BFF

I have great friends and always have. These two women have been such a part of my life that they are as close as sisters to me.

This is Eileen and me at my 5th b-day. I have known Eileen since I was 4 years old and she has been my best friend ever since I have had a memory of a best friend. For most of our lives, she lived about 200 yards down the street from me. We were in the same kindergarten class and even played hookie one day!!! We started young. Eileen knows me by heart - I have known Eileen longer than I have known some of my own sisters! We have certainly seen each other through good times and bad times. She is one of the first people I call when something truly traumatic happens because I know I can depend on her.

I remember the day my father passed away. I was holding it together pretty well until Eileen and her sisters walked through my basement door and then I lost it. I knew she felt what I was feeling. She loved my father and he loved her (as well as her sisters) Growing up, I think she got just as many hugs and kisses from him as I did~


This is us - 31 years later~ we haven't changed much! Ha!!! Every time I see Eileen or spend time with her (which is not often enough!!!) I am reminded of who I REALLY am and I feel like I am home again. I am very blessed to have her in my life and feel lucky to have someone who knows me better than I know myself!






This is Christina (or Tina....I am one of the few that she allows to still call her Tina) We met our Freshman year of High School and instantly became great friends. This picture was taken when we were 15. I spent most of my HS weekends with Tina and we have some VERY funny stories that we are taking to our graves! Tina makes me laugh - A LOT. She remembers a lot more of our "adventures" and I am grateful for her memory - I'm not sure if I blocked these stories out for a reason but she helps me jog my memory and we laugh at the insanity of our actions as teenage girls. She is also like a sister to me. She practically lived at my house and still hung out with my sisters when I went away to college. When Tina got her first "real" job my mother made her a couple dresses so she would look professional. We laugh because we think she looked more like a Quaker. But.....big collars were the style back then and Tina picked out the pattern herself~

This is us on Thanksgiving Day THIS year. After eating dinner with my family, Tina picked me up and we went over to her mother's house. I hadn't seen her mother and stepfather in YEARS and it was good to catch up. Tina is someone I can talk to about ANYTHING and I can expect to get her HONEST and straight forward opinion. She doesn't hold back and I love that about her. She is loyal and trustworthy and she makes my heart smile.

True friends who love you for who you are, who you have been, and who you are striving to become, are wonderful blessings. I am lucky and VERY blessed to have these women in my life and to have had them in my life for so long. I know that when I am old and gray I will be able to look back on my life and see the wonderful influence and support these two women have been to me. I love them dearly.

Catching up!

This will be the first of many posts over the next couple of days. I have a lot to catch up on! I will start out with my employee party and work backwards. My employee party was this past Sunday and Robbie has been my date for the past few years and we always look forward to going. We have a great time....he gets to see Santa and we eat and then we dance! Everyone loves Robbie and is happy to see him when he comes! He really is the "life" of our table. This year he accidently belched REALLY loud. Fun times.

I love this kid.

I don't know why he looks scared.....he told Santa he wanted a Fish and an iPod touch. I don't know what's more alarming.....the fact that he's 6 and knows what an iPod touch is or that he will actually use one!!!

Things I am Grateful For

These are just every day things that I am grateful for......I could get really deep and spiritual and list those things too but that's much more personal and something I don't necessarily want to blog about. My friends and family are a given here.

So.....here are the every day things I am grateful for:

1. Heated Seats - I love that my car has heated seats...especially on a cold rainy day like today. It makes the drive to work so much more bearable.
2. Dr. Pepper - for some reason I have been on a Dr. Pepper kick. It makes me happy.
3. My iPod - COULD NOT LIVE WITHOUT IT
4. My job and the people I work with - I LOVE my job and I LOVE the people I work with. How many people can say that? I have a lot of fun at work and most days I actually look forward to going in!
5. My cell phone and late night phone calls.
6. My brain - because the more people I meet and the older I get.....I'm realizing I have a really good one. (ha ha ha)
7. People that wave a "thank you" when you let them in front of you while driving.
8. Makeup - it just makes the world prettier.
9. Soft blankets
10. Holiday scented candles

You are my sunshine

Cece girl. She is precious and lights up my life.

She has such a STRONG personality - just like her mom.

I just can't get over how beautiful she is.

Kara through the years

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1986












1996

Strength in Sisterhood

It never ceases to amaze me how much strength I gain from the many women in my life....particularly at this time, my girlfriends. I have several women with whom I am close to and with whom I draw support and peace from. These women care about me and truly have my best interest at heart. They give me advice when I ask (sometimes when I don't), support me in all of my trials and strenghten my spirit when I feel weak. They lift me and often times remind me of who I am. Over the past week I have experienced an outpouring of concern and love from many of my girlfriends and I feel so loved and blessed to have them in my life. I have recently re-connected with some friends from elementary school and high school and it has been so fun to remember the girl I was and see the woman I have become. I love all of my girlfriends for different reasons and I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many talented, caring and wise women!!!!

