Laughter is the Best Medicine, Except When Your Not Supposed To

I was sitting in a relatively boring 'how to communicate effectively through writing' meeting with my team at work, and one of my co-workers sitting next to me was cracking jokes and got me laughing hysterically at the most awkward timing...then the snowball got rolling and he started laughing then it made me laugh more, which made him laugh more to where I had tears rolling down my face. All the while I am trying not to let the teacher see me for fear she would think I was making fun of her.  This got me thinking about a time about 5 or 6 years ago when my family and I went to my youngest sister's talent show at their high school, which is a private Christian school.  I was sitting next to my sister Megan and we were listening to the good and some of the...lets just say...not so good talents.  I was trying to respectfully watch and just try to be appreciative of their bravery for getting up on the stage. Pretty soon this young girl gets up on the stage and starts singing in the most awful pitch I have ever heard in my life...and boy is she doing it with gusto! I instantly knew that I could not look at my sister Megan sitting next to me for fear that the laughter would be released.  Sure enough, out of the corner of my eye, I see my sister Megan turn her head directly to me with a huge Cheshire Cat grin on her face......and I just LOST it....I tried so so hard to keep it in, but something in me that day just didn't have the capability and I started laughing hysterically...and LOUDLY to the point where I was crying.  I FELT SO BAD! But I honest to goodness had no capacity in me whatsoever to contain it.  Then because of my reaction my sister Megan loses it and starts also laughing to the point of tears and we couldn't stop for almost the whole song.  Thank GOODNESS that poor little girl up on the stage did not hear us...I felt so bad...we were more laughing at each other than her, but I can't imagine how she would have felt had she heard us.  I DID however get the poison look of death from my mom when she saw us laughing uncontrollably...That pretty much said it all!

Oh the memories. :)

Home Sweet Colorado

It is finally starting to act like a summer here.  The sun has been coming out, the grass is green, the skies are blue, and the beautiful Colorado that I moved here for is finally showing her pretty face!

On a completely different note, I had some weird and disturbing dreams last night.  I had a dream that my sisters little dog had another batch of puppies. And they were SO cute! But in my dream, they were outside with momma dog and a possum came up and snatched one and took it away to eat it!! And all I could hear is this high pitched yelping coming from the bushes and I couldn't get to it to save it! It was an aweful dream! I wondering if it was one of those random message dreams that God sometimes gives, like when the skinny cow ate the fat cow.  This somehow seems much more disturbing though. Here is a picture of my sisters pups when they were born last year...they are adorable!

Here's to hoping I have better dreams this week! This week is flying by, which I'm grateful for.  Gotta love the weekends!

The Good, The Bad, and the Sad.

Wow! It has seriously been a long time since I have blogged.  I thought today was probably the day! Life has been kind of a whirlwind lately.  It has been good.  This year has been decidedly better than last year.  Mainly due to a drastic life attitude adjustment on my own part.  For some reason, last year was just tough for me...I had slowly been creeping into this negative attitude about life and human nature in general.  I felt like I wasn't where I expected to be at that point in my life.  But that has all changed.

I'm still not completely sure why, but have had a renewed hope about life in general starting about 6 months ago.  I think it is God holding me on His lap saying, 'Kelsey, I am still here.  Even though you don't always see me, or can't see me working how you would like me to work, I know what I am doing. I am in control and I am holding you in my arms."  I just feel this huge blanket of comfort and peace and feel fully confident that God can still do a great work in me yet. 

I have been very intentional in the past months about going out more and being as sociable and active as I possibly can.  I've been spending time with friends that I haven't seen in a while, I've been going to the gym, and I've been more actively participating in events at church and work.  I think that for me, the more I let myself slip into sitting home alone, the easier it is to slip into negativity.  Surrounding myself with friends and family have been the best thing for me.

