Just Becuase!

Hi World,

I am feeling alittle lonely right now.  I need to go to bed soon, but I wanted to write alittle before I drift off to sleepy land.  Today, I had a customer come up to me and ask what was wrong with my eye? She said it was all puffy and red, I was like i closed last night and had to be right back in the morning, so that's probably why. She was ahh okay.. Why do people do that? Is it really any of their business what is the matter with my eye. Then I had another customer that comes in all the time with his five year old and two year old sons, ask me out on a date. He smokes and I always try to get him to quit and to think of his sons. He said to me today, " If I quit smoking will you go out on a date with me?" I was alittle shocked at first, and was like am sorry, that would be alittle hard to do because am married. He was like am soo sorry i didn't know, you don't wear a ring. I was like its an honest mistake. But honestly, even if I was single I won't date a customer that comes into the store all the time. What happens if it didn't work out. That would just be plain weird. Have any of you worked retail and been asked out by a customer? Let me know.

Kelly

One foot in front of another!

Good Morning World,

As you all can see I haven't written in awhile. A lot has happen since I last wrote. The fall semester in school has started and I am taking three classes(I think am crazy for doing that). The classes are Math 97B, Business Law, and American Genre Films.Tuesday is my busy day. I have all three classes that day.  Then I have been a little stressed at work, they have been moving people to different stores. So that means that two of our people have been moved, one  was replaced with someone else and the other wasn't. So I get to work 6 days this week while going to school as well. OH so FUN! On the personal front, a lot of changes have been happening too. I got my own apartment. The first time I have ever lived on my own. I have a question for all of you out there, "What kinda of advice do you have for me on how to stay calm and upbeat about all the changes that are going on in my life? What are some of the things you may have done to stay positive?" Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and I look forward to hearing your comments.

Kelly

States I've visited so far!

Hello Again World,

So, I thought it would be awesome to show you all where I have been so far. I found a way to color the map in with the help of my friends. Enjoy!

All the colored states are the ones I have been too and the ones in white are we're I still need to visit. Almost half done.

Kelly

My Vacation July 17-21, 2012

Hello World,

So, I went on vacation this past week. I made a goal for myself when I was like 15 or 16, and that was to visit all 50 states by the time I am 40. Last year I figured out to complete my goal, I have to visit 4 states for the next 9 years. So, that was my main reason for taking this trip. The other to just get away and relax.

 I was talking to my friend, Jada. She told me that it would be awesome, if I added the four elements to my trip. What I mean is to blog about Water, Earth, Air and Fire in my blog along my trip. When she brought that idea up, it made so much sense to me.



Four Elements

When I was traveling, I started my adventure though Canada. I was able to get on to the Ambassador Bridge about 6:30am. I got to the other side to cross back into the United State about 10:30am, but didn't get though til about 11am. I saw the Wind powers in Canada which made me think of the Wind part of the four elements







Wind Power







I stopped on the outer parts of Boston before heading to the Bed and Breakfast I was going to stay at. I will say that the traffic in Boston is CRAZY, but I made it in one piece.

I was able to find a few beaches on my hunt for some lighthouses. They were beautiful beaches. The only thing that wasn't my favorite was the sand( it's like tiny pebbles). It was very hot on your bare feet. I am glad I had flip flops on because that was better then nothing at all.

The ocean,sand, rocks and trees



A rock formation

Looking for Lighthouses, I came upon to this beautiful beach and I saw this lady sitting on the rocks and just reading her magazine as she watched the ocean go by. I kinda of felt like I was looking at a painting back in Spain. So I took the pictures to remember that moment. I had to make sure though that she didn't get me taking her picture.



What does this picture remind you of?

The last element that I have for you is Fire. As, I was sitting in my room at the Bed and Breakfast, I caught these amazing pictures of the sunset. The clouds are magical around the sunset. It was a very magical moment, the wind was out giving a wonderful breeze  as I sat on the porch. It was perfect and relaxing. By far the best vacation, I have ever had.

So with this trip I am about to mark 8 more states off my list of states I need to visit, and all I have on the east coast is Vermont. So here I come West Coast. 

Kelly

Busy past few months.

