simply wonderful

The last few days...

Have been absolutely wonderful. I won't bore you with details or anything, but the past few weeks of my life haven't been the easiest, so having these great days all in a row has been stinkin' awesome. School hasn't been too bad, I actually like my classes - I find them interesting, I have cool people in my classes, my professors are good people and somehow I'm managing to not completely hate getting up at 5am. Even better than school, though, has been the time I've spent with my adorable family, more specific, my cute-as-buttons, sisters. Holy smokes, folks, they're fabulous! There really just aren't words to explain how great they are. Sorry guys, but I'm the luckiest one on earth when it comes to siblings. Savannah and Adi are the two most selfless, sweet, genuine girls and they're the perfect cure to a bad day.   

hiking the "Y"

 The girls and I are always close, but I feel like we've been doing a lot more with each other the last few days...Or at least bonding more than normal...if thats even possible. The other day we sat outside, late at night, under the stars for hours just talking, dancing, being ninjas {yup, you read that right-ninjas} and laughing the night away. Couldn't have asked for a better night. 

the girls bundled up on the night we were outside forever (: 

 I think it was two days ago, but the girls and I, along with our mommy-girl, went to Gardner Village. It was so much fun just to have some girl time and look at cute stuff, eat good food and make some more lovely memories. There is this witch scavenger hunt going on at Gardner Village that we decided to do..we competed with each other. Mommy&Adi vs. Savannah&Chels. It was too much fun running around the place, hiding from each other and trying desperately to find the witches before the other team did.

@ Gardner Village 

 This afternoon after I picked the girls up from school, we decided to go hike the "Y."  Just like everything else we ever do, we made the best of it and had so, so much fun! We hiked the majority of it in the dark which added a new twist to the hike we're so used to, it was great! I feel like we didn't even feel tired or like we'd been all worked out because we were too busy laughing, taking funny pictures and videos and talking to each other. Fun, fun, fun stuff.

Savannah & me being ninjas...told ya it was true..

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings (: Every day spent with my sisters is a new adventure that always brings about something to smile like crazy over. I, Chelsea Kate Walker, am a lucky little lady. 

Sisters are like ladybugs...

They're little ladies

Who bug each other! 

My Angels

I will never understand it.

I can't comprehend it.

Why I've been so blessed in being given the two most incredible angels God has to give.

I've searched myself

And I've no idea what I've done to deserve this beauty.

Perhaps I'll never know why everything I've needed has been handed effortlessly to me

So in that case, my angels...

I thank you.

You two precious, perfect little girls will never know the impact you've made on my life.

I may be older than you both by several years

But you're the ones who are the shining examples.

The mature, loving, selfless, phenomenal beings.

How is it that you're mine?

The way you both look up to me...

Your sparkly brown and blue-green eyes eager to watch me

Encourages me, daily, to be a better person.

The person, the big sister, you motivate me to be.

Because of you sweet little girls, I strive for excellence.

I am who I am because I know you.

I'm becoming who I should because of you both.

I cannot imagine my life without you. Life would be nothing without you.

Since the magical days you were each brought to this earth

You've been there for me.

Your loving touches, your sweet smiles, your happy, uplifting words...

You're my rocks. My support. My cheerleaders.

My best friends.

Dears, I hope you know I'll never leave, never let you down.

Forever and always

I'm here for you.

Thats what big sisters are for, after all.

And it is my sincerest pleasure to be yours.

Life will come at you fast, sooner than you know.

Your heart will be tried, happiness tested and faith shaken.

Please never forget

When you're feeling low, lost or forgotten

You'll have me.

You will always have me, girls.

How lucky are the three of us to have each other and to love each other so much?

You two have created the real, true smile I wear on my face.

You're my angels.

I'll never understand it. I'll never know why I'm the luckiest one.

All I can say, my angels, is thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Savannah Klaire, Adeline Kayde, I love you my little angels.

