kellita the señorita the ibby dibby dow: April 2012

Man, how have any of you gotten along without my blog and stories of my adventures for almost one whole month?!

It has been a doozy this last month de vuelta in the US. Unexpected adventures at every turn. I had been uploading photos to do singular posts of each experience and adventure, but I don't feel like backdating blog posts. So here's a jam packed update with mad photos of the shenanigans of the last month.

I arrived to Orlando to be greeted in the line for immigration by a video photo montage. I was spooked/delighted when Neal Arthur and Kelly Dage's faces appeared on screen. It was like a welcome home from a personal W+K committee. Was big brother watching?

First stop was Miami, to see mi hermana and my two beautiful nieces. One of whom was fresh out of the womb when I left 15.5 months earlier. Never a dull moment. As my sister had a lot of time off work, our week was filled with plans of lounging on the beach. Then Cam busted her head open, and those plans quickly turned to emergency room visits and lots of indoor movie watching and reminders for Cameron not to move. 16 stitches, and she couldn't seem to remember that running was not an option. Invincible that one. Cam has grown up more than I can explain, and is also now an amazing big sister. And though Bells took a bit of time to warm up to her Aunt Kelly, by the time I left Miami, it was me she was calling for when she woke up from her naps.

After a week hanging with the girls, I boarded a plane to San Francisco. On my connecting flight from Dallas, I got in my first fight at 30,000 feet. After several unsuccessful tries at reclining my window seat for a little nap, I turned around to find that the person I thought was a bratty 2-year-old kicking my chair and jolting me upright after each try was actually a 55-ish-year-old woman who seemed to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Let's just say the flight attendant was called, and when he instructed her to let me recline my seat her response was "over my dead body", I gave up the fight. I wasn't interested in sitting with my hands cuffed behind me with the flight mashal for the remainder of the journey. But I believe I won when 30 minutes later I jammed the seat back supporting my seat on the tray table, making it impossible for her to move me forward again. It's the small stuff.

I spent 4 days in Berkeley/San Fran, where I had a full-day group interview for what could have been my dream job. But I didn't get that dream job, which means there's something else out there. I got over it after a few days. Then I flew to Alabama, where a handsome young Air Force Officer picked me up from the airport. We set off from Indiana in Michael's new fuel-efficient Xterra, sing-a-longing the whole way west. We made overnight stops in Lawrence, KS, Denver, CO, and St. George, UT, with a 2-hour stop in Las Vegas so Michael could play the slots for the first time. He dropped me in LA before heading on to the AF base.

Thankfully Jerome put me up on his air mattress with short notice. And I was ecstatic when I realized he lived 2 blocks from the beach. I spent the week in LA practicing my surfing skills, which are still mediocre, doing yoga, and figuring out how LA works. Seemed I was there at the right moment, as I got to reunite with a boat load of W+K peeps, and the fun just kept coming. Michael says I should get a reality TV show on how to keep doing awesomely cool stuff without having to spend very much money. I try to tell him it's all in who you know. Thanks peeps. After checking out LA and deciding I would definitely consider living that close to the beach (cause LA is not just The Real Housewives and Hollywood, who knew!?), I flew back to Indy. And here I am. For now.

This week is down time. Cause I lead this really difficult and stressful life, right? I unpacked some stuff, organized my room, so it's like I have a real home now. Except that home is my dad's house and I'm 30. NBD. And Friday morning I fly to NYC for a week of catching up with my NYC homies. Then next weekend, I fly to Mexico City. I know, you thought I was out of money, right? Well, I am. But I have this really awesome experience. My friend Erin has a corporate meeting in Mexico City for 2 weeks in May. And she needs a Spanish-speaking TD on-site for that time. So I am getting paid to go to Mexico City for 2 weeks to speak Spanish and organize stuff. Can I get that as a full-time gig, please?

So that's what's happening in a nut shell. And what's coming after Mexico City, I have no idea. Maybe that's when I'll have to start getting serious about job searching and the "next steps" of my life. But I'm just hoping that much like the last few weeks have played out, my life will just continue así. I did get a new cell phone. Simple stuff, just texting and calling. Figured it's hard to apply for jobs and ask recruiters to just look me up on Facebook. Baby steps. Really waiting for that call from God to tell me what's next. Keep you posted. For now, hit me up with any ridiculously good offers.

Welcome to Miami - Hermanas

Cam in her school uniform pre-head-splitting

not everyone looks sooo good in the AM - this is right after cam said, "umm sorry Aunt Kelly, but your breath stinks"

Bella - this girl LOVES her shoes

all day long

Love her

cam and her stitches. and her blue pancake, also with stitches

still love those leisurely mornings

hermanas

view from jess' coast guard spot

lunch by the beach

lauren came to visit. it rained. really hard.

so hard that we had to drive home in our swim suits after stripping down on the side walk. this did not seem normal when we got to the suburbs and it was sunny again.

hiding in the cabinets. this child has no need for traditional toys.

we got to go out on the coast guard boat

jess leading the way

coast guard cutter

she was a little nervous

nbd

i'm on a boat

sunny days

racist surprise party

complete with piñatas

cam making it happen

tu-tu

at the pool

my creepy motel in berkeley

san fran

fortune cookie factory - where i went when i found out i didn't get the job, and again had no life plan. fortune cookies did not help. i am still planless.