"We must be our own before we can be another's."
365 Lovely Thoughts: #178
"We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance."
-Japanese Proverb
365 Lovely Thoughts: #177
"You're only given one little spark of madness. You musn't lose it."
-Robin Williams
New Team, Same Dream
You guys. In case you didn't already know, I coach cheerleading in my free time. It started out as a way to pass the time last year while I was looking for a job. I ended up loving it so much that I'm back for another season at KC Cheer, the gym I cheered at all through elementary, middle and high school. I even did a bonus "super senior year" because the age bracket allowed me one more year as a freshman in college. I'm so excited to be involved again with the sport that I love so much and that taught me so much about myself growing up. It's thanks to KC Cheer that I know how to work as a member of a team and to put others before myself.
Anyways, we just got our team assignments and I'm coaching Fame -- KC Cheer's Large Junior Level 3 team. The USASF, the governing body of all-star cheerleading, has a "level" system that goes 1-5, so these girls are the middle of the road as far as skills are concerned. They are ages 8-12 and they are all so freakin' adorable. Not to mention pretty good. They all already have the highest skills you can have for a level 3 team, and the season is barely a month old. They're all at a point in their lives where they don't care about anything except cheerleading. No boys or drama to distract them. They all just truly genuinely LOVE cheerleading and want to get better. I am so beyond excited to work with these girls. You have no idea.
That got me to thinking. It's 2014-2015 and I have the Junior Level 3 team. 10 years ago for the 2004-2005 season I was ON the Junior Level 3 team. That's a picture of me from that season. Isn't that unreal? It doesn't seem like that was 10 years ago. If you would've asked me then where I thought I'd be in 10 years I NEVER would have thought I would be coaching the team that I was currently on. Granted, I probably would've answered "I don't care I'm never growing up!" but that's a different story.
I hope my girls this year are like my teammates and I were 10 years ago. Some of my best friends to this day are girls who were on that Junior Level 3 team with me. The coach of that team is still one of my mentors and close friends. I went to visit him in Houston. Do you think 10 years from now my girls will be excited to have dinner with me like I was with my coach? It's crazy to think that I was them 10 years ago and now I am this. I am so excited to try to give them a year as memorable as I had when I was a member of this team.
So stay tuned for updates on how Fame does this year. I'm hell-bent on winning NCA Nationals with them in Dallas. They have so much potential. I can't wait to love this Junior Level 3 as a coach as much as I loved my Junior Level 3 as an athlete. I'm just a lucky lucky girl.
365 Lovely Thoughts: #171
"Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."
-Marilyn Monroe
365 Lovely Thoughts: #169
"The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise man grows it under his feet."
-James Openheim
OUR (mostly Hoven's) WORLD CUP PREDICTIONS
The World Cup begins today (June 12th) in Brazil, and we are EXCITED (specifically Hoven & Darby, Klew is humoring us). Here are our dreams and predictions, indecipherable from one another.
KLEWS CONTRIBUTIONS:
Before we get started with this, I will say this;
You say to me "World Cup" I think of one thing, and one thing only
So no, I really don't have anything of substance to contribute to this otherwise wonderfully entertaining blog post. I'm going to read it myself so I can hope to LEARN something about the Soccer World Cup (yes, I refuse to call it the "real world cup" because do you see the above gif? Apparently this town IS big enough for the both of 'em.) I digress. IM GOING TO TRY TO LEARN ABOUT THIS AND INVEST IN IT BECAUSE MY FRIENDS THINK IT'S COOL, BUT I WILL FOREVER LOVE THE WORLD CUP SHOOTING STARS THE MOST.
Carry on.
GROUP A
Brazil: I feel for you, Brazil. FIFA has been brutal to you. You once dominated the game, but Ronaldinho and Kaka seem distant now. You deserve to get out of group stages, as well as so much more. Let's hope for as much attention to your struggles as to your football.
Croatia: Dobar dan! Welcome to my people, and my one semester of Croatian as a freshman. You might be asking, Kathryn, where even is Croatia? Across the Adriatic from Italy, moj prijatelj! Beyoncé vacations on the Croatian coast, and they film Game of Thrones there, too (can you spy King's Landing below?). Our jerseys are awesome, we like to use flares, and we might make it out of here if Mexico under performs. We have actual great players too, the most well known is Luka Modrić, who always looks lost, but is a genius (and plays for Real Madrid-not too shabby). My fingers are crossed, and I'm definitely wearing my Croatia jersey to work. So eat povitica, drink Pilsner beers, and cheer for my probable cousins. Croatia plays Brazil in the opening game of the World Cup. Volim te, Hrvatska.
