General update about everything:

Long time no read, strangers! :)

So sorry it's been so long since I have blogged last - being back in Missouri and back in school full time has been a huge adjustment and blogging hadn't crossed my mind until today! 

General update: classes are going well. I start my sophomore experience in teaching this week and I am really excited! Although I am not allowed to talk about my experience at all on the internet, you will probably be able to tell how it's going if you see that I have dropped out of school completely. ..hopefully things go well. :)

Sara and Austin and Kate and Grace are in Kansas City this week, so that means I'm driving to Kansas City a lot and that's perfectly okay with me! I asked Grace yesterday what my name is (they know my name but there are a few varieties) and she said "My Kristen". MELTS MY HEART. 

My room situation at school is great. I have the whole room to myself and share a living area and a bathroom with (technically two, but the other girl is barely here) another girl who is great! We get along just smashingly! 

I had food poisoning this weekend, but hey, I lost 7 pounds! ..ha. 

I had my first vocal performance since last spring last Friday and it went great! It was amazing to see how far I have come in the last year and I am so thankful to my parents and to my Chicago voice teacher, Michael Sylvester, for pushing me to continue working on my voice even though I wasn't in a music program. 

I'm going back to the Dominican Republic this summer! I am SO excited. I will be there for about three months this time as the intern director! It has been a HUGE blessing to be able to work with new interns and help them figure out things and I can't wait to go back!! 

I have a lot of money to raise/earn, so if you have any odd jobs (or normal jobs) that I can do for you to raise money for my trip, please please please let me know. If you are interested in financially supporting me, shoot me a message on Facebook or give me a call at (816)853-7033. :)

Another way you can support me is by donating things that you don't want anymore to a garage sale that Emily Hogan and I will be having this Spring. We did a fundraising garage sale last year and we raised about 800$! So, if you have anything that you would want to get rid of, please let me know! 

If you have no idea what I'm talking about or what a 'Dominican Republic' is, here's a link to a blog I did last year about it: http://thisthingtheycallcollege.blogspot.com/2012/11/dominican-republic-im-going-back.html       There's also a shortened version of that on that blog somewhere. It's like a treasure hunt. Have fun. Haha! 

Anyway, I really appreciate you all and hope this update suffices for now. :)
But I must say goodbye because a Chipotle gift card is calling my name.. (THANK YOU MAMA!!)

The Last Page

Before I moved to Chicago, I was sitting in my parents' living room in Kansas City with Blogger up and my mom sitting next to me. The whole idea of moving to Chicago was exciting, but at this particular moment, I was simply excited about my new blog. My mom and I were bouncing names back and forth. Honestly, I don't even remember what the suggestions were, but I can say that there were some bad ones and then "Chapter Two" was thrown out. Nothing mind-blowing, but simple and to the point.

So "Chapter Two" is over now.

I have to stop so my heart and my mind and my emotions catch back up with my words.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is a difficult thing. I have reached this wonderful point in my life here where I am established and comfortable and know people and can find my way around the city. And here I find myself at this crossroad of comfort and happiness and stability & wisdom and security and knowledge of the next few years.

This last semester, these last six months, have absolutely been the best six months of my life. I have learned so much about who I am and what I like to do and who I want to be. People typically ask me "If you could go back in time, knowing what you know now, would you still move to Chicago?" and I can answer with every bit of confidence inside of me YES. I do not regret moving here at all. I learned so much about myself. I also learned so much about other people. The only thing I would change is planning school-wise more so I wouldn't have to move back to Missouri after only living here for six months. Haha.

There are obviously a billion things I love about Chicago, but I will keep the list short for now.

1. My moxie here.
I didn't even know what the word "moxie" was until a month or so ago, so if you have no idea what that means, don't worry..no one is judging you. It's "the ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage." (Thanks, FreeDictionary.com) There have definitely been some difficult days and even more difficult nights, but I told myself time and time again that I was going to make this a good thing, and if that didn't work, my mom told me that I was going to make this a good thing, and if that didn't work, my best friend told me that I was going to make this a good thing.

I have had this amazing revelation in my life. I learned about these things called priorities. I never knew how overpacked my life was before moving to Chicago. School, work, this group of friends, that group of friends, this organization, finally getting to homework, practicing, etc. Important things left out of this  equation: church, exercise, general alone time.. I hadn't factored in the importance of these things before they were all I had. I moved here with a brand new, beautiful fresh start and a completely open schedule.

