A profound thought?

An unusual occurance happened last night: a chance to sit down with a friend over dinner and have time to chat and catch up on life's goings on. This is quite rare these days, funny that I didn't think I could get any busier than when I was in school.
During our dinner we were both talking about different things that had happened while growing up and she mentioned how her parents used to react a certain way but since she had grown up alittle more her parents had improved in how they handle difficult situations. I guess as I grow older and am now old enough to be a parent myself, it hit me as she was talking that just as we've grown up from being kids to being young adults, our parents have grown up too and perhaps that is why they handle hard situations better now than they did when we were teenagers. The thought had never actually crossed my mind until that point. Parents are always kind of stuck in the child's mind as being the same throughout time and kids just grow up into their parents...how false this notion is! I do understand there is a greater gap between a 13 year old and a 23 year old than there is between a 23 year old and a 33 year old but we are all maturing, are all still growing up. Funny.

what an honor!

Nikki: "Hey, how come you don't blog on my blog, Kels? You can ya know :) I'd love the help!"

I figured I should take advantage of this opportunity as soon as possible. Hello Nikki, roommates, Jen, and Mrs. Wilson :)

Let's see... Nikki has been talking about wanting to cook more often so I'll tell you an inspiring story. Last night my roommate Bethany and her boyfriend came home with bags of groceries, ready to make meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and vegetables. This obviously presented a wonderful opportunity for the potential of my eating well that night. I sidled into the kitchen and suggested that I cut up my pineapple and maybe we could all have it for dessert. Luckily, I had, unconsciously, been displaying a whole, beautiful, uncut pineapple in our kitchen, just waiting for the right moment for eating. And although I knew that Bethany loves pineapple too (we once had amazing pineapple gelato served in the "shell" of half of a pineapple together in Rome), I hadn't consciously planned on bribing her with this particular pineapple. But the plan worked! I was fed meatloaf and mashed potatoes for volunteering my pineapple for her dessert (and volunteering to cut up an onion).

The moral of this story, Nikki, is that you need to learn what foods you can bribe your roommates with, stock up on those, and then slowly influence them into cooking your favorite foods for you. :) Or, just plan to all add one ingredient into becoming a meal. That happens in my house often too. If someone is cooking chicken in your kitchen, wander in and offer them the can of green beans that you forgot was sitting on your shelf for two months. And for this random act of kindness, you will most likely be rewarded with some chicken! Hopefully these plans will still work even if your roommates read this blog...

Good luck!

Love ya,
Kelsey

Well, it's time for another post! Dun du du duh...about well, nothing much. I haven't posted because life doesn't really change all that much these days; go to work, go to piano lessons, go to sleep, etc. Some people say 'well, tell us the funny things that happen in your apartment, surely you can write about that!' Here goes, Mandy is doing an aerobic video as we speak. Her knee is crossed over her thigh and she is crouched, like she is sitting in an imaginary chair. Sarah is cooking, a rare thing in this household and Esther is walking out the door on her way to worship team practice. Kristie is at a wedding this weekend and after some bridesmaid dress trauma last night, she is off for a fun filled weekend in San Diego. There are the occasional funny stories but overall our lives are normal, a blessed thing indeed.

I went for a consultation at a local optometrist about getting the LASIK done. The thought of not having to wear glasses really excites me. No more dry eyes, no more annoying contact lenses!! I'm going to check out another doctor for another consultation, just to see if there are any differences and funny that this doctor is a customer of mine (grande non-fat latte). I'll keep you all updated with the progress.

Oh, so Mandy and I have a pact to cook more so send me your favorite recipes, thanks!

Sentimental?

Blogs truly are a great thing. I've been catching up on my blog reading here recently, reading people's comments and looking at pictures, and I've been struck by how quickly time is passing. Of all lessons I've learned over the past months its been that life truly is vapor short, some of ours are longer than others but none are long. This is a lesson that I don't think I'll ever stop learning on this earth as with each new change I'm reminded once again that I'm grown up now. When did it happen? I'm not sure, but you know its happened when you look back on a conversation in which an older person is telling you the probability of a situation panning out a certain way based on their own personal experiences and at the time you are so convinced, with utter certainty, that they are wrong, only years later to realize their words are ringing true. Some lessons take longer to learn than others I guess. I miss the simple childhood life back in NH when church was my life and sin was of little concern. It all seems like yesterday, all part of my vapor that is vanishing quickly. Who knows what lies ahead for all of us but I'm thankful that we can share it, though thousands of miles apart, through our blogs!

slacker

I think that I have Jen beat on the 10 days since my last post thing. Its not that I don't want to post, there just hasn't been anything out of the ordinary lately so I've been wracking my brain trying to think up something.

