Courage

Dear Friend,

Fear is inevitable. As much as we would love to avoid this terrible feeling, we could probably think of numerous times in our lives where we've had to face scary circumstances. Such circumstances often involve us feeling vulnerable, challenged, and defeated. These are the times where our initial reaction is to run away and where courage is needed the most.

Courage is the strength we need to confront and overcome our fears. The first half of the word "courage" stems from the French word "coeur," which means heart- the so called center of our emotions. The second half of the word is "rage." Essentially, we need that drive (the same one that stems from rage) to deal with our emotions and bring out the courage within us.

It's not always easy to be courageous. We're often so blinded by frustration and weakness that we forget our ability to rise above challenges, handle them with grace, and exhibit courage. It takes courage to stand up for what we believe in, to make ethical decisions, to love someone, to take risks, to be ourselves...as you can you see, courage can be found in almost anything. However, as we said before, courage doesn't just "appear" when we need it the most. It is a choice. We must choose to stay and fight over running away from our fears.

"Courage does not always roar...sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.'"

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Rough Day

Dear Friend,

Today was a rough day...we don't have much energy to think or focus right now, so we won't be posting our usual thoughts tonight. It wouldn't be fair to you all if you read something that wasn't thoughtful or didn't make any sense at all.

We all have these kind of days, so we hope you understand. Don't worry, we'll  post tomorrow :) Get ready for another song interpretation in the next few days!

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

College/Opportunity

Dear Friend,

Many of you reading this blog are from class of 2013, similar to the two of us. This given, you are most liken in the process of/have already applied to college. This is a huge deal, because college outlines the next four or more years of your life. The whole process can be exciting, sad, scary, numbing, the list goes on. It's different for everyone. Some of us can't wait to get out of out house and lives, while others of us would be perfectly happy staying in high school forever, thank you very much. As with everything in your life, college is what you make of it. College is a chance to start with a clean slate, reinvent yourself, or just stay the same and have more crazy adventures. Whatever you choose to do, go for it.

This post is going to talk a bit about acceptances/rejections. Many of us have top schools, some even have one that they are dead set on. If this is you, congratulations on knowing what you want and going for it! There is a problem however: rejection. Rejection is one of the strongest words in the English language because, simply put, it means that you are unwanted, which is harsh for anyone to hear. If a college that you were hoping to get in to rejects you, it will hurt, there's no doubt about that. Which is why we have devised an easy, 5 step plan.

KYLIE AND CATHERINE'S 5 STEP PLAN FOR COLLEGE REJECTION LETTERS:

1. Accept it. You didn't get in. There really is no use getting angry, or hoping it was a mistake, because 99.999999999% of the time, it was not a mistake. The first step is to take a deep breath, and realize that you did not get it.

2. Eat. Along with laughter, food is a universal language and can make anyone feel a little bit better after a disappointment. Go to the store and buy your favorite type of Ben and Jerry's, watch some ABC family show, and eat for a little bit. (this is only if you are feeling really terrible. If you're stable enough, skip this step and move on to step 3)

3. Think realistically. This college doesn't even know you. Even if you had an interview with them, they don;t know you like your parents do, or your friends, or even us. Even if we don't know you you are, we're sure that you are quite a legit person, simply because you read our blog. Good on you. Anyways, colleges only get to see a small snippet of your life. They see your academics, your GPA and test scores, and a short essay about a single topic. They don't have the opportunity to see what a funny and charming person you are, or how you are always supportive of your friends, etc...the things that really matter. You can do your best to portray these, but they won't always come across. So you have to realize that it's not that they don't want you, or even that they don't like you, the admissions team simply believes that their school wouldn't give you the opportunity that you need to learn and grow.

4. Think good thoughts. You didn't get in, you've eaten that ice cream, and you've realized that you are not a terrible person...so why don't they want you?? We aren't on any college boards, or part of any admission team, so we cannot give you a definite answer, but we can speculate. Colleges that accept you are good schools for you. They looked at your application, and accepted you because of everything you displayed. Let's say you have a lower GPA. Some colleges might put you in the automatic reject pile, which is why they will not be a good fit. Other colleges will look at your GPA, look at your class load, look at all of your extracurricular, see the passion behind your essay, and say "Gee, we really want this girl to come to our school because of all of this.". That's a good fit. Different colleges will accept and reject you for different reasons, but the ones that accept you truly want you. Colleges don't just settle for anyone. When viewing your application, there is always something that stands out that makes them want to send that "Congratulations!" letter and hey, if they reject you, then THEY don't deserve to have YOU at their school.

5. Look forward. What's done is done. You tried your hardest, and the outcome wasn't want you were hoping for, but you now realize that you just weren't what that college is looking for. You're stripes and they're polka dots. Neither is bad, in fact they are both quite adorable, but they don't go together well. Now all that's left to do is look forward. This is just a minor set back, but do not let it deter you. Try to be optimistic, and look forward to the next letter you will open (provided you applied to more than one college). If you don't get in to any college that you applied to, we're very sorry, but There is some college out there that is dying to have someone just like you on their campus, it's just a matter of finding them. If college doesn't work out, go off into the "real world" and razzle dazzle them. Resilience is one of the best qualities to have. We'll do another post on resilience later on.

So sorry if you aren't a student anymore and found this post boring, but it can actually apply to many situations: jobs, boyfriends, girlfriends, etc. To Quote the Sound of Music, "When God closes a door, somewhere he opens a window." Even if you aren't a religious person, there is still value in this quote. If you thought your exit plan from the room was a door, and suddenly that isn't an option anymore, your world is now open to many more opportunities, such as windows and trap doors and ceiling vents, that you didn't even know existed because you were so dead set on easily walking out the door. Handle yourself with grace, and you can achieve almost anything. You got this.

"A rejection is nothing more than a necessary step in the pursuit of success." -Bo Bennett

Yours truly,

Kylie and Catherine

PS. We ere both accepted to the University of Portland. College, here we come!

Seattle

Dear Friend,

We love Seattle. It'll be hard for us to say goodbye to such a beautiful city when we go off to college next year. However, after we finish school, we would love to come back and settle down in the Seattle area. Below is a list of reasons why we love Seattle:

1. The grass is always green
2. Coffee (Seattle is the home of the original Starbucks....)
3. Diversity
4. Environmental awareness
5. Pike Place Market
6. The rain
7. The Fremont Troll
8. Experienced Music Project (EMP)
9. Greenlake
10. Seattle Arboretum
11. The crisp, fresh air
12. The various food carts
13. Space Needle
14. It's a "hipster" city
15. People tend to be open minded

"To some extent, Seattle remains a frontier metropolis, a place where people can experiment with their lives, and change and grow and make things happen."

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Collecting Moments

Dear Friend,

Have you ever thought about time traveling? It has crossed our minds numerous times. We know that a lot of people view time traveling as a chance to change something in the past in hope of changing the future. This would be a great opportunity for people to get "redos," fix their mistakes, and turn their life into one without regrets. This idea of going back in time to change the future doesn't seem to fancy us. Sure, there have been times where we've wondered how situations could have gone differently or wished that we could fix our past mistakes. We aren't perfect, but we would never change our past to fix our future. We believe that everything happens for a reason and we couldn't imagine exchanging our life today for some other one. Someone once said that "You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it," so here's a little pearl of wisdom: enjoy where you are.

But we digress (we tend to do this a lot, so bear with us). So why did we mention time traveling if we don't see it as a way to change our future? Well, we happen to see time traveling as a way to relive moments. Of course we will always have our memories, but even those tend to fade and it's never the same as actually "being there." If we could time travel, we would use it to go back and relive moments that have had huge impacts on our life. We could care less about what we were wearing or the things surrounding us at any moment- we are most concerned about the way those moments made us feel and the people we shared them with. For the second time, wouldn't it be amazing to feel that sense of accomplishment you felt when you finished your first marathon or relive those moments with your best friend that made you laugh so hard that you couldn't breathe? Time traveling would give you the chance to re-experience all these moments...unfortunately, no one has found a way to go back in time. If you know someone who has, please let us know. We'd love to meet them.

