“That’s Nuts!”

I have never heard someone say that phrase as much as her.

Maybe it has to do with the fact that she learned English so late in life, as she is from New Mexico and all.

No but seriously, people here at PSU have commented on the fact that her English is so good for being a New Mexican.

…who do they let into this place?!!!!

Well they let a girl from Farmington, New Mexico in that’s for sure. And this little lady has become a huge part of my life since first semester sophomore year. Who would have thought?

Destiny.

One of my good friends, Meredith, had completed the Disney College Program and at this point was a recruiter at Penn State. As she was hanging up posters on campus she was approached by a girl asking about Entertainment auditions. She didn’t have a car so Meredith said “Oooo! Take my friend, LB’s, e-mail address– I know she is driving!”

Meredith then called me and warned me that someone may be e-mailing me about heading off  to Pittsburgh.

Good thing she warned me because I got that e-mail shortly after and I did not even hesitate to offer this chick a ride—if only SHE knew what she was getting herself into!

We decided to meet for lunch. Which turned into meeting for spaghettios at McElwains every single Friday there after.

Hey! She liked spaghettios–I can work with this girl!

I end up driving her to Pittsburgh on the VW Bug ride from hell. I manage to get us all there alive at EXACTLY 2 p.m. when the auditions began. Nervous much?!

But we made it and and we Disney danced our little hearts out.

Before I knew it…we were in sunny Florida and roommates. With 6 other girls.

Ehhhhhh.

Sure, it sounds like a set up for disaster—but it was AMAZING.

We grew up together. We traveled together. We danced together. We got to know each other.

AND it turns out she likes more things than just spaghettios!

Yea, we learned a lot about each other!

And we got to do all of the above in the happiest place on earth.

When it was time to leave we cried. Even though we would see each other again in only a few short months in our very first apartment. Together. With Emily and Sally.

From the happy valley to the happiest place on earth and back to the valley again I have made you stay for the ENTIRE football game, put a roof over your head (haha!), got you to BLOG!,  and even ran a 1/2 marathon with you–with the flu, because I love you!, and someday I will make you LOVE wine

I love you HdC. And don’t forget I get to smack you next week!

I am so proud of you.

You win valedictorian of Apt. 134 by the way. Congratualtions. I know the competition was tough

Hello All!

Maddy had another surgery this morning which involved skin grafting.

The whole process ended up taking a lot longer than expected. At the time I spoke with my Aunt MAddy was still asleep from the medicine.

Aunt Jenny headed home this afternoon to spend some time with Cassie and Livi (who both miss their parents…A LOT!).

Today was the beginning of the new cycle for my Aunt and Uncle.  Only one parent can stay with Maddy in Boston for the remainder of her stay–the surgery and recovery time is still not determined.

Maddy has more surgery coming up.

Please continue to pray for our girl, the doctors, and my aunt and uncle as they adapt, once again, to this huge life change.

Thank you

We are quite the team. Look at her laughing at me. What?! I thought this hat was cute Madelyn!

You don’t want to walk in that room do you? You will attempt to avoid it because you feel uncomfortable.

I know! Me too.

You love these ArmaniExchange sunglasses?

I know! Me too.

You don’t want to go to class?

I know! Me either.

You love watching ANTM but only on Sundays?

I know! Me too!

Want to get a drink?

YES! Me too!

Well, that’s because you are a Taurus.

Yup.

That’s why we are so similar.

Whenever she says something I agree with and no one else does the only reasoning I can give is the fact that we are both Taurus’.

Born two days apart over 400 miles away from each other at the very end of April.

And we didn’t meet as chubby little babies in diapers instead we met in Crazytown

…in pants.

(and shirts…don’t get too excited out there.)

Let me tell you a little something about Crazytown. It is Crazy. Or I guess I should say was. Not that it is no longer…but it’s just not the same.

Anyways…back to the story…

I met this girl through her roommate. And eventually I was initiated into their clique of two, they are such Mean Girls and I was invited to partake in a night at Crazytown aka their dorm. I don’t know how it happened but in that little room I had wayyyyy too much fun and would walk back…I don’t know how…to my dorm a little up the street. I loved Crazytown so much I made it a weekend event. I met her brother. And learned that she had 6 more siblings at home. She is the oldest of 8. I was jealous.

In fact, I am jealous.