Lately I've been feeling very grown up. After weeks of trying to get my benefits sorted with work, I finally did. I am now an adult with her own health insurance. I even picked out my primary care physician this morning. Hopefully she will be good. Her associations and credentials looked honorable, but that doesn't always mean something these days. Hopefully I won't have to take advantage of her too terribly much.

Well, as you can see my life is pretty boring. Now you won't be begging me to post (Jen) because you understand that there isn't much to post on. Okie dokie...TTFN.

Not for a lack of trying

As most of you have noticed I haven't posted in awhile. Its really not because of a lack of desire but more so because of a lack of good content. Lately I've been pressured to post, so...this is the best thing I could think of to post on.

Coffee is something that is very dear to my heart. If you don't love coffee, you're missing out. Yesterday I added a new coffee mug to my collection. I've been dwelling on this mug ever since I saw it at a friends apartment about a year ago now. The mug itself is a shell color and in the bottom corner is the outline of a brown coffee mug. Coming from the mug, like steam, are all the letters that spell coffee. They are interspersed with random little shapes in all different colors that wrap around the mug. The inside of the mug is the best part and those of you who know me will know why...it's brown!!! Yup, it is a thing of beauty.

There you go Jen, hope you're happy.

Close call...

Its official. 408 was almost burned to the ground tonight. My Asian roommate was the guilty culprit. Mandy and I were on the couch watching the TV and Sarah was, well, lets just say 'detained' and we heard Esther screaming from the kitchen, "its on fire, AHHH, its on fire!!" She proceeded screaming and ran to the corner of the kitchen, opposite of the burning waxed paper which at one time held her fish. It was a sad sight, but we are all ok. We teamed together to put out the flames. Mandy got out an oven mitt, very calmly I might add, and opened the broiler, Esther dumped a cup of water on top of the broiler and I turned the oven off. No need to fear, we are all safe, I repeat, ALL safe, well, except the fish and the waxed paper.

Let me suggest some reading material:

Christmas 2005

After much delay, my family finally celebrated Christmas. It was a great time full of gifts and lots of food. We had 14 people here, which for us is allot :) My mom and I did all the cooking (mostly her) but I helped make Jen's little M&M pretzel things.
This is a picture of us in the kitchen preparing and below is a picture of the M&M pretzel things. My mom and I argued over what we should call them and she wanted to call them something cute, with Jen's name included in the title, and I thought we shouldn't worry about it. Now that I'm having to write out 'Jen's M&M pretzel things' every time I refer to them, I wish I had gone with the cutesy idea. If you think of anything we could call them let me know...and don't forget to include Jen's name in the title because we attribute them to her. Here is a picture to help spark your creativity.

My parents broke the news to me over the phone that our tree was yet again fake this year. Maybe you get a real tree every year or you've never known what it's like to have a real tree but ours was fake again this year, adding yet another tally mark to the fake tree list. We lit a candle for a pine scent and crossed our fingers that people wouldn't notice our imposter tree all lit up in the living room. I will admit though that it was a step up from the other fake tree that I grew up with. This one is full bodied and covered in white lights. Very classy and actually quite nice. I've come to accept it and have come to grips with the fact that I was only allowed a real tree for three short Christmases. But Christmas isn't about the tree, isn't that right Jen? I don't want to sound ungrateful about the tree so let me show you how beautiful the tree actually was...this is my favorite angle!

Before dinner some of us went to the putting practice holes to brush up on our skills (for those of you reading this who don't know, we live on a golf course, actually on hole 16, in Pinehurst, NC). It wasn't long before I was reminded that I don't have any. I've come to terms with that fact and have moved on. I think I was still in denial when this picture was taken. You would think that someone who is twenty-three could putt better and straighter than a ten year old, but no, not me. My niece, Hollie, was far better at it than I. My dad and my nephew, Josh, were in shock over my lack of talent. Don't worry, I'm not going to let it get me down.

I hope that you all had an eventful Christmas full of fun times with your families and friends. I missed all of you who I didn't get to see this year, maybe 2006?

This will be my last Christmas post, probably, so............................until next year!!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

It's just hair, right?