In the mean time, we've been thinking of ways to keep our memories from fading away- ways to collect moments. It would be so convenient to just have a magical jar where we could pull out a moment and relive it, but let's be honest here...that's simply beyond our capabilities. For now, we're just going to collect our moments in our own tangible way. Since this is our senior year and we'll be off to college soon, we have begun to compile a box of memories. In this box, we have pictures, receipts from coffee runs, quotes, and other little trinkets- like our first J. Crew price tag and a flash drive in which we've put videos and emails we thought were highly amusing. Ten years from now, we want to be able to remember the "good old days" and relive the moments that gave us feelings we can't even begin to describe. Luckily for us, this simple cardboard box happens to be our secret in collecting moments- it's our little own time travel machine.

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

***Song of the Week: Your Song by Elton John

Holiday Season

Dear Friend,

We love nearly everything about the holiday season. We aren't huge fans of the gross American consumerism that comes out, or the long lines at our favorite stores, but the smells, the lights, the smiles...it's fascinating and beautiful. Below are some things that we especially love about the holidays.

Snowflake Lane just started up for the season. We love the fun costumes and fake snow that falls around 8:00 every night at Bell Square. It's like a smaller main street parade in Disney Land, with less small children. Whether you are on a date, with friends, or a toddler, Snowflake Lane is tons of fun.

The Botanical Gardens are a place we visit every year (except last year). The first year we went was quite eventful. The garden is lit up from head to toe in elaborate Christmas decorations. Year 1 we snagged a scavenger hunt meant for 5 year olds. It seemed easy enough, we just had to find 20 animals throughout the garden. We stole a pen from the hot chocolate lady with a false promise of "Oh of COURSE we'll bring this back!" and set off on our journey. The brightly colored peacock was easy to see, as were most of the other animals. The last on the list was the spider. After literally 30 minutes, we decided that this grey splotch HAD to be it, as it was no where to be found. Then we turned around and saw a massive web with a huge red spider on it...we're blind.

The Holiday is one of our all time favorite movies. There is not much more relaxing that watching having a holiday RomCom night, eating popcorn in front of the TV under fleece blankets, and watching Cameron Diaz fall in love with Jude Law. Hot chocolate is advised.

Decorating is so much fun. Tonight Kylie and her parents set up their annual snow village in the living room. Long gone are the days of elaborately planning out where each and every little figuring must go, and cutting out the fake snow so that the little train can make a full loop around the tiny houses. Now the Aberle's lay down sheets of fake snow, put the houses in their general location, nix the train, plug in the lights, and add a smattering of little trees and people and somehow, even without the obsessive touch that 6 year old K used to have, it still turns out pretty well. Catherine's house is always gorgeous as well. From the neatly placed lights to the santa's around the house and so much more, it's always a festive place to be.

As this is our last holiday season at home, it's a bit bittersweet. Colleges of course have Christmas break (unless, as Kylie's mom says, we end up at "some school that doesn't believe in celebration of anything"), and we will come home for the break, but that's not everything that the holidays at home means to us. The holidays are everything we listed above, as well as walking into any hardware store with the constant carols playing, and coming home to a warm house and a loving family, and seeing smiles around campus get brighter as the days get darker, and setting up for the season in our regular hang out, the campus minister's office. We're actually very excited because tomorrow we are decorating her office for Christmas, complete with personalized little stockings, Christmas lights, and the Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer soundtrack. Another reason why she's our favorite: who else would let us do this?

We hope that you enjoy this impending season as much as we do. We're sure we'll have more holiday related posts coming up in the future.

"Hug someone you love, drink hot chocolate, stay warm, and embrace the holiday season, for it is what you make of it, so make this one count."

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Wasting Time

Dear Friend,

Very short post tonight, we promise to post a longer entry tomorrow. Have you ever wanted to waste some time? We have included three websites that can help you. Explore, dream, discover!

1. Nyan Cat
2. Bread Fish
3. Cat Bounce

"There's never enough time to do all the nothing that you want." -Bill Watterson

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Adventures

Dear Friend,

Going to see a movie should not be difficult. You drive to the movie theater, buy your ticket (or buy it online), get some popcorn (or smuggle snacks in), and find your seat. It's not rocket science...right? Well, this isn't exactly true for the Kuos when they try and meet the Aberles for a movie night...

7:10 p.m. Issaquah Theaters. Skyfall. This was the plan. Catherine and her dad were on the way to the theaters- forty minutes early to be exact. It was pouring rain and they noticed a long line at the ticket counter. Fortunately, nothing seemed to be sold out...yet. The couple in front of Catherine and her dad happened to take the last two tickets to the latest James Bond movie, Skyfall. Kylie and her moms were already in the theater...so this was quite the ruh roh. Unfortunately, Catherine and her Dad were forced to leave and find another place to watch the movie. They ended up seeing the 7:15 showing at the Crossroads theater. So...long story short- Kylie and Catherine saw Skyfall...just not in the same theater and five minutes apart. 

As we were discussing the movie after it had finished, we asked ourselves the question, "What if our lives were James Bond movies?" So in our first attempt to transform our lives into an action movie, we decided to start calling people using only one letter...just like the "M" character in Skyfall. For example, Kylie and Catherine would be "K and C." Then, we thought of digging an underground escape tunnel beneath our campus minister's office...just in case- although, that may be too much. However, as we kept talking about this, we realized that our night was already filled with action. All we wanted to do was watch a movie, but instead, we experienced our own adventure by simply forgetting to buy tickets online. 

Adventures can come in all shapes and sizes. They can be planned or unplanned, simple or not simple. Most of the time, when we think of adventures, we think "Batman" or "Harry Potter." However, in reality, some of the best adventures are found in our daily errands such as trying to find parking at Costco. The other day, Catherine experienced her own little adventure in the mall. She was walking pass J. Crew and for some reason, she decided to check the store out (which we don't do that often). Oddly enough, J. Crew was having a little sale going on- 25% off everything. Fantastic, right? As Catherine looked around, she bumped into someone she knew- surprise! You see? You'll never know what (or who) you'll find at J. Crew. However, the main point here is that adventures are good for you. They can lead you to new discoveries and lift you up. It's not always a bad thing if your heart beats a little bit faster.

As you can see, we like to go on all sorts of adventures. So here's a challenge for you: try and find adventures in everything you do. Whether they are big or small, you don't have to be James Bond to experience one. 

"It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves- in finding themselves."- Andre Gide

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

PS. We are happy to announce that we made our very first purchase at J. Crew on Black Friday. :) 

Gratitude

Dear Friend,

Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you eat a lot of food, laugh with friends and family, and give thanks.

In honor of this special holiday, we decided to dedicate this post to a list of things we are grateful for in our lives:

1. Our lovely families 
2. Our amazing friends  
3. Coffee- Starbucks, Coffee Thursdays, and coffee stoppers
4. Somerset Hill 
5. Our school and our passion for learning
6. The Class of 2013 
7. Seattle 
8. Nights that turn into mornings
9. The five senses  
10. Chefs 
11. Google 
12. Sales at J. Crew 
13. Parents who love us to the moon and back  
14. Creativity
15. 11:11 time 
16. St. Madeleine Sophie Barat and St. Rose Philippine Duchesne 
17. Pinterest 
18. Challenges and risks 
19. Code Names 
20. Laughter 
21. Michaels Arts and Crafts Stores 
22. Our friendship  
23. Our blog
24. The campus minister's snack bar 
25. Sodastream machines (aka bubbly water) 
26. Twitter 
27. Our nurturing teachers 
28. Enumclaw 
29. Having faith 
30. Insurance companies 
31. Our good health 
32. Dreaming big 
33. Our acceptance letters to Forest Ridge 
34. Adventures

What are you thankful for? Thanksgiving is a time of gratitude. This opportunity to reflect on what we are thankful for can help us seek greatness. Gratefulness can go hand in hand with humility because we are able to appreciate acts of kindness from others. However, this spirit of gratefulness doesn't have to end after today, we should constantly remind ourselves of all the blessings we have in our lives.

"We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude." -Cynthia Ozick

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

How to be a Good Friend

Dear Friend,

The other day, Catherine came across the statement: "The average friendship lasts for about 5 to 7 years." We don't know the source of this statement or how reliable it is, but it got us thinking about our friendship. We are on our ninth year of being friends- in other words, we've been friends for more than  half our lives. By the previous definition, we are considered to be above the supposed "average" of years a friendship lasts. We're pretty proud of this accomplishment, but what does it mean to be part of a friendship? As we said in a previous post, we aren't your typical pair of best friends...we really aren't normal. However, we think we can prolong our friendship by understanding what it means to be a good friend. In this post, we've outlined certain qualities that we consider a good friend to have. We know every person is different, but these little pointers are what we consider most important and have played huge roles in us maintaining a solid friendship.

