Kat's Wacky World

New Blog

2011-08-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

I've started a seperate blog for my new life in recovery. Due to the highly personal nature of that topic, I've made it visible only to people I invite. If you want to follow along on that blog let me know and I'll shoot you an invite.

A Twist in the Path

2011-08-29T19:47:00.000-07:00

I've thought long and hard about what I'm about to say. I have decided that I am tired of living a double life. I don't want anymore secrets. For the most part, anyone reading this is either a family member or a close friend; all people who love and care about me. An important part of life is sharing your struggles with another so that you may receive support. I am confident that by sharing my troubles with you I will be tapping into an endless source of love and support.

For the last 2 1/2 years I have struggled with alcohol and drugs. It has taken me to places I never thought I would go. It has taken from me things that I held dear. It's almost killed me on more than one occasion. I felt broken beyond repair.

I don't say this to be morbid and depressing, nor for sympathy. I say it to be rigorously honest and to set the foundation for what more I have to say.

I've spent the last month in a treatment facility up in the hill country. It was an amazing experience. I left a completely different person than when I went in. it was the best decision I've ever made for myself. But I'm out that safe bubble now and, to be honest, I'm a little frightened. I've spend alot of time and energy on trying to hide my problem with alcohol and drugs. I can't do it anymore. I'm completely broken down; black and blue and bleeding.

Some of you were already aware of what's been going on. To those people I want to say thank you for all the cards and messages! They were extremely encouraging and uplifting. I'm going to need a strong support system and many prayer warriors. My recovery is about to be a very important part of my life. And I want all of you to be as well. I invite you to accompany me on my journey.

"How lucky I am to have known someone who was so hard to say goodbye to" -Unknown

2010-09-22T17:30:00.000-07:00

Much has happened since last I posted. In short, my entire world was turned upside down. I am now, once again, living in Texas. The entire family is back under one roof. I've changed my major and am going to Blinn to get the remainder of my general education credits out of the way that my new degree requires. My major is now photography. I will eventually be going to Sam Houston State University, which about an hour from my house. I'm hoping to get over to Sam by this summer. But that means two semesters (this semester and the spring) of gruelling gen. eds. that simply bore me to tears. But I'm also working right now. I got a job at the local Sam's club. I don't actually work for Sam's, I work for a separate company called CrossMark. And I'm the person that stands there and prepares all the delicious food for shoppers to sample. It's great pay, but it's exhausting. Right now I've been working 30 hours a week and going to school on top of that. So, needless to say, I'm absolutely exhausted. I have talked to my boss though and gotten one day a week off to work on school work. Today was my first day off in a month. It was much needed! But I spent the whole day over at Starbucks working on homework. I didn't get quite as much done that I would have liked, but I do have more done now than I did this morning. So that's kind of a quick update on what's going on with me.

I do want to address my seemingly random title for this post. I found this obscure quote online today. It made me think of my dear sweet friends over in Florida. I look back at the last year and a half my life and I simply marvel at it. Without you being there to see the extreme transformation I went through, you simply wouldn't believe me. There has been so much that has happened to me, around me, because of me in such a brief amount of time that it's kind of ridiculous.

I remember the night before I moved to Florida. I sat on my parents couch and just sobbed. I didn't know how I would ever be able to live so far away from everything that I'd ever known. To take such a giant leap was absolutely terrifying to me. And then I look at the night that I decided to move back to Texas. I did not take this decision lightly and it certainly wasn't an easy decision to make. I can almost say that the decision to leave Florida was harder to make than the one to move there. I had weighed my options carefully and when I was pretty sure what needed to be done, I sat down to talk it out with my parents. I do want to stress that this was my decision to make, they may have supported it whole heartedly, but it was my choice. After I had talked it out with my parents, I went over to Rodney and Michelle's as I always did. I held it together the best I could until I got there. As soon as my mother had left, I collapsed into Rodney's arms and just sobbed.

That was a Friday night. By the following Friday we were almost out of my apartment and totally out by Saturday. The Friday after that I was back in Texas. It was a whirlwind of two weeks. I barely had time to grieve while I was still there, though I some how found the time to do it anyway. And by the time I got back to Texas I had a whole week before school and work started, in which time I moped quiet a bit. It still hurts even now. Even though I was in Florida for a very short time, I met some of the most amazing people. I made friendships that will last forever and I learned so much. I can honestly say that my stay in Florida profoundly changed me for the rest of my life.

By far the hardest part of leaving all my dear friends. And that is why I chose to title this post with this quote: "How lucky I am to have known someone who was so hard to say goodbye too" -Unknown. There were so many people that were hard to say goodbye to and so many that I can't wait to see again in Decemeber (I'm planning on spending my winter break in Florida). But the hardest people to say goodbye to were Rodney and Michelle. They really let me into their family. I practically lived with them for 7 months and they back so intimately involved in my life. But they're some of those rare friends that stay just as involved in your life despite how many miles are between you. They still remain the first people I talk to in the morning and the last ones I talk to at night. And I'm going to see them in a week and a half! They're going down to Louisiana to visit their family there and I'm taking 3 days off of work and school and spending some time with them. I can barely wait!! I'll end this post with some of my favorite pictures of my friends and I in Florida the last couple of weeks that I was there.

Friends are the best remedy for the soul

2010-07-14T18:51:00.000-07:00

I feel as though I begin every post with an apology for not posting enough. Which, in actuality, is a valid apology considering I hardly ever post anymore. But I thought it was amble time to post again.

Things are...going. I can neither say they are going well or they are going bad. I have good and bad days, as all of us do. I believe that the last post talked about how I was stressing about my summer schedule And, considering I'm more than half way though my summer, I figured it would be a good idea to update everyone on how it was going. Not that I have many readers left probably. But regardless.....my summer is going ok. Just as I predicted, I'm stressed to the max. I'm working about 50 hours a week right now. Well not working, per say, considering I'm not actually getting paid for most of what I do. Quite the contrary, I'm actually paying for most of the torture I'm enduring. Right now I'm working about 24 hours a week in the zoo. I have 4 1/2 hours a day (Monday-Wednesday) in lab, which is when I'm taking care of the animals. And, let me tell you, it's kicking my butt. Most days I'm coming home stiff, sore, and bruised/bloody/any of kind of bodily harm. It's a very physically intense program. (Take today, for instance. I'm apparently allegoric to something in the zoo because my wrist broke out in a weird rash/bruise thingy. I was eaten alive by mosquitoes. I had one that was so daring as to bite through my shirt. I also have a big bruise on my shin from smacking it against the blades of the auger. Know what an auger is? Anyone? It's a big, very heavy, piece of machinery that drills holes into the ground. I got to use one today. I drilled 15 holes in the ground in an hour and a half. It was impressive. But I'm sore everywhere.) Then I have an hour and half a week for tour times. And I'm also working one day a weekend this semester, which is an 8 hour day. So I'm at the zoo alot. On top of that I'm working about 13 hours a week at my job up on campus and taking 13 credit hours of classes for the semester. So needless to say, I'm a little busy and alot wore out.

One of the things about being a zooy, you learn to always expect the unexpected. This can apply to the saying, if something can go wrong it will, and many of well known sayings. But the way I see it....the day will never go as planned. Something always happens. Not just bad things.....but it's usually bad things. There are many a day that end in tears just from shear exhaustion and frustration. But the thing that keeps me going are my friends. I have the most amazing friends. I can't describe adequately how deeply involved my friends are in my life. You can't always pick your family, but you can pick your friends. And your friends can become your family. Which is exactly the case for me. My friends, Rodney and Michelle, are my family. To ask the question, what do they do for you, would be a pointless question. Perhaps a more appropriate question would be, what do they not do for me? I can't count the number of times I've sat out on there pouch and cried over my day or complained about some problem I was facing or simply just sat there too stunned and/or exhausted by the day's events to move. The number of nights I've spent at their house are innumerable. And they get me. They get me more than anyone else. I don't have to put up any walls or masks for them. I can let all my guards down. They know in an instant when something's wrong, they can always make me laugh even when all I want to do is cry, and they take care of me. They've become surrogate parents to me. I've spent many a late night over here working on papers for my classes, studying for a test, or doing homework. Michelle knows more about the zoo program than I think any non-zooy I've ever met. Not even some of the boyfriend/girlfriend/spouses of some of the fellow students know as much as she does. I can talk in my zoo talk when I come home and she understands every word. And we have so much fun studying together! It always ends in fits of laughter....

But I digress. My point was that friends are very important. This is a lesson I've come to realise just recently. We're always told to choose our friends wisely. But none of us ever really listen. We have to learn the hard way. Or at least I did. When you surround yourself with bad friends, it's easy to be dragged down to their level. But surround yourself with good friends and you'll slowly begin to rise to a much better place. I feel so blessed by the friends that I have. I've had other zooys tell me that I had really great sounding friends, to which I always reply that they have no idea just how great. I have friends that sincerely love me unconditionally, that are there for me in good times and bad, that have my back, and that bend over backwards for me. There isn't much else I can say on the subject. But I thought you'd all appreciate an update of some sort. And I felt like ending on a more positive note with this post. Plus, this week in general I've just been marveling at how blessed I am by the people I have in my life. I don't know what I ever did to deserve such great friends.

Trying to Think Possitively

2010-04-30T08:34:00.000-07:00

So I'm sitting at work, with absolutely nothing to do. Usually I can work on homework or something. But, since my semester is over, I have nothing to do. Which is giving me ample time to think about this summer and stress about it. Thankfully, I've learned a couple things since moving to Gville. One of which is to at least try to think positively. So I've been sitting here trying to come up with any positive things I can about this summer. And since I shared my freak out (and because I'm just that bored), I thought I'd also share the few positive things I'd come up with. Plus, it'll help me to put it in words and legitimize it. So here goes

Being back in the zoo, in the heat of the summer, I'll more than likely lose some weight. This is always a plus. Last summer I dropped 15-20 pounds in the zoo. I doubt I'll drop that much again since it won't be anything like my basic semester. But I'll at least shed a few extra pounds.
I'll get back into a more concrete routine. And we all know how much I like routines.
It'll be the summer, so I'll get tan.
There will be less traffic in town. Gville is alot like College Station. It's a college town. That means there is a noticeable difference in traffic during breaks and especially during the summer.
I'll have clean hair. I know this sounds ridiculous. But I'm trying to think of any positive things....and I'm running out of them quickly. So when you work in the zoo, it's absolutely necessary to shower every day. Otherwise, you're just disgusting. So I'll always be clean and have nice hair.
I might possibly have my car back, which will make things exponentially easy for me to go and do things at night to help de-stress me from my busy days. Not to mention make it so that I'll be able to do stuff on my weekends off. Like hang out with friends and stuff. And make it easy for me to run to the store for groceries and other things I need.
Being back in the zoo in general will simply make me happy. I've missed it. I can't wait to be back with all my little animals.
Working, even if it's not very much, will give me money to spend on food and other things. Wouldn't want me to starve or anything.

Ok. So that's all I can think of for right now. But I feel like that's at least more than I could a few hours ago. Plus, I'm about to get off work. Yay! I'm gonna go chill with some friends and then head over to Rodney and Michelle. Both things are guaranteed to make me feel better. Thanks for listening/putting up with my craziness. Love you all!

Summer Stress

2010-04-30T06:22:00.000-07:00

So I really need to vent right now. I'm loosing my freakin' mind at the moment. And this post may be super babbley and I may ramble and I may not make any sense whatsoever. But I need to at least get some of this out of my head. Read it, don't read it, I don't care. This post is all about me venting.

I know that the summer semester hasn't even started yet, but I'm already stressing about it. Majorly stressing. I wasn't until I sat down with Hannah to work out my work schedule for the summer. She had a nice little chart with time blocks on it. We would mark out blocks that I couldn't work due to being in the zoo or in a class. And then we'd fill in the blocks that I could work. By the time it was finished I had this sinking feeling in my stomach, like 'how the heck am I going to do this?'. I didn't realize how jam packed my schedule really was. It didn't seem like all that much to me until I looked at it on paper. Pretty much the only time I'm gonna have off is Thursday afternoons. And, if I'm smart about my time management, I'll probably use that time every week to do my online course work. So really, all I'm gonna have are my weekends. And I'm not even guaranteed those. The zoo can schedule me to work any time. True, I will get my weekend schedule for the entire semester in advance. So I'll know which weekend I'm working and which I'm not. I'm so completely overwhelmed right now. I don't know how I'm going to do all this. I'll have the zoo and classes Mon-Wed. Work and class on Thursday mornings. And then work and class all day on Fridays. Plus, if I'm working on Sat or Sun. And it's not like they're easy classes either. It's college level English II. That's going to involve lots of writing and papers and stuff. Plus, it's condensed into 6 weeks. That's going to be super intense. And after that class, I'm taking Statistics. Once again, not an easy class. And once again, condensed down into 6 weeks. What was I thinking? I really hope this semester doesn't end me u p in a ball in some corner pulling my hair out.

Fantastic Week

2010-04-23T06:16:00.000-07:00

I’m having an exceptionally good week. It’s been a very productive week. I’m finally finished with this semester! I got all my end of the term projects and papers and tests done. I took all my finals. And I’m finished! I also signed up for my classes for the summer and the fall. I’m taking 12 hrs in the summer and 14 in the fall. It’s going to be slightly crazy. But I know I can handle it.

My summer classes are as follows: Zoo lab MTW 8-11AM and 3-4:30PM. Writing and Literature MTWHF 12:15-1:30 summer A, which is basically til the end of June. Statistics MTWHF 12:15-1:30 summer B, which is basically from July til the end of the summer. And Marriage and Family as an online class.

My fall classes are as follows: Zoo lab WHF 8-11Am and 3-4:30PM. Mammaculture, which I don’t know the exact times for yet. Oceanography TH 11-12:15. Psychology of Social Behaviors H 5:30-8:15PM.

So that’s my school schedule. In other news, I’m thinking about getting back into theatre. Some of you will remember that I used to be very active in the local theatre back home. Lately, Michelle and her sister, Tish, have been nagging me to get back into it. So I contacted the local theatre group several months ago to see if they needed any volunteers. After awhile I gave up on it since I hadn’t heard from them. But, low and behold, I had an email in my inbox this morning saying they would love for me to help out in any way I could. So I’m going to the Playhouse tomorrow morning to meet with the person that sent me the email. Which is both good and bad. Good cause it’ll give me a chance to branch out and try things and possibly make new friends. Bad because I was really hoping to sleep in tomorrow. I haven’t been able to sleep in for almost 2 weeks now. I’ve either had to get up at 6 or 7 every day for the last 2 weeks. I’m so tired! I just want to sleep! But this is important too and it’s something that I at least want to try. It’s definitely outside of my comfort zone though. But I know that Michelle and Tish won’t let it rest until I’ve tried it at least once. So I’ll go tomorrow and if I absolutely hate it I never have to go again. Worst case scenario, I spend a few hours of my Saturday miserable. Best case scenario, I have a blast and it becomes something that I really enjoy.

So it’s been a really great week. I’ve finished my semester, I’m going back to the zoo, I’ve signed up for my classes, I’m on track and feel like I’m going somewhere again, and I have the opportunity to try something new. I hope everyone else is having just as great of a week. Love to you all! Oh, and here are a couple updated pictures for y'all to look at. Most of y'all are on my facebook, so you've seen them already. But for those few who are not (Aunt Sue, for one), I hope you enjoy them.

Dr Appointment Follow Up

2010-04-12T06:37:00.001-07:00

I know I said I’d update everyone on how Michelle’s Dr appointment went, but I’ve been super busy….so I’m just now getting to it. I have alot to update on though.
First of all, Michelle’s Dr appointment. She said it went great. The Dr, once he actually got in there to see her, was extremely nice. He was open to listening to what she had to say and suggested several new angles to try to figure out what’s going on with her. She has another appointment with him on May 12th. Between now and then she’s going in to get several other tests done. If nothing else, the tests will help them rule out what it isn’t. But we’re hoping it may also shed light on what it is that’s cause the increase in symptoms. This Wednesday (the 14th) she goes in for an MRI and an ultrasound of her carotid artery. Then on Friday (the 16th) she goes in for an MRA. She’s also going to need to go into a special eye Dr. I would appreciate continued prayers on all this. It would be so wonderful if they could find out what’s causing this and then take the appropriate measures to correct, or at least alleviate somewhat, the problem.
In other news, I’ve been helping over at Michelle and Rodney’s alot lately. Michelle’s sister, Tish, is moving in with them. We originally thought that she’d be moving in as soon as possible. But the plans changed and now it looks like she won’t be moving down here until July/August. Which is good in the long run cause it’ll give us plenty of time to get everything ready. This past week Michelle was off work cause her boss/teacher was gone learning a new jewelry program (which Michelle is incredibly excited to learn). So we spent all week working on her house. And I must say, it looks so much better. We still have a long ways to go, but we made a huge deal of progress.
Jordan’s graduation is in May. Ever since I went home in Dec. almost all I’ve heard about from the Beier’s has been how much they want me to come down for the graduation. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to since plane tickets have gotten so expensive and I have such a small budget. But I’ve been saving up all semester. And it paid off. I bought my plane ticket home last week. I’m so excited! It really means alot to Jordan for me to be there. I won’t be able to be in town for long though. I’ll arrive late on the night of the 26th and then leave in the afternoon on the 30th. My flight leaves Gville at like 5:55, or something like that on the 26th. Which means I’ll have to go straight to the airport from the zoo. That should be loads of fun for the other passengers, depending on what animals I’m scheduled to work that day. Let’s just hope I’m not working Otters or something that will cause me to smell to high heaven! I’ll arrive in Houston, decked out in my full zoo glory, at 11:15. That’ll give me all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to spend with the graduate and his family. Not to mention I plan on seeing a few other people while I’m home and getting some Dr appointments out of the way. So it’s shaping up to be a whirlwind of a weekend. It was very important to me to be able to attend church on Sunday morning while I’m home. Simply because it’s the easiest way to see the majority of my old friends all at once. I’ll have to leave immediately after church though. My flight leaves Houston at 3:30 on the 30th and arrives back in Gville at 9:30 that night. Then I’ll have the zoo bright and early the next morning. Needless to say it will be a very exhausting experience. Three straight days of zoo beforehand, four jam packed days back home, and then three more zoo days once I get back. It’ll be interesting, that’s for sure. But totally worth it. Jordan’s whole family is coming down. It’s been years since we’ve all been together. His brother and his family will come in from China, which I’m totally thrilled about. I always love it when Josh, Holly, and the kids come for a visit. Plus, it’ll give me a chance to meet the newest addition to the Beier clan, little Aaron. Jordan’s other brother, Sam, and his wife, Erin, will be coming down as well. And his Aunt Linda will be coming too. So I’m greatly looking forward to seeing everyone again. Mary’s little sister, Becca, is also graduating in May. So I’ll get to be there for her as well. And her whole family is coming down, so I’ll get to see all of them. So not only am I getting to come home for a visit in May, but I’m also getting to see tons of people that I wouldn’t normally get to see on a regular visit. I’m so excited!!!!!
That’s about all I have for right now. Like I said, I’ve been super busy lately with helping Rodney and Michelle and with the end of the semester coming up. This semester has gone by alot faster than I thought it would. I’m glad it’s almost over though. The weather is starting to warm up again and I can feel summer approaching rapidly. I’ve already had several opportunities to wear my swimsuit and I’m already starting to get a very nice tan. I hope that this summer I’ll have more time to swim and tan then I did last summer. It’s hard to believe that I’ve almost been here an entire year. Time has really flown by. But I love it here and I can’t imagine myself anywhere else right now. Yesterday Rodney made pancakes for breakfast and while we were eating them he asked me, “if someone had told you a year ago that you’d be hanging out and eating pancakes with a married couple, would you have believe them?” And the truth is, probably not. This time last year, I had no idea how things would turn out. But the truth of the matter is that it’s so much better than I could have ever imagined.

