Tradgedy

Today's thoughts are a little more somber. Our community has suffered a great tragedy. The accident that occured Wed. night claiming 4 students and 1 professor from Taylor University has us all reeling. It reminds us all how quickly our lives can be taken. Whitney Cerek was one of the students killed in this crash. Her parents were Sue's youth pastors when Sue was a teen. She has remained close with them and is really heart broken for their loss. Whitney's older sister is also a Taylor student so please pray for the Cereks. Pray for all the families, but this one hit close to home. I can't even imagine how you deal with such a loss, but God is so big and I know he'll wrap all of these parents and families in his arms.

I also have 2 students in my building whose father passed away Wed. night. So, please pray for Aney and Garrett. They're both super kids and will need alot of strength through this time.

Pictures

Holly, Kismet, Andrea, and Kelley party the night away!
The bridesmaids
Sisters pre ceremony
The kiss
The whole wedding party
Jon fishes for the garter
Jason and Jon watch Andrea enter the church
The bride and groom
Sue, Andrea, and Kelley before the ceremony

The Big Day!

Well, it's over. It's hard to believe that a full year of planning, is now just a memory. But what a memory it is. Andrea's day was perfect. It went off without a hitch and the whole day was beautiful. The weather was perfect, and Andrea was quite possibly the most beautiful bride I've ever seen. I might be biased, but I don't think so. She was radiant. The ceremony was just perfect. My brother Jason married Andrea and Jon and he did such an amazing job. It was the perfect mixture of humor and sentiment. The reception was awesome. It was so much fun. We had a great meal and all the traditional moments, but then the dancing began. I thought I'd have a hard time dancing, but I followed the Gorenflo's lead and cut loose. It was such a fun evening. I even got to dance with some hottie who was one of Jon's Army buddies. That was a definite highlight! :) Emmy was like the energizer bunny. I don't know how she had so much energy after such a long day, but we got such a kick out of watching her bounce around the dance floor. The most amazing thing was that big sister, Kelley didn't cry!! It was such a joyous occasion that I didn't even feel like crying. The only time I cried was when i danced with Jon at the reception. Trying to talk to him about Andrea caused a few tears, but that was it. I guess I teared up when I told Andrea goodbye, but I was just thrilled that I made it through the wedding without a tear. I enjoyed every moment. Well, I'm going to attach some pictures for your enjoyment.

Do you Hear it?

Do you hear it? What? you might ask... The angels singing the Hallelujah chorus!! I am finished with my class and internship!!! I just had my final evaluation and submitted the rest of my projects for the semester. I can not even begin to explain how light and free I feel. I am officially on cloud 9. I might be able to rival Andrea's joy, well, probably not, but close. :) I have one class to take this summer and I'm completely finished. Zing, what a feeling!

Wedding news: I leave for home tomorrow after school. I am really excited and looking forward to this special weekend. My feet feel like dancing....

Look for a full report with pictures next week!

Kelley

Hallelujah!

Hallelujah, the dress zipped!

Let me just say, I can officially be excited about my sister's upcoming wedding! I guess the 3rd fitting was the charm. The dress fits beautifully and I'm feeling much more comfortable. Tonight Andrea and I talked for hours about everything wedding. It was really nice to just sit and talk with her. She has done an amazing job of organizing this wedding. I don't think I could have done it. I'm thinking elopement in Hawaii if I ever get the chance.

Another Monday

Well, here it is Monday again. It's amazing to me how quickly the weeks are flying by. Not that I'm complaining!

I am adjusting to the colder temperatures. The only time I'm cold is in the mornings. it's going to be 70 degrees today and I'm wearing a wool sweater with a turtleneck. I'm so chilly in the mornings I can't seem to bring myself to put on spring clothes. It's supposed to be in the 70's all week, so I think the house will warm up. It was up to 62 yesterday. I actually spent the afternoon sitting in my sunroom reading a book and listening to the birds chirp. It was a glorious afternoon. I'm going to love that room!

Well, I have lots to do, I hope you're all having a good start to the week.

Kelley

Greetings from the Frozen Tundra!

Well, it's official. It's cold in my house. Today it slipped below the bearable 60 degree mark. I spend my evenings at Sue's, run home and jump into my bed which is piled with quilts and take the fastest showers in history every morning. All the while Sandy (my dog who just got shaved over spring break) is trembling and looking at me with these sad eyes that seem to be saying, "What did I do?" I've made her a nice little nest out of my warmest quilt which is where she spends her days. I drove to EVERY home improvement/department/drug store in Marion after school today looking for a small electric heater. I heard the same story in each store..."I'm sorry Mam, we just sold the last one, or we just sent back all we had left. The fans arrived today." I watched in horror as the workers were stocking the empty shelves where heaters used to be with FANS! Who needs a freaking fan when it's 50 degrees outside??? Now, before I go any further, I want to say, "Mom, Put your checkbook away!" I mean it! I'm not going to freeze to death. If it gets too bad, I'll turn the heat back on. It's supposed to be 70 degrees tomorrow, unfortunately, it's going to drop 20 degrees and be 50 on Sat. Go figure!