Eventually this lady becomes my roommate. During the most difficult summer of her life and her family’s.

And it was at this time that I met them all.

I didn’t know what to do or what to say and although she was a new friend I wanted to be there with her.

I guess I knew that someday we would be family too.

And we are.

Over two short years we have fallen in love. We nuzzle. We drink. We watch reality T.V. And create really, really awesome outfits.

Without her I would not be as amazing as I am now. ( I kid, I kid! …but not really…)

Although a lot of lame stuff has happened in the past two years there is NO ONE else that I would want to talk to and be comforted by.

We think a like–

even though we grew up in extremely different enviroments.

I am so glad Penn State put this person in my life.

Over the first few weeks of our friendship I realized why this was going to work:

We both have an unusually strong understanding of who each other is.

And who we want to be.

I love you Emily.

Probably because you are a Taurus.

Our girl is back…

and pissed!

So, she isn’t loving being wrapped up at all…

But we couldn’t be happier.

Maddy’s surgery was a success so now she is breathing on her own, coughing on her own ( a great sign say the Doctors) and crying for her Mommy and Daddy.

Of course this adds  more stress to my Aunt and Uncle, as well as extreme happiness that Maddy’s recovery is moving forward.

Aunt Jenny told me this afternoon that she is still receiving medicine to help with the pain but for a little girl it is scary to be in the hospital and although none of us can understand exactly how she is feeling, we imagine she is not comfortable.

But there is no doubt in my mind she is loving seeing her Mommy and Daddy and Naked Baby right next to her.

So here we go.

Recovery will take time. We have been told since the beginning that this is going to be a long road.

But for now all I can be is happy.

Happy that our girl is back in action.

Love since day one.

Thanks for sending your love and prayers. There is no doubt in my mind they worked. And they will continue to help Maddy as she gets better. Day by day.

<3 Sisters <3

To all of you praying for Madelyn,

Thank you.

And please continue to keep her in your prayers. And pass on these posts to whoever you think may want to read them. My Aunt Jenny finds so much comfort in your comments and seeing Madelyn’s pictures.  This is how I can help my family–since I am in PA right now.

So I am going to do it- provide you all with updates on Madelyn and my family.

It’s the way I can stay connected. And I need to feel connected right now.

I can’t even begin to describe the feelings that I get when I open my e-mail and read the comments you have all sent. We are overwhelmed with the love and support you have brought my family through this blog at this difficult time. From hospital staff, to school staff, to parents, to friends, to strangers, to family; your words, alone, have brought comfort to us all, especially my Aunt and Uncle.

Maddy is a tough, tough little girl. She has proved it over this past week and we just can’t wait for her to feel better and come home and celebrate her 2nd birthday with all of us.

For those of you who have never met Maddy let me tell you about my cousin.

Well, to begin with, she is the baby. The baby of all of us. The cousins go:

Me (22 <—-ahhh, old!), Kellee (19), Cassidy (13), Daniel (12), Brian (7), Olivia (3) and Maddy (2).

She doesn’t talk much yet but knows “Daddy” and just started some form of Mom recently. I hadn’t heard it yet—since I have been at school. But I figure if she has moved on to Mom, Lissa could totally be next

She is also a child prodigy genius

I’m not kidding.

I have watched her play with “big kid” toys in awe. For such a little girl she can keep up with her big cousins. Here is a picture of her and Daniel. I remember taking this picture-she was so proud to be sitting on his lap!

And hey, we are a messy bunch!

It was Thanksgiving and the girl likes to eat—she is actually wearing Brian’s basketball outfit!

I mentioned before that Maddy loves her baby doll. Or “Naked Baby” as we like to call it! Maddy changes this baby’s diaper all by herself and puts her in and out and in and out of a baby carrier. It’s adorable. Naked baby is actually at the hospital in bed with Maddy So are her favorite books including the classic “Goodnight Moon.” Livi helped me pick out a few others to send to Boston.

I came home for Easter this year and got to dye Easter eggs with the girls. Maddy stayed at the table the whole time, she loved it! While she may not be the most gentle egg dyer–she had dye alllll over herself and cracked a few eggs in the process–she is one creative girl.

At Christmas we had a little dance party with Cassie’s new CDs. I am sure it is completely hereditary–the incredible dance moves we all possess–but in her little PJs Maddy got down to a little Maroon 5.