24/7 support 
"I got you." This phrase is something the two of us say to each other all the time. It's simple, but it means a whole lot. It could mean anything from "don't worry, I'll give you a ride home" to "it's okay if you need to vent- i'm all ears." A good friend is willing to listen and is no more than a phone call away and by this, we mean they will respond to you no matter what you have to tell them. Interestingly enough, the two of us have created a little communication system. When we text each other, we normally don't send more than three texts at a time. When one of us receives notification of ten or more texts from the other, we know something is urgent. However, the worse is when one of us notices all those texts, a missed phone call, and a voice mail- this means that something crazy or terrible has happened and that the other must respond immediately. If you haven't created a complex communication system like this, it doesn't mean you aren't a good friend...that's just how we communicate and let each other know that we're around. A good friend will always, always, always be there for you.

Differences are good 
Often times, people think that friendships are solely based off of common interests. Of course it's natural for you to start a conversation with someone who enjoys running or watching football like you do, but it doesn't necessarily mean they are a good friend. Being able to recognize each other's differences is just as important as recognizing similarities. The two of us consider ourselves to be the same person because our train of thoughts is extremely similar and we share the same values, but there's no doubt that we have differences. For example, one of us is simply fascinated with the sciences and is hoping to pursue a career in neurosurgery whereas the other finds so much joy in Broadway musicals and could spend the whole winter season skiing. The two of us just don't "respect" these differences; we support them as well. In fact, good friends are complements of each other. They are able to bring out the best in you, even when they can't bring out the best in themselves. You are doing a fine job as a friend if you are able to be proud of such differences rather than looking down upon them.

Pursuing happiness 
If you want to learn more about happiness, you can read our previous post on "Choosing Happiness." But for this post, we mainly want to touch on the connection between happiness and friendship. A good friend will always seek happiness for you, not the friendship itself. A friendship cannot be considered healthy when one person is unhappy. There are many ways to pursue happiness. You could crack a joke because you know that laughter is the best medicine...or you could have a positive outlook on life while your friend is feeling down in the dumps. It doesn't matter exactly how you achieve happiness, just make sure your friendship gets a dose of it each day.

We could probably list many other factors that contribute to you being a good friend, but we hope this little "how to" guide can get you started. There's a "good friend" in everyone- you just have to find them. Someone once said that "Life is better with friends" and we couldn't agree more. It's so important that you have someone that would drop everything for you, but it's even more important that you are willing to do the exact same for them.

"Good friends are like stars...you don't always see them, but you know they are always there." 

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Obsessions

Dear Friend,

Tonight, we are going to give you a list of 15 things we are simply obsessed with. Stay tuned for longer posts as the week progresses, but yesterday's was fairly lengthy, so we decided to just do a short one today. Enjoy!

1. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries - A modern interpretation of Pride and Prejudice, in video diaries from the middle Bennet sister. Link HERE

2. adream - An app for iPhones and iPods that is basically like instagram, except for dreams and aspiratoins. You can "cheer" people on, and see your friends complete their goals.

3. Ricecakes - Who can resist their salty crunch?

4. Brookside Dark Chocolate Acai Berries - The perfect grab and go snack. Link HERE

5. Snapchat - Another app for sending selfies back and forth. We thought it sounded stupid as well, until we got one. Now we can't stop "snapping".

6. Scarves - From infinity to knit to cashmere, scarves can complete any outfit.

7. Stripes - For some weird reason, we can't get enough of stripes lately. They're just something about them...

8. Essential Baking Company - Kylie recently introduced Catherine to this Cafe...safe to say we're hooked.

9. Starbucks Red Cups - When the red cup appeared we were over joyed. The holidays seem to start with this simple change of color.

10. J-Crew - Self explanatory. However, our statistics teacher just informed us that this company enlists child labor in Indonesia...true or not true? I mean...he should be a pretty reliable source...

"It is surely a calamity for a human being to have no obsessions." -Robert Bly

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Music

Dear Friend,

You can tell a lot about a person by examining their iPod playlist. Some have only top 40, others have obscure indie bands. Some have all Jimmy Buffett and Kenny Chesney, while others have only broadway. We don't really fall into one group or another. If you shuffle our iPods, you'll be listening to Barry Manilow, then Hall and Oates, then Tyrone Wells, then Noah Gunderson, then Queen, then Kreayshawn, then Katy Perry, and then Fleetwood Mac. We have basically everything. We are always trying to find ways to outline our life, and one way is through music. Examples:

Summer 2012:
This summer we became obsessed with country music. We made playlists that were on repeat the entire season. Highlights were The Wind, My Wish, and God Gave Me You. This summer was all about making the best of our last official summer at home, and this included windows rolled down, hair loose, late nights, and lots and lots of country.

Winter 2012:
This winter is full of chill alternative. Some songs you might know, like I Won't Give Up by Jason Mraz, but others you may not be familiar with, such as The Streets by Avalanche City, Honest Songs by Noah Gunderson, and Lost in My Mind by the Head and the Heart. This Fall/Winter is outlined by panic attacks regarding college, midnight debriefing phone calls, late nights studying with the comfort of a fuzzy blanket, and of course through it all, our winter playlist.

People listen to music in lots of different ways. Some listen just for the sound, but others dig into the emotional side. A drummer might key in to the beat, while a fresh divorcee may find resentment in even the most innocent of songs. Enchanted by Taylor Swift might just be a nice song to some, but it can bring others (mainly the two of us) to tears because of when we first discovered it, and everything that song has seen us through. Songs can be like comforting hug when the world seems to have turned its back, but they can also be harsh reminders of something or someone you wish to forget.

Music is one of the most epic things in the world, at least according to us. The first notes of No One Mourns The Wicked send chills down any Broadway fanatic's spine, simply because of its intensity. I Dreamed a Dream is one of the most amazing songs ever preformed on the Broadway stage. To some, they are just nice songs, maybe not your cup of tea. But Kylie and one of her friends had the pandora Broadway playlist on while doing english essays/college apps, and these two songs basically reduced the two to messes. Broadway has a way of reaching out to people and capturing them that is so hard to describe. Call us theatre nerds, but we proudly own up to that title. If Broadway isn't your thing, you can't deny that Bohemian Rhapsody or You Give Love a Bad Name, although they aren't Rihanna's latest single, are still pretty much two of the best things to ever come out of a recording studio. Good music doesn't care about time. Songs like THIS and THIS will never loose their touch.

People have asked us how we find the music that we have, because we have some pretty decent music. Two of the main ways we find the music that we have are through friends, and through pandora. Shout out to those who have made us mix CDs, they all rock. We have a joint pandora account, and we figured out how to add a ton of songs to one playlist. That way, we get to hear songs that don't just relate to one band or song. Once we buy the songs that we really love, we look at related songs on iTunes. We largely base our song purchase off of the album cover, to be honest. We're more likely to buy a song f it has a cute, funky cover than a boring one. This is how we have recently discovered Lady Danville and The Oh Hello's. Hover over the links on these (and all of the others in this post) to listen to the music we're talking about. Don't say you're too busy, or have other tings to do, because who knows, we could have just introduced you to your new favorite band crush.

We're going to start a song of the week, so that you can discover new music and bands, or relive old ones with us. Song of the week: Sunset by Avalanche City

"I think music is itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by." -Billy Joel

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

The Seattle Marathon

Dear Friend,

Guess what is happening one week from today?

The Seattle Marathon and Half Marathon!

This very special Seattle event takes place on November 25, 2012. The marathon run begins at 8:15 a.m and the half marathon run begins at 7:30 a.m. This annual event began in 1970 with a group of people from the University of Washington. The participation in these events increases each year- in fact, there are 17,000 expected participants this year. It has become one of the largest marathon events in the U.S.

If you know the two of us, you probably know that we aren't participating in this run. We aren't exactly "athletes"- the most extraordinary athletic event we are considering is a canyoneering trip in April. We also started running this summer, but that idea sort of faded away as the school year began...but Lord knows we try! So why post about the Seattle Marathon when we aren't even a part of it?

Well, the two of us are on Thanksgiving Break and were just thinking of fun things to do during break. We heard of this event and we thought it might be fun to spend the day in Seattle next Sunday. You only live once, so why not grab a peppermint mocha at Starbucks, cheer on some runners, and have lunch at The Essential Baking Company? Sounds like a perfect day to us!