Hola World,
Have you missed me? It's been far to long I know. I have been very busy the past few months or so. First off, I have been trying to help my dad. He hasn't been well and the doctors think he has Huntington's Disease. We are suppose to find out on July 23rd, however my dad is very stubborn and doesn't act like a normal adult. If it is Huntington's, my brothers and I have a 50-50 chance of having it as well. I will just cross that bridge when it comes.  With that said, this week has been crazy busy because the city I work in is having their Art Fair. You ask what does that mean, Kelly? Well it means that it has been very very busy at work, which is good. But it's hard to do anything because we are short handed. Luckily, our DM was nice enough to give us extra hours to have help. Which is AWESOME! I will say I will be happy when next Tuesday comes along, because that is when my VACATION starts. I am driving to the east coast. So make sure you come back and see my blog and pictures, I will be adding from my adventure to the East Coast. Talk to you soon, World.

Kelly

Been Awhile

Hello World,
 It has been a while since I have shared anything. So here I am, writing to you! A lot has happen in the past few months.  School got out in May. I did very will I got  A-'s in both my Math and Business Communication class and an A in my Study Aboard Class (Art). I am very proud of myself. I work full time, so it's not always easy to get the work done when it needs to for school. I have signed up for three more class for the Fall semester. I will be taking another math class, Business Law and American Film Genres. I am really excited to see what this coming semester brings! On the home front, my dad is sick. We had to take him to the neurologist, the other day and the doctor thinks he has Huntington's Disease. If it turns out that he does have that, my brothers and I will need to be tested to see if we also have it because it is a genetic disease and we have a 50-50 chance of having it. So please keep our family in your prays. That it for now World, I will talk to you soon!

Kelly

Resume

Hello World,


I haven't written in awhile, so I thought I would take this chance too. It has been a little stressful since I have gotten back from Spain. It has been a stressful month or so, between working full time and trying to keep up with homework, studying and getting my group projects together.  My teacher gave us an assignment Tuesday, which was to do our resume. I haven't written a resume in over 10 years. I could feel myself getting depressed and over whelmed by it. I have people that are trying to help me, but it doesn't seem to be working. With me having this assignment, it is making me question if am in the right career path. My question to all of you is, Have you ever felt like you were not in the right career path, even after being in the career for over 10 years?

Kelly

Writing Assignment 2- Analyze Space in the Sagrada Familia

Writing Assignment 2

Hello World,
Here is the second and last writing assignment my art teacher give us, while we were in Spain. The assignment was to analyze space in the Sagrada Familia and the use of materials.

This picture is taken from behind the altar. You can see the light shining in from the clear windows. It is lighting up the middle of the church with this beautiful ray of light going to the altar. From this picture you can't really tell how large the church is.

Here is a better example of how large the church is. Julia is standing in front of one of the many columns holding up the church. Look behind her at the stain glass and see how tall that is and thats not even the top of the window. The Sagrada Familia is also a construction site, it is estimated that it won't be completed for another 30 years. The building of the church is done all by donations.

This is just one of the many staircases in the church. In my opinion Gaudi used interesting and different ways to make sure the elements in his design were excuted. He got his inspiration from nature.

He used alot of stones and commission stain glass artist to help in making the Sagrada Familia. This staircase is supposed to look like a seashell. Do you see it?

When you look at this picture what do you see? Would you think it's the ceiling of a world famous church. Well it is the ceiling of the Sagrada Familia. It's pretty far out there, interesting, amazing crazy and look at all them columns holding up that ceiling. That is only part of the ceiling too.

Lastly, I wanted to add this picture of Julia and I next to the big sea turtle.

Spain Journal- March 4th- Barcelona/Paris/Detroit

Day 10-Barcelona/Paris/Detroit

This is the last day for our great adventure. We had to leave our hostel by 6am to get to the airport on time. The metro wasn't that full, which made it nice for all of us because of all of our bags. We all were able to get checked in and we sat at the Barcelona airport for a few hours til our flight to Paris. When we got to Paris, we had to rush to our connecting flight because there was a ground strike and they didn't have anyone to let us off of our plane. I took my time getting to the connecting flight spot because I was having a hard time breathing because of my cold. When we finally got to the connecting spot. We had an hour and half delay. We finally got home around 6pm EST. I was happy to be home but I knew I would miss my new friends and the experiences I had while in Spain.