Action shot! Look at that little tummy

Showing off Livi’s Christmas present!

My Aunt was just talking about the fact that Maddy ALWAYS says “CHEESE!” when the camera comes out. I think I caught her mid-cheese on this one! Look at those big blue eyes!

Maddy and “Dar”…our Aunt Darla

My favorite picture of Miss Maddy. This was my desktop background after Thanksgiving.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Tomorrow Madelyn goes into surgery that has been post-poned twice now. The doctors just wanted to make sure she is ready.

I pray tonight that she is ready. Ready to breathe on her own, ready to be lifted out of her sleep so that we can talk to her, comfort her, read to her, hold her and start her process to recovery. I also pray for the doctors and nurses at Shriners. And I thank God that our Maddy has received the best of the best care.

And for Olivia I will also pray for the ballerinas. I’m sure Maddy would want to pray for them too

So this is a little peak at our girl Madelyn We love her. A lot.

Thank you for your prayers, please keep praying.

I can’t remember walking into my first class at Penn State.

And I never imagined walking out on my last class ever.

Which is what I just did.

I am done.

I lifted the left handed desk ( I am right handed but I love the space a good left handed desk gives a girl), swiveled it down, grabbed my bag and left like I have every Thursday.

(Or most Thursdays I should say, it is Intro to Advertising…I’m a senior. I didn’t need to be there…anyways…)

I called my mom before class to get a status on Maddy. The surgery that was scheduled for today was not going to take place. She’s not ready. I tell you, the wait is Horrible.

My mom asked me if I was sad about going to my last undergrad class EVER. I couldn’t answer that.

I am sad, but more about being away from my family/ not knowing how to be happy here but wanting to be… really, really badly because this is the end.

Will I miss the rows upon rows of seats, stadium style?

Will I miss the spandexed butts in my face as they scoot down the rows?

Will I miss stranger’s elbows touching mine (burning sensation? yesssss)?

What about  listening to private not so private conversations on cell phones?

And overhearing dumb frat boys talk about girls from last weekend and the girls coming up?

Will I be lucky enough to hear such classy conversations in the future?

All of this followed by a ridiculously boring lecture and more discussions “whispered” by the boys behind me about puking after the formal and more about girls.

Am I really going to miss alllll of this?

ehhhhhhh.

Not. So. Much.

So I will be O.K. without classes.

Won’t I?

But there is so much I will miss that I never imagined I would.

When I was a Freshman I could haveI never imagined missing a week of classes and feeling no guilt.

I never imagined the past week would have been what it was. What it is.

As my Aunt Jenny sat on a bench in Boston, on a break from Maddy’s side to breath in fresh air, she told me it’s all just “Bittersweet.”

Confusingly Bittersweet.

That’s what it is.

Exactly.

Pray for Maddy. My 2 year-old-cousin who is at the Shriners Hospital in Boston.

Pray for her parents. Mike and my Aunt Jenny (a frequent commenter on this here, blog).

Pray for her sisters. Livi (3) and Cassie (13).

Pray for the doctors that they help Maddy heal.

Pray for the nurses that need to give her 24 hour care and attention.

Pray for my family as they try to find ways to help my Aunt and Uncle and care for Cassie and Livi.

if you don’t pray…

Give blood.

Donate to the amazing Shriners Hospitals for Children.

Send positive vibes.

My parents came to PA on Saturday to visit/take stuff home before the big day that is Graduation. They arrived at around 11 and by 12 we were done ordering our food as we sat at a table with SallyJo sipping Yuenglings and talking about my cousins. This lead to my mom discussing what she had got my birthday buddy Madelyn for her 2nd birthday (4/28). That’s when Uncle Sean called.

Madelyn had fallen into a fire pit and has been rushed to the hospital. We knew nothing else. Then we heard it was bad. She may have to be flown to Boston that day. My parents got back in the car and I followed. The longest 6 hour drive of my life. It didn’t feel real.

We made it to Bridgeport where she was flown from Norwich.

I got to see my sweet baby cousin. Hear the news and attempt to comfort my incredibly upset Aunt. Nothing was set in stone at this point. We just waited. The Wait. Is horrible.

