Merry Christmas… and I would’ve been hot in the 80s. : ) December 23, 2008

This is a photo of me and my boyfriend Jakob at the BCE 08 (Best Christmas Ever). I was pretty convinced that Jakob was a pretty amazing guy, but the fact that he wore the tacky sweater I bought him and didn’t complain about it really convinces me.  The idea of BCE was to wear the worst, tackiest Christmas sweater you could find. Our sweaters aren’t quite Christmasey, but they were way too good to pass up. I have sequence and shoulder pads and Jake’s sweater has about every color you would never want on a sweater and it seems as though the designer couldn’t quite make up their mind on what pattern they wanted to use. To top that off about 15 minutes into the party Jake found a lose thread on his sweater and it began to unravel. Don’t worry though we tied it up with a nice Gold Christmas bow so really it just made it that much better. One thing to say about the sweater is this… we definitely would’ve been looking good in the 80s. I just need a little more height to my hair and we’d be set to pary it up in 1985. : )

I think the winner of the night however was my lovely grandmother. Don’t be fooled, I know that some grandmas sometimes are quite tacky with their attire, but that has never been my grandma. She is quite hip and is always looking good. She was def. looking good the night of BCE and as usual she was the life of the party. : ) 

yeah I know your jealous that your Grandma doesn’t look like this. : )

So weather your family is tacky and wacky or reserved and cool

I am hoping that this Christmas is a very merry one for you!

A Horizon High School Play, A Little Sister, and A Crazy Last 2 Months November 21, 2008

So I know that at this point no one will actually read this because it has been so long since I have blogged, but I figure what the hey lets give this blogging thing a try again and see if I can actually be consistent this time.

It is because of my little sister’s play that I feel the need to blog again. Elise is a senior at Horizon High School and last night and tonight (go if you don’t have any plans) they are doing the play “A Christmas Carol”. See up to this point I have sorta forgotten that the Holidays are coming soon. It is so easy to get wrapped up in life that you just let it roll on by and never really take the time to refelect on what has actually happened. Leave it to Mr. Scruge through is “bah humbugs” to show you how important it is to take a little time to look at what has happened in your life and realize that sometimes you just need to say thanks for the blessings you have… especially when Thanksgiving is less than a week away. Here are a few things I have reflected on in the past few months:

• Trip to the orphanage “Home of Refuge” in Yuma, Venezuela. What an amazing trip. These kids been through more than I could ever imagine, yet the whole time I was there I could feel God working. Joy is the best way to describe this place. A joy that can only come from the Lord. Even with the passing of their beloved caretaker Nancy this past month, Rosa (Tony her husband runs the orphanage as well as another on in Hondorous) reminded us of our Fathers great love and the way he provides what we need. It is hard not to realize how blessed you truly are after visiting a place like the Home of Refuge. A part of my heart wil always be with the kids there. Please continue to pray for them when you think of it.
• Working at Starbucks. In a wierd way I am very thankful for my time at Starbucks. I was able to develop some pretty cool relationships and got a lot of free coffee. : ) Coming back from Venezuela and returning to Starbucks was a very tough transition for me, but God used it to show me how to fully rely on him and trust in his plans instead of my own and God’s plans were so much better than mine!
• GOALS, Inc. I have started a new job working at GOALS, Inc. We work with at-risk youth in the school discrict. I am specfically working as a program lead for the after school component with the 4th and 5th graders. They are incredible kids. For the first time in my life I love to go to work everyday. I work with a great staff and we all have the same goal to just be there for these kids when so many other people haven’t been. I think that I am coming to GOALS, Inc. at a time when God is going to launch them somewhere cool and I am so excited to be apart of that!
• I met a boy and a pretty amazing boy at that. Enough said there, those of you who have met him know he is pretty cool. I am excited what will happen here too! : )

Bottom line is when I graduated in May I had this idea of what my life would look like. Boy was I wrong, but I am so glad I was. Many of us probably know Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future”. and I have seen this verse play out in my life time and time again, but sometimes I forget to keep reading past verse 11 to verse 12 which I think is sometimes even more encouraging than verse 11. It says, “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen”. I think that is amazing! God not only has amazing plans for our lives that our so beyound our understanding, but he also says that we can call on him and he will listen. So sometimes we miss what God is doing, but he never leaves our side. Sometimes we totally get what God is doing and he still has never left our side. Anytime good or bad, we can call on our Lord and he will listen to our what we have to say. I am thankful for that! I am thankful for the way God has worked in my life! Don’t forget what God is doing in your life even if you may not fully understand it because God knows and he wants you to call on him because he is always listening!