I love my Norbert

So, I haven't posted in a while. A LOT has happened in my life....some things I will post...others I will not. Most of it is good stuff though. Some of it is just too crazy and I don't want to re-live so I will let it remain DEAD. Anyway, I will start posting more often now!

I will start with my dear friend Norbert. I work with Norbert. He makes me laugh EVERY day. I needed to laugh today and so he definitely pulled through for me.

We laugh, we dance we sing. We love each other....well, not in THAT way but you know what I mean. He's my sunshine on a cloudy day.

My mother is awesome

So, my mother got her Bo- black belt!!!! She should get her black belt in the spring. My mother is an amazing woman who lives life and doesn't let anything or ANYONE keep her down. She is a survivor and has taught me confidence, independence and strong will. I love her and admire her daily.

My brother Dustin sent this email to everyone and I think it pretty much sums it up:

Congratulations Mom on getting your Bo-black belt!!!!

Quite an accomplishment. Very cool for the kids to have a Granny that can kick thier friends Granny's butt.

Now you finally got somthin to back up that mouth of yours.

We love you....

Conversation w/ The Keeper of my Heart

So last night Robbie, Shane and CeCe were over while Dori and Brian went out for a while. Shane and CeCe fell asleep and Robbie and I were watching 'Surf's Up' when the following conversation came up out of the blue:

Robbie: "Yaya.....are you going to get married?"

Me: "Yah...I think so"

Robbie: "Well, I'm not going to like him"

Me: "You aren't?"

Robbie: "Nope"

Me: "Why not?"

Robbie: "Well, is he going to have tattoos?"

Me: "Maybe"

Robbie: "REAL ones?"

Me: "Yep"

Robbie: "Whatever. You can get married"

Me: "Robbie, I PROMISE that the person I marry will love you just like I do and he will be your favorite Uncle"

Robbie: "Whatever. I said you can get married."

I have to clarify this and say that Robbie is obsessed with tattoos.....he always wants the temporary ones put on his arms. He cracks me up!

3 Things That Excite Me

Kenny Rogers concert on Aug 20th. I have loved Kenny since I was like 7. Even though he looks totally weird now, he's still one of my favorite singers.

Enrique.......he makes my heart flutter. This concert is one of the SEXIEST concerts ever. Oct 3rd will be a great evening!!!!! That's all I can say about that without getting OVERLY excited.

Vince Gill - Nov 24th. This will be an acoustic concert and it's 5 days after my birthday....what a treat. He could sing me to sleep every night....his voice is so smooth. I have never seen him in concert and am really looking forward to it.

My Gallbladder is GONE!

I'm writing this while still on pain killers so I hope this makes sense in the end. Last Saturday morning I woke up with severe pain in my stomach. My neice Hannah had just experienced the same thing and so I thought I caught some "bug" from her. The pain was HORRIBLE and did not subside. I tried to continue my Saturday as planned but ended up in bed most of the day. Sunday did not prove much better. Hannah's pain lasted about 3 days so I thought I only had one more day of discomfort. I could not believe how constant the pain was~ I had never had a stomach ache before and was surprised at how much pain a virus could cause.

On Tuesday, I woke up with a high fever and I could not stand up straight because the pain was so intense. I called my Dr and was able to get in to see someone. The Dr. could not even touch my stomach as it was too sensitive and she ordered me to go to the hospital to get a CAT scan as it must be an "acute" situation. So, off to the hospital I went. I drank that GROSS stuff you have to drink and then sat for an hour until they came and hooked me up to an iodine I.V. so that I could get my scan. They made me put my arms above my head during the scan and all I could do was cry - it hurt so much. The technician was very nice and he tried to comfort me...I guess I looked pretty pitiful. Within 10 minutes the Dr. who looked at the results called me in the waiting room and said he was admitting me to the hospital right away and I would have surgery that night or the next day to remove my gallbladder! I was shocked~ I had never had any symptoms before Saturday. I was admitted right away and it was determined that I needed antibiotics before surgery so I would be operated on the next day. They hooked me up to an I.V. and pumped antibiotics and FINALLY pain killers into me. I love modern medicine.

I was able to go into surgery around 3 pm the next day. Dori and my mother came to the hospital and my friend Natalie was also there when I came out of surgery. They were able to do laparoscopic surgery which I was thankful for. The Dr. said that there was a good chance I might have to have open surgery given how inflamed my gallbladder was.

