Love life.

I don't send out forwards -- ever... but in the rare instance that one touches me... I will post it on my blog.  =)

This is one of those...  I love messages, songs, poems and quotes that are all about loving life-- because unfortunately, most of us need a reminder every once in a while that life is never as bad as it seems... and that we wouldn't know "good" -- without ever knowing "bad."

So here we go -- read it, and live it!

*Please note that I might have reworded a few things to make it more my own, but hey-- it's my blog... I do what I want.

(I'm even leaving the cute jumping fish in... because it probably took someone a really long time to figure out how to do that.)

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"I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly.  As I age, I'm becoming kinder to myself, and less critical of myself.  I've become my own friend.  I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed... I'm entitled to a treat, and to be messy.  I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM... and sleep until noon?  I will dance with Brandy to Kellie Pickler until all hours of the night, laugh out loud by myself until I cry and at the same time, if I wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and I will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite pitying glances from the jet set.  They too, will get old...

I know I'm sometimes forgetful.  But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten.  And I will eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years, my heart has been broken.  How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one.  But broken hearts give us strength, understanding, and compassion.  A heart never broken is pristine and sterile-- and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I should only be so lucky to live long enough to have my hair turn gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.

So many have never laughed-- and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As I get older, it's easier to be positive.  You care less about what other people think.  I don't question myself anymore.  I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like getting older.  It has set me free.  I love the person I'm becoming.

I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here-- I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be...  I will live life, love life-- and know that I'm lucky for every thing -good and bad- that happens in it."

P.S.

Don't forget to send this to 7 people otherwise you will die.

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I hope you all enjoy this little reminder as much as I did!

Mom's forwards do come in handy every once in a while.  =)

Grandma Nini loving life -- & Bingo.

Always,

I'd like to introduce you...

To the most inspirational and beautiful woman I've ever known...

Grandma Nini, 96th birthday.

My Grandma Nini (Virginia "Ginny" Pittelkow) would be turning 97 on July 16, of next month.

I just spent a week in Tallahassee, FL, with my family while we laid her to rest -- and every story shared, reminded me of what an amazing person she was. 

My grandma loved her family, loved her friends, and most of all-- loved life.

Bingo jackpot, April 2005.

Among some of the stories shared had to do with my 96 year old grandmother sitting on the back of a buff biker man's Harley Davidson...

...and her choosing a hip (Mohawk, pink hair) type of salon over the "little old lady salon" when getting a haircut.

Hawaiian day at Blackjack.

I didn't know my grandma very well until she moved to Boise in May of 2009.  I can't thank God enough for bringing her here to Idaho -- I have never felt so lucky in my entire life to get to know such a woman.  Her attitude and smile changed my life.

Just a few of my favorite memories -- watching, singing and dancing in our chairs to "Singing in the Rain", watching David Cook win American Idol, and learning to play Cribbage... and at 96 years old, she kicked my butt every time.  =)

Grandma Nini, I love you SO much and miss you terribly.  I think of you every day. 

Christmas, Dec. 2008.

Grandma's bingo monkey.

On her cruise, April 2005.

And only she would understand this but... 32!!!!!!!!

Grandma, I will see you again someday!!!

Always,

 

My camera's 9 lives...

Good news -- since my last post, I found my camera!!!!!!!

It was at my mom's house, whattaya know.

Bad news -- since I found it... I've lost it again.

Left it at the softball diamond after our game on Tuesday...

Good news -- someone from another team graciously picked it up and admit they have it... so once again -- my camera is found!

It's 9 lives are up... honestly, if I lose it again -- I won't even deserve to find it.

It was an interesting week for softball... on Monday night, team "FIYA" (that's us!) played against "The Sluggers" (our sister-team, undefeated)... and we kicked em! It was glorious!

Team FIYA -- 05/18/09

Wondering what "FIYA" stands for?? I was on this team last year too... and I just found out -- Faith Inspired Young Adults. Yeah, don't ask how Tana and I got on the team, being the only non-Catholics on it... =) What an incredible group of people though!

Oh by the way-- since she comes up a lot in this post, I should introduce to you Tana.

That brings me to the other team we and I play on... "The Empty Pitchers"...

Go figure-- our first series of team photos were taken at the bar.

First team photo.

At Busters on Broadway.

On Tuesday, we were down by 13 runs in the 5th... we had one chance left at bat to make up some runs-- otherwise the game would be over.

Guess who ended up coming back-- and losing by just one?!?!?! -- That's right... "The Empty Pitchers"!! Of course, I was last at bat before our out -- but don't you worry... it wasn't me that got out-- it was a BOY, being a hotdog on 2nd base. My hit was fabulous... well that's what Tana said. =)

I'm extremely disappointed in myself... my alarm clock wasn't supposed to go off for another 1 1/2 hours -- and here I am, wide awake, blogging.