On to other things. The last few days have been very interesting. Sometimes I feel like I work in the twilight zone. Kids and their parents are an interesting breed. School always gets really interesting around this time of year. It has all of us shaking our heads and counting days. ( I have 32 to be exact, thanks to 3 days off for Andrea's wedding and 1 day I'm saving for a day in May when I think it would be in the best interest of everyone for me to stay home.)

Well, it's time for the O.C. so I've gotta wrap this up. Priorities you know! Hope everyone's keeping warm!

Love ya!

Hi Ya'll

Well, I am in a goofy mood tonight. Seems to happen right after a bout of melancoly. I really think I'd be a good candidate for medication! Ha!

It's sunny and beautiful here today. Cold, but sunny. Of course it's almost 8:00pm and it's still really sunny. If my Ohio family could here these Indiana people. It's hillarious. They are still converting the time in their head and lamenting that it's really an hour earlier so no wonder they're tired! Get over it people! Move on! Change the clocks and quit thinking about it! Cracks me up.

Idol is about to come on and I'm praying REAL hard that Bucky chokes. It's time for him to go. His moment has passed. Unfortunatly, the theme tonight is country which is a strong suit for him. I might worry for some of our favorites like Taylor. He doesn't strike me as having a country bone in his body. But, we'll see.

Newest addiction? Deal or No Deal? I LOVE THIS SHOW!!! I have even been on-line to see how you apply to be on the show. I've also played the on-line version a couple of times. Haven't won the million yet, but I have won enough to solve my financial woes. ;) I need to make a 5 min. video with my "support" group behind me. Any takers? I've already have the money spent but I might be able to spare a little for my support staff.

No principal leads yet, but things are definitly winding down at a neck-breaking speed. I have so much to do in the next couple of weeks, not to mention a sister getting married. Life's crazy. I'm trying to be very diligent with my time when I'm not on-line playing games. :)

I'm happy it's April! I turned the heat off. It was a luxury I couldn't afford any longer. Bring your thermals if you come to visit in the next couple of weeks. I'm loving my house, especially now that the yard it spruced up for spring. All the flowers blooming is making me very happy.

Well, Idol is starting so I have to go. Hope everyone is having a good week!

Kelley

dress fittings, colon cleanses, diets and how they all tie together

Dress fittings and diets...I will be so glad when the day comes and goes and my dress actually zips! First we take it in, then I have nightmares that it won't zip. 2nd fitting...It won't zip! I would love to lay the full blame on the seamstress, but it might have been partially me. (I don't feel like I've been overeating, but maybe...) So, never fear, they can let it back out, so what do I do? I start the American Heart Association diet and I've lost 10 lbs. in 2 weeks. I have two weeks to go before my 3rd fitting, so who knows? Maybe they'll have to take it back in! I just keep comforting myself with the poncho.

Colon Cleanse...Long story short, a friend of mine researched this cleanse and thought we needed to do it. Since I'm not what you would call "regular" I thought, "what the heck!" It claimed a possible 5-25lb weight loss in excess matter, so I thought that was a good thing. I have been amazed at how much "matter" can actually be stored in a person. And I must say it feels "glorious" to be going to the bathroom regularly, but weight loss? I'm puzzled by this, but I don't think I can attribute even 1lb of loss to the colon cleanse. I would recommend it though. I think it's good to get your system completely cleaned out. And that goes for those of you who are "regular". Just because you're going doesn't mean that your getting rid of the build-up which they say is really bad for you. Okay John, does that qualify as TMI?

Other thoughts...Today was my sister's shower that I hosted here in Indiana. It was for all her friends from College Wesleyan and her old co-workers from IWU. We had a great time. I'd like to say thanks to all who came. I was a really nice day. I was asked the other day how I was holding up as the wedding approached. I think I'm in denial. I haven't allowed myself to really think about it. Don't get me wrong, I love Jon and I am so happy for Andrea. But, it's been Andrea and I for a long time. I loved that we got to live together for a couple of years. We developed an even closer bond during that time if that's possible. I've been the older sister looking out for her little sister for many years. It's hard to think that I'll be turning that role over to somebody else. (Although I couldn't pick a better person) Dealing with being the only sibling not married? Well, I literally don't let myself think about it. I hesitate to write these feeling down because I don't want to put any kind of damper on Andrea's happiness. She's so sensitive and i know she'll be worried about me so I tend to pretend that everything's great. I think she sees right through me though. I do want to say, that I have the best sister. I feel so blessed to have the close relationship that we have. I know marriage doesn't change that. I should be thrilled...it means I'll have more nieces and nephews to spoil rotten soon! Auntie Kelley better hope she finds that principal's job. :)

Well, time changes tonight. It is now 9:15, but that means, 10:15! AGGHHG! Whatever will we do? These Indiana people are big babies! Night!