BIRTHDAY.

I loves birthdays. Nothing can go wrong on my birthday. You can honestly treat me like crud on my birthday and it doesn't even matter (Hopefully people don't, but still). Because it is my BIRTHDAY. and I am just so happy on that day of the year!

 First off, I got the FREAKING SWEET shirt from my sister. "Keep Calm, and Don't Blink". Any Doctor Who fans out there will understand. I LOVE it. So much. likewoah. Thanks Annie :)

My friends and I also went to A&W for my birthday, because I hooked (most of) them up with free Papa burgers! So delicious.

Also, it was James' [My roommate, Katrina's, boyfriend's] birthday (which I think is ridiculously hilarious). Every day I'd be like, "JAMES! Happy birthday in two days!!!" and he'd just mumble "...yeah. You too, Kelene." Hilarious. 

Anyway, so Katrina bought him a German Chocolate cake (which I got to share in, baha). So good.

Now, it's a bit of story time. After A&W and then cake, I went to hang out with my friends in room 103. Now, normally there is an average of 3 boys in that room. Well, all the boys had gone home for the weekend (or were furiously studying) and what does that mean? GIRL'S NIGHT. 

Me, Savannah, Andrea, and Amanda (Deanna came later). Basically we talked boys and relationships and flirting and general hilarity. Every once in a while we'd have a serious moment, but for the majority of the time is was pure fun. For the first time in my life I found myself lying on the ground laughing so hard I could barely breathe. 

"Why do all of the guys like Uberta?!?!?*" 

"All she does is go 'Ha ha I can twirl my hair.'" 

"He's only this much taller than me." *Takes a shot of Dr. Pepper*

"No one knows what they're doing!"

"And then it was wet!!!"

(*name has been changed)

Hilarious. 

Then Savannah's love interest (Cole) finished studying and she went to hang out with him. Well, we all did for a little bit. And we were just laughing. I think he might have been worried about our sanity. Actually, throughout the night, multiple boys were sure we were high on something. Also, I flipped a chair. And then Andrea flipped it again. 

AND COLE SAW DEER! So we stalked them.

Well, at that point we had lost Savannah, so what is a logical course of action? Call Josh. It was an exactly 40 minute long conversation (we warned him we were going to hang up!). He said it was the funniest phone call he had ever gotten, drunk or otherwise. 

Great night. Maybe a bit insane, but still... fun. :D

ANYWAY.... These are my birthday gifts!

A pool cue, watercolor paper, a book (The God Who Weeps; SO GOOD), new scriptures (which I love so so so much. They make me want to read every minute of every day), and *drumroll please* a cast iron pot! Which I completely wasn't expecting after getting my scriptures. And I love it SO MUCH.

(This is me falling in love at first sight)
My goodness, asking for a pot for my birthday? I must be getting old.

 And this is the first of 3 pictures I have painted with my watercolors. I'm a bit addicted.

My life is so absolutely wonderful right now. Can I even possibly get that across? Also, ran 1.2 miles this morning. I'm trying to get 2 miles in 20 minutes by Spring Break! Wish me luck!

Love; Take Two

Kelene Fletcher's View on Love: February 2013

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It's that time of year again. Happy Valentine's Day everyone! You know, since coming up to college, my whole perception of love has shifted. I've dated for the first time. One sister lost the love of her life (so far). Another sister found hers (in a way I never expected). It's all one big paradigm shift. What is that paradigm now?

==> Love is so individual.

I'm taking the classes and I've read the articles and all that about what love is, and there seems to be a general formula, but each and every love is unique. I'm just beginning to understand how impossible it is to describe.

To start I'd like to share one of the most common references to love -- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
        "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves."

This past semester I seem to be hearing all over the place that love is service. That's it. To paraphrase my institute teacher; Selfishness is the root of all divorce, selflessness is the root of all love. When you are in love you are putting someone above you for the first time in your life. "When you stop focusing on yourself and focus on serving your partner, you will love being in love."

I read a great article online that talked about the fact that it is the everyday things that build up to a great love: "The aim should be in the joy of doing things, even simple things which anybody can do, for the person you love. It is particularly impressive when the act is one which the other person could easily have done for himself or herself. Rather than looking upon such events as sacrifices, they are investments in a happy relationship, not a loss of identity."

It's been hard this past year, seeing the different things that have happened to my sisters. When one of them told me that she might be getting a divorce, I got a bit disillusioned about love for a while. I've never actually been in love, but I always had this kind of idealistic view of it, like it could just solve everything. That got shattered for a bit and I had to re-evaluate. On that wise I reaffirmed that love is a two lead play. It takes equal partners working awfully hard to be in love. I've always admired that saying: "No one falls in love by choice, it is by chance. No one stays in love by chance, it is by work. And no one falls out of love by chance, it is by choice." Love is such incredibly hard work.

