Bon Voyage!

welp, the time has come for me to spread my little wings and leave the mtc behind. it has been a great tim here, learning and feeling the spirit and whatnot. in about 16 or so hours i will be in Vina del Mar, Chile to preach the good news of Christ to the good people there. Dont miss me too too much, kay?
you all can write me at well_flip_hermana@myldsmail.net. Or, if ya wanna get more personal you can send a letter snail-mail style to:

hermana katie kelly
chile vina del mar mission
4 norte 1112
vina del mar
chile

les quiero! embrazos,
hermana kelly

Possible parting is such semi-sweet sorrow...

In case those of you my avid readers didnt know, tomorrow I will be entering the MTC, the official start of my 18-month mission in Vina del Mar, Chile. I dont know whether or not I will be able to procure much internet time while I'm there, so this blog might be on hiatus for a while.... unless I can find some way to send my thoughts to a reliable friend to be blogged by proxy..... (Reyna...?)
Anyway, thanks for reading waht I had to say, though my life is pretty boring; and, until next we meet, God be with you. :D
Hermana Kelly

Suprise! It's Christmas!

This morning I was awakened by my mother excitedly shouting, "Wake up, Katie! Santa was here!" My family had thrown Jack and me a SUPRISE EARLY CHRISTMAS, since we won't be home for the real Christmas (we report to the MTC on Dec. 17th) so the morning was spent by my family watching the two missionaries-to-be opening gifts. It was really nice, we got a lot of things that will be useful on the mish.... and my mom got Jack and me tickets to go see Manheim Steamroller this Saturday after our endowment. Yay! All-in-all a successful, though unusual, Christmas.
In other news, I had to speak in two wards this morning; My home ward and singles ward. I made a bit of a fool of myself in home ward, but I think it was a success in general.

Midnight Turkey Lovin'

It is currently 11:00pm, and what am I up to? Why, roasting a turkey, of course! My dad is having a thanksgiving-type luncheon at his job tomorrow and he is supposed to bring the turkey, so at 9:00pm he asked me to start roasting a 25 lb. turkey. According to the instructions that came with the bird, it will be done at 2:00 in the morning. Woo-hoo.

Twilight

I discovered one of my most favorite book series earlier this year; a book about true love overcoming the most impossible-seeming of obstascles, and that we can become better than we are, if we really want to..... yep, you guessed it, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. It was the sort of book I went into a "reading coma" for; my roomie Sarabeth told me herself that it was 'making me anti-social'. After finishing the first book, I was fully entranced, and I couldn't stop thinking about it even to concentrate on my schoolwork -- would everything turn out alright? would edward lose control and kill bella? why didnt he just turn her into a vampire already? I read every book in the series (which was only the three, at that time) within a week. I was at the release of Breaking Dawn, which I finished in one day. I have been to Meyer's website and read every single outtake and draft there was. It is safe to say that I am obsessed with Twilight. I also have an excellent memory for things I have read, so I remember every detail from every book in the Twilight series.

I went and saw the Twilight movie last night.

I had already had low expectations of it from trailers and movie updates I had seen on the internet... actually, I had originally intended to boycott this movie because of the things I had seen wrong from these previews, but I ended up going with some friends to see the midnight premiere, expecting dissappointment but hoping for magic.
But, not only was I dissappointed at this movie, I was outraged! I want to throw flaming daggers at the director and punch the writers in the kidney! The camera work was sporadic and nonsensical, like an 8 year old boy with a.d.d. The script was crap, and the actors? Kristen Stewart spent half the time with this stupid look on her face and delivered her lines like a broomstick. Robert Pattinson was okay as Edward (he actually exceeded my expectations) but it still seemed like sometimes he forgot his lines right before he begins to say them.
I could go on, but that is probably unnecessary, I'm sure I've made my sentiments clear. I give Twilight about twenty thousand thmbs so far down they are pretty much molten magma.

Welcome to Firehouse!

Working at Firehouse Subs has been one of the more interesting experiences of my life. Mostly because I've recently realized it is one of my most favorite jobs thast I have ever had. I haven't got anything bad to say about any of it; the hours are flexible, they guys (and one other girl) that I work with are nice and friendly. My manager Rolando is benevolent, and is a real help whenever I make a mistake (which is often enough). The people who eat there (for the most part, anyway) are patient and amiable, especially the "regulars".
Then there is the food. I love sandwiches, and firehouse makes a dang good sandwich. My personal favorite is the Steamer, which consists of pastrami, corned beef brisket, and provolone steamed with italian dressing. It usually comes with just mayo and spicy mustard, but I like to throw a little vegitation on there: lettuce, tomato, and black olives -- YUM!

A Night at the Theatre!

Katie A. got tickets to see Phantom of the Opera for her birthday, which is great cause this was the last week it was playing at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. She immediately asked me to go with her, and I enthusiastically (to say the least) accepted.
It was so fun! We dressed up (you have to when you go to the theatre) and I almost bought a pair of opera glasses, but they were 40 bucks. Maybe I'll ask for a pair next Christmas...
The show was fantastic, (though they could have picked a slightly better singer to be Christine Daae...) Christine was delicate-looking, Raoul was super handsome, and the Phantom was uber-creepy and totally ruthless. There were really cool special effects and great costumes. I laughed, I cried (not really), I went "ooh" and "aah". It was great!
Also fun that happened yesterday: the missionaries invaded firehouse while I was working. It was great to have them there, and it seemed everyone was happier while they were there, even my coworker matt noticed. I think it was the spirit the missionaries brought.