One year ago, there was a girl who was so lonely and so unhappy.

She was stumbling around through life, trying to find some kind of purpose; a glimmer reason in the madness of life.

This girl still lived in her parent's basement. She didn't have a job. She didn't have many friends. And she was miserable.

One day, she wandered onto a chat room. The boredom that surrounded her pressed her forward and she decided to talk to some interesting strangers.

When she started chatting with Username: "Layne", she enjoyed the conversation so much that she eventually moved the chat over to MSN. 

"SingingKate" and "Layne" had so much in common.

A love for Zelda and books. Music and movies. Guitar and drawing.

They talked until six in the morning.

Now, Katie had been down this road before. She had met a guy online and had really liked him. And when reality set in that it would never work out, it broke her heart. And while she told herself that she should delete this guy and move on, she signed into chat the next day and talked to this charming guy all day. And all night.

Kevin, which was his real name, continued to get more interesting and they talked every day for a week.

The two started playing Zelda together, chatting while they raced to finish it first.

Katie won.

They played another game.

Katie won again.

The weeks passed. And even though Kevin had started his fall semester in school and Katie started a new job, they still talked every day; spending more time on the computer than was healthy just so they could talk about everything and nothing. 

Strangely, they never ran out of things to talk about.

By October, Kevin and Katie had played two and a half Zelda games. Had talked on Skype countless times. Had talked every single day.

And Katie was falling in love with this boy from California.

One day, she took a deep breath and told him so.

He wrote a smiley face emoticon and told her the same.

They sent texts, they called, they Skyped, they emailed. They did everything they could to talk to each other.

And Katie was starting to feel very happy.

But by Christmas, something was tugging at her, making her very upset and hiding all of the happiness in it's wake.

They still lived two states away from each other. They had never met. And she worried that she'd never get to kiss this guy that she loved so much.

The two came up with a plan. They would meet in Las Vegas. Katie would move there now and Kevin would join her as soon as he could. And they would visit each other until they were able to be together permanently.

And after eight months, they met for the first time in April.

And that first kiss was the best kiss she'd ever had.

Until the next one. 

And the next one.

The times when they are apart are so hard, but so worth it when they finally are together again.

Now it has been a year since these two stumbled upon one another in a chat room.

So much has changed since then.

And what wonderful changes they have been!

Kevin and Katie are so in love. Kevin will be joining her in Vegas soon. And not a single day has gone by that they haven't talked to each other.

I love you Kevin! Thank you for an amazing year!

My wonderful boyfriend was here for an entire eight days.

This was the longest I've ever been able to spend with him, and it was completely wonderful.

And if it's possible, it broke my heart even more when he got in his car and drove away back to California.

I'm doing my very best not to be a complete emotional wreck right now. And I've found that if I focus on the amazing things that we did this week, the things that I loved; it makes it so much more bearable to know he isn't here anymore.

- The first kiss when I opened the front door -

- Watching one Harry Potter movie a night in anticipation of Deathly Hallows - Part Two -

- Reading all of the Hunger Games together. We read it out loud to each other -

- Going swimming in a fancy hotel pool -

- Walking the strip and exploring hotels we'd never seen -

- Tickle wars -

- Teaching each other card games that we love -

- Watching Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, a movie we both loved when we were little -

- Playing board games late into the night and laughing so hard at the silly things we said -

- Lots of kissing and cuddling -

- Cooking various food dishes: Breakfast sandwiches, lemon pepper chicken, taco soup and much more -

- Eating out at wonderful restaurants, and sitting so close together -

- Letting him give me my first hickey (he gave me two, the little punk) -

- Getting a hug when I was disappointed about the job interview I had -

- Playing through all of Yoshi's Island on SNES together -

- Watching Brian Regan comedy shows on Netflix -

- Listening to Disney music any time we drove the car, and singing along -

- Picking up job applications. Even though it was tedious, it was made fun because he was there -

- Reading most of Catching Fire before he left -

- Waking up to find that Kevin made me puff oven pancakes for breakfast - 

- Taking a few pictures in the same place we took our first pictures together, in a graffiti covered underpass -

 - The smell of Kevin. It's wonderful. (He sprayed cologne on my pillows before he left) -

- How sweet it was that he filled my car up with gas -

- Seeing Deathly Hallows with Kevin at the end of the week. It was an amazing movie, and seeing it with my Potter-fan boyfriend was wonderful! -

- The hesitation when it came time to say goodbye -

- And most of all, the multiple times when he told me how much he loves me -

It was an amazing week. And it was definitely over too soon.

I love you Kevin! Thank you!

He's pretty much perfect.

Have I ever said that before on my blog?

He visited for the weekend and it was probably the most perfect weekend ever.

It was mostly spent at home watching movies and curled up together.

There is nothing better than watching Lord of the Rings and Star Wars with the guy I'm in love with.

His visit was much too short.

Watching him leave was so awful.

But knowing that I'll see him again in a few weeks makes it feel so much better.

I love you, Kevin.

Thank you for everything you do for me. 

I can't wait to see you in July!

My mom is:

A friend

A confidant

A shoulder to cry on

A scary driver

Great at making me laugh

A wonderful smile

A hug on a bad day

A hug on a good day

A caring sister

Loving

A wake up call

A great cook

An incredible wife

A night owl

A trip planner

A sweet grandmother

Always good for advice

A travel companion

A random email

A terrible text messager

A tv watching pal

A quilter

A reader

A farmville addict

A gamer

And most of all,

She is the perfect mom.

Thank you for bringing me into the world and thank you for making my life one that is filled with love!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom.

I love you!

My grandma is one of the most amazing women I know. She is spiritual, and loving and has had such an amazing life. 

She passed away an hour ago. I was able to be there when she passed and it was such an amazing, peaceful experience. My mind is still comprehending it. 

I love you grandma. With all of my heart. Thank you for helping to start this wonderful family that I belong to. 

Thank you for being there for me whether I was sick and needed you, or whether I was in a play and just wanted you to see me on stage. 

Thank you for being the center of nearly every family tradition we have.

And most of all. Thank you for being my grandma. 

I love you!

My grandma and me on my blessing day.

My grandma and her 7 children. (This is one of my favorite pictures of all time.)

My grandma and me September 12, 2010

I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful grandmother. I will miss you so much!

Until we meet again.

Rae Rasmussen
April 23, 1922 - October 15, 2010