******WARNING****** The picture below is DISGUSTING and not for the weak stomach.

So, here is my gallbladder. A healthy gallbladder is supposed to be the color of the sheet it is on (robin egg blue) and it is supposed to be paper thin. Mine was over 1 1/2 inches .....extremely inflamed. The Dr. said he wasn't sure he had ever seen such a sick little gallbladder. He was surprised it had not bursted - which would have put me in a very life threatening situation. They kept a tube in me for 2 days to drain the infection and fluid -not comfortable.

So, I was discharged from the hospital Friday afternoon and sent home with some pretty strong pain killers......which I have no problem taking when the pain gets to be too much. I will be down and out for a couple days at least and am trying to get up and around more every day.

I want to thank all of my friends (and family) who came to see me in the hospital. I also got tons of flowers, balloons and cards. The nurses commented that I had flowers sent to my room before I even got there and kept saying that I must be a very loved person. They have volunteers that bring the flowers to the rooms and this one older man kept coming to my room with flowers and he'd say "more flowers for the most loved person in the hospital"....he was cute and it made me feel so good. I feel very blessed to have all of my friends and family who care so much for me. All of my life I have been blessed with great friends who have taught me about service and compassion and love. It's times like this when I get overwhelmed with feelings of thankfulness and love for everyone in my life. I am a very blessed girl.

Granny's Goombata

This month we went to Cafe Asia. Hannah has been in town all month and it was fun to have her back with us for Granny's Goombata. It was Cameron's turn to choose the restaurant. Everyone (except me) ate sushi and then we shared main dishes. It was fun and VERY good. I love the women in my family and feel so blessed to be so close with all of them. Even though we see each other more than once a month at Granny's Goombata, it's always fun to go to lunch or dinner together and the conversation is always lively and interesting!







This is outside of the restaurant. Cece is going to keep us all on our toes. She was born into a family full of strong-willed women and she certainly fits right in!

Happiness is.....

My New Favorite Quote

President Monson said:

"When we treat people merely as they are, they may remain as they are. When we treat them as if they were what they should be, they may become what they should be.

In reality, it was the Redeemer who best taught this principle. Jesus changed men. He changed their habits and opinions and ambitions. He changed their tempers, dispositions, and natures. He changed their hearts. He lifted! He loved! He forgave! He redeemed! Do we have the will to follow?

True love can alter human lives and change human nature."


To read the full article go to: http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/EmailArticleProcess?action=view&cmlId=251117&locale=0&emId=173707503

Father's Day

So, I have three "fathers" to celebrate today. All of these men have been fathers to me at some point in my life. Below are posts dedicated to each one.

First, of course is my father. I only had 16 earthly years with him but the lessons he taught me have shaped me into the woman I am today.

My stepfather Bob. A wonderful, wonderful man who was the only man able to step into my father's shoes.

My grandfather. Lessons learned and never forgotten~this man is someone who I find, as I grow older, impacted my life in ways I never knew.

Dad

So after I posted about my father in March, I received several emails from family and friends about memories they had of my father. I am going to compile them and send them out.....they are precious.

This is my father and I at Rehobeth Beach, DE in a very close race it looks like. My father loved go-karts and loved to take us to amusement parks and arcades. His favorite game was Ms. Pacman. He was so much fun to be around - all of the time.

This is the last picture we have of all of the kids with my father. It is Easter 1986 - he passed away that November. He loved us so much. Two nights before he passed away we had Family Home Evening and he made everyone go around and bear their testimony and then he bore his. I remember feeling the absolute love he had for the gospel and for us. I am so grateful that I remember his testimony. My father constantly told us how much he loved us and I never doubted it.

My father was a great example to me of unconditional love for everyone, not just our family. He taught me about prayer and missionary work but most importantly, my father made me feel special when I was in his presence. He told me I was beautiful and so I believed him. He told me I was his "precious girl" and I knew it was true.

Robert John Bonaccorso

Bob was my step-father. He married my mother in 1992. Bob was an amazing man. He took on a widow with 6 children and loved us like we were his own. He was always ready with advice and a listening ear. The best thing about Bob is how much he loved my mother and how he supported our family through many trials.

Bob and I had a tradition of going to a tree farm the day after Thanksgiving and cutting down my Christmas tree. He would walk patiently beside me as I literally walked over acres of trees to find the perfect one. It is something that I dearly miss.

This picture is the epitomy of Bob. Easy smile, easy going, easy to love.

Bob was a respected and revered man throughout Arlington County as well as Winchester, VA. I will never forget his viewing in Winchester. I was sitting with my sisters facing the casket and all of a sudden we hear these loud sobs coming in the door. His entire 12 year old baseball team was coming in single file just BAWLING. I have never seen anything like it. They were inconsolable and just layed over Bob in his casket. He was a very loved man, not just by our family but by hundreds of kids he mentored throughout the years.