April- Birthday Month!

MARCH MADNESS

(yep, april is almost over and I’m just uploading march’s blog. this post took me pretty much all of april to write. I almost gave up on the whole once-a-month-blog thing… soo much happened this month and it was quite exhausting having to write about it all! But I did it… enjoy!)

I know, I know, cliché title for this month. But it’s actually really fitting! My month was MADNESS. Within the 31 days, I traveled to 5 different states and another country, got a job for next year, changed my relationship status, and had classes and midterms all in between. It was definitely my craziest month so far this year! But let’s start from the beginning… (this is going to be a long one!)

 March began with the completion of new stairs in Kittredge, the area where my dorm is! This seems silly, to include in my blog, but it was kind of a big deal. See, there’s construction going on in Kitt right now, so we have to walk around and up this grassy hill to get to main campus. When it snows, this grassy hill turns into a slippery, icy hill. As you can imagine, I have slipped on this hill a few too many times. The worst one was on Valentine’s day when the snow had barely melted so it was super muddy and I slipped down it and got mud ALL over my clothes AND dropped all my lunch that I had gotten from the grab n go. It was so sad. So, needless to say, when new stairs were constructed on this grassy hill, I was beyond excited. The walk to main campus since then has been much easier. 

the valentine’s day fall :(

Moving on…

The second weekend of March, I visited one of my best friends, Sasha, at the University of Michigan!!! This was SUCH a fun weekend! I had never been to Michigan before, so that in itself was an adventure… but then adding Sasha to the mix made it unbelievably fun!! For those of you who don’t know Sasha, she is one of the funnest girls you’ll ever meet. SO energetic, talks SO fast, ridiculously spontaneous, loves silly music like Justin Bieber, Legally Blonde the Musical, and High School Musical…. She’s basically me on crack ;). So, as you could imagine, we had a CRAZY weekend!  Fancy dessert, an economics class, sushi, karaoke, tango dancing, a picnic in the arbor, my first ever hockey game, froyo, AND I got to perform with her club, Smile Bringer Singers! It was so fun to see Sasha in the environment of her school; I am so so proud of everything she is doing there!! UM is sure lucky to have a stellar girl like her :). When Sunday came around, it was soo sad to leave! I had quite an experience traveling back to boulder… my worst traveling experience EVER. I won’t go too into it… but things just kept going wrong! And then when I had a layover in Chicago, my flight got really delayed so I decided I’d wander Chicago for a bit! Little did I know, this was a TERRIBLE decision. I found myself in the ghetto of Chicago… barred windows, guys whistling at me, and KFC was the only chain restaurant I could find. So, as I was texting my boyfriend who lived in Chicago for a bit, I realized that I actually was in a really dangerous part of town and went straight back to the airport. But then I couldn’t find a way back in… I guess the airport staff doesn’t really expect people to walk in and out of it. So, after hours of circling the airport, I finally figured out how to take a shuttle in. I learned an important lesson that day… when you have a long layover, just watch a few movies or something!! I was sooo glad to be back in Boulder that night… at 1:30am when I FINALLY arrived.

picnic in anne arbor :)

my first ever hockey game!!

karaoke time!

 The next day, the Bri’s and I (yes my two best friends in Boulder are named Bri) were having lunch when Bri Majewski randomly brought up the idea of us road tripping to New Mexico to see the Buffs play in March Madness that coming weekend! Bri Guerrero and I were immediately in, so Bri Majewski called her mom to find that her mom would buy her a ticket and give her a car to use! We were beyond excited. That night, Bri G and I called our moms and the three of us bought our tickets! Talk about spontaneous, huh? That week, I had a midterm and some assignments due, so the week went by quite slowly. But, before we knew it, we were off to NEW MEXICO!!

