Is it REALLY Christmas?

I love Christmas! It's my favorite time of the year, with snow (only it was not a white Christmas-what a bust) and non-stop holiday music, but the greatest thing about this season is the atmosphere. There is just something about it that makes me glow with happiness and I'm generally a happy person, but what is really cool is everyone else is really happy too. People pull together and there is a tangible camaraderie among everyone.  Who doesn't love seeing or feeling this? It's the tradition and fresh pine trees and baked goodies that you can't stop eating and family and Santa and stockings and sledding and warm fires and hot cocoa and bundling. Oh gosh, I'm just excited talking about it! 

Anyway, I reaped the mother load this year. I got a ton of stuff for my upcoming excursion to Bulgaria-a new travel backpack (!!!), a cocoon travel sheet, an inflatable pillow, a towel, a pack cover- and other things like a beautiful sweater that is super trendy (if you know my stepmom that explains a lot), Harry Potter parts 1 and 2, boots, wool socks, a bookmark (only a true bookworm would get excited about that), chocolates, a pencil case (also very excited about that), and a tea steeping mug which is awesome (my roomie would love this!). It was a crazy good Christmas with the presents and all. But that is not what made it great.

I have been home for a little over a week and I have had this time to spend with family and friends, like really good, quality time with the people who matter most. It started out with a book burning party for Jory's Spanish book, which I couldn't believe we actually did (we made s'mores from the fire). And then Ali B. (weird), Jory, and Shelby B. and I just sat around the table and talked for like a solid two hours about life and school and just random stuff. Then the next day I had the wonderful task of introducing them to AMC Mainstreet.  (Sidenote: If you haven't been, go. What are you waiting for? Jump in the car and drive now, but check time first and if you're under 21 make sure it's not Cinema Suites. It is the coolest theatre you'll ever go to. Especially the bathrooms and it may sound strange but for the people who have been there, you know what I'm talking about! So go, you'll be a new person walking out.[that might be a bit dramatic but still...])  Anyway, it was just really good to catch up with some really awesome friends I hadn't seen all semester.

Then I got to spend a day with Molley C. and that was so great. Just the fact that we've stayed good friends this long is amazing and a blessing. I then spent basically two whole days stamping cards; that's right people, I'm a stamper and I'm proud of it!  I would make my Aunt Sal proud.  I got to pick up my crazy brother from the airport and drove him home for the first time in a year. So nice to have him home, even if he is a butt sometimes. That night my friend Abbey was nice enough to invite me over and I got to hang out with her family and with Morgan and Molley S. and I caught up on their lives and the happenings of Platte City which I'm never up to date on.  Then a 7 hour trip to SD and here I am.  It's tradition and a wonderful transportation into the bliss of good food and even better company. 

I guess what I've learned over the past week and a few days is that it doesn't matter what I was doing or what I got as presents, it was who I was doing this stuff with or for. I have been more aware of what I truly have- good friends that are funny and honest and completely great in all their shenanigans, good family who is generous and loving and filled with laughter and stories, and good memories of times of sitting around the table talking or playing Taboo with my competitive family or getting to see 4 movies in 5 days. 

Because of the short time I have at home with them, it just makes all this time all that much sweeter- especially since my Uncle Steve is in the hospital and in critical condition, but he is stable right now thank God- and it has really made me think about what I have in front of me and the opportunity to seize it.  This spurs me to spend more time with them, trying to soak up all the familiarity that won't be there in two weeks. It's going to be a long, wonderful, beautifully difficult and rewarding road, these next six months, but i know with the family and friends and the God I have, there is no way I couldn't make it through. I am so thankful for what God gave me in community and why he would do that is beyond me but I'm not one to question the Big Man. I am just now learning what it means to TRULY appreciate what it means to have good encouragement...and it's not something I want to take for granted anymore. So in this time before New Year's, really evaluate what you have and be thankful. All else will fade and this will be the stuff left standing. 

You melt my heart, you really do. 

 Kelsey 

PS...I don't think this was much shorter than my other posts; sorry. But maybe not! 