Good morning, happy Thursday!

Always,

Potato 5k

Well-deserved, end of 5k potato!

Always,

Tomorrow should be... FUN!

Tomorrow will rank up there as one of the busiest days of my life... but not in a bad way!

Another 5k race in the morning... After that, Brandy and I are heading out to the big garage sale ... then I'm heading to the Idaho Dept. of Labor's first annual Volunteer Fair!

I think this is the coolest idea ever... for two years now, I've been wanting to get involved and do something with my spare time. Of course, now that it's summer and I'm on two softball leagues, have a dozen trips planned and a beer club that I'm committed to... I don't see myself having much time to volunteer. Come August though, I should have plenty-- so I'm going to check it out. There are more than 50 organizations looking for volunteers that will be there tomorrow recruiting.

Following that... a kickball BBQ! It should be a fun way to reminisce about elementary school kickball games.

Then... we'll see if I'm up for drinking more beer at a pool party. It should be in the 80s tomorrow, so that doesn't sound like such a bad idea.

The bad idea-- is me going downtown after all of that. I could end up a royal piece tomorrow night, or I could end up at home in my bed by ten. I'm thinking it'll be the latter... but we shall see!

----------

I did run the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure last week, and did better than I thought I would, despite my open foot surgery earlier in the week (which was repeated yesterday might I add.

Deren, me, Ranae b4 the race.

My buddy Zach and I even got some airtime-- as Ysabel and Larry felt the need to bring us into their liveshot to address the fact that the whole "KTVB Family" was taking part. Great television right there.

I'm off to bed... I need to be waking up in T minus 7 hours to race in the "Famous Idaho Potato Marathon" -- Yes... that's what it's called and I'm not even kidding.

Always,

I'm a failure.

So 5K training failed miserably... the big race is in two days. 

In the words of my roommate, "EFF."

I have another 5K next weekend... we'll see if I'm still alive to even try to participate.

More bad news, a sliver I got three months ago-- that my stepdad thought he had dug out of my foot with a sterilized needle... isn't gone.  Throbbing, shooting pain up my foot caused me to *not kidding* scream out in pain in the middle of the newsroom today.  Not cool.  Emergency doctor appointment tomorrow.  I'm bracing myself for open foot surgery.

Uh oh, I might not be able to run in the 5K Saturday if they have to perform some invasive surgery to remove my sliver.  Darn.

Wish me luck!

Always,

Training for the 5K...

I ski a lot... and I walk up quite a few stairs... but I am by no means, in shape.  Skiing shape-- is very different than running shape. 

My roommate and I decided that we are going to get motivated by committing to several 5K races this spring/summer... and in order to successfully run in those without looking foolish-- we have some serious work to do... and with that comes our **drum roll please** 5K TRAINING REGEMIN!

Brandy found an article in a magazine titled "8 weeks to the 5k" or something along those lines... and so we are giving it an honest shot.

Our first day hasn't started out too well-- we did it... but because of our different schedules today, we were forced to do our first day of training on our own.  I work from 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM... and since I have a little trouble getting up early enough to even brush my hair before work, I had to do it after work.

Around noon, it began to violently hail.  Then the skies cleared-- and about a half hour later, it hailed again.  At about 1 PM, the clouds parted and the sun came out, drying the streets... turning it into a BEAUTIFUL day. 

That is when Brandy decided to train.  Smart girl.

I, on the other hand, get off work at 6:30 PM... it's starting to get dark fast, so I rush home, park my car in the garage... and in the 30 seconds that I parked my car, and left the garage-- IT BEGAN POURING.

Being the ambitious, motivated, hardcore exercise junkie that I am... I decided I couldn't back out!  After all, Brandy successfully did her run... and I can't quit before I start... so I DID IT.

That's right.  We are officially in 5K mode now... and super excited about it!

But it looks like the rest of this week will continue to test our commitment.

So wish us luck... through rain, snow, sleet, and hail-- WE WILL DO THIS.

Always,

A week of inspirational stories.

Working in the news, it's not very often that we are able to lead our news broadcasts with good news. 
Ever heard the saying, "If it bleeds, it leads."  That's a little bit over the top, but for the most part-- true.

This week, the Special Olympics World Winter Games were held right here, in Boise!  Hundreds of athletes from all across the world were here.  I'm talking Qatar, Yemen, Afghanistan and even Gibraltar to name a few!  It was incredible having all these athletes here!  Every story we aired about these games this week, brought me to tears.  They are so touching, and everyone who watches really gets to see what sportsmanship is all about. 

The Opening Ceremonies were something else.  A huge coming together of countries, and people... along with some wonderful performances... a great start to such an incredible week!