 Wednesday night, we spent the night at Bri M’s older sister’s house in Denver! We got dinner, made posters for the players we knew, and went to bed so we could get up bright and early! Thursday morning we left at like 6!! It was early alright… but still dark out. Bri G drove first, and I took artsy pics of the sunrise! :) It was quite a long drive… (about 7 hours to be exact), but it was soo fun listening to music, singing at the top of our lungs, driving!! The scenery was REALLY boring most of the drive… New Mexico doesn’t have much around! I did see my first real tumbleweed, though! It was really big and rolled along the freeway right in front of the car… I didn’t know what to do!! I know I know, such a Cali girl right?! Anyway, we got there and checked into LA QUINTA- New Mexico’s sketchiest motel. We were in a room on the first floor, outside access, with a ghetto auto shop across the alley. Words cannot describe how scared the Bri’s and I were that night. But we got some food, got ready for the game, and headed over to Bri M’s friend from CU’s hotel room! It was so fun meeting those four boys, all seniors or graduated and super fun to be around! We then all head over to the game, and our seats were right next to the student section! I couldn’t believe I was actually there… it was unreal being at one of the best basketball arena’s in the country, cheering with all the fans, seeing all the media… it was insane. And what a great game!! We had such a great start… and then started to lose it a little bit… but we didn’t let UNLV catch up and WON!!! It was soo exciting! And, a little before half time, Bri M and I started go get a bunch of texts that said people saw us on tv!! That was definitely a highlight of the trip… we were on national television!! And they like zoomed in on us cheering! SO legit :). Winning was really exciting, but made things kind of difficult. See, we origionally planned on just going for Thursday night, and heading back to Boudler Friday morning. But the Buffs winning meant that they would play again, in the same arena, on Saturday night. So, though we were tempted to buy tickets for the next game that night and stay the whole weekend, we decided to sleep on it. The next morning, we made a powerpoint about whether or not we should stay. Yes, the powerpoint was my idea. It had a pros slide, a cons slide, an other people’s opinions slide, and a personal emotions slide. Call it ridiculous… I call it good logic :). After weighing the pros and cons, we decided that it would be best for us to go home. So, we sadly packed up our things and headed home. We were over an hour toward Boulder when Bri M saw that Spencer, a freshman on the basketball team that lives in our dorm, tweeted that he had free tickets! Bri called him right away and say he could give us 3! FOR FREE! We were beyond stoked… we pulled a U-turn and headed back to Albuquerque! We stopped by Sante Fe to buy undies from Ross (we only packed for two days!!) and check out the old town there and take a few pics, and then we drove back to Albuquerque to have dinner with Adam, Christian, Brad, Justin, and Alexa. After dinner, we all decided to go play putt-putt (mini-golf)!! It was SO much fun. We waited until late at night to check into our new hotel, Comfort Inn… smart of us right? Who knew it was possible… but the Comfort Inn of that area was even more sketch than La Quinta! Not joking- we saw at least 5 porn shops within a 10 minute radius. We were soo scared… falling asleep that night was quite a challenge. The next morning, we got breakfast and began to get ready for the game… and then packed up our room in like 5 min (we got really good at packing up hotel rooms) and checked out! So then the Bri’s dropped me off at Burger King to meet with my friend Lucas who lives in santa fe! I met Lucas about a year and a half ago at a youth leadership conference in Washington DC! He and I clicked immediately- we’re literally the same person in many ways. So, we grew super close over the week we were there, and have kept in touch since! It was so awesome to be able to see him and catch up! Then I had Lucas drop me off at the arena to meet back up with the Bri’s and try to get our tickets early- but that didn’t work because we were only allowed to get them an hour in advance! So, we headed back to the hotel of the boys we had been hanging out with all weekend and hung out there until it was time for the game! So, the game—we lost  :(. BUT it was such a great game!! We kept fighting til the end, and boy did we put up a fight!! I was soo proud to be a Buff that night. After the game, we headed back to the boys’ hotel room and crashed there for the night! Get this- the night that the Bri’s and I slept on the floor under a desk in the boys’ hotel room was the best night of sleep I got all weekend! I think it was because I felt safe, unlike the previous nights. Bri M woke us up super early the next morning, and we headed home! The drive back seemed much longer than the drive there… but we eventually made it back to Bri M’s house! We were greeted by her lovely parents, and FOOD! It was so great to have a home cooked meal after all that fast food!  We headed back to Boulder that afternoon, and our first college road trip sadly came to an end.

  

a long drive ahead of us…          

   

                 driving!

 

forever buffs <3                                       

 

at the game!