Moms, Dads, & Grads! The three really do go together, this Grad would be nothing without her Mom and Dad! May 20, 2008

 

I am now officially a College Graduate! It is a feeling that I can’t describe to know that I am done and I am so excited to see what God is going to bring my way next! It is going to be incredible, I have no doubt. Both my parents have written very honoring blogs to me about my accomplishments, but I am not alone in it. I would have never made it this far without their love and support. This post is to honor them for all the sacrifices, support and time they put in to make this day possible for me.

Dad- where to begin? You have never had anything, but high expectations for me and you supported, encouraged me and loved me every step of the way to meet those expectations. Never once have I thought because I am a girl that I couldn’t do anything. If anything you taught me I could do more. : ) You and mom got married young and had me before maybe you planned, but I can’t ever remember a day when you didn’t work your butt of to take care of our family. I learned discipline and hardwork from you. Not becasue you lectured me day after day about the importance of working hard, but because you lived it!

Your life, the choices you made to serve God has always been such an inspiration to me. Every Sunday when you teach I learn so much. You’d think that by now I’d be tired of listening to you, but I look foward to what you have to say. It amazes me how you allow God to use and direct you.  You wrote in your letter to me, Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. You do this everyday.  You let the holy spirit shine through you with every word you preach and step you take. That is really the best gift you have ever given me! I am so blessed to have you as my dad!

Thanks so much for always listening to me no matter how long I decided to talk your ear off. : ) Thanks for always being interested in my life and asking tough questions no matter how awkward it made me feel. Thanks for loving me and giving me an example of the way my Heavenly Father loves me. It is because of you and mom I made it this far! That diploma partly belongs to you too! I love you so, so much!

Robbin

Mom- There is no one that understands me more, supports me more, or takes care of me more than you do. I am amazed as I look back over the years of everything you have done for me.  The choice you made to stay at home with me and the girls when we were little means so much. I am so thankful that no matter what happened you were who I got turn to when I needed something. We have def. had our tough times over the years. Remeber 5th-8th grade? Yeah those where some tough years. If someone told me then that by the time I graduated college you’d be not only my mom, but one of my best friends I never would’ve believed them. But that is exactly what happened. You became a friend and a mother. There isn’t anyone I laugh more with or cry more with than you. Thank you so much for always being there no matter what!

Mom, your compassionate heart, care for others, and desire to tell anyone and everyone about Christs love is incredible! I have never once in my life thought I was incapable of anything because you are so capapble of everything and I thought if I can just be half the woman my mother is I can do anything. I don’t think you have any idea how many people you come in contact with are blessed because of a smile you gave them or a kind word you said. You have always been my number one encourager! No matter how overwhelmed I became, you always shed light on the situation. It is because of your hardwork and dedication to finish your degree that I got the strength to get mine. I know that it wasn’t easy, but you did it and so did I! You are an amazing, godly, woman and I am so blessed to have you as my mother!

Thank you for laughing, teaching, loving, encouraging, crying, and just hanging with me! I am the person I am because of the person you are. Any accomplishment or thing I do is possible because of the foundation you and dad gave me. I thank God everyday for you! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Robbin

 

Finally a Day Off– They Never Go as You Plan January 21, 2008

So today is MLK Jr. Day which is very exciting to me because not only is it a day to remember an amazing figure of our history, but it also means I do not have school or work. I have been looking forward to this day because  it meant that I could finally sleep in. Last night as I went to bed I was thrilled I did not have to set an alarm of any kind and could just sleep.  I visioned myself pretty much wasting most the morning catching some z’s. What a wonderful day!

