Lions, Turtles and Buffalo, Oh My!

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Every once and awhile I'm reminded by a little person the importance of life itself and how it's the little things that we seem to forget are key. My cousin and her adorable son, Isaiah, which many of you have probably seen on my Instagram, invited me on their playdate to see the movie "Inside Out" and go to the County Zoo. Exploring the adventures of a child's mind and experiencing what adventures warm their heart was extraordinary.Inside Out, a movie that is based on the inside of a child's brain really captured my heart. It made me appreciate the joys, the pain, the love and the anger that we each experience in our lives. Shed a few tears, not gonna lie. The movie  was put together very nicely and was enjoyable for people of all ages, young and old. Now onto the zoo. This is my second time coming to this zoo with Isaiah and it's amazing how time flies. I remember holding his hand (he was about 2, now he's going on 5) and he asked me if I could touch what is one of the biggest things I'm afraid of, snakes! Thankfully this time we didn't run into any. Check out the pictures below.
  

If it's your birthday make some noise!

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I will always love birthday celebrations, I may not always want to do something grand, but a small get together with friends and family is all i need.22. It was time for a change and the change I decided to make was a little bit drastic. I cut my hair! but no regrets so far, I'm loving it! This was the first birthday from what I can remember that it rained, but instead of being down about it, I took it as God standing right behind me as I've realized that it's time to wash away the old things and step into the new! I'm ready for it.Thank you to all my friends and family, present and far, that made this birthday year very special to me.Pics below!
Celebrations~ Yay!

"We talked all night about the rest of our lives, where we're gonna be when we turn 25"

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Graduation Day:6:45 am: Just finished decorating my graduation cap with my other two roommates. Realizing the time, I only had about 15 minutes to sleep before having to get moving. Showered and when I came out, my hair surprised me. To my disappointment I didn’t like it but there really wasn’t enough time to fix it, I had to graduate! Fully dressed with no food in my stomach, no water to re-hydrate me, and with minimal amount of deodorant, very big mistake, I was out the door and up the hill towards the Basilica lawn.When I tell you the Lord must really love me even through all of my dumb mistakes; His love is unfailing. Saturday was scheduled to rain, heavy, thunderstorms. Most of my classmates were “hoping” for the rain instead of the unbearable heat, but I am not a fan of rain, especially not on a big day like this. I wanted the sun and that’s definitely what I got. It was 90 degrees and the humidity was on 1000.I would like to say that my graduation ceremony lasted about 4 hours (in my mind about 15), and lucky me for being apart of the School of Arts & Sciences, I got to stay outside for the whole ceremony, while the other schools went to their perspective locations under tents. I do not think I’ve ever sweated the way I did on graduation day. It was almost as if I was sitting in a sauna with a chinchilla on!Finally the time came for me to receive my diploma. I had sworn to my friends that if my name was pronounced Kels-ey, I would not walk across the stage, and this was my plan. But when finally stood up, my body was telling me “You need to get across that stage as quickly as possible and back to your seat.” You see, I have a tendency to pass out, not often but enough that when it happens my mother doesn’t run out of the room looking for the nearest hospital. I guess she’s used to it. What can I say, I’m a little girl and my body can only handle so much.I stood up to walk towards the stage and my knees were shaking, I was certain that it was only nerves at first, but when I looked down at my hands, they were shaking too. All I was thinking was “Jesus please, if I’m going to pass out, let it be once I get back to my seat, not in the middle of the stage for the Class of 2015 and all of their families to see and remember.” I got to the top of steps and of course, the announcer pronounced my name wrong, I began to lean over to correct him, but I felt light -headed. I quickly began to laugh, and floated across the stage, down the steps and back to my seat.I think that my bodily experience was appropriate this day, because it was exactly how I was feeling mentally. I didn’t realize I was graduating, it was a surreal experience and it was as if I stepped out of my body. I couldn’t really explain what was going on at the time.Well, here I am two weeks later, feeling the reality of the situation. I have mixed emotions for sure. Part of me is excited to take on this new chapter of life, but the other part of me is nearly heartbroken. I love my friends too much, probably more than I express to them. These four years have changed me in many ways, whether good or bad, they were still moments that helped me grow and I feel now as if I leaving them behind. I’m going to miss being around these people and basically living with them; seeing them daily. It hurts for sure, but it’s just apart of life that I’m going to have to deal with and I’m certain that as time goes by I’ll adjust to it. I just hope that I’m able to bring these people with me into the next chapter of my life...
 

The Cherry Blossom Festival

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This post is long overdue and I apologize in advance for that. A few weeks back in one of my favorite cities I finally decided to be a true tourist and go to the Cherry Blossom Festival in our nation’s Capital. I have loved living in D.C these past four years and I have truly regretted not seeing more of the touristy places within the city. Well I finally got to witness this amazing site, The Cherry Blossoms! Me, Candace and Vic made our way in the 75 degree weather and took as many pictures as we possibly could.I think this is the part of D.C that I will miss the most, the sites. Being able to easily hop on the metro and go downtown to these Historic places. But I’m glad I have the pictures, because they hold my memories and remind me that I can always go back to the city I love whenever I like.
Xoxo