Can I Extend My Vacation?

If I had it my way, I would be on vacation forever. I am coming back to the Springs tomorrow. I have been in Indiana the past 5 days and enjoying every minute of it. :) I have been able to spend some amazingly wonderful time with my dad and aunts and uncles and even a little time with my grandparents. It's been a whirlwind, but relaxing at the same time. I needed a break so badly. I have been pushing myself really hard with this new job and stressing myself out with so many other things lately too...this vacation came at a perfect time! I am just not ready to go back yet! That whole being a responsible adult thing gets in the way too much, so alas, I will be back late tomorrow night. :) I will give a little recap of my trip so far.

I got in Thursday afternoon (Thanksgiving) and dad and I went over and had Thannksgiving dinner with my Uncle Brian, Aunt Missy, my 4 cousins, and my Uncle David and Aunt Dana. Then we went and visited Dad's best friend Tony and his wife and 2 year old son. (Tony is like my 3rd dad, he is WONDERFUL). Friday we woke up, and dad took me to his 2 different office locations. This guy names Leonard who has worked in for the family business for like 40 years cooked dad and I this amazing lunch at the office. Then dad and I cruised around and did some site seeing all over the place. Later Friday night dad and I went bowling. I bowled a 114 the first game and a steadt 90 the next two. Dad totally smoked me. :) Saturday Dad and I got up and he took me to see my grandparents and Aunt and Uncle on my mom's side. They live about an hour away from Dad in Shelbyville. We were there most of the morning then headed back to Anderson and took a WONDERFUL 2 hour nap before having a nice dinner in Indianapolis with my aunt and uncle. Sunday (today) we got up and went to church then went out to lunch with Tony and and another friend of dad's. Then we went to visit my dad's uncle pat and my dad's other friends Barney and Sandy that I remeber from when I was a really little kid. We also stopped by my uncle David's house for a while after that. Then we headed over to Tony's house where he and his wife made us dinner and their two year old son Landon entertained us for about an hour afterward with his sweet dance moves. :) It was great!

It has been a wonderful time of visiting with wonderful family and friends. And not having to work for a few days has been great. I know I have an extremely busy next few weeks coming up at work so I am prepping myself for work mode again. But I sure am thankful for the great time I've had on this trip. I miss family so much living in Colorado. Colorado is wonderful, but it's tough having no family around. Luckily I have super close friends out there who are just like family to me who get me through until my visits. :) Coming home tomorrow Colorado. :)

Gobble Gobble!

SOOOOOOOO....it's almost Thanksgiving! At 6am tomorrow morning my airplane leaves Colorado Springs to head to Indiana to see my dad for about 5 days. I can't wait! Although, I am not looking forward to the 3:30am wake up. But it will be worth it! I haven't been to Indiana in a while. It will be good to see Dad and aunts and uncles and grandparents. I am hoping I don't stuff my face too much this year however, as I cannot afford to gain any turkey pounds. I am already getting a lot 'fluffier' then I would like to be. :)

I think it would be nice for me to list the things I am thankful for since that is what Thanksgiving is all about....and I don't know that I will blog again until after I get back. Where to start? I am thankful for so many thing! First and foremost I am thankful for my large and wonderful family. I am thankful for the closess we all share and that everyone for the most part is happy and healthy. I am very greatful for the wonderful friendships I have made since moving to Colorado. I have some amazing people in my life that I just couldn't live without! I am thankful for a roof over my head and food in my mouth and a car that gets me to work every day. I'm thankful for a wonderful job that helps kids all over the world. I'm thankful for life's small lessons, even the hard ones. I'm thankful that God always loves me even when I don't always understand what He's doing with me. There is just so much to be thankful for! I know that for me, it is so easy to get caught up in the stressful things in life and what I don't have. It is good to step back and just see how good God has been and how much He has truly blessed me. :) I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! Have fun with family and friends and eat lots of wonderful food!

