Tag Archives: Friends

The 29th Year

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Reflecting on the last 28 years of life. A letter of gratitude.

Birthdays, the day of the year everyone celebrates you…or as I found out yesterday, National Puppy Day or National Chips and Dip Day. (Seriously. I had no idea, though I did some research and National Puppy Day started 10 years ago, and I’m pretty sure Tostito’s just made up Nat’l Chip and Dip Day). I’m not complaining. In fact if my birthday went by as barely a blip on peoples radar, I’d probably be okay with that.

She says wistfully, though fully realizes that to make this more achievable she’d have to take it off of Facebook.

2015 has been a busy year, I don’t know where the month of February even went, I can look at my calendar and see I did stuff, but I don’t think I ever registered it was February and now here we are bringing March to a close with April sneaking up quickly.

2014 was a year of surprises and new adventures, I received a grant that has allowed me to continue my education in hopes of a master’s degree, I got to spend 6 weeks in Boston and explore the historic city with the knowledge that I get to do it all over again this summer. I got to celebrate the weddings of good friends, and see others welcome beautiful children into their lives. I was asked to be a bridesmaid, and will soon have a sister who is kind, funny, gracious, and brings out the best in a brother I love most dearly. And there is so much more that took place in my 28th year, those are just some of the highlights.

I have a pretty good memory. I’m not trying to brag, its more just a statement of truth. I remember a lot if not all of my birthdays. For most of my life, my birthday seems to come and go, during my schooling years this was because my birthday was almost always during spring break, I have no complaints, just an understanding and desire for quiet birthdays. Yet as the day came to an end yesterday, I found myself reflecting on the ones that truly stand out.

My fifth birthday, when a friend made me a shirt with puff paint that said Princess Kelly. Yes I still have it. It’s hanging on the wall in my bedroom at my parent’s house.

My eighth birthday, when my mom and dad pulled off a pretty incredible surprise party.

My 10th birthday, when my parents wouldn’t let me open any gifts until 8:30pm because that was my time of birth.

My 14th birthday, the birthday of all the LipSmackers and lip gloss.

My 16th birthday, when I made my own Batman cake and watched the Oscars. And yes the Oscars used to happen in March. I’m not making that up. It didn’t move to February until my senior year of high school.

My 17th birthday, when my teacher made me grilled cheese sandwiches in class.

My 20th birthday, when my friends pulled off an epic surprise dance party.

My 21st birthday, on Easter Sunday (and all the continued/belated celebrations of the following week).

My 26th & 27th birthdays, spent in Butte, MT with a 100 high school youth working their butts off for their Diocesan Convention…

And lastly my 28th birthday, where I was supported and loved by family and friends around the world. Where I was flooded with good wishes, laughter, hugs, and prayers.

Yesterday was my birthday, and to be perfectly honest it was a rough day. In the midst of all the Facebook post and texts wishing me a perfect day, I was dealing the the possibility of loss. Sadness threatened to overwhelm, but thankfully happiness and peace won out and for that I cannot truly express my gratitude in words, but I’m going to try.

My day started off pretty normal…I woke up at about 7:30, not to my alarm, but to the sound of notifications and texts…ahh yes, it must be my birthday. My mom called from Nashville we chatted about the ordinary day that I would have, and she reminded me that she would be heading to St. Louis the following day to spend some time with her mom who has been in the hospital for a while. I told her I’d continue to pray from Grandma and that all would go well. The day started, I went to work, no staff meetings (Reconciliation day) and all was good. Later in the day I talked to my Dad who told me that his mom had had a stroke the night before, and to please pray for her. In need of lightening the conversation we then laughed about my abysmal NCAA bracket. After the call with my dad, and the earlier conversation with my mom, I just needed to be alone. Needless to say I was feeling pretty blue, after a text exchange with a friend, a Facebook post asking for prayers, I received a Facebook message from a former youth who is studying abroad in Rome this year. She sent me a picture (above) and message…

“Hey Kelly! Lit a candle for you at Notre Dame today, I hope you have a wonderful birthday! Thank you for your friendship and guidance throughout the years…”

The message went on, but how can you be upset after a moment like that? I talked to both brothers for 49 minutes each. I swear that wasn’t planned, it just happened. I was sang to over the phone by five beautiful girls. I was sent Jack Handy Quotes, and Snapchat videos, and at the end of it all, as my younger brother said so confidently, “I know it’s been rough, but you’re a good person and today is your birthday, so nothing bad will happen, not today, it just won’t. Got it.”

Got it.

I know I said that I’d be good if the day passed like any other and it’s not that I can’t take a compliment or don’t want the attention, it’s just that I find it hard to have all the focus on me. But I’m changing my mind, because I got the best birthday gift a person could ask for. Love.

The biggest gift of having a birthday is the love that is poured out upon you, and I want to thank you all personally, and on a much larger platform for your friendship, love, and joy.

I am blessed beyond measure by my friends and family, and have decided that my 29th year will be one of gratitude for all of you, and the blessings in my life.

It’s on the internet now, so you can totally hold me to that.

Also I should point out that Mark called me first, but that Chris was the first in the family to officially wish me happy birthday with a text at 6:30am. (It’s always a competition between them but they’re both okay…or best, I guess they can both be the best).

UPDATE

Heard this morning that Grandma Jane (my Dad’s mom) is up talking and doing well! Continued prayers and support would be appreciated. But sooooooooooo grateful for all your good thoughts and prayers!

All My Friends Are Getting Married

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A journey through the mind of the single friend.