Also, if you happen to be participating in this run, we wish you the best of luck! It doesn't matter if you come first or last place...you should be extremely proud of yourself for being part of such an amazing event!

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." -John Bingham

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Favorite Places: Home 2.0

Dear Friend,

Welcome to the last installment (for now!) of the "Favorite Places" series! This post is our favorite place on earth together...our school. We aren't going to mention it by name for privacy reasons, but for the sake of this blog, we'll call it Home 2.0.

Headquarters
The library. The library was the first place that Kylie walked into when she visited Forest Ridge as a little fourth grader that felt like a second home. The people that work in the library and fantastic and everything about it is warm and cozy. Many of our friends wonder why we spend all of our free time there, but we wonder why they don't. The library is a perfect place to spend a rainy afternoon. Some of our favorite memories are in the library, whether we are flipping a switch about something that just happened, or frosting and eating a dozen cupcakes as "dinner" before the fifth grade concert at 8:00 pm, and then army crawling across the floor to pretend that we were in a high-stress action film. The name "Headquarters" comes from the fact that if we ever did start up a business similar to the CIA or FBI (but let's be honest, we would be the only two idiots involved), our base area would be the library...

Specific HQ
...Specifically, an office in the library. Our campus minister is probably the #1 most amazing, friendly, funny, musical, and all around legit person. She is one of the main reasons that Home 2.0 is what it is to us. We joke that we live in her office but in a way, we do. We have a "family portrait", and an entire corner of our own that we have decorated. It includes positive quotes, a "rainy day jar" (tbc at a later post), a Buddha statue, our personal tea mugs, a large tea pot, and a variety of teas. We also have our own pillows and blankets in this office. Our day doesn't feel complete without sitting on the white couch in the warm office drinking pomegranate vanilla tea or whatever selection we choose for that day, and just chatting.

Theater
The theater is where Kylie has spend the last two weeks after school, this week until 7:30 and tonight until nearly 11:00. We are both very involved in the theatre department at Home 2.0. During shows (which is basically all year), we live at the theatre. Kylie does every performance  whether acting or teching or stage managing, and Catherine usually chooses one. From the red curtains, to the "never mind about black hats", to the ghost story, the theatre at Home 2.0 is so unique because of all of the memories and stories behind ever costume piece, set piece, and scrape in the floor. There is also a ghost that lives in the theater, Sister Evie. A techie was walking on the catwalk and found a funeral invitation for a "Sister Evie". What else would it be doing up there if her ghost wasn't involved? Hence the story.

When shows are going on, the theatre is a buzz of excitement and it's so hard to describe the feeling. There is something in the atmosphere that just makes everyone happy. Tonight before our last show, the girls in the light/sound booth plugged in youtube videos of Bye Bye Birdie, our last show and we were all belting the words at the top of our lungs. Although shows end and sets are torn down, the memories never go away, nor do the friendships. By the end of senior year, Catherine will have been involved in 5 shows at Home 2.0, and Kylie will have been involved in 17.

Not quite HQ
The is another teacher's office. We don't spend as much time in here as we would, because said teacher is never there. This office is so unique. It is not a novelty to find a bowl of soap and banana peels covered in cellophane to "kill the fruit flies". We have just recently discovered the scarf drawer which we will be using probably more often as the weather gets chillier. This office has the funniest paint job. There are holes in the wall everywhere, and the ceiling has hints of blue from a previous decor choice. We make fun of this office on a regular basis, but we actually really enjoy spending time there. Yet another place that makes campus feel like home.

As you can see, we love everything about our school. We chose to highlight just a few things, but we could go on forever about this amazing place. We joke that we run the whole place, and even teachers assume that we know everything about it (which we basically do). We would be the first ones to notice if a garbage can was moved, or if a small plant was uprooted. Things like this throw our whole days off. We know every single teacher on campus and have a personal relationship with each. We are friends with people across grades. The entire school is such a community. This sounds cliche, but it is the truth. We always feel comfortable and safe at Home 2.0.

We are so blessed to have such an amazing school that we feel comfortable calling home. Unlike some people, we don't dread coming to school. We always arrive early and usually leave later than we have to. We do run the school, even if people tell you otherwise. True fact. Although we are leaving for college in 199 days, we know that Home 2.0 will always be somewhere we can come back to. Actually, we never truly leave, do we? Out hearts will always be tied to this place, and that's an eight year bond that you can never break.

Home is where the heart is...

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

RUH ROH

Dear Friend,

Catherine is sleeping and Kylie's keyboard just stopped working so the final installment of the Favorite Places post will be posted tomorrow. Sorry for the EXTREMELY short blog post tonight!

Hang in there!

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Favorite Places: Naalehu, Hawaii

Dear Friend,

Naalehu is not your typical city in Hawaii. There aren't any hotels lined up on the beaches, late night luaus, or even tourists bustling around at shopping malls. Instead, Naalehu is a place where you would find locals fishing at 4 in the morning or climbing a palm tree to retrieve a coconut. To put  it simply, it's a chill place. Although it may not be the first attraction that comes to mind for tourists, it is where Catherine's mom grew up and one of the top vacation spots for the Kuo's. Well, you couldn't even call it a vacation spot- it's really a second home. Located at the southern tip of the Big Island, this extremely small town consists of one school, one church, one library, one grocery store, etc. If you ever make it down to this sweet old place, be sure to visit the following:

Hana Hou 
This is the main restaurant in Naalehu. Embracing home style cooking, this restaurant never fails to please. There are classic meal plates as well as new specials every day- each with their own island flavor. Whether that is the papaya salad dressing or the simple macaroni salad, you are guaranteed a taste of local foods. However, this restaurant is most famous for their pies. When you first walk in, you are greeted with chocolate pies, banana cream pies, coconut pies...anything your heart desires. But lesson of the day: do not leave this place without trying the macadamia nut cream pie. It is to die for.

Punalu'u Black Sand Beach 
The Punalu'u Black Sand Beach is one of the most beautiful and family friendly beaches in the world. You can take a dip in the warm water or watch the sunset at the evening barbecue. You will definitely enjoy these typical "beach-y" activities, but one of the highlights at this beach are the sea turtles. While walking on the beach, you'll come across turtles sprawled out all over the place. They are extremely friendly and welcoming to strangers. These turtles are as chill as Naalehu.

Swap Meets 
Swap Meets are essentially local farmer's markets that happens a few times a week. At these little booths, you'll find some of the freshest fruit and vegetables grown by the locals. Often times you can sample mangoes, coconuts, papayas- basically any tropical fruit you can think of. The families who run these booths are absolute sweethearts and are so, so, so happy when visitors arrive.

Punalu'u Bakery  
Best. bakery. ever. There is no doubt about this. The Punalu'u bakery specializes in sweet bread. As young kids, Catherine and her sister, Emilee, would often walk from their Grandparent's home to this bakery almost every day of the summer. They were always the first in line for the freshly baked bread. Then, in the afternoon, they would return to get a cup of the bakery's famous macadamia nut ice cream. All this dessert goodness and sugar was probably not the best thing for Catherine and Emilee, but it was (and still is) totally worth it!

As you can see, Naalehu is very simple. It is also small enough that you can't really keep a secret without someone finding out. Everyone knows everyone...well, everyone is related to each other. It's really one big family...literally. There have been many incidents where Catherine has been at a local swap meet and is suddenly bombarded by all her aunts and uncles she had never met before. It never hurts to gain more family and friends, right?

Aloha and Mahalo! 

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Favorite Places: San Juan Island

Dear Friend,

There is a reason why Islanders refer to a trip to the mainland as “going to America”. The San Juans seem to be on a completely different slice of reality than the rest of the world. When you step off the ferry, you are immediately at ease. There is something about the salty air and the smell of the ice cream shop that can calm the most cluttered mind. The town of Friday Harbor is absolutely charming. From over-priced boutiques, to yummy coffee shops, there is something for everyone. Walk along the wooden docks and pass the fish market and you’ll be sure to see Pop-Eye, the half blind resident seal. Saturday morning at 10 is the farmers market, where you can find literally the best pizza you have ever tasted, fresh fruits, and that nasty smelling oyster booth that somehow manages to always show up. The local movie theater is charming. Not too long ago, if eight or more people didn't show up for a movie they would cancel it, since the price of the movie would be more than the price of the ticket sales. If you drive out Roche Harbor road you’ll pass Mona, the Island camel and her little white alpaca friend. Mona is the #1 sassiest dromedary and she loves attention, so be sure to stop and say hello. Continue straight and you’ll come to Roche Harbor. Roche Harbor is a nice, quiet harbor during the winter months, but once summer hits and the tourists come, it is insanity. The Lime Kiln Café is filled with all manner of yachting folk. If you wake up early enough you can snag a delicious doughnut before they sell out. Fourth of July brings herds of drunk, bald men and too tan women. Every 4th, the dock hands jump off into the oily water after their nightly “colors” ceremony.