Here's what I learned about myself: I don't have to be busy to be happy.

I don't have to be busy to be happy.

Happiness is pursuing the things that you enjoy - the things that make you better. Happiness is not a city.

I have been working with a personal trainer and he has pushed me and helped me so much. I am so proud of the things I have accomplished with him. I love working out. I love making myself a better Kristen. I'm proud of the way I've pushed myself - the moxie I've developed. And a lot of that has to do with Michael.

2. My job.
I talk about my job all the time. It's not even a real job. I mean, it is. But playing with my nieces is the coolest thing EVER. Yes, I am going to have withdrawals. Kate and Grace are probably my two favorite people in the world. Sassy pants and all.

3. --I'm going to stop.
I literally wrote out a bunch of things that I love about living here last night and I wrote over 50. I thought of more today. So I'm going to stop. Also, I took a sleeping pill about thirty minutes ago and things are going to stop making sense pretty quickly unless I stop soon.


So basically, if you're wondering about me, here's the scoop: I am really really sad that I am leaving Chicago. I am looking forward to what MWSU will bring me in the next couple of years. I have learned to make life happen for me instead of merely reacting to life as it happened TO me. I am happy.

I'm happy in Chicago and I will be happy in St. Joseph too.

So you want to nanny your nieces..

When I first moved here, I spent some time catching up with people.
"So I see you moved to Chicago."
"Sure did!"
"So, um, what are you...doing?"
"Well, I'm still in school and I'm a nanny."
"A nanny?"
"Yeah. I watch my nieces. It's the best."
"What exactly do you do?"

So, although this is late-coming and perhaps only possible that way, here is the answer-book and ultimate reference to my up and coming book "So you want to nanny your nieces.."

So you want to nanny your nieces.
Get ready. This will surely present itself as a challenge.

Expect to say no...and even if you don't start out being able to say no as often as you should, you'll soon find yourself comfortable with the word..even though it's really really cute how she says 'cookie' and wants one before dinner. Trust me, it becomes easier to say as they get sassier.

Expect slobber. Slobber and snot and all things of that type. Expect that. Everywhere. Your clothes, your hands, your face, and all over your phone. That's coming soon and you might as well embrace the thought because there's no stopping it or delaying it. That's going to be a part of your life. But, don't worry. You'll get used to it. You may actually pick up your phone some days and wonder why it's dry.

Expect tears. Being the nanny means that you can't be in full aunt mode, which means that you can't always give them what they want even though they're really really cute. The cute thing works every time when you're in aunt mode, but being a nanny is a different thing. That will quite possibly mean tears when they really want to watch the puppy movie even though it's really time for them to be asleep. Don't worry. Tears dry and they will love you again when they wake up (unless the puppy movie is on, in which case, you will have to wait).

Expect surprises. Things like checking them while they're sleeping and finding one completely naked will, without a doubt, take you by surprise at first, but you will get used to it eventually. At some point, your brain will make the switch from having a reaction of surprise and slight fear to just finding it hilarious and will take a photo that will never be seen by anyone but your immediate family.

Expect blurry photos. At first, you will think everything they do is cute (and this will never go away..that's how aunts are made to see their nieces) and needs to be captured by your camera. You will soon realize that life doesn't stop for a camera. Photos will come out blurry and you will soon learn to just put your phone down and soak in the great moments as they come and before they leave. No time to unlock your phone and focus a camera. You'll learn. Don't worry.

Expect to want to go home. You will get tired. You will have rough days and they will have days that put your rough days to shame. It's okay to have rough days because we're all human and rough days are a part of life. Don't feel bad when you really really want to go home. It's going to happen. There will also be days when you stay late because you were just having so much fun dancing around to Christmas music in their room. It doesn't just even out-rough days become a small sliver of the equation. A sliver you will forget about during all of the other days.

Expect giggles. Expect snuggles. Expect kisses.
There are so many wonderful parts of this job that you will treasure forever. And if you're ever wondering if you're doing a good job, just remember:

If you go home with some kind of glitter on you, you know it was a great day. 

PS, always check your ears for yogurt at the end of the day. You can never be too sure.

November 17, 2013: That Facebook Trend.

There's a trend going around on Facebook right now where someone will post some number of random facts about themselves and whoever likes the post gets a number and has to put up that many random facts about themselves for the Facebook world to learn.

I haven't been very good at blogging consistently, so here are 15 things about me that you may or may not know.

