"The End of An Era"

As we grow up our Sundays have become more and more of doing absolutely nothing than ever before. Some times even our Saturdays. And certainly Friday evenings.

Six o'clock on Friday afternoon comes around and you can find the three of us doing what we do best... laughing.

Usually we stand around in the kitchen snacking on little things and chatting while one person prepares a meal. Josh will be making bacon and chicken (always), I'll have a handful of pretzels and sit on the counter, and Moll will eat a string cheese and sit on a little stool. We laugh so hard we cry. Flannel PJ's pants and over-sized sweatshirts... leggings and zip-up hoodies. Headbands and messy buns piled on top of glasses and tired eyes.

We don't care what we look like, or who is wearing the same tshirt for the third day in a row. We love each other. We are best friends. We are roommates.

It's not always fun and games in this house, doors slam, and attitudes sometimes prevail. The occasional silent treatment, or someone blaring their music from behind a locked bedroom door. We love hard. And fight hard. It's gotten dramatic before (surprise surprise right?) cups of water tossed, swear words screamed down a hallway. But no matter how big the fight, or how rude we are to one another... eventually someone comes home and sighs "I'm sorry. I was really tired." We love hard. We forgive.

Perhaps the chemistry works so well because we each fill our respective role while sharing common obsessions. We go through roughly 40 cups of coffee a week in this house. Mug after mug goes through the wash. Carton after carton of fat-free half and half sees the fridge. You can find mugs all over this house. Little pieces of us trying to get ready for another day.

Our obsession continues with movies. We could sit and watch them all day. Literally. Remember "Casper?" yea... we watched it last night. We sit in our respective areas, swaddle ourselves in snuggies and throw blankets, prop ourselves on pillows and collectively decide what to watch. We work together so well no one has to say much, a well-oiled machine, three different and completely separate lives- blending onto the same canvas to create something beautiful.

Our newest obsession is "Friday Night Lights" the TV show. We've started the series on DVD and have become sadly attached after only 8 episodes. The tagline of the show is "Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Can't Lose" I don't know why we love it so much, but the three of us could sit for hours and watch.

We stand in three different positions. One with a job, one with a plan until September, and one with many options but nothing for sure. Some days I feel like nothing is ever "for sure" unless it is in the walls of 4W. The city outside this house is loud and busy and scary. Just like the world. But in our safe little fortress, up the creaky stairs, we always know that Mollie and Kalin's food is communal, Josh's is getting there and that "delay brew" is always set.

We know for sure that it'll smell like bacon some days, and my stuff is literally spread all over the house... Moll's room often looks like a bomb went-off... Josh's laundry will sit on the drying rack for 5 days... my frozen food options will take-over the freezer on Monday afternoons, and the amount of blankets and pillows I have on both couches is insane.

This blog post inspiration comes from an email I received today. We extended our lease until May 31. It was supposed to end on April 30, leaving us three homeless for the two weeks until graduation... Josh is taking care of all this for us (he loves little home projects, like staining and legal document work) this is no different. I read the e-mail while grocery shopping. I don't know why but it brought me to tears, I guess it sometimes takes the little things to make you realize what you'll miss the most.

Our property manager writes to Josh: Josh-

Mr. Meyer approved your request for a one month extension. As those extensions went out last week, please make the appropriate change on the lease extensions that were sent to you- cross out April 30, 2011 and write in May 31, 2010. Initial changes on both copies, and return with your signed Acknowledgement/Notifications forms.

Josh forwarded it to us with an attached sentence at top:
"I'll take care of this don't worry. Basically I'll just go over the documents at home, like I do at work. May 31 2010- end of an era.

Clear eyes

Full hearts

Can't lose"

So here's to my roommates who help me stay sane each day
and here's to the end of an era- it really is.

Waiting & Wishing

The working world is a hilarious and wonderful one.

