Winter

What kind of world would there be without winter? Why, there would be no childlike faith then. What kind of world would there be without winter? Why, it would be as dreary as a world with no snow. What kind of world would there be without winter? Why, there would be no livelihood to make tolerance this existence.

Yeah, I couldn't resist sort of - but not really - quoting from Yes, Virgina There is a Santa Clause. Haha. (:

Life

I know what I want out of life. I know what I want to do with my life, everything. I just don't know exactly how to get there. I know I'm quite young to be pondering this, but I know what I want and I what I want the most is a plan.

I want to become an elementary school special ed teacher. I want to go to college for four years to achieve that. After I finish college, I want to start teaching and while I'm teaching attend college either at night or online and get my masters.

When I go to college, I want to either go to WKU or Bellarmine. I've been to Western several times and know the campus fairly well, so a campus visit is not necessary. Bellarmine, on the hand, I have never been there! I've just seen what the website has to offer and that is never a good representation of a college. Both of them are very good schools for my intended major so I don't think that's a problem. I just wish I knew which one.

What bothers me, I think, is the uncertainty. Granted, there is always going to be uncertainty in the future. But this amount of uncertainty just stresses me out beyond belief. I'm not even a senior yet but I feel like I should have an idea of the college I should go to. I know I'm ahead of most juniors by knowing what I want to do but that doesn't make me feel any better.

Main point - UNCERTAINTY SUCKS!

My Papaw

On Saturday, my Papaw is turning EIGHTY! Now, that's a LONG life. He had a pacemaker put in today and I was super glad that the operation went well. So I called him at the hospital and told him, "Hey Papawww, glad you're okay. See you on Saturday." He seemed very glad. :D

I'm my grandparent's only grandchild (this is my dad's side), and they love it when I come up. I love it when I go up there, too. I get to see all of my friends up there - at the VFW, haha - and I get to spend all the time with my grandparents.

I'm very lucky that both of my grandparents are alive because many of my friends' grandparents are not. My grandpa is a veteran of the Korean War and he loves to watch M*A*S*H*. Haha. One time I asked what Papaw would be on the show and my dad was like, "Radar." And I was like, "YESSSS. That's my favorite character on that show!!" Haha. Radar's so awkward. Lol.

Me and my grandpa always have heart to hearts while I'm up there. We talk about life and what not. He always recommends books for me to read. I don't know what I'd do without my grandpa in my life. I love him. (:

Trademarks

There are only a few friends that I can say actually have trademarks. These are a few: Emily, Stacie, Alyssa and Shaun Goebel.

Emily's trademark would have to be her sarcasm and her writing. She writes all the time. I don't know a moment when she's not. Her sarcasm. Is she sarcastic? No, not at all. Haha.

Stacie's trademark would have to be being addicted to Silent Hill and Pokémon. Also, she's my blonde BFF. (:

Alyssa's trademark would be being addicted to Pokémon and all things cute and cuddly. Also, she's very sarcastic while at the same time being nice.

SHAUNNNN. His trademark is his shirts! OMG. They are hilarious. Here is his best one. The best part is that he loves to wear it during drama when we are working on a play about AIDS. I love you Shaun. I'm positive. Hahaha. :D

Ugly Words

Me and my mom say a lot of words and then we go, "EWWW." So these are a few. (:

• Mucus
• Grotesque
• Waft
• Sauerkraut
• Grimace
• Shrill

Don't you just love the word shrill, guys? :D

Goodness.

So this three day weekend was... eventful, to say the least. I went to the movies twice and Alyssa, Stacie, and Stephanie came over and we played Silent Hill. (:

Ahhhh, the movies. This is a very AWKWARD subject. I guess I'll start at the beginning. Friday, I got an email from a guy asking if I wanted to go to the movies. I didn't respond, afraid to hurt his feelings if I said, only as friends. As soon as I walk out of school, I get this call and it's a friend who is like, "YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE MOVIESSS. IF YOU DON'T GO, YOU SHOULD FEEL AWFUL. KELSEYYYY." Fine, I say, I'll go. But only as friends and only if you and your boyfriend go. So she says fine and we go the next day.

So I meet her and her boyfriend at the movies and the guy shows up late. Okay, whateverrrr. So then, we get in the movies, and he finally shows up. I sit between him and my friend. That's fine. Then her and her boyfriend keep whispering, "ARE YOU GUYS TALKINGGGGGG?!" And I go "NOOOOO WE'RE AT A MOVIE!" Haha. I'm so clever. (: His arms are crossed the whole time. Well, whateverrr.

As we walk out of the movies, I see another one of my friends. So me and him start walking together and talking and the guy I went there with, kind of left behind, but still talking about the movie my other friend had seen. When we finally get to the door, I tell him, "I had a good time. See ya Tuesday." And then I walk off because my mother was there to pick me up. Then, my other friend who I had been talking to on the way out walks up beside me and we basically walk to the car together and say goodbye and whatnot. Yeahh. My mom kind of got mad at me for that. But he knew we were just going as friends and I saw another friend and started talking, I wasn't going to completely ignore him. So yeah. Life.

The picture, by the way, basically has nothing to do with the blog. It was just a cute picture of things at the movies. Haha.

Elsewhere

On Tuesday, I finished a book called Elsewhere. It was a very interesting book that was very geared toward young adults. It also made me think about what Heaven, or the afterlife, or whatever you believe in, is going to be like. I guess I'll start with a long synopsis (it started as a short one, but this book is so interesting, there is no way).

The basis is that a fifteen year old girl, Elizabeth Marie Hall, is hit by a taxi and finds herself on this boat. At first she doesn't remember anything and assumes that she is dreaming. She meets a girl similar in age, Thandi, and they soon become close because the boat they are on, The SS Nile, is mainly filled with older people. While Thandi realizes what has happened, Liz, or Lizzie, still believes that it is a dream.

