how facebooking became a verb

Once upon I went to high school. I didn't have a cell phone. I didn't have my own computer. I didn't have tv in my room. And I for sure didn't have facebook. For starters, can you even imagine a facebook  home page loading with dial up internet? Skaweeruureeweeer. "Kels, are you on the computer? I need to use the phone."

 Soon enough I graduated from high school and got a sweet, new Nokia cell phone. You all know the type, right? The kind you could throw against a brick wall and it wouldn't break. The kind that got great reception. The kind that you could play SNAKE on. That kind.

google images

 I rode off for college with my desktop computer taking up my backseat, and my clear phone that would be my source of communication across campus.

My college had what was called a "look book". It was the best thing ever. You could get on your computer, pull up the website, punch in your student id, and then pull up the Look Book*. It included: every students' room number, phone number, what year they were, and the best thing of all: their student ID photo. Let me tell you: student ID photo day was kind of a big day because of the look book. I mean, there was none of this roll out of bed and go get your picture snapped-- you had to actually fix your hair and look presentable, as that picture wasn't just going to get you into ball games or the cafeteria for free, it was going to be what all students, campus wide, would access when they wanted to peer at the Look Book.

Then there was this little buzz that started around campus**: something like "The Face Book" or something? By the end of my freshman year I checked it out. There wasn't much I could do on it: I could upload a profile picture, which was kind of nice since I got to CHOOSE the picture instead of just having to use my student ID pic. I could only really interact with other students from my campus though, and we all still used our Look Book when we really needed information.

By the time my sophomore year rolled around, Facebook was where it was at. The site was official now, and out of its "testing" phases. I officially "joined" September 29, 2005. On November 3, the first person wrote on my "wall": Katie K. to Kelsey C. -- "Looks like those Crest White Strips are working well…" And I was off.

You could now add more than just a profile picture, and you could "tag" others in the photos you added. By November 9, 2005 I had officially been tagged in one of my wingmates photos after we may or may not have attacked our brother wing:

Once you could add pictures, the craziness of Facebook really took off. You could upload up to 62 photos in an album. You could adjust your "relationship status" to its appropriate place: single, it's complicated, engaged, in a relationship etc. At this point you could be "friends" with anyone who was a student at another college or university. It was like someone had created this cool club for all college students, and I was invited!

By the time my Junior year rolled around, words like "poke", and "unfriend", and "the wall" had entered everyone's vocabulary. And then, halfway through my junior year the brains behind Facebook did something that would change everything as we knew it even more: they made it so you could link up with the person you were in a relationship with. You could no longer just put "in a relationship" and expect people to believe you: You had to be in a relationship ENOUGH that the person you were in the relationship with would actually accept your request to flaunt it on their wall. It was around this time that I first heard people use the term "We are Facebook Official". Before that, people just had DTRs. You know, the "Define The Relationship" talk. That was no longer necessary because all you had to do was accept their request to link you up to "in a relationship" and you could consider the relationship DEFINED!

One "cool thing" to do on facebook was create funny "groups" that people could join. At this point you could still only join groups that were created by students on your campus, so there were funny, inside joke groups like: "People who sit in the balcony at Chapel" or "I found my Vocare". But there were other groups too: "When I was your age, Pluto was a planet" or "Procrastinators unite…tomorrow!".

By the end of my Junior year, or somewhere in there, high schools and businesses were added to the list of people that could create a facebook account. And by my senior year, anyone could join. It was still mainly a "young adult" or "teenage" space though. It became the place to go when you didn't want to study for an exam or write that paper. And what happened next was another one of those game-changing-moments: the smart phone! There was this thing called the iphone. Rumor had it you could actually get on the internet and check FACEBOOK on your PHONE?! As if we needed to spend more time on there?! Most people didn't have this capability, but you tell those who did, as they frequently updated their statuses.

And then somewhere between graduating from college and two years later, EVERYONE was on Facebook. EVERYONE.

And slowly it began to lose its allure for those of us that were the generation at the forefront of its break into this world.

Sure, we are still on there and sure, some still post way too much or spend too much time perusing its pages, but it has been interesting to see the number of people in my generation slowly move away from it. I think we are just used to being the generation that was at the start of some really great things: cell phones, wireless connections, facebook, the iphone etc. etc. And when things lose their newness, we back away.

