office to whom I’ve come in to work dressing identically?! Freaky…: D…
