I'M EXCITED!

I'M EXCITED that I just finished my 1st semester of grad school! 
I'M EXCITED that my brother is getting married in 22 days!
I'M EXCITED to go shopping tomorrow! 
I'M EXCITED to see some of my greatest friends next weekend!
I'M EXCITED that I will be with my family in 8 days! 
I'M EXCITED that some of my students from Japan send me letters and video messages! 
I'M EXCITED for Breakfast Club Tuesdays with my dear friends!
I'M EXCITED for CHRISTMAS! 
I'M EXCITED for so many things!!!  


Life can be filled with so many things that deprive us of happiness.  I hope that you can find joy in the simple aspects of your life.  Every day is a new day.  LIVE IT UP and rejoice in all things good!! 


I'M EXCITED for what is to come! 

Mission: ACCOMPLISHED! (2 more to go)

**First of all, I would like to preface this post by saying I am procrastinating from my studies.  Second of all, I would like to point out that this blog post has been on my "To Do" list for about a month now.  So really, it NEEDED to be done! **

I DID IT! I RAN A HALF MARATHON!! 

I finished in 128 min! My goal was to finish in 130 min... I BEAT my goal! It was a great run and I definitely want to run another one.  Do I have a desire to run a full marathon? As of right now, no, but that could change.  After I ran my 10K last year I told myself that that was the longest run I ever wanted to do, now look at me: I AM A FINISHER OF A HALF MARATHON! 

My friend, Ashley, was supposed to run with me. Sadly, she got sick and couldn't make it.  Luckily, Shelby was able to join me in today's events and I am so THANKFUL! 

Here are some pics from today:

Standing at the Start Line hoping that my training will prove to be successful! 

 Shelby waiting in line with me at the bathroom.  I was hoping that if I went pee before the race I wouldn't have to go while I was running, apparently not! I had to stop and pee around my 4th mile. TMI? oh well! Do you expect anything different? 

My last mile of the race, finishing strong! Shelby was there to run alongside me for a little bit! 

 SO HAPPY!!! It was a great race and I am very proud of myself! 

I have successfully completed Goal #2!!! Now, 2 more to go.  Here is an update on the others:

• Guitar-- I haven't been playing it as much as I should.  School is taking up the majority of my time.  I need to map out a time during my week where I can just focus on practicing.  I will try to do that this week, PROMISE! I need to have a jam session w/ some friends that can help me out! 
• Proactive--Again, school! I am still a huge supporter of this product and I have been thinking about how I will approach this goal.  Don't you worry, I am still going to pursue this! Just because I haven't acted on it yet does not mean anything!!! 

--Someday IS Today--

What's New

--DENTON--FRIENDS--SCHOOL--PANDORA--BACK SWEAT--

I am a couple pages into the next chapter of my life now and the things mentioned above are some new additions. Some people tend to be scared of what's new, they get anxious and don't like change. Change is scary but I LOVE it! Let me tell you about what's new in my life:

DENTON-- From my last post you should know by now that I live in a new town, Denton.  I am getting more and more acquainted with this town every day.  I am sitting at a really neat coffee shop right now called Zera.  It's great! The people are friendly and the atmosphere is very welcoming and relaxing. 

FRIENDS-- I have met some very nice people here.  I am excited to get to know them a little bit more and I am still excited to get to know and meet more.  Every person is different and unique in their own way, that is the beauty of people! It's fun to come in contact with all these different personalities! 

SCHOOL-- I start school on Thursday.....AAAAHHHH!!! I'm SO excited but also extremely nervous.  It's been 2 years since my undergrad and I am so ready to start learning again.  My glasses are cleaned, my pencils are sharpened, and my backpack is PACKED! My nerdy little self is ready to jump right in! 

PANDORA--Yes, this is a new for me! Pathetic, maybe? I'm behind on what's new and hip these days, so cut me a break! This is genius though! I'm actually listening to my "quick mix" right now.  Here are the stations that I am currently listening to:  She & Him, Imogen Heap, Christina Aguilera (duh! I can't live w/o her), Pomplamoose, Adele, Katy Perry, and Pete Yorn.  My ears are always happy when I'm listening to my Pandora! 

BACK SWEAT-- Because I live so close to school, I ride my bike to campus.  It is very hot these days. So because it is so hot and because I ride my bike, I am CONSTANTLY sweating! To make matter's worse, I ride with my backpack on resulting in some major BACK SWEAT! I think I am making a great first impression on campus... haha! I need to start carrying a handkerchief to dab my sweat from my face and a clean dry shirt to change into!  You prob didn't want to know this about me, but does it really surprise you that I am sharing this with you.  I'm just embracing it cause really, who cares?! And if you do, I'm sorry... It's hot and people sweat, we just can't control it.  

Well those are 5 new things that have entered the pages of my life. 

