Wilmington, NC  8/06

This picture makes me laugh so hard.  It's me, Em, Turner, and Kim.  Triad men's team was playing a game against Cape Fear in Wilmington, so we went to cheer them on, and since the day was so hot, perfect beach weather, afterwards we decided to head to the beach, only none of us had bathing suits.  We stopped at a Walmart and we all picked out underwear and soft bras to wear into the ocean!  Kim and I got these striped boy short underwear (that I still wear when my laundry is low and I can bear to deal with the wedgie they give me!)  

I laughed so hard on this day, and it was so random and fun.  I wish I could have more days like this.  My life feels very mundane right now.  When we get back to school, I feel like it's just going to be all the same again.  Every day, a tiny copy of the day before.  Wake up, shower, go to school, come home, rugby, eat, watch tv, go to bed.  

I need something to be different, I just don't know what.  I want the summer to be here now.  I think I want to work at camp again, just because even though last year it was a little rough for me, I don't think I could handle living in Greensboro and working everyday at a random job like at a restaurant or even babysitting.  

I think I need an adventure.

Far, Far Away.

Posted on PostSecret, Dec. 23, 2007

This wasn't my secret, but I really feel so attached to it. At this point in my life, I really wonder what "home" is to me. Temporarily, it's Greensboro, NC, but I know that I definitely do not want to settle in NC. I love the state, it's beautiful, and the people are for the most part, great. It's just not where I want to spend the rest of my life. When I come home to Delaware now, things are so different. It's home, but in a strange way..it's like, a home that I can't be at for long periods of time or else I will go crazy.

So where does that leave me? It leaves me with 48 other states to explore and experiment with. This summer, Em and I are visiting Colorado and California, as there are two great grad schools out there (Colorado State and University of La Verne) that I am looking into. I'm thinking about just majoring in "Child Development" or "Pediatric Therapy" instead of Child Life, which will confine me to a hospital. We shall see...

Me and Kels had way too much fun with photobooth on her Macbook last night after dinner. Here's a little sample of our fun:








Love everywhere,
Kris

Stresses of Christmas

Christmas is a really stressful time of year. For some reason, everyone's emotions are always really hightened. It's like, if you're mad you're going to be SUPER-RIDICULOUSLY-ANGRY or if you're excited then you're I'M-PEEING-MY-DAMN-PANTS-I-AM-SO-PUMPED. On top of that, the department stores are BLASTING the heat so high that it feels like you're in a god damn sauna, it makes you want to pay and get out of there as quickly as possible. Plus, next to the sale-crazed ladies in knitted holiday sweaters with their bags bumping your knees as they fly by, you have to worry about seeing half of your graduating high school class at the mall. Which is why it's nice to go somewhere far, far away to do your holiday shopping (although, Delaware is the best because then there's no tax.)

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and Kels and I just finished our shopping tonight. We got my mom the rest of her presents, and we got my dad a birthday present. Hopefully he likes it, and it fits him. We'll see.

I'm off to watch a movie with Kels. I found this picture of us from the summer of 06, when we went crabbing with Suzi, Elliott, my mom, and my grandfather. It was fun, and EARLY..the pic was taken at like 5:30am out on the river!

Warmer Days!! August '06

Love everywhere,
Kris

Happy Resilience Day!!

Hello friends. Today is Resilience Day- a day to celebrate the fact that we are all alive, despite the fact that we all have hardships and other factors that make our lives stressful or sad or hard. Everyone has the ability to bounce back from anything that they're going through, even if it may seem impossible.

Just a quick update today. I've been home now for a few days, was able to get some Christmas shopping done with Kelsey and Em, and tonight we're decorating our tree. The next week or so is going to be really fun and packed full of visiting and holiday activities.

Life in Wilmington is so much better when my friends are home! It was so good to see Meredith and Maria last night, I saw those two at Thanksgiving, but when you hang out in a large group it's hard to really catch up on what's been going on in everyone's lives. It was great to see them and to swim around in the hot tub in 30 degree weather!

I'm heading out.. I actually have a pretty nasty sinus infection from the surgery, we think, so I need to go find my antibiotics. I've been so miserable - breathing and sleeping wise - but it's so hard to be miserable when so many exciting things are going on!

Speaking of exciting things.. I met my mom's boyfriend, James. I like him, I think it will take me awhile to get used to him and the idea of her having a boyfriend, but for now, I'm happy with him. My mom certainly deserves to be happy, and as long as he makes her happy, then I'm happy.

Love everywhere,

Kristen

Funny Story

Ok, so I forgot about this funny thing that happened to me last week.

I'm a the Philadelphia airport waiting to board my flight to Raleigh. I've got my headphones in and I'm reading a magazine.. when the plane I'm about to board begins to let off its passengers. A whole slew of people come off, followed by an airline worker who is struggling to push a woman in a wheelchair who is wheezing and hooked up to oxygen, and also pull her oxygen tank behind him. He looks in my direction and yells, "I NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE!"