Finals Fiasco

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes, fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will  be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones." --Proverbs 3: 5-8 

Disclaimer: this is lengthy. I hope you have like twenty minutes. Sorry if you didn't want to know this much about my life, but it's my blog so I do what I want!

"Ok, we will try to start processing this as quickly as we can. Good luck in your studies." 

Finally. Those are the words I had been waiting to hear for the past three weeks. I am now officially going to study at Blagoevgrad next semester and it took me basically three months to know for sure; but I'm getting ahead of myself here. So let me start at the beginning. 

All of my problems, stresses, worries started with the FBI. You are told that it will take 8 weeks to process your background check, but of course nothing can be that simple. So Thanksgiving break came and went and the 8 week mark came and went with it, leaving me somewhat panicked and surly talking or thinking about it. So, the week before finals rolls around and I've called the FBI on a few occasions to check the status of it and after 9 1/2 weeks they tell me it's been sent, in the mail, to my house, and I am ecstatic! So, in the essence of time my parents and I decide that I need to go to Chicago on Thursday night and turn in my paperwork on Friday to start the processing. 

I am stressed out to the max, crying at any little thing (this study abroad has turned me into bumbling bawl-baby), and then my amazing friend Chubbs (Charysse, appropriately nicknamed that because she is a skinny Asian-and no I'm not racist; but she really just has chubby eyelids- apparently it's an Asian thing and this is coming from her not me!) So anyway, out of her huge heart said she would travel with me so I wouldn't be alone and thus started the nightmare of Thursday and Friday. Planning and getting everything together last minute and i was ready to go and then we wait...one o'clock...three o'clock and at this point I just want to give it up but my parents insist so I call the FBI back to get the tracking number and at like six o'clock we find out they ended up not sending it. Yep, the whole day of worrying and everything ended up not working out, at all! But that is just God's timing for ya. Friday I drove an hour and a half to get that stupid report from my amazing Dad and you want to know what it said:  Kelsey Jayne Boeding........NO ARREST RECORD! Whatever. Frustrating and somewhat laughable.

So, I had hall desk for six and a half hours Saturday and I was originally going to go on Sunday, spend the night and go to the Consulate on Monday. I was train traveling in practice for Europe and because it was more efficient and cheaper than driving. So I got to thinking and Kait Hall mentioned Quincy and a snowball formed from there. I looked at tickets, called Amtrak and changed my previously bought tickets and I was set to arrive and leave Chicago on Monday. I was super excited. And super scared. Big city, little me. Yep. But it turned out all great and dandy. I went to Christmas service on Sunday and was really happy to attend- I needed that spirit to lead me into finals. Sunday I didn't get as much done as I should have and I went to bed at 9, which is the first time in what felt like forever, or at least since some time in high school. And so the adventure began. 

I woke up at 3:15 and left Kirksville by 4am. Yep, 4 AM. Early. And I drove the hour and a half to Quincy, IL. It was exhilarating! I had my coffee and poptart and I was set. I got there, got my ticket, boarded the train and was off by 6:12. It had been dark for the three hours I'd been up and then God graced me with the prettiest sunrise I had ever seen; granted, I don't get up to see too many, but this one really topped anything I had seen before. It was blood red and a dark blue that melded in the middle and as the morning drew out it became lighter between the two colors until there was a vibrant, bright pink. Awesome. I was in awe and right then I was giddy in knowing the day would be a really good one. The train ride was uneventful and boring-mostly because I was studying for my comm final which I rocked by the way- and got into Chicago at 10:45. Took a taxi to the Consulate and immediately stepped into surrogate Bulgaria. Everyone there was Bulgarian-American and only spoke Bulgarian to the attendants. Yep, needless to say I was the odd ball out, especially when I was the only blond hair, blue eyed person in the whole office surrounded by brunettes. Imagine my shock and panic. 

