Kelly Holland

I’ve done a horrible job of updating, but the last few weeks have been a complete whirl wind….including my final days in France, back to Utah for two days, a four-day road trip with my mom through America’s southern states, and a new begining in Durham, North Carolina. I’m officially a nursing student at Duke University. I can’t express how strange life feels right now…yet so exciting.

 My last few weeks in France were amazing, almost more than I can express in words, or show in pictures….a magical dinner in the mountains of Cevenne with a wonderful French man, another beautiful day on the moto, pina coladas by the pool, midnight skinny dipping, a tour through the old Roman city of Nime, and good times with good friends….I miss it so much. I boarded my plane for America just moments after leaving one of Montpellier’s infamous disco techs…an all-night-er, full of dancing, was the way to do it…I slept like a baby on the 10-hour flight from Paris to SLC.

Pina coladas, poolside with Delphine

The crew on a day full of moto (Delphine, me, Laure, Alain, and David….my french family)

Lavender of Languedoc…one of Southern France’s wonders

 My last night in Montpellier…several hours before my flight.

I left a special place when I left Blancardy this summer. I left a best friend that I’ve shared countless adventures with over the past six years, I left a love, and I left some incredible people that became unforgettable friends. Rachael Burks has been at my side for so long via roommate, ski buddy, travel companion, or just straight up best friend that leaving Blancardy had a major significance…I was taking an entirely different path for the first time. Leaving was hard.

Sunset on  horseback…Rachael does Blancardy right.

More moto with Delphine, David, and me (with the really big head)

Best Friends….I’m pretty sure the best ever…and Team Struggle forever….Equipe Galerer!

From the moment I landed in Salt Lake City I had one and one half days to unpack, do laundry, repack, throw the dog in the truck, and get on the road. My loving and awesome mother joined me on my journey East.

I had less than a week to make my orientation at Duke. After four days in the car and a pit stop at Mesa Verde, Colorado we pulled into Durham on a Saturday morning. I found my new studio, which I love, moved in, and accepted my new existence as a Blue Devil, far, far away from the snowy mountains of the West. But I also embraced the realization that I have a whole new journey and a great education in nursing ahead of me…after sixteen months, I’ll be a nurse. I’m stoked on my new challenge, and so far, I’m pretty stoked on North Carolina. It’s different, but it’s great…and really green! It has been said more than once this summer, so I’ll say it again….there are no good byes…only see you later. So, to all my friends that I’ve left behind, including my best friend in all the world, see you later….and thank you for being awesome.