This was the little baby that was born a day before me. 20 years apart. The baby I watched all summer. That I cuddled with on the couch. That fell asleep and drooled on my shoulder. That loves to dance. That loves to be naked. That loves her babydoll.

With her curly hair and adventurous spirit. And the cutest nose ever. And her big blue eyes.

WHY?

Why was she wrapped up in a hospital bed?

I can’t begin to describe the pain in my heart. Especially the pain I feel leaving.

I have been in CT since Saturday. But I still have finals. I did not think twice about being absent from class this week. My family needed me.

Not only did I need to rub her soft baby tummy in the hospital, or tickle her little piggy toes as she slept. I needed to hug my Aunt and listen to her talk and worry and vent. I needed to pack bags, send books, and pack snacks. I needed to make breakfasts, cuddle, dress, love and sleep with Livi and Cassie. I needed to explain things when Livi asked questions. I needed to hold her hand and wave goodbye as she boarded the big yellow school bus.

I am still needed.

But where?

I want to be there when she wakes up. I want to be there so bad. But my family doesn’t want me to miss the end of school.

So, I am being shuttled back to school. For the last two weeks of my college career. The last two weeks that I was supposed to cram everything I ever wanted to do or remember about Penn State in. But that doesn’t matter.

What I wouldn’t do to trade places with Maddy. The baby. My birthday buddy.

It was so hot and humid as the sunlight blared on my face.

I picked up the phone, unable to read the caller ID and surprised to hear this particular voice, I listened as she rambled on about the mail that had just come.

It was her mom.

All I could gather from the speedy voice on the other end of the line was “She got Pollock. 508 MIfflin Hall.”

This was the best news I could have possibly heard.

At the time (2004) there were 40,000 people at Penn State and due to some miracle I would be living 3 doors away from one of my best friends for my freshman year, 6 hours away from home.

This best friend of mine loooooooves Penn State. With a passion. I don’t think there is any one more proud to be a Nittany Lion. No one. That girl bleeds blue and white. She wears a little white fleece football helmet with Nittany Lion ears and braids to every home game, you can’t miss her. Did I mention how adorable she is?

You should also know the girl spaces out. A very active tailgater but once the game begins she constantly finds my elbow nudging her shoulder ( it would be her ribs but I am tall and she is teenytiny, we are quite the pair!) when it is our cue to shout “We ARE!”

Her family feels the same way about Penn State. This family, that after only a few short years would become my “other” family. Not just her parents but also her brothers. And her dogs. And her grandparents. And the tailgate crew.

She knows me flaws and ALL. Every dissapointment. Every highlight. She has been here for me. I tell her everything. I mean everything. I am sure things she never ever wants to hear– but I am a talker so I talk, talk, talk, talk. And she listens. And she has never ever judged me. In fact, she always tells me how fabulous I am–even when I am not so fabulous.

We survived a freshman year where we both took the All You Can Eat Buffet in Pollock Commons as a personal challenge. We faced leaving home and travelling far, far away to a school we thought we were ready for and realizing we were not as prepared for college as we thought. We were sad 18- year-olds adjusting to a new life but together with ice cream, slices of Canyon pizza, sweatpants, green hair, lack of showering, flower halloween costumes, Terms of Endearment cry-fests, and football games we survived.

Without her I would not look at the glow of Beaver Stadium and feel the sensation of being home.

Without her I would not get goosebumps when I watch the Penn State Gladiator video.

Without her I would not have fallen in love with Happy Valley.

Thank you for that.

I love you SallyJo.

I really could have fallen off the face of the earth and no one would have known.

Which is why I need to post at this particular point in my disaster of a life.

And I also miss you all.

A lot.

So last Tuesday I lost my license.

(What a loser, I know! How is she supposed to take care of herself in the “real world?”)

To a trash can. After one beer. Yea, I am that crazy.

Then on Thursday I lost my cell phone.

I can say I didn’t even have ONE beer in this instant. But I did have several Vodka Tonics….ehhhhhh. I am still phoneless to this day. Awesome. Apparently everyone should pay 5 bucks a month for phone insurance. At least I highly recommend it. I will be doing that once i get my own plan (ehhhhh) in May. Luckily I have parents who save their cell phones and don’t mind mailing it to their disaster of a daughter in PA.

Also without my phone I am timeless. Who wears watches anymore? I don’t.