This week my eyes were opened to the beauty and comedy that can be corporate America. An entire ROOM full of office supplies, open for business. A guy you can CALL FROM YOUR DESK who can just fix your computer- in a flash. Printers that work constantly and have ink- and if not- someone just appears- who KNOWS how printers work, and fixes it right up. Working lunches- three piece suits and stilettos clip along wooded floors of swanky grills having a mid-day martini and cobb salad, discussing next weeks reports. The morning commute, in which the mob of women carry bags full of shoes to switch into, and the men all have the same ear-warmers on and blank stare. The line at Starbucks at 8:45am... there is a guy who stands AT THE DOOR and takes your order, whispers it into a microphone in his hand and you approach the counter to pay- it's waiting for you. Microsoft Outlook with it's beautiful organized calendars and alerts at every minute of the day. I.D. badges to swipe into my office. A cubicle with a name plate on it. A company e-mail.

I must admit that I feel out of place in it all, I've never been a "corporate" girl, but the I am beyond passionate about the group my internship is with. I feel like I'm learning tons and doing real work. Which I love.

I'm not cut out to sit in a cube 8 hours a day and forty hours a week for the rest of my life. But I am cut out to put together amazing media packages that tell the world how important Summercamp is for a child.

In addition to internship, school is back in session full-steam ahead. I've taken a liking to my classes and I've decided that my Mondays of dedicated productivity will hopefully be a huge help this semester.

Other than the above- nothing is changed really. My friends are still the best. Making me laugh harder each day. We sometime still resemble an episode of "Metro Detroit Shore" when we go out together, and at the end of the long crazy days we love each other no matter what.

No matter how "overit" I am towards school, I cannot wish away my last semester of college. I can however wish away book reports and written papers. I cannot wish away my last semester being a nanny for a family I've come to love like my own. I can wish away Chicago winter and waddling to bus stops. I cannot wish away being a 21 yrs old with the only priority of school... but I can look forward to a day when I'm a working professional - finally putting all these years of practice to work.

One things for sure, I'm not slowing down for anyone or anything. I've committed to camp again this summer, it's the right thing to do- because it's what I want to do. Let the television news directors of America watch my resume reel and contemplate my employment while I run a Summercamp on the shores of a beautiful lake in Michigan.

I feel as though I'm finally beginning to realize that the pieces will all fall into place eventually, I cannot make time go any faster or slower- so I might as well live each moment.

So here's to the corporate world
and here's to wishing.

<3
Kalin

Top 5.

In an effort to organized my anxiety I've started to think in "top fives" like a friend of mine blogged about the other day. I returned to Chicago yesterday to a house full of love, and bags packed with business casual wear.

It feels good to be back. Ready and anxious to start a new routine and most importantly our last semester. Each semester is a new phase, a new beginning of sorts. This one has the ultimate cliff-hanger ending... which makes it exciting.

So without further ado here are some of the top 5's in my life today, in this moment (it could be different in an hour)

Top 5 exciting things:
1.) Mollie got in to Teach For America. She is moving to Charlotte, NC this summer to change the world and be the absolute best Middle School Social Studies teacher you've ever met. I couldn't be more proud of her. And you should read her blog about the entire thing, step by step.

2.) My final semester of school brings me a new, sure-to-be fabulous internship with none other than the YMCA of The USA as the media relations intern. This week starts what is sure to be another wonderful adventure

3.) I have a crock-pot and I'm not afraid to use it. My purchase of a book entitled, "Make it fast, cook it slow" should be an adventure starting this week as well- cannot wait for turkey white bean chili.

4.) I get to go back to my beloved Thursday morning weight watchers meeting this week. I miss Celia and the entire crew- and my holiday eating habits were miles better than years before but my activity level could have been pumped up a bit more- excited to get back on total track and hit that goal loss of 26 lbs.

5.) I can hear ice particles hitting the windows and I'm wearing a luxury snuggie with my feet propped up on the couch. That is all.


Top 5 things I'm craving:

1.) Chocolate. Now.
2.) "Country Roads" sung over a perfectly still lake at sunset during a Western Michigan summer evening.
3.) Celine Dion's new documentary "Through The Eyes of The World" in theaters, with a tub of popcorn and no one making fun of me as I sob while watching.
4.) a chiropractic adjustment
5.) popcorn sounds divine after thinking about the Celine documentary.....