Well, it is about 8:30am right now and I am wide awake. I know you’re thinking 8:30 isn’t too early and I would agree with that, but I have been awake since about 7:00am. No matter how much I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to fall back to sleep I couldn’t do it. I know that I am tired, I went to bed well after midnight last night, but it doesn’t matter, I cannot fall back to sleep. I hate it. There was a time when I could sleep to noon with no problem. Now I can barely make myself sleep past 7:00am, it just really isn’t fair. I suppose 7am is sorta like sleeping in because when I work early I get up around 3:30am, but still it just doesn’t cut it for me. I mean come on the sun as only been about for about an hour at 7:00am,  it seems like I should get to sleep at least 2 hours past the time the sun gets up.

So I guess it is official… I really am a morning person. Some of you may think this is a good thing, but I not so much. I have always been somewhat impressed with  my lazy, sleeping in habits. But they cease to exist now. If I am not in bed by 9pm at the latest I am incredibly tired and I can’t sleep past 7 the next morning. Can you say grandma? But the sad thing is even my grandma can party late into the night with the best of them and sleep in the next day. What is the deal? I guess, just call me grandma Robbin, I’ll go out and buy some more sweaters to make it official.

Young at Heart? Not Exactly, Try Young At Eye. January 14, 2008

 Friday Morning I woke up feeling miserable. Picture the cold medicine commercials where a person walks around all day and their head is a balloon. That is pretty much how I felt (I guess those advertisers knew what they were talking about). Feeling worse Friday evening I decide to get my shift covered for Saturday. Well, its a good thing I did because I woke up Saturday morning and my left eye was puffy and almost swollen shut. Knowing that it is odd for a cold to cause my eye to swell in such a way and that I was starting an internship at the Denver Rescue Mission on Monday, I decided to suck it up and pay the after hours pay for the doctor and get to the bottom of the swollen eye situation. 

It turns out not only do I have a severe cold, but I also have pinkeye. Yes, you read that right pinkeye. I know what you are thinking, isn’t that what little kids get. Well, yes it is. In fact it is very rare for someone over the age of 18 to get it, but somehow I managed to. If you click the link below you can see the six causes of pinkeye. Mine was mostly caused by reason number two. Although it only occurred in one eye. Apparently a virus in your sinus can cause a virus in your eyes as well and lead to pinkeye. Who knew?

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/T082800.asp

Anyways, if you read past the causes of pinkeye to the treatment of pinkeye you will have seen that part of the treatment is eye drops. This caused a problem for me. Being an adult and not a child anymore I realized that I would have to give myself the eye drops. Mommy wasn’t going to hold me down force my eyelid open and drop the drops in my eye. I had to be a big girl and do it myself.

Okay, no problem, I can do this. Attempt # 1: Look in the mirror, hold eye open, drop… no I can’t do it, freak out. Attempt # 2: psych myself out again and don’t do it. Attempt #3: Finally get the courage to do it, but I can’t get the drop to come out. Attempt #4: I get the drop to work, but I completely miss my eye and it lands on my cheek. Finally on attempt #5 I have contact, eye contact in fact (ba dump bump) : ). It only took me five tries, but I finally got it and now I do have to say I am an eye drop pro.  I did learn a valuable lesson through all this, however. Sometimes being grown up isn’t all its cracked up to be and you really do just wish you had your mommy.

Leesy, Leeso, Leesy Pot-Pie… Elise January 7, 2008

So it could be that no one even reads this anymore. I realize my last post was in October. (Sorry mom). But I am going to try to be better about my blogging ways in 2008. : )

 So I thought for my first post of the new year, I would tell you about my little sister, Elise. Tomorrow January 7th Elise will turn 17 years old. It is unbelievable to me that she is that old. In my eyes I think she will always be twelve. I do have to say though the older she gets our relationship continues to grow more than just sisters, but to great friends. I do remember however, that it was not always that way…

I was a little over 4 years old when Elise was born. The night she arrived I remember my mom telling me to go put my pajamas on. I of course didn’t want to go to bed so I was arguing with her asking for just 5 more minutes. After 5 more minutes and begging for 5 more, but being denied I finally and reluctantly went to my room and put my pajamas on. When I came out of my room my mom looked at me and said, “what are you doing, go get dressed we have to go to grandmas”. My mom’s water had broke and Elise was on her way.