Girl Under the Stars

As I lie under the stars I’m coming to realize just how small I am. Small, but worth something…because here I am, under the stars with a chance, a blessed opportunity, to live life to its fullest and make my mark and leave a legacy. Even if only the stars notice my impact. I am someone. I’ve burned my bridges and broken bonds with tremendous people, but I’ve mended my ways. I’ve fixed myself and seen the bright lights. Perhaps the people I long for the most will never see the change, but I saw it, I see it. The Lord sees it. Undoubtedly, the difficult days aren’t over with and I’ve still got a line of never ending trials in my future days but I’ve learned so much about myself. I have strength. I know I can rise up against the pain, conquer the sorrow and find happiness, peace and grow more in this eternal journey. These stars will forever give me hope. Its like after all this time of doubt and uncertainty I’ve found the respect and confidence in who I am inside and outside. I’m beautiful, strong, worth it and special – someone worth loving and taking care of. Chelsea. I’ll lie under the stars a while longer with these emotions trickling down my cheek. Tears of happiness, finally. Acceptance, relief and joy. I’ll thank the sky for always being there as it twinkles at me. I’ll shine here in the moonlight and feel my heart beat out of my chest. Its my time, now because I’m someone amazing. I’ll leave my mark. My legacy will be one of triumph and courage. Even if only the stars notice. I’ll lay here, thankful. Finally the girl I’ve always wanted to be, the girl I love. Me. Just me. The special girl under the stars. 

just a cute photograph..

Lesson Learned

You know when something sounds like a really good idea and then later on you question your sanity, wondering why on earth you would have thought that idea was a good one?

I've got three words for you:

7 am History.

Blech.

On a typical night, I'm not even asleep until after 2am. If I want to look any sort of cute and ready for school, I have to wake up around 5 or 5:30. (i swear that should be a sin) Are you doing the math? I'll do it for you. It equals no sleep.

For some reason when I was signing up for classes a few months ago, I thought I would magically transform into a morning person. In comes the questioning of my sanity. I've known myself my entire life and never, never, ever, not even once, have I been a morning person. So then whyyyyyyy the 7 am class, Chelsea? WHY?! You know how much you loathe waking up so early! Not to mention its history... History is a cool subject, I actually am a lot more into it than I ever was in high school (btw, still so glad those days are d.o.n.e.) but regardless, its not something I want to think and be quizzed about so early in the morning..not that there are a lot of things I want to think and be quizzed about that early, but still. History is an especially difficult early-morning subject.

If I don't learn anything else this semester, I've learned this: Early classes stink. 

{but I really hope I learn a few more things than that..just sayin'.}

Save the Boobies

Warning: I'm on a rant, here, and this is (somewhat) of an adult-type subject. I don't even know if your adorable children read my blog, or if you, yourself, reading this right now are an adorable little child..just take caution before reading. I don't want to offend anyone.

(Do you have Facebook? Because if you don't, some of this post may not be as close-to-home as it will to those who do have FB. But please, even if you don't have Facebook, keep reading. You know, if you'd like. I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do. Thats rude.)

SO. I'm back in school. (woo-hoo!) I'm taking an English class. I like English, alright. I consider myself a decent writer, so I am confident in this class and I've always got good grades in English classes so that helps my confidence level. I'm not a huge fan of all the writing assignments though. I really, really, really don't like being told to write about a certain, assigned subject, I'd much rather be given a vague, broad topic and be able to choose what I'd like to write about based off of my own interests, likes, etc. Do you get it?

Lucky for Chelsea, my first real paper in this class is an argumentative, two-sided essay and the topic is something of our choosing. Thank you, Professor. I decided to choose something that I will probably regret later because I know I'm going to become obsessed over this subject and stress about it like a mad-woman and I'd be willing to bet I'll lose some sleep over it. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I don't know, yet, if its a homework assignment I really want to do good on, or know that I can do really good on, this is how I handle it. Hey, its who I am. I'm embracing it.

Subject: Breast Cancer Awareness

Here is where FB comes into play. Have you seen all of the ways people, specifically girls, I guess, are trying to promote awareness for this?

Allow me to give you a few examples.
(at least i think these were all breast cancer awareness games...to be honest, i didn't pay much attention to them when i'd get the messages encouraging me to "play" them...so correct me if i'm wrong. really do, though, because i'm going to write a paper on this and i want it to be right. oh! and if there were any more ways to become aware, please inform me, if you wouldn't mind.)