I waited for about an hour or so before I actually saw the Consulate General and turned in my paperwork. After that, it took some time, but it hit me that I no longer had anything to wait for, nothing to hold me back from going. And that was scary and exciting and overwhelming. So now I was in this big city by myself and it was lunch time and I was starving. So naturally I went and got pizza from Giordano's. It. Was. Delicious! So good (I think the secret to it's awesomeness is the crust, I swear it!), so the other natural thing was to go to Garrett popcorn and continue the yumminess. So I did. And then treated myself to Starbucks. From there I walked around, a lot. I went to Millennium Park and took pictures of the Bean, like any good tourist would do. From there I went to Books-a-Million and browsed before heading to the train station and then back to Truman. Crazy day and that was only Monday of finals.  My sentiments exactly! 

Tuesday I had three essays and one test final, so that was a busy day. I also had hall desk which sucked and was great all at the same time. I was just so done with anything I had for all of those classes so I was like, whatever I'm done! But that wasn't the case. I still had a paper and two finals left. So the craziness finally ceased for a little bit and then my just amazingly sweet friends Miranda, Elizabeth, and Jac presented me with a scrapbook they had been working on for half the semester...HALF THE SEMESTER. Crazy and they managed to keep it from me the entire time; talent? I think yes! But it was wonderful and I have been blessed with them but it just truly showed how much they cared and in all my sappiness I love(d) it. It's nice to know, you know? It was wonderful just being able to hang with them and be crazy like we always are when we get together with our fake accents and movies and just good fellowship. 

Wednesday was equally amazing. I had Christmas with the best roommate ever. She truly is the greatest roommate ever and why God would grace me with her in my life is still mind-boggling but I'm not complaining. So we both woke up at what's considered early for Reading Day- 9:30- and watched the Solar Express, I mean Polar Express, while eating oatmeal. It was wonderful and so very Christmas-y. Afterward we opened gifts and played Christmas music and it was the best. I had lunch with Marika which was great and then I had to say goodbye to Britt which was heart wrenching and hard but really good. I studied some with Anna for Bus Law and then went to CCF and heard the seniors talk and it was just inspiring because they were leaving and I was leaving (them in a permanent way though) and it was just really comforting. 

Thursday I had my Bus Law final and it went well I think. I have no idea about the grade, and at this point I'm ok with that because it's over. I had lunch with Heather Redel and that was just great as usual. Special one she is and just really cool and I'm really excited to see what God does with her next semester and her adventure with St. Baldrick's. So cool. Got to see her and then went to meet Elizabeth in OP to hear her play the piano. And then just a slew of people came and it turned into a fun fest of great people and joking around and it is the little times like that throughout the week that God blessed me with to remember and cherish. After that I had (the never ending) hall desk and from there went to accountability where we talked about the semester and God's faithfulness, which was huge in so many ways the last 16 weeks. And then I proceeded to turn the water works to full blast and just weeped about being happy and sad and overjoyed and overwhelmed at having the opportunity to go to Bulgaria and at having to leave Truman behind, even though it is going to be here when I get back. After that I had dinner with Chubbs and then finished an essay, so as a reward I didn't study for my mythology final and watched She's Out of My League instead with Anna. Watch it if you haven't seen it. Do it now! But it's one of those things that Anna and I do together because it's just better that way. 

Friday was the grand finale. Well kind of, but without the bang, but it wasn't really a whimper either. Whatever, that probably doesn't even make sense. Anyway, Anna and I had our beds like a foot apart the entire semester and people would always ask if we held hands before going to bed and I am proud to say we did on our final night of being in the room together. We woke up at 5:30 AM and had Roommate Rosie's. And it was glorious! French toast, eggs, bacon, oatmeal, a cinnamon roll, oh gosh the spread was just magnificent! And delicious! So good and the conversation was good too. I took my final and was officially done with the semester which was amazing and a relief and then I started to pack. And then I got increasingly more somber. And then Anna checked me out and Elizabeth helped pack my car. And then Anna had her final so we had to say goodbye and I can honestly say that was one of the worst just for the fact that it is going to be so weird not being able to come back to the room and see her shining face next semester. But I'm not thinking about that too much, as you can tell. Ha. I'm so ridiculous sometimes. But I had lunch with Elizabeth and then said goodbye to her which was pretty bad too and then I pulled away and watched Truman fade away as I drove down 63 toward Kansas City. And just like that, with my entire life packed in my car basically, I headed home for my final three weeks before I leave. 