Now, maybe it's because I'm always paranoid that an emergency is going to happen and I won't realize it. Maybe it's because I'm terrified that if my CPR certification from this summer were ever needed to be put to use, I might not remember exactly what to do. Maybe it's because if anyone ever yelled for help, my first reaction would be to drop everything and run to them.

For whatever reason, when he looked in my general direction and yelled that, I immediately yanked out my headphones, put down my magazine and SPRINTED to the man and the woman in the wheelchair. I just looked at him and he wasn't directing me to do anything... I started to assess the situation.. the woman didn't look like she was dying or anything.. no heart attack, no asthma attack or seizure... uh oh... The man starts to look at me kind of funny... My armpits begin to sweat and I can feel my face turning pink...bright pink...

Another woman walks up right behind me... an airline worker... who takes the oxygen tank... The man looks at me and says, "Are you with this passenger?" and I stutter to say, "No..you yelled for help.. so I came to..." my voice trailed off as I realized that the airline worker who had come to help him had been standing right behind my seat... This was all starting to make sense now.

The man says, "Well, I have her to help me," gesturing towards the other airline worker. "Thanks for the offer though."

I sheepishly apologize and turn to go back to my seat, when I realize that the whole waiting area is staring at me, silent. One woman is in her seat, eating a piece of pie, her forkfull paused halfway to her mouth, her eyes looking upward at me.

I sit down, put in my headphones, pull up my hood, and lean back against my chair. Just another embarrassing moment in the life of Kristen ;-)

All I Want for Christmas..

First of all, thanks for all the responses about the pictures! I think I'm going to give her 2 and 4, and maybe 5 for her birthday since it's just something different to add to the wall.

Last night we had Christmas at our house, since our roommate Liz was going back home for the holidays. Em and I decided to exchange gifts then instead of waiting.. (mainly because Em bought my present that morning and has a hard time keeping secrets hee hee). Well, I was SO SURPRISED with what she got me, it really was her own idea and she was very proud that she thought of it all by herself. Here is a picture of my present:

It's a GREAT Kelty back pack for when we start camping this spring, and also a really freaking sweet head lamp that I will be using every night for the rest of my life.. last night I wanted to sleep with it on so I could use it if I had to get up to go to the bathroom..it was a little too uncomfortable though ;-) I think the headlamp will be my favorite gift of the year though..it's going to be hard to top that one. (ps..in the picture, I'm pretending to climb a mountain, not do the Thriller dance..)

I'm almost done with buying my gifts for the year, I just need to get my LSC secret santa gift, and something for my mom and then I'm all done.

Finals are going...interestingly. I'm completely done with only two classes, Human Development Across the Lifespan, and Criminology. Because of the whole nose ordeal, I am right on the cusp of an A in Criminology... so send good "A" thoughts my way. Other than that, I still have three papers to write and two exams. Hopefully I'll be finished by Monday so that Em and I can leave Tuesday to drive home...

That's about all that's been going on. Just lots of paper writing and studying. Em bought this great blender with her Bed Bath & Beyond gift card that her waterfront staff gave her this summer, so we've been making all kinds of stuff in there.

Enough rambling. I'm off to a meeting with a professor about my make up work.
Love, cool backpacks with lots of pockets, luminaries, and the new DMB "best of" CD,
Kristen

I need your help!

Hey folks. Well, if you've been to my mom's new apartment, then you've probably seen her extensive display of sunrise/sunset photos. She collects them, she has had people take pictures for her in Africa, Spain, Australia, England, and all over the US. So, my friend Mariah sent me a bunch of pictures that were taken by her family in Florida, and they are stunning, to say the least. I'd like to frame one for my mom for Christmas, and I can't decide which one I like the best, (I narrowed it down to five...) so if you could, please tell me which one you think is most beautiful and let me know which is your second choice!! :)

Option #1:


Option #2:


Option #3:


Option #4:


Option #5:



Let me know which one you like the best.. I really can't decide!
Love everywhere,
Kris

Classic.

I've been getting a lot of inquiries about this picture. If you go to my Facebook, and go to pictures that were posted by other people, there are something like 13 copies of this picture, all from different angles (I could probably create a 3D image or something cool like that. Well, not me, but someone who's good with graphics. Like Lindsey.)

So, I'll take this post to explain this very embarrassing moment in my life. It might be funny now, but at the time, I almost cried. Leave it to me to not be able to find humor in a situation that is actually pretty hilarious, but I digress.

We were at the staff banquet for camp. At the time that this picture was taken, Em and I were about 45 minutes away from leaving camp and beginning our looong journey to Greensboro, only to start classes the NEXT DAY. The Leadership Team was getting together for a picture and I went to whisper something to Em, but she was too far away, so I had to lean on a table to get close enough. I put one palm down on the "table" and started talking, and suddenly it occurred to me that the table had a funny feel to it...spongy.. like a pillow. What was up with this table? It took me approximately 3.4 seconds to realize that my hand was in a HUGE SHEET CAKE, as you can see from the photo. Luckily, I realized what I was doing before I put my hand all the way through the cake.

