ABC's of my Life

A- Amy, my best friend since Kindergarten and the one person who has always been there for me no matter what.
B- Boz Wellz, where I spend my time working and the place my money comes from.
C- Chocolate, the first food I turn to when I'm stressed, upset, or feeling yucky.
D- Denise, my mother and my best friend.
E- Excited, the feeling I get when I think about starting college in a month.
F- French Horn, my passion and favorite thing in the world.
G- Gone with the Wind, one of my favorite novels and movies.
H- Harry Potter, the best movie/book series ever. I'm a huge Potterhead.
I- Ice cream, one of my favorite treats.
J- Jesus, my savior.
K- King of Queens, great TV show that I've seen most of the episodes of.
L- Liberty Hall, the dorm I will be living in at Buena Vista this year.
M- Music, I love to sing it, play it, listen to it, everything about it, I love.
N- Nervous, another feeling I get when I think about starting college in a month.
O- Organizing, the basement to be specific. That's our project for the rest of the summer.
P- Pretty Little Liars, one of my favorite TV shows.
Q- Queen Anne Cherry Cordials, my favorite favorite favorite candy to buy at Christmas time.
R- Reading, my favorite thing to do when I have the time.
S- Singing, another thing I love to do, whether it be in my room, the car, the shower, or Walmart.
T- Teaching, what I plan on making a career out of.
U- Unlimited texting, something I wish I had. :P
V- Valentine's Day, my least favorite holiday. Why does it have to be February 14th to profess your love?
W- Washington D.C., a place I want to travel to sometime before I die.
X- Xmas, my favorite holiday. I love decorating for it, listening to music, baking, and celebrating the birth of our Savior.
Y- YouCat, a book I just bought to help me learn more about my Catholic faith that I really know nothing about. (See previous blog post)
Z- Zebras, an animal that intrigue me. Are they black with white stripes, or white with black stripes??????

Trying to reclaim my faith

I got into a discussion with a friend on twitter this morning about how we don't feel our church did a good job educating us on our Catholic faith, and I agree 100% and beyond. The CCD/Religious Ed/School of Faith program at St. Mary's in Storm Lake is a complete and utter joke, and I don't care who I offend by saying that. I attended classes for the better part of 10 years, learned all my prayers, and went to mass with my parents, but I still do not know anything about my faith or the history of my church. My parents took a lot of criticism from many people when they allowed me to quit confirmation, but I don't understand why. Parents forcing their kids to do the confirmation program is the total opposite of what confirmation is supposed to be about, and I was not going to make the conscious decision to become a confirmed adult member of a church that I knew nothing about. What really angers me is that the kids who go to Catholic school seem to know a great deal more about the history of our church, why things are done the way they are, etc. The conclusion I'm drawing from this is that the kids who attend St. Mary's  get to learn more about their faith and the history of their church because their parents pay buckoo bucks for them to attend the parochial school. They're kind of leaving us public school kids out to dry, and giving up the short end of the stick because "you don't attend St. Mary's." It's kind of like their expecting the public school kids to just go along with things and not *expect* to learn because we don't pay a million dollars for CCD. (Okay, a million dollars is a huge exaggeration, but I digress.)
So, you are asking yourself, what are you going to do about this Kelsey? Well, I've decided it's time for me to take my faith into my own hands. I've scoured the internet and found online print resources that several parishes use for the RCIA program, I've ordered a book specifically written for Catholic Youth to help us understand our church, and I've sought out my public library for other print resources. If my church didn't feel it necessary to give me the education of my faith I deserve because I didn't attend St. Mary's, I'm going to educate myself. I have the support of my other public school Catholic friends and my parents, and I'm going to do this. I'm actually going to educate myself on the faith I've been living my entire life before I decide to become a full member of the church.
My friend Alyssa said it best on Twitter. "We are hurt by our lack of education." This is so true it's scary. Because we were not educated in most aspects of how our church works, the one thing that should be unquestionable in our lives is perhaps one of the most questionable things we deal with.

Books you must read and why I feel so

I'm constantly looking for things to blog about, and I came across a website that has a list of over 100 blogging topics. Some of them are things I could really care less about, but this one sort of spoke to me, because as most of you know, I spend a good majority of any free time I get reading a great book. So, without further ado, here is a *small* list of books that I feel everyone should read, and why I feel so. Here we go.....

1. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling- First of all, if you haven't read at least 1 of the HP books by now, you either live under a rock or can't grasp the idea of reading a fantasy novel. I will tell you that fantasy is not my number one genre, in fact, it falls at the bottom of my list. However, I started reading the Harry Potter books in second grade (Ms. Langner's class, represent!), and I was instantly intrigued. Perhaps the reason I and so many others love these books is because of the fantasy elements. When you read HP, you are flown away to a different world, and it's so helpful when you really need an escape. Once I started one, I had problems putting them down. J.K. Rowling writes so well, and the plots of all the books are awesome, and you get sucked in (although sometimes it does take awhile for that to happen.) Even if you have TRIED reading the books before, I urge everyone to try it again, look past the *fantasy* genre and think of it as a great American classic in the making, because honestly, it is most likely going to become that.

2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee- I probably would have never read this book if it was not required in my freshman Accelerated English class, but looking back, I am extremely glad that it was. This book is a classic example of a child being shaped by her surroundings and having to grow up faster than she perhaps wanted. This is on my top 10 list of best novels I've ever read. READ IT!!

3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck- This was another required Accel. read, and although there are parts of it I could have lived without, it is overall one of the truly "American" novels. I feel that this novel is relate-able, although it took place during the Great Depression. The economic hardship and having to uproot themselves to go to an unknown place that the Joad family undergoes is more often than not a common thing in today's world.

4. The Help by Kathryn Stockett- Another good novel that is historical but shown from the African American side of the 1960s as opposed to the WASP, if you will, side.  One of the best quotes I've heard in a long time comes from  this book: "You is kind, You is smart, You is important."

5. Anything by Jodi Picoult- If you are the kind of person who loves a good realistic fiction novel with a ton of twists and the occasional tear jerker moment, you *NEED* to read some Jodi Picoult novels. She writes BRILLIANTLY and her books are always ones that sort of throw you  for a loop sometime during the duration of the novel, some of them throw you at the end, while some throw you in the middle. Heck, sometimes they throw you at the beginning. I've read most of her novels. I recommend all of them, but my favorite ones are Nineteen Minutes, Lone Wolf, My Sister's Keeper, Handle with Care, House Rules, Sing you Home, and Plain Truth.

That should hold you guys for now. I'm always reading, so I'll always come up with more that I will eventually share with you guys at a later date. But I'm in serious need of some more blog ideas that don't involve books, so if you happen to have any *bright* ideas, please comment and let me know!

The little kids have got it right

Yesterday, I had the afternoon off so I chose to go hang out with my second family, who is a family I have been babysitting for since the summer before I started 8th grade. After going to the waterpark to enjoy an indoor swim and finding it closed, we decided to go back to their house and make puppy chow. Brayden is 2 1/2, and Maddie will be going into 7th grade in the fall. The whole time when we were standing together in the kitchen making puppy chow, Brayden was nothing but smiles and giggles, and it helped me realize, the little kids are in fact smarter than most of us adults. I say this because they are able to smile and laugh no matter what is going on. I realize that little kids don't often recognize tragedy or sad events, so they are able to just smile all the time, but it really got me thinking: what if we all just smiled and laughed more, in order to get over our grief? This last year has been hell for me and my family, and although I try to keep myself composed, I have gone from being consumed with grief, to being angry at the world, to almost losing faith in everything I've ever believed. Times are still hard, and sometimes I just sit and think "Why did this happen to my family?" Lately, it hasn't so much been that question, it's been "Why do things KEEP happening?", because in my mind, God wouldn't be punishing people who do good for others in this way. I think I need to take a page out of Brayden's book. I need to smile more, laugh more, and forget all the bad things that are happening. There's a time and a place for grief and anger, but I can't let it consume my whole life. Hey, Brayden may only be 2, but he's got life figured out better thus far than a lot of adults ever do. Smile and laugh. That's the key to life. The little kids have all got it right.

