I've been doing a lot of reading in this ACLS book. Look how marked up it is!
Of course....Don't let me fool you....It's a perfect stand for nail polish as well....
Hahah, I hope I pass the ACLS certification so I don't have to paint my toes again....
[ACLS=advanced cardiovascular life support (what to do if someone has a heart attack, stoke, or respiratory or heart failure)]
Last night my old YW teacher asked me to show up in my Bingham tennis uniform and show off for the other girls to encourage them to be "spiritually fit for life."
It was fun to find it and try it on again. Reminded me of a lot of good times in high school, especially since I listened to Simple Plan music on my way there....It was like 5 years ago exactly except I didn't drive crazy.
Also, I felt really sparkly yesterday, which reminded me of the chorus in that new Katy Perry song.
Painting my nails and putting the glitter near the bottom only for a new style
And looking at old pictures with my Mom. This is me in high school when I wore tons of berettes. 2005
Remembering when I wore headgear at age 9 and played teather-ball and my headgear got stuck on the string somehow....it hurt so much. 1999
Doing goofy pictures after gymnastics class 2000
When I first started playing the single French horn! It's so big compared to me, yet now I play the double French horn and it's perfect size. 2001 or 2002
dress up! 1995
I use to like to do crazy things with my hair and these pictures made my Mom laugh.
Today my parents helped me move out of my apartment. When I was writing move, I wrote moove and I thought: "Oh hey, 3 years ago when I lived here, I took cow pictures with my roommates to celebrate no longer having to go to Anatomy class and use blue gloves to touch cadavers." Hence the flashback pictures from December 2009.
Anatomy gloves are now udder hats
We also did other weird things with the gloves like make them into turkeys, name them, then leave them on a random person's porch with a bio. "We had an illegitimate turkey we couldn't take care of. Please give it a good home, and tell her when she's older: Gobble gobble. Which means to say: Her mother loved her very much. PS Her name is Georgette.
Below is Octavian the 5 legged octopus.
Goodbye room! You bright, vivacious colors!
In this daily picture it looks like I'm doing the "shower" dance move. It fits though because I danced in my Provo apartment a lot.
Then we filled up water balloons to bounce on the trampoline
Savannah wins best older sister award for helping her brothers not only paint their birdhouse, but fill up their water ballons.
The dog wins the funniest "trying to be tough but super afraid of water ballons" award.
Paxton wins the best "shove as many cadbury eggs into your mouth as you can so you can't close your mouth" award, haha. Ewwww
And these submarines don't win any awards because they were duds.
Savannah made up a story about a boy named Kyle and a magical world called Attica. It was amazing! She wrote everything down so well! I was SO impressed! Instead of always saying 'he said, she said' she'd write things like 'he exclaimed, she curtsied.' Talk about smart! Also, the quotations and comas were so well done too! She's brilliant.
This is Savannah reading her story. I had to record it in 2 videos
and part II:
Friday morning was one of my last days on BYU campus and it snowed! Just because the week before I had taken home my coats and boots! Luckily, I still had my dress coat and a random pair of rain boots left.
All the new spring flowers were covered in the blizzard
On my walk back to my apartment, there were 7 fire trucks all lined up by the library! It was random.
I have two eyes to see, that I might find a problem.
I have two ears to hear, that I might understand.
I have a heart to feel, that I can be empathetic.
I have a voice to be heard, that I can make a change.
-Kelsey 4/6/12
This wonderful video about gay-lesbian-bisexual students at BYU came to my attention.
I love it, I encourage it, and I fully support these brave people.
In this post it is not my intent to offend, hurt, or shock anyone.
I have decided last semester (November 2011) that I will be heard. I have lived a life no one else has lived, because of this, I can make a change nobody else can.
My lovely, beautiful, awesome Mother has schizophrenia.
If you just judged me or the people I love (my Mom and family) by that statement in any derogatory way, I forgive you because schizophrenia is something very stigmatized against. Sometimes, people just don't understand. I'm here to help you understand. Make whatever opinion you will. I will be heard because I have a voice.
This video really hit home to me. I do not suffer from same sex attraction, but I do suffer from stigma.
Growing up was very difficult because I never wanted to tell anyone that my mother had a mental illness. People in my extended family have gone through their own denial and rejection of my mom and our family, but thankfully most are now accepting. If people in my family would reject my mom or deny any real problem, what would a stranger think or do? Therefore I shut up.
I am not ashamed. I did not shut up because I was ever ashamed in any way. I will never be ashamed. I only shut up because I didn't want to feel that rage and hurt I feel when someone says something rude or judgmental about people who have mental illness. I cannot always help this knee-jerk reaction of rage and hurt, but I can help whether or not I choose to have a voice about it.
I have felt, as an LDS or "Mormon," that if I only prayed more or were more righteous, that my mom would no longer be sick; the problem would go away. I know for a fact my awesome, amazing, compassionate Dad has felt that same. I love how the people in this video finally learned to stop praying for their problem to go away and learn to accept themselves.
I accept myself. I accept you.
I applaud you for sharing your voice.
We are not given these "trials" of mental illness or same sex attraction because of something we have done wrong in this life or the previous life. The world is imperfect, our human bodies are imperfect. Therefore, our brain and every other organ is subject to imperfection much like someone having juvenial diabetes, celiac disease, or near-sightedness. These "trials" are real. God knows they are real.
St John 9:1-3
"And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."
Because my Mom has schizophrenia, I am empathetic. I am kind. I am aware. I am close with my family. I am thankful for everything. I have had the best life anyone could ask for. I have the best mother anyone could possibly ever have. I love who I am. I am this way because of my life experiences.
Goodbye white clinical shoes, you've served me well the last 3 years in various hospitals in the US, in Taiwan, and occasionally on the road in Thailand and Korea.
You will be missed.
Tomorrow is the last day of class. The last day of college. It's so weird. Usually I feel more excited about the last day of school, but maybe it's only because this feels so surreal. The end of college?--At least my undergraduate college.
I'm so excited for this next chapter in my life. I was cleaning my apartment tonight and I couldn't help but think, wow, I won't be here much longer.
This long 45-50 minutes drive from Salt Lake to Provo will soon be a faded memory.
Can you see the Y on the mountain?
I've been spending a lot of time with my parents these last two semesters and I'm glad I did. I'll miss them so much.
This is a cake my Mom made and I decorated at a RS activity last night.
In the words of T-Swift: "This is is the very first page, not where the storyline ends."
Flashback time!
Here's a picture of me and my roommate Laura before the first day of college.