Prayer Request

2010-03-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

As I’ve said many times before, writing in general is very therapeutic for me. It gives me a sort of release for the built up emotions and thoughts inside of me. And blogging about it give other people in my life the ability to know what it going on in my life. That being said, I needed to blog about something that was stressing me today. Maybe stressing isn’t exactly the correct word. I don’t know what is though. I’m simply concerned about something. And I wanted to put it out there so that my readers could be in prayer over the situation.
I’ve mentioned my friend Michelle on here several times. She’s become an absolutely instrumental part of my life here in FL. She’s extremely special to me. However, Michelle has something known as chronic vertigo. I don’t really know how to explain it other than to say that she gets dizzy a lot. It might not sound like anything serious, but it is. It affects her work and her daily life. Just in the short amount of time that I’ve known her, it’s gotten progressively worse. To the point that she could be sick for days on end. It breaks my heart.
Anyway, today she had a dr. appointment with a neurologist here in town. Her appointment was supposed to be at 2:30 and she was going to call me when she got out. Well she texted me at almost 4 o’clock and said she was still waiting to even see the dr. I got really frustrated at that. I know that it can sometimes take awhile to see a Dr….but almost two hours (cause they got there early)? I suppose it’s just me being protective of my friend, but I still think that’s ridiculous. Plus, the fact that she texted me instead of calling me concerns me. Michelle doesn’t text. And she didn’t answer her phone when I tried to call her back. I think it’ll all just a combination of things, of seeing her getting worse and not being able to help, of having to wait for weeks and months to get into Dr, to then have the Drs simply refer her to other Drs, and then her having to wait forever just to get in. My heart just hurts for her. And on top of all that, Rodney’s out of town for the night (and possibly tomorrow night as well) on a job. I’m so frustrated at the whole situation. And I’m not even the one in it. Isn’t it funny how we can let ourselves get so wrapped up in the lives of the people we care about?
I just wanted to vent my frustrations a little bit. Thanks for putting up with my ramblings. I know that the people that do still read this blog will devotedly lift Michelle up in prayer as soon as they’ve read this. And for that, I can’t thank you enough. I made her promise to call me as soon as she got out of the Dr, so I’ll try to remember to post an update. Love to you all!

Update

2010-03-29T05:50:00.000-07:00

So I’ve been bad again and haven’t been posting. Life is just so busy! I consoled myself by saying that nobody reads my blog anymore anyways since I’m never updating it. But then I got a comment from my dear sweet Aunt Martha. All it said was that she still read my posts. That made me smile. It was just a simple comment, one sentence long. But it still touched me. And therefore, I made a vow to myself that I would post something new. Sorry it’s taken so long, Aunt Martha.
Like I said, I’ve been pretty busy lately. It’s work and school and Michelle’s and that’s about it. I every day except Thursdays and the weekends. Thursdays I usually spend working on whatever homework I need to or just lazing around the house. The weekends, however, have become my favorite part of the week. Why? Because I get to spend them with Michelle and Rodney. I’m over at their house almost every day anyways. But the weekends are different. I’ll usually end up just staying over there all weekend. We have so much fun! We go to the flea market, out to coffee, over to Ocala, out to eat, shopping, petting puppies, etc. You name it, we do it. And we enjoy the heck out of it. I feel so at home and comfortable with them. I can truly be myself without fear of being judged or shunned. It’s a very freeing feeling.
One thing that I’ve started doing over at Rodney and Michelle’s is watching this new show called Life on Sunday nights. It’s the coolest show EVER! Oh my goodness. It’s all about different kinds of animals. Every time I watch it I just sit there in utter fascination. I’m amazed at all the cool things that animals can do. And I’m totally jealous of all people that got to make the series. How cool would it be to be one of the camera men filming all that stuff? They get to travel all over the world, see animals in their natural habitats, experience animal behaviors first hand, and then share their experiences with the rest of the world. I want that job!!! I want to be right there with the animals, up close and personal. I have no idea how I’m going to do it or if I ever could do it at all. But a kid can dream, right?
The first thing would be, of course, to finish the zoo program. I’ll have to talk to Jonathan about how to get a job like that. But I’m thinking that it’ll probably require more schooling after I get out of the zoo. That being said, I could transfer to the University of Florida after I graduate the zoo. I could possibly double major in Zoology and Creative Photography. It’s just a thought. It would at least allow me to stay in Gville longer, cause I’m totally not ready to leave. I love it here. I shudder at the thought of having to leave the family that I’ve created for myself here. But double majoring would be REALLY hard work. I doubt I’d be able to do it in 4 years; it’d probably take at least 5. Which would make me at least 25 by the time I graduated. And let’s say it takes me at least 5 more years to get my foot in the door and work my way up to the job that I really want. That’s like 30. Of course, I’m getting WAY ahead of myself and stressing myself out for no good reason. I was having a sort of mini-melt down over this very subject yesterday at Michelle’s. She just laughed at me, told me to snap out of it, and stay in today. I’m trying to do that, but it’s so much easier said than done!
That’s about it for now, I suppose. I know it’s not much and it was kind of all over the place. But it’s better than nothing, right?

Jessica and Kat over the years

2010-01-27T08:53:00.001-08:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

Birthdays Birthdays Birthdays

2010-01-27T08:22:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't posted in forever....and shame on me! I probably don't have anyone left that actually reads my blog since there's never anything new up. But I wanted to take the time to write a quick bday post to my dear Aunt Sue and my precious baby cousin Jessica.

Aunt Sue's bday was on Monday, so I'm technically a little belated. But better late than never. I absolutely adore my Aunt Sue! Being the only family that live even remotely close to us, her, Uncle George, and Jessica are the family members I'm the closest to. Us Texans have a special bond. Even though I miss all of my family, I miss Aunt Sue, Uncle George, and Jessica the most. My Aunt Sue never fails to make me laugh. I'm almost guaranteed to be rolling on the floor laughing everytime I talk to her. I can't imagine my life without my Aunt Sue! I am, after all, her child.

Jessica's bday is today. She's growing up so fast! I can't believe how much she's changing. We haven't always gotten along (I remember a period where we couldn't go out to Snook cause Jessica and I would be so awful), but we're closer than ever. As we've gotten older, we've grown much closer. With Rachel having moved away to college when I was pretty young, and with Jessica being an only child, we've done alot of things together over the years. I consider Jessica a sort of sister I never had. When we were little the 4 years difference between us felt alot bigger, but as we both get older the gap seems to be shrinking. I'm greatly looking forward to many more years and many more memories with my precious baby cousin!

I was looking through some old pictures and I put together a few pics of Jessica and I over the years (in the post above). It's amazing how much we've both changed. I think the first picture goes all the back to like 2005 and then the most recent one is from my going away dinner in May. I didn't get any pictures of us when I was home for Christmas (which I regret), but Jessica and I both have changed significantly since just May. I'm hoping to come home for Jordan's graduation this upcoming May...hopefully I get a few pictures of Jessica and I while I'm home.

Random Ramblings

2009-10-26T11:17:00.001-07:00

I feel very old. Laugh if you want, but it's true. I was just lazing around my apartment on Saturday when I got a phone call from my dear Aunt Sue. It was great to hear her voice! Anyway, she was calling cause her, Jessica, my mom, and Caterina were all out at the shop and they had been thinking about me. She let me talk to Cat and then I talked to Jessica for awhile. The timing of the phone call couldn't have been better. I'd been thinking about Cat alot lately. I miss that little rug rat!

The zoo has this thing call Rotary Reading every Wednesday. They bring in elementary kids and do arts and crafts, short tours, and reading stories. The stories help the kids learn to read. A few weeks ago I got pulled to help with Rotary. It was my first time helping. In the group that I was assigned to read with, there was a little girl that reminded me of Cat. The little girl was annoying as all get out! She just got on my last nerve. But it made me remember how Cat used to annoy me sometimes. And it hit me very hard, that I missed her alot. I almost started crying in the middle of Rotary. So Cat has been on my mind for awhile now. I keep thinking about how her and I are the same age difference apart as Rachel and I. It's like karma come back to bite me in the butt. It helps put things in perspective for me. But I'm hoping that Cat and I will have the same great relationship that Rachel and I do now. Cause Cat's like a little sister to me.

Anyway, while I was talking to Cat on the phone, I felt very old. She was telling me about how she likes 5th grade and all her classes. She told me about her locker and different stuff like that. I remember when she was like 2 and now she's in 5th grade with a locker! I can't believe it! I probably won't even recognize her when I see her again. She's probably shot up like a bean pole. And I know she'll be more beautiful than ever. Part of me can't wait to see the young lady she's growing into, but part of me also feels old when I think about how big she's gotten.

Cat was also telling me about Cisco. He's in the 7th grade now! She said he's on the football team and he even went to his first dance on Friday. Again, I can't believe how fast he's growing up. I think he's going to be the popular, jock, skater boy kid in school that all the girls have a crush on. And Cat's going to be the popular, artist girl that every guy wants to date. I swear, I'm going to have to come down to TX and beat the girls and boys away with a big stick! And not just with Cat and Cisco, apparently.

I might need to bring a big stick home with me in Dec, to beat away all the boys from Jessica. One really good thing that's come out of this move, it's brought Jessica and me alot closer. We talk on the phone all the time. And we'll talk for like an hour or more. I miss that little brat. I remember when we fought all the time. It got so bad that we stopped going out to my Aunt's house for a little while one time, I think. Jessica and I used to just not be able to get along at all. Things have really done a complete 180. I consider Jessica one of my very close friends now. I can be myself and she doesn't care. She really is more like a sister to me than a cousin. I love my sister, but it's hard sometimes being so far apart. Same with Cat. Jessica and I are closer in age, so it makes it easier. And as we get older, the age difference doesn't seem as significant. I can't believe she's in high school now though! Before much longer she'll be learning to drive, then getting a car, etc. Scary thought! I keep telling her that she needs to come visit me up here and I'll show her around the school, the zoo, and UF. I told her that she needs to come to college here. I'm hoping I'll still be around here (at UF) and then we could be roomies. I think that'd be awesome. And then I could look out for her. I can beat the boys away much more effectively if I'm within striking distance!

I'm starting to discover the truth behind the saying "absence makes the heart grow fonder". It seems the more miles you put between yourself and the people you care about, the closer you become. It helps you truly treasure the moments you do get to spend with them. I can hardly wait til Dec. when I'll get to see everyone from back home. And I'll get to see Rach and Sean! I'm already starting to talk about their visit. I'm excited to get to introduce them to all my friends. And I'm just excited to get to see my Sissy again. I miss my sister!!!! I think the things I'm most looking forward to is sister snuggling! There are no better snuggles in the world than sister snuggles, at least in my opinion.

As much as I'm looking forward to my visit to C-Stat, I'm also a little nervous. Maybe nervous isn't the right word. It'll be my first time home since May. So much will have changed. I wonder if it'll be hard for me. I'm already anticipating it being a pretty emotional visit. And you all know how I do with my emotions. Plus, it'll be my first time away from here. I've made this my home and I think it's going to feel weird being gone. You know, not being able to see my friends on a daily bases like I normally do. It's like I've divided myself in half. Part of my belongs to TX and part of me belongs to FL. I know where ever I am, my friends are only a phone call away, but it's just not the same as in person.

I was having a sort of similar conversation recently with Jane. We were talking about what I think I'm doing after I graduate the zoo program. It's hard to believe, but I'll be graduating in a year. That's not that far off when you stop and think about it. And I really have no idea what I'm going to do after I graduate. I've always had a plan, so for me not to know what I'm doing next feel rather awkward to me. Jane's advise is to just keep walking forward and see what opportunities open up for me. Keep all my options open. The thing is, I don't know that I'll be ready to leave here. It feels like I'm just getting settled, just finding my place. To think about moving somewhere new, having to start all over again, in just a year is not a pleasant thought for me. I'm the type of person that doesn't like change, as you all know very well. So I like to make roots somewhere and then stay there. Which, I guess, is rather unusual for someone my age. Most people my age want to travel and move around alot and do great things. And I want that too. But it's harder for me. I'm so fearful of change that it prevents me from doing things that would help me grow.

This is a completely random post. I'm bored and just trying to pass the time. So my head is all scatter brained. Plus, I haven't been able to journal lately. And I have alot I need to journal about. My head is all a swirl with things. I have the very bad habit of getting caught up in the future. I need to just stop and live in today. A very good friend of mine is constantly telling me, "if you have one foot in tomorrow and one in yesterday, then you piss all over today". So I'm going to stop fretting about Dec. and certainly about a year from now! I'm going to enjoy the cool weather of today and focus on what's right in front of me. And I'm also going to shut up now. This post is way long and super random. Thanks for putting up with my babbling.

Funky Friday

2009-10-23T09:43:00.000-07:00

Today has just been one of those days. And it's only 1 o'clock! I'm already exhausted. The morning started out as usual. I woke up around 7-ish. I'm really needing to go to the grocery store, but I just haven't had time yet. So I didn't have much to eat for breakfast this morning. I had a few pieces of toast and then headed out to work. After morning check in and rounds, I got to work. I looked over the animal records and found that I had several extra things I needed to do for the day. I needed to prepare the enrichment for Caracal for the PM, so I did that (it was making chicken jello). Then I needed to find the hand drums for the Cuban enrichment. But I couldn't find the drums, so I decided to do that in the PM. Then I went down and started my normal work. Of course, Apep didn't want to shift today and gave me alot of trouble. So that took me longer than usual. Then I also needed to change the water bowls and turn dirt in both Caracal and Cubans. And I wanted to get my fecals done. And I also had my evaluations today. So I was kind of freaking out a little bit.

This was my morning blow by blow: check in, round with my area, check records, make jello enrichment, search for hand drums, get extra water bowls, get supplies (fecal bucket, fecal scoops, simple green, pro5, Caracal scrub brush, hard rake, shovel, and garden cart), go down to Caracal, try to shift Caracal, hose down/simple green/pro5 back area of Caracal, back up to kitchen for Caracal diet, down to Cuban, turn dirt in Cubans, back up to kitchen to get Cuban diets, radio staff, meet Shawn at Cubans to show him the exposed screw, rake Cubans, change water bowls and diets in Cubans, back to Caracal, hose off back area of Caracal, put in diets and change water in back area of Caracal, shift Apep to back, pick up feces in front area of Caracal, turn dirt in Caracal, rake in Caracal, change water in Caracal, put away hose in Caracal, gather supplies and go back up to slab, clean/put away supplies, back to time clock to write records and update data cards, go to office for staff evaluation, go to class, take my nutrition test, walk to work, eat lunch, and then work.

The other work study and I are the only ones at work today. It's a very down day, which is why I'm able to blog. But yeah, that was my morning. And that doesn't even begin to do justice to the craziness of it. I'm filthy!! Seriously, I'm pretty gross. My jeans are pretty much wet/muddy from the knees down. And I have dirt all on the front of my jeans from the knees up from wiping my hands on my jeans. I even have dirt on my butt from wiping my hands there too. And my hair is super frizzy and starting to curl a little bit. Plus, now my arms are really sore from turning dirt in both Cubans and Caracal. Not to mention the evaluation stressed me out. It went ok. Better than I was expecting. But it was still stressful. And I was completely not ready for my test. I probably bombed it. And I didn't get to do my fecals. I got the feces, but I couldn't do the actual tests cause I ran out of time. We're only allowed to do our fecals during AM lab (which I personally find ridiculous...but they didn't ask me, so whatever). And, obviously, I had alot going on in AM lab today. So I didn't get to it. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to do it next week.

I still have alot to do today. I'm going to leave work a little early so that I can go home and get some clothes and shower stuff together. Then I've got to get to the zoo for PM lab. I've got to do both my enrichments in the PM, including all the things I normally do in PM (diets and change water) . I also have to seven dust in Cubans. I'm not really sure what I'm doing after lab. I'm either showering at the gym very quickly and then catching a bus downtown. Or I'm catching a bus to T's and showering there. I'm waiting for T to call me back to see which I'm doing. But I have a feeling that I'm going to be showering at the gym. Even though I'd rather shower at T's. I'm exhausted! And it's not just a physical exhaustion. That being said, I really just want to be with T tonight. She calms me. Which is ironic cause she's so crazy. But I just feel better whenever I'm with her, somehow I'm able to just relax. So that's been my crazy day! Just thought I'd post really fast and let you all know how my day is going. Hopefully y'all are having a more relaxing Friday than I am. Thank god it's Friday, right? Hope you all are planning on having a relaxing and enjoyable weekend. I am! I'm off all weekend!! And I'm planning on sleeping in!! The only things I have planned for this weekend are cleaning my apartment and family dinner on Sat night with T. I'll probably also try to work on my BATZ costume if I get the chance. Anyway, better get back to work. Love to all!

Dream Whisperer

2009-10-22T11:15:00.000-07:00

So I've been having some weird dreams lately. I've always had a little stranger than normal dreams, but the ones lately have been different. They're insanely vivid and detailed. And I remember them in great detail after I wake up. For the most part they haven't been anything disturbing (though I did have one that completely wigged me out recently), but they've been pretty unusual. I was talking to a friend about it last night and she told me that she believes dreams are our subconscious' way of telling us things. That got my attention. I told her about my dream that had really wigged me out and we talked about what it could mean...and it was surprisingly enlightening. It wigged me out more, but it was still insightful. All this to say that last night I had yet another unusual dream. So all day today I've been thinking about my dream and looking at what it could mean. I thought my findings were pretty cool and even a little deep. I also thought that y'all might find all this a tiny bit interesting. And since I haven't posted in forever, I figured it was as good a thing as any to post about. Plus, with the deeper meaning in it all, it'll actually give you a little insight into my thoughts/feelings and what I'm struggling with right now. I'll start out by telling the dream itself, then I'll interpret it. So here goes:

The dream starts out that I've just had a baby (and this isn't the first dream where this has been the case. But in my other one I had a boy). Her name is Kenley Grace. And she's beautiful. I felt so proud of her, that she was mine, so proud of myself for making something so perfect even though I'm so flawed. I was at my old church building, looking for my family. I needed to show them the baby. They hadn't seen her. I don't even know if they knew I'd had the baby. They were in the auditorium, along with everyone else I used to know and that I cared for. I didn't want to go inside cause I didn't want anyone to see Kenley. It wasn't that I was trying to hide her, but I had to tell my parents before everyone else. I snuck in the back, very quietly. Church was going on, so no one noticed me. There was someone else standing in the back. I don't know who it was, but I must have known them. I found my parents, then I asked the other person standing in the back to please go down there and tell my parents very quietly that I'd had the baby and I needed to see them right away. Then I snuck back out of the auditorium. I was so nervous. I kept wondering what my parents would say, what they would think, if they'd be disappointed in me. The place was so deserted, it was so quiet. I could hear Kenley making little noises. I looked down at her and thought, "how could anyone be disappointed by my beautiful baby girl?" Then my parents came out. I remember them looking kind of worried and then shocked to see me with the baby. I told them her name was Kenley Grace. They oo-ed and ah-ed over her, but I wouldn't let them hold her. I couldn't. Then Rachel and Sean came out. The same thing happened. They oo-ed and ah-ed over Kenley, but I wouldn't let them hold her. So they all decided to go back into the worship service. They were happy for me, but they needed time to process things, I guess. After they left, I was so tired. I felt so alone. Even when my family had been there, I'd still felt utterly alone. I knew my family wanted to help me with Kenley, would help me if I asked them. But I just couldn't ask them. I was staring down at Kenley in my arms, once again marveling at how beautiful she was. She had my eyes, but she had little tiny brown curls on the top of her head (from her daddy. And, no, I don't know who the daddy was, I just remember knowing she'd gotten his hair). She was also wearing a big pink bow. I was so scared. I didn't know how in the world I was going to take care of her. Then someone said my name. It was Jane. This wave of relief just washed over me. Jane's voice was so sweet and so calm. She was so glad she'd found me. She was going to take care of me. She wanted to meet my Kenley. I showed her the baby and told her the name. Then that wave of tiredness came over me again. I wanted to rest so badly, but to do so I'd have to let go off Kenley. By now Jane had guided me over to a couch and we were sitting down. And I was just tired. Jane wanted to hold Kenley. I was reluctant, but finally I did. And then I rested. It felt like a huge burden had been lifted off me. I had divided my problems between the two of us, so now they seemed smaller and more manageable. And It felt so good to rest! While Jane was holding her, I was talking to the baby. I said something like, "Kenley loves her Mimzy." But then everyone was suddenly there again. My whole family and lots of other people. I grabbed Kenley back and clutched her to me. I guess I was scared they were going to take her away from me. I was standing up again. Jane was gone. I felt all alone again. They were all around me and all talking at once. Everyone was trying to decided what to do, what would be best for Kenley and me. It was so loud, so busy. My head was spinning. I wanted to run, to take Kenley and just go. I wanted to scream at them that they didn't get to decided what happened to my baby. And then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and it was T. She looked like an angel. Everything suddenly slowed down. The chaos around me blurred into the background and it became just the three of us, Kenley, T, and me. I looked down at Kenley, then back up at T, and I said, "Kenley, this is your Marmy." T smiled at Kenley, kissed me on the forehead, and told me I had a beautiful baby. I replied by saying she had a beautiful new grandbaby. She asked if my parents knew yet and I told her they did. I told her all my problems. She just smiled at me and told me we'd work it out. Then everything unblurred at the chaos was back. But this time it was manageable. T stood right beside me with her hand on my shoulder. I could face my family and all my friends with her there. I introduced Kenley to a whole stream of people after that. One right after the other. And T was there the whole time. Finally I was so exhausted. T said she'd take care of Kenley for me. Again I was reluctant to let go of her. I clutched her to me again. And looked at T in desperation. I knew I needed to give her up so that I could take care of myself, I was no good to her if I wasn't healthy myself. But I couldn't bring myself to let go of her. What if she was taken from me? T smiled at me and laughed at me the way she does when I'm being ridiculous and said, "come on, let me have the baby." Very slowly I gave her the baby, saying, "Kenley, you're going to stay with Marmy for a little while." And I was so scared. I knew I was going to have to leave, not forever, but just so that I could clean up, eat, rest, etc. I was leaving my most precious possession with someone else. And yet, at the same time, I trusted T so completely. She was the only one in the world I would leave Kenley with. T took Kenley back into the nursery and I followed them. I hung around for a little while, reluctant to leave. T laughed at me again and told me to get gone, that she'd take good care of Kenley. I kissed Kenley goodbye, hugged and kissed T, and then left. I went back in once, but T told me to get out. So finally I left for real.