Graduation

As cliche as this sounds, it seems like it was yesterday that I was standing in my living room, with my Barbie backpack full of crayons, glue, and markers, waiting to go to my first day of Kindergarten. Even though it seems like it was yesterday, it really wasn't. Today, I will walk across the stage in my high school gym, fully decked out in my green robe, green motorboard, gold honor cords, and an honor medallion, and receive the diploma I have worked 13 long years for. It's crazy how 13 years of studying, sacrifice, and struggle all come down to one afternoon ceremony and a piece of paper. High school wasn't always great, hell, there were some days when I hated it with every passion in my body. But, I made a ton of memories and a ton of friends that I'm not ready to let go of yet.  I am very excited to start the next chapter in my life when I start college at Buena Vista University in the fall, but part of me doesn't want to leave high school. My best friend and I met on the first day of Kindergarten, and we've always lived in the same town. Come September, she will be going an hour away for college, while I'll be staying here. Another close friend is moving to Fargo, ND to start school and be with her family who moved there earlier. Two friends are going to Minnesota, and a lot are going across the State or at least 2 hours away for school. I understand we will all keep in touch, but it's going to be a big adjustment going from having all my friends here to them being gone. Everyone says "we'll keep in touch", but, realistically, a lot of us might not. My biggest fear is not failing, not being able to pay for college, or not getting a job in the future, but instead, I fear that I will lose my best friends. But today, I will put that smile on my face and push those bad thoughts out of my mind. I will hug the people that come to my party and thank them for helping me over the years. I'll open my gifts and go to the bank to cash my checks. And I'll celebrate the fact that we actually did it with my best friends. I'll worry about them forgetting everything we ever did together tomorrow. Happy Graduation Day, Storm Lake High School Class of 2012.

Childhood Memories: Barbies

For most women in the world ( and I use the term most in a loosest sense possible), Barbies were a staple of our childhood. I was no exception to this thought. I spent many hours in my bedroom, living room, or basement playing Barbies throughout my childhood. By the time I was really into playing with Barbies, my sister was past that stage, so not only did I get to use my own Barbies, but I got to use hers as well. I had my own Barbies, including an Ice Skate Barbie, Hollywood Barbie, Yo Yo Skipper, a Barbie  that came with her own Cat, Teresa, Midge, Baby Kelly, and "Gymnastics" Whitney. My sister had much of the same, but some of her special ones including a 1996 Olympics Barbie and a bowling Barbie. Each one had a special place in my "Barbie family" (Hollywood Barbie was the Mom, Ice Skate Barbie and Teresa were the high school sisters, Skipper was in middle school, and Whitney and Kelly were the little ones. Midge was their best friend that basically spent most of the time at their house anyway, so I'm not sure why I just didn't include her as a family member). I also had a mom that sewed, so we had containers full of Barbie clothes.  We also had our fair share of Barbie furniture. I had a Barbie dreamhouse that I got for my birthday in Kindergarten, and we also had several other pieces of furniture, like a bed, dresser, vanity, and a TV Stand. We also had a Barbie "apartment" that came from my cousin. We were also the owners of a Barbie Bank and two barbie Groceries stores. Rachel had a pink 2 seater Barbie convertible while I had a 5 seater blue convertible. We also each had the Barbie pony complete with all the accessories. Well, as you can imagine, I went to TOWN as a five year old with all these Barbie things at my fingertips. I set up a Barbie Megatown. In their "home" town, I had my dream house, along with one grocery store, Whitney's gymnastic studio, the vanity(beauty salon),  and the bank. Two of the high school sisters would drive to the stack of books that served as the high school in the pink convertible. The Mom would drop the others ones off then go to work at her business (she was a lawyer). The other side of my basement was the "vacation" area, with the apartment that served as a condo, the horses and Rachel's bowling alley for recreation, and a grocery store, because you had to eat! The other random furniture was set up near the Dreamhouse for Midge, who was constantly visiting. I would spend 3 hours in my basement playing with my barbies, and I had a blast. It's so much fun to look back on those memories and still be able to remember the specifics about them. I also find it interesting that I was kind of sexist in the fact that I NEVER played with the Ken dolls....

Music Suggestions- Oldies

If you are like me, you are constantly looking for new music to listen to. Most of you probably listen or have listened to these sometime in the past, but this is my oldies playlist, I recommend them all. If you don't recognize a single song or artist on this list, you obviously listen to crap, and should download every song on this list immediately!