If you take a right on your way down Roche Harbor Road, and then another right at the “Lonesome Cove Resort” sign, you’ll come to Kylie’s grandma’s property. She owns three houses: the “Big House”, the “Cabin”, and the “Little Cabin”, but everyone refers to the whole place as the cabin. The cabin is waterfront property, and many nights have been spent sleeping outside in cots, staring at the stars. Somehow, no matter what is going on in your life, the cabin makes everything feel okay. There are no fears at the cabin, aside from the ominous seal noises and the occasional trespassing deer. When you walk in the doors of one of the cabins, you are greeted with the smell of cedar and wood and cinnamon and something that just smells like home. Kylie’s grandpa built the cabin from the ground up, and this love and care permeates throughout. The cabin is a mindset. It represents all of the dedication that went into its construction. It is a gathering place for friends, new and old. It is grandpa’s workshop, and grandma’s measuring cups, and the old green bunk beds, and the lamp that never works, and the little yellow wooden fisherman, and macaroni. The cabin is long walks on the beach and breakfasts of raspberries and toast in the gazebo and late nights spent laughing with friends. The cabin is every Fourth of July eating messy veggie burgers and laughing as the juxtaposition between the Aberle’s fun little sparklers and the neighbors nearly blowing up their house with massive fireworks. The cabin is family. Not immediate family, but everyone who has ever visited has been changed by the cabin is inducted into the island clan.

"Those who have lived it know how beautiful the experience is. It holds a place in one's heart, my dear cabin-goer. The people, the place; treasure it." -Jane Huestis

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Favorite Places: Intro

Dear Friend,

What makes a place so memorable that you can't stop smiling or cringing when thinking about it?

From our personal experiences, we have two answers for you:

The People 
When we think of a place we have been, we often think of the relationships that were created, developed, or perhaps even broken apart while being there. This could evoke either positive or negative emotions, but other people always play a role in how you feel about a certain place. To help explain our thoughts on this, we thought of two scenarios regarding camping with friends.

Scenario #1: Camping with Friend A- Friend A absolutely loves the outdoors. Whether it's rain or shine, she can be found hiking, rock climbing, or kayaking. If you are camping with this hardcore and upbeat friend, you are bound to have a good time. Fallen tree blocking the pathway back to your tent? It's okay. Friend A will spend all afternoon scoping out an alternate route to home. Bugs? Don't worry. Friend A has five different types of bug repelling agents (including mouthwash for the ants). As you can see, your friend adores the outdoors so much that she has has the ability to look at any situation with a positive attitude. Sure, you may get lost or gain a few bug bites here and there, but hey- it's an adventure!

Scenario #2: Camping with Friend B- After your camping experience with this friend, you never want to return to the woods. Friend B is the type of person whose idea of camping is a three star hotel room a few miles away from the lake. Although you love your friend dearly, she is the worst camping partner ever. Fallen tree blocking the pathway back to your tent? You better start building an emergency shelter. Before you know it, it'll be dark and you might find yourself some raccoon friends. Bugs? Those creepy crawly creatures are all up to you, honey, because Friend B is too busy using up the one bottle of bug repellent you have. You better start praying that some deadly spider doesn't eat you alive. Let's face it- Friend B is not cut out for this type of adventure.

Although these two scenarios may seem pretty extreme, we hope we got the point across. People are a huge factor when deciding whether or not a place means a whole lot to you.

Individual Growth
A place's ability to help you grow as an individual can determine what makes a place special. Think of a place that you highly enjoy or despise. This could be anything from your family cabin, your school, or the park few blocks down from your house. If you look back on all the memories at these places, think about how each experience has contributed to who you are today. You know that the place is special when you realize you can't imagine life without it.

Hopefully you are starting to think of some of your favorite places. This was just a little introduction to a short series of posts beginning tomorrow. Over the next three days, we are going to describe some of our absolute favorite places in the world...so stay tuned!

How hard it is to escape from places. However carefully one goes they holy you- you leave little bits of yourself fluttering on the fences- like rags and shreds of your very life. 

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Clothes

Dear Friend,

We all know that it's what is on the inside that counts, but that doesn't mean that we don't enjoy dressing up and feeling classy. We've outlined some of our favorite outfits for each season below.Sorry for the short post tonight, but we have a lot due this week and not a lot of time! We promise to post longer, more thoughtful posts later on in the week. For now...

Fall
-Brown boots
-Grey leg warmers
-Dark jeans
-Sweater
-Scarves
Winter
-Hunter boots
-Jeans
-North face jacket
-Stripey gloves
Spring
-Cropped or colored jeans
-Sweater with blouse
-Sperrys
-Messy bun
Summer
-Short shorts
-Colorful tank
-Flip flops
-Ray Band sunglasses

Again, we apologize for the quick post.
Happy Veterans day!

"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." -Mark Twain

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Twitter

Dear Friend, 

We have exciting news for you...we joined twitter today! The link to our twitter is...drum roll, please.........

twitter.com/dearfriendblog 

If you have a twitter account, be sure to follow us! We'll be giving daily updates on our blog posts and you may even see some daily tweets of wisdom from us. Feel free to tweet us with any questions you have and we'll do our best to answer them. This twitter account will be a form of communication between us and our readers (shout out to Ireland...you guys helped us gain a few hundred page views in the last few days!). We are super excited about this, so we've decided to dedicate this post to twitter.  

Twitter is a fun social networking site that allows people to send and receive 140 character messages known as "tweets." This helps people receive the latest breaking news, stay in touch with friends, celebrities...there is so much to do and so many people to follow! Twitter is sort of like a universal brain- everyone is able to share their thoughts, which are then compiled into one great mind for everyone to see. After some experience with our personal twitter accounts, we've come up with a list of "Do's" and "Don'ts" in the world of twitter. 

Do's

-#hashtags

-follow Taylor Swift :) 

-be witty 

-retweet things you find joy in 

-space out your tweets

-promote yourself or others (but not too often!)

Don'ts

-#toolongofhashtagsthatconfusepeople

-write a novel

-complain about people without using names to gain pity 

-take yourself too seriously

-tweet anything you will regret later

-let it become an obsession 

#followus

Yours truly, 

Kylie and Catherine

Challenge: Ants

Dear Friend,

Each day we are met with challenges, some bigger than others. Some days our biggest challenge is getting out of bed, other days we are faced with deadlines, friendship problems, and other hurdles. Even though challenges are, well, challenging, they do provide opportunity for growth if we're open to the expansion. Like Albert Einstein said, "In the middle of growth lies opportunity." This guy knew what he was talking about. The two of us have had plenty of challenges of our own. We are installing a new post series: Challenge. We will give ourselves challenges, and then blog about the outcome (unless it is totally anti-climactic). We'll start with an unplanned challenge that happened in February


Challenge: Deal with an ant infestation at 4 AM in Palestine.
Rules: Silence. Don't wake anyone else in the house up. Kill all ants. Get rid of evidence.
Date: February 22, 2012

Over mid-winter break, the two of us went to Jerusalem with classmates and some teachers. The trip in itself was quite the roller coaster of emotions. Besides being half way around the world and away from my family and other friends, we were in one of the most dangerous places in the world. This event took place during our first morning waking up in Palestine. We had gone to bed very late the night before. The day had been so emotionally draining, as we had listened to stories from Claire Anistas, a victim of intense Israeli harassment. Her stories and wisdom were a lot to handle and we were exhausted. Also, this was the point in the trip that everyone was getting sick. We woke up at 4 AM to the call to prayer (the novelty had worn off and we just wanted to sleep). The two of us were sharing a queen sized bed and our friend Nathalia was in a smaller bed on the other side of the room. 5 minutes after being woken by chanting, I (Kylie) looked over to see Catherine leaning over the side of the bed. At first I thought she was sick, but then she jumped up on to the bed into a ninja pose and screamed.

We had an ant problem.