So off to INSTAGRAM and TWITTER we fled! You want to know why we are using hashtags [#] on Facebook? It's because we never actually get on Facebook to post anything: we do it straight from the other [newer…cooler….] social media outlets we've found.

Ten years ago if someone would have said, "Go check the wall" or "Sorry, I was Facebooking," everyone would have stared at them blankly. Oh how far we've come! [Or have we? That's another post entirely!]

Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go post a link to this blog on Facebook.

Do you remember the first time you heard about Facebook? Those of you "original college Facebookers", are you like me in thinking it was better back in "the old days"? :)

*Brent's college had something similar that they called "The Wish Book", because you would look through it and make your "wishes" ;) 
** My friend Becker still swears she is the reason that Facebook came to our college after she got together a petition. :) 

how-did-i-get-here?

You know every once in awhile in your life when you have moments of how-did-i-get-here? Sometimes those moments may be laced with regrets and unanswered questions, but sometimes those moments are filled with fullness and taste sweet on your tongue. 

The other day when we returned from our vacation, I wrote a little bit about when we first left Kentucky to move home. I mentioned the pain we felt driving away from the city we had lived in for two years-- a city full of people we had grown to love. 

When we loaded up our bright yellow Penske truck, tears rolled down my cheeks when I thought of their faces. The reality was that we would be nearly 10 hours away from these people. Beyond that, our best friends, our "lifers" as I started calling them because I knew full well we would be friends for life, had just moved to Delaware. It felt a lot like grabbing at air when I thought about keeping that lifetime of friendship promise. [I wrote about one of the first times we hung out here]. 

But life was happening around us and we had to move and I knew our friendship with all these people, even our lifers, would be relegated to long road trip travels and late nights and trying to cram in time over a few precious days. And as my mom would have said, I just had to put on my big girl panties and accept it. 

Every year we've managed to make trips back to Kentucky, our lifers eventually moved back there too and so we saw them once or twice a year. I had finally accepted this as the new normal. I worried about visiting and feeling like we were living in the "remember whens" and not having enough moments in the present to sustain what we had built. But we trudged on.

And then we got a phone call. And though all our friends in Kentucky weren't moving closer to us, our lifers were! They would be within an hour and a half drive.

Which brings me to my first thoughts: 

You know every once in awhile in your life when you have moments of how-did-i-get-here? 

Yesterday I had one of those moments. 

Meagan drove up, just for the day, something I never thought was going to be able to happen for us again. 

We had lunch, played with Blythe, got smoothies, and then, after putting Blythe down for her nap, promptly sat down on the couch for nearly four hours and talked and laughed and talked. 

And there it was: how-did-I-get-here?

When I left college I was scared to leave Renae and move to a city foreign to me. I whined and complained and drug my feet a lot. I hesitated to make friends because I told myself I wouldn't be there long so I shouldn't invest. But God knew what I needed. I needed a Meagan. And then I was leaving again and I realized the new me didn't fit in my old home like I thought it might and my friends were miles away. So God struck up His orchestra once again, and yesterday I was reminded how to appreciate the music He plays for me. 

And it played in the voice of my lifer friend, who sat on my couch and listened to my struggles and my hopes and my silly stories just like she used to four years ago. 

shower caps

The other night I was getting ready to jump through the shower and I popped on my shower cap. Brent saw me looking for it and his snicker was audible. 

He hates the thing. 

I don't know why? I mean, it's a lovely piece of plastic on top of my head, and when I shove it on, I think that by hiding my hair it brings out the best features in my face, right? 

According to Brent this is false. A shower cap is the worst, most ridiculous thing that could ever adorn my body. 

This is where I must form my argument. 

Point one: I have curly hair. If you do a quick google search, or speak to anyone with curly hair, you will learn that curls are dry and too much washing makes them dryer which equals frizz and unhealthy locks. I can't wash my hair everyday. Would Brent rather I take a shower once or twice a week ONLY when my hair can get wet and be washed? I think not. 

