Nice to meet you

Welcome to my very first blog post! I do not know what I am doing exactly....so on this Sunday afternoon I will kindly remind you of a very important message: Patience is a virtue. I decided to dedicate this post to my blog title: "I just like the "B" and that's all".

My full name is Kelsey Beatrice Nielsen. When I was in elementary school, many kids liked to play the game that would be called "What's your middle name? You HAVE to tell us!" if it was a real game with a name. One girl would go first and say, "My middle name is Anne", or "My middle name is Jo!". Then there would be the girl most proud and confident in the group who would say, "Well MY middle name is Marie!". Of course, after the all the excitement that came from sharing super-unique middle names was over, they'd ask me what my middle name was. I'd try to proudly share with them that MY middle name was Beatrice. Pretty much any six-year-old living in the '90's wouldn't be familiar with the name, and therefore feel the need to laugh and make fun of it. When I was little I did not like my middle name; I thought it was weird that it was so different. Most of all, I did not like that it wasn't the same as those of everyone else.

During this time in my young childhood, I loved to read (yes, there WAS  point in time where I read books and enjoyed it) the Junie B. Jones books. In the beginning of every book, the outspoken and confident main character, Junie, gives an explanation: "My name is Junie B. Jones. The "B" stands for Beatrice. Except, I don't like Beatrice. I just like "B" and that's all." There were a few things I loved about this: The main character of a well-known children's series had the SAME middle name as I did. She was famous! She was way cooler than the "Ashley Jo"'s at school. I also loved that she made her middle name a very distinct part of her, even though she didn't like it. This all sounds so childish--well, that's because it is. I was a very sensitive and dramatic five-year-old. Anyway, ever since then I decided not to tell anyone my middle name; I was going to just go by Kelsey B. Nielsen. And that's all.

When I got older I learned more about my culture and heritage and where my middle name came from. My great-grandmother on my mother's side's name was Beatriz Moreno. She raised my grandma, Elida Galan, who is an AMAZING woman. Because of this, as well as the fact that I grew up and don't really care what other people think about things like my name anymore, I LOVE my middle name. I think that it is very elegant and pretty. And it has a story.

However, I grew up as Kelsey B. Nielsen. I have nicknames because of it, my legal documents have me listed under that name, letters from all over the world from friends on missions and letters sent to me from my best friend while he was in boot camp have all been addressed to "Kelsey B. Nielsen".

So. While this blog post may seem useless or boring. It is an explanation about who I am and where I came from. In case my story-telling didn't give you a good enough picture of what I may have been like in kindergarten...here's a little extra help:

I know. I was a little bit awkward. Okay, maybe a lot. But that's me. Kelsey B. Nielsen. And that's all.