Oh and... 2 days...

UNTIL I HAVE A NEW ROOMIE!!!!

=) a;sldkfhasdlkgha'sdgha'sdglkhas'fdghasfd'g!!!!!!

Always,

Dos, zwei, deux, TWO!

Two days until Minneapolis!!!

A;SLDGHAS'LGKHAS'FDGLKHASF'GKLHAS'GLKHASD'FGKA

(I pound my keyboard to show excitement.)

My friends and I decided we will spend Friday riding the city bus all over the Twin Cities, exploring, and with any luck, getting lost!

Melissa and I will reminisce about the time we had taken the overnight flight from Seattle to Minneapolis... and tried to take the city bus to our car at our friends house so we wouldn't have to wake him up for a ride at 6 AM... we ended up lost on the metro system for four hours, in 40 below weather, with all of our luggage.

You try lugging 3 bags with roller wheels, through the snow in downtown Minneapolis at 6 AM.  Not so much fun.  After getting on several wrong buses, someone finally told us that there was a "bus help line" that you could call if you were lost.  You tell them where you are, and they tell you exactly what you need to do and where to go. 

We were so tired, and so frustrated... that our bus driver had to get on the phone with the help line because we had no idea where we were... and couldn't process what the person on the other end was telling us.

Ahhh, memories... =)

Always,

Countdown continues...3.

I am in one of those moods where I am so excited that I don't even know what to do with myself!

I leave for Minneapolis, MN in 3 days!

My company gives us two weeks of paid vacation each year, and last year... I made the huge mistake of using all of mine in the first couple months of the year.

So, I haven't been able to leave Idaho since April! Anyway, this will be my first time seeing some of my friends in nearly two years!

My best friend of all time, Melissa, who has been going to graduate school in Louisiana is going to be there!

The picture on the left is one of Melissa's birthday parties. I'm in the stripes. =)

I'm spending my entire Sunday, cleaning, doing laundry and packing... did you know that Northwest Airlines/Delta charges for even one checked bag now?! I refuse to pay to check a bag... so I'm packing early to weed out all the stuff I'd normally pack at the last minute and not use.

---------

My last trip to the Twin Cities, I met a few members of a my favorite band, Sister Hazel! (See pictures below):

I met a lot of interesting people on that trip... (See pictures below):

And I'm sure I will this go-around as well!!!!!

But more than anything, I'm excited to see Melissa, Andrea, Matt, Callie, Shawn, and Megan... all friends from back home... AND WE ARE GOING TO BUFFALO WILD WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not sure I'll have much time to post until I get back, so I hope you all have a very happy and safe New Years Eve! And... don't do anything I wouldn't do!

Always,

Kels

Emotional day!

Two postings in one day!  Wow, i'm really on a roll...

So a couple days ago, I heard some really crappy news... not going to share it, but it really hit me this afternoon and I couldn't shake it...

Play the following video before reading on (just to give you the full effect):

 

Music playing?  Good.

So, tonight, this song, and what I saw on my drive home was really sort of a perfect storm... because I needed a pick-me-up...

Well, I was driving over a bridge that gave me a whole view of the city lights, and the lights in the foothills (Truly gorgeous if you've ever been to Boise)...  this song coincidentally playing in the background, then I get a look at Table Rock:

That is a picture of Table Rock in the daylight-- at night, the cross is lit up... and you can't see the mountain, so it looks like a lit up cross just floating in the sky...

Then I look in another direction, and see the lights reflecting off the snow of Bogus Basin (A ski resort tucked away in the foothills)... the snow glowing from the lights is truly magical...

Well, with the song playing, the city lights, the Table Rock cross, and the glowing snow from Bogus Basin, I truly realized how lucky I am.

I think about North Dakota, and I miss my friends a lot... and some things that have happened this year, haven't been in my favor... but I've done more growing up this past year in Boise, than I ever would have done in North Dakota... and I am truly grateful for that.

The worst break-up I hope I never experience again has really tested me, and tonight-- for some reason, all those scenes and that song helped me remember how strong I am and how lucky I am to be where I'm at, and have all the things that I do. 

I honestly believe that despite some things not working out how I had hoped, I am right where I am supposed to be.

There is no light without the dark, no happy without the sad, and no good without the bad... and I guess I just needed a reminder of that tonight.