Please note that there is no intention of making my friends feel bad, just some things that make me chuckle.

“You’re at that age.”

“It’s that time in your life.”

If I have to hear these phrases one more time when I mention the amount of weddings I have been invited to I am going to scream.

I am not kidding.

Since I started college back in 2005 I have been present at about 32 weddings (I say about because I had to write as many as I could remember down and there’s a pretty good chance I’ve missed some). I say present because I’ve been invited to at least 41 weddings but was unable to attend some.

Now on average that doesn’t seem that bad…it’s about 3 weddings a year, however the last 3 years have accounted for more than half of those weddings.

But for the rest of this post, let’s just focus on one year…this year, 2014.

This summer alone I was invited to 10 weddings, was available to attend 3 before I left for Boston, missed 3 while I was in Boston, never planned on going to two because they were the same day as one that I ended up missing while I was in Boston, and 2 I was invited to in August, 1 I’ve already attended and 1 this weekend.

You still with me.

I don’t know if you know this, but that’s a lot. Also, let me note that none of the weddings I was invited to were in Bozeman. The closest was Butte 75 miles away, the furthest Kalispell about 300 miles. 3 were in Helena (90 miles) 1 in Polson (about 270 miles) 1 Butte, and 5 in Kalispell.

Yes that’s a lot of driving, but more over, that’s a lot of money…just spent driving, I don’t even want to calculate how much it would be total or even factor in gifts.

My fridge looked like a wonderland of save the dates and wedding invites, I had to buy more magnets just to accommodate them all. I’ve never been more excited to get a save the date magnet, so I would have something to hold up all the other save the dates.

This is my reality.

The end is in sight, a wedding this weekend and one in November (which takes the tally up to 11 for the year).

I am holding my breath for with fingers crossed that I won’t have as many weddings next summer.

Seriously I already have one wedding that I’m aware of and my whole summer has been rearranged accordingly, even school in Boston. It’s kind of a big one, my brother is getting married I don’t even want to think about the insanity that accompanies a family wedding.

So I am starting a friendship application process, new friends are always welcome, but if they are currently in a committed relationship and looking to possibly get married within the next two years, they will be put on a waiting list, and friendship will begin post wedding.

All current friends, you have been grandfathered in, so no worries. Please understand that if you get a handmade pot holder as a wedding gift, it’s because I am tapped out and have no money to purchase a gift.

But hey at least it’s handmade.

Sympathy for the Devil

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Please allow me to introduce myself. I realize in terms of blogging that I have left out the necessary introductory post, where I tell all of you about myself and why I have decided to start blogging. Now that I have a somewhat captive audience I figured I would throw it out there.

Here’s the deal, if you’ve read my previous posts (all or some) you hopefully have been getting a pretty good idea of who I am. If you’ve been reading them and are still in the dark, well then read this, then go back and re-read all the other posts and maybe it will begin to make more sense to you. 

So I started this adventure called “my life” back in 1987 with a lot of help from my parents and some support, but more pokes and prods, from my older brother Mark. Almost three years into this new life, Chris came along and RUINED EVERYTHING! I am just kidding, but that was my reaction to basically anything he did post infancy until probably mid-high school. I love my family, seriously, they are the funniest people on earth. You should see our group iMessages. They are also the most supportive and loving people ever, despite the fisticuffs we’ve been known to engage in. Don’t worry it’s been at least a year since the last fisticuff. (I really like using the word fisticuff, I now need to use it on a regular basis.)

I am a fiercely loyal friend. I will engage in fisticuffs (see I told you I liked the word fisticuffs) and bar brawls for my friends. For real. I overuse the term “best friend” because I consider A LOT of people to be my best friends. Deal with it. My friends are just another branch on the Kelly family tree. Even if we don’t talk anymore, there’s still a branch for you, it’s why I have a hard time deleting people from Facebook.  

There are a few friends that I refer to as my brothers or sisters. These people have seen me cry, and I don’t mean just silent tears streaming down my face. I mean full on ugly cry, where I have sought them out to be my rock in the turbulent times of my life. These people are right up there with my brothers and parents, though most of the time they don’t mock me as much. 

It is because of a few of these sister/brother friends that I started writing down my stories and thoughts and put them on the inter webs. They encouraged/bullied me into pursuing my incessant need to share my thoughts and stories. It was 75% encouragement and 5% bullying, and the other 20% came from my bedroom walls and car who were tired of having to listen to me ramble on.

So here it is. I am now blogging. And more so I am now publicly posting the blog on social media. Baby steps. I am a rambler, and I get off on tangents super easily. You should be a fly on the wall when I am writing these things down, one time is all it takes. Also just be happy that the finished products are under a 1000 words, because before I re-read and edit them they only make sense to me…and trust me, no one wants to read my stream of consciousness, I don’t even want to read it. 

So thanks for joining me in this new venture I hope you enjoy the ride. 

If you’re my friend you now know that I would hit someone with a pool cue for you. And now my brothers, parents, and the rest of the world knows that I would straight up punch a person out for them. I am sure my parents would be so proud. 

Apologies to my brothers, Mark and Chris, for posting things about you to the internet without your consent or permission. And to my parents, for not always accurately portraying you. The perspective of a child is vastly different from that of semi-grown up Kelly.

To my friends who’ve seen me ugly cry…yeah…um…let’s just not talk about it.

For those of you who understand the title, congrats, I accept you.

If you haven’t figured out the significance to the title of this post and how it relates, Google it, then let me know what you find out. Enjoy the rabbit hole.