Regardless of being lost to the cyberworld, to the DMV and to Verizon I had an amazing weekend.

It was filled with my last tailgating and football game (for a long while) at Beaver Stadium. And ended this morning by being on my favorite radio show The Wake Up Call, The Lion, 90.7. Listen, it streams online every morning from 7-9. I think they are hilarious.

I also have to let you know that in the past two weeks I have started to let myself feel sad about leaving Penn State and all of its glory. Although I know I have to stop thinking about the G word and live in the moment.

(tears)

The moment being: papers, papers, papers and more papers. Which explains why I haven’t been writing my little heart out on this here blog.

(more tears)

I have been doing a lot of “I’ll think about that tomorrow”s as the motivation around here is slim to none. My senioritis needs to be cured.

ASAP.

I just keep turning in papers, doing presentations, trying to spend as much time with these Penn State kids as I can before I travel around the country with the wind in my (soon to be blonde again!) hair.

So blog world. LB is back. I promise.

It’s time to countdown to the end of an era.

Even if I really, really, really don’t want to.

We had a few surprise visitors here at Penn State this weekend.

1. A cold.

A gross, sore throat, booger nose, coughing, fever, no sleep kind of cold. Oh, and that punk just won’t leave. It’s still with me but has also decided to hang out with ALL of my roommates too. What a jerk. So far I have gone through a box of TheraFlu, a box of Nyquil, two bags of cough drops, and a box of decongestants. I refilled last night, so I am good to go this week.

2. A super hero.

That super hero being yours truly, LB. This weekend was the half marathon. And regardless of the no sleep, a burning chest, and mucus-y throat I ran it. Because, my friends, I, apparently, am not a quitter. Lesson learned. And I could also quite possibly be d-u-m-b. (It depends on which way you look at it) I almost quit on the 8th mile. After 8 miles of freezing legs, good ol’ 20 degree Pittsburgh weather mixed with shorts was not a good decision on top of barely being able to breathe and a nose that oozed boogers, but if Eminem can surve 8 mile then I can too. I literally thought that when I debated quitting. No, not really. But really, I did. Anyways…

I did it in 2 hours and 3 minutes. 3 minutes past my goal. 9:15 pace…ehhhh not too bad. Hey, I finished it!

HDC completed the half marathon as well and I am very proud of her, it was her first one! Yay HDC! And…now she knows she can do a marathon (which I always knew she could do!). So get it girl! (She is also being blog-attacked by a UGG lover gone crazy so hit her up with some congratulatory love!)

3. Barack Obama

Yes, my people Senator Obama came to Penn State. Now, I’m not going to get all political on you because that is not my style. But regardless we can’t deny the history that can be made with either Democratic nomination so we can all be excited about that! Right?! Right!

Senator Obama spoke to 22,000 people in front of Old Main on a beautiful Sunday morning. And where was I you ask? I was 10 feet to his left.

IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I don’t know how we did it but there we were waiting for hours in the bright sunshine (popping cough drops left and right) for a potential future president of the United States of America.

Pretty Damn Cool, if you ask me! It’s history baby. One of those stories you can tell your kids and grandkids.

And to top it off he is a great speaker. He really is. I was impressed with what he had to say and I didn’t feel like it was fake or manufactured. A genuine man. And you should believe me because I was close enough to touch the Secret Service. And I did. Yea, you are jealous.

I also got to shake Senator Obama’s hand. He even squeezed my shoulder. Awesome. Good guy. Solid squeeze.

It’s weird I had goosebumps. He made me feel very proud to be a part of this country and a part of change. And sometimes, when you are 21, about to graduate and figure out the rest of your life you don’t always feel apart of this big, huge country. Or think you can change a damn thing.

But like Obama I have hope. Hope that I can become a minimalist, hope that I can make money doing a job I am passionate about, and hope that I can give back and continually help my country improve.

Maybe I’m too young.

Maybe I don’t have enough experience.

But I am glad I ran that those 13.1 miles this weekend that made me even more sick. And I am glad I got up at 9 a.m. on Sunday to wait 4.5 hours to hear Senator Obama speak.

Because regardless of my lost voice, the nasty tissues lining my pockets, and the cough burning through my chest these events are what I am going to remember forever and they could be two of the best decisions I’ve made.

We just have to keep learning about ourselves. Always. Life is wayyyyy more fun that way!