And that was pretty much my dream. There was another little part at the end, but I don't think it was that significant. Basically, I thought something was coming for Kenley, so I had to rush back to her. When I got there she was perfectly fine, asleep in T's arms. And then I woke up.

Pretty intense, huh? And most of it was all feelings and not alot of dialogue. My dreams have been very emotion oriented lately, it's been weird. But on to what I think this means. Kenley represents my new life, the things that I'm trying to discover about myself, the new person I'm trying to become that is separate from my family. That's why it was so stressful for me to tell/show my family Kenley. I'm not sure how I fit into my family anymore now that I'm independent. The family dynamic has changed again and it's an adjustment. Jane and T are there cause they're guiding and supporting me on my journey to discovering myself. They help me grow and mature. Jane was the first person I really let help me here. So in my dream, she's the one that I trust the baby with. I put "my life" in her hands, so to speak. Then there's T. I trust her completely. I rely on her to help me, guide me, etc. I think that the fact that I gave her Kenley in my dream is very symbolic and very important. To me, it shows me how much I do trust her. I give her a hard time sometimes. It's like I'm testing her, to see if she'll really stick with me. And she has. So my subconscious knows it can trust her completely, and it does. It just takes my brain a little while to catch up, I guess. This may sound crazy to y'all. But in my head, it makes sense. And it tells me alot of things. It's shown me things. I've been so busy and so stressed out lately that I haven't had time to stop and think very much. And I try not to do alot of self examination, but it's like my subconscious was kind of forcing me to look at some of my relationships to make me realize how much they meant to me.

I know this was totally random and you might all think I'm crazy now (if you didn't already), but I needed to post this for myself. I miss the old days, when posting made me feel better and this was a way for me to vent and get things out. I've just been so busy lately. But this dream has been weighing heavily on me all day, so I figured this was a good way for me to get it out of my head. If you've made it all the way to the end, then thanks for reading this and putting up with my random babbling. Love to you all!

Busy as a Bee

2009-10-12T12:55:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't been posting alot lately. But, I know it's hard to believe, my life has gotten significantly more complicated as of late. You might ask, why? What is that could possibly make my life more complicated than it alot was? Well, I got a job. It kind of happened rather quickly. And it was completely out of the blue. I got a work study position here at the college. I'm working in the Institutional Effectiveness Research and Planning office. I'm sorta like a secretary. I do work at the main desk, but I also do other things. I organize book shelves, files, budget books, statics reports, etc. I'm enjoying it so far. The schedule is fairly flexible, or at least they work around my classes and zoo stuff. The people in my office are really nice too. They've kind of taken me under there wings.

But y'all know how busy my schedule already was, so now it's just insane. I added it up the other day and I work 15 hours a week in the zoo (not including my weekends that I work), 15 hours in the office, and am taking classes. AND am attempting to have a social life. So my life is crazy right now. I'm definitely stretching my self thin. And I'm starting to feel the effects of it.

Right now I've worked everyday from 8-5 since last Monday. And my first day off will be this Friday. I get Friday and Saturday off, then back to work Sunday-Friday. This Friday I'm probably going to go to the homecoming parade/hang out with friends. Saturday I'm in a skit with a group of friends. I'm pretty nervous about that. Then, like I said, working Sunday-Friday. Then Saturday my family is meeting up for Momma T's bday celebration (it's actually this Sunday, but we're celebrating a little belatedly), so I have to go to that cause I'm her baby girl. And the week after that I have Boo at the Zoo on Halloween, which I'm totally not looking forward to. And I work projects the day after, so I'll be cleaning up from the night before.

The list of things goes on and on. I'm definitely busy! Most of y'all know that I don't do well with such a full plate. I like keeping things simple. I'm like my Aunt Sue in that way. So this is all alot for me to deal with. It's just very physically draining on me. I walk all through the zoo, I walk back and forth between home, work, the zoo, etc, I walk everywhere. My feet are starting to really pay for it too. I've decided that being an adult really sucks.

I don't especially know what the purpose of this post was. I just thought you might enjoy hearing from me since I haven't posted in forever. It's not that I don't want to, I'm just too exhausted by the time I get home at the end of the day. I would appreciate all of you keeping me in your prayers though. Hope you're all having a great Oct. Love you all!

Football Season

2009-09-08T11:23:00.000-07:00

Most of y'all know that I've never really been into sports. They just never interested me that much. So I didn't go to any sports parties or anything back in TX. I did go to a couple of super bowl parties at the church, but I never actually watched the game I just hung around with friends. Anyway, the point is that I figured it was time to broaden my horizons...or at least try to. So I went to my first ever football party this weekend. All summer I've been told "just wait til the Gator parties start!". So when the first game of the season rolled around this past Saturday, I figured I'd at least see what all the hoopla was about. And let me tell you....it was AWESOME! I didn't pay any attention to the game at all (I do know we won though), but I had a great time with my friends.

The party was at Pam and Kirk's house. I just love them to death. They're so amazing. And they very graciously open their house for alot of different events. I remember the first event I ever went to at their house. I had only been here a few weeks (I don't think it'd even been a month yet). It was a women's only party, but I hardly knew anyone. There were people everywhere. I didn't know how so many people could fit into one house. And I was so overwhelmed!

This time was so different though. There were TONS of people. Even more than the women's party (which I didn't think was possible). It was literally standing room only. And there was massive amounts of food. I sampled a couple different things. But I finally settled on Rodney's Shepard's pie. It was so good!! I had 2 heaping bowls full! I felt like such a little piggy. But I had heard that there'd be amazing food, so I'd purposefully not eaten much the rest of the day so that I could pig out at the party. And I did just that.

(This is just a sample of all the food that was there.)

They had 3 TVs going (that I know of, there could have been more, but I don't think there were). They even had one set up outside for all the smokers. It was great. I sat outside just cause it was so crowded inside. It was fun though. This time around, instead of feeling overwhelmed and scared, I felt right at home. I brought a friend of mine with me that lives in my apartment complex. It was like the tables were turned. Instead of being the scared newcomer, I got to be the experienced one. It was fun. I felt kind of bad for him though, cause he really didn't know anyone. But he was a real trouper and adapted quickly. I had a blast though. I was totally in my element. I was also showing off just a little though. And apparently it worked. On the way home he was saying how impressed he had been by how many people I knew and how well I seemed to fit in there. I said I was very blessed to have found such a great family here in Gville, cause that's exactly what they are, my new family. And it was very obvious all through out the night. It was fun to kind of watch them be slightly protective of me. It made me feel even more loved.

In the end, the Gator party lived up to everything everyone said about it and more. I had a blast! I'll definitely be attending the other parties throughout the football season. And, who knows, I might actually learn a thing or two about football along the way. The last thing I'll say on the subject is this: GO GATORS!!! And now I'll leave you with some pictures of the big event. Love to all!

Donna and me! I love her! She's awesome!

Donna and her new boyfriend.

Remy and me.

Pati and me. It's not the greatest picture of her, but it's the only one I have with the both of us. I love her so much! She's awesome!

Two cute little girls supporting the Gators. The face paint was so cute!

Michelle and Rodney. I absolutely adore them! And this has to be one of the best pictures I've seen of them. Michelle's so pretty!

September Grace and Kelly. They're both really cool. And very funny. You will NEVER meet anyone else like September Grace. If you ever meet her...you'll understand.

Two of my newer friends. Michelle just moved back to Gville and she's totally sweet. And Jack is someone I'm just starting to get to know.

Just a small fraction of the amount of people that were there. This is a VERY small fraction. It was getting late and people had started to thin out and this is only one room of the house.

Pam and Zach are funny. I absolutely adore Pam. She's a riot. She's living proof that the saying "dynamite comes in small packages" is totally true!

Schedule

2009-09-08T06:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's taken me so long to get this out. When you read about my schedule, you'll understand why I haven't had time to post anything. So here goes:

Mondays: This is actually my most laid back day. I only have one class on Mondays. It's my Animal Nutrition class and it runs from 11:00-11:50. The only other thing I have on Mondays is a get together with friends at 5:30.

Tuesdays: I start my day off with tour times. Each semester we have to devote an hour and a half every week for tour times at the zoo. My time is Tuesday mornings from 10:30-12:00. If no one shows up for a tour by 11:15 though, I'm free to go. And so far, I haven't had a tour. So usually I just sit in time clock and read, journal, or work on homework. Then I have my Animal Breeding class from 12:30-1:45.

Wednesdays: This is my CRAZY day! The way that the lab is set up they split the students into two groups. First half of the week works Mon-Wed. Second half works Wed-Fri. As you can see, they intersect at Wednesdays. So on Wednesdays, we're all at the zoo, which makes for a little chaos. They alternate every other week for animals and projects though. So one week 1st half will be on animals and 2nd half with be on projects and then it switches the next week. Either way, I have to be at the zoo at 8:00 am. Morning lab is from 8:00 to anywhere between 10:30-11:00. I then have my Nutrition class from 11:00-11:50. Next I have zoo seminar from 1:00-1:50. Zoo seminar looks like it'll be really cool. There aren't any tests in this class, which is always a plus. The whole class is about bringing in different speakers each week so that they can talk about what they do in the animal field. So it's a great way for us to see the different options available to us when we finish the program. I'm really excited about this class. I think it's going to be super interesting. Anyways, after zoo seminar, I have afternoon lab from 3:00-4:30. Then I get together with a bunch of women I know at 7:30. And that's my crazy busy Wednesdays!

Thursdays: Morning lab starting at 8:00, ending somewhere between 10:30-11:00. Breeding class from 12:30-1:45. Then afternoon lab from 3:00-4:30. And meeting with another group of women at 7:00.

Fridays: Morning lab starting at 8:00, ending somewhere between 10:30-11:00. Nutrition class from 11:00-11:50. Afternoon lab from 3:00-4:30. Meeting with friends at 5:30. Then another group of friends meets at 7:00. I like to try to get with them, but I'm not always able to cause it all depends if I can find a ride and stuff.

My weekends kind of go by a weekend to weekend basis. Sometimes I'm working in the zoo and sometimes I'm off. It just depends. This semester we're each assigned 10 weekend days though. If I do work though, it's usually only for one day out of the weekend. When I work, I'm at the zoo from 8:00 am to between 4:30-5:00. Usually I meet with friends at 7:00 on Saturday night (regardless of if I work or not that day) and 6:00 on Sundays (regardless of whether I work or not). And if I don't work on Sundays, I meet with one of my many pseudo mommies, T, in the mornings. And, now that football season has started, I'll be going to the football parties on Saturdays (regardless of whether I work or not).

And that's my crazy busy week. Didn't I tell you I was busy? Plus, I still have to find time to study, clean, etc somewhere in all that. I'm really loving the program though. I'm learning so much and gaining lots of great experiences. I'll try to find time to post about my first football party sometime soon. I had a few moments before I had to be at the zoo for tour times, so I wanted to get a quick post out there. Hope you all had a great labor day. Love to all!

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

2009-08-25T11:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know it's been FOREVER since I posted. I'm sorry. I'm just busy and blogging is one of the last things on my mind. I'll try to get better. But I did want to at least post a few pictures for everyone. I changed my look. I was getting so sick and tired of my hair. So I cut it off and dyed it. I left home one day with long blonde hair and came home with short red hair. That's right, I dyed my hair red! I'm so freakin excited. I've always loved red heads and always wanted to be one myself....and now I am! The pictures really don't do it justice. It look so amazing. It's actually more red than you see in the pictures. The coloring didn't take right the first time we tried it (which is when the pictures were taken). So I got it re-colored. My hair dresser is one of my new friends, so she did the second color for free. And the time (the cut, the color, and an eyebrow waxing) were super cheap. It's great to have connections!

So, as you can see, it's longer in the front and then stacked in the back. And it really is redder than this in actuality. Let me know what you think about my new look!

Other news, Mary came to visit me. Her and my dad drove up and spent a week here. It was great! I loved having Mary here. She got to meet all my friends and see the zoo and see the town and everything. I miss her really bad now though. I wish she hadn't had to leave! While she was here though, we were our typical crazy selves. It was great!

One of my friends here went on vacation for two weeks, so Mary and I went to pick her up from the airport. We were early and didn't want to sit at the airport and wait. So we decided to make a Wal-Mart run (I had a few legit things to pick up). While we were there we got this huge bag of mixed candy (I think it was like 6 pounds or something). It was so much fun!
You can kind of see how much more red my hair is in these two pictures.
I don't have time to go into my schedule stuff for this new semester. But I promise to find time at some point this week to write about it. This semester is going to be insanely busy though. It'll be a very long post, so prepare yourselves! I do want to leave you with a comforting thought. I'm making so many amazing friends here in Gville. I call them my family now. Cause that's what they are. I was so scared when I moved here cause I didn't know a single soul. Now I know so many people. I have a whole family here. It's amazing. I love them so much!! Words don't even begin to describe the relationship I have with these people or how much they do for me. I hope that's a comfort to some of you, knowing I'm in good hands here. So here's a few pictures of some of the amazing people in my life now. Enjoy! Love to all!

In the middle of the summer I took a tour of some of my women friends through the zoo. It was so much fun! Definitely by far the best tour I've ever had! It was a huge tour group. And this is only a small fraction of my new family! I'm so blessed to have such amazing women in my life! And such an amazing new family!

Kirk and me

September Grace and me. I love September! She's so crazy!!

Kirk and I

Pam, Remy, and I

Pam and me on 4th of July

Pam and I after I got my hair done. I just love her! She living proof that dynamite really does come in small packages!

A Whole New Look

2009-07-02T05:25:00.000-07:00

So I'm totally getting a complete make over here. My hair is getting so long! And the climate change has really affected it. It's super curly now. I think I've mentioned this before. But I can not blow dry my hair and it will be all curly. I love this! I've always thought that my hair was straight as a board. But now I'm finding out that I have a little bit of natural curl in it. And it's making me very happy! I'm also starting to develop a decent tan. Usually I get SUPER tan in the summers because I worked at the pool. But I haven't had any time to go swimming here. I've just been too busy with other things. Nevertheless, I do work outside alot and so I'm starting to develop at least the beginnings of a tan. It's funny actually, cause my left arm is darker than my right arm. Since I don't have AC in my car, I role the windows down and stick my arm out the window. So that arm is darker since I'm always the driver and never the passenger. My friend is always the passenger and never the driver, so her right arm is darker than her left. I think it's funny. But most significant of all the new changes, is my physical condition. The program is great exercises! I've lost weight and I'm definitely developing muscles. I don't actually own a scale, so I can't tell you that I know for a fact that I've lost weight. But my clothes are getting loser and my belt is a little big (even when it's on the last hole). I even had someone ask me the other day if I'd lost weight. The thing I found interesting about that, is that I've only been here like a month and a half. So I must have obviously slimmed up for anyone here to notice. I'm also building muscles. I can flex my arms and actually get a good bulge. It's super cool. It makes me miss Mr. Sandy though. Every Sunday he'd show me his muscles (which were MASSIVE) and then have me show him mine. Mine always seemed so puny and insignificant compared to his. But now I'm actually starting to get some. I can't wait to go home and see him and show him my new muscles!

All that being said, you're likely to not recognize me the next time you see me. I'll be tan, skinny, and toned. I've also been toying with the idea of dying/cutting my hair. I don't know though. I like my hair being longer cause it makes it easy to just throw back in a ponytail. But I'm thinking about getting it trimmed enough so that it'll look good long. The last hair cut I got was the kind that was stacked in the back and longer in the front. And that's just grown out. It looks good short, but it looks a little weird right now since it's long. So I'm thinking about evening up the front and back some. Putting in layers. And maybe getting the front trimmed so that I have layers that sorta frame my face and give me some side sweep bangs. That's just what I'm thinking. I'd have to find the money to get it cut though. Not to mention find a place to cut it. I'm always really skeptical about getting my hair cut at new places. I'm just not very trusting in that area. Anyway, I've been toying with the idea of dying my hair too. Just for something different. I do love my hair color as it is now, but I just kind of want to change something about myself. Mom suggested that I try on some wigs first, just so that I could get a feel for what I might look like after I dyed my hair. It was a good idea. So we went out and tried on wigs on Tuesday. Here are some of the pictures:

Straight up gansta! I had to wear this over my hair so that I wouldn't risk getting/giving head lice.

Kind of an emo look.

The color looked ok. This is actually really close to my natural color (which isn't even what I have right now cause I have highlights). But I didn't really like the style all that much.

I absolutely love red heads!! I'm jealous of all people who have red hair! I really want to dye my hair some sort of red. I know I might not have the complexion to be a true red head. But I'm thinking maybe a light-ish brown with red in it or maybe like a mahogany color or something. I don't know. I just love red heads! And I actually did like both this color and this style. The only thing was that my eyebrows didn't match. So I'd either have to dye my eyebrows, live with the fact that they don't match (and being the perfectionist that I am, that probably won't happen), or go with a different color.

Proof, once and for all, as to why I will NEVER get my hair cut in a pixie style or anything similar to it. It just does NOT look good on me. I have way too fat of a head for that!

I did kind of like this one. The color looks pretty natural. I would probably fit in alot better with the rest of my family with this color. They all have dark brown hair and so I'd blend right in. But that's one of the reasons I've always liked being blond. It made me stick out a little from the rest of my family. Made me feel more unique.

And that was my wig experience. Mom wants to go to some other places at some point. But we'll see. I'm just at a weird point right now. I want to change myself. Change hair colors, change hair styles, change my name (I'm trying to decide if I want to be Katherine or Kat. I introduce myself differently almost every day. So half the people here call me Katherine and the other half call me Kat. It's funny.), get a tattoo, get a piercing, just do something! No one freak out though. I promise I'm not getting any tattoos or piercings. I don't want to get a tattoo right now just cause I want to change something about myself. That is not a reason to get a tattoo. That's the sort of tat that I would look at 10 years from now and wish I'd never gotten. So that won't be happening. And there really isn't anything I can get pierced at this point. I've grown to like the fact that I don't have my ears pierced. At first I wanted to do it mostly just cause my parents didn't want me to. But now I'm glad I didn't. It makes me different than most girls. And it's less to have to worry about when I'm planning an outfit. Plus, if I got anything pierced, the chances of it getting ripped out are really high considering the profession I'm going into. So neither one of those things will probably happen. Which just leaves my hair. And that is my thought process right now.

But let's move on to something more interesting. I took my midterm last Wednesday. I studied really hard for. I was really proud of the way I studied. I'm finally starting to get in a routine with my school work. Anyway, despite having studied as hard as I did, I didn't walk away from the test with a real great feeling. I knew most of the stuff, just the format he asked it in was hard. It was alot of short answer. And I didn't do so well on the conversations and reading the vernier calipers. But I got my grade back yesterday. I made a 76. At least I passed, right? I'm kind of beating myself up about it though. I'm not used to make that sort of grades. School is usually really easy for me. And I'm finding out that I'm really going to have to work hard on my school work in this program. That's definitely a change of pace for me. But I'm actually kind of looking forward to it. I like the challenge. And now that I know the general format of the test, I'll just have to tweak my study habits a bit to fit the program.

