And we remember..

I was so excited to find this video on my laptop. I forgot that the same night that I shot the short video of Liam running across his living room, I also got this short little video of Alli and Liam while they were watching The Land Before Time. Even though Liam doesn't say anything in this video, and I would do ANYTHING in the world to hear his little voice again, it still makes me feel so peaceful to see his little body in his own living room, watching his favorite movie

Not much to update tonight. Classes are interesting, and we've finally set up our bedroom and most of our house. We still haven't unpacked the XTerra from camp, but that will happen tomorrow hopefully.

I miss the little man a lot today...I think it's because I had to unpack my room and decide where to put my special box of Liam things. And I have that awesome drawing that he made for me that needs to find a place on my wall!

It's midnight and I'm tired.
Love everywhere,
Kristen

Shaboom, Shaboom...

Outside Berry Hill, I'm at the bottom left

This is one of my most favorite pictures of the summer.

(Meg, me, Meg, Elaina, Kelly)

Me and Ryan!

Em and I at the banquet.

My summer is now over. Crazy, insane things have happened...and beautiful, amazing things have happened. Funny times, really sad times, really ANGRY times, and really happy times :) Classes started today, so my summer is officially over.

I don't even know where to start, so I don't think I will. I can't even really explain the summer when people ask me, so I won't try to write it out in actual words. All that needs to be said is that I helped make 1,300 kids to have the best weeks of their lives... and I made some of the best friends- and I really needed that at this point in my life. I learned how to build a fire and keep it going, and I also learned how NOT to delete all the pictures off my camera (yes, all of my Idaho/Yellowstone pictures = GONE...but it's okay, I've finally stopped crying about it.) I also learned how to push my limits way past what I thought they were, which was a surprise.

I apologize for the random, sporatic posts this summer..things will calm down soon, and I will go back to posting regularly about whatever I feel like =)

Love everywhere,

especially to my new H**ver family,

Kristen. (Co**er?)

Deep down in our hearts

This was one of the first times Em and I ever
hung out - a few of us went to Wilmington, NC
and saw a rugby game and then went to the
beach to hang out.

Camp is good... stressful, but good. I'm doing so much better than I have, there are days that are a little rougher, but for the most part, I have great friends and the kids are fantastic. This week my program is "Wet N Wild" which means during program time we do LOTS of water activities! Funyaking, water aerobics (its hilarious to watch), synchronized swimming, water games, sandcastles, etc. I love it, I love spending the morning at the waterfront because its always very nice there.

I can't write for long... for those of you who have sent me mail: THANK YOU SO MUCH! The highlight of my day is running to Sky Top and checking the staff mailbox. When I get mail, it makes my WEEK. To anyone who has sent me anything: Thank you!!

Recently Katie Krize recieved some bad news, so please keep her in your thoughts as her treatment plan will undergo some changes. Katie sent Em and I a letter at camp, it was sooo cute. We're going to send her a H**ver tshirt or something of the sort.

Much love everywhere,
Kristen =)

Ego sum paper, Nihil habeo. Cor meum dabo.

Me, Beaker, and Crumbs at staff night out - bowling!


Mac, me, and Crumbs



Brisca, Loki, Crumbs and Me


I've been in a whole other universe for the past two weeks, without much contact with the real world. I've barely used my phone, and for the first time since I was 16, I can't tell you if it is charged or even on right now. I barely look at it. I've been at pre-pre camp, and then pre-camp, and tomorrow marks DAY ONE of actual camp- tomorrow the girls get there. I am nervous and really really excited. There is sooo much I could write about, but it's way too much and I don't know what would be boring and what wouldn't be!

The title to this blog is a song that we sing at camp. It's latin, there's three lines. They translate to:
Ego sum pauper= I am poor
Nihil habeo= I have nothing
Cor meum dabo= I will give my heart.
It's the prettiest song I have ever heard... it's sung in a round, it's amazingly beautiful. I want you all to hear it, I wish I could upload a file of all of the staff singing it... it makes my heart want to explode :)

I found out my unit placement - I'm staying in Birch Hollow this week, and my program is Outdoor Odyssey. I have 8-11 year olds, and basically we just do lots of OUTDOOR things!! I'm really excited - the first day we learn things about hiking, and the second day we go hike Mount Taminy (part of the appalachain trail). The third day we learn about canoeing, and the fourth day we canoe down the Delaware! I am sooo excited about who is running the program with me - two other girls, one is from Germany, the other is a Junior Counselor who's been at H**ver for a long time, so she knows lots :) I am in a leadership position on staff, so I am kind of in charge of my program/unit. Basically, for all you leaders out there - I'm on the "JStaff" of H**ver, only at camp , there's no Senior Staff, just a director and assistant directors. So there's the Leadership Staff, and then the director/ADs.

