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

 

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! 

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!

Living at home blues! October 31, 2006

I have had a great life! I have had amazing opportunites and experienced some incredible things! I’ve traveled to Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, England, Italy, and Brazil. I spent last summer living in Brooklyn, NY doing inner city ministry! Many of these opportunites have been made possible by my wonderful parents (if you read my post about my car, you can be happy to know that it is because of my parents I have my car back to drive). I am now a student at Metro State College and again because of my parents, I am set up to graduate pretty much debt free! They have done such an incredible job setting me up to be on top of the world when I graduate. Part of the whole graduating debt free thing means that I live at home right now. Really I have it pretty good, my room is in the basement so I have my space to get away and there is always free food. I know that I am totally and incredibly blessed that my parents are even willing to let me live with them for free. Pretty much my parents rock!

Where does the blues part come in, you are asking? Well I am really starting to crave that independence I had when I was in NY. Financialy right now, yeah rember the car situation, I have no money. Moving out is not looking like a possiblity. It is all about choices really. I know over my life I have defently had lots of money that has flowed through, but I have spent it. Like I said I’ve done a lot of cool things. I don’t really regret anything that I’ve done. So far my life as been amazing and I am not planing on it to stop anytime soon. 

So what do I do now? Clearly I am not moving out and I won’t be for a while probably. I guess I embrace the blessings I have now and wait for God’s timing on the other stuff (thanks for the advice, you know who you are). Yes, it is easier said than done, but if you can’t embrace the now and always look to the future, there is a lot of amazing things in life you are going to miss out on. So live in today and embrace the now, let God take care of the rest. Trust me, He isn’t going to let you down. : )

My little Sister Elise. October 30, 2006

This is my beautiful sister Elise! Although there is almost a five year age difference between us, I always have so much fun with her! Anytime there is someone in need she is the first to step up and help. She is an incredible person! I want to be her when I grow up! : )