Yesterday I also started my summer B schedule. I only had one class added to my schedule. It's an everyday class though. So Mon-Fri 3:15-4:30, I'll be in my Basic Keeper class. It was so awesome yesterday! Jack, the zoo president, is the teacher. I really like him. He teaches in way that I really like. I don't take alot of notes in his class, cause he just captures my attention. I'm an auditory learner, so that's a good thing. He makes things so interesting. He tells all these really cool stories to get his points across and that really helps me remember things. Yesterday, we talked all class about the job description of a zoo keeper. And while I was listening, I was thinking, "Wow, that's me. That's my job! Wow! I have one of the coolest jobs ever!". And it's true. I really do have an unbelievably awesome job. I'm so lucky to be in this program. I'm in an awesome program that's going to open countless doors for me. There's no telling where I'm going to go after this. The sky really is the limit. It's almost too much for me to thinking about. It's so big and so awesome that I can't wrap my brain around it. All I can say is that when I think about all the possibilities I have, I can't help but get this stupid grin on my face and get this feeling of excitement and anticipation and lots of other things I can't even begin to describe.

I know this post has kind of been all over the place. But that's kind of where my brain is right now. I seem to be bouncing all over everywhere. I don't know if that a good or a bad thing yet. I hadn't posted anything in awhile though, so I wanted to give y'all an update while I had a few hours to spare. For some reason I couldn't go back to sleep after I got up to take my meds this morning. So I was up at 7:30 this morning. I got to talk to Jordan though. That was awesome! He's in China right now. So not only did I get to talk to him, but I also got to see Davis and Emily. That was a great way to start my morning! There's nothing like talking to my Jordan and seeing Davis, Emily, and the rest of the crew first thing in the morning. I was a little jealous though cause he had to get off to go get a massage. His parents were practically dragging him away too. I can't understand that. I would die for a massage right now. And there he was, the opportunity just placed in his lap, and he didn't want it. He must be crazy! I told him to get of the video with me and go enjoy his massage! So we got off about 8-ish. But that still left me with several hours to spare. I have to give tours this morning at the zoo. I traded my tour time this week with someone else cause I was going to be doing my conservation project during my normal time. It ended up getting canceled though due to weather issues. But I had already traded times with her. So I go today from 11:00-12:30. I'm a little sad cause that means I'll miss part of my lunch group meeting. That starts at 12:00. But I'm hoping that either I won't have a tour (and can leave early) or I'll finish early. Even if I don't get off early, I'll still go to the lunch thing. I'll just be late. But it's my friend, Michelle's bday. So I have to go and give her a hug. Then I have class at 3:15. And I haven't decided yet what I'll do tonight. But I had a few hours before I had to be at the zoo and I'm all caught up on my homework, so I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to let y'all know how I'm doing.

I guess that's about it. I can't think of anything else that I want to mention. I'm just babbling at this point. So I'm going to shut up and let you people get back to your lives cause I know this was a long post. I appreciate you taking the time to read about my life. It really does mean alot to me that you take an interest in what's going on in my life. I don't know what I'd do without you guys. I miss you all so much!! I miss your bright smiles and your big hugs. So give your a big hug for me right now cause I'm definitely sending each of you a virtual hug! Love to all!!

I Did Survive

2009-06-20T12:59:00.000-07:00

Well I made it through the pond mucking. It was hard though. We broke up into three groups. Then each group took a section of the pond. In each group, some people had shovel and some had buckets. The people with the shovel would dig up the mud and turtle poo from the bottom of the pond. They'd fill up the buckets. When the buckets were full, the people with buckets would trudge out of the water and dump the mud/poo on the banks (to build them back up). I opted to be a bucket girl rather than a shovel girl. The water was actually really refreshing and kept us cool. But it was nasty when we'd step down and sink into the mud. I had it all in my shoes. Even in the water, I would feel the mud shifting in my shoes. It was so nasty! I got it caked all over my legs and hands and in between my toes. I think the worst part was when I had to walk home afterward. There was so much mud in my shoes. I could feel and hear the water sloshing around as I walked. And the mud built up in that area between the ball of my foot and my toes. So when I would put my weight down, the middle of my toes would slam down on the hardened mud and it really hurt. The feet part was by far the worst part. I had mud between my toes and even under my toe nails! I took my shoes off as soon as I got home. Then we put trash bags down over my carpet and I walked to the bathroom. I scrubbed 3 times with regular soap, 2 times with good smelling body wash, and washed my hair 2 times. Even after all that, I still felt like I smelled. But mom said I didn't. So I tried not to think about it too much. I'll admit that it wasn't as bad as I was thinking it would be. But it wasn't no picnic either. My whole right side is still sore from all the heavy lifting (you'd be surprised how much mud/poo and water will weigh a bucket down!). I'm glad that it's behind me now. And, hopefully, I'll never have to do it again!

So that's a condensed version of the pond day. I got my test score back from Monday. I got a 94! I'm so proud of myself! And on Thursday, I had a game night. Jane, Kate, Shaina, and Katie came over. It was a good turn out. We all had lots of fun! I definitely want to do another one soon. Also in recent news, I have my midterm on Wednesday. I started studying today. I made all the flash cards I'll need and I finished the math packet the teacher gave us. So now I just have to check my answers for the math packet and study the flash cards. I'm stressing about the test a little bit, just cause he said it's going to be really hard. But I think I'm doing well on my study management of it so far. And I think I'll be ready for it by the time it gets here. I'd appreciate prayers on this subject, regardless.

That's about it for right now. Hope you're all having a good weekend. Love to all!

Dread

2009-06-16T17:57:00.001-07:00

Well, tomorrow is pond day. And I'm absolutely dreading it! I'm going to get up early in the morning. I'm going to buy some old shoes to wear in the pond. Then lab is from 11:30-1:50. I really wish that I could just go to sleep tonight and then wake up and it be Thursday. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. Please keep me in your prayers! I'll let everyone know how it goes. Love to all!

Lazy Days

2009-06-12T14:12:00.000-07:00

I got to thinking about it, and it's been awhile since my last update. So I thought I'd sit down and write something while I had the time. Not too much has been going on lately. Classes are picking up. I've got a test on Monday. And a midterm in a few weeks. I'm totally not ready for either. It seems like I'm getting the swing of everything here except my school work. I'm just finding it really hard to focus. I'm definitely going to have to crack down on my studies soon though. I already got my fall schedule and it's going to be CRAZY! I'm at the zoo everyday. And Wednesday are going to be insane. They warned us that this program would be hard. But this semester has been really easy, so I thought maybe they were bluffing. After seeing my schedule for next semester, I believe them.

I'm starting to make more friends in the zoo program though. One girl, Katie, is going to teach me how to hula hoop. She uses hula hooping as her work out. It sounded like something fun, so I thought I'd join her. We went yesterday and bought me a hula hoop. It was funny cause we stood in the Target and tested out a couple of the hula hoops. I must admit that I wasn't much good at it. It kept falling down. I don't have the hips to support the hoop. Katie says it's actually easier for skinnier people, but I don't really believe her. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. It just sounded like a fun way to work out and something interesting to do with a friend.

Something I've been struggling with alot lately has been missing friends from back home. I'm making lots of great friends here, don't get me wrong. But they're just something about old friends. I enjoy making new friends. The excitement of seeing other people's personalities unfold over time. Having someone who's never heard your stories before. But there's also alot to be said about friends who've known you forever. The kind that can tell exactly what kind of mood you're in and know just what to do to make it all better. Or the kind that you have deep connections with. I just miss walking into a place and knowing people (like really knowing them). I miss going to the grocery store (or any random place around town) and seeing all these people I know. It's just hard sometimes. Especially since I know that I won't get to see y'all for quite awhile. I think I'm just rambling now though. So I'm going to shut up. It was a short post, but honestly there hasn't been that much going on lately. I do miss everyone horribly though. So if you ever have a free moment, pick up the phone and give me a quick call. It would absolutely make my day! I well warn you that my cell number changed. I don't want to put my new number out on the web for everyone to see....so if you don't already have my new number, here's what you should do: 1.Call my old cell number. 2. If no one answers, leave a message saying you want my new cell number. 3. My Dad will then give you my new cell number. 4. With my new cell number in hand, CALL ME! Obviously, number 4 is the most important. Anyway, I hope everyone is having a great summer and I love you all!

Something to Think About

2009-06-08T18:05:00.000-07:00

I came across this and it really stuck with me. Today I've just felt off. I can't put my finger on what it is exactly, but I just feel not quite right. I was talking to my friend, Michelle, about it. I told her I just wished I could figure out what exactly was wrong. Cause if I knew what was wrong, I could fix it. But this feeling of knowing something was off, but not knowing what it was, was really frustrating me. She told me to read this:
"And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation-some fact of my life-unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in God's world by mistake....Unless I accept life completely on life's terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes."
I just thought that I'd share this with y'all. It resonated in me and I thought that maybe it might help one of you too. Love you all!

Banana Plantation

2009-06-03T12:49:00.000-07:00

Well all I can say is that this zoo program is going to be hard work! I'm going to come home at the end of the summer and I'm going to be super tan and totally buff. On Wednesday we did Banana Plantation. Well, first we unloaded all these huge logs from a truck. I managed to weasel my way out of unloaded logs. But instead I had to shovel sand. There was a huge sand pile right in front of the gate they needed to use for the logs. So me and 3 other girls shoveled the sand out of the way. After we finished with the sand and the logs, we all went back to the banana plantation.
The banana plantation is in the very back of the zoo. They're these two patches where they planted bananas. They were all over grown. So we had to clean them up. Anything that wasn't a banana plant, we had to pull out by the roots. There was alot of bamboo and tree like things. I don't know if any of you have ever had to pull bamboo out of the grounds....but it's really hard! A shoot about 3-4 ft tall would take 2 of us to pull out. And we'd put our entire weight into it, so much so that when it finally gave we would go flying backwards. That part was kind of fun. We laughed alot. After we had all the weeds, grass, bamboo, and other things pulled up, we began to rack. The banana plants are planted in rows. Between the rows are supposed to be deep ditches. The dirt had kind of shifted though, so the ditches weren't deep enough. So we had to make the ditches deeper. And we also had to dig a water trench around the field. Maybe this all sounds easy, but, trust me, it wasn't.
I am still kind of sore today. But mostly my back and arms hurt the worst. I was also pretty sun burned. We were out in the direct sun for several hours. No shade. I didn't put any sunscreen on either. But that's cause 1. I don't have any and 2. I didn't know we'd be in the sun that long. I was actually really surprised that my face didn't burn. Normally that's the first thing to burn on me cause of the creams I use for my acme. But it didn't burn. So I was glad about that. Unfortunately, the tops of my ears did burn, along with my shoulders/arms. I refused to get a farmers tan, so I had my sleeves rolled up and you can see where my sleeves stopped. My shoulders were the worst part that got burned. And, last but not least, I have a huge blister on my thumb. Its from the shovel and the rack and pulling things up from the ground. Its in a precarious place too, so that when I do my thumb straight up, it hurts. So I've been holding my thumb kind of bent for the last few days.
Even though I'm sore, things could definitely be worse. One girl got stung by a scorpion. It fell down the back of her shirt. It was kind of scary. But definitely hard core. She's really cool. Her name's Katie. She's short, but is a hard worker. She's the one that was helping me pull up bamboo. At one point we fell over backwards and she got a face full of dirt. It was funny, but we all felt bad for her. She's a tough little worker. I think we're going to get along well though.
Yesterday I had some people over to my apartment. Some of the other zooys. We had this map we had to label for our Intro to Zoos and Aquariums class. It's like zoo geography. We had label mountain ranges, rivers, islands, animal distributions, etc. It would have been really boring to do it by myself. But I had three other girls over and we all did it together. And we laughed alot along the way. I think everyone had a good time. I know I did. It was a nice feeling to have people over to my apartment and to feel connected and stuff. I don't know what I'm trying to say exactly...just that it was fun.
That's about all that's going on. Tonight mom and I are going to a dinner thing at church. And tomorrow I work at the zoo. It's a mandatory work day. But I only work a half day (8:00-11:30). It's apparently Ocean's day or something. So the zoo is expecting to have alot of people. We've all been assigned to a certain animal (I'm the Asian Small Clawed Otters and the Red-billed Hornbills). We're supposed to stand outside the exhibit and then tell the public about that animal when they come by. My animals' exhibits are, of course, in the direct sun light. It's actually one of the few places in the zoo that isn't shaded. So I'll be wearing a hat. And I'll need to get sunscreen before then. After I work at the zoo, I'm going to a banquet thingy with some friends. It's going to be super fun. There's going to be a dinner and a live band and just lots of fun times. I'm really looking forward to it.
I hope you all are having a great summer! I'll keep you updated on what's going on here. Love to you all!

Welcome to the Real World

2009-05-31T08:44:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was my first weekend day to work in the zoo. And let me just tell you....I'm EXHAUSTED! I'm sore from head to toe. I had to be at the zoo at 7:50. I got a half hour lunch break at 11:15. And then I didn't leave the zoo til around 5:00. That's insane! I gave my first 2 tours yesterday. I was really nervous. On my first tour I accidentally forgot one of the animals. It was the prehensile tailed porcupine. It's nocturnal, so the tour group didn't miss much, but I still felt bad. Needless to say, I made sure to cover it thoroughly in my next tour. I also worked in projects. They have to groups. You can either be working with the animals (preparing diets, cleaning enclosures, etc.) or working projects (racking trails, wiping down the picnic tables, giving tours, etc.). Since we aren't allowed to work with the animals our first semester, I was in projects. Our project was cleaning the rocks and replacing them behind one of the exhibits. We shoveled out the rocks, cleaned them, then put them back. It was hard work. I'm very achy today. I came home and my amazing mom took great care of me. She made dinner while I took a shower (I was so nasty. I had gritty stuff all over me and I smelled so badly). She rubbed my feet. Went to the store and put some stuff for me to soak my feet in. Helped me get up and down. And helped arrange my pillows under my feet (so they'd be elevated and would reduce bruising). I couldn't have done it without her!
I just wanted to give everyone a quick update. I'll post some new pictures a little bit later. I'm really enjoying it here. I'm making lots of new friends and starting to find my place. I went out dancing Friday night (probably not the wisest decision since I was working the next day) and had so much fun. It was awesome cause people new me. I was just standing there and all these people were like, "Hey Katherine!" and giving me hugs and stuff and introducing me to their friends. The people here are really great. They're making me feel so welcome and really bringing me into their groups. I'm getting really involved too. I have something going on almost everyday. I feel very good about everything. I think I'm going to have an awesome time here. I'm going to learn alot about myself. And when I'm finished here, I'll be a whole new person. I think Gainesville is going to be the place where I spread my wings, discover myself, and become my own person. I think I'm going to be genuinely happy here. The deep seeded, content kind of happy. I'm very hopeful. Who knows, you might not even recognize me when you see me again. I love you all.....I'm going to go soak my sore body in the tub now. :D

Mom's Trees

2009-05-17T20:44:00.000-07:00

I know I'm starting to slack off on the blogging again. So here's a quick recap on some things that happened this week.

Classes are going great. I'm so thankful that I took my general education hours before I got here. This way, I get to focus only on my zoo classes. The stories they tell us are great. It almost doesn't feel like a real class. I can't talk alot about the program on here. I signed some kind of waver. I'm not supposed to talk about it alot or put up pictures online. But I can say that I think it's going to be pretty tough. I think I'll be able to handle it though. I'm definitely going to be challenged though. But I've never been one to shy away from a challenge. One thing that's going to be rather difficult, I have to know all the common and scientific names of all the species in the zoo (and there's approximately 70 of them). Mom's already made me flash cards that I have magnetized onto the back of my door. I also have to have my tour cards in order by Tuesday. That's actually my first homework assignment. And I have to be in dress code by Wednesday. Mom and I went to Goodwill and bought me 4 pairs of shorts for the program. All I have left is to get my shirts. Those I can get starting Tuesday. So then on Wednesday I'll go to the zoo and look like a zooy (that's what they call the students that work in the zoo). I'll make sure to take a picture for everyone. Also, I have to pick one day a week to do tours at the zoo. Those will start next week sometime. And then my weekend schedule will start on May 30th. I'm getting really excited!

I'm also making alot of new friends. I met two people in the zoo program that live in the same apartment complex as me. We even live really close together. Racheal lives two doors down from me. She's really cool. I think we're going to be great friends. Kacey reminds me alot of Jordan. I don't know what it is about him exactly, but something just makes me think of Jordan. Kacey is sweet. We walk back from class together everyday. Then I'm also making lots of friends at church. The campus church has really taken me in. I feel so welcomed there. The college group has really pulled me in. Thursday I went to the lake with a big group of them and then to the movies afterward. Then a bunch of guys came over today to help us unload the uhaul. And I watched the big basketball game with them tonight. It was really funny cause it was me and 6 guys. I was the only girl there. It was nice though. They're really great guys. I was telling mom that it's such a nice feeling to be with guys who aren't vulgar and who don't look at me like a piece of meat. It's really refreshing to be guys who treat me like I'm actually worth something and not just another girl for them to fool around with. It's a big encouragement. All of it is. Things just feel right here. I'm settling in so nicely. I'm making great friends and I've found a church I like and my classes are going great. Things are just all working out for me.

I'll leave you with some pictures. Mom goes out and does a devo in the mornings. The trees out behind my apartment are really pretty. I can see them out my window in the bedroom. But mom likes to go outside and sit under them. She got some pictures the other day and wanted me to share them on here. Pretty trees.There is alot of spanish moss around here. It's really pretty.

This is the new chair that we bought at Goodwill. It is so comfy! I totally love it. Plus, I also got that top. I really like that too. I think it looks great on me. And did you notice the curly hair? It was super curly when I took it out of the towel that morning so I decided to just leave it that way. I love it when my hair curls. It makes me feel pretty.

A better picture of my new top. It's kind of like a dress thingy. But it's just a tad short to be a dress. So I'll wear jeans under it.

Dad did such a great job packing the truck. It looked like a professional could have done it. Mom and I were so proud!

This is Chris. And he's carrying in my 9 foot alligator for me. It was funny.

This is Paul. He cracks me up. He is so funny.

Pretty much the only picture I have of the other two guys that were helping move stuff. The guy still in the truck is Johnny (he's this guy, Joel's younger brother) and then the other one is John Mark. They're both still in high school. But Paul is the youth intern, so apparently they hang out with this group alot.

Ok, that's all. I'll try to remember to post something tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Right now my apartment is a bit of a mess with all the stuff from the uhaul just strewn around. But as soon as it gets settled, I'm hoping to do a video tour for you. Love to all!

A Few Pics to Tide You Over

2009-05-11T17:58:00.000-07:00

I was kind of toying with the idea of doing a virtual tour of my apartment. Like taking a video of it. I'll probably wait til I get all my furniture moved in though. But I thought you might enjoy at least a few pictures to tide you over until later. I know alot of you are curious as to what my place looks like (or at least I hope you are). So here we go:

That's me when we first got here. Pardon my appearance, I had just spent the last 13 hours in a car.

What you see as you look in my front door. It's basically a straight shot through the apartment. As you can see: the living room is immediately to your right, the kitchen is a little farther up to the right, there's a little dining room space where our stuff is all piled up, the pantry and water heater closet are on the left side of that hallway, the bathroom is directly across from the pantry, and the bedroom is at the end.

This is a better view of the small dining room area.

This is the living room.

The kitchen.

The bathroom.

The bedroom.

The closet space is unbelievable. I think it might actually be bigger than my closet space in my apartment back home. I'm thinking that I'll use that right hand side for clothing. And the left side for storage and stuff. They aren't two separate closest, in case you were wondering. I know it kind of looks that way in the picture. But they aren't.

And that's my apartment. I hope you enjoyed it. I am so beat today. I had a huge day and I got alot done. So I'm going to call it an early night. I'll have to update you on how my day went another time. Goodnight everyone. Love to all!

Getting Settled

2009-05-10T14:50:00.000-07:00

Ok. I know I forgot to make a new post last night like I said I would. I'm sorry. But I'm posting now. Yesterday we got very little done. I decided to be lazy. Mom got up and did lots of stuff though. She's so amazing. I'm very glad she's here. She got up and put my food in my pantry. And put some things in my bathroom. She also cleaned the majority of the cabinets in the kitchen.

Other than that, we didn't do alot yesterday. The cable guy came and set up my Internet. Through that process we discovered that two of the wall sockets in my bedroom are dead and aren't working. So we had to have my Internet connected in the livingroom instead of the bedroom. But the dead wall sockets at least explains why we couldn't get our air mattress inflated that first night.