ABBA
Gimme Gimme Gimme
I Have a Dream
Mamma Mia
Money Money Money
Voulez Vouz
Waterloo
Ring Ring
Chiquitita
Dancing Queen
Fernando

Little Willy- The Sweet
Wig Wam Bam- The Sweet
Stayin' Alive- Bee Gees
Julie do you love me?- Bobby Sherman
Baby I'm-A Want you- Bread
If- Bread
I Think I love you- David Cassidy
Ghost Riders in the Sky- Johnny Cash
Indian Reservation- Paul Revere and the Raiders
Molly Malone- The Dubliners
Lord of the Dance- The Dubliners
One Tin Soldier- The Original Caste
I Think We're alone now- Tiffany

Tommy James and the Shondells
Crystal Blue Persuasion
Mony Mony
Crimson and Clover

Barry Manilow
Weekend in New England
Mandy
Copacabana
I Write the Songs
American Bandstand

Bye Bye Birdie
Kids
One Last Kiss
Spanish Rose
The Telephone Hour
We Love you Conrad
What did I ever see in Him
A lot of livin' to do
An English teacher
Baby talk to me
Honestly Sincere
How Lovely to be a Woman

John Denver
Rocky Mountain High
Rocky Top Tennessee
Thank God I'm a Country boy
Annie's Song
Grandma's Feather Bed
Leaving on a Jet Plane

Michael Jackson/The Jackson Five
Beat It
Billie Jean
Thriller
Pretty Young Thing
Man in the Mirror
They don't care about Us
I'll be There
ABC
Rockin' Robin
Scream
Black or White
The Way you make me Feel
We are the World
Bad
Smooth Criminal

Pat Benatar
Hit me with your best shot
Hell is for Children
Heartbreaker
Love is a battlefield

Total Eclipse of the Heart- Bonnie Tyler
Build me up Buttercup- The Temptations

Queen
Another Bites the Dust
Bohemian Rhapsody
We Will Rock You
We are the Champions
Under Pressure (with David Bowie)

The Beach Boys
Barbara Ann
Little Surfer Girl
Good Vibrations
I Get Around
Kokomo
Help me Rhonda

My Boyfriend's back- The Dixie Cups
Love Potion Number 9- The Drifters

The Monkees
Daydream Believer
I'm a Believer
Last Train to Clarksville

Joy to the World- Three Dog Night
Play that Funky Music White Boy- Wild Cherry
Stand by your Man- Tammy Wynette

Lesley Gore
It's my Party
Judy's Turn to Cry
Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows

Alabama
Fiddle in the Band
Louisiana Saturday Night
Mountain Music
Song of the South

Jolene- Dolly Parton
Coat of Many Colors- Dolly Parton
Islands in the Stream- Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers

Earth, Wind, and Fire
Fantasy
In the Stone
September

I Will Survive- Gloria Gaynor
Bad Bad Leroy Brown- Jim Croce
The Ballad of Jed Clampett- Flatt and Scruggs
Going to the Chapel of Love- The Shirelles
Seasons in the Sun- Terry Jacks

Simon and Garfunkel
Cecilia
Mrs. Robinson
Scarborough Fair

Cats in the Cradle- Harry Chapin
Gyspies, Tramps, and Thieves- Cher
I Got you Babe- Sonny and Cher
Sex and Candy- Marcy Playground
Barbie Girl- Aqua
Ice Ice Baby- Vanilla Ice

Middle School Memories

As I am spending this day at home sick with a virus, I was surfing on Twitter. One of the topics I found was "#middleschoolmemories" It gave me an idea, so, without further ado, my memories of my 4 years at Storm Lake Middle School