Why didn't I just giggle along with the rest of the crowd? I still kind of wonder why I cried. Maybe it's because I'm really over emotional, maybe it was because I was leaving my friends, maybe I was stressed, and maybe, earlier in the day, I had pissed off our Boss so badly that she flipped out in front of half the staff and threw shit all over her office, only for one of the assistant directors to take me aside and explain that the reason she was so upset was because of something I had said to her. Either way... when she walked towards me with that look on her face, and my hand was covered in pink and white icing, I couldn't help myself. I expected her to say, "Tell me again why I hired you?" So, luckily, my good friend Beaker (ahh camp names) whisked me off to the bathroom to get me cleaned up. (She's the one you can see in the photo, in the cute tank top)

So, that's the story of this picture. My boss followed me into the bathroom and made me feel better, so I came out and everyone pretended that it had never happened. Actually, I almost forgot about it..until every got home and the first they did was jump on their computers and facebook. Now, I laugh about it, because it is pretty funny when you think about it. It's like one of those classic funny moments, like a pie in the face or pushing someone's face into their birthday cake.

:D

Wild Wednesday

I love this picture that I took while in Idaho of
Averie, my cousin's daughter.

I am home in Greensboro now. Reuniting with Em and Sydney was awesome, and such a relief. I've been worried about Sydney, she's now started peeing everywhere when she sees Em, Liz, and me.. it's really weird, she never used to pee when excited.

I love shopping for Christmas. Basically, I love shopping and not feeling guilty, and Christmas is a great time for that! I bought Em's gift already, and I know what I want for a few others. I am completely clueless about what to get my mom.

Holiday season is rough for me money-wise. My mom's birthday is December 17, my dad's is December 26. Em's is Jan. 16. Within 1 month, I have Christmas and 3 birthdays! AHH!

Every year, my grandparents just send me a check so that I can get what I want. I'm thinking about getting an iPod Touch. I've read numerous reviews (which are very mixed). The iPod Touch seems to be "an iPhone without the phone and more space for tunes". It also seems to be a piece of technology that is at the beginning of a new "touch interface" era for Apple. Basically, reviewers are saying that the iPod Touch is only the beginning. Better, Bigger things are coming, and we should wait for them. One other criticism is, why spend $300 for an 8 GB iPod Touch, when for $250, you can get an 80 GB iPod Classic. It's a good question..but the curiosity in me takes over. iPod Touch has a lot of features that the Classic does not. A big one - a WiFi internet browser. Also, a bigger screen (I guess more important if you're going to watch videos on it), storage for photos, and a calendar you can keep info in. A lot of people are saying that the iPod Touch is a great buy, that how it works is interesting and it's fun to explore all of it's features. Those reviewers who were extremely tech-savvy were very mixed in their reviews, but for the average, every day person (like me), it seems to be a great purchase, and very fun.

We'll see. Anyone have an opinion?

It's good to be home. Em and I are going out to eat tonight, I am so excited. I haven't had an appetite in over a week!

Love everywhere,
Stay safe traveling with this weather lately,
Kris

Meghan Mondays

This weekend my cousin Meghan came to see my mom's apartment and hang out for awhile. Luckily, I woke up Saturday morning feeling a lot better than I had been, so we had a great time. Kels came home from West Chester for the weekend, too, so the three of us took it easy and hung out Saturday night. Meg brought Sculpey with her, and we created the best holiday sculpey scene that ever graced the planet, for my mom to display proudly.

I left a few items out of the picture so that they all would fit (mainly, the elf's flask and vomit) And yes, that is a skiing dinosaur with a scarf.

Tomorrow I'm flying home to NC. It seems surreal to be actually saying that, I feel like I've been here so long now. I've gotten quite used to sleeping until noon, having complete control of the remote ;-) and having my mom do my laundry for me. However, I am so ready to go back, I miss my puppy and my other half.

Yesterday we went to my Uncle Donnie's house for a big dinner. My cousin, Erin, is being deployed to Iraq in January and this is the last time she'll be home before that. As everyone was leaving, I realized that we had every single grandchild present (except for Stevie, who lives in Idaho). How often do we have every single grandchild, PLUS Mommom and Poppop in the same place? Hopefully we can do that again sometime because I want to take a picture next time. My family means a lot to me, even if we don't see each other every day.

I should go shower and get on with my day. In 24 hours I will be sitting in Dr. Briskin's office, getting my post-op check, and in 27 hours, I WILL BE ON A PLANE HEADED TOWARDS RALEIGH! Sweet.

Love everywhere,
Kristen

EDIT 5:34pm : Liam is on the front of the Alex's Lemonade Stand website!! Alex Scott, founder of the organization, who passed away at the age of 9 from the same cancer that Liam had, Neuroblastoma, her mother and father continue to work for the cause. Alex's mom, Liz is friends with Mrs. Kane, and they live very closeby. (Kennett Square, I think) Anyway, check it out!! http://www.alexslemonade.org