Also on Saturday, I went for a swim. My apartment complex has a pool and I went down to check it out. I forgot to pack sunscreen, so I didn't stay long. I was there about 45 minutes. It's so hot here! I worked up a little bit of a sweat just walking to the pool. So when I jumped in, it felt amazing! Then I laid out on a chair long enough to get all dry and start to get hot again. I jumped back in the pool to cool off, and then laid out long enough to dry off again. My hair even curled! I love it when that happens. My hair is normally so thin and straight. It frizzes, but that's about it. So when it gets wet and curls, it always makes me feel a little good inside. It makes me think I have at least a little bit of natural curl to my hair.

Last night we went out to try to find where the church was we wanted to go to this morning. We didn't find it. But we did get an extra key made for my mom at Wal-Mart. When we got home, we had quite a little surprise waiting for us. There was a huge frog right above my door! Neither one of us really wanted to got unlock the door. We were so scared it would fall on us. But we got inside without any problems. Here are some pictures:

This morning we got up and set out to go to church. We got majorly lost though. But the good came out of that too. We got to see the University of Florida and downtown Gainesville. I totally loved it! The university is so pretty! And downtown is really cool. It's all historic stuff. I love it. And I hope I get to explore it more. Thankfully, we weren't horribly late for church. I think the church we went too was called Campus Church of Christ. It seemed nice enough. The preacher is an African American fellow, so there were a good number of African American people attending. Most of the women were wearing these big hats. It was kind of different. I met the college group minister though and I really like him. He was very friendly and welcoming. He said he'd get a group together to have lunch sometime this week, so I gave him my contact info so I could come. And there's a devo going on tonight at 8 o'clock that I'm going to. I also met this girl, Meredith. She seemed very nice. We exchanged numbers. She invited me to go to the lake with her and some friends sometime this week. So that sounds like fun. She said she was hoping to get a group to go real regularly this summer. That sounds like fun. I'm really hoping that I'll fit in here.

After church, mom and I did a little grocery shopping. We didn't buy alot, just a few little things. The store here has a cooking demonstration thingy. And whatever they're demonstrating, they have a little kit you can buy to make it too. We tried the Chicken Pot Pie and the Coconut Grilled Shrimp today. The shrimp was amazing! We bought the kit for that so we can make it when dad gets here.

Also today, I got to talk to several people on the phone. I talked to Mary, Mrs. Beier, and Aunt Sue. It was so good to hear all their voices! I miss everyone so much already! I'm happy to be here and I think I'm really going to enjoy it here, but I still miss everyone.

That's about it for today. Tomorrow is a big day for me. I've got to sign my lease papers in the morning at 9:00. Then orientation for the zoo is at 11:00. My first class is at 2:00-3:05. I also need to go by the financial aide department and sign a few things. Plus, I was thinking about getting applications for a few places. I'm thinking about seeing if the daycare center by the zoo or the grocery store down the street are hiring. It might be a good part time job for me and a way to get a little bit of money coming in. I'd love to be able to save up and come home at the end of the summer or something like that. Anyway, tomorrow is a big day for me. So keep me in your prayers and I'll let you know how it goes. Also, I took pictures of my apartment that I hope to put up soon. Maybe I'll do it after I get back from the devo tonight, right before I go to bed. We'll see. I will put them up soon though so that you can all see what my apartment looks like. Love to you all!

Bits and Pieces

2009-05-09T08:18:00.000-07:00

As I move on to a new chapter in my life, I can't help but reflect on the past. I've been so blessed by the people that have been a part of my life. I've had alot of great friends...and some not so great ones. And, as this little poem says, each has left their mark on me. Therefore, I dedicate this to all the people that have touched my life, whether good or bad, for they are what has shaped me into who I am today:

"People. People important to you, people unimportant to you cross your life, touch it with love and carelessness and move on. There are people who leave you and you breathe a sigh of relief and wonder why you ever came into contact with them. There are people who leave you and you breathe a sigh of remorse and wonder why they had to go away and leave such a gaping hole. Children leave parents; friends leave friends, acquaintances move on. People change homes. People grow apart. Enemies hate and move on, friends love and move on. You think on the many who have moved into your hazy memory. You look on those present and wonder.

I believe in God's master plan in lives. He moves people in and out of each other's lives, and each leaves his mark on the other. You find you are made up of bits and pieces of all who ever touched your life, and you are more because of it, and you would be less if they had not touched you. Pray God that you accept the bits and pieces in humility and wonder and never question, and never regret. Bits and Pieces. Bits and Pieces."
Lois A. Cheney

Quick Updates

2009-05-09T08:02:00.000-07:00

Hi. Ok. So I know I haven't been keeping up on my blog regularly, but I'm going to try to change that. I figure now that I'm living in FL, this blog is going to be one of the only ways for people to keep up with me. Plus, I just miss writing on here. So much has happened since my last post that it would be impossible to recap on it all. So I'll do a quick update and then push ever onward.

I'm now officially living in Florida!! Mom and I got in last night. We stayed our first night in my new apartment. It was great! I have a big day ahead of me today. We're unpacking the few things we brought. Mom and I loaded down the minivan with the kitchen and bathroom stuff. And dad will bring the rest of my things in the uhaul a week from now. So we're going to get my kitchen and bathroom all set up. Also, I want to go out exploring some today. I hope to do a full blog post tonight. I'll tell you all about our trip, first night here, my apartment (including pictures and maybe a video), and our first day here. It'll be a good way for me to end my day. Winding down and all that. I'm hoping to get in a routine of updating it at night or something like that. I'm really going to try to keep on top of it. I'm so very very excited!!!! Words cannot even begin to describe all the emotion and excitement I'm feeling right now. Of course, I miss everyone something bad (and it'll probably get worse before it gets better), but you're all just a phone call away and you'll know what's going on with me through this here blog. Plus, I'd really encourage all of you to get skype. It's totally free and it's a way for you to see me and talk to me live through the computer. You should look into it.

Ok, I'm going to post a few things for you to think over and then I'm going to go get busy. I love you all!! And I'm really going to try to keep on top of my posts from now on!

Spring Break

2009-03-13T12:33:00.000-07:00

As you all may have noticed, sometimes I use this blog as a means of processing my problems. And that's exactly what I intend to do today. I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do for Spring Break. I don't know why this is such a hard decision for me. I think it has less to do with what I'm actually going to do over Spring Break and more to do with some undercurrents regarding this issue. So basically I'm going to just write....sort of like free writing, and see what comes out. This always seems to help me. So just bare with me here...

Basically what it boils down to is I can either spend spring break with my family or my friends. Originally I had thought I'd just stay home with my friends, but now it seems like none of my friends are actually going to be here. Or rather that the one friend that I was really staying home to be with has decided they'd rather do something else. It kind of hurts my feelings. Our schedules have been so off this semester, so we haven't gotten to hang out much. I haven't seen her in almost a month! But instead of spending spring break with me (like we had sort of talked about), she's decided to go out of town with a guy. And that really hurts me. I don't know why I'm letting it get to me so much, honestly. But it feels a little bit like a slap in the face. Especially since she knows this will probably be the last time we get to hang out for any extended periods of time before I move. And it seems like none of my other friends will be able to hang out with me either. Jordan is going out of town. Brittany is working. I don't know what Ellen is doing yet, probably hanging out with her new boy friend. So it seems as though all my friends are too busy for me or have other people they'd rather be spending their time with. It's making me feel like they don't want me. I'm sure I'm probably just being over dramatic and this is all in my head, but that's how it's making me feel. And so I'm a little bit sad right now. It kind of hurts my heart. And I want to cry.

So now it swings back to visiting my family. I know alot of my family members read this, so please don't hear me saying I don't want to see you or you'd be my second choice. That's not what I'm saying at all. I do want to see you, very very much. But I was torn because I wanted to spend time with my friends also. Now I'm feeling like my friends don't want to spend time with me though. So I'm thinking that now I'll be going to AR to see my family. And this is why: I know that my family will ALWAYS want me. I could never, not even for one second, doubt that fact. I don't want to push my friends to spend time with me. I don't want to force them to hang out with me. I want to be with people that want me just as much as I want them. My family wants me. They make me feel special. They make me feel so loved and so very wanted. And that's what I need right now. I need to get away from my life at the moment. From the crazy drama with my friends and family and work and everything. I want to go to a place where I'm not sitting at home miserable because no one is calling me or asking me to do something with them. I want to get away from the people that are asking me to do stuff that I shouldn't but I'm tempted to do because I don't have anything else I'm doing. I want to go to a place where the people love me unconditionally, where the people won't ask me to do things I don't want to do, where I'm able to just relax, and where I'll be encouraged instead of dragged down. That's what I want. And that's why I think I'm going to go to AR this week. Because I need to see my family. They have this way of making me feel complete inside and healing my hurts. And that's what I need right now. I need the people that know me and love me better than anyone else.

Ok, I feel better now. I know what I have to do. Even if it's hard. And even if my friends all suddenly decided to stay home this week, I know where the best place for me to be right now is. Going to AR is what my heart needs. I need to go and get a good dose of my family. They'll help take my mind off my problems and heal some of my hurts before I have to come back and face the giants again. I've made my mind up: I'm going to Arkansas!!!!! I'm at peace now.

Granny

2009-02-28T09:56:00.000-08:00

I was thinking about Granny today. I think about her less and less. I don't know if that's time healing my wounds or if I'm still running from those emotions. But today I remembered. It came on so suddenly. And it hit me, I miss her so much! It feels like such a huge part of my life is just gone. It's like without her, my life just isn't as good. And I realized, Granny wouldn't be proud of where I am right now. She would frown at me and tell me to straighten my life out. It's not that I'm doing anything horrible (because I'm not), I just don't feel like the same sweet, innocent little girl I was when Granny was here. I feel dirty. And I felt guilty. I felt guilty that Granny might not like what she saw when she looked at me now. That puts tears in my eyes.

But that is beside the point. The point is not to focus on my, it is to remember Granny. I'm so scared I'm going to forget her. I already think of her less and less. I want to remember everything about her; the way she smelled, the exact texture of her fuzz, the brillance of her smile, the sound of her voice, etc. I don't want her memories to die with us. I want her descedents to forever remember her. I want her great great great great great grandkids to talk about how absolutely amazing she was. And she was amazing. I always knew that, but I took it for granted. I never really appreciated it like I should have. I would give anything to have those years back. To be able to appreciate her like I should have. To try to tell her how much I loved her. To savor each and every moment I had with her. But I can't. I'll never again get to rub her fuzz, run my finger tips over her wavy thumbnails, kiss her leathery cheeks, watch her take her teeth out at night, snuggle up next to her in bed, see her face light up when I enter the room, eat biscuts with her, hear that little whistle thing she would do absent mindedly, and so many other little things that I took for granted.

It was my birthday a week ago. My first birthday ever to not have Granny call and sing to me. It was kind of sad. It didn't feel complete. Aunt Edith was telling me how she couldn't believe the last grandchild, Granny's baby, was already 18. It made me a little sad. 'Cause Granny isn't hear anymore to see me reach these milestones. It makes me a little jealous of some of the older grandkids. They got to have Granny around for their graduations, weddings, the birth of their children, etc. I'll never have Granny for those things. She'll never get to meet my husband, never get to cuddle my babies, etc.

I don't know where this is all coming from. But for some reason it's really hitting me hard today. I'll stop now though. Sorry if I made anyone else sad. This is just the best way for me to get things off my chest. Thanks for reading/listening to my thoughts. Love to all!

Sick as a Dog

2009-02-26T08:53:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm sick...again. This is the second time in the last 2 weeks or so. It completely stinks! And it's worse this time! I'm running a fever and I have a horrible cough! I actually coughed up mucus last night. It was so nasty! I know, I know, that's probably too much information. Anyway, I thought that as long as I was sitting at home sick all day, I could get in a good blog post. Aren't you so proud of me!? See, I'm trying to get back to blogging!

I really want to get back to it before I move to FL. When I'm living down there, I'm hoping to keep my blog updated regularly...cause that'll probably be the best way to keep everyone informed on what's happening with me. My mom and I counted it up the other day, and I only have about 10 more weeks before I move. Isn't that crazy!? I can't believe it's already right around the corner! I'm starting to get a little nervous. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to be entering this next stage of my life...but it's also a little daunting at times. I've never lived anywhere other than here. I've never even moved houses! So for my first move to be such a major one is a little scary. And the thought of being so far away from everyone I know. It bring tears to my eyes just thinking about it. My family and friends are the most important things to me on this earth. How will I stand to be so far away from them for so long? We're anticipating I won't be able to come back until Thanksgiving. And even then, I'll probably fly straight to AR for family reunion. So I have no idea if I'll get to come home at all while I'm there. That absolutely breaks my heart. I might not see the majority of my friends for a year and a half. Sad day! Basically, if my friends want to see me, they have three options: come see me in FL (I'll have my very own apartment that will always be open to anyone who want to come visit!), pay for a plane ticket for me to come home, or Skype with me. That's my latest thing, Skype. I recently bought a laptop that I'll take with me to FL and I made sure to buy one with a built in webcam and microphone. I already have my Skype account set up. And I've Skyped with the Beiers. Rachel and Sean have an account already too. And my parents' are going to get one as well. It won't be the same as actually seeing them in person, but it's better than a regular phone call and certainly better than nothing!

Moving on, my birthday was great this year! I wound up not doing anything big and grand, just hanging out with my friends. I've decided to make my birthday motto as follows: Bdays are only as good as the people you celebrate them with and the memories you make with those people. Sound good? I thought so. And I celebrated my bday with my favorite people in the world. All the cards, phone calls, and birthday wishes made my bday the greatest 18th birthday ever! On my actual bday I got calls throughout the day from Aunt B., Aunt Ann, Aunt Elsie, Aunt Sue and her crew, Aunt Edith and Uncle Jerry, Ms. Awilda, and Paul. I also got texts from Hunter, Mary, Brandon, and Brittany. So thank you to all of you guys! That morning, mom treated me to breakfast at Denny's. Then I spent the rest of the day out at my friend, Jessica's house. We watched a movie for awhile and then we took the kids outside. The girls made me my bday lunch (peanut butter and jelly sandwiches) and we had a picnic. We were outside for like 3 hours. Then the girls played while Jessica and I talked. After that I drove back in town and met up with Ellen. We went over to Jordan's house and watched a movie. Then Mary got in town. And I hung out with Mary for the rest of the night. We went over to Ms. Elaine's house and then we watched Hancock (that was a good movie).

Then on Saturday, Jessica, Mary, and I hung out. We had lunch at Haiku's (it's a shushi place). It was delicious! Then we went up to the mall and basically played dress up. I let them pick outfits and I'd try them on. It was kind of fun. Though some of the outfits were ridiculous. The Hot Topic one was funny. Apparently I pull the emo look off very well. How would have thought? After the mall, we got a group together and went to the movies (we saw Push). And after the movie, we played cards at a coffee shop for a few hours. It was a fun day!

On Sunday, my parents took me to Ken Martin's for lunch. And then that night I went and saw Meada goes to jail with Jessica. I also spent the night with her that night.

And on Monday, my mom and I saw New in Town (it was a weekend full of movies). We also ate a Carter's Burgers.

So all in together, I had a GREAT birthday! And I didn't do anything stupid...like some of you thought I would. I'm officially a legal adult now. To tell you the truth, it doesn't feel all that different than being 17. Though now Jessica's dad is calling me blKat (barely legal Kat). Otherwise, everything is pretty much the same as it was before I turned 18. Ok, I'm going to go try to take a nap. I feel really terrible. Thanks again to everyone for making my bday amazing! I love you all!

I'm going to be legal, baby!

2009-02-19T09:19:00.000-08:00

I know I keep saying I'll blog more...and then I never do. I'm sorry. But I just never seem to have the time anymore. I'm sure it's cost me quite a few readers. Regardless, I thought I'd write a quick post about how I'm going to be freakin' 18 tomorrow!!!! I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!! Today is my last day to be a minor. I'm going to be stinkin' LEGAL tomorrow!!! I can barely wait! The best part is that Mary is coming home especially for my bday! She's been spoiling me rotten this last week. Sending me an awesome Valentine in the mail, doing a note thingy just for me on facebook, and driving all the way home to be with me on my bday. I love that girl so much!! So she's coming in tomorrow night...probably won't get here til like 8 or 9. That part is a little sad, that I have to wait that long to see her. My whole family is going to be gone on a marriage retreat thingy. So I'll have to find some way to occupy my time between when my family is around (that afternoon) and when Mary gets there (that night). But I'm totally planning on having an awesome time with Mary once she gets there! We're going to be crazy and goofy...but in a parent approved manner, of course (you can't really be crazy goofy any other way with Mary, I think that's why my parents are ok with being out of town for my 18th bday. I like to think that they believe Mary to be somewhat of an insurance policy that I won't do anything too stupid. lol) So I probably won't see my family starting Friday afternoon and going until probably late Saturday night. I plan to spend that time with Mary and my other friends. I'm really looking forward to this weekend! I don't know exactly what I'm going to do yet. But I plan to have a great time no matter what I do. Birthdays are only has fun as the people you spend them with. So I'm going to hang out with my friends this weekend. And I'm sure we'll be able to think of a few really awesome things to do...you only turn 18 once, right? :D

25 Random Things You Probably Didn't Know About Me

2009-01-28T12:15:00.001-08:00

Facebook is being plagued with this new frenzy. You're supposed to say 25 things about yourself and then tag 25 people who have to do the same. Those 25 people keep the cycle going. I got tagged by Aunt Martha. It was fun making my list. I thought of some other things to add to it later on, but that's usually how it goes. I'm not going to tag anyone on here, but I thought it'd be a fun post. So I hope you enjoy it. Leave me some comments telling me your thoughts. I tried really hard to come up with stuff that people wouldn't already know about me. Let me know if I succeeded!

1. I've never broken a single bone in my body-This will surprise some of you more than others. For those that knew me when I was a child...this might really surprise you. For those that didn't know me when I was little, but are still close enough to me to have seen my crazy side...this still might surprise you. I, personally, find it surprising. Knock on wood, is the last thing I have to say on the subject.
2. I LOVE to climb things-I'm a monkey. Even when I was little I liked to climb the kitchen cabinets and other such things in the house. Now I stick mainly to trees. But nothing is completely out of the question. I love to climb anything and everything.
3. I'm the youngest of 27 grandchildren on my mom's side of the family.
4. I'm the only one of my grandmother's decedent that has her full name-I love this fact about myself. It makes me feel like I had a special connection with my grandmother. Of course, if you asked any of the decedents who was Granny's favorite...they would all say they were. lol But I still think it's cool that I'm the only one of her 93 decedents (I'm including her own children) that has her full name. Katherine Marie
5. I've lived in the same house my whole life-my family moved into our current house a few months before I was born.
6. I don't drink anything carbonated or caffeinated.
7. I HATE chocolate!!!
8. I go in food cycles-I'll eat one certain thing all the time until I get sick of it and then I'll hardly ever eat it again.
9. I can move both my eyebrows separately-it's hard to explain without actually showing you. But instead of both going up at the same time, I can make them go up individually.
10. I want to be taller-my ideal height would be like 5'8 or around there. As long as I could be taller than my Aunt Sue.
11. I have a thing for red heads-I don't know what it is, but red hair is kind of a turn on for me. I just think they're so adorable!!! I'd love to have little red headed kids some day! Red hair runs in my mom's side of the family (and my dad's beard is red...well it's more gray now, but it used to be red) so I like to believe that I have natural red highlights in my hair. They may be subtle, but they're there!!
12. I can't stand for people to touch my nose!-I don't know what it is, but I just hate it. It's like my boogers get all out of place...I don't know. It sounds silly. But don't mess with my nose!
13. I love to eat carrots-I can really chow down on carrots. I’ll eat an entire bag of the little baby carrots in one sitting.
14. I will sometimes get the inexplicable urge to hang upside down-it strikes without warning. But sometimes I just have to be upside down. And it's been happening alot more lately...
15. I love to write-it's my outlet. It's easier for me to express my feelings through writing than it is to talk about them. And I love to write for fun too, like stories and stuff.
16. I like to drive fast!-I haven't gotten any tickets yet. But I just love the feel of going fast. I tend to speed.
17. I think that everyone has their own unique scent-it’s a theory of mine. I think that each individual/place has a sort of signature scent. A scent that is only their’s. And when you smell that certain scent, that’s who you think of. For instance, my mom’s is Country Apple. Or this one time, I walked into the computer lab at school and it smelled exactly like Iron Springs (the summer camp I went to for years and years). I’d be more than willing to explain it further to anyone that’s interested, but I need to move on now.
18. I love it when people play with my hair, caress my face, or trace their fingers along my arms/back/hands/legs/whatever-I don't know what it is, but it feels nice to me. Very soothing and peaceful.
19. I love the smell of babies-there's just a certain way that babies smell. It's different than normal people.
20. I love to kiss the heads of babies/kids-I'm just weird like this, I guess.
21. My two favorite accessories are socks and hats-I love to wear crazy socks (especially in the winter). And I like hats too. I think I look good in hats.
22. I'm a touchy-feely person-this is a new discovery for me. I've always been this way. But I'm only just acknowledging/realizing it. I love giving/getting hugs and kisses! I will almost always greet you with a hug. As well as part with a hug and usually a kiss. I especially love church on Sundays. It's like a hug and kiss smorgasbord. Lol. And I also love to cuddle. I consider watching a movie prime cuddling time! And I love having sleep over’s and having people in my bed next to me. I just like having that extra body in the bed. I’m just a touchy-feely person.
23. My favorite number is 7-I don't know why it's my favorite number, it just is.
24. I'm OCD-I like to have things just so-so. I have routines and schedules and certain ways things have to go. I get it from my mommy and her side of the family. A few examples: I like things to go in alphabetical order. I like the hangers in my closet to be color coded. All my stuff has a certain place that it goes. Etc.
25. I'm my Aunt Sue's child-she may not have given birth to me, but I am her child. I'm more like her than my mom in the majority of my characteristics...both physically and psychologically. It's a little bit weird sometimes. We'll be doing something and my mom will suddenly blurt out, "You are just like your Aunt Sue!". Even Aunt Sue has acknowledged me as her true child.

