Keeping Up With Kayleigh

As a college student, sometimes there is nothing I want more than a warm, home-cooked meal. I especially want a meal prepared by my mom! No comfort compares to sitting in your home eating a delicious meal surrounded by family. What I would give to be able to just go home and have a meal prepared by my mom!  I was very fortunate to be blessed with a mom who is an excellent cook. Growing up, I remember my mom would get home from work and immediately begin preparing dinner for our family. My mom comes from a long line of incredible cooks, so she has many wonderful recipes that she gets to bless our family with. One of my personal favorites is her slow cooker mac 'n cheese. That was always what I requested for my birthday meals, and I always told my friends that they had never had good mac 'n cheese until they tried my mama's mac 'n cheese. This quickly became the meal that all my friends requested when they came over to my house, and it was my mom's famous recipe. It i...

It is hard to believe that I just experienced my last fall break in college. I know I have mentioned it before, but it is very hard for me to be so far away from home, so I was really looking forward to this break! Flights were very expensive, so I ended up missing classes on Friday to get a relatively cheap flight. I left for Columbus around 6 a.m. on that Friday, and although I am not normally a morning person, I did not mind getting up that early if it meant getting to go home!  I did not hit any traffic, so I arrived at the airport around 7:30 a.m., and that left me plenty of time to grab some breakfast and get some work done before boarding my flight. This flight was so cheap because it had a 20-hour layover in Orlando. You may be wondering, who would ever take that flight? The only reason that flight caught my eye is that my oldest brother and his wife live in the Orlando area! I landed in Orlando around noon and was able to spend the rest of the day with my brother, Joey, an...

My 10th Birthday! Growing up, birthdays were always a very big deal in the Jarkowsky household. My mom always made sure to make our day incredibly special in any way possible. No matter how old we got, we would always walk down the stairs to the house decorated with balloons and streamers, the table decorated with a card and presents and our favorite breakfast treat. Later in the day, she would make our requested dinner, and the entire family would gather around our dining room table. Spending time with my family was always my favorite part of birthdays. Once I moved to college, I dreaded my birthday. I dreaded the feeling of waking up and not getting to walk downstairs and see how my mom decorated. I dreaded not getting hugged by my parents. I dreaded not feeling special. Most importantly, I dreaded not being able to spend my birthday with my family. I also felt stupid that I was a college student who still felt like birthdays were a big deal. But in my family, no matter how old you g...

  This past weekend was our annual Homecoming weekend at Ohio Northern! This has been my favorite weekend of the year since I was a freshman, and I cannot believe that this year was my last! I love the traditions of our little village, and it is so fun to see all the excitement throughout campus.  I started the excitement a little early on Thursday night. Many of you might not know, but I am a very big Marvel fan. The “Avengers: Endgame” encore showing was set to roll into theaters that weekend, and I was sad knowing that I would not have time to go see it with all of the Homecoming events; however, I happened to see that there was an early release showing on Thursday night. I quickly hopped in my car and made the drive to Findlay for a solo movie date to see one of my favorite movies of the Marvel franchise. Call me crazy, but I thoroughly enjoy going to the movies by myself. My little brother made fun of me for going alone, but the introvert in me had the best time. Classes ...