A Favorite Friend

So tomorrow is a very special friend of mine's birthday. I was going to write this tomorrow on her actual birthday, but since I know I have a full work load tomorrow...tonight is the night! But I wanted to take some time to be sure and acknowledge a very special friend in my life Mrs. Jessica Worster. :) My friend has been there for me through thick and thin. She has helped me in so many ways and has helped me grow so much since I have moved to the Springs. Her and her husband Dale are two of my best friends in this world and I feel to priveledged to have them in my life. :) There are so many things I admire about Jess. I think the top of the list is her ability to almost always have a cheery disposition no matter what is going on in life. She is an encourager and almost ALWAYS has a positive outlook on life. She is a super funny girl and always has me rolling. :) She is also very beautiful and talented in many ways. I know that when I am an old lady with my false teeth and my bad wig scooting my walker, she will be in a moo moo and curlers right next to me with her cain and purple hair. :) I love you so much my friend! Happy Birthday!

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A Favorite

Desparately, helplessly, longingly, I cried:
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait."

"Wait? You say, wait!" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith, I have asked, and am claiming your Word.

My future and all to which I can relate
hangs in the balance, and YOU tell me to WAIT?
I'm needing a 'yes', go-ahead and sign,
or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

And Lord, You promised that if we believe
we need but to ask, and we shall recieve.
And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master repied once again, "You must wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taught
and grumbling to God, "So, I'm waiting... for what?"

He seemed, then, to kneel, and His eyes wept with mine,
And he tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.

All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want--But, you wouldn't know Me.

You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint;
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint;
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;

You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence were all you could see.

You'd never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of My Spirit decends like a dove;
You'd know that I give and I save... (for a start),
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight,
The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked
Of the infinte God, who makes what you have LAST.

You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that "My grace is sufficient for Thee."
Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come true,
But, Oh, the Loss! If I lost what I'm doing in you!

So, be silent, My Child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And though oft' My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer is still, "WAIT."
-Author Unknown

I posted this poem to my myspace when I still had an account because it's one of my favorite poems. I just love the message behind it. I think that no matter what stage in life you are in, you are always 'waiting' for something. And God will answer you. In His own time.

Meeting Madness

I have had four....count them, FOUR meetings today. Whew!! Thanks GOODNESS Thanksgiving break is next week. My brain hurts.

Well...since it is the day after my baby sisters birthday (baby meaning 14), I thought I would write a blog dedicated to her!

Christianna Marie White is my beautiful, now 14 year old sister. She is so animated and full of life and I just love her to pieces! She is very talented in almost everything. Especially art and theatre. She is kind and considerate and loves her family. :) There really isn't a bad thing I could say about her! I love you Chrissy! Happy Birthday!

Unsettled

I have felt really unsettled all weekend. I can't really pinpoint why, I just feel...off. I have spent a lot of quiet time by myself this weekend. Mostly by choice. I just wanted some time to read and to relax and to just not think about anything. But it's usually those kinds of weekends that I think about EVERYTHING. I was reading some of the news online today. It's just all so depressing. Everything is about violence and hate and disgusting things happening in the world. Or...about Obama. Which, for me, is just as unappealing to read about as the other stuff.
I watched a documentary about Jonestown today. Today is the 30th anniversary of the mass suicide. I couldn't believe how unbelievably disturbing that was. To watch so many good people get roped in to all of that. It just made me realize how vulnerable we humans are when we are down in life and have a lack of hope. Such a tragic story to watch.
My roommates dad fell off a latter and broke his back this weekend. :( I feel so bad for him, and my roommate also. She is worried sick about him understandably. They were going to have to rush him into surgery but now they are thinking on seeing if they can hold off. He is in a Denver hospital for a while. In what they call a 'clam shell' cast...basically is looks like a body cast wrapped around his torso. Poor guy :(
I am really glad the holidays are approaching. I miss my family a lot. I love living here in Colorado, but sometimes I wonder if it's worth being so far away from all of them and missing out on key things in their lives. And also to be able to help them out. A week and a half and I'm off to Indiana to spend some dad time, then just a few weeks after that off to Arizona for Mom and Stepdad and girls time. I wish I could see all my step siblings too, I feel like it's been so long since I've gotten to spend quality time with all of them. Ah the joys of being adults and being all spread out!