**I ended up writing a lot more than I planned because I'm extremely narcissistic, so here's a shortened version for people who either don't like to read or just don't care that much.**

1. I have Hashimoto's.
2. I'm an introvert.
3. I like a man who can speak Spanish and dance.
4. My hands fall asleep a lot.
5. I went to a tiny school.
6. I've started dressing a lot better since I moved to Chi-town.
7. I live a simple life here.
8. I have a personal trainer here.
9. I <3 traveling.
10. I am clueless and ask for advice a lot.
11. I don't care about celebrities.
12. I have weird allergies.
13. Kristen: 1, Walmart: 0.
14. I appreciate proper grammar and spelling.
15. Surprise!

1. I have an auto-immune disease called Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. Basically my body is attacking my thyroid constantly and will for the rest of mi vida. Because of this, I have a really slow metabolism, am tired constantly, and get sick easily...unless I take my medicine. I hadn't been taking it in protest to my body and my other health probs, but I learned that protesting my body didn't make me feel better. It made me feel a lot worse. Aaaaand my doctor said that all of my organs could shut down, I could go into a coma and die if I just act like I don't have this disease. *enter Levothyroxin*

2. Despite what many people might assume, I'm an introvert. I can certainly be outgoing and friendly (and am most of the time), but being around people absolutely drains me. I have to be alone in order to recharge. I don't understand how being around new people can actually give energy to someone, but fortunately (for all of us) I'm not God and I don't have to understand everything.

3. The top two things on my 'wish list' for a future man in my life (of course, wish list meaning that this is the non-essential stuff..) is that he speaks another language (Spanish, preferably, but I'm not tooooo picky) and that he can dance. I love a man who can dance.

4. My hands fall asleep a lot. I wake up once or twice a night because my hands are asleep. Someone let me know if this is a real problem, otherwise, I'll just keep waking them up and going back to sleep.

5. I went to a teeny tiny school. There are a lot of pros and cons about going to a school like the one I went to. In a small school, everyone knows your business. Everyone is involved. That can be a good thing and can be a bad thing, you know, depending on what you're up to. There's more freedom, but there's more responsibility. People expect a lot from you. Teachers are watching your character as well as your school work. I found myself in the principal's office in 8th grade because a teacher was concerned about my heart. I don't think that would happen in a public school.

6. Since I moved to Chicago, I've definitely grown up a lot. I love the person I've become (and am still becoming). People assume I'm older than I am just because of the way I act. Part of me growing up is that I dress much better every day. I used to wear sweat pants and a hoodie and not really care about what I looked like, but I haven't stepped outside of my apartment building in anything like that. It's so important to dress the way that you want people to perceive you. And an adorable cardigan and a scarf never hurt anyone.

7. My life in Chicago is super low-key. I have kept things simple. It's perfect for someone like me (introvert) because I have lots of good quality time with myself. I call my connections that I've made here "being established" because I have a couple solid "groups" of people that know me, but I don't have a real social life. I have my church family and Sara and Austin and recently my gym people.

8. Speaking of the gym, I have started working out with a personal trainer. His name is Michael. He's fantastic. I worked out with a PT my sophomore and junior years of high school and lost a significant amount of weight and was in really good shape. Then I had ankle surgery and, well, yeah.. So, I'm working out with a PT here and have been for about a week. I know I don't have a lot of time left here, but I'm making every second count (and counting my calories like a crazy person)! But today I accidentally didn't eat until about 6pm so that was bad.

9. I love traveling. I have been to the Dominican Republic 5 times, soon to be 6. I adore the Dominican culture. I think it's such a cool privilege to be able to travel and experience new places, which is one of the reasons I moved to Chicago! I have an opportunity to live in THE CHICAGO, so why not!? I have a passion for missions and would love to spend at least a year or two on the mission field after college at some point.

10. I ask for advice a lot. I am so fortunate to have so many adults in my life who pour into me on a regular basis and I love chatting with them about things I can improve on. I am really close to my mom and I can talk to her about anything. I know that's really special so I try not to take her for granted. She has given me so much advice about life and boys and school and boys and budgets and anything that I could possibly need guidance on.

11. I think celebrities are stupid. Well, let me rephrase that. I think that it's stupid that people care about celebrities' lives. I do not care that some celebrity did something stupid. You telling me that Kim Kardashian is preggs with Kanye West's baby is like telling me that a girl from Alaska that I've never met is pregnant. Congratulations, but I have no idea who you are and you have no idea who I am. Let's carry on with our lives.