I am going to spare you the details of being home- just the norm with going to the movies and eating Happy Gillis and reading and hanging out with my parents who are great and sleeping in which is all so much needed. And if you've made it this far, you truly do love me, and you know what...I LOVE YOU TOO! So thanks and I'll try to do better so these things aren't so stinking long! 

 

Happiness...

Happiness. 

To feel or show pleasure or contentment. 

How is it that I can be happy from so many things? Like this morning, my 5-year-old self was jumping and yelling about the maybe half inch of snow we had gotten. Or the other night when Miranda and Elizabeth and I were just sitting in my room talking about God and life and talking in funny voices, and everything said was just hilarious. Or listening to Christmas music with snow on the ground and flurries blowing everywhere. Or when Anna and I joke about stuff, which is all the time. Or Jac doing her crazy face and having conversations in a British accent. Or maybe drinking peppermint mocha and soaking in the cold weather and warming your soul to the little things God has provided. Or thinking about the crazy opportunity I have in going to Bulgaria... like really, who gets to do that? So cool. Or reminiscing about childhood memories of no worries, play time, and baking cookies with Grammie. Or maybe it's bundling in scarves and hats and gloves and walking in the winter wonderland. Or sitting around making Christmas cards. Or eating oatmeal or German chocolate...yum! Or watching She's Out of My League and laughing so hard because even though you know what the next line is, you still find it absolutely hilarious. Or napping (which I don't do nearly often enough). 

This is Happiness people. This is pleasure and contentment.

What are you happy about? 

 

What the FBI?

Hi friends. So, as most of you know I'm studying abroad next semester in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria at the American University and I know I'm not the best at keeping up with things like journaling or just communicating in general (if you know me well you're probably shaking your head in agreement and muttering some comment about the fact I answer your texts four hours after you send them...sorry) so I thought I would try to get on that now. 

If you've talked to me at all lately I've been talking non-stop about preparations. The first three questions I always get: one, where are you going? Bulgaria (duh!), two, what language do they speak? Bulgarian, kind of obvious but I understand it's a relatively unknown country to us Americans, and three, do you speak Bulgarian? No, but I'm trying to learn simple phrases. Funny story, at least to me. Over Thanksgiving break my cousin Jaime was looking online at Google translate and she typed in something and I wasn't paying too close attention but when I did glance over she had put in "help me". I just laughed because really, what else are you supposed to do?

Anyway, the one HUGE thing I'm still waiting on in this whole process, and the most important, is my visa. Now, the Bulgarians like to make things complicated so I had to start two months ago and they told me it would be a close call at the end, but I don't like it. Not one bit. So I thought that getting everything else together was a hassle but the one thing holding me back, you guessed it: the FBI. 

Granted, it is the government and it normally takes some time to get documents like that, but really, eight weeks on a background check. I know my juvie record isn't the greatest but it shouldn't take that long. And I'm just kidding about the whole wild child rebel-not truly me, I'm squeaky clean, like squeaky clean. So when I know it's just going to come back saying no record, it's a little frustrating that it is taking so long. I leave January 8th, my ticket is bought, I have my list of things to buy and what to take (I'm going to try to shove all my stuff into one suitcase...yeah, I know I'm thinking the same thing), but I can't go unless I have that little paper or stamp in my passport. So FBI, what's the deal here? But seeing as there is nothing I can do I just pray that God will deliver my background check. I mean, it's not like you can just call up the FBI (although I did call them to check my status- not the nicest lady I've ever talked to) and demand them to process your background faster. So keep that in mind if ever you have to go through this. I feel you.


Advice: get your visa ASAP. and don't forget your passport because you need copies for everything you turn in so get it if you know you're applying. Don't take forever on collecting all the paperwork and if you do have to get a background check- which normally isn't part of the process- get that in immediately. I don't think I can stress that enough. I can guarantee you, as I am experiencing it now, that it will take the longest of all the paperwork to get here. And when you have to go to Chicago to hand in the paperwork yourself, you would rather not wait until the last minute to make that trip. 

As my roommate Anna would say, peace and blessin's.

Kelsey