 The next week or two were spent catching up on schoolwork and getting through classes… there’s not much to say about that. But, a few days before spring break, I got an email that said I had been officially hired as an RA for Buckingham next year! I was beyond excited… I may or may not have freaked out in the middle of class. Words cannot describe how I felt in this moment- relieved that I knew my plans for next year, excited to work with the staff that will be there next year, happy to know that I would bless my mom through getting free board and room, soo many feelings at once!! It was awesome J.

Next came spring break, which meant my trip to HAITI!! Oh, I almost forgot! The night before spring break, I entered into a relationship! Yes, I have a boyfriend! His name is Mike and he’s from San Diego too (we didn’t know each other before CU though) and he’s pretty great J. Ok, back to Haiti. Oh, where to start!! I guess with the traveling aspect of it.. boy was it crazy getting to Haiti! We flew from Denver to Dallas, and spent the night in the Dallas airport (worst night of sleep in my entire life). Then we flew from Dallas to Florida early the next morning, and had like a 5 hour layover in Florida, and then flew from Florida to Haiti! Being in Haiti was an absolutely amazing experience. We worked with this organization called Mission of Hope, which is seriously the coolest organization I’ve ever seen or been a part of. They are doing some incredible things in Haiti- and all through Christ! That’s the coolest thing about them- they have their entire organization completely Christ-centered. Another really cool thing is that they completely believe in indigenous mobilization- which is hiring natives to do the jobs that Americans could do! So, instead of having Americans come in and build houses, for example, Haitians are getting hired to build houses! This not only gives Haitians in need a job, but it also stimulates their economy and moves toward a lasting impact! I could go on and on about Mission of Hope… it is truly an amazing organization. While we were there, we got to basically just hang out with Haitians! We painted some houses for them, we worshiped with them, we visited orphanages, we played with LOTS (and lots) of kids… it was soo great. And I learned soo much on this trip! I really got to see more of who God is. While in Haiti, I saw how much He provides, how trustworthy He is, how big He is, and just how GOOD He is! It was really a life changing experience. Traveling back was just as much of a trip as the way there- this time we flew from Haiti to Florida and spent the night in the Florida airport! Then early the next morning (after pulling an April fools’ day joke on the boys), we flew from Florida to Dallas and had like a 4-hour layover there! Then, finally, we flew from Dallas to Denver, and drove back to Boulder.

 

corn rows… thanks girls! 

  

  at the orphanage :)  

 

  at the resort!

working hard… more like hardly working ;)

 And with the return to good ol’ America, March Madness concluded! What a crazy month, right?

 If you are reading this sentence, GO YOU for reading this whole post!! Sorry it was so long :).

 Til next month!

 -K

Things you can learn from Disney Heroines <3

Things You Can Learn From Disney Heroines

Opinion by  EmilyELewis posted 2 years ago A lot of people say that the Disney heroines are bad influences on girls for a variety of reasons: they “teach girls that beauty is most important” and “you need a man to be happy” and “females always have to be damsels in distress” and plenty more of the like. I disagree. Disney heroines can teach all of us plenty of important lessons.

1. Be Yourself Despite the World’s Opinion 
A lot of the Disney heroines didn’t really fit into the norms of their society, but they never changed to fit into their communities better. Eventually, that would prove to be a very good thing. 

Examples:
*Ariel, who loved humans even though they were considered dangerous by the rest of Atlantica
*Belle, who was particularly intelligent and book-loving in a time when it wasn’t beleived women should think
*Esmerelda, who was one of the gypsy outcasts of Paris
*Giselle, who maintained her fairy-tale values even in the tough real world
*Pochahontas, who wanted to welcome the new settlers
*Jasmine, who didn’t just want to marry the first guy who came along like a good princess
*Mulan, who wasn’t a proper traditional Chinese girl

2. You Can Save the Day, Too!
Not all damsels are in distress, and plenty of dudes are in distress, too. Many of the Disney heroines not only helped to save the day — they did it themselves.

