Days where you look to the skies and shout Alleluia with tears in your eyes

In order to fully appreciate things in my life I feel like I should thank one person. God. He sure knows what he is doing lately. When things started to get rough, I looked to him. Look at me now. I am happy, successful, and almost done with school :). This years has been full of twist and turns. Days I thought would never end and Some days that I wished would last forever. Its weird how time flies.
I am reflecting on this school year a little early because of the AT banquet that my family and I attended last night. I never thought this year would go so fast. The days I dreaded going to clinicals and class I now look back on and wish they were still here. I know I am going to miss the adventures of this year but there is so much more to come. SO many friends have been made, and kept. So many early hours with football that Jimmy and I dreaded then and laugh about now. I will miss my seniors and GAs that I have spent countless hours with over the past year. Days in the ATR will not be the same without Shaun, Kate and Jarrett. They got me through the rough days and made the good days that much better. Between Kate and I dancing during field setup to telling jokes and stories with Shaun and Jarrett. The days will not be forgotten and I have learned more life skills this year than I ever thought possible.
As for people in my class. Wow the bonds we have made, the memories that will last forever. Its crazy how time flies.

I now look back and thank God for every bit of stress he gave me and every challenge he laid down for me to conquer. I cleared them all with ease due to Him. I am one of the top of my class and a scholarship winner. Things that I never thought would happen. I am the kind of person that just keeps trucking and does not normally get recognized for the simple things. But I guess its the simple things in life that get you through and the simple things in life build up and I now know that I am making a difference in peoples lives. One of my good friends in AT told me she looked up to me the other day. And it took me awhile to grasp it. I got so focused on doing my own thing I did not know that I was affecting others lives in a positive way. I am proud of the person that I have become over these past 2 years at college and I feel like there is no where to go but up from here.

I guess what I have learned is that good things do not go unnoticed, so keep trucking and one day you will get to a place where you want to be.

But for now I have 2 full weeks left of school. A large paper to write, and a lot of people to see before summer begins. I have lunchs planned all week to catch up with old friends from last year and I am pretty excited about it.
When school ends I will be moving to Grove City with kayla and her sisters family once again. And going back to Lima for the month of July. And how could I forget the quads trip to Cedar point on the 13th? :)

So many good things are to come that I really do not mind that I am still in school. These are the days that I will remember for the rest of my life so I am busy living them, and enjoying every second of every day.

Keep on Keepin' on.

Kristen

I am going to leave you with a few of my favorite country song lyrics of the past week!

"God is great...and People are crazy" ~ Billy Currington

"A lotta people called it prison when I was growing up but these are my roots and this is what I love...I wouldnt trade one single day here in Small town USA" ~ Jason Moore

"She smiles at strangers on the street, remembers every bodys name, calls her momma everyday, got the look, got the friends, gives the world all her best, but she hides all the rest :). Shes got smile like california, shes got a spirit like new orleans, eyes like the lights of New York city, cool as a carolina breeze, but underneath shes got a heart like memphis. " ~ the Carter Twins

"Life is seen more clearly through our tears, and we all find some faith when we face our fears." ~Dierks Bently

It just keeps gettin' better

Well, the Bucks won the regional. It was a battle on Friday vs BYU but we came through pretty easily today with UK. I was really excited. AND georgia won so that means for the super regional the girls are going to Georgia :). The means a 4 day weekend for me including Kenny Chesney concert, Reds v Indians game, and Hanging with the Quad :). What a great weekend to look forward too. I have no homework and a full weekend to myself. I get to go to Lima for a whole 4 days.

Plus, Nick came and saw me today since he was in town for his business meeting. We got pizza and shared old stories. It made me even more excited for summer to spend more time with him.

Even more good news, I have a solid tan although it is a farmers tan. I have a tan none the less. But I have to even it out before AT banquet in two weekends in which I am wearing a very cute dress that I got a Rag O Rama for 13$! Oh how I love the thrift store :)

Until Next time...keep on keepin' on.