Spain Journal- March 3rd- Barcelona

Day 9- Barcelona

Today was a free day to explore Barcelona, to see what we may have missed. I went with a group of the girls to Las Ramblas again. I wanted to buy some art work to take home with me. I was able to find a wonderful painting of a Flamigo dancer and a Bull fighter. When we first arrived at La Ramblas, we were stopped at the stop light. For some reason I remember just listening for a moment. I noticed all the different languages being spoken. I hear German, Spanish, English, Catalane. Looking around you could tell that the this area was like a melting pot of different cultures. Each person lead a different life, no one was the same. But whatever it was, we all were there at La Ramblas to experince it together. After we spent sometime in Las Ramblas, we took the Tour Bus of Barcelona. It is a double decker bus with the top open so you can see everything from the top of the bus. It was fun, but I was not feeling well. So after the tour on the first bus, I went back to the hostel with Anne and Claira.

Las Ramblas

Kristina and Becky on the Tour Bus

Spain Journal-March 2nd- Barcelona

Day 8- March 2nd- Barcelona

Today, I wasn't feeling good. But I keep telling myself what are the chances you will ever be in Barcelona again. Take this experience and embrace it. We went to the Picasso Museum. The museum is located in two medival homes that they turned into one building. All of his art is on floor. They organize it by his earlier work to his later work, even pottery that he did. I guess I was expecting the museum to be larger then it was. But I did find his earlier sketches interesting. I also found it interesting that most artist, don't just paint. They plan there work out. Like when we saw Picasso's "Guernica" at Reina Sofia Museum, they was also sketches he did that helped him come to do his final painting of the Guernica.

Sign for the Picasso museum

After the Picasso Museum we went to the Barcelona Cathedral. It's the oldest cathedral in Spain. It is a true gothic cathedral. It is cold inside as well. It is very dark and where the nave is the chour sits.

The apse of the Barcelona Cathedral

After visiting the Cathedral, we went and had lunch and then went and walked around La Ramblas. La Ramblas is a outside market, where people can sell there art, flowers, gifts. It's really large, you need to be aware of everything around.At the end of La Ramblas is the Mediterran Sea and a staute for Christopher Columbus. We took a group picture in front of it.

Spain Journal- March 1st (Part 2)- Barcelona

Part 2 of March 1st

We did a lot on March 1st and I didn't want to overwhelm you with it all on one entry so I am breaking it up into two.  In the last entry,  I told you about the Hospital Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Gaudi's Sagrada Familia and the Neighborhood of Discord. After we walked passed the Neighborhood, we walked up this huge, I mean crazy insane incline slope. The only highlight of that experience was there was escalators in between some of the streets to help you get up the hill.

That was one hell of a climb, even with help.

I will say that climb was alot of work, I noticed that there were numberous people making that climb besides our group. We where all heading up to the top of Parc Guell. At the top of this hill was a beautiful view of Barcelona.

Barcelona in the backdrop

When we go to Parc Guell we sit down on the mosaic tile that Guadi had made. The sitting area was massive, there had to be over a hundred people there, however you couldn't tell because it was so large. There are 14 people in our group and we took a group picture of us doing the Art History Dance in the middle of the sitting area( minus Charlie, who took the picture). From the picture you can tell just how large it is.

After all our walking, we had a wonderful dinner that was made by the hands of our fellow classmates. It was a very good dinner, they did a wonderful job!

Spain Journal- March 1st- Barcelona

Busy but Rewarding Day


Day 7- Barcelona


What to say about today... We saw so much amazing stuff. We took the metro to the Hospital Santa Ceu i Sant Pau. This building was designed by Domenech Montaner. He believed that there was a healing power to the sunlight and being outside in nature. So he designed the hospital so that sunlight could hit every room. After looking directly at the front of the hospital, you do an about face, you see Gaudi's Sagrada Familia. I think I had to pick my chin off of the ground, I was so amazed at the size and look of this amazing building. I won't go into much detail about this building because we have a writing assignment. I will share my thoughts there. I will say that our group was able to go up into the towers of the cathedral. By taking part in this experience you are able to see Barcelona from up high and really get a feel of how tall Sagrada Familia truly is.