Finally, the ship docks. By now, Liz has realized that she is dead but is far from accepting it. She tries to stay on the boat so that she may return to Earth. But she finds out from the Captain of the boat, who looks to be about six or seven, that she would then become a ghost. Deciding that that would not be a choice for her, she chooses to get off the boat.

Once off the boat, she meets her grandmother. She has never met her grandmother before because her grandmother died before she was born. When she first sees her grandmother, she is very apprehensive about her, and her own death.

The next day, Liz has an appointment at the "Registry". This is where the newly dead go to learn exactly what Elsewhere is. They learn that they age backwards, and Liz is very upset. She is frustrated that she will never get to experience much of what life has to offer. She will never get married, go to prom, get a driver's license, etc. In the aging process, the age they die at, for Liz fifteen, is what they are when they get there and they age backward from there until seven days old. At seven days old, they are sent down the river back to Earth to be born again. She also discovers that there is a "Sneaker Clause" where if you decide within your first year in Elsewhere, you can go back to Earth with the babies.

Liz takes a while to accept her death. She makes many trips to the Observation Decks, which are places where the dead can watch the living. She becomes obsessed with these spending much of her grandmother's money, or "eternims" there.

One night, Liz tries to contact her family and makes a trip to "The Well", which is at the bottom of the river/ ocean they have in Elsewhere. She gets caught by a worker, Owen Welles. They have a brief exchange and soon become unlikely friends. After they come friends, their relationship turns romantic.

Everything seems to be going well for Liz and she actually accepts her death, until Owen's wife from when he was alive shows up. She breaks Liz and Owen up for a brief period of time but then Owen and his wife break up because they realize the only thing they have in common anymore is the past.

Before Liz realizes Owen and his wife broke up, Liz decides to become a "Sneaker" and is sent down with the babies. A part of the way down, she realizes it is not really what she wants and tries to turn back. She fails and partly drowns. She is stuck at the bottom of the ocean until Owen saves her a day later. Then, they get back together and are together until Liz is sent down the River for real this time as a baby.

My whole point of this blog is not to give you that synopsis, which was longer than I meant it to be. Sorry. :)

My point was that, Heaven can't be like, Elsewhere - can it? I guess depending on your religious beliefs it can be whatever you want. But I refuse to believe it is anything like Elsewhere. Zevin put in reincarnation and added a Heaven where everyone gets in, no matter what they did when they were alive. The last part seems promising. But I want to believe that when I am with God, I am there for good. Oh! And in Elsewhere, you don't meet God, he is "as he was when you were alive." So I guess that means that he either exists or doesn't exist depending on your beliefs. When I go to Heaven, I want to see God and meet who I worship. Not repeat an endless cycle and never meet my Creator like in Elsewhere.

My longest blog yet - Whoot whoot! (:

Predicament

So one of my friends is in this predicament: he has to go to the funeral of his "uncle". Uncle is in quotations because my friend has not known his dad since he was eighteen months old and, therefore, never met said uncle. He says that his mom is making him go because it is respectful to do so. True, it is. But what his dad did is less than respectful. If I were in that position, I honestly doubt I would be able to muster up the courage, strength, and humility it would take to do that. I respect my friend more than ever now, even though he says he's going just because his "mommy made him". But I know him better than that, he is a very respectful person and I believe that he would have gone anyway. I feel bad for him, though - that he doesn't know his dad. It's sad really. And I hope that the funeral isn't too awkward for him and that it doesn't depress him.

Re: 2009 Post

My "What Happened in 2009" blog post is quite boring. So many other things happened. I was reading a few blogs and realized that other things happened. But what sticks out in my mind the most is what happens with me and my family. It's a habit.

One really cool thing that happened in 2009 was the implosion of the Executive Inn. I went down there and got video and pictures. There will be a special on TLC that shows the people that actually imploded the Big E and I'm super excited to see that. (:

Yet another thing that I failed ot mention was the dreaded "Kentuckian Ice Storm of Death" haha. Personally, my neighborhood never lost power but all of my family and friends did. The first night, one of my friends from McLean county stayed at our house with her step-mom because a tree was partially on their house. A few days after they left, my grandparents moved in. They had been running their gas stove to stay warm during the day. I was worried they might get carbon monoxide poisoning. They finally headed my warning and came to our house. They stayed until the day of the Super Bowl and then my aunt and cousins came that night and stayed at our house to watch the game.

Oh, and a final note. R.I.P. the tree in these pictures. It had to be cut down following the ice storm. That means less oxygen and more global warming. D:

What Happened in 2009

Not many things really happened in 2009. The three main things that really stick out to me the most are: my stepbrother's wedding, the birth of my cousin, and my cousins' first birthday.

My stepbrother's wedding wasn't a huge thing, but it was my first time in Lexington. I was super excited to be in Lexington and a cool thing was that we were still up there when Billy Gillespie got fired and we bought the Lexington paper with Gillespie's face plastered all over it. We also saw the news conferences and EVERYTHING! It was super cool.

My cousin, Nevaeh, was born the day after my stepbrother's wedding. I remember being in the parking lot of the hotel, waiting to go home, and getting the text and a picture of her. She is so pretty now.

Although you wouldn't think a first birthday would stick out in one's mind, it does in this case. The twins were born almost 3 months premature. The fact that they are alive is a huge blessing. Their first birthday only makes us more grateful that they have survived.

The boy is Ezekiel, one of the twins; the girl with the teddy bear is Trinity, the other twin. The last one is Nevaeh, smiling and with slobber on her chin. Haha.