Although I don’t exactly remember being that I was only 4 and Bethany only 2,  I imagine that Bethany and I were very excited and anxious for our baby sister to be born. She was a cutie patootie baby, she had big blue eyes and was bald until about three. Elise was born and the Kelly family was complete. Here are some memories I have of my baby sister…

- Althought growing up we called Elise Leesy because Bethany had a hard time say Elise, We affectionately refer to Elise ages 1 to about 6 as Elise the Beast. She was a little terror. There would be a number of times where Bethany and I would run up the stairs yelling, “mommy, mommy Leesy’s getting us”. and Elise would be running behind us pinching us, biting us, etc. My mom never understood why her to eldest daughters ran from their little sister in fear, but trust me she was scary. 

-Her first birthday party no one could find her and all of a sudden she came out from her room laughing hysterically and completely nude.

- She called her pacifier her, “papa” and she would lose it she would cry for her papa and when people would say there’s your dad sweetie and point to my father, she would scream “that’s not my papa”.

- The famous M & M story in which Elise stole my dad’s M&Ms in the middle of the night and whe she got caught shoved them all into her mouth and pretending like she didn’t doing anything as chocolate dripped down her mouth.

- One time when my grandma was watching us while are parents were out of town and Elise decided to eat my dad’s deodorant. I have no clue what was going through her 3 year old mind. 

- Making Elise be Commet the dog when we played Full House because my mom made Bethany and I include her and I was always DJ, Bethany was Michelle and we didn’t like Stephanie, so Elise had to be Commet.

- Again because my mom said we had to include her making Elise be Ursula the Sea Witch when we played Little Mermaid.

- When we got our dog Aussie she took it upon herself to ”train” her. She would put little puppy Aussie on her leash and walk her in backyard and scream “heel”! “Sit”!, etc. as long as she could. Maybe she was taking the built up aggression she had from her older sisters making her be Ursula and Commet the dog for so many years? : ) 

- As she got older finding a love for baking and backing pretty much the best banana bread ever, that her older sister Robbin loves to help her with… at least the eating part. :  )

- Going to Belize with her this past summer and watching her love on people and letting Jesus shine through her. It was amazing being able to share that experience with her! She boldly got out of her comfort zone and allowed God to use her. What is cooler than that? 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Elise! You are definitely not my baby sister anymore, but to me you will always be Leesy Lou! I love you! 

The Morning Person Within Me That I Never Knew Existed October 10, 2007

As you may have known from my previous post I am now an employee of Starbucks working as a Barista. Really it is the perfect job for me. I am interacting with people, I get to drink all the coffee I want and they are flexible to work around my school schedule. There is one part of the job, however, that may not be so perfect. You see, part of working around my school schedule means that there are certain days that I can only open. I know opening doesn’t seem so bad, but to to work an opening shift that means your day begins at 4:30 a.m.!

I have never really been much of a morning person. You can ask my mother if you don’t believe me. In high school she constantly had to check in on me to see if I was getting up so I wouldn’t be late to school. Despite her best efforts I did end up being late to my first hour class most of the time. During my senior year my parents got a letter home about every week that said your son or daughter has been late x amount of times this week, etc. etc. I love to sleep and I love my bed. I can easily sleep until noon on a weekend and not feel guilty, even though some people may claim that is a waste of a day. That is always how I have operated– stay up late, sleep all day. That is until about a month ago.