• There was one time when a message was sent around FB to all the girls that instructed you to change your status to "I like it on ______." In the blank, you were supposed to write where you usually put your purse. For example, mine would probably have been, "I like it on the floor" or "I like it in the closet." The idea of this is to make the boys scratch their heads over what on earth this status could mean. But, naturally, their minds are going to go towards dirty thoughts, I mean lets face reality, people, a person who has been exposed to any media is going to think this is the location of where a person is having sex. Okay, so whatever, its a bit comical, but what on earth does where you like to have "it" have to do with breast cancer?! 
• There was another message that went around saying that you should put the color of your bra on your status. Okay, this one is a little more closely related to breast cancer. Bra's hold your breasts...so there you go, sort of related. But still... Are we going to read so-and-so's status that says "red" or "purple" and immediately think of supporting breast cancer? Maybe I'm the odd one out here, but I know that wasn't what I thought when I'd read those status's. I guess at least this one doesn't put your mind in the gutter as bad as the first one...
• This one, I'm not necessarily sure has to do with promoting breast cancer awareness, I heard it was, but I don't know. Regardless, its gross. Anyway, the message was that girls were supposed to put your shoe size with a frowny face after it. For example, mine would be: 7 :( I didn't get this one at first, but rumor on the street has it that this is supposed to be the size of..you know, male anatomy. Why does a girl have to put this, though?! (Not that a boy should, either, though) And again, how in the H does this promote breast cancer awareness or show your support? This one just makes me feel dirty and puts my mind in a place it shouldn't be. 
• My last FB-point is the most recent "game" floating around. This one deals with your birthday. Your status is supposed to read, "I'm ___ weeks and craving ___." In the first blank, you put your birth month, in the second blank, you take your birth day and there is a list provided of 31 different food items and you match the food with your birth day number. Mine would be, "I'm 12 weeks and craving creme eggs." (ps i will never crave those. never. they're icky.) This one bothers me on so many different levels. This is offensive to me and I've never even had breast cancer or any sort of cancer, at that. Ugh. Okay, rant time. Most women who have had cancer, survived cancer, etc. become infertile and cannot have children. I don't know, but I'd assume this would become somewhat of a fragile subject for these amazing cancer-fighters/survivors. Right? Then how is pretending your pregnant on FB showing your support for this cancer? Its not! This one, in my opinion, is more for the comical/entertainment factor rather than the support. I wonder if whoever started this "game" thought that one through...Probably not, I'm guessing. In no way, shape or form does this have anything to do with breast cancer.

Alright, there you have my Facebook argument.

Now, here is the part I'm torn about. How do you feel about the "I Love Boobies" paraphernalia? This one is at least somewhat good because (to my understanding) some of the money from the purchase of the shirt, bracelet, etc. go towards breast cancer research. That is good, yeah? However, do you wonder if people buy the products with the intention of giving some of their money to the research? Or do they just want the product because its amusing to wear an item of clothing or to sport an accessory that says, "I Love Boobies," and it just so happens that some of the money goes to the good cause? I think there is a very fine line between good intentions and not-so-good intentions on this one. I don't know, what do you guys think? I need help on this one. I'm torn, torn, torn.

Then there is the breast cancer awareness and support that I fully am in favor of. The pink ribbon items, for example. I'm all for the pink ribbon magnets on your car, the opportunities we have to buy items at the store that are pink and some of the proceeds go towards research. For some reason I find it more supportive towards breast cancer if you have the choice to buy a hair straightener that is pink and the money goes towards research or a plain one. Do you know what I mean? If you have the choice to support and you choose to support, that, to me, means so much more.

There's also the runs/races. I support these, too. You get the shirts that have clever little boob references, but they're acceptable to me because when you see the person in that shirt, you know they ran to support the cause. This race shirt is different than the "I Love Boobies" shirt to me because you had to work in order to wear the race shirt and do physical work and actually show your support, physically.

What I'm trying to get at is this: There are so many good ways to promote breast cancer awareness and show your support without being completely ridiculous, stepping over too many lines and maybe insulting cancer survivors and fighters.

One last thing..sort of on the subject, sort of not and I can't decide if this is going to be in my English essay or not, please feel free to give me your opinion, I need it!  Why do you think breast cancer is sooooo widely supported and well-known when there are so many other cancers that deserve just as much attention? Is there a reason breast cancer is more commonly advertised than other cancers?

Alright, alright. I think I'm done, now. I know my argument, so far, is a little Facebook heavy, but I'm going to try and have my other points get a little stronger, in the process of writing however many drafts I write of this paper. Please, please, please leave your comments, feedback, arguments, let me know if there's any more points I should make, important things I've left out that would be beneficial to this paper, etc! I need all sorts of help with this paper. :) Yup, I love you all.

Also, if you wanted to wish me luck on this paper that'd be nice, too. :)

kthanks.loveyou.bye.
chelseakate.