 

 

Feb. 7, 2009

As for memorable and eye opening events...

How about the team from Gibraltar that didn't have enough helmets for their entire team...  The Canadian team stepped in, and gave them their old ones so that Gibraltar could compete!

Or how about the mother and daughter duo on the ice rink.  One athlete began ice skating because the rink was within walking distance from her house... her mother saw how much she loved the sport-- and wanted it to try it too.  Now, here they are, competing as a "Unified team" at the World Winter games.

Towns all over Idaho hosted events for these games... and the mountains served as an incredible backdrop in some of these stories.  Take a look here at the "Torch Parade" down Dollar Mountain in Sun Valley, ID.  After seeing this, I know I missed out on one heck of a celebration.

-----

There are Special Olympics competitions that happen in cities across the United States... they have both summer, and winter games, and I truly encourage EVERYONE to get out there and be a fan.  It will truly change your life. 

I leave you now with the news story I did back in Grand Forks, ND in 2005... which is what opened my eyes to these games.

**WARNING:  It was one of my first news stories... don't judge it by quality.  =)

Always,

I don't have an accent... YOU DO!

I don't know how many times people hear I'm from North Dakota... and all of a sudden they blurt out "Noooorth Dakooooota."

In case you didn't know.

I know for a fact I don't even say it like that.  Most people just assume since they've seen the movie Fargo they know what they're talking about... well... I'm glad that I grew up just one hour away, but have never seen the movie Fargo.  I'm nervous to see where people get all those Nodak stereotypes from... I might then just know what they are really thinking about me when they learn where I was raised!

My roommate Brandy claims that I have an accent, even though her closest friends can't even hear it...  She insists I say "Dakoooota" and "beg" instead of "bag"... but really, she seems to be the only one who ever calls me out on it.  She must be a pretty good listener.  =)

Another thing you've probably heard-- is that it is FLAT.  That, unfortunately... is true.

Moving from ND to Boise, ID.

On an airplane last week, I heard a guy behind me telling the guy sitting next to him that when he lived in ND, he watched his wife leave him for three days.  One of the best bad jokes I've ever heard.

One great thing about growing up in the Peace Garden State... is that it is essentially crime-free. 

I've worked in television news since high school, and aside from one really horrible incident that happened in North Dakota, it's pretty low key.  A burglary will be the top news story for days... and here in Boise, I feel like we have some kind of home burglary or gas station hold-up every day!  So when I double check and triple check our doors to make sure they are locked at night... I get made fun of. 

Excuse me for wanting to feel safe in the big city!  I'm just a girl from small-town Nooooorth Dakooooota!

Always,

Celebrate life

"You can shed tears that he is gone,

or you can smile because he has lived.

You can close your eyes and pray that he'll come back,

or you can open your eyes and see all he's left.

Your heart can be empty because you can't see him,

or you can be full of the love you shared.

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday,

or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

You can remember him only that he has gone,

or you can cherish his memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back,

Or you can do what he'd want:

Smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

-David Harkins

Jam packed week of FUN!

I am home from Minneapolis!!!

The trip was even better than expected!  So many people turned out to meet us for New Years... 

My friends and I spent the whole evening at a German bar, dancing the Polka with a group of elders... and it was more fun than any club or keg would have been!

 

All was great until Elderly Polka Dancer #2 (Blue shirt) decided I was going to be his NYE kiss...  but... I'd rather not go into details about that. =/ 

Anyway, just yesterday, a friend of mine happened to come across a video of Polka Dancer #2 dancing with another young lady that night on Youtube:

So basically, Polka Dancer #2 gets around. =)

MOVING ON...

The whole trip went by WAY too fast... but it was so incredibly great to see all my friends from back home!  I can't wait to do it again!!

If you'd like to check out more pictures... don't worry, I am a Historian... I took hundreds.  You can check them out by clicking the following links:

NYE in MSP

NYE in MSP Part Deux

Everything else in MSP =)

My flight on Saturday night was delayed a few hours because of horrible weather in Minneapolis (But what's new right??)... I didn't end up getting into Boise until after 2 AM...  but that didn't stop me!  I was up bright and early at 7 AM to meet a group of friends to go skiing!

Bogus Basin, Jan 4, 2009

Bogus Basin was FREEZING on Sunday...  There is a pair of $60 mittens I've really been wanting... but wasn't able to justify buying them until Sunday, when I nearly lost my fingers to frost bite.

The slopes were super icy, and the temps were ridiculous, but it was a great time, and a good crew nonetheless!

To sum it all up, I'm VERY excited that it's 2009-- and I have great feelings about this year! I hope all of you feel the same way, and I hope you had a fun and safe New Year's Eve!

Always,

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!!