I don't really know what else to write today, just felt like I should write SOMETHING. I'm just feeling a little discouraged today. Wondering what plans God has next for me in life. There are days when it can be a very lonely world.

Toyota Matrix, or Snowball?

So right now I can't tell if the giant lump sitting outside of my work building is my Toyota Matrix or a giant snowball. It is currently dumping snow at a high rate of speed here in Colorado Springs. Or at least where my office is located. The weatherman called for slight wind and little to no snow accumilation today. Good prediction weatherman. I am actually loving the fact that it is snowing. I have been a little concerned that it's been in the 60's in the middle of November and we still hadn't had a sign of snow. By this time last year we had already had about 3 blizzards I think. It's nice to see that winter is finally approaching. :)

On an entirely different note...I HAVE to share this picture I found of me and my sisters when we were kids...it's a riot!! Here's a little flashback from memory lane...let's do a little before and after shall we?

Did you know 98% of all statistics are made up on the spot?

Today I thought i would share some of my favorite quotes and sayings. These are all pretty random, but I think they are pretty funny. Most of these are from 'Author Unkown'.

'Always forgive your enemies. Nothing will annoy them more.'

'If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?'

'For Sale: Parachute. Only used once, never opened, small stain.'

'Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film.'

'When your right, no one remembers, when your wrong, no one forgets.'

'Love is like a booger. You keep picking at it until you get it, then wonder what to do with it.'

'Dogs have owners, cats have staff.'

'Borrow money from a pessimist. They don't expect it back.'

'I used to think I was indecisive, but now I'm not so sure.'

'Before you critisize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes.'

Just a few laughs for the day! Ok..some of them are pretty corny, but they still made me laugh!

Rotten Green Apple

I’m thinking this may just be the week for beating myself up. I am fairly certain I broke my little toe last night. I am in a bit of agony this morning hopping around like Thumper on steroids. How did I do this you ask? Well, I was moving my dresser last night because I realized it was covering my vent and that is why I have been so cold in the mornings. As I was in the process of doing this, I dropped one of my dresser drawers right on my pinky toe. Ouch! It’s the lovely shade of rotten green apple this morning.

On a lighter note, I found out that my wonderful Dad bought me a plane ticket to fly home and spend some time with him over Thanksgiving. I am really looking forward to this as I don’t get to see him very often. I haven’t been to Indiana in a while either. I love this town. I love the mountains and the open skies and the green trees and all of my wonderful friends and my amazing job. But I definitely miss my family a lot living out here. I really cherish the holidays when I get to see them, even if it’s only for a few days. I am also going home to Arizona for Christmas where I will get to see Mom and Dan and the girls. My grandma and grandpa will also be there, so it should be a great time. It’s this time of year where I am usually pretty ready for some time off. It is ALSO the time of year where I usually gain about 10 pounds stuffing my face with turkey and pumpkin pie. Let’s hope that is not a reoccurrence this year. I don’t want to come out of the holidays looking like Will Smith on Hitch after he ate the seafood that he was apparently allergic too. Not pretty.

I'm No Scrooge, BUT....

This weekend I went to Chapel Hills Mall with my good friends Jessica and Dale. As soon as we walk through the doors, what do I see? You guessed it.....Christmas. Everywhere. Now let me start off with a disclaimer. I LOVE Christmas. I love spending time with my family, eating good food and celebrating the birth of Christ. I love decorating the tree and all of the fun holiday spirit. What I DON'T love is when America decides it's time to start Christmas...in October. This year I started seeing the first signs of Christmas in the stores right around Halloween time. Right next to the costume aisle you find the display of Christmas trees and lights.

