C*mp H**ver

A beautiful picture that Em
took last summer at camp.

The director of C*mp H**ver called me this evening to finish my interview. After a few questions and explanations, I was hired to be a UL (Unit Leader). I am so relieved that she finally called me, because now my summer plans are definitely cemented. I was pretty confident with my application and interview, but I wasn't completely sure. I'm really excited to be working at camp, I've always wanted to be a camp counselor. I was absolutely IN LOVE with my counselors at Grove Point when I went there. However, I'm also insanely nervous and apprehensive. Em has known these girls for like half of her life.. they've been going there and working there for years. I hate being the new kid! I'm good at getting along with people.. I just hate not knowing how things work, where things are, and who everyone is. I'm so nervous that they won't like me!

I watched the ACC Women's Lacrosse Championship on tv today. Virginia blew the Tar Heels out of the water in the second half to win 12-6 (I think). It made me so sad to watch! I miss lacrosse soooo much, it's not even able to be put into words how much I miss the feeling of playing.

It hit me today that I'm actually done with school for the year. I have one more final, but I'm basically done. I was sitting on the bed and it hit me that I hadn't looked at what I needed to do for the week, and then I realized that I'm all done! It's a good feeling, now I can just focus on making money and saving it.

I'm going to go eat my frozen raspberry lemonade pop and be content with Sydney.
Love everywhere,
Kristen

Life I love you, all is groovy..

My GS Troop at Grove Point in MD

Things are winding down for school this year. Tomorrow is my last day of classes and I am taking 3 of my 4 finals in class tomorrow. My last final is a random day in May (actually, it's the day you fly to NC, Lindsey!!! ..less than 2 weeks!!!) I can't wait to be completely finished with school this year. Our director was supposed to call me at 11:30 today to do my interview for C**p Ho**er, but she never called. She's supposed to call now at 2:45, but I have to babysit at 3... and I think the interview is going to take longer than 15 minutes. We'll see. But, assuming that I have a job for the summer at Camp H**ver, I am really excited about it. The picture I posted is of most of my girl scout troop (two missing) at our camp in Maryland. Girl Scouts was never earning badges or making fires once we got to high school. It was just us 8 girls who met once a month and hung out, talked about the sports we were playing, the vacations we were taking, the boys we liked, the colleges we were applying to and being accepted to. It makes me kind of sad, actually, that I don't get to see those girls anymore. Even though we went to different schools (3 at Brandywine, 3 at Concord, 2 at Charter) we basically grew up together. Anyways, I'm just excited to be a part of something GS-related again. I think I told Em wayyy before we started dating that I'd love to work at her camp. I've always wanted to do something like that.

Tomorrow Virginia Tech Women's Lacrosse takes on UNC @ Chapel Hill. I would LOVE to go, but I have class during the game. However, if they win, they play Duke on Friday, so I'm definitely going to that. A friend of mine plays lax at VTech, Kristen Burtch. I played lacrosse with her in high school, she's a year older than me. Hopefully they beat UNC so that I can see them BEAT Duke! I love that all of my friends who play sports come to NC to play. Greensboro is so central that I can basically get anywhere. Amy Williams came down with UConn for field hockey last semester, and I'm sure Meredith Nelles will make her way to NC or atleast play a team from NC up in College Park.

I was reading a livejournal today of a friend of a friend, and she was talking about Philly and how she hung out there the other day... and it makes my heart ACHE for Philadelphia. Living so close growing up, we were constantly in Philly for field trips to the Franklin Institute, the Philadelphia Zoo, the Please Touch Museum, and then when I got older, wandering around the city, riding the El (Oh SEPTA...) being at CHOP and UPenn Hospitals.. and of course, the many adventures made to South Street and the surrounding areas. I miss having a huge city at the tip of my fingers, just a 20 minute drive from my house.

I really should be studying for my THREE exams tomorrow. I have to babysit this evening 3-6, so I guess I'll be up pretty late. I promised myself last night that I was going to study today before babysitting, so that I could get some of it out of the way, but I'm not very good at promises made to myself. :)

Love everywhere,
Kristen

Happy Earth Day!

I know I'm a day late, but Em and I celebrated yesterday by going out to Stone Mountain (yes, that was the harder of the two mountains for us to climb!) We took Sydney, who had SO MUCH FUN. We did too, but with two bad knees, it makes for an interesting climb. Luckily, we started the hike at about the same time as this middle-aged bald man who was really nice, so the three of us and Syd hiked pretty much the whole thing together. We actually had a great time with him- and he even offered me Alleve when I mentioned that my knee was killing me. That's the thing about the south - you can trust people who just offer you random pills. This man was nice as can be. Plus I had my girlfriend with me to kick his butt if the pills made me pass out or something haha.

Before-hike picture...

Takin a break..

The nice man with the Alleve took this for us...

"Look mom, I can balance on a log!"

Syd was real tired when we got home...