So here's to your Top 5
and here's to Second Semester Senior Year.... graduation is 110 days away. But who's counting?

<3
K

Valentine's

As February rapidly approaches (seriously, where does the time go) we will soon be surrounded by a weird, freaky, and sometimes nauseating amount of valentine's froo froo.

Cards, chocolates (yum), gifts, sexy gifts, tacky gifts, kids gifts, funny gifts, practical gifts, and a never ending loop of jewelry commercials.

You'll have your moments of preparing your celebrations however you choose, notes to friends, a gift to your significant other, candy to pass out at work (I seriously believe people find ANY REASON to pass out candy in work/school) but perhaps... you don't celebrate Valentine's Day at all.

Let's see the Valentine's Day's I've had... some that pop into memory are; an 8th grade dance in a pink old navy t-shirt, blushing when my 3rd grade crush wrote he loved me in a valentine that was Lion King themed. I opened it at my kitchen table later that night... carefully unwrapping my amazing construction paper wrapping job over a shoe box with a hole cut in the top. I had a V-day at PF Changs with people I love, I've had one off of school for a snow day, I had one where a red envelope awaited me on the kitchen table, inside a necklace (a mockup of the "heart of the ocean" from Titanic) "Goober. I love you, you're my valentine. -Dad.

In 21 Valentine's Days I've seen it all. Single. Taken. Awkward middle school dance. Daddy's girl.

But what I've realized in the past few years is you shouldn't wait until the 14th of February to tell the people you love that you love them. Tell them today.

Don't be mistaken, I'll celebrate and bake for friends and watch some sappy romantic comedy. But you shouldn't hold out on this day of the year to write someone a love letter. Write them one today.

We've all fallen victim. I'm excited for my little treats I plan on trying out on friends that day. I quickly flip through magazines in line at the grocery store for cute craft ideas. I squealed when someone asked me to be their valentine this year, but their response was, "you're my valentine everyday."

And that my friends, is the most simple way of putting it.

Whoever you valentine's are... they are your valentine more than just February 14. I would bet money that they are your valentine right now! Whatever the word means... tell someone you love them today.

Hug your mom. Call a friend. Appreciate the people in your life who make you happy. Compliment the lady at work, hold open the door, tell someone what they mean to you. Because it will strike them as an even bigger shock on a cold, Wednesday in January than on the day where everyone is covered in pink.

So here's to all my Valentine's the people I love most.
and here's to you... go tell one of your Valentine's you love them.

<3
Kalin

"Plowing The Lodge @3am."

In an attempt to learn as much as I possibly can about news, I've been lucky enough to take on an internship this break at a station in Detroit. My shift begins at 4am which equals 8pm bedtimes (if I make it a priority) and 230am wake up calls.

This is why the blog has fallen into hibernation. I am so tired that after 8 hours of typing and looking at a computer at work, the last thing I often want to do upon returning home is type. Most days I get into my snuggie, bake, read, or just stare out the window.

I must now give a shout-out to anyone in the world who has ever been lucky/unlucky enough to experience the parallel universe that runs in conjunction with ours, just on a different biological clock. The world is a different place at 230am when you're wide awake... this isn't "up early for work" or "catching an early flight" this is straight up- the middle of the night.

Every night when I get up my friends are skipping home from bars, or my sister and her posse of 18-yr-old rebel best friends are up in the basement just getting their evenings going.

The freeways are empty, the snow has no tire-tracks, the radio people even sound a little tired.

But it's been amazing.

My always there never fading friend Dunkin Donuts Original Blend Dark Roast has become more than a friend, it has become my bloodline. Setting the "Delay Brew" for 3am and waking up to 5 fresh cups, lifts my spirits to the point where I am nearly floating down the stairs in my business casual wear and full make up.