*We called it studyBACK instead of studyHALL
*Guidance class with Mr. Larson and Mrs. Mangold
*Taking Home Ec, and always getting mad when you had to do sewing, finance, or laundry units, because you didn't get to eat anything
*In 6th grade, anytime Mrs. Miller accidentally called you by your sibling's name, you got a Jolly Rancher
*The fifth grade AR party at Mrs. Steenblock's house
*8th grade Science with Mr. Petersen; he almost lit his hand on fire with a bunson burner, and Laurena Wells screamed SO loud
*7th grade lunch was the best, because we got seconds (the only downside was that we didn't get to eat until quarter til one)
*Mr. McCabe's homeroom in 7th grade; Laurena and I would steal his keys, rate his outfits, and hook all his paperclips together into one big long chain
*8th grade Jazz Band "What happens on the jazz band bus STAYS on the jazz band bus"
*SLMS High School Musical 2007
*Fun bucks in fifth grade
*Fun Fridays in fifth grade
*The awesome green bowties and cumberbunds for 7th/8th band and choir
*Always knowing when Mrs. Jones was walking down the hall because all you could hear was "clack, clack, clack, clack"
*Learning how to juggle in PE on early dismissal days
*Getting excited about picking locker partners for the next year
*Mrs. Patten ranting about Nazis during 7th grade art
*Making oobleck in 7th grade science with Mrs. Hixon
*5th grade Wax Museum
*Getting out of school early because the squirrel fried himself in the transformer box
*Hearing Mr. Ryherd say "Crispy. Toes" Every time we were having CRISPITOS for lunch
*Finally having a salad bar
*Watching West Side Story in 7th grade music
*Going to the elementary school to play our band instruments for the fourth graders
*Middle school dances, they were actually FUN
*The DJ's hot son that was at the 8th grade Valentine's day dance
*Taking compatibility tests before the Valentine's day dance, and  then getting SO upset because your crushes' name was not on there
*Smacking your shins almost everyday on the tables in the commons

So there you have it. Some of my middle school memories. Stay tuned for "Elementary School Memories", "High School Memories", and "Girl Scout Memories"

2011: The year in review

It is so hard to believe that 2011 has already up and gone. It is January 2nd, 2012, and I decided to do a review of my 2011 for all my blog readers. 2011 brought many smiles, laughs, and, unfortunately many tears. I lost my Uncle Dan Steinkamp to cancer after many hard years of fighting, and a former classmate Alex Hermstad also passed away after a long medical fight. I think about Uncle Dan and Alex everyday; I have a picture of my Uncle Dan and Aunt Marilyn on my desk, and I have my "Alex's Army" bracelet in my top desk drawer. Whenever I had a bad day last year, I just looked at those things and knew that Alex and my Uncle Dan were watching over me, and I know that they will continue to watch over me.

Although I had my share of sadness, there were also many happy moments. I made All State for the 2nd year in the row, and had the prestigious honor of sitting 4th chair in the Iowa All State orchestra. I also made University of Iowa honor band last year, and sat 2nd chair with some pretty stiff competition. I was also accepted to Buena Vista University here in Storm Lake, and received one of the top three academic scholarship awards. I ultimately decided that my mom was right after all these years that music would become my career (A small sidebar: My mom always said that music would somehow end up being my career, and I always called her bluff, because I was going to be an English teacher. Well, I enjoyed a nice helping of crow after I decided that I wanted to major in instrumental music education; but I digress...). I survived my first semester of my senior year in high school; got A's on all my finals, and didn't go crazy. Looking back, I finally realize that music is essentially my life, and I honestly wouldn't want to have it any other way. 

Perhaps one of the most exciting things that happened in 2011 was  that my Aunt Fran and Uncle Bern moved back to Storm Lake. It's kind of a crazy story. We were in Cherokee visiting my Grandma Helen at the nursing home, and my Uncle Bern got a call from a 712 area code. After he took the call, him and my aunt had to leave all of a sudden. We just assumed that they wanted to get home since they lived in State Center at the time. The next night, the phone rings about 7:30. My dad starts screaming "Oh my God" and "No way." My mom, sister, and I ran to the living room, thinking that something bad had happened, and he goes "Fran and Bern are moving back to Storm Lake." I was really shocked at first, but my parents weren't. My Aunt and Uncle lived here before I was born, and Bernie Pro always said he would retire on Storm Lake, and they did. It's been really awesome having relatives in town. None of my relatives had ever really got to see me perform before, so it was really cool that they were able to come to one of my concerts and to a basketball game to see the pep band play. I've also gotten to spend a lot more time with my other relatives at their house. We spent Thanksgiving and Christmas there, and it was the first time that I can remember being away from home on a holiday. I was a little apprehensive at first because it wasn't "our traditions" but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

So many things are going  to happen in 2012; mainly my last semester of high school and my first semester of college. Lord knows I'm apprehensive about the 2nd one, but I'm confident that I will be able to get through it just like I got  through the year 2011.