Now, my other sister had always led me to believe that love was slow and methodic and a quiet something, and then she meets this man and just knows that he is the one. You know the saying; Lightning could strike. And it did --- for her. It is so surreal to know that it can actually happen that fast. It isn't just about those off-the-wall stories you hear about from that who-knows-where source. 

Love is so individual. 

It scares me, you know, being that vulnerable... allowing someone so close to me that they could make my life or break it (for a time). It is honestly as if I don't feel as though I'm worthy of being loved sometimes. And I know that that will change, and I can allow someone in who will completely change my life. 

And I don't know when that will happen.

And I don't know how that will happen.

And I don't know who it will be.

It might be thunder, it might be lightning, and it might be like spring rain. It all depends on him and me and when and where. 

Love is so individual.  

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Love; Take One
Love; Take Three

What? Kelene can make new friends?

Long time no see! Lots has happened in the past few weeks, all of it good.

 I went to a presentation by Jon Schmidt from the Piano Guys. SO FUN. And I got a picture with him! :D

We also had a murder mystery party in South Campus (basically a real life game of Clue) 

Me and Taylor were partners. Because we are cool.

 THE VICTIM!!! Somebody killed the doctor!

The investigation begins!

And guess what? Out of the dozens of people there... WE WON! CAME TO WIN!!!!

We wrote all of our clues down on this super awesome napkin. In case you were wondering, it was the policeman, with the quarterback's gun, and he did it because he loved the Doctor's wife and she needed the life insurance money. 

It was very well done.

I WATCHED NACHO LIBRE. For the second time in my life. and now I love it. Ohmygoshyes.

"I wanna ween!"

And Taco Tuesday at Cafe Rio with my new group of friends! They are all pretty slick. (from left to right: Jon, Deanna, Amanda :: Me, Josh, Bub)

Also, homemade bread. Need I say more? (and it's 2/3 whole wheat!)

The institute dance! SO FUN. Weird music, but fun. We definitely sang Karaoke.

 After that I made the awful decision to attend the Slenderman marathon in the Moen basement. Never again.

Slendy -- not even once.

I also discovered the most wonderful and more terrifying thing on the planet: Homemade hot pockets. They are delicious, and wonderful, and easy to eat and easy to make. And that's why I can only make them once a month from now on. Because otherwise I would eat them for every meal (not an exaggeration. Just ask Taylor).

Speaking of Taylor, no way did we go to Aggie ice-cream and get double scoops in waffle cones. No way.

Found out something funny though: Aggie Ice-cream is not FDA approved. They have a special license to sell it in Cache Valley because there is too high a fat content to get past the filters.

....bahahahhahahaa

Anyway. Life is grand. I have a great group of friends, am doing pretty decent in school, and love college. 

Oh, and my birthday is in two days. 

;D

Peace out.

Questions, Part IX

41. What would you be happy doing for hours on end?
     This is an easy one. Reading. I can read for an impressive number of hours on end. I honestly don't have a record (I should start keep track of it, though). My most memorable was the night I got Harry Potter 7. I read it in 8 hours straight :D

42. What is your favorite olympic event?

     Oh um... I'm not huge into sports, but I definitely love everything gymnastics. It is awe-inspiring to see what can be accomplished with the human body.

43. Would you rather be blind or deaf?

     I thought for a long time I'd rather be blind, and then I wobbled over to deaf, but I think I'm back to blind. Really it's the question would you rather learn to read again or learn to talk again? Because blind would require reading braille (and learning how to get around with no sight), but being deaf requires you to learn ASL. And anyone you want to communicate with. Not to mention you'd sing terribly (which would be so sad). So blind. It is much more difficult in the immediateness of it all, but deafness is so much more broad.

45. What food do you HATE?
     Haha, I love most foods, but there are a few I can't stand. Seafood is one, unfortunately. Basically anything that came from the water I don't like. I'll eat it if I'm starving, but if I have a choice... no thank you. Also mushrooms. I don't even know why. I just think they are nasty. I'm not a huge fan of oatmeal either, but that one I can stomach every once in a while.

45. What is one thing you admire about your mother (or mother figure)?

     I'm not going to name one. That would be impossible. And you wouldn't get a real grasp of how amazing my mother is. She is kind and compassionate. She is incredibly in-tune with the spirit. She is quirky and crazy. She has a wild sense of humor. She is genuine. She believes in second chances. She knows how to love unconditionally. She is so generous. She is dedicated; to her marriage, to her children, to her church. She loves to read and she loves to cook (and experiment, haha). She forgives. She is... a mother. And I love her for it.