Hospital Santa Creu i Sant Pau

Turn around and you see this in the backgroud, Gaudi's Sagrada Familia

Julia and Dominique walking up the tower in the Sagrada Familia(sorry it's alittle blurry)

Looking up at Sagrada Familia

  

 After we spent time in the Sagrada Familia we had lunch and then met at the park across from the Sagrada Familia. From there we went to see the Neighborhood of Discord, where Gaudi, Montaner designed buildings next to one another. None of them looking alike, but you can tell which artist designed what. Can you tell?

Neighborhood of Discord

Spain Journal- Feb 29th- Madrid/Barcelona

Travel Day

Day 6-Traveling from Madrid to Barcelona

I woke up at 6am, believe me not on purpose but because my body woke me up. It was kind of nice, it was quite. Hardly anyone was up, you could hear yourself think and just reflect on the night before and think about the things to come.

I thought about how lucky, some can even say blessed, I was. I was able to be spending this time in Spain, not many people get this chance. Hell we still had 3 days left to see all this wonderful and rich culture. We left for the bus station, taking the metro to get us there. It is always an adventure getting on the metro, especially when you have your luggage to take care of as well. We made it through. The bus that we rode to Barcelona on was very nice. It had a TV in the back of the head rest. It was nicer then the Delta airplane, and trust me that is saying a lot. As we were traveling to Barcelona, we passed the wind energy saving units. I remember seeing them in a photography that a friend took while in New Mexico, but now I can say that I saw them in Spain as well.



A photo of the wind units from the inside of the bus

We arrived in Barcelona between 5 and 5:30pm. We took the Metro to our hostel. It was a good length walk when you have your luggage to carry with you as well. There was also a little accident. A classmate fell down and hurt herself. We all stepped up to help her and that made me proud of my fellow classmates. Once we got to the hostel, I wasn't feeling too good, but I was hungry. My throat was sore and I was freezing. So I pushed myself to go to dinner, but it wasn't to be. So I went back to the hostel as everyone else went exploring.

Spain Journal-Feb 28th- Madrid (My Birthday)

It's My Birthday!

Day 5- Madrid

Birthday Girls!

Claira and I share the same birthday, which is different for me. However it was a nice to have shared my birthday with someone while I was in Spain. We went to El Escorial today. We had to take 3 metros to the bus station then a 45 minutes ride to El Escorial. The group spent a few hours exploring the palace and the grounds.

El Escorial has a large court yard in front of it, which was inspired by Arabic architecture. It was very grand. There was no grass as you walked towards the entry to the main doors. When you looked  from the main entry way, there is a wall with a bench on it. I noticed that when we first walked into El Escorial it was very cold and that the guards where wearing there coats. It was cold because the structure was made of all Granite. I can't even image what it was like to live there with no heat and only fireplaces to warm the huge rooms. When we wanted into the church part of the palace, it was breath-taking and moving. I lite a candle for my grandfather. The paintings on the wall were so colorful and had alot of gold on them. On our way out, we saw this group of children playing a game to keep them occupied. It was a good size group but they hardly took up any room in the courtyard. As I was turning the corner, my photographer's eye caught this bridge between two buildings and the beautiful arch it had and how the zig zag lines the stairs between it made.

After we explored El Escorial, we were given an hour to have lunch. Julia and I went to an Italian restaurant. It was wonderful food. The bread was yummy. After we had lunch we took the bus back to Madrid.

El Escorial

Bridge with zigzag staircase

Birthday Lunch!

We got back to the hostel and relaxed til it was time for dinner. We went to the oldest restaurant in the world to celebrate Claira and my birthday. In my opinion the food wasn't that great, however the company and love that I felt from my fellow study abroad classmates was very touching. As my birthday request, I asked to go to the Market so that I could take some pictures. Some of my classmates had drinks while others had treats. The feeling of the market was busy and a very hip place to be, I loved that it was glass walls you could see out and in. After a while we all broke up into our own little groups, where Cooper, Ryan, Anne, Julia and I walked to a bar/restaurant were the "Grown-ups" had some drinks, laughs, and just a plain old good time. I will say that this was one of best birthdays ever.