Schedule

2009-01-20T08:59:00.001-08:00

So my first class today went really well. So well, in fact, that I got out like an hour early. It's my Bio class. We have class and then a lab. But today we didn't have a lab. So I got out really early. I decided to use my time to write on my blog (aren't you all so proud of me!?).

OK, so to prove to you how absolutely insane my life is, I've decided to walk you through what a typical week will look like for me this semester. Enjoy...

Monday: I don't have school, so I'll probably sleep in. Spend the day working on homework, doing chores, running errands, etc. I have my first set of swim lessons at 5:30. It's a frog class with only one little girl. At 6:00, I have another frog class with three little boys. Then 6:30, I have a seahorse class with three girls. After that I'll come home, take a shower, eat super, get ready for bed, and go to bed early.

Tuesday: Get up around 7-7:30. First class (bio) at 9:10. Bio lab at 10:25. Speech at 12:00 and ending at 1:15. I'll have just enough time to run home, change for my scuba class, and eat lunch. My scuba class is from 2:40-4:05. That gives me just enough time to run home, eat, and get ready for my night lessons. My first night lessons is a frog class at 5:30 with one kid. Then another frog class at 6:00 with 3 kids. Next is a seahorse class at 6:30 with 4 kids. After that I'll go home, take a shower, and eat supper. I'm hoping that Tuesdays will become my regular night with Jessica. I know she has a night class til like 9:45, but then her classes on Wed don't start til the evening. So I'm hoping that we'll get in the habit of staying at each others' houses on Tuesday nights.

Wednesday: I don't have school. So it'll be the same as my Monday schedule.

Thursday: The same as my Tuesday schedule. This will be the day that I'll do more stuff with friends. Jessica gets her kids on Thursday nights, so she's pretty much out of the question on Thursdays. But Andrew, Brandon, and any body else is still open...depending on their work/school schedules.

Friday: No work and no school! So another lazy day of hanging out with friends and doing whatever. These are probably going to be my days with Jessica and the kids. She says that we'll alternate between her house one week and my house the next. So the kids will get to see me and also Grandma Kitty and Daddy Bo-Bo. I think we're also trying to plan a sleep over at some point.

Saturday: Pretty much the same as Fridays, just hanging out with friends.

Sunday: Church in the mornings. Whatever in the afternoon. Bible Quiz at night. Movie night at David's house! I'm hoping to have a movie night almost every week. I know that I can do that just because I don't have classes on Mondays, but the question will be if I can get other people to come...

So that's what I'm projecting a typical week will look like for me this semester. Crazy, huh? So I'm going to try to get back to blogging more, but I'm also not going to guarantee anything. Hope everyone is having a great Tuesday! Love to all!!

Trying to Get Back Into the Swing of Things

2009-01-19T10:04:00.000-08:00

I know I've been a terrible blogger lately! I'm going to try really hard to get back to a semi-regular blog schedule once my life settle back down. The Christmas break has been so crazy! We've moved Rachel and Sean into the back computer room, went to Colorado, and I've just hung out with friends.

I start work today (teaching night lessons at the pool) and then school tomorrow. So my life is about to be really busy. But at least I'll be back on a regular schedule.

I've decided that I'm stuck in a gray area. I'm not part of the youth group anymore, but I'm not a part of the college group (the AFC) either. I'm more independent than my high school friends, but not quite as independent as my college friends. I'm in between my church friends and my college friends. I'm between guys. I'm just plain stuck on the fence in almost every aspect of my life. And it's getting frustrating!!!

Ok, I know this post was completely random. But I wanted to at least post something. Here are some pictures of my few new friends:

(from left to right) Robin, Christin, Me, and AJ. These are Jessica's kids (another one of my new friends, not my cousin).

My crazy friend, Jessica. I love her! She's so much fun!! We sat next to each other in Algebra last semester. She noticed me reading Twilight, we started talking about it, and the rest is history. Surprisingly the majority of my other new friends I've met through Jessica (her kids and her brother).

Andrew. This was taken at New Year's. Him and Jessica get along really well. They're the main two I hang out with right now.

Brandon (Jessica's brother), the kids, and me. I don't have very many pictures of just Brandon (at least not any that I can put up here without getting scolded). So this will just have to do....even though you can't see him very well in this one.

So those are the people I'm hanging out with right now...at least the new people. I still hang out with Jordan, Ellen, Mary, Rebecca, Darby, and others. But most of them live out of town now, so I only see them every so often. And my other friends are still in high school, so our schedules don't really mesh very well. But I thought I'd at least write a quick post. I hope my absence hasn't caused me to lose too many of my readers. And I hope that the few that are left enjoyed this brief glimpse into my world. I'm really going to try to post more! Love to all!

Bad Dooby

2008-12-17T10:15:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, it's been forever since I posted anything. I'm sorry! But life is so busy! I know you probably get tired of me using that as an excuse, but it usually is my only reason. I will admit that I struggled a little with writers' block this time, which is partly why it took me so long to post anything. But finally, after much begging and pleading on the part of my readers, I just sat down and forced myself to write something...anything.

I wanted to write a post about reunion. But I couldn't. First of all, it would be way too long of a post. And second, there are simply not words to describe it. It was amazing, to say the very least. I had so much fun spending time with my family! There was so much love shared that weekend. I don't know what exactly it is, but I feel so at peace when I am with my family. I feel fine when I'm home. But when I get to be with my extended family, it's like I'm more complete. As if I had a piece of me missing and I didn't know it until it was filled. I know I'm probably just confusing everyone. Like I said, there are no words to describe it properly. I did get lots of really great pictures!! I'm so excited about them!!!! I would post them, but I've discovered that they'll just get cut off. So I'm not going to bother. They're on my facebook though, so you can check them out there.

As soon as I got back from reunion, my finals started. I had my last two days of classes on that following Monday and Wednesday. And then my first two finals were on that Friday. Aunt Sue had a tea party at her shop that Saturday. Rachel and Sean came into town and spent the weekend with us. Then my dad and I picked the Tomkinses up from the Houston airport on Monday. And my last final was on Tuesday.

It was so great to have the Tomkinses back!!! I had gotten used to them being gone, but then when they got here it was like waking up from a really long dream. It felt so natural for them to be back. Becca stayed with me up in my apartment most of that week. Then Mary came into town on Friday and we all three stayed out at the Whitton's 'cause I was dog/house sitting for them.

I got my grades back for my semester...I have a 4.0!!!!! I'm so excited!! I didn't know if I'd pull an A in my English class. That teacher is pretty tough. She only has an 8% A rate for her class. So I was super excited to find out that I fit into that 8%! I worked really hard this semester to figure out how to do my school work on my own. In high school my parents helped me alot (especially my mom) by making flash cards for me to study and stuff like that. But I knew they wouldn't be there in FL so I wanted to go ahead and teach myself good study patterns. And I think I did really well. I'm very excited!!

My apartment is coming along very nicely! I just finished putting down all the lament flooring today. It looks great!! I have my furniture up in the bedroom. And I'm sleeping up there now. All I really have left to do is put the corner round down (which is what my dad is doing right now), move my old closet to my new closet (easier said than done), put up the last few decorations, and paint this one table. I'm so very close to being completely finished!! I'm super duper excited!!!!

The other big news, Rachel and Sean are moving in with us. Rachel got a job at A&M. Sean was miserable at his job. So they decided to move down here while Sean looks for youth ministry positions. They'll move into our computer room. It's definitely going to be a full house! I'm excited though. I can't wait to actually get to spend lots of time with Rachel! And it'll be a good way for me to get to know Sean better...alot better. And I'm only going to be here for a few more months so I should be able to last until then. I'm a little nervous, of course. But that's just because it's such a BIG change. I think it will be good for all of us in the long run though.

That's pretty much what's happening around here. I'll try to post more. I hope everyone is having a great holiday season. Love to all!!

No Longer Unemployed

2008-11-25T09:10:00.000-08:00

That's right, I got a job! I'm excited, though it isn't really anything special. I'm going to be teaching spring swim lessons. It's not what I had originally hoped for, but it's better than nothing. Actually alot better than nothing. It fits my schedule perfectly! I'll work from 5:15-7:30 Mon-Thurs. nights. I start Jan. 19th and end sometime in April. I'll be making more than I would anywhere else and I know what I'm doing. I have morning classes next semester so it works out that I'll have those classes, go home to relax for a few hours, and then go to work. And on days that I don't have classes (Mon, Wed, and Fri.) I'll have all day to work on homework and stuff before I have to go work. And I get Fridays off (from work and school) so if I want to go spend a weekend somewhere I can. Isn't that great! I actually got the job last Thursday, but am only just remembering to post about it.

And now I need to go get something done. I've been up for like 2 hours and have gotten nothing done. Today I'm trying to get mostly packed for my trip (only 3 more days till reunion!!!!!), unload the dishwasher, and maybe get something done to my apartment. We'll see how much I get done. Love to all! And I can't wait to see most of you at reunion on Saturday!! Get ready for some BIG hugs!!!

Great Weekend

2008-11-24T08:16:00.000-08:00

I had an amazing weekend! I don't know what is up lately, but I've been having several very good weeks in a row. For the first time in several months, I'm really happy. And it feels good. I missed it. It's like the rainbow that comes after a big thunder storm.

So on Thursday I worked on finishing all my projects that are due today. I didn't get much done though. But it was still a good day.

Friday was amazing, absolutely exhausting, but still amazing. I saw Twilight with Ms. Susan. It was really good. I had been a little hesitant to see it because I was afraid they'd completely ruin it. But they actually did a very good job with it. I would recommend it to anyone who's interested in that sort of thing. After the movie, we ate lunch at the mall and then went shopping. I'm not a big shopper, I just get worn out really easily. But I had so much fun with Ms. Susan. And I found some really cute outfits!!

Saturday I finished the rest of my projects and papers that are due today. Mom and I went back up to the mall to buy those clothes (she had me put them on hold because she had a return to make that I could use the in store credit from). I tried them all on for me and she really liked them too. There was one that we eliminated though. Actually there were some that she had thought wouldn't look good, but then we I tried them on for her she changed her mind. 'Cause they were just that darn cute! So I got 2 pairs of jeans (which I desperately needed 'cause I had worn all my other ones out. And actually we got 3, but the third pair we're going to take back.), two really cute shirts, a dress-like purple thing, and a really cute black hat. I'm way excited about them. I'm bringing all my new stuff on my trip so that I can wear them to the reunion. So everyone be warned, I'm going to look insanely cute at reunion this year. And it's so nice to have found clothes that I feel confident and pretty in, you know? Anyway, after we bought the clothes, we drove out to Summerville and had a game night with Aunt Sue and Jessica at their shop. And let me just tell you, I HAD SO MUCH FUN!!!! I don't think I've ever laughed that much over a game of chicken foot! When we would count up our points at the end of a game, Aunt Sue would count each individual dot on the dominoes out loud. It was hysterical. Then we came up with this thing to help cue Aunt Sue that a double had been played. Whoever put down the double would have to make chicken noises. Unfortunately, it didn't help much. We'd get to laughing so hard over it that it wound up being more of a distraction than a help. But Jessica's chicken noises were hysterical. The first time she did we all busted out laughing and Aunt Sue goes, "that sounded like a sick chicken!". Then the next time she did we busted out laughing again and mom goes, "that sounded like a chicken that needed some anti-depressants!". Then Jessica did a disco chicken and that was funny too. But Jessica and I definitely had the giggles that night. And maybe it was one of those times that you just had to be there for it, but I'm cracking up just sitting here typing it. I hope that it's making you smile too, Aunt Sue! I had such a great time and I can't wait till we do it again!!

On Sunday, I went laser tagging with Jordan and some of his friends. They had wanted to go last weekend, but then changed it to this weekend when they found out I'd be in Abilene. Wasn't that so sweet of them? We did laser tag and mini-golf. It was lots of fun. The mini-golf was really cool! It's really hard to describe, but it was mostly dark in there and the light came from the glow in the dark props they had set up. It was super cool! And, I found out (both in the laser tag and the mini-golf, that my shoes majorly glow in the dark. It was so cool!

And that was my fantastic weekend. I'd have to say that my favorite part was the game night. I've never laughed that hard over a game of chicken foot! I know I already said that, but I had to say it again just to invasive it. Seriously though, my stomach hurt from laughing too much and my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. It was great!!!! Love to all!

The Big 3-0-0

2008-11-16T08:58:00.001-08:00

This is my 300th post. I most pre-warn you that it will be long...very long. But hopefully, it will have lots of pictures. So lets start back at the beginning of the week. My weeks go by so fast, it's sometimes hard to remember the right stuff with the right day.

Anyway, on Monday, my mom went over to the Hurtado's to do a few extra hours. It was a gloomy, overcast day so I decided to go with her. I sat in the living room, working on my psychology flashcards, while she cleaned. It was nice to have the company. I'm alone alot nowadays. Mom works in the mornings so on the days I have school, I don't usually see her till I get back that night and the days I don't have school, I don't see her tell mid-afternoon. I guess it's God's way of preparing me to be on my own in Florida, but it can get a little lonely.

Tuesday, I worked on my research paper...I think. I can't quite remember what I did on Tuesday. I'm 98% sure it was my research paper. I got alot done. I did more research and found several more articles. I worked on my outline and revising my paper. I beefed up my paper alot. I managed to make a 5 page paper turn into a 7 (almost 8) page paper. I didn't get my paragraph on religion done (I totally just remembered that my rough draft is due tomorrow and I don't have it finished. I should work on that. Hopefully I'll have time tonight or tomorrow morning.). Also on Tuesday, my mom made this really good crock pot meal. I forget what it's called, but it was delicious!! It had all different kinds of beans in it. You put a layer of the beans, a tortilla, sprinkle cheese on top of the tortilla, put another layer of beans, another tortilla, more cheese, and do that a few more time. It was so good!!! We also put done one piece of corner round. We had hoped to put down more, but when we got started it was harder than we were thinking it would be. We put the TV back up (so that mom and I could watch NCIS) and brought in my really comfy brown chairs. After our shows were over, we played around with the furniture for a little while. I brought out my bed cover to look at and everything. I think we found the general layout of the room, but I'm not for sure. It was fun to try though. And we left the brown chairs where we want them so that we could sit in them whenever we wanted.

Wednesday I had an appointment with my English teacher. Instead of having a class time, she had us each sign up for a short conference period with her so that we could show her our chain of claims and sub-claims. She was basically giving us the green light on our paper. I don't know what I would have done if she didn't approve of my outline and stuff, considering I'd already written the majority of my paper. But that didn't happen. We had a very good meeting. She told me she had been extremely impressed that I hadn't need any extra time on my papers, how well they were turning out, and how good I was doing in the class. She was impressed that I had my outline already done (we were only supposed to have our claims and sub-claims). She asked if I already had my paper written. I told her I had all of it finished except one paragraph and the works cited. She was impressed by that too. Then we started talking about outlines. She's a firm believer in the power of outlines and I'm not. I told her that outlines simply didn't help me. She said that she could tell that I was confident in my writing style and that my results were very good. But she said that when I start writing longer papers outlines might help me. I told her that hopefully I wasn't going to be writing too many papers with my major. She got all interested and was like "yeah, I've been meaning to ask you what your major is." I explained about what I was doing at Blinn, graduating early, and my Florida stuff. She was really interested and excited for me. We talked about me being nervous and she told me not to worry about it. And then she to told me that she had been impressed with how well I'd done in her class and that if she could ever do anything for me, I should let her know. Isn't that just awesome!?! I was so encouraged by that meeting! It just totally lifted my spirits. Then my math class got out early, so I was able to go home before church and ride with my mom. We were a little late, but not too bad. When I walked into the, Sara Davidson gave me a big hug. Not the polite little side hug, but a full on, both arms, bear hug. That made me feel good too. I just love hugs! During the devo, I sat in front of Elizabeth Russel. That might not mean anything to some of you, but those that know her know that she is one of the best singers. To just sit there and listen to her sing was so touching. The devo that night was all about the different week long trips that go out over the Christmas break. At the end of the class, I talked to a few people about the week longs. One in particular, Paige, was so nice. She's a senior. And she remembered who I was! She encouraged me to pray about which week long to go on, but she strongly recommended Medina. She said if I couldn't decide that I should tell her and she'd decide for me...and put my name straight on the Medina list. I thought that was kind of funny. But it was also nice for her to want me to come, you know? Anyway, I went over and looked at the Medina list before I left and I already knew lots of people that were going. Most of the girls bible study had signed up to go. I had this nagging feeling that this was where God wanted me to go, so I just went ahead a put my name down. So the week before the Spring semester starts, I'm going to be in Medina! Yay! I'm super excited. (I'll explain what week longs are later, for those that don't know)

Thursday was an extremely productive day. I read 4 out of my 7 articles for my paper, did my math homework, followed half the clothes on the couch, loaded the dishwasher, gathered together the majority of my Abilene stuff, and bought a new outfit for my trip. I also babysat on Thursday night. It was fun! I really enjoyed the Christian girls. We had super, they took a bath (it was spelling night, so I went over their spelling words with them. I would ask them to spell a word and they would write it on the bathroom wall with these special crayons. It was so cool!), we watched a movie, I read them Charlotte's Web, they went to bed, and then my mom (who came by after they were asleep) watched some Monk.

Friday I got ready for my Abilene trip. Mom and I finished our Monk disc too. Mom and dad dropped me at the church building for the trip. We were supposed to leave at 4:30, but it was 5:30 when we finally got off. That meant that it turned dark really fast.The bus ride was terrible! We were on a little short bus. Every seat was full. The luggage was crammed on the back to seats and under all the seats. It was the longest, most uncomfortable bus ride ever! I finally just got down on the bus floor. I couldn't sit in that seat any longer. There was the rod that was poking me and the people behind me had their knees in my back. The second half of the bus ride went a little faster cause we played games and I talked with Stephen (the bus driver). I was glad to finally make it to Abilene though! I called Mary when I got here and she walked over and got me. I stayed with her and Darby in the dorms. That was fun!