Our noses were running and our heads were pounding and we felt terrible, but in less than two seconds the two of us were standing on our bed and looking over as hundreds of ants crawled around on the floor and all over our stuff. Being the resourceful girls we are, we grabbed two things of mouth wash and began to pour them over the ants. Even though ants don’t usually bother us, the amount of them was insane and it was 4 AM in Palestine and we was sick and tired and delirious. Nathalia was freaking out about a huge spider in the bathroom, as well as a lack of toilet paper and it was just a bad situation all around. All we could do however was laugh. We couldn't believe the situation we were in, but it really strengthened our friendship. We took the challenge of staying quiet while being attacked by ants (at this point they were crawling all over the bed) head on and tried to deal with it with as much grace and poise as we could muster because what else could we do? Might as well find the humor and positive side in every situation because that’s more conducive to productivity and learning than being grumpy.

Lessons Learned:
-Mouthwash kills ants immediately. Note: always carry mouthwash.
-Try to find humor is situations that are not humerus at face value.
-Sickness makes everything worse.
-Positive thoughts are always helpful.
-Kylie and Catherine would make excellent CIA agents.

We hope you enjoyed challenge #1. Please comment or tell us about challenge suggestions and we promise we will try to get to them all as long as it is not too illegal or dangerous.

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." -Helen Keller

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Early Mornings

Dear Friend,

What do your morning routines consist of? After you wake up, you probably roll out of bed, change into the day's clothes, brush your teeth, and have some breakfast- or something like that. But have you ever really thought of that moment when you open your eyes from deep sleep...that moment when you first wake up? This moment doesn't mean much to people, but for us, it's one of those little things in life that make us happy. Of course we've wondered about "night thoughts"- where do we "go" when we sleep? Some of us experience some crazy dreams where others just black out. But we digress..."night thoughts" is a totally different post. For now, we are just going to try and make sense of early mornings.

So what makes early mornings so special? Well, when we first wake up, it seems as if our minds are full of absolutely nothing...if that makes sense. If you don't understand this, try thinking of your mind as a computer. At night, you shut down. This means that your mind is simply focusing on resting for the next day. However, in the mornings, you turn  on your computer and wait for it to "boot up." Entering your password and logging on gives you the "a-okay" to start the day. This is how our mind functions in the morning, but we are most concerned about the period where our minds are "booting up." Clearly, we are awake- the computer is on. However, we have no access to actual documents on the computer because we haven't logged in yet. Thus, minds are blank. We call this "the moment of bliss." This time is not very long, but it is crucial when starting your day. This is a time where you can just lay in bed without having to worry over your problems. The two of us often have a lot of things on our mind. For example, we are in the midst of the college process...I think that's all we really have to say...to keep this short, we are very busy. But we digress. We love early mornings because we just don't have to think about things like college. When these moments of bliss end, it is a bit of a bummer. But you should be thankful you got to wake up in the first place!

I love early mornings when it feels like the rest of the world is asleep and you're the only one who's awake and everything feels like it isn't really real and you kind of forget about all your problems because for now it's just you, the world, and the sunrise. 

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Giving

Dear Friend,

Sometimes we get into the mindset where we think we are the center of the universe. Events are planned according to our own schedules and people's actions are in our best interests- the world must revolve us. It is definitely important to take care of ourselves, but becoming so wrapped up in our own interests can lead to  selfishness. It is imperative that we step back from our own lives and take a moment to look around. It doesn't hurt to become concerned about others, in fact, it should be our duty as fellow human beings to be interested in the welfare of others. We need to learn how to give. Being able to put aside our issues so that we can give back to others is very important. But what does it mean to give? In this post, we have decided to share gifts we have given people- both physical and priceless.

Physical Gifts 
When you hear "physical gifts," you probably think of the gifts you give to your family and friends on their birthdays. These gifts can range from buying a new watch or paying for their dinner. Today, the two of us helped carry out a very special event at our school. We planned a surprise day full of fun activities for our school to enjoy- we brought everything from bouncy castles to go karts on campus. These physical gifts can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but they all have one meaning- to show that we care. We wanted to give back to our community and planning this event helped us show people that we appreciated them.

Priceless Gifts 
These gifts don't have a monetary value attached to them. They can be as simple as lending someone a coat on a cold day or writing a handwritten card for them. You don't have to pay a single cent to give these gifts- it's more about the thought behind them that counts. In our lives, we give the gift of joy to people (at least we hope we do). Roald Dahl once said "If you have good thoughts, they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely." Positive thoughts are key in spreading happiness to others. If you are the type of person to complain a lot and put your problems above others, then there's no opportunity for joy to arise. As we said before, it doesn't cost anything to bring joy to people- it just takes your time and effort. This can be very difficult to do, but just take deep breaths and put a smile on your face. Something that you think is meaningless can mean a great deal to someone else.

Giving to others can cause a chain reaction. By putting someone else's needs before your own can be a great example to people. If we all give either gifts to each other every day, we guarantee that people will be more loving and happier.

"It's not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving."- Mother Teresa 

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

P.S- Thanks to the person who suggested this blog post. You know who you are. (Suggestions for posts are always welcome! We want to know what you want to read.)

[If you are reading this in your e-mail, please check our blog online as some changes may have been made.]

Choosing Happiness

Dear Friend,

In our life we are forced to make a lot of hard decisions, most of which are not easy or simple. The decisions that we make can have a lasting effect on our character, image, and well-being. Some of these decisions come at a cost as well, even if the over all result is positive. In this post we will outline some of the hardest decisions and choices that we all face on our path to happiness.

First however, we need to talk about happiness. The sort of happiness we are discussing is not that temporary happiness after eating your favorite candy bar. It is the lasting happiness that makes you a better person. The type that gives your confidence and allows you to hold your head high because you made the decision that was right for you, and you feel awesome.

Choosing Happiness: Under Pressure
Lots of times, people that we look up to and consider close friends turn out to not be as supportive as we would like to believe they are. When we are making a tough decision, we can tell our true friends by those who believe in us and stand by us no matter what. This doesn't mean that they can't challenge our decisions to help us, but true friends should never make you do things that you wouldn't do on moral or principle. Lots of times we are pressured to make a choice by friends, classmates, or even society. Friends might pressure you to go to a party you really don't want to go to, classmates pressure you to push yourself as far as you possibly can in order to "succeed", and society pressures us every day to be prettier, skinnier, taller, etc. Not all of these people have bad intentions. Your friend might just want you to have a fun night, but if they really cared about you they would see that you would much rather stay at home with a movie and a bowl of ramen. Classmates challenging you to do better can be beneficial, but when they begin to make you feel guilty for choosing the schedule that was right for you, their pressure becomes negative. We won't even start on society's pressure, as this is a whole post in itself. The bottom line is this: do what is right for you. Make the choice that will bring you the most happiness. Take opinions into account, but use discrepancy to know who's opinion you should really take into consideration, and who is speaking without thinking.

Choosing Happiness: Friends and Family
As we said in our previous post, friends are the family that we choose for our self. For this reason, it is important that we choose our friends wisely. You should always be kind, but remember that it is okay to break from those who aren't good for you. Friends should be people that you surround yourself with because they lift you up to a higher place. If a friend spends all their time bringing other people down, this is only because, metaphorically speaking, the victim of their judgement is higher than them. It is perfectly valid and constructive to ask for help with friendships, but when asking turns to venting which turns to gossiping, this is not a healthy friendship. Friendships should not be based off of tearing other people apart. For this reason, choose friends that will make you HAPPY. Friends that are constantly venting or gossiping or drinking etc. are not good friends to have.

Family is equally important. You don't really have a choice about your family, except who you marry*. Although there are some exceptions, family is that one thing you can't get rid of. At the end of the day, we both know that no matter how bad our life seems, we can still hug our parents and hear them say that everything will be alright in the end because somehow hearing that from your mom or dad makes you believe it. We are both very lucky that we have amazing parents that support our choices of happiness.