I haven't had any problems...some small problems adjusting and getting used to being around Em and not being able to talk to her how I normally do, but I am getting used to sleeping in a single bed again, all alone cocooned inside a sleeping bag, haha.

We barely get time off - well, actually we get a lot of time off, I'm not complaining- but if you think about it, I work around the clock 5 nights a week! Each week, every single counselor gets a "6-9" (Off from 6pm to 9am the next morning) and every single day you get 2 hours off. All of this is planned on Sunday night, so you know when your time off is. And then we have off every week from Sat. at 12 til Sun at 12 (or thereabouts).

There is so much more.. but it's hard to think of what to say! PLEASE SEND ME MAIL! I will love you forever, even if it's something silly and small... I get lonely sometimes, and everyone else gets so much mail !! I posted my address in my last post... I will love you forever until the end of time if you send me something, and I promise I will write back!! Also - I don't have anyone's addresses- so Maria, Laura, and anyone else who wants mail this summer, let me know what your address is!!!

I should probably go - I'm at Em's house for the day, and we're going to cook a real dinner tonight (thank god) because we've been eating basically cafeteria food for two weeks. (It's actually much better than cafeteria food..but you know how food bought in bulk tastes..it's just...different.)

I miss and love you all,
write me mail, plleeeeeaaaasee!!!
Love Everywhere,
Kristen

My Address-

I'm off for the summer...
love to everyone,
be safe!
kris

I apologize ahead of time... I, not thinking very clearly during the last week or so of living in NC, left my laptop hidden under my bed, which means that I have no way of uploading my photos from my trip to the west. (My computer has a slot for an SD card...if anyone has a laptop in DE with that feature, let me know!!) Anyways, so I may not be able to post pictures of what I consider to be the MOST beautiful place I've ever had the pleasure of visiting... atleast not until august. Maybe I'll order one of those Kodak picture cds at the drug store.

I visited 9 states in 8 days. Well, that includes the layovers in Utah, Illinois, and Nevada...I never made it out of the airport for those three ;) Whitewater rafting in Idaho, Rodeo in Oregon, YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK in Wyoming and Montana... I definitely had a blast during my time out there. I would do it again in a heartbeat. My aunt and uncle live out there, and their one son (my oldest cousin) and his wife - and their three children... ages 3, 2, and 10 months. What a handful. But very cute..

Camp begins on Tuesday, of course I'm nervous out of my mind. I bought a big black trunk like Em's and I'm working on filling it up. Right now I'm actually in NJ at the Galbraith's - and no one is home. Kelsey's graduation party is this Saturday (at 3, if you're in DE PLEASE COME!!! Its at the James's house!!) and I'll be back for that.

I must leave another disclaimer.. I am a bad friend. If your birthday was in the past month or six weeks.. I am so sorry. I haven't really called anyone on their birthday, life has just been going a little too fast for me lately. Thankfully, on Tuesday life should slow down a little... and be a little hotter, a little dirtier, and a little bit more my level. If you'd like for me to send you cool letters on camp stationary (with campfires and canoes!!!) then leave me your address... they say that getting mail at camp is the best part of the day!! I'll post my address before I go to camp, so that you can consider sending me something...anything...

I guess that's about it for now. Today I'm just doing laundry and hanging out with the pup, who I haven't seen in almost two weeks! Em is at a lifeguard training class all day, so I'm off to the washer... and to figure out how the hell to work my new phone, its totally complicated and pretty. :)

Love everywhere,
Kristen

Idaho

Feb. '05 approx. 2 months before relapse

Things are still pretty insane right now. I wish I had time to update this more often, but we just got internet at our new house and then I left to come back home. We leave for Idaho tomorrow morning, the flight has a layover in Las Vegas! Not that I'm even of gambling age. I'm really excited though. My family has a lot planned for us- we're going white water rafting down the Snake River, going to a rodeo, and we're taking a charter flight to Cody, Wyoming from which we will drive to Yellowstone National Park and stay for two nights and have the weekend to explore the park.