Julia and Kelly outside of the World's Old Restaurant

Kelly and Claira blowing out the candles on there birthday cheesecake

A picture I took at the Market

Another picture I took at the market

Anne, Julia, Ryan, Cooper

Spain Journal- Feb 27th- Madrid

Good Day World,

Day 4- Feb 27th- Madrid
Today was a free day from 8:30am til 1pm for the Art class students. Julia, Krista, Kristina, Claira and myself were off on a mission to find a place to get Julia's camera fixed. As we looked for the shop, we explored Madrid on our own. We found the Royal Palace/Museum on our adventures. It was very large, we didn't go in but we did take pictures out side of it by the fountain and statues in front of it.


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Claira, Kelly and Kristina

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Julia, Krista, Claira, and Kristina doing the Tebow pose!



After finding the Palace, we went on to find the Plaza Mayor. The Plaza was just coming to life. Restaurants were setting up for the lunch rush, artist where putting out their art to sell. Performers were starting to get ready to perform. It was a very interesting spot. Later in the night we came back while going to the Flamingo show and the Plaza was crowded with people. It was a very different scene then in the morning when us girls had first found it.

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Me in the center of Plaza Mayor

The below pictures is of a texture I saw on a church while we were exploring Madrid. I found it very interesting. It looks like a map with different twist and turns, taking us in different directions. I found this mode of building while we were at El Escorial and also when we got to Barcelona. It is interesting that the way this building was made travelled all the way to Barcelona.

Texture on a building I found very interesting!

After walking around Madrid, we headed back to the hostal for lunch. We bought stuff to make an avodo and tomato sandwich. We had pineapple and oranges for dessert.

After lunch we all got together to walk to the Prado museum. Inside the Prado you can't take pictures or carry your backpacks. The Prado is so big that it's not possible to see all the art in one day. We also saw the "earliest know copy"of the Mona Lisa. It was amazing. They are still doing test to try and figure out who painted it. We show work of Caravaggio, Velazquez and so many others.

When we got done with our time in the Prado we went back to the hostel to get ready for our Flamingo Dance/Dance treat. I will say it was a true treat. If you never seen a Flamingo Show, please oh please go. It is very intense and romantic at the same time. The power the dancers have in there feet and the way they move their body. Commanding  the attention of the audience. It was just  remarkable.

  



Spain Journal- Feb 26th- Madrid

Good Day World,

Day 3- Madrid

I give my report on Picasso. My book was "Portrait of Picasso as a Young Man", by Norman Mailer. It was interesting. Did you know that Picasso was linked to the stealing of the Mona Lisa from the louvre. He had bought a  stolen item from a friend, who got it from the person that stole it. Picasso knew it was a stolen item as well, that is what made it so bad. He turned it in, but still could of went to jail for it. I believe there is a picture of me giving my report with the "Finger-puppet" of Picasso as he look when he got older. I'll have to find out who has it so everyone can see. After my report and we all had breakfast, we went to the Reina Sofia Museum.

The outside of the Reina Sofia

Reina Sofia

We saw some of Picasso's work and Dali as well. My favorite paintings of Picasso's is the Blue Lady, doing his blue period. There is just something about it, that speaks to me. It's so sad but yet classic. It's interesting to me to think, that I got to see Picasso's work. I stood in front of it and looked at it, just as he had when he was working on it.

Picasso's Blue Lady

Another painter I found interesting is Dali. His work can seem very out there. That maybe why so many people like him or hate him. That is one thing I love about art. People can interpret it as they see fit. Everyone sees something different, it's never the same thing for different people.

Dali

There is so much to write about that I saw at the Reina Sofia Museum, however there is more to cover. After we left the museum, we were allowed to go get lunch and then meet back at the hostel to go to the next museum. While we were out exploring, Julia, Dominique, Ryan and I came across a protest in the Streets of Madrid. It was about Freeing Syria. There was alot of people there and when I decide to take part in study abroad, I never thought that I would see a parade/protest for a political act. It was a peaceful event, but there was a lot of police presence there.

We all met up at 4pm to go to the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum. As we walked there we saw live performers, that were awesome. If you didn't see his eyes move, you would never know which person was real and which was not. When we finally got to the Museum, we had a little class outside to give a little history of what we were going to see. Benita and Gordon also bought special tickets for us to see the Chagall exhibit. That was a nice treat. He is a very interesting artist.There was a few of us that noticed that Chagall liked to paint roosters in his painting, which I found very interesting.



Live statue

Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

Having class out side of Thyssen Museum

Night Sky