Choosing Happiness: Follow your Heart
How do we know what the "right" choice is? Often times this can be tricky. There are some tricks that can help you decide. One we will focus on is called the "Ice Cream Trick". Let's say that it is a hot summer day, and you and a friend go out for ice cream. When you get to the store there are two flavor choices: vanilla and chocolate. The boy working at the store asks you what kind you would like. You are distracted by his stunning eyes and gorgeous smile that at this point you don't really care so you say "surprise me". He hands you over a cone with vanilla ice cream. Once he does this however, you realize that you would really actually like chocolate. This is sort of like what happens in life. We are presented with options but we get distracted by smaller details (the ice cream boy) or other things in our life so we choose an option at random. When we make the "wrong" choice, we are met with that feeling of receiving an ice cream flavor that you didn't realize would disappoint you so much. Although you would have rather had the chocolate, you didn't speak up because you didn't want to look picky in front of the boy. In life, often times people don't speak up for what they want because they are afraid of criticism or they convince themselves that they don't care. Before making decisions, weigh your options. Really immerse yourself in what your life wold be like if you skipped work to go to that party, or took classes you weren't excited about just because "that's what everyone else is doing!" Once you get better at making the choices that feel right, you will soon be making choices that support your happiness. Good luck!

Happiness is a conscious choice, not an automatic response.

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

*Referendum 74 is passing in Washington State with 68% of the votes counted and a 52% approval lead. This means that Kylie's parents can officially get married and she can stop feeling guilty about lying and having to say that yes, her parents have been together as long as all of her friend's parents but no, they cannot be legally married because of government mandate. Congratulations to all of the "civil unions" which will soon change to marriages. So proud.

Kylie and Catherine: Elections 2032

Dear Friend,

To run for president of the United States of America, one must be 35 years old. Conveniently, this will be true of both of us during the 2032 elections. We're all about thinking ahead, so we're here to announce to you today that we, Kylie and Catherine, are running for president in the 2032 elections.

We realize that this is a very big decision, but we think we are ready for the job. We won't choose a vice president since we're in it together, so we'll be a packaged deal for both government roles. We think we can handle it. Hopefully by 2032 we'll be famous bloggers, which will get us the popular vote...or at least the electoral college vote.

The way the electoral college works, we could win 23% of the popular vote and still over 270 electoral college votes. Although many people believe that the electoral votes are evenly distributed to states based on population, this is not in fact the case. The electoral college takes votes from big states and gives them to smaller states. The electoral college pretends that more people live where they don't, and less people live where they do. Hence why we can come put victorious, regardless of the fact that 77% of America vote against us...YOLO.

As we continue to discuss our campaign strategies, we will give you updates on our journey to the White House. For now we just wanted to let you know this exciting news as it is a very big deal in our life. Congratulations to Barack Obama for winning a second term. If we don't say so ourselves, he ROCKED his speech and we couldn't be happier about the results. Whether you were for or against a second term, we are all in this together, like Obama's first tweet said after being reelected.

2032: Dear Friend, we're running for YOU.

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Learning

Dear Friend,

Today, the phrase "doing school" often has a negative connotation to it. As current students, we are constantly surrounded by high levels of stress due to school. We've seen everything from people frantically rushing to print their latest history paper to cramming for their upcoming biology test. These high stress situations often result in tears, short tempers, and chaos- the epitome of panic mode. It is very disconcerting and upsetting for us to see some of our classmates turn into sleep-deprived zombies with the passion to learn simply sucked out of them. Doing school should not solely be associated with grades and evaluations, it should be about our love for learning. It can be difficult and challenging, but we should not have to drag ourselves out of bed each morning just to attend school. Instead, we should realize how fortunate we are to have an education in the first place and remind ourselves of our favorite subject and why we love it. The two of us don't have a favorite subject; we think each one is special in its own way.

English
First and foremost, English is very important to us because we use it in everything we do. We wouldn't know how to communicate without being able to speak, read, and write properly. However, when we think of English, we often associate it with  imagination. Having no limits on imagination allows us to pick up a book and suddenly be transported back to the Middle Ages or write a creative story about a parallel universe. English allows us to expand our thoughts and realize how endless possibilities are.

Math 
We both agree that math is definitely one of the more challenging subjects. We are taking a statistics class this year and we just finished up IB SL 2/AP Calculus last year. However, as difficult and frustrating these classes can be, math is a subject we highly enjoy. Math is all around us and can be applied to almost everything. When we're in math class, it's almost as if we've been transported to a whole different world where we only speak "numbers." Math allows us to use our problem solving skills, which can be very beneficial to us in real life situations. By trying new methods to solve a problem, we are able to look at situations with different perspectives.

Sciences 
We can never escape science. Science is evident in our daily lives- it explains how trees change colors in the fall, how cancer develops, and how we are alive as human beings. We love science because it brings out the curious side in all of us. We are constantly asking questions and trying to find answers to them. Science is the foundation for innovation.

The Arts
Often time, we restrict ourselves into very linear thinking. In art, there is no right or wrong answer- everything is abstract because we are able to express a wider variety of ideas and emotions. Art also teaches us to be flexible because things never go as planned- each theater performance, art piece, and song is different. Creativity goes hand in hand with the arts because it allows us to pursue knowledge in our own unique way.

History 
In history class, we are exposed to so many cultures, perspectives, and ideas. By looking at historical events, some say we can learn from our mistakes. However, the two of us don't find that totally true- if we really learned from our mistakes, why are events that happened hundreds of years ago still occurring today? We don't learn from our mistakes- we just do them better.

We could probably go on and on about why we have such an affinity towards all these subjects, but it all comes down to our passion to learn. Whether it's the feeling of satisfaction you get when you finally solve a math problem or the thrill you get when you realize how the human body functions, learning is so valuable. To us, learning doesn't mean sitting in class and jotting down pages of facts- it is about finding so much joy in absorbing the given information and being able to apply that to daily situations. So, even when "doing school" gets tough, don't forget to remind yourself or others about the drive to learn.

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."  -Gandhi 

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

PicFrame

Dear Friend,

Are you looking for yet another app to make your pictures look old, vintagey, and scrapbooky? Read on.

We have recently discovered a new app for the iPhone. This app is called PicFrame and it costs 99 cents on the iTunes app store. Basically it is a more convoluted version if Instagram. PicFrame allows you to choose from a variety of layouts, background styles, and image effects. Once you are happy with the layout and photos, you can curve the edges, make some pictures black and white, and add 3D effects. All very exciting and completely unnecessary, yet oh so fun. Once you've done this, you can add text. In our day and age, people are too lazy to buy supplies for an actual scrapbook, but never fear, this app will have your friends asking when you got so cool, and how they can be like you. You can overlay text on masking tape, ribbons, and more right on your iPhone. How great is that?! Once you have finalized your product, you can upload it on as many social media sites as you wish including tumblr, facebook, instagram, etc. You'll never have a dull photo again.

When we first bought PicFrame, we came up with a fun little phrase for when we use it to post photos. Instead of saying "Oh, we're going to tweet this" or "Let's insta this picture," we decided we should say "Pif it" when we use PicFrame. So get out there and splurge that 99 cents because this app is worth it.

"Pif it!"

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Pet Peeves

Dear Friend,

The same pet peeves don't apply to everyone. Some people may not think much of one thing while others find it super annoying. We all have those little annoyances that send us over the edge. Below is a list of our pet peeves:

1. Missing socks 
Where in the world do they go? This is very annoying because we don't know what to do with the sock we have left. Do you just wait until the other sock magically shows up? Or do you throw it away?

2. Dishwater 
This is the left over water you find on dishes after they've been washed. The water is slippery and slimy, which we find gross. If they dishes are truly "done," there shouldn't be dishwater on them!

3. Boys who don't know how to pull up their pants 
Seriously? The world doesn't need to know what your undergarments look like. Pull them up because you will trip.

4. Traffic
Sitting bumper to bumper is the worst. The engine is on and you aren't moving. Many times, traffic causes great road rage (read more about road rage on our previous post).

5. When the toilet paper roll is backwards
This pet peeve probably doesn't annoy many people, but we can't stand it. We don't know why, but we just can't deal with backward toilet paper rolls.

6. Marionberries 
What are these berries? They make us nervous. If you can explain them to us, please do so.

7. Wobbly tables 
This is the worst when you are trying to write. Did the carpenter not know how to measure the legs of the tables?

8. People who chew loudly 
If you are enjoying your food, good for you...but you don't have to be as loud as an orchestra.

9. Excessive scratching 
It's fine if you have an itch or two, but when you sit there for five minutes just scratching your leg...let's be honest, that is gross.

10. Squeaky pens
How can something little seem so loud?

11. When people use names in different languages just to sound "unique"
Sometimes, this can be cool...other times, this just makes you sound pretentious.

12. Friends who leave friends behind
We find this very sad. Even if you don't like that person anymore, don't ignore them. They are still human.

13. Awkward silences
These are very uncomfortable. When you try to get out of these, it's even more awkward. "Sooooo.......how about them Seahawks?"