When I saw that I was scheduled for an opening shift for the first time and realized that meant going to work at 4:30am before the sun even came up, I have to admit I was a little concerned. As a Starbucks employee there are certain star skills you are suppose to represent and greeting customers with a smile is defenetlyone of them. I was concerned I would not be able to do this because in the mornings I generally resemble this:

That isn’t the way Starbucks customers want to be greeted so I knew I would have to smile even if it was forced. The night before I worked my fist opening shift I barely slept because I was so afraid I would not wake up on time. I woke up at 1:00am, and thought good I have 3 more hours to sleep and then 2:00am and then 3:15am, etc. I have to admit that after I finished my shift that day I was exhausted. I didn’t know how I was going to make it…

But since then I have come to appreciate my early mornings for a number of reasons.  First of all there is a certain peace that is unexplainable at that time in the morning. There is really nobody else around and the drive to work is quick and traffic free. The drive thru  in the store I work at faces the west so every morning I watch the sunrise over the mountains as I give people their coffee. It is beautiful and amazing and I thank God everyday for his incredible creation! Finally, I love my early mornings because I am getting to know the regular customers. It is such an honor to be able to begin their morning with them. Some just grunt at you because lets face it they haven’t had their morning coffee yet, so they really are barely awake and there are those that are a little too peppy for the morning if you know what I mean, but they always bring a smile to my face. It is fun to get to know them, even if it only is for 3-4 minutes at a time as I hand them their Triple, Venti, non-fat, 2 pump mocha, 2 pump hazelnut Latte or the for the more simple orders their Grande Brewed coffee. I find myself, amazingly, not struggling so much to get up anymore and I actually now prefer the opening shift over any other shift. In fact now I look more like this in the mornings:

Okay, so maybe it isn’t that extreme, I mean come on it is 4:30 in the morning! But it is a lot easier to smile now, especially when I know I can go home and take a nap after I get off work. : )

Fired Up for Fall!! September 24, 2007

It is officially fall! I know there are some of you that are sad to see the summer weather go, but lets face it is time for a change. I love fall!! I love hearing the crunching of the leaves as you walk, I love that it is time to bust out the hoodies, hats and scarfs. So many happy things take place in fall. Here are my top 5 favorite things about fall:

5. Hoodies & Jeans!! That to me is the perfect outfit. Its comfy and cozy, what more could you want?

4. Curling up on the couch in your cozy sweats and watching a movie or reading your favorite book because you know the weather is a little dreary outside.

3. Soup or Chile. Isn’t it a great feeling to warm up with soup or Chile at night for dinner. It doesn’t taste as good in the summer.

2. THANKSGIVING!! I love Thanksgiving. My family always does a big shindig at someones house. We invite anyone and everyone who doesn’t have anywhere else to go on Thanksgiving. One time we had 45 people at our house. We all bring yummy food and sometimes we play a little football and then we almost always end the night by seeing a movie. It really is a great time with family and friends.

1. Do you have to ask… A Vanilla or Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks! These I do have to admit taste good all year round, but they taste a little better in the fall. Plus the Pumpkin Spice Latte is a limited time offer only in the fall, it isn’t available all year round, so you gotta get it when the gettin is good! I love walking outside and stopping in for a Latte. The combination of mmm mmm goodness and warmth is amazing!

This year specifically will be a good fall because it is my last fall semester of school ever!! I will just have one more spring semester and then I am done!! Woot! Woot! So I think this fall is going to be extra good!

Happy Fall Everyone!

I am almost a Barista! September 8, 2007

This past week I began my new job at Starbucks! Yes, I know that it could be a scary thing. I spent enough time there as it is, but now I work there too. I might as well just set up a bed in the back because I don’t know when I won’t be there. : )

It has been an interesting week of training.

Intersting fact #1: There are 3 people that I know at the store I am now employed. One girl from highschool, one girl my mom used to watch her and her brother when we were younger and one girl was my sisters best freind when they were little girls.

Interesting fact # 2: It takes a certain shake pour method to pour a frappucino. As I attempted to pour the first frappucino I made inot the cup I accidentaly poured it on the counter and my shoes instead.  I have now, I am happy to say, mostly learned the technique.