Point two: Just look at how that water bounces off the cap in the below picture? Do you see how happy this girl is, bushy eyebrows and all? It's because her hair is dry under that beautiful piece of equipment. 

Point three: It is so easy to use. I won't lie and say I haven't wrapped a grocery sack around my head a time or two, but look at the ease with which this lady is tucking in her hair. 

Point four: Shower caps now, apparently, like every other product out there, have a million different options and styles. Maybe Brent would approve if I got something fancy like this one? 

Point five: Just because he doesn't like the indention the elastic band leaves on my forehead is no reason to hate this wonderful invention.

 In his defense, typically while wearing the cap my makeup is not nearly as put together as these ladies, and is typically smearing down my face in large streaks. So be it.

Long live the shower cap!

*all images taken from google images

two villes, some fireworks, and lots of miles later…[part two]

See YESTERDAY for PART ONE

 *PLAYING IN THE RAIN!* 

Remember how I briefly mentioned getting a little cabin fever? It was this point the guys decided…FORGET IT! Let's just go outside! 

So we did! I threw my camera in a ziploc bag and blindly took these pictures. We were all soaked by the end of it, but had so much fun. 

Well, Caroline tried to have fun but then her shirt got wet [I don't know what she THOUGHT was going to happen?] and had a little meltdown. We took the shirt off, and that seemed to solve [most] of her problems ;) 

I think Ellie would have stayed out there all day. 

Caroline's face in this pictures is hilarious. It's rough being three-almost-four. 

Then someone got the bright idea to let Blythe have a turn with the flag and can you see the two-year-old coming out of Ellie? 

Ellie has PERSONALITY for days. She was really hamming it up. 

*SEEING OUR GIRLS TOGETHER!* 

As much as I love spending time with Kali and Dan, and as much as our time together has gotten more chaotic the more kids we throw in the mix, our time has somehow gotten even sweeter when we get to see our girls together. 

And although we have a long way to go before I think they will consider themselves best friends [you know, when Caroline stops mothering and Ellie stops "MINE-ing" and Blythe stops crying every time they look at her], I can already see glimpses of how special they are to one another.  

*LISTENING TO A THREE YEAR OLD!*

If you've never spent time just listening to a three year old, stop what you're doing right now, go find a three year old, and strike up a conversation. Caroline had Brent and I in stitches the whole time we were there. 

Here are a few gems: 

While painting in her brother's room, Caroline wanted to help. I handed her a small brush and some primer. She immediately painted a cross on the wall. Soon she was getting ready to go off on an adventure with the others, and told me I couldn't paint over the cross. I explained that I would have to, to which she gasped and responded, "Oh! But then my baby brother won't know that Jesus died on the cross and rose again!" 

I don't have a specific example, but just picture her singing 85% of everything that comes out of her mouth. 

She informed Kali and I that she could take the little girls out in the pool [when the sun came out]. She explained, "I can be the lifeguard. All I have to do is make sure their heads stay above the water." 

She said we shot off fireworks in the "neighbor-sac." [I think she meant neighborhood OR cul-de-sac]. 

And when explaining that Ellie didn't like the fireworks when talking to Nana, she said, "Ellie was crying! She had tears SOBBING DOWN HER FACE." 

*THE ACTUAL TRAVELING!*

I know people will think I'm crazy or lying, but Brent and I have never minded driving long distances. [Kind of like you, Meagan ;)]. We enjoy the time together, like finding random songs to listen to, and have some of the best conversations ever. It was on a road trip we chose the name Blythe Kathleen for our first daughter. This trip was no exception, even traveling with a one year old.

just playing with her tea pot in the car

At one point Brent had me literally laughing so hard I had tears streaming down my cheeks [or is it "sobbing"?]. I'd tell you the whole story, but I'm sure it wouldn't be funny now. 

On the way home he grabbed my hand and said, "Kels, you're my best friend." I looked at him and said, "I know. When I hear other people say, 'I am marrying my best friend!' or whatever I think, No, they aren't. Because I don't think they could possibly be as good of friends as us." He laughed and said, "Yeah. I doubt it too." 

See…road trips are the best! 

What is vacation without a little ice cream?!

That's all I've got, folks. 

And Blythe seriously was awesome…minus a few teething moments.