Someday IS Today

This is my new motto for life. I always find myself saying, "Someday I will do this" or "Someday I will do that" WELL, SOMEDAY IS TODAY!! Why do we tend to put off our big dreams in life. I find myself putting many things on the back burner, but you know what, I'M DONE! If you remember, a little over a year ago I set 24 goals for myself to complete before my 24th birthday. I am sad to say that I failed at it. I accomplished a few of them, but the ones I really wanted to accomplish didn't happen. I use the earthquake as an excuse but I can't do that anymore, I just flat out failed. Am I upset with myself, yes, but I learned from it, too. I realized that maybe I need to make a smaller, more realistic list of things that I am actually passionate about. Seriously, not eating chocolate, not drinking carbonated beverages....WHO REALLY CARES? It doesn't even really benefit me in any way. So for this next year of my life here is what I will start working towards:

1. Playing the Guitar-- I LOVE music! I love to sing and I really would love to be able to back myself up. I'm hoping that if I get good at the guitar I will get the guts to do some open mic nights!
2. Run a Half Marathon-- Last year I ran a 10K and said I wouldn't run anything longer than that EVER. Well, I changed my mind! :) There is a half on October 22nd that I have started training for. I am beginning my 3rd week of training and am going strong!
3. Become a Proactiv Spokesperson-- Now, you are probably thinking to yourself...REALISTIC???? But, I'm serious! I absolutely love this product. Last year I was really struggling w/ acne and my confidence level was slowly going down. I pretty much felt like a 12 year old little boy! That's a problem for a 23 year old woman! I started using Proactiv and it helped my skin tremendously. I want to be able to "share the wealth" if you will and let other people know that yes, this does help! It may take longer than a year to accomplish but keep your eyes open, I may just appear on your TV next to Justin Bieber or Katy Perry!

Those are the big 3 that I can think of right now. Oh and grad school, that one is obvious though. Of course I would like to succeed at that! I will be getting my master's in Special Ed with a specialty in Emotional/Behavioral Disorders. I don't really know what to expect from this year, but I am so ready for it! I don't really care what gets thrown at me cause I can guarantee you that I will do anything to catch it!

March 11, 2011

"We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. "

~2 Corinthians 1:8-11

Needless to say, this day changed my life forever. This last week has been one of the longest and exhausting weeks of my life. I think I have felt every sort of emotion a human being can possibly face and I know it isn't over yet. What I have experienced will take time to heal from but I know that God will be with me through it all.

Right now, Ally and I are sitting in the Tokyo Haneda Airport waiting for our midnight flight. We have been here since 10 am this morning and have 8 hours more of waiting. I think today is the first day that I have not shed a tear. I would like to say that yes the majority of my tears were shed w/ sorrow but there were some that were shed w/ JOY. This tragedy has caused much devastation in all of Japan and throughout the majority of our world, but I would like to focus on a different side of it all.

I truly believe that there IS a reason for everything, and that God's Light WILL shine in ANY situation. It may be hard to understand His reasoning behind it all and I don't know if we ever will, but here is what I do know.

The moment that ground began to shake, people started calling out God's name. The moment the news was aired in the States, people were flooding my facebook with messages of prayer and concern. I was seeing and hearing God's name everywhere, our world was turning their eyes upon Him. Our only hope in this world is God and this experience has definitely solidified that.

The Sunday after the quake, my co-workers and I evacuated to the Misawa Air Force Base up in Northern Japan. They housed us, fed us, and gave us a warm shower, words will never be able to express how much gratitude I have for them. The same with MeySen Academy. MeySen has definitely been so strong in this whole situation. Not only are they caring for us foreign staff but they are also able to provide and care for the citizens of Japan that are still suffering from lack of food, water, and shelter. These people have made a commitment with the Lord and they are living it out right now as we speak. I'm sure it is not easy for them to stay behind knowing the risks that they have to face. However, they are allowing God to use them to help those in need. If you would like to help MeySen continue to aide those in need, please continue to prayer for them. I will keep you posted on when and where you can donate money if you wish to do so.

God's light is shining bright right now. The earthquake was His way of saying "HELLO," now all we need to do is answer back. Keep praying for the people of Japan, but let's also continue to praise our God because he has definitely been with this country through all this pain.

thoughts

Ok well maybe I have more than 3 readers, that makes me feel a little more special. So today I was thinking, I don't know if I am going to put any posts about my trip to Europe. I feel like that boat has already passed and it's old news. So, I don't think I am going to blog about it. I wish that I would have that first week when I was back. The reason why I didn't blog immediately was because my camera didn't work on my trip so I was waiting to get pictures from my friends. I wanted to blog w/ some pictures so that you could see a little of what I was talking about. I guess I could still share some of the highlights of my trip. I might do that. I will go back and look through all the pictures again so I can write about some of it. Barcelona was my favorite part of the trip. The weather was the best there and I seriously fell in love with the Gaudi architecture. That man was a genius and I still cannot get over the masterpieces he created! If you don't know who I am talking about, please google Antoni Gaudi.