Mexico: Dear Mexico, limes had been extremely expensive due to your cartels, which really messed with my whole gin & tonic beginning of summer routine. You get knocked out.
Cameroon: Have very little to offer on the Cameroon national team, I can't remember them making it past group stages in recent contests? I could be horribly wrong, but out you go, Cameroon.
Group Winner Predictions: We are going to go Brazil, in moral support, and Croatia because there's a high probability at least one of them/all of them are related to me. It's not a big country.
GROUP B
Spain: Spain has been my team the past few years, and I love this team very much. I would marry 75% of them. Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas, Xabi Alonso, David Silva, Gerard Pique- there is a reason this is the best team in the world. In the past four years they've won the World Cup and the UEFA Cup. Plus Darby just studied abroad there. VIVA ESPAÑA!
Netherlands: I have never cared for the way the Dutch play, and orange is not my color. We aren't even sure if I'm Dutch or not, so I am sorry, Robin Van Persie, I like you a lot, but no.
Chile: Know almost nothing about the Chilean team, but buena suerte to all South American teams.
Australia: Australians were so friendly when I went there in high school, and my best friend when I lived in Singapore was half Australian. Also the team is called the Socceroos, which is so close to dunkaroos, so I'm in.
GROUP C
Colombia: SHAKIRA SHAKIRA. Also she is married to Gerard Pique of Spain. Shakira is queen of the world, as far as I'm concerned. Buena suerte, Colombia.
Greece: Classical Antiquities minor here. Greece is cool, and could probably use some good national news.
Cote D'Ivoire: I have never cared for Didier Drogba, but this team will be good.
Japan: Another nation I would love some good news from, but the rumbles of resumed whaling despite UN sanctions is a big fat no from me.
GROUP D
Uruguay: Can be surprising! Still going to go with the Italians though.
Costa Rica: It's beautiful, it's not making it out of this group.
England: I cheer because I know most of you from EPL, but I won't hold my breath because you will probably choke, my British friends. Plus my best friend is in grad school in Durham and I don't want her poor boyfriend's heart to shatter.
Italy: flop flop flop flop flop but Italian food is the best so decisions are tough.
GROUP E
Switzerland: nope.
Ecuador: Sure, why not.
France: If I hear "the French play with such elegance!" more than twice, I will revolt.
Honduras: Doubt it.
GROUP F
Argentina: Always do better than you might think, also Lionel Messi. Klew will like them because their uniforms are a pretty light blue, not unlike Cinderella.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Eh.
Iran: Eh.
Nigeria: Why not?
GROUP G
Germany: I am mostly Croatian, but next mostly German (we think- kinda hard to figure out dad's half of the family) ANYWAY I LOVE THE GERMAN TEAM. They are efficient, they are serious, they are terrifying. I miss Michael Ballack a lot, but I love this team with Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mesut Özil, Lukas Podolski, Sami Khedira- as much as I love the Spaniards, I think I might be rooting for Germany to go all the way this year.
Portugal: Listen you guys. I'm going to be really real and show you my high school Latin binder cover, which says all you need to know about how I feel about Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo. Força.
 |
| I walked around with this DAILY. And everyone was cool with it? Thanks, Mendham. |
Ghana: STOP BEATING THE US.
United States: I like this team, I love Jurgen Klinsmann, but we are young and inexperienced. And this constantly in the Group of Death nonsense has got to go, FIFA. I love that we are willing to shake things up (bye, Landon Donovan) and I love that we have a homegrown KC boy on the team. But who knows, maybe this is the next Miracle. I would watch that movie. Also, Kyle Beckerman has me believing in dreadlocks, so anything can happen. USA USA USA!
GROUP H
Let's be real, this group is meaningless and you've stopped reading.
Belgium: no
Algeria: no
Russia: nyet
Korea Republic: no in Korean.
Agree? Disagree? Share with me. HAPPY WORLD CUP, MIS AMIGOS!
i cry at everything.
