Best Friends and Blessings by: Bailey Kellenberger

Finding a best friend that you can honestly count on for anything and everything is often close to, if not, impossible. It is rare to meet someone and have them stay in your life for your remaining time on Earth. Families move, friends go off to college, and even with today’s technology, remembering to keep in touch with one another is most definitely hard. However, there is a blessing in life that it most often overlooked… siblings. Your brothers or sisters are “build in best friends”. You get to see them every day. You’ve grown with them and know them like the back of your own hand. They know and understand almost everything you are going through because chances are they are going through it too; after all, you do live under the same roof. Your siblings are able to truly love you unconditionally. No matter how much you fight or steal each other clothes, at the end of the day, you know that you can go to them for anything and they will be more than happy to listen. From personal experience, my sisters are the ultimate best friends. Truly, I feel bad for anyone that doesn’t have sisters like mine. My sisters and I fight like WWE fighters. We will pull hair, punch deep, and kick fast however that never stops us from protecting, loving, and caring for one another. The first person I go to for any advice is my older sister. There is this trust that runs deep between her and myself. She knows the ins and outs of high school and relationships and she never holds back the reality of any situation. She will leap to my aid if anyone is giving me a difficult time and I’ve never met anyone that can win a face down with her. She is my forever best friend. I take her for granted. I forget about the time when she cut my hair (without my mother's knowledge) and I forget the about the time she first did my makeup. I forget that as children we were inseparable as we told secrets behind the playhouse slide and snuck into each other's room to play with our Bratz’ dolls until sunrise. I allow myself to forget my childhood. I feel as though as I get older I must always keep this in mind. Often, I let words slip out of my mouth such as “I hate you” or “never speak to me again”.  Although I don’t mean any real harm, I forget that words cannot be undone.  I forget to treat my siblings as the blessings they are, and I forget that they deserve to be told how much they mean to me. So, count your blessings and remember to never forget. 

October 18, 2016

The Kiwanis Family Fall Festival

On October 2nd, I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Kiwanis Family Fall Festival. Despite the rain and chilly weather, the festival had a great turn out and was a successful day for families all around Sparta. The day began with pumpkin painting activities. My friends and I decorated pumpkins for kids to take home as well as helped them paint their own pumpkins, where they were able to show of their creative and “abstract” painting skills. We then were given the opportunity to listen to the Bill Wright School of Music perform their rock styled tunes, while enjoying sweet apple cider and cinnamon donuts. I have to say, I enjoyed the cool air. I thought is was a great kick off to the fall! Most kids enjoyed the face painting booth,which if you were wondering, I did not volunteer at, as my work would have been a little more abstract than the children would have liked…. After the excellent performance from the Bill Wright School, the Newton Dojo brought some action packed karate to the festival. The day presumed with fun games and activities. I am looking forward to more volunteer opportunities in the future, and hope the next one I attend is just as great of a success.

~Carlie Wilson