Finishing Out Summer in Style

“Sometimes, you will never the know true value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” 

It looks like the next 2 or 3 weeks of summer vacation will start dwindling down. What may seem like a long time will be over before we know it.

A great way to finish summer is to watch the London 2012 Olympics. I hope to join my family and friends to watch Team USA compete against the world. I plan to deck out in red, white, and blue top, skinny jeans, and my red ballet flats. During commercial breaks, I plan to organize and gather some important forms and documents needed for college with Five Star’s new horizontal expanding file! I love how this awesome product matches with my outfit. It even includes folders that are the same color as the Olympic rings! Did you know the colors represent the flags of the countries that participate in the Olympics? I can’t wait to watch some epic sports events like swimming. I’m definitely keeping my eye on Missy Franklin, Michael Phelps, and Ryan Lochte.

Speaking of swimming, I’m spending my last week with my swim team, Catawba Valley Aquatic Club. This is the last week I will be spending my time at our homely chlorinated pool. I’ve been with the Stingrays for 8 years now. The lessons I’ve learned, the people I’ve met, and the things I’ve been able to accomplish through swimming are moments that will forever be in my memory. This Saturday will be my last swim meet with this hardworking and inspiring group of people. I’m still undecided whether I’ll join the club team at the college so this may be my last race, forever.

My job as a Team Five Star® Ambassador has been going fabulous! I’ve been so lucky to work with some of the most awesome people in the world. They’ve been finishing out their summer in style as well so see what they’ve been up to at www.tinyurl.com/FSTeam

I hope to spend my last moments in my hometown by saying one last goodbye to some of my high school friends. It’s seems like moving day to college is forever away but it’s slowly becoming a reality. So, it’s time to finish out the summer in style! 

A Summer Unlike Any Other

"Be Brave. Take Risks. Nothing can substitute experience."

~Paulo Coelho

My summer has been a summer like no other. I am blessed that God has offered me so much opportunities these few weeks of summer to experience things I have never done before. From UNC orientation to swimming with dolphins, I have so far experienced a lot in my summer vacation. Thankfully, it is only halfway done! There are still plenty of things to learn, discover, and appreciate.

For the first time, I am experiencing my first official job. I've been able to earn a couple of cash here and there from teaching swim lessons at the Catawba Valley Aquatic Club, but I was more of a substitute teacher because I had a busy schedule. So, my first official job is with Mead Five Star®. Yes, I'm talking about the notebook company.  Yes, the one that sells school supplies. To some it might be a bit ironic that I am working with a school supply company over the summer but, hey, why not?

I was picked along with 6 other high school and college students across the country to represent Mead Five Star's notebooks, binders, planners, folders, etc. The 7 of us are called Team Five Star. We are student ambassadors promoting the company. When I found out I was chosen, I was pretty shocked. I "liked" the Five Star® page a while back and saw the 2011 Team Five Star® Ambassador program on their wall. When the application came out for the 2012 program, I just filled it out for fun! I wasn't expecting to be chosen. Being chosen was a wonderful surprise.

So basically, I'll be discussing my love for the Five Star® school supplies throughout the summer! I can't wait to work with all the other amazing ambassadors that I met at Boot Camp in Connecticut!

I would love it if everyone who reads this would "Like" the Five Star® Facebook page at www.tinyurl.com/fsteam. It's a really friendly page and normally Five Star® Likes or comments your post! So, if your bored, check it out! You can also learn more about their Giveaways and products as well. 

Summer may be hot and sweltering but it has definitely been a summer unlike any other. May your summer be unlike any other as well.

Time Never Flies Too Fast

From Tiger to Tarheel!

Well, I finally graduated from good ole Fred T. Foard. Will I miss it? Yes and no. For there is so much that has happened in those white and blue walls. Lots of people say time has passed way too fast. In my opinion, not really. Time for me has always been on my side. It's just how you use it. You have 24 hours every 365 days a year to accomplish something whether it's paying it forward with a nice gesture or aiming closer to your goals. You have a chance everyday to smile, laugh, cry, or mourn. So, I don't try to waste my time thinking how fast it has gone. I just look forward. I look forward because it's the only way to go. There's no time machine to slow things down. Why need a time machine to slow things down anyways. You just have to embrace every moment that comes by and keep going. 

Looking forward, I'm embracing these last few weeks with my family, friends, and myself before I'm headed to the big UNC. I'm happily ready to have some serious bonding with everyone as the calendar reminds me of the next transition in my life. Yes, I do think it will be a little strange not attempting to make swim practices each week, preparing for MPA, and driving my car around Hickory, North Carolina. But you can't discover anything new about your strengths and weaknesses until you actually take a chance and let the norms change.

It is okay for me to reminisce once in while but I can't physically change anything to go back and relive those times whether they were good or bad. But for now the past and the future are here right now with the present. I'm ready to spend my summer with my family, soak up the sun, swim twice a day, and even work at my first job (can't tell anyone exactly yet but you'll find out eventually)! 

While we might be sad that one book in our life is coming to its conclusion, there's always another waiting to be written. A book waiting for a new introduction and beginning. So, here's the first sentence of my new book: With the past behind her, Kirsten Nicole Zaldarriaga Consing threw her graduation cap into the air and watched it soar into the plethora of blue caps that sailed into the air excited for the opportunities and challenges awaiting for her outside those ceremonial doors.

May everyone else have a happy summer and embrace every moment! Because time never flies too fast.