Saturday started off too early. We had breakfast at city hall. The donuts were so good!!! I had three. I can't believe it. I debated going for a 4th, but didn't want to make myself sick. They were huge donuts and they weren't the kind that deflate after you take one bite, they were solid donuts. Then we drove out to the ice rink (which is what my group was supposed to help with). But they decided to let us help build a house instead (this was with habit for humanity). So we drove out to this house. There really wasn't much to do. We cleaned out the inside, moving boards and sweeping, and then started wrapping the outside with this insulator stuff (don't quite remember what it was, I just remember we had to wrap the house in it). It was so cold!! The worst part was that the wind was blowing. That made it almost unbearable. We finished early and got to go back to the University Church. But we were an hour ahead of schedule. So I called Rachel to come pick me up. I got to see Emily (Rachel's college roommate who's back in the states from Africa) and meet Rachel's friend Morgan. Then we went by Rachel's house so that I could get some heavy duty winter wear. I got a hat, scarf, mittens, and a jacket. I love my sissy! Then I went back to the church and had lunch with the group. We were supposed to go out to a fort and play with these refugees, but none of the refugees came because there was some kind of all day wedding they were going to. So our plans got shot. Instead the group decided to go to the zoo and then still go out to the fort so that they could have a bonfire. I was tired and cold and didn't want to deal with the smores that would come from a bonfire. So Mary, Darby, and I just came back to the dorm. We watched a movie. And then I was so tired and so worn out that I could tell an emotion breakdown was coming. So I called Rachel, who could also tell what was looming on the horizon, and she quickly came and got me. As soon as I was in the car, the tears started coming. Rachel drove us to sonic and we sat there talking and letting me get done with my crying. She got a lemon berry slush and I got a vanilla milkshake. As I was drinking my milkshake, I kept getting these big chunks of something. Finally I was like, "Hey sissy, what are these?" She popped one in her mouth and was like, "You don't want to know". I so I just went on drinking. But then I got a super big chunk. I was so frustrated that finally I was made her tell me. It was chocolate! G-R-O-S-S. But I handled it very well. I just was like, "oh!". And Rachel re-order me another milkshake that was all chocolate chunk free. And while I waited for my new milkshake to come out, I got to drink her drink so that I could get the imaginary bad taste out of my mouth. After Sonic we went make to her house and just sat around for a few hours while Sean slept. Then Rachel fixed us these amazing grilled cheese sandwiches for super. They were so good!! We watched one NCIS episode, went to the group devo at ACU, and then went back to Rachel house. We watched another NCIS episode, I took a shower, and then they dropped me back off at the dorms.

I LOVE this picture of us! It's such a good one of Mary!

Notice, this is uphill. Yeah, that my Mary!

Pretending to actually be working.

The whole group.

Sunday I went to house church with Rachel and Sean. Then I drove back into town. I managed to get a ride with some girls from the freshman girls bible study who had driven up separately then the group. It was so much better than riding on the bus!!! We talked some, but mostly we just relaxed. It was Rebekah (the driver), Kelsey (who slept in the back seat almost the entire time), and me. And the trip went so much fast going back then it did coming. When I got home, mom and dad had done alot on my room. I wasn't expecting them to do anything, but they got the corner round on 3 of the 4 walls and they put my bed up! It looks so nice!!! I have a bed (with my bed cover and sheets and everything) in my room! Since, this is already a way long post, I won't go into detail now...I'll save it for another post. But anyway, I had just enough time to eat the delicious meal my dad prepared for me and then I went over to Jordan's. It was his 18th birthday! I was super excited for him. Maybe even more excited than he was. I brought him a slice a cheesecake (with a trick candle in it) for his b-day. His parents got him a Wii (which is way better than my cheesecake and candle) and I hung out over there for a while to play with it. But then I came home and went to bed.

Me and the birthday boy

Playing Wii

And that was my good week last week. You wouldn't even believe the kind of week I'm having this week! But that's a whole different post, isn't it? Hope you're all having as good a week as I am. Love to all!

Spring Schedule and Other Stuff

2008-11-06T11:02:00.000-08:00

I know I've been a terrible blogger lately. So much has been going on, it's really hard to keep up. But I decided to do a quick post (even though I really need to be working on my big, gigantic, very daunting research paper) to cheer myself up. Last night was a hard night for me. I was really missing Granny. I push my emotions away from me, refuse to feel them, trying to run away from them. So when they catch up with me it can be very intense. So, like I said, last night was hard for me. Then today, I was in a better mood. I was a little frustrated that things weren't going as I had planned. I was supposed to have been working on my research paper, but one thing after another kept popping up and preventing me from getting to work. Then my mom asked if I had decided whether to go to this class that hospice is doing tonight on how to get through the holidays without your loved ones. And that just really pulled me down again. I try to hard to just keep my head above the water and not the emotions drowned me. But even the tiniest little things can really weigh me down. So, even though I know she wasn't meaning to get me down, my mom's comment has really sent me in a tail spin. And I'm trying really hard to get make to the place I was in like 10 minutes ago. Writing usually helps me, so I thought I'd give you an update and in the process, cheer myself up. So here goes:

Halloween was fun. I dressed up as a painter. And I walked around with Caterina in her neighborhood. It was great to get to spend time with her! The kids looked so grown up, especially Cat. It made me a little sad, but happy too because they're going to be two very awesome people when they get older.

Cat looks especially grown up in this!

Athlete's Foot. Sounds nasty, I know. It just has a bad connotation. Believe it or not, we think I have it. My dad has it, we use the same shower, do you see where I'm going with this? I'm so mad that he gave it to me!! We caught it really early though. My feet were starting to itch really bad on the balls of my toes. My said she thought it was athletes foot and so now I'm having to wash my feet every morning and night and put some special cream on it. It said that it should clear up in a week, but I don't think it's working. I started using the cream on Halloween night, and my feet still itch. Maybe it's not athlete's foot after all?

My apartment is going really well! We're so close to finishing! All that's left is the flooring. I'm hoping to get the bedroom flooring done this weekend. After an all day battle with the measurements and laying backer board in the hallway for the tile, we decided to go with the snap together floors in the hallway. That way, we're only tiling the bathroom. We picked out our flooring and are very very close to putting it in. We chose a lament floor, but it still looks like wood. It's super pretty!! And we're all very happy with our choice. Plus, it wasn't very expense at all, which is always a big plus. Unfortunately, we don't have the right kind of saw to get it with. But, lucky for us, I have an AMAZING uncle who is willing to cut the boards for us. Yep, Uncle George is cutting the stuff for us with his circular saw. We've done the measurements and we're going to deliver them to him today. He'll a few of them, we'll bring them home, make doubly certain they're the sizes we need, and either make the necessary adjustments (if they aren't) or send the rest out there for him to cut (if they are). And thanks to Aunt Sue for being willing to cart them back and forth in her car in the mornings and afternoons. We literally couldn't do it without them! Pictures of the remodeling will be coming soon, I promise.

And finally, I just finished registering for my spring semester classes. This is what has held me up for the majority of the day. But it was well worth the hold up. My schedule for next semester (drum roll, please).....will be: Biology 9:10-10:25 (I know, it's super early. But I thought I'd go ahead and get used to getting up somewhat early before I go to Florida. Because once I'm there, I'll have to be at the zoo at 6, which means getting up at like 5. *shudder* Maybe I'll call and tell you good morning sometimes, Aunt Sue!), Biology lab 10:35-11:50, Speech 12:00-1:15. Those are all on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'll also be taking an Art class, hopefully. I wasn't able to register for it because they hadn't opened up the Internet classes yet. But I'm crossing my fingers that there will still be opening in it when I'm able to register next (that'll be late registration). If I don't make it in, I might have to double enroll that first summer I'm in Florida. Just please pray that I get into an online art class this semester! And finally, the class that I'm most excited about. SCUBA DIVING!!! That's right, scuba diving. How exciting is that!?! I'll be taking it on Mondays and Wednesdays at 1:25-2:40. I decided to do it on a different day than my other classes so that I could really enjoy it and not be tired from my other classes. I might change the time though, I'm not sure. I'm definitely looking forward to it. And at the end of the semester, I'll get a certificate that says I'm qualified to go diving. I'm hoping that I'll be able to go somewhere in Florida while I'm there. I'll be sure to keep you updated on how that class goes.

Well, that turned into a very long post. I really have to go work on my paper now!! Pray that I don't stress too much over it and that I get alot done today on it today and tomorrow. Love to all!

Let the Good Times Roll

2008-10-29T08:32:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to take a quick minute to brag about my mommy. She's been such a great help to me lately. She's helped with all my remodeling stuff from the beginning, but this past weekend she did so much. On Thursday and Friday we ripped up the carpet in my bedroom. On Saturday, we went to a tiling class at Home Depot and she ripped up the flooring in the hallway while I taped off the base boards in the hall and bedroom. Then on Sunday, she primed and painted the base boards in the bedroom while I painted the baseboards in the hallway. And now, she's going to fix all the spots that paint got pulled off the baseboards when the tape was removed (and believe me, there's alot). I absolutely hate that part! It would be like torture for me to do it. But she says she wants to do it. She says she could never paint the walls, that she would hate it (that's my favorite part). So I guess that makes us a pretty good team. I thought we had a absolutely wonderful weekend. I enjoyed it so much. It was really nice to have company while I worked.

Then yesterday, Tuesday, was another absolutely awesome day. The people that mom usually cleans for didn't need her. She could have called someone else and done their house, but instead she stayed home with me all day. It was so nice!! She was gone when I got up to take my meds, so I thought it would be another day of me being alone all morning. But then she came in my room a few hours later and woke me up. She had fixed me breakfast! Cinnamon rolls! Do you know how long it's been since I had a hot, homemade breakfast? I usually eat cereal or something. It was super nice. I had made a list of things I needed to get done and mom was wanting to work on getting her dining room table cleaned off, so we set timers. I would work on homework/whatever was on my list for 30 minutes and then help her with whatever she needed me to for 30 minutes. I got everything on my list done and we made significant progress on the dining room table. But the best part was that we did it all without once getting upset or having tones or any other sort of problem. I was so proud of both of us!! We even went out to lunch at Rosas. Then mom made potato soup for supper!!! Potato soup is a tradition at our house. We make it every year at the first cold snap. It's one of those recipes that only mom can make. It was SO GOOD!! Yesterday was one of the best days I've had in a very long time. And I'm glad I got to share it with my mommy!

New Hair Cut

2008-10-22T12:17:00.000-07:00

I don't have time to write about it 'cause I'm about to head to bed. But I thought I'd at least put up some pictures. Oh, and in case you can't tell, it's stacked in the back. Let me know what you think! And give me your opinion on whether I should put lowlights in. They'd make my hair look darker, probably a shade or two darker than my normal color (which is not what I have right now). Opinion on all this?

Am I Ever Going to Finish?

2008-10-18T13:26:00.000-07:00

It feels like this remodeling has turned into the never ending project. No matter what I do or what progress I make, there is always still more to do. And it makes it alot worse that I'm a perfectionist. I did finish the last two walls and the ceiling in the bedroom. But I still have the doorway leading into the hall from the bedroom. And it wold probably be better for me to do a 2nd coat on all the trim in the hallway. Oh, and I haven't even started on the doors in the hallway (I'm waiting till we have to take them down to do the flooring). And don't even get me started on the flooring! I don't know how we're going to pull that off. I'm feeling so overwhelmed right now. At this point, I'm so close to throwing my arms up in the air and giving up. It just feels like this is NEVER going to end. Even if I do finish that last door frame in the hallway (which I'm not wanting to do), I still have touch ups, the baseboards in the hall and bedroom, the doors in the hall, possibly a 2nd coat on the doorways in the hall, and possibly a 3rd coat in the closet. Not to mention moving the rest of the stuff out of the bedroom, all the work that goes with putting down the flooring, packing up my old room, moving all my stuff to the new place, decorating, and everything else that is sure to pop up. Why did I start this? I AM NEVER GOING TO FINISH!

So Close, Yet Still So Far Away

2008-10-17T08:13:00.000-07:00

I know it's been awhile, but I really am very busy. Right now, the biggest thing around here is still finishing my apartment. I'm so close! All I have left is two walls and the ceiling in the bedroom, a few touch ups, and then putting down the flooring. I'm hoping to get the painting done this weekend. I know this isn't much of a post, but I have to go get to work. I'll try to remember to post tonight. And don't worry Aunt Martha, pictures are coming soon, I promise!

I Think I'm Accident Prone

2008-10-06T20:14:00.000-07:00

Seriously, I have had an accident filled weekend. For starters, my weekend has been insanely busy and it's looking like my week isn't going to be any different. But that's a whole different post. On to the accident prone-ness. It all started on Friday. I made lunch for a friend and myself. I was pulling the casserole out of the oven and must have been going at it at the wrong angle. I had both arms in the oven when my left arm touched the top. It hurt like all heck! But I didn't drop the casserole or anything! I'll admit, I actually acted like quite a baby. I called my mom and cried. I'm not ashamed though cause it hurt and I didn't know what to do. I ran lots of cold water over it (though it didn't feel like it did much) and then went about my day. It still hurt and looked pretty nasty, but otherwise didn't stop me from getting things done.

Then, Aunt Sue you might want to skip over this part 'cause I know you're a little paranoid about this subject and I don't want to freak you out or anything........seriously, I'm warning you.........my ladder fell out from under me while I was working. I don't know quite how it happened. I just know that one minute I was standing on my ladder and the next minute I was flat on my back. The ladder somehow fell, knocked over the fan I had been using to help dry the paint faster, and took me with it. Luckily, my butt took the worst of my fall.

Later that night, I twisted my ankle a little bit when I was moving the ladder (ladders weren't my friends this weekend). And then I stepped down on the side of my foot as I was getting off a stool I had been standing on to adjust the TV antennas.

On Saturday, I was so incredibly sore and absolutely exhausted from all the work I had done the day before. Sunday, I felt like my neck was going to snap in two and my head would go rolling across the floor. And then today my neck still hurt, but the worst part was I shut a door on my own foot I had a shoe on so that protected my foot alot, but it still hurt!

As you can see, I've apparently become a danger to myself. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm having to be extra careful around myself. Tomorrow I meeting Ms. Cathie O. and my mom in Hamilton to pick my mom up. I'm going to drive there all by myself! I'm super excited. It's going to be the first big road trip I get to go on all by myself. It's only 2 1/2 hours away, but that's like driving to Aunt Sue's over four times. I think it's a big step, even if the rest of you don't. Just pray that, given my recent record, I don't kill myself. Just kidding! I'll be extra careful, I promise. But still pray that I have a good trip, don't get lost, and that I make it there and back safely. Love to all!

Much Needed Update

2008-10-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

I know it's been awhile since my last post, but I've been super busy! Friday (which was the last time I posted, I think) I put both coats of paint on one of my bedroom walls. Saturday, I spent the night in a hotel in Houston with Rachel. It was so much fun!!! It deserves its own post, but I don't know if I'll have time to do it justice. I'll try though. Then Sunday I basically crashed when I got home from Houston and also did some homework. Monday I put the primer on another wall in the bedroom and went to my classes. Tuesday I painted all the trim work in the hallway. I was NOT wanting to get it done, but I did it. All I have left to do in there is the doors and half of the ceiling. I'll probably do the doors after we take them off to do the flooring. Anyway, getting back on topic. Wednesday I went to my classes and found out that I have LOTS of homework for this weekend. So yesterday (Thursday) I worked all day on writing an exploratory essay for English. I got through all of it except the conclusion, which I'm about to go do. And I have a psych. test on Monday that I still have tons of flashcards to make for in order to study. I'm planning on working on the flashcards tonight sometime. Frankly, I don't know when I'm going to get to them. And I also have math homework to do. See how crazy my life is!?!

But I didn't even include what I'm doing today. Already I've put the first coat of paint on the next wall of the bedroom. I still have to put the second coat on, clean my toilet, fix lunch (I'm having a friend over for lunch. I'm going to fix a something and eat my share before she gets here. Then put the rest in the refrigerator for her to have when she gets here. Why am I doing it that way? Because Ms. Lynn is coming over at 2:30 to help me do the extra decorative stuff to the wall I've been working on today. So Samantha can eat while we're working. And then we'll take a break and eat cheesecake with her for desert. I feel like a bad host, but this really needs to get done and Ms. Lynn only has a few hours to help me.), run to Home Depot to get another roller thingy for Ms. Lynn, try to remove the roller brush part that is now dried onto my only mini-roller handle. See? I'm telling you my life is CrAzY! But I'm loving it!! And tonight Mary is coming in for the weekend!!! I can't wait!!! I'm so excited to see her!!!!

OK, so I know I've been a bad blogger, but cut me a little slack. I hadn't forgot about you guys and I was going to post soon, honest. I've just been so busy. With my new busy life, I might not be able to post as regularly as either of us would like, but just hang in there and I will get around to posting eventually. Love to all!

Working Again

2008-09-26T07:53:00.000-07:00

I'm about to go get started for the day. I still need to get dressed and do all my bathroom stuff and then make my bed before I can truly feel like the day has started. But then it's back into my apartment I shall go. I know I said I wasn't going to set goals for fear of not being able to meet them, but I couldn't help it. Today, I'm hoping to get both coats of paint on the wall in the bedroom. That way, tonight we can move the entertainment center to that wall, put the TV back up, and actually watch TV tonight! I'm also hoping to get my closet in my current bedroom cleaned out enough that we can put the hope chest in there (that would be a really big piece out of my new bedroom!) We found out last night that Aunt Sue-Sue and them probably won't be coming at all. I'm seriously bummed! But this way I won't have to bust my butt so hard. Now I'll just have Mary help me with my apartment when she comes. My new goal to have everything finished is Halloween. OK, I have to go get to work now before I waste away the day. Keep me in your prayers! And I'll try to keep you updated like I did yesterday. Love you!

2:25

2008-09-25T12:25:00.000-07:00

I got back from Home Depot around 12:15ish. Then Rachel called and talked to me for awhile. It was nice to catch up with her and a VERY good excuse to delay working some more. Then I talked to mom for a few minutes. Finally I got in the bedroom and started putting primer on the walls. I got one entire wall done (if you're coming into the bedroom from the hallway, it's the wall on the right), about a third of another wall (again, from the hallway, the one straight in front of you. Also the one that has the door leading outside. There isn't much actual wall on this wall.), and about a third of another wall (the one opposite the one I just mentioned). Oh, and I got the door frame leading into the hall mostly done (it's hard to get all the crevices with a big roller). I thought I did pretty good. I'm exhausted though! My hands/arms hurt the worst. I wore one of mom's long sleeve scrub jackets and rub gloves so that I wouldn't get the primer all over me. It's oil based, so it wouldn't have come off easily. And since I'm going to be flying to Houston this weekend (I'm spending the night with Rachel in a hotel there on Saturday. I'm so excited!!), I don't want to be all speckled. Anyway, I think that's all I'm going to do for right now. I'm going to rest now! I might go back and do the first coat of paint later tonight, after the primer dries and I'm more rested. But that's a big maybe. Thanks to anyone who was praying for me! Continue to do so 'cause I've still got ALOT of work left to do!

11:40

2008-09-25T09:40:00.000-07:00

Quick update: I just finished touching up the dark brown around the doors to the hot water heater. So I took the tap off of the doors. I've washed out my brushes and put them out on the porch bench to dry. I'm about to run to Home Depot and get another roller. When I get home, I'll put the primer on as much of the bedroom walls that is ready for it.

Hard at Work or Hardly Working?

2008-09-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

I don't have very long, but I just wanted to put in a quick update. My goal for finishing my apartment as now shifted to the 1st weekend of October. Aunt Sue-Sue and them are supposed to come then and Mary is coming too! I'm so excited that I'll get to spend time with all of them! Anyway, I'm hoping to have my apartment finished so that Ashley, Mary, and me can stay up there. So now I have to get down to business. I'm about to go start working. I've tried really hard not to set a goal for today because inevitably I won't be able to reach it. So I'm just going to go in there and work really hard and then see how far I get. I'll let everyone know how far I got tonight. Say a prayer for me that I can get alot done, but that I don't exhaust myself too bad. Love you guys!!

Annotated Bibliography, Anyone?

2008-09-20T15:19:00.000-07:00

I'm working on an annotated bibliography for my English class and it's not coming along very well...at all! It's so frustrating. I even tried to start on it early. I got all these sources and was all proud of myself. Then I got busy and didn't get around to looking over them again. And now its due on Wednesday. I finally started looking through the articles again and to my horror, most of them don't work. So I have 3 of my 10 sources written. And they don't really have to do with my topic. I'm not going to go into the details because there's just too many to try to explain.

My head is seriously whirling right now. I can't seem to wrap my mind around any one thought. It's like I have all these thoughts floating around in my brain. They pass by and I briefly have a hold on them, but then they just slip away. Like spaghetti noodles. I just want all my thoughts to be connected again and not individual noodles that are all slippery. There's just too much. I'm super tired, I had a funky day, and I don't know what else. I want to cry!