Not much else is new. Today I noticed that the HEAT buses (Higher Education Area Transit) that take you around campus all had Virginia Tech stickers on them, near the door. I was really impressed. I haven't really written about what happened a week ago (Has it really been a week???) I don't think there's much for anyone to say. Everyone tries to play the blame game.. but it's not worth it. It's just an awful tragedy. I read about the options that they're giving the students about their grades. I think it's very reasonable. I just feel so awful about what happened. I can't think about it too long or else I just get so sad. I just can't believe that humans are capable of so much evil. It is so disheartening. It's like, people can do a thousand good, righteous things but one senseless act such as this kind of cancels out all of the good things. Nothing can be as good as how bad that was. Make sense? I didn't think so. I'll stop while I'm ahead. Bottom line: The whole world is with you, VT.

Love everywhere,

Kristen

Places, People

Stone Mountain in NC

The weather has finally perked up down here.. it's about 70 today and slightly breezy. Thank god, I've been suffering from horrendous cabin fever lately. Tomorrow Em and I are going to hike either Stone Mountain or Hanging Rock, both state parks with beautiful views. Stone Mountain is really rough on the knees though- it's steep and all rock (obviously).

I'm done with classes in FIVE days. I'm totally psyched, I can't wait for the adventure that May and June will be. Tennessee in a few weeks, Spring Rally, and my mom IMed me last night to let me know that she'd booked our hotel for Idaho. I'm really excited, I've never really been out in the Northwest. While we're in Idaho we're going to go over to Yellowstone National Park and stay a night there too. I'm so excited!! Em's going to keep Sydney for that week, and then I'll come back and have a week in between, and then off to camp! (Assuming that I'm actually going to be hired...)

Just a short post today, it's so nice out and Em's been cooped up here all afternoon while I was out helping Steph and Amy move. We're going to go find something to do.
Love everywhere,
Kristen

Some more cards

I just wanted to post a few of the newer cards I've made in the past week or so. Em's best friend Lindsey is helping us out with the logistics of what will soon be our etsy.com store. We're also trying to think of a good name for the store, so if you have any suggestions, let us know!! I haven't been able to work on these as much as I would like, but I'm done school a week from Thursday, and hopefully then I will have much more time to focus on crafting!

Enjoy --

As an added bonus, I included this card that Em made and that she is VERY proud of. Make sure you tell her how beautiful it is ;-)

Just a little taste :)

Love everywhere, especially the Hokie Nation.

-Kristen

Today We Are All Hokies

Almost unbelievable.




..............................................

"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."

Me and Rachel, Church St. in Burlington- March
06, I love this picture so much, even though I look
like such a dork!


Laura James took this picture of me, and I was
thinking really hard about when she took it, and it
was Thanksgiving break my freshman year.
It was the night before Liam's funeral.

The weather in North Carolina is so gross right now. It kind of reflects my mood at the moment... it's been pouring all day, and the trees are all blowing around everywhere. It's just one of those days where you lay around and watch TV and listen to the rain. I chose the two pictures above for a couple of reasons. Well, first of all, I've been thinking about Rachel a lot lately for some reason - I've really thought about the friends that I have down here, my friends from DE, and my friends from leaders. I hate how far away I am from all of those people. And we are all spread out... Vermont, Virginia, Colorado.. and everywhere else in between.

I've begun looking at universities that offer graduate programs in my major. I came up with these 14 schools:
University of Georgia
Colorado State
East Carolina University
Illinois State
Springfield College (Mass.)
University of Akron (OH)
University of Alabama
University of Pittsburgh
University of Utah
Vanderbilt (TN)
Wheelock College (Boston Mass)
and three schools in California:
University of La Verne
Loma Linda University
Mills College

I've thought about all of these locations, and since most of them are pretty far from home, I'm kind of pumped for the adventure that grad school will bring. It should take 2-3 (leaning more towards the 2) years. I've already decided that I don't think I want to stay in the south- so that means Georgia, Vanderbilt, Alabama, and East Carolina are out (not out completely..) The rest of them, I'm pretty open to suggestions or research- I know it seems like a long ways away but it's really not... in 24 months I graduate from college.

The ones that catch my eye? Wheelock in Boston, Colorado State, University of Utah... I'd prefer to attend a school that has some what of a reputation, but... I've got time to look at them and really research the schools. In the mean time, Holden is pawing at my toes and begging for dinner (which he already ate..).



Time to head to the grocery store.
Love everywhere,
Kris

Kendall and Austin

Kendall Jackson 5.2.02 - 4.11.07



Austin Akin 4.2.05 - 4.6.07


The NB world lost two of it's boys within 5 days this past week. Kendall and Austin both passed away very unexpectedly. Their parents were only given a few days (or in Kendall's case, one day) notice.

This year has been atrocious. First, Nick Snow, then Amazing Jacob Duckworth, then Chrystal, followed soon by the famous Christi Thomas. Brent Nason and Laura Stiles followed at the end of December, and now Kendall and Austin. Penelope is nearing the end, and she's in a lot of pain...