I fill up a 20oz to-go mug, hop in the car, and head off into the infinite dark, silent, cold abyss. A sleepy, silent Metro-Detroit needs their morning show.

Once in the newsroom you would never know the rest of the world sleeps outside of our little kingdom- because news never sleeps. Therefore 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year- someone is there. Working to get the news to you.

The internship will wrap up next week, but what I've learned will be with my forever, it has light a fire of passion within me I did not know existed until I realized that going 50mph in a news truck on Woodward Ave in a blizzard at 5am is exciting to me. And that standing in the kitchen of someones home while they frantically call Haiti to see if their family is alive- that is the story that needs to be told. That's what I love, telling stories- informing people of the big giant world out there, that never sleeps.

Soon it's back to Chicago where the moment I could never imagine, Graduation, looms not-so-far in the future. I know that May 15 will be here before I can find the words to tell the people I love so much in that city what they've done for me.

In a dramatic ending chapter to what I would consider a pretty juicy and fun-filled read, the best friends will soon be scattered across this big country of ours. Friends filling every pocket of the nation, chasing dreams as big as anything. In recent weeks I've realized the scary rush of excitement I will get the moment I pack up some small little u-haul and move to a reporting job in Timbucktu, USA. After a much needed coffee-conversation with a friend over Christmas I've realized that even the ones who love the mitten the most, can relocate anywhere in the country and be happy.

Perhaps I'll head out into the West, where media markets are small and young reporters often start, maybe down south- where stations are more popular but have a quick turnover in staff, regardless of where I end up, it is sure to be an absolute adventure.

It could be in September-fresh out of a summer job moving somewhere to begin my television career. It could be next January after a time back at home. It could be 2012...by that time you'll find me attempting to write a baking cookbook and wearing a pink snuggie 20 hours a day while still talking into invisible television cameras in the kitchen while I help prepare the 1523982 ways the Franks family cooks chicken.

The waiting game is the worst. I sat with someone at the station the other day who said it best, "you wait and wait and wait- and the day you think it's never ever going to happen- it will."

So patiently I'll wait. And I'll live up these last 5 months of being a college-student living in one of the best cities in the world, with some of the most wonderful people in my life.

So here's to news, my passion that makes 230 am worth every second
and here's to that reporting job out there with my name on it in Unameit, USA I'll find you when the time is right.

<3
Kalin

"Happiness Is Better When Shared"

As I write this my little sister is in the bed next to me. Yes, it's eleven o'clock on new years eve, and that is totally okay.

Some people when I told them I would be on vacation with my family for NYE seemed shocked, or surprised. But honestly look back on your life... for a second just pause to remember the most amazing, speechless,memorable moments- you probably weren't alone. My family is in many of those moments.

The other loved ones in my life often take another key role, but ringing in a new decade next to these four is perfect in its own way.

Perfect is playing cards for hours and laughing until tears, perfect is Italian dinners and funny jokes, perfect is sitting on the beach under a full moon and taking turns talking about the best parts of your year, and what you wish for in 2010.

Mine? Italy, Summer, going Out West, and this. Grand Cayman with my family.

Italy- the one year anniversary is coming up of when I left. Sometimes I wake up and the entire thing seems like a dream, I met amazing people, saw places that some will only dream of, and fell in love with a country and everything about it. All the while learning more about myself than I ever imagined.

Summer- a challenge. I realized parts of my potential that were very much untapped. I trained a staff, and helped lead them to give over 500 kids the best summer ever. Blood, sweat and tears helped to complete nearly 19 hour work days... but kids hugging me goodbye and crying because they "have the most fun here" made it all worth it.

Out West- loved ones, bonfires, hikes, National Parks, the Kings of Leon cd on repeat countless times as a small Volkswagen headed from Wyoming to Northville. People say that sometimes its not the destination but the journey that gets you there. But for this trip it was all of it. The destination was the ultimate photographic moment, but those moments on I-80 with the sun blaring, open road ahead, and music bleeding in our ears are never forgotten.