Earlier this week I found out that an old teammate of mine had her dad pass away. I was bummed when I heard the news, and felt so sad for her. Mom and I found out when the memorial service was and went last night, because she and her family had been a big part of my life for a long time and we wanted to support them. I knew it was going to be sad, but I had no idea the service would hit me like it did.
The service was called a "Celebration of Life." We, being Catholics, didn't really understand what this meant. The Catholics have a system for funerals and it's always the same. This wasn't Catholic so we didn't really know what we were in for. We thought it was probably going to be a receiving line. In, hug, love, out. We got into the church and found it was just a bunch of his friends and families telling stories about his life.
You guys it profoundly impacted me.
I started crying the second my friend took the microphone to deliver one of her father's many eulogies. If you know anything about me I have a HUGE soft spot for any father/daughter things. Dad's weekend is my very favorite thing. I cry literally any time I see a dad walk his daughter down the aisle.
I thought I would wipe my tears at the end of the service and carry on with my life with a sparkle in my heart for my friend and her family. Not the case. We went to meet MY Dad at Olive Garden for dinner. I started crying immediately when I saw him, and he just hugged me while I sobbed. In the middle of the Olathe Olive Garden. It just makes my heart SWELL at the notion that I just watched a dear friend of mine speak about how much she will miss her father, meanwhile I got to enjoy a nice evening on a patio with mine. Get to make him laugh and have him tell me he's proud of me. Get to have him kiss me goodnight. I thought about how unfair it was how some people have to say goodbye to their dads so early while I still get to have mine. Then on the other hand I think of how desperately thankful I am that I still get to have mine. The gratefulness is all-consuming. It brings me to my knees. It reduces me to a puddle. I simply cannot stop crying. I'm crying as I write this.
Then I got to thinking about how amazing it is that I am a person who cries so easily. When you first think about a person who cries, you immediately think "weak" don't you? After last night I know that's not the case. Like how lucky am I to feel things so boldly and experience life so vividly that it actually just brings me to tears. I cry at most things. I cry when I hear a song that's really happy. I cry when I laugh. I cry at the thought of change, I cry at the uncertainty of my path in life. I spent an entire weekend laying in a puddle of my own tears at a cheerleading competition once (okay, this happened on multiple occasions). It feels good to cry sometimes. I have things in my life that can speak to me and touch my spirit so profoundly that it makes me cry.
So I guess what I am trying to deliver with this is that it's OKAY to let yourself cry at things. I also sort of just needed to get it all out of my system and for me, next to crying, writing is my outlet. You don't always have to be perfectly tough. Sometimes it means you ARE being strong. To let yourself just experience things with all that you are and let it impact every fiber of your being. To allow something just profoundly impact you. To experience it so boldly and so vividly. To love someone with so much of your heart that the mere thought of them not being there anymore brings you to tears on any given day. That's really living. That's not weakness.
Also just appreciate everyone you have in your life while they're in it. I know this is cliche, but it's really just so true. I know today I'll be going home to have dinner with my dad.
My heart is full.
The service was called a "Celebration of Life." We, being Catholics, didn't really understand what this meant. The Catholics have a system for funerals and it's always the same. This wasn't Catholic so we didn't really know what we were in for. We thought it was probably going to be a receiving line. In, hug, love, out. We got into the church and found it was just a bunch of his friends and families telling stories about his life.
You guys it profoundly impacted me.
I started crying the second my friend took the microphone to deliver one of her father's many eulogies. If you know anything about me I have a HUGE soft spot for any father/daughter things. Dad's weekend is my very favorite thing. I cry literally any time I see a dad walk his daughter down the aisle.
I thought I would wipe my tears at the end of the service and carry on with my life with a sparkle in my heart for my friend and her family. Not the case. We went to meet MY Dad at Olive Garden for dinner. I started crying immediately when I saw him, and he just hugged me while I sobbed. In the middle of the Olathe Olive Garden. It just makes my heart SWELL at the notion that I just watched a dear friend of mine speak about how much she will miss her father, meanwhile I got to enjoy a nice evening on a patio with mine. Get to make him laugh and have him tell me he's proud of me. Get to have him kiss me goodnight. I thought about how unfair it was how some people have to say goodbye to their dads so early while I still get to have mine. Then on the other hand I think of how desperately thankful I am that I still get to have mine. The gratefulness is all-consuming. It brings me to my knees. It reduces me to a puddle. I simply cannot stop crying. I'm crying as I write this.