-Kristen

Some words of wisdom for the day:

"If you don't think everyday is a good day, imagine missing one."

"The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel, are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur."

a turn of events

So talk about a turn of events. Last week was somewhat stressful between the rain, softball, and getting things accomplished, but I have really taken things and formed them into a motivation to keep going and finishing out school strong.

On Friday I had the chance to go to a Christian concert with my friend Kelsey and her boyfriend. I was not originally planning on going but she won a free ticket and I ended up getting out of clinicals 2 hours earlier than normal, so everything ended up falling into place. I really do not think that this was a coincidence, God knows what he is doing. I got some priorities straight on Friday night and then everything has fallen into place perfectly since then.

Saturday I worked a double header in which we swept Penn St. and then ate delicious dinner with the team from Hoggies(simply amazing). From there I headed to Relay for Life, which may I say was one of the coolest things I have done at OSU so far. People making money and having fun with no alcohol for 24 hours for a good cause. I have to admit I did not think it would be as fun as it turned out. I walked from 8-4am and I somehow still had energy left. It brought back memories of family members who have suffered from cancer. Everyone around me had secretly been affected by cancer in one way or another, true feelings came out and tears were shared. For the first time I felt truly connected to the upper classmen of AT. it was pretty incredible.
After I was done walking we participated in the 1st annual trainer Olympics and I was the proud 1st place winner in the ice bag making competitions. I swear us ppl in AT have a weird weird sense of humor.

My week just kept getting better because my parents ended up coming for mother's day to chill with me and Kyle. It was fun and they even brought me my new shoes :)

over all these hectic days and the past few days that I did not describe I have had a change in heart. I am no longer tired because I am excited about life once again. Things are finally starting to fall my way and all of my hard work is starting to pay off. I was told today that I was at the top of my AT class and that I have been doing well in clinicals and people actually look up to me because of how involved I am with the girls on my team. It really meant alot to hear that I am actually being noticed for working my butt off. All of the stress and bad days are totally worth days like these. Days where u feel nothing can bring you down.

SO now that I am done bragging about how sweet my life is I have to go study for my pathophys test because I have the day off of clinicals :) o how days can be perfect.

I guess that's why OSU is honoring today and calling it "the best day ever" and serving treat on the oval that I did partake on with my friends.

And in closing here are some of my favorite quotes of the day!

The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself. ~Benjamin Franklin

If only we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time. ~Edith Wharton

"When you relinquish the desire to control your future, you obtain happiness"

a case of the Mondays

So, it has been almost 3 months since I made a post. It has been far too long, so I decided to start this thing back up. I need to make myself take time out of my day to let my feelings out, to vent, but mostly just share my thoughts with you all. It has been a rough quarter. The weather has been great but the classes, not so much. Class is a lot harder than I expected and with being with an inseason sport, I just don't find time for myself any more. I talked to one of my best friends from home today, and he really made me realize that I havent seen him or the quad since december 31, 2008. It has been a long 4-5 months without them, and I thank my friends here for helping me through it. I am a very family oriented person, and a small town girl at heart and being in the big city for so long I can't help but get caught up in life. And it is days like these that I miss home more than ever. It is sunny, I have a little bit of studying to do. I did not have a long clinical day, so everything should be dandy right. Not quite. I just want to go home. Just for one night. Just to see my parents, and my grandma, have a home cooked meal and to sit on my porch.

My biggest fear right now is that I am getting burnt out of AT. I have let it consume my life for the past 6 weeks and worry about it constantly. I just need to move on out of this quarter and everything will be dandy. When Softball slows down, I can go home, and school is over, I will be one happy happy person.

I think the only thing that bugs me about softball here is that we have sunday game, meaning I cant go to mass early, and I have intramurals at night so I cannot go then either. So until next weekend, I will have to just pray on my own, and get through it. Just like I have all the other times before.

In Him, I find Strength to get through the day. In Him I find comfort. In Him I find my way home. In Him I find that things could always be worse.

Trying to keep the faith, Day by Day.

Kristen

Keep on keepin on :)