Examples:
*Mulan, who saved her father from the army AND her country from the Huns all on her own
*Pochahontas, who stopped her father from killing John Smith AND averted a full-out war between her people and the settlers
*Esmerelda, who defended the weak at personal risk, saved Phoebus from drowning, and basically set in motion the whole chain of events over-throwing Frollo and saving Quasimodo. 
*Ariel, who helps Eric destroy Ursula
*Nala, who leaves her home to bring Simba back to defeat Scar
*Belle, who breaks the spell keeping the Beast in beast-form and brings him back to life as a human

3. Being Smart is a Good Thing
Many, many of the Disney heroines are shown to be highly intelligent, clever women. And they usually then use those smarts to help those they love.

Examples:
*Belle, who is uncannily intelligent — especially for a woman of her day — and reads all the time
*Mulan, who repeatedly uses her head to figure out how to fight more effectively (avalanching Shan-Yu’s entire army instead of shooting just him, sneaking soldiers into the palace as women)
*Jane, who is very much the scholar
*Esmerelda, whose quick-thinking saves her and her friends many a time

4. The Inside is More Important than the Outside
Several of the Disney leading ladies know very well that you can’t judge people by their looks.

Examples:
*Esmerelda, who helps and becomes friends with Quasimodo even though everyone hates him for looking deformed
*Belle, who loves the gentle Beast and hates Gaston (the handsome jerk)
*Pochahontas and Ariel, who love guys who’re different than boys of their own “kind”
*Jane, who loves Tarzan even though he’s a little wild and scary looking at first

5. It doesn’t Matter Where You Come From
Plenty of the Disney heroines — even the Disney Princesses — started off in less than perfect worlds, but overcame the adversities to find happiness.

Examples:
*Cinderella, who was treated like a slave by her step-family
*Belle, who was but a peasant girl
*Mulan, who was a commoner
*Esmerelda, who was an out-cast of society
*Megara, who was being forced to work for Hades
*Snow White, who lived in the forest in a shack with seven other people for a while (albeit, after fleeing a castle)

6. All Ethnicities and Colors are Beautiful
Disney heroines come in every color of the proverbial racial rainbow. And they all have rich cultural environments and backgrounds to teach us.

Examples
*Mulan, an Asian beauty
*Esmerelda, a Spanish beauty
*Tiana, an African-American beauty
*Belle and Jane, brunette beauties
*Pochahontas, a Native American beauty
*Snow White, a raven-haired caucasian beauty
*Jasmine, a Middle-Eastern/Arabic beauty
*Nala, an African beauty
*Ariel and Maid Marian, red-headed beauties
*Megara, a Mediterranian beauty
*Cinderella and Aurora, blonde beauties
*Giselle, who’s hair color I can’t even figure out, but who is still lovely

7. You Can be Tough and Independent, but Still Feminine
Of course, almsot all of the Disney heroines prove their independence in one way or another (even if only in a small way for some). But more than just a few of the Disney heroines are every bit as tough and able-to-fight as their male counterparts.

Examples:
*Mulan, who disguises herself as a man and becomes a war hero
*Esmerelda, who proves she can hold her own in a fight against multiple, trained foes who’re bigger than her and have actual weapons
*Nala, whose teeth and claws are every bit as effective against her enemies as Simba’s

8. Kindness is Key
Quite a few — most, in fact — of the Disney heroines epitomize the concept that being kind to others is vastly important. They show that you have to be nice to people if you want to succeed.

Examples:
*Cinderella, Jasmine, and Snow White, who are very sweet to people from all classes, and also to animals
*Belle, who shows kindness even to those who are mean to her
*Esmerelda, who helps others even though she herself has it plenty rough
*Pochahontas, Jane, and Ariel, who save people who are very different than themselves

9. Love is Important
Every single heroine has a true love. And they do everything that they can to get to him and keep him and help him. They love him despite all odds, what everyone says, and any outward flaws he might have. Because love is important. They show that, no, you don’t need a man to be happy, but it doesn’t hurt. And they show that when you love someone, you have to show them and you have to stay by them.

10. It’s OK to Dream, and Dreams Can Come True
Every single Disney heroine also has a dream. And with a little luck and some hard work, all of their dreams come true. And that’s what’s truly beautiful. In fact, it’s what Disney is all about.

February- a month of lovin and firsts! :)

Is it weird that I was excited for February to come because the end of February meant I’d get to write a blog post?! I have been soo excited to write, and the day has finally come! So, without further ado, the month of February according to me!!