Then I got to thinking about how amazing it is that I am a person who cries so easily. When you first think about a person who cries, you immediately think "weak" don't you? After last night I know that's not the case. Like how lucky am I to feel things so boldly and experience life so vividly that it actually just brings me to tears. I cry at most things. I cry when I hear a song that's really happy. I cry when I laugh. I cry at the thought of change, I cry at the uncertainty of my path in life. I spent an entire weekend laying in a puddle of my own tears at a cheerleading competition once (okay, this happened on multiple occasions). It feels good to cry sometimes. I have things in my life that can speak to me and touch my spirit so profoundly that it makes me cry.
So I guess what I am trying to deliver with this is that it's OKAY to let yourself cry at things. I also sort of just needed to get it all out of my system and for me, next to crying, writing is my outlet. You don't always have to be perfectly tough. Sometimes it means you ARE being strong. To let yourself just experience things with all that you are and let it impact every fiber of your being. To allow something just profoundly impact you. To experience it so boldly and so vividly. To love someone with so much of your heart that the mere thought of them not being there anymore brings you to tears on any given day. That's really living. That's not weakness.
Also just appreciate everyone you have in your life while they're in it. I know this is cliche, but it's really just so true. I know today I'll be going home to have dinner with my dad.
My heart is full.
WHAT I LISTENED TO THIS WEEK
Short & sweet this week.
Music Is Power- Richard Ashcroft
Most likely you know Richard Ashcroft from "Bittersweet Symphony" (also known as that song at the end of Cruel Intentions), and I hadn't listened to any Richard Ashcroft myself until recently, and this song gets me. Also just the right spirit for summer, and reassurance, and great things. And that's the point of the song. That's what music can do. "Don't give in, don't give up, don't pack it up, stop cracking up, let the song carry you on and keep you strong." IT'S GOOD ADVICE, FRIENDS.
She's Gone- Hall and Oates
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction was on HBO last week, and Hall and Oates performed this song, which is one of my favorites. Sing along to this song in your car- you'll have fun (the gas station attendants by my work think I'm insane for how many times they've seen me belting this song in the past week alone). Hall and Oates were in the jukebox of my favorite bar in college, and they were in the jukebox at my mom's favorite bar in college (same bar, love The Wheel forever for that reason). I have so many great memories to Hall and Oates, and so does she, so it was sweet for us to both recall and have this association, which is now another connection to each other. So thanks Hall and Oates, thanks to jukeboxes, thanks to The Wheel, and thanks, Ma.
Now, Now- St. Vincent
Nirvana was also inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and they closed the show with a handful of songs, all sung by female musicians (Joan Jett, Kim Gordon, St. Vincent, and Lorde) it was AMAZING. When asked why female leads, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic (both of whom are beloved by my teen and present soul) they replied that they felt it was what Kurt would have wanted- and they had some comments on the representation of women as well. And it was LOVELY. Annie Clark performs under the name St. Vincent, and used to play for The Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens and you can catch that effervescence of those earlier acts in her style. This song can be simple it can be cacophonous it can be strange but it is most definitely beautiful, and sounds like spring. (I linked to all of the performances of Nirvana- well worth a watch!)
365 Lovely Thoughts: #155
"Strong people don't put others down. They lift them up."
-Michael P. Watson
Klew & Hoven's Top 3 Favorite Movies of All Time
I know when people are asked to name their favorite movies a lot of the times they just pick ones that make them look cool. I'm not here to do that. I get made fun of for my selection of top 3 favorite movies ALL. THE. TIME. because they are so unbelievably predictable. I don't care. They are my 3 favorites. I will never get tired of these three. Hoven's are also below. Agree, disagree, we don't care. We LUVZ DEM.
Because Elle Woods is everything I am and everything I ever want to be. I relate to the feeling of being underestimated just because of where you come from. I love that Elle kicks ass even though everyone writes her off as a dumb sorority girl. I know all words to the entire movie always and can quote it whenever wherever I want. Also they made it into a musical and I saw it on Broadway and five other times at various local theaters. I love Legally Blonde you guys. I love it so much.
Jack Black is hilarious. The one liners in this movie are hilarious. I can quote the entire thing and also sing the Math song. Also it's about doin' you no matter what anybody says. Can't wait for this to be made into a musical because I will see it and love it. Can that be a thing?