Even though this year has been a good year for me personally, it has still had some significant  hardships...though I feel that these hardships have helped me to maintain a proper perspective on appreciating the little things in life. I lost my sweet Grandpa Tom suddenly in March.  He was so special to me.  Only 68 years old...I have never in my life seen him without a mischievious grin on his face.  He was always known for his big grandious stories.  I loved him very much and I have nothing but fun memories of him.  It was hard to see my mom grieving at the loss of her daddy.  Seeing any family member in pain like that is a tough thing.  There isn't a day that has gone by that I haven't thought of him.  It has really made me appreciate every spare moment I get with my family and the precious time I have with them on this earth.  

This past weekend I lost a friend to stomach cancer.  Zach was one of the first people I met when moving to Colorado Springs.  I went to a Saturday night church service that he and his family went to at Pulpit Rock church and was in several  small Bible study groups with him. He always made me feel so welcome and included. The example of his life really touched me.  The character and genuineness of him and his family was truly an inspiration to me.  Zach was extremely funny and wise.  He loved the Lord with all of his heart and it poured out of every part of his body.  His death really affected me in a strong way, even though I haven't seen him in a while.  I keep thinking to myself, 'now THAT is the kind of person I want to be for God.  THAT is the kind of legacy I want to leave behind to my spouse and my children.' I truly believe that when he passed on Sunday, God scooped him up in his arms and said, 'Well done my good and faithful servant.  Welcome home.' :) 

I am hoping to make many more positive changes in my life over the next few years.  I don't know exactly what that means yet, but I just know that I want to live a good life, with a good attitude and one that is pleasing to God.  I could write so much more, but I think I'll leave it to that today.  I'm hoping to keep up with this writing thing...maybe one of those positive changes. :) Have a good day my friends!

So I have this amazing stepdad...and he's an artist

I couldn't resist the opportunity to share with you some of my stepdad's most recent paintings. He has switched his focus to abstract art, which I must say, is amazing. I would love to just put his paintings in every room of my house. Take a look at some of his most recent work...(and yes...he sells them, so if some of you are interested, let me know!).

Time to Regroup

It has been quite a while since I have blogged. A lot has happened since I wrote last, but I’ve been too lazy to put it all into writing. I guess I could start with my car accident. On April 2nd we had a huge blizzard in Colorado Springs. Our work closed down at about 1pm due to the weather conditions. By this time though, the storm was so bad that you could barely see your hand in front of you and the roads were completely iced over. I turned right to come out of my office and was not even a mile down the road when I saw a car two cars ahead do a donut in the middle of the road. I thought...”Not good”. Sure enough, the car directly in front of me slammed on her breaks and slid into the curb with the back of her car sticking into the lane I was in. I of course braked, but with the roads solid ice my breaks did nothing and I slid right into the back of her car. Then the car behind me crushed me in between him and the car in front of me completing smashing my car like an accordion. Thankfully, the only injuries I had were some bad whiplash and a sprained wrist, but my car didn’t make it out so good. She was completely totaled. So after waiting in my car for almost an hour and a half for emergency crew I finally was taken out and my car towed away. A few weeks later I received a settlement from my insurance company for my car and was able to get a new one….here are the new wheels! (2008 Nissan Sentra)



So, despite the yucky situation, I feel like God was really watching out for me. I could have been injured much worse, especially considering the condition of my car, and everything with my insurance went very smoothly.
April 8th I turned 25. I have to be honest…I don’t feel old by any means, but this age feel strange to me. I’m not early 20’s anymore but not quite late 20’s either. Turning 25 has also made me question a lot of things about direction in my life and what the next 5 years are going to bring. I’ve thought a lot about that lately but am not going to really get into that now. I decided that this year I wanted to treat myself to a little birthday vacation so I went to southern Cali for a week to visit a good friend of mine out there. We went to Disneyland, did some BBQ’s, went to the beach, went to a club. I had a really nice time.:)