Today I have to unpack all of my things for camp this summer so that I can pack for Idaho...also, today I am getting an upgrade on my phone - thank god. Ever since the milkshake incident, when it rings it sounds like it's under water!

After I get home from Idaho, I won't even be able to post an update because there's no way for me to get pictures onto this computer at my mom's... so maybe Em will let me update from her laptop at some point once we get to camp.

Sorry this is so short, and not interesting at all-- I just have been too busy running around to be interesting. If anyone has called/emailed me lately and I haven't gotten back to you - I'm sorry! I just can't keep up with life sometimes, haha.

Love everywhere,
Stay Safe,
Kris

Kelsey's Graduation/Sydney's Illness

Rehoboth Beach, 1992. Ages 5 & 3.

I'm in DE now, I flew home tonight (was supposed to have a flight for this morning at 9am, but it had to be changed...more on that later.). The first thing my mom and I did when we got into Wilmington was go straight to Rita's for a Mango waterice. I crave it so much down in NC. The reason I'm here this weekend is for my cousin Ashley's wedding (tomorrow) and for my sister Kelsey's graduation from high school. It should be a really fun weekend- I'm kind of sad because none of my friends are home this weekend, of the people who came back to DE for the summer, they're all at the beach. Which sounds fun, I just miss everyone and I won't be here all summer, not even for one weekend. Crazy summer.

So today was eventful. To begin with, this entire week has been us moving into our new house. It's a fabulous house, I love it so much. Living with Em makes life so much easier/convenient, and Sydney is happier too...well she would be, if everything hadn't happened. The past two weeks Sydney has been a little "under the weather". I am using that as a blanket statement, because we spent all night/morning explaining to people the exact events of the past two weeks, and I can't bear to describe it all again, it's horrendously boring and the word "diarrhea" was frequented a little too often for me. So, it all boiled down to Sydney waking us up last night and she was really ill, vomiting and more diarrhea and panting, these weird stomach noises... so at 4:30am we took her to the Emergency Vet, and while she was there, she had diarrhea all over the floor...but this time, it was full of blood. Which threw up a red flag, and suddenly, Sydney's "under the weather" condition because a lot more serious. Syd spent all of last night in the ICU hooked up to fluids, and then this morning we had to transfer her to our vet, and they ran a ton of tests... The diagnosis: Sydney has Pancreatitis. Basically, she ate something that was WAY too rich or high in fat for her system (such as bacon grease, not that she ate that, it's just a good example.) Her pancreas, over the past two weeks, has been enflamed and has started digesting itself (ew?) ... So this left Sydney pretty ill, and Em and I completely confused as to what was wrong with her. Thankfully, our vet is awesome and figured it out... Sydney's Lipase (an enzyme) levels were at 5800. Normal is 1200 ...

Hopefully by tomorrow she will be feeling much better. I'm sad that I won't be there when she comes home, because I cried for so long last night, especially after the scare at the ER vet ... A nurse came out after Syd had the blood episode and said to me and Em, "I just want to let you know that things have become serious. If Sydney becomes unstable, we will come get you right away so that you can be with her..." I sobbed, I seriously thought I was going to lose my big pup. However, it seems that she will be okay, and soon get back to chasing the moths outside of our house and snuggling up to us in bed.

That's all for now.
Love everywhere,
Kristen

So much to say, so much to say..

Lindsey, our tour guide at JD, Me, and Em

We're back...finally. It's been a long two weeks, and I am absolutely exhausted and need a nap. I need a nap so badly that I just typed, "I neep a nad" ...

We went to Knoxville and Nashville, TN. We saw the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and we went to Vanderbilt University for Lindsey and Em's best friend's graduation. We went to Opry Land (The hotel connected to the Grand Ole Opry). We went to the Jack Daniel's Distillery (the only place that actually distributes/produces JD). On our way back to Greensboro we spent a night in Asheville, NC and went to the North Carolina State Arboretum and wandered around Asheville... IT WAS AWESOME!