12. I'm deathly allergic to icecream. There's some preservative in icecream that makes my throat swell up in about a minute. It's pretty bad. Same thing with avocados. But that's what my epi-pens are for! Oh, I'm also allergic to gluten and dairy but YOLO, am I right?

13. I worked at Walmart in St. Joe for three months. I learned a lot when I worked there - mainly how to relate to other people..especially people who were unlike me. Here's the secret to surviving in any social situation anywhere ever: Ask questions, listen to their answers, and care about what they are saying. Even if you're listening to someone explain why dog food is a pretty good snack, listen, hold back all of your judgement until you can talk to you mom about it, and stay active in the conversation. Oh, and another thing I learned about people who were not like me...if someone is making you uncomfortable, it's okay to be rude or blunt and tell them to stop or leave. They're being rude too. There were a few occasions when this was the case at the ol' Wally world. I don't know if I actually had the power to do this, but I kicked a guy out of the store one time. Ohhhh Walmart.

14. If you're going to text me, please use proper grammar and good spelling. Please.

15. I'm pregnant.






AHAHAHA JUST KIDDING
I AM NOT PREGNANT 

Have a good night!

Late Night Thoughts.

Disclaimer: This is a jumbled mess of thoughts and emotions. I will probably disagree with half of the stuff I wrote about in the morning, but hey, that's a woman's brain for ya!

I spend a lot of time by myself (because I live by myself, not because I'm a loner. Well, i am a loner, but I interact with people pretty regularly) and so I have a lot of time to think. I think about people and cities and decisions and emotions and society and all sorts of things. Not politics or violence or war. Those things confuse me and/or bring me down so I save those thoughts for when there's someone around who can explain it to me.

Anyway, although I am a loner and apparently an airhead (don't worry, I know you were thinking it too), I still think about a lot of other important things. Priorities. That's a big one. Just about every day I find myself readjusting my list of priorities. What really matters to me today? Last week, during my voice lesson, my teacher said "You have to decide if this is something you're serious about; if voice is something you really want to pursue."

Obviously I want to pursue voice. I wouldn't be coming to lessons every week just to waste our time and my parents' money. I'm not trying to make excuses, but I live in an apartment building and I'm not sure that my neighbors really enjoy me singing (or trying to sing) opera at 11 PM. It's difficult sometimes to practice. Anyway, voice IS important to me. So I pushed it closer to the top of my list and found a different place to practice, which worked out great. Priorities.

Today I was riding the bus home from the gym and an older, rough-looking man was intoxicated to some measure and was hitting on all of the young girls on the bus. The bus driver wasn't doing anything. Fortunately I was sitting next to a young man about my age and Mr. Intoxication assumed that he was my boyfriend. So his flirting session with me didn't last long. Nevertheless, I got off at the next stop, even though it was 11 PM and grabbed a taxi.

I was talking to the cabbie and was telling him why I asked him to drive me 5 blocks. "Sorry. I know we're really close to my address. I was on the bus but there was a bit of a situation." Of course my cabbie asked what happened and I told him. "But I have common sense...and pepper spray, so I'm always alright." He laughed at me and said "That's all you need."

Anyway, safety is a priority of mine.

Here's another late night thought that's been gracing my mind recently: I am absolutely falling in love with Chicago. I love living here with absolutely everything within me. The first two months or so were pretty bad. I was sad. A lot. I really didn't have any friends (still working on that), I wasn't connected into anything really. I would just work and then go back to my apartment.

But now I'm involved in a church, in a bible study, attending a college group, working out with a PT at the gym, working, hanging out with my sister, AND staying up on New Girl. My life is exploding with excitement. Well, more than it was a couple of months ago.

And I've just become so comfortable here. I finally got my apartment arranged perfectly. I can now get the girls' stroller in here with ease! It's just cozy here. My toilet doesn't work perfectly and my faucet is leaky sometimes, but it's my home.

I have a great hate/love relationship with the CTA, as all chicagolanders should and do.

Anyway, it's hard to leave this city. But I have to just take my emotions and my decisions one day at a time. I would love to stay here, but the smartest decision for me right now and for me in the future is to go back to Missouri Western and finish out my schooling there. I will probably move back here again someday, though.

The fact that a creep-o on the bus squeezed himself into my bubble and hit on me tonight and yet I still love this city tells me a lot.

And in all of that, I am still extremely excited to return back to KC. There are so many people there that I love and can not wait to be near again. Distance sucks.