The beginning of February came with my first snow day EVER! Campus was closed for the day because of the snow… this was a very new concept for me as a San Diego native! Unfortunately, the one snow day that CU will get for years was on a Friday, the day of the week that I don’t have any class. Nonetheless, it was still fun to have all my friends not have to go to class and for us to spend the day playing in the snow!

I also experienced my first midnight premiere this month! I went with Bri and 25 other girls to see The Vow! I have to say, I was kind of disappointed with the movie itself, but going to a midnight premiere was still fun :). 

Next came my RA class! I’ve applied to be a Residential Advisor next year, and am soo excited about it!! Part of the application process is attending a weekend long class. The days were long (two days of 5 hour classes), but it was fun getting to know other people and learning more about what being an RA looks like! I then had an interview about a week after my class, which I think went very well. I find out this month whether I get the job or not, so be excited for next month’s post! 

Then came VALENTINES DAY! I love this holiday… I don’t know why so many single girls hate it! Other than slipping down a muddy hill (yes, picture below), my day was wonderful! I felt very loved all day, and tried my best to make others feel very loved too! That night, I went out to dinner with a few good friends, we ate yummy sushi and chocolate covered strawberries. Then Bri and I ordered Fro-yo and watched a chick flick, and then spent hours talking about love and boy situations (typical girls, right?). It was a great day :).

The next day, I started my first job in Boulder- working at my dorm’s front desk! I was sooo excited when the Assistant Hall Director offered me a job, it was such a blessing that I had such an open schedule already and could work all of the open time slots that needed to be filled! Working the front desk is such a fun job. I get to answer the phone (“Buckingham Hall, this is Kiersten how may I help you?”), hang up posters, send out emails, and greet people as they walk by! It all sounds silly, but it is really such a fun job to me :). I do have to work the 4am-8am shift every friday (hence, why I’m awake at 3:50am), but it really isn’t as bad as I thought it would be! I’m soo stoked to have this job- it’s super easy and pays well! I can’t complain about having some (and by some I mean a lot) extra cash laying around!!

This month also brought my mom, dad, and SISTER to CU! This was such a fun weekend- my parents stayed in a nearby hotel and took us out to dinner each night, and megs stayed with me in my dorm room! Megan loved experiencing the college life, and really loved CU! She’s really thinking about coming here next year… I’M STOKED! And seeing my parents again was great too! The weekend went by fast, but it was so great to see them three :).

Another first (kind of) that came this month was joining Pinterest! Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love it… but boy is it time consuming! And addictive! I’m obsessed. Thanks to pinterst, I now have my wedding, home, travels planned out! I really can’t get enough of it.

Leading towards the end of the month… I went to a conference called Laborers with the Navigators! This was soo great- I learned soo much and it was awesome to get away for a bit! Laborers was all about leadership within ministries… I’m hoping to be on the student leadership team with the Navs next year, and this conference got me PUMPED!

And then there were the Academy Awards. I haven’t ever been one to sit and watch awards shows… but my dorm had a big event so I watched the whole thing this year (for I think the first time ever)!! I only have a few things to say about the results… First of all, I can’t believe Hugo won so many of the categories! I did not expect that at all. Second, I’m SOOO bummed Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close or The Help didn’t win best picture! Both were such awesome movies… and deserved that award!! Oh well… if you haven’t seen Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, GO SEE IT. NOW. That is all :)

Oh and I can’t leave out LEAP DAY, it only comes every four years and it came this year! It wasn’t a super special day… but I did climb a tree for the first time in like 10 years! ;). It’s crazy to think the next time Feb 29th will come will be when I’m 22 years old and graduated from college (hopefully). 

Well, that’s it for February! I feel like this post was kind of everywhere… maybe the fact that it’s 3:50am has something to do with it. Thanks for reading if you did!!

Love,

K

Me and Bri on our first snow day EVER!! 

First midnight premiere- THE VOW!

My identity project for my RA class!

The result of my ride down the muddy hill on Valentines Day :(

My V-day date group!

Sushi sushi sushi!

Me and my student employee card- first job in Boulder!

Welcome to Boudler Megan!!

Kind of a creepy picture… but me doing something crazy on leap year- climbing a tree! :)