That also reminds me of some of my favorite song lyrics:

"Sometime's I sleep with all the lights on... it helps me to appreciate the night.  I hear people talk about life all the time, how they remember times so sad... don't you think life would be awfully boring... if the good times were all that we had." - Pat Green, "Crazy"

That song is highly recommended. =)

Always,

Kels

 

Love life.

So... frustrating...

One huge pet peeve of mine... is buying airline tickets... their pricing makes NO SENSE. 

Let me talk you through this...

It's always cheaper to fly Alaska Airlines out of Boise... but Alaska Airlines doesn't fly into my hometown of Grand Forks, ND... so in order to fly into Grand Forks, I have to hop on a Northwest Airlines flight to fly from Minneapolis to Grand Forks.

Grand Forks is a 5 hour drive from Minneapolis.  It's a little more than 300 miles.

So, when I go to book an airline ticket from Boise to Minneapolis (1500 miles)... it's $155.  Great deal! Wow!  I'm impressed...

Okay, BUT... why would it cost $500 to book an airline ticket from Minneapolis to Grand Forks?!  Grand Forks is obviously MUCH closer to Minneapolis than Boise is... why does the ticket cost 3 times as much??? 

Another thing... have any of you ever tried to book a one way ticket?  One way tickets often cost more than round trip tickets do!  That makes no sense to me at all either!!  Why are we forced to pay a roundtrip price if we are going one direction... yet getting what feels like a discount if you book a round trip ticket?  I might as well book the round trip ticket, and just skip out on the return flight.

Never fear, I somehow managed to find a roundtrip deal to Minneapolis, coming back on Saturday, Jan. 3 instead of Jan. 4 (one of the busiest travel days of the year)... just 8 days before my trip... for only $350!  Lucky me! 

This New Years is guaranteed to be the best New Years of my life!  Several of my closest friends are all meeting up in Minneapolis to ring in the New Year together!  Friends I haven't seen in more than a year and a half!

 

                   Melissa, Pauly & I

                             New Years 2006

I'll definitely be sure to let ya'll know if the trip lives up to my expectations!  Do you have any plans for the upcoming holidays?

Merry Christmas and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Cheers!

Kels

Someone tagged me!

 

I'm pretty new to this blog thing... I've been writing in this for a little while, but nobody had ever read my stuff before... but apparently someone at One Girl Revolution has been reading because:

So, the little picture here says the I have to share seven random facts about myself... which shouldn't be too tough, but choosing just 7 is the hard part.  Here we go!

1.  My cat, Punkin, is the love of my life...

2.  I hate the cold more than anything, but ironically miss North Dakota terribly.

3. I am a little OCD.  If someone taps my right shoulder, they must tap my left shoulder to make it even.  If someone touches their nose, I have to touch mine... I do not like anything to touch my belly button. (Very weird, I know... I can't explain it.)

4. Fourth of July is my favorite holiday.

5. If I could eat egg rolls every day for the rest of my life without gaining 500 pounds, I would.

6.  Glacier National Park and Lake Metigoshe tie in the race for my favorite places on Earth.

7.  I love my cell phone more than I should.

----------------

So now, I'm supposed to list 7 people who have blogs... that I want to see repeat this little list/survey/thing on their blogs...  Unfortunately, I don't really know many people who have blogs... and one of them (Brandy) has already filled it out...

So we'll just see how many I can find, and pretend like it's 7:

Bizzy

Annie

Dawn

Ranae

Have a splendid day everyone, I'm off to Smokey Mountain for some BBQ Chicken pizza!!!!!!

Always,

Kels

Retiring the snow pants...

 

Many of you who have skied with me before... have seen how awesome my snow pants are.

Since I didn't think I was going to turn into such a ski bum, I decided that buying my own snow pants wasn't a necessity... so...

Courtesy of my mom, and Northwest Airlines... low and behold...

THE SNOW PANTS.

 

I'm not sorry to announce... that these awesome bibs are retiring... and since I have my own season pass, and my own ski gear... I think it's only right that I get my own snow pants.  Sad, yes, but it will spare me a little humiliation this season.

They will only come out of retirement temporarily for any trip to Tamarack, and ONLY if they are accompanied by Alison's dad's snow boots... just because I strongly believe in tradition.

Our trip to Tamarack is just a month away... so until then, snow pants... Good night, and good luck!

See you all on the mountain!!