So, I guess I'll end with that. Distance sucks.

Goodnight.

November 2nd: The Announcement.

I have learned a lot in these few months in Chicago. I have grown and changed and become more adult and less teenager. That’s inevitable, I suppose, and it became real when I got my first electricity bill which came with a fee because I never got my first month’s bill. There hasn’t been one day that I have left my apartment with a light on. I understand electricity now.

There are a lot of things that I understand more now. The first time I went back to my parents’ house, I was amazed at how much silverware they have. Silverware. There’s something I never thought I took for granted. And, another thing, another obvious thing, their house is huge. My apartment is half of the size of my old bedroom. The one I thought was small. And my apartment includes a kitchen, closet, and a bathroom. What was I thinking?

I have a different perspective now. I just had a conversation with my mom and I used the word “compensation”. That’s a first. I’m just more adult and less teenager. And really, I have to be. I have to take care of myself and plan out a budget and stick to that budget, because as much fun as it is to run out of money (which I have), I would much rather stick to a budget than hit $1.65 in my bank account and literally have nothing to eat in my apartment. (Thank the Lord for my sister, though.)

I was looking at Kate the other day and I realized something. As much as I absolutely love her, as much as I would move five hundred miles away for her, and as much as missing out on her life scares me, I realized something. I am going back to school because, like my fabulous budgets that help me to stay not broke, in order to not run out of options, planning is important. I have thought for so long, “What if the world ends and I’ve spent all my time in school?” That thought numbs me. Absolutely numbs me from head to toe. “I should travel the world and experience new things!” I tell myself. But I looked at Kate the other day and I figured it out. I know what matters. It’s not about where you are or what degree you’re chasing or how close you are to your nieces that matters. It’s what you do with the time you have where you are.

I am figuring out what’s important to me. I am really lacking a social life, but the world keeps spinning, so I’m not too concerned. I’m studying Spanish again and listening to opera just about every chance I get. I’m working hard at my schoolwork and becoming friends with the guys who work at Starbucks. I am happy.

So while I’m here, while I’m in Chicago, I am loving every single moment that I have. I am snuggling with the girls when they want to snuggle and I am jumping around their room with them when they want to jump around their room. These are moments that I will never get back. And I am treasuring them. I am treasuring every single moment I have here.

And I think that’s what really hit me, when I looked at Kate. Because I looked at her and my heart got sad and I started to think about how much I will miss her when I move. I will miss her giggles and her temper tantrums and how she brings my shoes to me when she wants to go to the park. But while I am here, I am treasuring it all.

That’s what Chicago has taught me. I treasure electricity and the ability to pay my bill. I treasure silverware. I treasure the ability to spend time on what I’m passionate about. I treasure my nieces. And when I go back to Missouri Western in the spring, I will treasure every moment I have there.

Life is short and I have no idea when my life is going to end. And even though my heart says, “Kristen! Life is short! Go travel and do whatever your heart desires,” I have to be responsible. I have to budget. I have the time that I have and I will spend it wisely. I will plan for the future, however, I will cherish every single thing I can afford to spend my time on in this moment.

So if I can develop honest, healthy relationships with people who care about me and invest myself in things that I am passionate about, at least I’m on the right track. 

September 17: Sara Hey.

Kate and Grace are adorable. I mean, that's obvious. But one thing that they do is just so precious to me. If they're separated for any amount of time and then they see each other, they yell "SISSYYYY!" It's the best. If you ask them where their sissy is, they will run to each other and hug or hold hands or something. So cute. 

So anyway, I am so glad to have my "sissy" near me again. It's been a really long time since I've been this close to my sister (distance-wise)...like 6 years or so. My sister is my best friend and I love her so much. We are alike in a lot of ways and always have fun together. So, it's definitely on the 'pro' list for Chicago that she's just a ten minute walk away from me. 

I'm taking online classes this semester and one of those classes is US History. I hate history. I always have. After this class, I will never have to deal with it again. Online classes are a little frustrating in themselves but I enjoy my sociology class WAY more than my history class. Anyway, I was having a rough night with my history homework and had just done terrible on a test. I was talking to my sister and she had me come over just to have some company while I worked on my homework. 

I worked my way through it after a few pep talks and tons of high fives. Oh and one extremely beautiful and artistic "Congrats on doing your homework" card, handcrafted by Sara, of course. 

To say the least, I am extremely grateful to be so close to my sister...distance wise and relationally. We get each other. Always have. Always will. 

-Kristen