It breaks my heart how the Neuroblastoma monster continues to steal away the innocence of these children. We have to find a CURE!

I think you should learn to dream, just like the dreamers do.

Things have been pretty uneventful around here. Today is Easter but the only reason I even care about it is because everything is closed!! Em and I have been cursing the south since we woke up ;)

I have some pictures from the Serendipity match-


Um... my legs are STRAIGHT up in the air.
You can tell it's me because of the knee brace.


Em looks like Little Bo Peep.


Me and Liz :D

So, this is something interesting-- probably only to the members of the LSC. Does everyone remember senior year when I spent about 2 months STRAIGHT working on cards for Sarah Cates's birthday? I lived and breathed those freaking cards, and when I was done I finally got a full night's sleep and ate an entire meal haha. Well, as much as I looked forward to being done those cards, I really enjoyed making them. And, since Em is an art major, we spend A LOT of time at Michaels and AC Moore. And a few weeks ago, I decided to buy some supplies to make a few more cards- just for fun. And now, I am COMPLETELY obsessed- all over again! Only now, I have learned a ton of better ways to do things, plus Em got me this amazing tool kit to make holes and attach eyelets and thread ribbon. So, Em and I have been throwing around the idea of selling our cards. Em's friend sells some things on Etsy.com, which is a cool website to sell all handmade things. We might wait until after this summer to being selling them, because it will be hard to take care of things when we're both at C**p H**ver. Here's some of the cards I made in the last week:







Please excuse the blur of the pics- but anyways, of course they look better in person (in my opinion). It takes about an hour a card, but surprisingly - I just put on my iPod and don't even notice the hours tick by. It's really relaxing - and I feel like I found some sort of outlet for my creativity :) Plus, when Em and I begin to sell them (if they sell at all!), then a portion of our proceeds will most DEFINITELY be going to either CNCF or NANT (Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation and New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy). Or perhaps straight to Dr. Maris (my doctor-hero, he is head of NB therapy at CHOP).

So that's about all that's up. May and June are going to be totally bank - We're doing a ton of fun stuff. Em and her best friend Lindsey are going to Vanderbilt in TN to see one of their close friends graduate - Em invited me, but I'm just not sure if I will.. after that, it's the Spring Rally (wooo, who else will be there!?!) Then we hope to move into our new place, after that I have my cousin's wedding and Kelsey's graduation, and then a week after that is our trip to Idaho!! I'm super excited, I've never been farther west than Cleveland (and that was just a layover at the airport...haha). And a week after I get back from ID, it's time for camp! Which I will write more about later. I'm so, so soooosososososooooo nervous to work there this summer.

Happy Easter, if that's your style.
Love everywhere,
Kristen

Morals Week or... Weak Morals? ....

Joe, me, Stacey and Jess after the police kicked us
off of College Ave and we headed to the fountain to
protest "silently".

Morals week is over, and so is my anger :) There is still a lot to debate - none of it really having to do with the College Republicans' point of view- more of it having to do with the fact that the CRs call it "Morals Week" ... and the fact that it happens to fall the exact week of PRIDE! Week each year... I really don't need to overreact though. In fact, I do attend one of the most liberal colleges in the state of North Carolina, and I do know that there are FAR more liberals at UNCG than conservatives. Overall, protesting was great but I don't think it did much. The CRs are so set in their ways and stubborn, and they like the response that they get - it gives them so much publicity.

In other news, Em's cousin had a baby last week, her name is Elena Marie...pictures soon to come. We were able to visit her on Friday, the baby is adorable of course and so is her big brother, Dylan.

Saturday we had our Serendipity Match. Everyone took pictures but me, so I'll have to steal one off facebook to post. Let me just tell you... my dress was HOT (I looked like I was a bridesmaid in a 1984 wedding...) and Em looked like Little Bo Peep. We beat Guilford 10-5 in a well fought match. The highlight: the game got a little rough and someone tackled Em and then was so angry that they just began ripping her dress off of her in shreds. Everyone on the field just stopped and watched - it was insanity.

Not much else is new. Today the Dolgin family (minus my favorite one) visited UNCG and so I gave them a tour around and we went to Brixx for lunch. It was fun, I can't believe Sean is already looking at colleges. I hope he does apply to UNCG, it's a great school with a really beautiful campus and there's just tons to do here. Plus, it might be nice to have a little brother around :)

I have to go finish some things... today is 6 months for Em and I (somebody smile because that's a big deal for me!) so I have to get ready for whatever plans the evening will bring :) Love to everyone, everywhere.
And keep spreading that peace.
Kris

Oh, also, please say a prayer for Penelope London's family. She's nearing the end and she's a beautiful little girl. Keep her in your thoughts, that she be taken away from all of that awful pain.
(F U NB...F U.)