And here we are. Cayman. The final chapter in an amazing year. What better way to spend it than with my beautiful family, laughing, bickering, eating pretzels, swimming, and reading on the beach?

If this year taught me anything- it's that when time passes you learn who is most important in your life. Perhaps some people fall out of touch for a while- but you can pick up right where you left off? Often times we learn who we don't need- when you travel far and things change. But distance between people should never define the love you can have for someone.

When I was in Italy I often times found myself talking nonstop about my loved ones back in the states. My Lupatelli 42 roommates could name all my family members and closest friends including a funny story about them within the first week.

Some may say that's weird. But to me it's having amazing people in your life. While the world swims and swirls around me in a constant haze of the future mixing with the present and a healthy dash of stress- through the blur and cloud what I see are those faces. The faces I can run to when I need them most.

The faces you come through customs to in the Detroit airport, the faces you kiss in the Denver Airport, the faces you smile at with tears on a street in Chicago, the faces you laugh with, cry with, talk with, and ultimately- learn from.

"Happiness is better when shared."-perhaps that's the quote that taught me so much this year. Italy was best when I shared it with great people. Summer was made from the kids and staff I shared it with, Out West was defined by the person who drove us all those miles, and this final chapter could have no beach, sun, or snorkels- and be the cherry on top of my year- because of the family I'm with.

2010- is sure to take me lots of places. I'll graduate college. Turn 22. Hopefully a reporting job, which will bring on the biggest challenge yet. Craziest part is for that I will most likely be alone in a small town. But while I may crawl into bed alone, and come home to a lean cuisine in the freezer without my two best friends to live with-what I know is that I'm lucky enough to know... I'll never really be alone.

So here's to 2009. I'm speechless.
and here's to 2010- and the beautiful people in my life who make it all so great.

<3 Kalin

Break.

I confess that I've been done with schoolwork since Tuesday. But this hasn't slowed my roll much. I feel like I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off, errands, last minute things, cleaning, packing...

Remember way back at the beginning of the semester? When I was freaking out about not being able to handle it? Well I did. It's done. And as to be expected, it was harder than ever, and wonderful at the same time.

In typical "last week of school" fashion, every class needed some sort of project/presentation or pizza party. I swear the number of pizza parties I will have during my schooling years will one day out number the amount of times I've sneezed, it feels like every week there is a need for another damn "pizza party."

But alas, who doesn't love pizza? Last night we had our final Metro Minutes class. We wished the seniors well as they fly off into the crazy world of sending out reel tapes and waiting, sometimes months or years, for a reply. Most are in the process of moving home again to rural suburban towns, where the dream of anchoring for CNN once began and catapulted them off to city lights, only to return and keep the dream alive while visiting the local strip mall and seeing old high school friends.

The night concluded with a small outing to the local Columbia watering hole, for laughs and stories over yelling Thursday Night Football fans and celebrating college students.

I start the internship in Detroit on Monday morning at 4am. I might as well attach a plow to the front of the Honda for the next five weeks, since I'll be up and headed to the station prior to anyone in humanity. :) I'm excited and a little nervous.

In the midst of 2:30am wake up calls and plowing Metro Detroit freeways, I'll juggle the bazillion exciting plans. Most importantly including family. The Franks clan heads south in a couple weeks, and it seems like a dream to me now... I think I'll believe it when I'm laughing after dunking Egan in the ocean and beating Owen in a swimming race.

Until then I'm having a crazy itch to bake. That itch will be taken care of when on Wednesday the ladies arrive at Gram's to bake cookies up the wazoo. Let's hope for a "fire-free" holiday baking session this year huh? This week I tried some "personal cheesecakes" for holiday functions at school. Judging that they were disappearing as fast as Tiger Woods sponsors, I'd call them a success. :)

As the semester ends, the total weight loss is 22.6 lbs. I tried on my "program director khaki shorts" today that I wear almost every day in the summer and they fell off. Talk about a great feeling.

So here's to my final Fall semester.
and here's to break and all things wonderful.

<3
Kalin