I had a hard time picking my 3rd favorite because I have a collection of "third favorites." Basically any movie that I am fine watching any time even though I've seen it ad nauseum. My third favorite changes from time to time. "The Little Mermaid," "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," "The Holiday," "Center Stage," and "Tangled" are all on this list, but there's just something about Mulan for me. Dan and I used to watch it on VHS in the car whenever we would drive to my grandma's house. I still laugh at it to this day, and still sit down and watch it from time to time. Also girl power and things. So Mulan, though it is a RANDOM choice, I award you the spot of my 3rd favorite movie.
It covers allllll the levels of love and it'll feel different every time you watch it. You'll like one story line more or less, you'll identify differently. It's british, and it COMMITS to being hopeful and unironic and I think everyone is a little over irony even though it's uncool to say so. Also all of ze actors are so good SO GOOD. Also Christmas. And I walked around London finding a bunch of the sets sooooooooooo
Because it's beautiful to look at, every time I watch it I'm convinced the dvd will say "Kathryn congratulations this is your 100+ time watching r+j, so here is an alternate ending that won't shatter your heart" the soundtrack is killer, i love clare danes, and leo KILLS ME. kiiiiiillllllllsssssss meeeeeee
1. New York history is so interesting because that city does NOT hold on to the past like other cities. The whole setting of that movie is Irish slums that are now the FINANCIAL DISTRICT you wanna talk about irony. 2. Irish accents 3. Leo & Daniel Day 4. I wrote a paper in HS about how factually accurate that movie is, pretty interesting. 5. I like old timey gangs 6. That last montage where Scorsese chose to keep the twin towers because it was about building the city up, even though it was released after 9/11? got me right in the honey nut feelios. But now im torn between this and zero dark thirty omg thoughtz
1. Legally Blonde
Because Elle Woods is everything I am and everything I ever want to be. I relate to the feeling of being underestimated just because of where you come from. I love that Elle kicks ass even though everyone writes her off as a dumb sorority girl. I know all words to the entire movie always and can quote it whenever wherever I want. Also they made it into a musical and I saw it on Broadway and five other times at various local theaters. I love Legally Blonde you guys. I love it so much.
2. School of Rock
Jack Black is hilarious. The one liners in this movie are hilarious. I can quote the entire thing and also sing the Math song. Also it's about doin' you no matter what anybody says. Can't wait for this to be made into a musical because I will see it and love it. Can that be a thing?
3. Mulan
I had a hard time picking my 3rd favorite because I have a collection of "third favorites." Basically any movie that I am fine watching any time even though I've seen it ad nauseum. My third favorite changes from time to time. "The Little Mermaid," "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," "The Holiday," "Center Stage," and "Tangled" are all on this list, but there's just something about Mulan for me. Dan and I used to watch it on VHS in the car whenever we would drive to my grandma's house. I still laugh at it to this day, and still sit down and watch it from time to time. Also girl power and things. So Mulan, though it is a RANDOM choice, I award you the spot of my 3rd favorite movie.
Love Actually
It covers allllll the levels of love and it'll feel different every time you watch it. You'll like one story line more or less, you'll identify differently. It's british, and it COMMITS to being hopeful and unironic and I think everyone is a little over irony even though it's uncool to say so. Also all of ze actors are so good SO GOOD. Also Christmas. And I walked around London finding a bunch of the sets sooooooooooo
LOVE ACTUALLY OVER EVERYTHING.
R+J
Because it's beautiful to look at, every time I watch it I'm convinced the dvd will say "Kathryn congratulations this is your 100+ time watching r+j, so here is an alternate ending that won't shatter your heart" the soundtrack is killer, i love clare danes, and leo KILLS ME. kiiiiiillllllllsssssss meeeeeee
Gangs of New York
1. New York history is so interesting because that city does NOT hold on to the past like other cities. The whole setting of that movie is Irish slums that are now the FINANCIAL DISTRICT you wanna talk about irony. 2. Irish accents 3. Leo & Daniel Day 4. I wrote a paper in HS about how factually accurate that movie is, pretty interesting. 5. I like old timey gangs 6. That last montage where Scorsese chose to keep the twin towers because it was about building the city up, even though it was released after 9/11? got me right in the honey nut feelios. But now im torn between this and zero dark thirty omg thoughtz