14. When kids chase birds
Leave those poor animals alone! If they aren't do anything, mind your own business! (however, we find birds particularly annoying in general...they are like little spies)

15. Purple and green next to each other
Purple and green= barney. It's as simple as that.

16. Overgrown finger nails
Please cut them. What do they need to be so long...what even is a nail?

17. Bending the straw when you are trying to open a juice box 
When you do this, the straw gets a little crease in it. Those should not be there.

18. When your phone decides to stop working
This is very, very bad when you are in the midst of telling someone something very important. This has happened to us multiple times- so stressful!

19. Surprise fruit in pastries
You know something isn't right when you bite into your coffee cake and find a blueberry. It just doesn't make sense.

20. Broken promises
This is very high up on our pet peeves list. Don't make promises you can't keep. This just makes people feel unimportant and not worth it.

What are some of your pet peeves? 


Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Ways to Describe Kylie and Catherine's Friendship

Dear Friend,

Our friendship isn't exactly normal. The two of us are like super besties. We don't know how or why, but we consider ourselves the same person. We have very similar values and we know exactly what the other is thinking- heck, we don't finish each other's sentences...we start them. In this post, we thought we'd share the following "ways" to describe our friendship.

"K and C"
This is the classic. "K and C" simply refers to our names. When you hear our names, you probably think "friends" or perhaps, "best friends." For example, tonight, Catherine participated in dance company and Kylie (along with many other wonderful friends) came to support her in the front row- and is planning to go to the second performance as well. We're the type of friends who attends every single one of each other's events and are cheering the loudest. We are each other's biggest fans.

"Bogo"
"Bogo" is most commonly known as "Buy one get one." This phrase applies to our friendship because when you see one of us, the other is bound to be just around the corner. We're "buy one get one". This isn't to say that we can't do things without the other, but we're most always together.

"Laotong/Laotang"
This comes from the movie 'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan'. Laotong sisters are two people who, in Chinese tradition, are basically mega-sisters. They are not actually related to one another, but they are connected at heart from a very young age. Although we haven't been friends since birth, or even fourth grade, we have some special connection that's really hard to explain.

"Partners in Crime"
Some people say that their best friend would be the one they would call if they needed help hiding a dead body. With us, we would be helping each other drag the body across the floor. Although we have never been in this situation, we have no doubt that we would always be there to help each other, with no judgement. Chances are we would have been planning whatever happened together. When something happens to one of us, whether it is good or bad, we're both effected and in it together.

"Twinning"
Twin-winning. We know basically everything about each other from pin numbers, to coffee orders, to least favorite kind of kale salad, to family dynamics. When one of our friends is looking for one of us, we always know where to find them. One, because we have a handy 'find your friends' app, but also simply because we are that in sync.

Friendship is one of the most important things to us in our life. Our parents have always told us that throughout life, you can only truly count your best friends on one hand because that is how special they are. Friends are like the family that we choose for ourselves. True friendship is a big commitment, but it is amazing to have people that you know you can count on no matter what, friends that would drop anything in a second to help you when you really need it, friends that would never dream of leaving you, friends that would help you deal with that dead body with no questions asked, friends that lift you to a higher place. Friendship doesn't rely on how often you see each other, it relies on how often you make the effort to connect on a deeper level than just joking around or asking mundane questions. We sincerely hope that you find these people in your life, because we're truly blessed.

As you can see, we really aren't your typical friends or even best friends.

We're just Kylie and Catherine.

"If you live to be a hundred, I want to life to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to life without you." -A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh


Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Grace

Dear Friend,

First of all, happy belated Halloween! We hope that you all had a fun and safe night last night.

Today's post is, as promised yesterday, about "Grace". Speaking to the etymology of the word, in biblical times, 'grace' meant things similar to God's favor, thanks, and mercy. When Christians sit down for a meal they say grace to give thanks for the meal set before them. More modern interpretations, according to good ol' Merriam-Webster, include "a pleasing appearance or effect", "a charming trait". But what is that trait to which Webster refers? As defined by Kylie and Catherine (we have the authority to define words because Kylie is related to Webster...true fact), grace is the following.

Grace. n.
1. Handling one's self with poise and confidence, staying composed when challenges present themselves, and always wearing one's invisible crown regardless of the situation.

Grace is a wonderful virtue. People who handle themselves with grace are mature, smart, and fabulous. These are the types of people that you would surround yourself with when everything in your world seems to be falling apart. Grace comes naturally to some people, others have to work a little harder. One thing is certain: everyone is capable of grace. Everyone is born with this ability, but if we don't practice grace often, we get into bad habits of freaking out when anything disappointing happens. When things don't go according to plan, many people are absolutely beside themselves. Whether this is something minor, like when the cafeteria doesn't serve pasta on pasta Monday, or something huge like not getting accepted to the college of your dreams, humans hate change. Well, most humans hate change. We actually think that change is good. Without change, life would be mundane, and we would never have opportunities to practice grace. But we digress.

Learning how to handle situations that don't go according to plan takes a lot of patience. As we mentioned yesterday, humans are sort of similar to soda cans. We bottle things up inside of us for as long as we can, so if someone shakes the can for long enough (in this case, if disappointment after disappointment keep happening) we explode. Some people get violent, others throw pity parties for WAY too long. Like many things, grace is a conscious decision. Others get angry when grace does not some to the quickly, but grace takes patience and practice. When something disappointing happens, try not to get too down on yourself. We are not saying you have to be happy if you don't get into your dream school, or smile if you do poorly in a ski race or whatever your challenges happen to be, but there are ways to deal with these situations that don't involve too many tears or emotional breakdowns. Ways to deal with these situations with GRACE. We've laid out a few steps, but please know that these are not solve-all solutions. They do help, however.

First of all, asses the situation. Let's say that you just got back results on something that you thought you would do really well on. Perhaps this is a race, or a test, or something else. Put these results in perspective. Ask yourself:
a) Did I try my best?
b) Is this a life or death situation?

If the answer to the first question is yes, then good on you. If it is no, then ask yourself why. Maybe you have a perfectly valid reason. Maybe you have had to balance too many things lately, and training for that run or studying for that test just wasn't top on your list. Besides the let down of your results, you should be proud of yourself for everything else you have going on in your life. Like someone once said, if you start a race, you are automatically ahead of the people sitting on their couches. Simply because you made the effort makes you awesome. This probably won't make you feel much better after getting the results you didn't want, but it's worth a try.

If the answer to the second question is yes, then we can't really help you with that. If you are disappointed because you just shot someone, than you should stop reading this blog and either turn your self in, or find a really good hiding spot. If the answer to this question is no, it is not life or death, think of all the blessings that you have in your life. If something terrible just happened like a death, or some serious problem, we are not trying to say this isn't important, because we understand that in this moment that whatever is causing you pain happens, one of the worst things someone can tell you is "it's not that bad" because in your life, it is. If you can, try to think happy thoughts. That's all we're saying.

After you have reflected on the situation, take deep breaths. These can be actual breaths, or just in your head. Breath in strength and courage, and breath out all of the negative emotions. What's happened has happened, and all you can do now is learn from your experience, integrate it into your life, and push forward.

Thirdly, hold your head up. You are a strong, wonderful person and you can be anything that you set your mind to. Note, we don't say you can DO anything you set your mind to, because this creates space for more let downs. You probably cannot become the fastest runner ever in the world, or the best mathematician, or even the two most world-famous bloggers (but God knows we keep trying). We aren't trying to be debbie-downers, we're just thinking realistically. But you CAN be anything you want. You can be poised, you can be inspiring, you can be mature, and you can be graceful. These are virtues which come from within. Simply make the decision, and practice, practice, practice until it becomes rooted into your soul. Nothing comes easy without practice, and changing your habits is the same way. However if you hold yourself to a standard of grace in everything you do, pretty soon you will succeed. This change of virtue and habit isn't something that you need to do for other people, but for yourself. However, once you make this mindset commitment, you will find yourself a much more relaxed and happy person who takes challenges and disappointments head on, and isn't perturbed by outside forces trying to shake your soda can until it explodes, hence making you a more likable person. If your life is a book, you are the author, and you are the only one who can make decisions on how you present yourself. Other people might offer suggestions for edits, but you have the final say.

You got this.

We hope that you stuck with us through that whole post. We know that it's long, but hopefully it was worth the read.

"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn, or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude." -Denis Waitley

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine