Farewell 2011...you were a good ship.

2011 was a year of miracles and a year of change for me for which I am so blessed and grateful.  Following is just a short list of things I am thankful for to remind me on the hard days to have a better attitude because I am truly blessed beyond measure.

1. Family.  Without my family I wouldn't and I couldn't have done so many of the things that I accomplished this year.  A special shout out to my parents who I owe so much and I can't even begin to express the impact they have had on my life.  I don't know where I would be without their kindness, patience, love and devotion. I especially want to thank my Mom who has been my rock and my support the last few years as I've battled the 2nd round of kidney failure.  I always knew that my mom loved me but I think this year I finally got it.  I understood that she would literally do anything for me.  She stayed up all night the day of my transplant and stayed even longer.  I am pretty sure my Dad didn't get a lot of sleep either.  I love you both.  Thanks also to my siblings and their husbands and fiancee.  I couldn't have done another transplant without you.  Seriously.  I love you to the moon and back.

2. Friends.   I have so many friends to thank and I don't want to thank anyone by name because you are all special to me. You enrich my life in ways that I can't repay you.  Vanessa especially has been there for and with me to hell and back these past two years. I couldn't have done it with out.  Thanks for being there...and being there...and being there.  Thanks for staying all night during the transplant when I know you need your beauty sleep.  You are my 3rd sister and I love you.

3. The Gospel.  Teaching Seminary this year has helped my understand of the gospel grow in ways that it hasn't before. I learn so much more than I could ever teach to my sleepy students.  But it is such a blessing to me to be able to study myself and gain new understanding.  I am so grateful to know that Heavenly Father loves and knows me.  And that His Son died for me so I could live with them and with my Family forever.  Its very comforting and when you have faced death multiple times it only becomes more cemented in your mind that you want to live so you can be with them.

4. My Health.  I am so, so blessed that a family, in their hour of pain and suffering, allowed one of their mother's kidneys to be given to me.  I feel so much better than I did and I have so much more energy.  I was even out raking leaves today.  (Granted it was 65 here)  I can do the things I want and I am looking forward to doing more. I am trying every day to take care of this gift and to remember exactly what it was..a gift.

5. Passing the AAPC exam with an 88%.  AAPC is the Academy of Professional Coders and the test was 150 questions and was 5 hours and 40 minutes long.  Coders do much of the behind the scenes work in a doctors office.  There is more to it than that but I won't bore you with the details.

2011 was a great year and I expect 2012 to be even better.

I hope that everyone out there in blog land will think about their blessings from 2011 and reflect on how they changed you.  I know that mine changed me and I am beyond blessed for it.


Happy New Year!

With Gratitude and Love

I should be prepping for Seminary right now but I've been reading several blogs today and decided to copy one of my friends Eliza. One of my best friends of over 20 years, Beckle the Freckle, found out that her sister has stage 4 cancer. She mentions in her post that sometimes we don't appreciate the people in our lives like we should. So I decided to copy Eliza and write a little bit about those who mean so much to me.

Dad
I love you so much and I am so glad you are my dad. I love going to movies with you and to Eddie Bauer just to look at bags. I am thankful that you and mom let me come and "take care of you" even though I think it is the other way around. You are the best dad a girl could ask for and I will always be your little girl.

Mom
I love you so much! You are such a talented and wonderful person. I am completely amazed all of the time at the patience you have to do your many projects. I can barely tolerate doing my cross stitch but I am glad that you are there to help me over the rough spots. I love that you have always been there for me through thick and thin. You are amazing.

Ken
As brothers go you are simply the best. You are kind and loving to your sisters now that we are all grown up and out of our childhood and teenage years. I love being around you and learning from you. You are so intelligent and someone I really look up to. I am so proud of you for going back to school and finishing your degree. You make me want to do that too. I love you.

Elizabeth
The bond we share is something hard to describe to anyone else. You are there for me in a way that no one else is or could be. I admire your strength and the things that you have taught me. I was so proud the day you graduated from Peace but more especially that you left the nest to pursue your dreams. Also, thanks for giving all of us Little G to spoil He is simply so sweet and wonderful. I love you both.

Kyle
Thanks for marrying my sister and treating her so well. You always make me laugh when we're together. I think the best memory I have of you was recently at Grandma Kieffer's funeral. I was having a hard time right before the family prayer and crying pretty hard. Thanks for putting your arm around me. It really helped me feel better. I really love you for that. I am glad you are part of our family.

Margaret
I love you my little blonde headed sister. I know that we tease you all the time about being adopted but I couldn't imagine our family as being complete without you. I admire that you went to Germany to live when you were 16 almost 17. I admire that you teach the German language to high school students and you are so good at it. I love talking to you and hanging out with you and doing fun sister things together. You are so brave and smart and wonderful.

Ben
Last but not least. Thanks for marrying Mar. You are truly wonderful to her. Thanks for letting me live with you guys for those couple of years and for dealing with my craziness sometimes. I know I was a trial but you were always patient. Thanks for fixing my friend's cars and being a great example of charity. I love you and I am glad that you are in our family.

Little G
Thanks for being my first nephew. You are so cute and so loved by us all. I love you so much.

And a few more people who are like sisters to me. I met RCH and Beckle the Freckle when we were all in 8th grade. (That's right, right?) So we've been friends for about 20 years or so. That's a long time and I love them so much.

RCH
20 years is a long time and who knew it would last this long when Jessica had you write me that note when I had mono. Thanks for everything. Thanks for being my first real roommate in Kansas City and for listening to me all these years. Your support is something that I need. Even though we don't talk every day know that I think of you often and love you more than I can express in words.

Beckle
I can't remember the exact circumstances of our first meeting. Maybe you remember better than I do. It just seems that you've been a part of my life forever. Thanks for listening and laughing and being a great friend. I love you so much and I am so glad that we are blessed to be in each others lives. You are a wonderful everything.


Love you all,
K2

Nostalgia: Simon and Garfunkel

For Christmas Mom and Dad gave me a CD of favorites from Simon and Garfunkel. As I was listening to it the other day and particularly to one song I thought about my senior year of high school.

One of my best friends, RCH, liked to make me mix tapes in high school and she would often put one or two Simon and Garfunkel songs on there. Cecilia was one of my favorites and the other was the one about organdy but I can't remember the title.

The problem was that my car, the infamous Flipper-Myrtle-Turtle-Wood, didn't have a radio. Well, it did while my dad was driving it from Oregon to Utah but then it quit working. RCH said it was no problem so we "borrowed" a radio with tape player from her mom's house. I think her mom missed it but only really knew it was missing when RCH brought it back at the end of the year.

Imagine, if you will, me and RCH and Beckle the Freckle driving around the thriving metropolis of Bountiful, UT in my 1973 powder blue Nova with the "boom box" radio with the tape player on the floor of the passenger side rockin' out to Simon and Garfunkel and the like.

I never had to wash that car either because the paint was so faded that it NEVER showed dirt. We had lots of fun in that car. Now as I'm driving my Ford 500 and listening to Simon and Garfunkel I remember those carefree days with two of the most important people in my life.

Remembering RCH

I should have done this yesterday if I was half the friend I claim to be but you know how life just runs by so fast. And I have a new book. There's the real excuse.

One of my very bestest friends, RCH, celebrated her birthday yesterday and I couldn't help but think about how very, very blessed I am to have her in my life. We have been friends for 20 years and we are still friends to this day. We've been through a lot together and even though we don't talk to each other a lot when we do its just like old times...like riding a bicycle. Its as easy as breathing.

We met in Jr. High courtesy of our mutual friend Jessica Habashi. I was home sick with mono (caught from my cousin..from drinking out of the same cup or something...not kissing you sickos) and Jessica had RCH write me a note. That was the first note of many more to come. We wrote stories about our class mates with Mrs. McMitchell and shared all the angst that teenage life can bring. We slept over at each other's houses and our families because meshed into one. Its quite amazing how it happened really and that it happened.

High school ended and I thought my heart would break saying good-bye to her even though Senior year had its rough spots for me. Sharing was never my strongest suit when it came to my very bestest friend.

I moved to Oregon and her parents sent her to me. It was a wonderful week. Then after I had been in Kansas City for a while, she came to live with me. We had our very first apartment together. Our first phone, first bills, first door bell. She got engaged, married and pregnant in KC then moved to Texas. Missed her then too. Still do.

Now she lives in the Mountain west with her DH and 3 darling girls I am lucky enough to call my nieces. To them I am Aunty Kainty or sometimes Sainty Kainty if I am bringing gifts.

So thank you RCH for 20 years of great friendship and for understanding me even when no one else in the world did. I loves you to pieces. Happy Birthday!

Love,
Kainty

Remembering Mrs. McMitchell

Although her birthday has come and gone a few weeks ago I wanted to write a quick post about her, about how we met and how GREAT she is as a friend.

We met in the 8th grade, I believe, but I can't remember the exact details. It seems like she has always been in my life, a comforting presence and always someone to turn to.

In Jr high, because we, probably mostly I, were a little socially awkward, school dances were anything but fun or highly anticipated. Instead we would spend them in the library since we couldn't leave the cold dark dungeon that was school. Poor Mr. Zonzini, the librarian, would probably would have preferred that we go to the dance. Instead we were there, always there but having a great time. We would sit in one of the "private" rooms and talk about boys or how stupid some of our classmates were.

In High School we were nearly insperable along with RCH. I can vividly remember singing "The Lord's Prayer" at her cars funeral. (RIP Rusty) This was at her request at it seemed at the time an entirely appropriate thing to do, to sing for a dead car. A car that had taken us on our many adventures.

Monster Squad. No need to say more.

We also share a love of singing and music. We were in choirs together through Jr and High School and we loved every minute of it. Especially great was being in the show choir, Xela, during our senior year. Performing and practicing was so much fun and Mrs. McMitchell always made it that way.

Alaska Baked Pie.

And now, she is a wonderful wife to a great guy from Scotland. She is the mother to a little boy and a very smart girl. I admire her so much for being a stay at home mom. It takes courage and she has it in spades.

Happy Birthday girlfriend! I love you!

Sometimes I am slow..

So I have this friend, Matt, who has a blog called Overcooked Sushi and for a long time I have been puzzling over this name. I couldn't figure out where it came from and why he would have picked it.

One day I had this ephiphany. OVER. COOKED. SUSHI. GET IT? Sushi isn't cooked. DUH K2. DUH.

And that's all I have to say about that...

Trip to the Motherland

Last week I took a trip to Salt Lake City, Utah for a work conference.

I left on Monday the 14th and flew straight through to SLC. I picked up my rental car from Thrifty and I headed to Bountiful to visit Grandma at the Welcome Home. I had arranged to have dinner with Grandma and some of Dad's family but I arrived early and visited with Grandma for a little bit and we also had a little time for shut eye before everyone showed up to go to dinner. We enjoyed a lovely dinner at Chuck-a-Rama which is a buffet that Grandma loves. She had mentioned that she wanted to go to the Olive Garden but it was late and she hadn't eaten so we headed off to the Chuck. It was nice to see most of Dad's family and have some food. I was so tired that I only stayed about 30 more minutes after getting Grandma home. I headed to the Radisson and my Sleep Number bed. I think I am a 45 but it was weird so I wasn't quite sure I did it right.

Tuesday the 15th was a bright and early day. We had to meet the vans leaving for the meeting at 7:10 so we could get there by 7:30 and have breakfast before the meeting started. All I can say is that by the middle of the 1st day I wanted to say this:

That is literally how I felt. Especially after we talked about 6 sigma. On Tuesday night I went to see my Aunt Carol and Uncle Bob. We had a great time talking and Aunt Carol fed me! It was great!

Wednesday we had to meet very early at 6:10 to begin our day. It was also a great day and that night we had a dinner at the Lion House with all the employees and out managers. The food was fantastic and I was glad to go back to the hotel and just relax.

Thursday was another early day as I went on a tour of the print shop which was fascinating. Please see my quiz to learn something you might not know! Thursday night I went and had dinner with RCH and Mrs. McMitchell and we had so much fun reminiscing. Of course I had to go and buy their children some toys. I think now I am known as Santy Kainty..because I am like Santa Claus to them. The three of us actually got to go out sans children and have some adult conversation. We went to a new restaurant in downtown SLC called The Acme Burger Company which is a very fancy burger place but the burgers were great! I really enjoyed it. Although, I thoughtlessly made this comment about RCH's food.

Me: What is that junk on your burger?

(Laughter from RCH and Mrs. McMitchell)

RCH: That is the topping for my burger. (I can't remember what it was.....)

Some things never change.

I left on Friday so I could be home for our stake choir concert on Saturday and Sunday. I had planned to stay later but those plans changed when I realized when the concert was. Grr. I had a great time seeing everyone and I am so glad I was able to squeeze in some family time whilst learning new aspects of my job.