Lately I have been questioning whether or not I want to stay in Colorado. It’s just not like it used to be. I love it here, it’s a wonderful place, but I’m feeling pretty stagnant out here right now. There are times where I feel like I should just pack up everything and move to Indiana and work for my dad and the family business. Cost of living there is about half of what it is here it would be nice to save up some money and be close to family at the same time. I also think about going back to Arizona sometimes, although I never really felt like I could call that place ‘home’. After high school I never felt like Arizona was a good fit for me. Maybe I just have that gene in me that always wants to try something new. For my friends reading this, don’t get excited, I haven’t decided to pack up everything and leave at this point. :) It’s just something I think about from time to time.
There has been a lot of other things going on in between all of this, but I don’t really have time this morning to get it all down. I just wanted to do a quick catch-up blog. For my wonderful and amazing mother, Happy Mother’s Day! I couldn’t ask for a more loving and devoted mother. I love you so much!

Thank You Mr. President

My good friend Suzanne had this posted on her blog today and I thought it was so fitting for everything I am feeling today. So much focus on the new President, but I just felt like honoring our old President today. Whether you liked him or not, he deserves your respect and gratitude.

Goodbye, Mr. President,
I guess the time has come for you to,
Pack up all your things and turn the page,
So I was thinking as you left,
I’d try to write a song to tell you,
What so many of us want to say.

For all those sleepless nights,
I am sure you must have had,
For all the prayers I’m sure you prayed,
For how you tried to lead us when the way was so unclear,
I am sure it wasn’t always evident,
But thank you Mr. President!

Goodbye, Mr. President,
You will not be forgotten,
All the courage and the hope you helped us find,
I can’t imagine how it felt,
To stand where you were standing,
And to try to make the calls you thought were right.

So for those sleepless nights,
I am sure you must have had,
That put those lines around your eyes,
For how you carried the weight,
Even when the lights went out,
I am sure you’ll never know how much it meant,
I thank you, Mr. President.

So for those days ahead,
When they write about the past,
And everybody has their say,
From all of us who know,
You gave us everything you could,
We hope you will remember this,
Thank you, Mr. President!
Goodbye, Mr. President.

—Steven Curtis Chapman

Let's Talk About Star Wars.

This weekend I holed up in my house and watched Star Wars. Yes...I watched all three. Star Wars: A New Hope, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. I know...I already sound like a huge nerd. But I must say, the original Star Wars trilogy is one of my favorite trilogies of all time. It's such a classic that really cannot be beat. As I was watching the Empire Stikes back yesterday I realized that Luke (Mark Hamill) looked a lot different to me in this movie then he did in the first movie. First of all, it looked like he had aged about ten years from the first, and secondly, his face looked a lot puffier to me. I did a little research on this and in doing so found out that after the filming of the first Star Wars movie, Mark Hamill was in a serious car accident and messed up his face pretty badly. Hence the difference in appearance. If you look closely in the Empire Stikes back you can see a new scar on his upper lip. Of course...this doesn't really explain how he aged ten years. Stress maybe? I was never a fan of Carrie Fisher as Princess Leiah. There is something about her that has always bugged me. I don't know if it's the fact that she looks like she is 15 but has the voice of an old woman or if it's the fact that she just looks like she would be a downright mean person in real life. (She was 19 when the first one was filmed by the way).Harrison Ford is of course brilliant as Han Solo. I had read somewhere that this was his first time ever acting (at age 34). Apparently he was contracted as a carpenter or something on the set and tried out for the role of Han Solo on a whim and nailed it. And the legend of Harrison Ford was born. Chewbacca is such a great character. Not only is he tall and make entertaining gurgling sounds that no other human being can properly mimic, but he kicks a lot of booty. Does anyone know who the actor was who played Chewey? I haven't figured that one out yet.

These movies are just great. Yes, the lines are extremely cheesy, yes, the technology is somewhat lacking at some points, but it doesn't matter. I think George Lucas did such an amazing job at writing this extremely entertaining Sci-Fi series. That's all I wanted to say....besides Yoda is the bomb.

May the force be with you.