I don't know about you, but I need some time to start 'processing' Christmas. I need time to get the tree up, pick out my Christmas gifts and get in the 'holiday spirit'. When Thanksgiving hasn't even arrived yet, it's hard for me to get in that holiday spirit. I need to concentrate on one holiday at a time. I think the thing I dislike about early Christmas most is the constant Christmas music playing for 3 months straight. I LOVE Christmas music.....in December. I don't want to get burnt out from old Carol of the Bells. I want to enjoy the tunes in the time they are supposed to be enjoyed. Bah Humbug!! All in all...Christmas is great. Let's just not get ahead of ourselves America.

As Jessica, Dale and I canvassed the store I couldn't help but notice this sunglass stand in the middle of the walkway with these stunning shades. Couldn't resist snapping a picture. I think I'm going to get some for my dad for Christmas. :)

Hi, My Name is Toilet Bowl.

I would call this morning…..entertaining. I woke up to the feeling of cold saliva pressed against my cheek. No…I do not have dogs…so it came from, you guessed it….me. Apparently I have taken up drooling on myself while I sleep. Why cold saliva you say? Well, upon waking up to this nasty sensation on my face, I discovered that it was about 20 degrees in my room. It seems that winter has arrived in Colorado. The rest of my body had not felt it yet as it was buried under about 5 layers of blanket. My cheek however did not escape the new wrath of winter. So after getting up and wiping the cold drool from my face I slowly walk into my dark bathroom. While fumbling around for my light I had apparently missed the fact that my curling iron chord was hanging down by my feet and I promptly tripped over it and fell hitting my head on the toilet bowl on the way down.
Normally said events would be attributed to an individual who is completely intoxicated. But no no. This was a normal Thursday morning for Kelsey Donahue. Completely sober.

Blog Writer, Round Two

Today was a big day for me. I finally did it. Today was the day I deleted my myspace account. I feel good about this decision. My addiction to this website for the past couple years was a bit sickly, and alas, the time has come to cut the chord. I suppose the reason one joins sites like Myspace and Facebook is because they want to keep connected with long lost friendships and see what's going on in people's lives. I've discovered that it's really not as much of a tool for communication with friends as it is showing off your pictures and posting random bulletins about your agenda. I know, I was guilty of this. When i started thinking about it, the people I care to keep in touch with, I already do almost every day. So who needs the space really?

So moving on to more important issues. The election. President elect Barack Obama. Election time is always a little tense for me. So much to study on who you should vote for, your reasons for/against voting for someone, etc. And then there are the ENDLESS campaign adds. I think these are what drive me to madness more then anything. Where every commercial is cut to a media bash for one candidate or the other. Then there are the political calls to your cell phone. YOUR CELL PHONE. Come on people! A little privacy? Pretty please? I also believe that election time brings a great amount of animocity among American people. Because people are divided there tends to be a whole lot of hate during this time. It's like the nation is on edge. I am taking a big sigh of relief today that it's over.

On that note I want to say that I did not vote for Obama. It's not that I was for McCain, I was just strongly against nominating Barack Obama. There are some serious fundamental things that I don't believe are right that Obama strongly stands for. And there are some things that I think are important for America that Obama is firmly against. These are things that, in my opinion, are very scary for a leader of our country to have. That being said, I don't feel anger or hostility at the decision that was made. I will respect Obama and support him as our new President. I will pray for him daily and I hope that my feelings about this presidency are proven wrong. It's always tough choosing a leader. No matter who you choose, there will always be a certain amount of corruption and bad decisions involved. The bottom line is, there is no perfect leader except for Christ. Today i have been reflecting on this verse: "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it's the Lord's purpose that prevails." I truly believe that. I think God may have some great plans for Obama and I sincererly hope that is the case. I think the point is that God teaches us to respect our leaders even if we may not agree with them.

Ok...enough about politics...welcome to my new blog!