I might start training for a triathlon when I move back to the States! I was thinking about it today, the only thing holding me back is my foot. We will see!!

22 days till AMERICA!

never again.

Ok so I will never commit to writing a blog a day again. I am not good at this because I am not good w/ words. I have also been extremely tired this week so the thought of blogging every night has been so annoying. Also, I really don't have much to say. And the fact that I might have 3 readers if lucky doesn't keep me motivated. I did think of something earlier today that I could blog about, but I forgot it. I told my students today that I will be moving back to America.

goodnight

Time

So the commercial break is still going on. Here are my thoughts:

I do still want to/need to blog about my trip to Europe but I need some time to actually sort through my pics and write about it. These past 2 days I haven't had the time, or, I have just been way to tired to do it. So, I will still blog every day this week but I don't know when I will actually get to bloggin' about my trip. So you will just have to deal with my random daily thoughts instead.

I started watching Weeds today.

Books!

So I said that I was going to blog every night this week to tell you about my trip to Europe. Well tonight's blog you can just think of it as a commercial or something because it isn't going to be about that trip. It's almost time for me to go to bed so I have to be brief. So I am going to update you on a few other things instead!

Here is my book count for my list:

1. Memoirs of a Geisha

2. Never Let Me Go

3. My Sister's Keeper

4. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

5. Wicked

6. LA Candy

haha i have a lot to read!

Also, I have sent my application to UNT. I really want to go to school here! PLEASE ACCEPT ME!!

Names

So this is long overdue, but here we go:

On Dec 26, Logan, Ally, Melanie, and I began our trip to Europe. The night bus to the Narita airport was the first leg of our trip. We left Sendai around 10pm and arrived at the airport around 6:00 or 6:30 am. (Sorry, I can't remember exactly). It was a long bus ride but I was able to sleep a little bit.

Here is Melanie and I checking in for our first flight!

Since I didn't get much sleep on the bus, I decided to sleep in the airport. Notice the greasy hair!.. it only got worse!

We had a few hours to kill at the airport. So to fill our time, we did a little workout, yes, people were staring. We also decided that for each country we visited we needed to have names that were native to that country. Here are our names:

Germany

• Melanie--Quabena
• Logan--Valda
• Ally--Ladislava
• Me--Daboya

France

• Melanie--Dixie
• Logan--Abelina
• Ally--Belle
• Me--Brucie

Spain

• Melanie--Madrona
• Logan--Ursulina
• Ally--Lupe
• Me--Kiki

Italy

• Melanie--Trilby
• Logan--Rosalia
• Ally--Francesca
• Me--Verdi

This was obviously a start to a GREAT Trip!!!

bloggin'

So I have really slacked on this lately. But this week I am going to be blogging daily! YES, can you believe it, I will blog every day for the next 7 days. The contents of these blogs will be mainly of my trip to Europe. It has been a couple of months since I was there, but stories still need to be told. So please stay tuned and you will see some photos and get to hear about one of the best trips of my life.

Letters

So I sponsor a kid through Compassion International and I have slacked on writing him letters. He is 11 years old and lives in India. He is such a cutie! I just sent him an e-mail and I hope to write him a lot more now. I absolutely love receiving letters so why wouldn't anyone else?! I plan on sending him one every other month, if not more. He has sent me one letter and drew a picture for me. It is the cutest picture! I have it hanging on my fridge!

Confessions

Well it is 12:41 AM. Tomorrow is Opening Ceremonies for the final trimester. I am super excited to see my kids, but I think I am suffering from some jet lag. My vacation was AWESOME! I plan on blogging more about that later so stay tuned! My NEW camera decided that it wasn't going to work for me so I sadly was not able to take any pictures myself. I will be getting pictures from Melanie, Ally, and Logan though so don't worry, you will be able to see some!

Ok well the point of this blog is to A) try to make me tired and B) confess a few things. Here is part B):

The 24 goals that I have made for myself are a lot harder than you think! I have obviously failed at blogging once a week because of my vacay. However, I plan on giving you a few blogs that are based off of my trip so that should compensate. Another goal I failed at was not eating chocolate. I ordered a dessert in Rome and it was covered in chocolate...I paid for it, so I had to eat it...oh and I also ate a chocolate muffin that one of my students brought me on his birthday...please cut me some slack on that one. I still plan on avoiding chocolate products though. Now I have also been avoiding carbonated beverages....but yet again I FAILED! I had some flavored sparkling water on Christmas Eve! But let me specify, the reason why I made that goal was so that I wouldn't drink that many cokes..etc.

Well please don't think less of me people.

So I'm still not tired, I will get back to watching the Pineapple Express. I just ironed my suit for tomorrow (we are taking staff pics) and straightened my hair hoping to be tired afterwards...it didn't work!

Happy New Year!!

--kels