It's funny the different things that happen while at work. We have a customer that we have some trouble with here and there. He likes to stand outside and ask for money when he is running low. If any of you are familiar with the Valencia area you would know that this is not the average Joe. Today he pulled aside the Assistant Manager on her way into work and asked her for a favor. She, knowing that he usually asks for a handle bag and is on his way, told him 'sure'. She didn't know what she was getting into because he then asked her to pull back his shoulder length hair into a pony-tail. In shock she didn't really know what to do, so she pulled back his hair and then came into work. She told us the story, we all laughed, not really believing that anyone would do that. We gave her a hard time about it all day and it still makes me chuckle when I think about it.

Tonight, upon being reminded again of the humorous event I was hit with what really bothered my manager. She was upset that he would ask her to do such a thing that would humble her and make her look a certain low way in the eyes of any who would see. Christ truly did humble Himself when He would wash the feet of His disciples or eat with those of lesser stature than Him. People would see and think things, that hasn't changed since then, yet He loved and did not care about the opinions of others.

I guess if it had been me that had to pull back his hair, I would have reacted the same way and made a funny story about it so that everyone would react and give me attention. Christ wouldn't have though. He would have gladly pulled back his hair and loved him, not making a scene but only being recognized by His father. I mean, it was just hair, right? Oh to be like Christ!

this is for you cracker!

Today at work I bought something that our apartment has been looking for. Any guesses? Mistletoe!! I was out changing the trash and a little boy was selling it for a dollar. I made him wait and I ran inside to get my dollar. Ho told me that he climbed up trees to get it. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with the money he was making but he was worried about running out of time to get people gifts before christmas. I know the feeling.

The whole experience gave me that christmasy tingle inside. It seems like that doesn't happen that much anymore and the question is whether its me or the world around me...or both. I saw a pole while I was working out today that over 60% of people say 'happy holidays' instead of 'Merry Christmas'. What happened to baby Jesus and Bethlehem? It seems like today Christmas is just an excuse to get gifts and go into debt.

more pics...

introductions!

Mandy, Esther (Asian Roommate), Me, Sarah ('cracker' roommate), Kristie

This is a picture of all us 408 girls after we had our Christmas celebration

Well, I think its time we all got to know each other. Some of you that are members of this blog have never met, yet have the common bond of this website.

These are all my roommates, some of you may recognize either by name or by face. I hope this helps!

we wont go until we've got some!!

Ahhh...figgy pudding...This settles the mystery as to the identity of what figgy pudding is. It actually looks pretty tastey.

BRING US A FIGGY PUDDING!!!!

would you like whipped cream with that?

I was working today and something famous happened...
Yup, David Elliot stopped by my Starbucks and I rang him up for his grande peppermint mocha. None of us recognized him and then I said 'you look really familiar to me' and then one of my co-workers said 'you're a guy from that TV show' and then David said 'JAG'. Needless to say, I still didn't get it but then it clicked. Yeah. I think my mom was the most excited about it.

all creatures great and small

I was on the phone tonight and went home, like normal, and walked in forgetting that one of my roomates (Esther) was having a 10th grade English study party. Yup, I walked in talking at an appropriate decible and had about 18 little eyes staring at me...oh well, I'm over it. Actually...one of them is still in our living room RIGHT NOW and its ten past 10. He is talking about his purpose in life. Pretty cool I guess, but we're wondering where his mother is. It may not seem funny to you but I think the irony lies with the fact that he is Asian and Esther is Asian...they were meant for each other. Oh wait, she is his teacher...never mind.

and many more...

Well, the day has come, well, come again. Yup, the big 23. A guy at work today told me he didn't think they made those anymore...I thought that was pretty funny. Its been a good day, busy but good. It all started with sbucks...I have to say that I'm glad I worked today. I got in and they had a banner saying that it was my birthday and I had some goodies in the back room. The fact that someone had a birthday was a good conversation starter with the customers too, so it was a pretty smooth flowing day. Sometimes its hard to think of what to say to total strangers, but all the same, entertaining to try.

I had four people sing to me today on both voicemail and the normal telephone.

I had many emails (all of which I was very grateful for!)

I got some new headphones for my ipod, so now I can listen without the headphones constantly popping out...small ears are a curse with those things.

Yah, lots of other things happened today too, but I'm tired and don't feel like getting into it.

Well, my bed is calling me and the Siren awaits me at 6:30am...buenos noches

...the end of the beginning...

Well, this is the start of a road I said I would never go down. I'm avoiding the mySpace frenzy but thought I could justify having a blog...so if I know you from either the past or the present, please say 'hi'. I'd love to hear from you!!