After we got back, we went to bed, woke up, and drove to NJ, stayed there for a few days, visited NYC, and then drove down to Delaware...went to the rally (Em's first one!) and then spent a whole day in Chestertown, Maryland with my extended family. Yesterday we went to Philly to attend a Barack Obama rally and to visit Lindsey and Megan and their new apartment. Now, Wednesday, we are finally back in Greensboro..and will things slow down? No way. Tomorrow is move in day for our new house, I'm babysitting all week, and next week Kelsey graduates and my cousin Ashley gets married. Whew.

Here's a few pictures of our trip to Nashville, courtesy of Lindsey...



Yes, Opry Land has waterfalls inside...and
a river with a boat ride!!


At first glance, a sweet old piano
player man...


But he was just trying to get some!


Pretty picture at the NC Arboretum..

Love everywhere,
Kristen

Barack 'n Roll

I love this picture.

Barack Obama. Everyone has their own opinion of him. Some people think he's too religious, some think he "doesn't appeal to the African American community", some people don't like him because he doesn't support gay marriage, some people are in love with him. I of course, am one of those people. Barack Obama is going to save the US from eternal destruction.

I read a magazine article in OCTOBER 2005 about this senator from Illinois, and after I read the article I couldn't even remember the guy's name, but I definitely remembered what he stood for, and it was something I liked. A few months later, around Christmas, I read another article on him, this time I remembered his name and began researching him. He was amazing. Then, by chance, when I was in Burlington, Vermont visiting Rachel and Meaghan, I saw a poster that he was supposed to speak THE ONE DAY that I was on their campus. Rachel and Meag had class, so I walked around by myself and found where Barack was speaking. The line was so long, and they were only accepting so many people. I didn’t make it in – and before he went in, Obama stood outside and gave an impromptu speech, and apologized that not everyone could fit. After he went inside, a few kids next to me ran to the side of the building but the windows were so high that you couldn’t see inside, and barely hear. The dining hall was right next door, so we ran over and stole chairs out of the cafeteria, and stood on them to listen to Obama speak. Every single window of that building was crammed with people, apparently the media present found it interesting, because they photographed the windows full of faces, trying to hear. I listened to the whole speech while standing on a chair outside in freezing weather in my Birkenstocks. When he finished, people streamed out the side door, and I slipped inside. Barack was gone from the stage, but I followed these two high school students who were adamant about shaking his hand. We rounded a corner, took an elevator down, and when we stepped out, there he was! Right in front of us.. and we just walked up to him, shook his hand and told him that we support him and wanted him to run for president. He kind of smiled, I wish I had thought to take a picture with him, but I was so excited and like, blinded by his BEAUTIFUL teeth haha.

After that, last summer I read his book – and then for Christmas my mom got me his other book. I’ve been in love with the man ever since. Everything about him – his ideas on how the country should be run, what he thinks America needs, his family, his past, the way he can write, his morals and values. He really truly is what America needs, I can feel it in my heart. He is so sincere.

Em pointed out to me a while ago that Obama did not support gay marriage. That people were looking to Hillary for the gay marriage bill. However, I’ve done A LOT of research. Neither Clinton or Obama technically support gay marriage. They both support civil unions, and they both think that gay couples should have ALL of the rights that heterosexual couples have. They just don’t support the institution of actual “gay marriage”. Clinton comes off as supporting "gay marriage" but she just keeps saying "how do you define 'marriage'?" (Please correct me if I’ve misunderstood my research.)

So, in short – in Em’s words - beggars can’t be choosers. Neither of my two favorite democrats support gay marriage, however they do believe in equal rights for gays. Having a woman president would be great – but you can’t vote for someone just because of their sex. Barack Obama speaks to me, through everything that he does, says, writes, etc. I will vote for him in the primaries, no doubt, and HOPEFULLY vote for him in the general election!!

Obama will be in Philly on May 22nd at the Electric Factory, 4pm. Em and I will be there, tickets are still available, and half price if you’re a student. If you want to check it out, let me know..it’s going to be revolutionary.

O.BAMA..O.EIGHT