Interesting fact # 3: When people learn that you work at Starbucks, you suddenly have many best friends that hope as your best friend they are entitled to a lot of free coffee.

All in all my first week of training has gone pretty well. It is frustrating at times because I just like to know what I am doing, but there is a lot to learn so I don’t know everything yet. Currently I know how to run the lobby register and make cold beverages. Next week I get to learn hot beverages and drive thru register. I can’t wait because after that I will be a certified barista! Yeah!  If you are ever in the area of the store on 136th & Colorado, stop in and visit! But remember I suddenly have a lot of best friends so there is no promise of free coffee. : )

Parking delima and Cracker Barrel is Selfish August 31, 2007

Okay, so if I haven’t established already I am a student down at Metro State College. I should be done in May with a communication degree! Woo Hoo! I think the thing that frustrates me most about being a student at metro is paying for parking. I mean come on, I pay enough to go to school there, don’t you think you could cut students a break and give us free parking. In fact this year they raised all the parking prices. There is one lot that is $1.75, but only has about 25 spaces in it so it fills up pretty fast and the cheapest after that is $3. I think that is a little ridiculous. I have class 4 times a week so I am going to at least spend about $12 a week on parking. That is about $50 a month. To me it feels like a wast of money.

 My solution to not wanting to pay is riding the bus. I really actually enjoy the bus ride and it so nice to sit back and let the bus drive deal with the traffic as I read my text book or listen to my i-pod. However, lately riding the bus hasn’t been as easy as it once was. I catch the 120x at the park-n-ride on 120th & Huron. This semester my classes are later in the day so by the time I get to the parking lot all the parking spaces are full. There was a time when you could park along the curb, but they have put up fire lane signs so you are no longer aloud to park there. The solution to this was to park in the Cracker Barrel parking lot that is next to the RTD parking lot. Well apparently Cracker Barrel does not like that because they too have put up no RTD parking signs.

I do understand the reasoning for the signs and it really was never that big of deal until last Wed. I needed to catch the 10:43 bus to make it down to campus for my 11:30 class. I arrived to the park-n-ride parking lot at 10:20 knowing that I would have to drive around to find a spot. I drove around the whole parking lot and there was not one single spot open. Frustrated and a little flustered because my bus had arrived and it was almost 10:43 I zoomed over to the Cracker Barrel parking lot to see if there might be somewhere to park. I decided to risk it and park along the curb next to the Craker Barrel parking lot (I know that isn’t bright thinking now, I wanted free parking so bad I risked getting a $50 ticket instead of paying $3 to park down town) Well as I was leaving my car, Cracker Barrel Manager comes out and says, “Excuse me”

“Yes”, I said.

“Are you going to take the bus”?

“Yes”.

“Well then I’m sorry, but you can’t park there”.

“okay I said sorry about that, I will move my car”.

Of course by this time I had missed the bus and only had a little over a half hour to get to my class and I had to drive down to campus. On my way I realized that I didn’t have any cash therefore no money for parking. I pulled over to the side of the road and emptied out all of my change from my car, trunk, purse, and back pack. Miraculously I did find $3 worth of change, but $.75 of it was in pennies. The parking attended wasn’t too thrilled with all the change she had to count.

I write all of this to tell you that I am a little frustrated with the seflishness of Cracker Barrel. See they have a very big parking lot and lets face it, are they really going to have that many people come to eat? No. They can spare a few spaces for the overflow of the RTD parking lot. I mean come on work with us students here. We are trying to better ourselves, so we can better the world and you won’t even let us use a parking space?

I know that I may sound a little ridiculous in this rant, but the fact of the matter is paying for parking is annoying, but sometimes you just have to deal with it. I have decided to deal with it by sharing this with all of you, but in the end sometimes I still have to suck it up and pay. Life is just tough sometimes. But hey at least when I need to I can usually afford to pay to park my car and I have a car to park. See it is when I realize things like that, that this rant really seems silly. But it does feel good to get it all out there sometimes. : )