This is a big grade and it's important. But it's not working out for me. It's too late to change topics. The library is closed till 1:30 tomorrow, so if I don't find what I'm looking for there then I'm pretty much screwed. It'll be WAY too late to even ask my teacher to let me switch topics. But I won't have my sources, so I won't have a complete bibliography, and I'll fail. Y'all really pray for me 'cause I'm FREAKING OUT and I seriously don't know what I'm going to do.

Not Quite Complete Anymore

2008-09-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

Aunt Sue and Jessica left today. They had everything packed up so that after school today they'll go straight home. I'm a little sad. It just doesn't feel the same without them here anymore. I've had so much fun having them here! I loved coming home to them after my classes on Monday. Tuesday I got Jessica to try alot of new food from Rosa's. Wednesday we all went to church together. And yesterday we partied! We ordered pizza and watched Monk. It was so much fun!! I'm just really going to miss them. No one thought Aunt Sue would have ever done this, but I'm so glad she did. And you know what, I think she actually enjoyed herself. I was very proud of her for coming out of her comfort zone!

House Guests

2008-09-15T09:49:00.000-07:00

Guess who's staying at our house!?! Aunt Sue and Jessica!!! I'm so excited! When the hurricane came through here, they lost power. It's ironic really. We got hit worse then they did, but they lost power and we didn't. Anyway, they're estimating it being 2-3 weeks before they get the power back on. Apparently were they live gets power from somewhere else other than here. And that place got hit really bad. Plus, all the workers are in Galveston and other such places that are higher priority.

All this means that Aunt Sue and Jessica are staying with us until they get power at there house again. Uncle George decided to stay behind to watch over the house and the dogs ans the shop and stuff. Aunt Sue says she thinks he's pretty excited to be all by himself for awhile. You know, with Aunt Sue and Jessica out of his hair and all. But I'm super excited to have them here!

I don't ever remember Jessica staying at our house over night. I remember Aunt Sue doing it one time because of a garage sale. It's going to be nice to have them here. They're set up in Rachel's room. There are two twin beds in there. Aunt Sue says it might not be so easy to get rid of them now because they already have their stuff in drawers. And this morning mom broke out her ironing board for Aunt Sue (or at least I think she did. They said that's what they were going to do last night, but I was still asleep this morning so I didn't get to witness it.). Mom says once Aunt Sue has her ironing board, she ain't going no where. I thought she was kidding around, but then Aunt Sue showed me her iron that she had brought. She cracks me up!

I'm really looking forward to getting to spend lots of time with Aunt Sue and Jessica this week and maybe even longer than that!! We're going to have so much fun!!!

Thank Goodness I'm Not a Crazy College Kid

2008-09-15T09:27:00.000-07:00

'Cause I'd hate to think about what I might of done if I were. I might not be a crazy college kid, but I certainly had a lapse in mental sanity this weekend. What did I do? I went mud sliding. A group of Aggies was going after the hurricane blew through and they invited me. I'd never done it, so I thought I'd give it a try. It was NASTY!

We have this out down amphitheater in town that is basically one big hill. We put down a tarp at the bottom on top of the concrete so that you could slide to a stop. Then you just slid down. You got a running start, dropped on your butt (although some people were going down on their fronts as well. I opted not to do that!), and then slid down. It was just plain gross. I had my arms out, kind of reflexively, to slow my slide, so I got mud all the way up my arms. There's a moat in front of the stage there that people were getting in and washing off. I was so nasty that I really wanted to wash off, so I slid in too. My feet sunk into several inches of mud on the bottom. I hate that!! It's so disgusting! I quickly got out. And people actually started a mud fight. There was lots of mud thrown everywhere. It was so nasty. And it smelled SO bad!

Needless to say, I didn't stay very long. And I only slid a few times. At least I can say that I've done this, but I don't think I'll ever be doing it again! I think the best part of the whole process was my Aunt Sue's reaction to me telling her I had done this. Our conversation went like this:

Me: "Hey Aunt Sue, guess what I did yesterday?"

Aunt Sue: "What?"

Me: "I went mud sliding over at Wolfe Pen Creek."

Aunt Sue (in the most bewildered tone ever): "Why?"

It was so funny! Mom and I just cracked up. And my mother totally blind sighted me. She didn't even warn me about all this. I got home and told her how nasty it was and she just laughed at me and told me she hadn't thought I'd like it. But the goober never said a word to me before I went. She even told me to have fun! She got quite a kick out of disgusted I was by it all. But like I said before, at least I can now say I did it....even if I never do it again. Oh, and here's some pictures of me after I got back.

New Schedule

2008-09-10T09:33:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of my new class schedule. I got it changed so that I'm not having to stay up at the school till almost 8:30. Now I have my three class back to back. Psychology at 2:50-4:05, English at 4:15-5:30, and Algebra at 5:40-6:55. I didn't change teachers, just classes. This way, I can go to church on Wednesday nights. I did lose that hour and half between my psy class and english class, but I'm ok with that. If I need to I can go to the 7:20 algebra class to get that extra hour and half back. My math teacher doesn't care which class we come to so it won't be a problem to switch back to my old time if I needed to.

Anyway, today is the first day for me to do the new schedule. I'm a little nervous because now I'm going to have to learn two whole new classes. And I'm a little worried that I'll get really hungry. I'm going to take some crackers to munch on between classes and my dad is going to bring my super to the church building for me to eat there. I'll be late for church, but I don't think that'll be a big deal in the Aggie class. My class doesn't even get out till 6:55 and church starts at 7 o'clock. I don't foresee myself getting there till close to 7:30. But better late than never, right?

Well, I better go and finish getting ready for school. I wanted to make a quick blog entry though. I know I haven't been keeping up with my blog very well lately. I'm going to try to get better. I've just been so busy trying to finish my apartment. Hopefully things will slow down soon and I'll be able to get back to my normal, overly long posts that I'm sure all of you sorely miss. ;) Love to all! Oh, and the spell check isn't working right now on blogger, so sorry for any misspellings.

Jump Start

2008-09-09T09:07:00.000-07:00

I really need to go ahead and start my day. It's already 11, and all I've done is eat breakfast. I know, I'm lazy. But today I'm hoping to get alot done. I'm going to move my paint stuff so that mom and dad can get to the game trunk. I'm going to fold the towels. I'm hoping to put the second coat of paint on the hallway. I want to get some paint samples from Home Depot. I need to finish my flashcards for my pysc. test on Monday. And I'm trying to get a group together to go eat at Rosa's for supper tonight since it's Taco Tuesday. I'm hoping that I'll get the second coat of paint on before mom gets home so that I can surprise her with how magnificent it's going to look. I'll keep everyone posted on how my day goes...or at least I'll try to. I love you all!!

Big Weekend Plans

2008-09-08T09:30:00.001-07:00

Well this weekend is certainly shaping up to be a big weekend. I can either 1) go to a concert in Houston with my parents, 2) spend the weekend with my best friend who might be coming in town and wants to stay with me, or 3) go on a weekend trip with the AFC. What to do? I'm torn. My dad was so excited about winning those tickets, I really want to see Mary, and I want to go on this trip. I caught between a rock and a hard place. Please keep this in your prayers; that God will open the door that I'm supposed to go through and close the ones that I'm not.

Pain is Power

2008-09-05T21:11:00.000-07:00

I hurt in so many different places. Not only am I sore from yesterday's painting excursions, but now I'm sore from today's. I was only going to paint one (maybe two) walls. You know, just to be slowly getting stuff done. Put instead I wound up painting almost the entire hall. All be the ceiling and a few other areas that my roller wouldn't go. So basically I've painted the same hall two days in a row. And, call me crazy, put I bet I'll be doing it all over again tomorrow. The thing I must keep reminding myself is that the sooner I get it finished, the sooner I can move in. I just keep telling my self that the pain is temporary and necessary in getting finished. I discovered that my legs are actually more sore than my arms. It's funny really. I'm most sore from squatting down for hours on end to paint the lower sections of the walls. So getting up and down out of chairs is pretty rough right now. And I had to paint the lower walls sitting Indian style today. So I'm learning how to work around my soreness.

I know you're probably wondering why I'm pushing myself so hard. My Aunt Sue Sue and her family are coming to visit sometime soon. I think it's in two weeks. My goal is to have everything (except the flooring) done by then. I might not be able to move much when they get here, but at least I'll have a fabulous (and complete) apartment.

I will say that the hallway is looking AMAZING. The coloring isn't exactly what I was imagining it would be, but I'm getting used to it. It's a little more yellow tinted than I was thinking and definitely lighter in coloring. But I'm growing to love it. I especially like the white with it. I was going to do the ceiling a lighter tan color along with the doors and closet, while painting the trim work a darker brown. But now I'm think the trim the same brown, the closet the same color as the walls, and the ceiling and doors white. I don't know. We'll see how it goes.

I should better get to bed. I'm hoping to get up and paint the closet tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Job Well Done

2008-09-04T13:21:00.001-07:00

I can barely move! I hurt EVERYWHERE. And I didn't even get all of it done. The only thing I didn't finish was the closet. But that was because there were some spots I needed to repair before I could paint it. Here's how my day has gone:

I got up at 8:30, as you know. I ate breakfast and got dressed and such after that. Finally I started actually working around 9 o'clock. I painted straight through till dad brought mom home from the airport (mom went to New York yesterday to spend the night with Rachel). At this point, I'm starting to feel really bad. I'm dizzy, have a headache, and my nasal cavities are starting to hurt. Mom gets home and immediately ventilates everything properly. She takes dad to work while I start on the ceiling. I get half the ceiling done by the time she gets home. Mom decides to stay home and help me, instead of going to work a few hours at the Hurtato's. This was absolutely AMAZING. I don't know what I would have done without her. I was so tired and drained and ready to cry (which I did do several times because I was just so exhausted). So mom finished the ceiling while I ate lunch. Then I did some finishing touches while she did the repairs in the closet. Mom ran me some hot bath water (with the last of the hot water) and let me soak for awhile. And now, I'm about to go take a nap.

I'm proud of how much I got done today. I'm definitely more than exhausted. And I don't know if I'll be able to move at all tomorrow. But I did get an awful lot done. Granted, it doesn't look that good, but it's just the primer. The actual colored paint will look much better. If I take lots of muscle relievers tonight and in the morning, maybe I'll be able to do the closet tomorrow. Or at least later on this weekend. I don't know what I'm trying to say anymore, I can't even keep a coherent thought right now. So I'm going to go nap and get back to everyone tomorrow.

Up and At 'Em

2008-09-04T06:29:00.000-07:00

It's 8:30 and I'm actually awake. It's been awhile since I was up at this particular hour. Why am I up so early? Today I'm putting the primer on the hall. My goal is to do the entire hallway, including the closet. It's a slightly daunting task. I hope I can get it done. Well, I better get to work. I'll try to keep everyone posted on how it goes. Please keep me in your prayers! I hope that I have enough energy to do all this is, that my back holds out (I think I pulled something last night), and that I don't get too much paint on myself (it's oil based, so it won't come out easily if I do). Oh, and one more thing, I miss my painting pal!!!

Sleeping Issues

2008-08-31T22:54:00.000-07:00

I'm so extremely mad at myself right now. Why? I forgot to take my night time meds tonight. I came home from girls devo tonight (which was great) and was going to take my meds fairly early so that I could get right to sleep. That way I could get up extra early and go look into the job thing I saw in the classifieds today. But I started watching Lost with my mom. I thought I'd get tired, but I never did. Finally I went to bed around midnight. I laid there for awhile, but couldn't go to sleep. So I got up and started reading my Bible. Midway through the book of James, I realized I'd never taken my meds. At this point, it's 12:45. So I get up and take the meds. But now my entire day tomorrow is going to be thrown off. I'm going to be really sleepy because the meds will be in my system later on in the morning. I won't want to get up when I need to. I want be able to do the things I want to do. It's just putting my whole day in a funk and I haven't even really started the day. But I can't sleep without them. So my options were to ruin my day by being not being able to get up early and being tired. Or by not getting any sleep at all tonight and still being tired. I hate this! I could totally kick myself right now. I'm so mad that I'm crying! And now it's 1:00 and I totally hate myself. This is NOT how tonight was supposed to go. I was supposed to take my meds, get to bed, get a good night's sleep. But now I can't! Now I have to wait for the meds to kick in and then I won't be able to get up in the morning. And you know what, I didn't sleep well last night either. This sucks! Also, I hate having a class that goes to 8:20 at night 'cause that means I have to take my meds later in the morning. And that is through my entire schedule off. Right now, I'm really mad at myself and really ticked off at the world in general. I hate this! And I hate myself for forgetting to take my meds! UGH, THIS SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Being Producting

2008-08-29T11:04:00.000-07:00

Since I only have classes on Monday and Wednesday afternoon/evenings and I don't have a job right now, I end up with alot of free time on my hands. But that's a good thing. My new goal is to have my apartment finished in three weeks, in time for when my Aunt Sue-Sue and cousin, Ashley, come in town to visit A&M. I've gotten alot of work done this week. Yesterday especially was very productive.

Tuesday, I put the second coat of paint on the green side of my bathroom door. I also painted the brackets in the bathroom. They were still white from the last time the bathroom got painted. But now they're green. I also read a chapter in my English book. I went up to the high school to get another writing handbook too. While I was there, I ran into alot of my friends. It was so nice to see them again! I didn't realize how much I missed them. Apparently they missed me too. Ms. Howell was so excited to see me and way excited to hear about my remodeling. I never understood why Ms. Howell likes me so much. She was never my teacher and I didn't think I talked to her that much. She's right next door to Ms. Elaine and they share a little supply room between their classes. That' how I know her. But she always seemed to really like me alot. And she wasn't the only one excited to see me. Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Krinhop, Mrs. Vance, Ms. Elaine, Ellen, and Caroline were also really excited. Ms. Elaine said she really misses me coming by to see her. I didn't realize how much they would all miss me. Sure, I miss them, but I didn't think they'd miss me too. I know it sounds crazy, but it was nice to be missed.

Then yesterday I got tons of stuff done. I put the second coat of paint on the tan side of the bathroom door. I also painted the hinges for the bathroom door. I took down the closet doors in the hall. I finished the first chapter of my Psychology book. I not only finished all my math homework for this week, but I also finished half of next weeks homework! I read part of chapter 47 in another one of my English books. And we put the bathroom door up. I thought that was a VERY productive day. I was proud of myself.

Today, I went to Home Depot and bought a new door knob (we lost a piece for the one in the bathroom so the door knob doesn't work anymore) and a 2x2 ft piece of sheet rock for the hall we have in the hall. When dad gets home, I want to get the new sheet rock in place and then have mom put the tape stuff on it to hide the seems where we cut. That way, tomorrow I can put the primer on the walls in the hallway. That would be awesome! I also want to get the new door knob on today. Along with painting the few remaining nails and such in the bathroom. And I should probably work on my reading for psychology and English some more. Oh, and my mom wants me to clean out my clothes for the clothing donation that comes by next Friday.

If I get all that stuff done today, that'll mean that all I have left to do in the bathroom is fix the toilet seat, paint the light fixtures, put up the new shower curtain, and then put the floor down. It also means that I could move forward with painting the hall. That would be so awesome!! Maybe I'll have the hall finished by this time next week. Well, I better go get to work. Love to all!

My Classes

2008-08-28T10:40:00.000-07:00

My classes went really well. I have Psychology first. It starts at 2:50 and ends at 4:05. My teacher is...unusual. She seems like an ok teacher, but she's kind of eccentric. And she cusses alot. I don't really like that. It's not that I take personal offense to it or anything. I just don't think teachers should be allowed to do it in front of their classes. I understand the occasional cuss word. And I don't even mind crap that much. But to use some of the heavier stuff, on a regular basis, is just not appropriate. It doesn't make me respect her at all. Other than that, the class isn't that bad. I get the impression that she's rather easy going.

My second class is English. It's at 5:40-6:55. Yeah, I have like an hour and a half between classes! The real kicker is that these two classes are right across the hall from each other. Isn't that crazy!?! Anyway, so between classes I usually use the computers in the library, eat my supper (I take my supper with me), and just kind of twiddle my thumbs. But the class itself, when I eventually get to it, is pretty good. I like my teacher. She's a very no-nonsense kind of teacher. I think I'm really going to like her. We have a big research paper due at the end of the semester (the whole class is designed to lead up to this) and I picked my topic last night. We're supposed to pick a controversial topic, research both sides, and then in our final paper, pick a side and argue for it. She gave us a list of topics we could use, but I came up with one all by myself. I chose 'should the US government put a limit on how many children we can have'. Mrs. Pennebaker was very excited about my topic. She said no one had ever done that one and that she thought that was an excellent topic. I was pretty proud of myself for that.

Last, but not least, I have my Algebra class. It's at 7:05-8:20. I don't particularly like having a class that late at night, but there weren't any better options when I signed up. The cool part is that my step cousin-in-law is my teacher. (Let me break it down for you: Aunt Sue is married to Uncle George, Uncle George's son through another marriage, is married to my math teacher. Got it?) I hadn't seen her in FOREVER. My dad and I calculated it and it had been 6 years! I barely even remembered what she looked like. So I didn't really know what to expect. Before class on Monday, I stopped at the bathroom. This other lady was in there too and she looked kind of familiar. I was like 'maybe that's Kristi', but I wasn't for sure so I didn't say anything. Then when I got to class, it was her. I sat on the front row and had my text book out. She started talking and then asked to borrow my textbook to show the class. But all this time she still hasn't recognized me at all. She didn't even know I was in her class until she called role. She got to my name and was like "Katherine...Hudgens?". At this point she gets this really big smile on her face, looks at me out of the corner of her eye, smiles some more, and then just goes back to calling role. I didn't really know what to make of this. The rest of the class, she didn't acknowledge me at all. So when class was over, I hung back a little. After the second to last person (not including me) had left she totally freaked out. She was like, "OH MY GOSH!" She gave me this really big hug and then went on to say how she didn't even know how long it had been since she last saw me. Then she gave me a second hug. We talked for a little while. It was nice to see her again. I can't believe she didn't recognize me at all. Do I look that different?

Anyway, so that's the skinny on my new classes. On Monday, I called and talked to Aunt Sue between my Psychology and English test. They all got a kick out of Kristi being my teacher. When I went on Monday, I was afraid that I wouldn't know anybody. But I saw several people from the high school there. None of them talked to me though. (Well, Bobo and Janae did yesterday. I keep running into Bobo everywhere. That's cool with me though because Bobo is awesome!) I also saw two people from the AFC. They talked to me. One didn't know my name, but recognized me, and the other one said hi to me in passing. It was nice to see familiar faces, it made me feel a little bit more comfortable. Well, that's how my first few days of college went. I hope you enjoyed the very thrilling tale. Love to all!

Off to College

2008-08-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

It's official, I'm a college student! I have my first class this afternoon. I'm really nervous! I don't know what it's going to be like. I don't know if it's going to be hard or easy or just like high school or what. I hate not knowing how things are going to go! It drives me crazy!

I have my bag all set. I bought a new spiral that has different sections in it (one for each class), a new planner (to write my assignments in), a new pencil pouch, and stole a Blinn bag from my dad. OK, I didn't steal it, he gave it to me. He gets a new one every year and doesn't use it. So I'm using the one he got this year. I'm also going to take over part of his office. I'll put my lunch kit in there (it's for my dinner, so I guess I should call it my dinner kit?) and I'll keep my books in there. I don't want to carry all those heavy books around all day. So I'm going to only take the ones for which ever class I'm going to and leave the others in my dad's office. Then I'll switch them out between classes. Genius, I know.

The only thing I have left to do is find a book to take with me (for pleasure reading) and then actually go. I'm going early 'cause we have a meeting with some body or other. My last class ends at 8:20 (which I'm not very happy about) and then I'm going to the freshmen devo with the AFC. It's on A&M's campus, so I'll have to drive all the way over there. I just hope I don't get lost or anything. A&M is HUGE.....OK, I can't think of anything else to say right now. So I'm going to just end it here. Wish me luck. And keep my in your prayers! Love to all!

What I Saw

2008-08-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

On Friday I was driving to get my mom and it was raining really bad. As I was driving, I noticed this one car really far ahead of me. I was coming up on them pretty fast so I taped on my brake. Then I realized that they were stopped in the middle of the road. So I hit the brakes. But I'm too close, so I try to go around them. Yeah, that would have been good, except now I'm hydroplaning! So instead of just going around them, my car swerves almost completely off the road (yeah, my right tires were definitely in the grass). At this point, I'm trying really hard not to freak out. I manage to somehow keep the car relatively under control (at least not out of control) while I swerve almost off the road, fish tail, and then get back on the road. I did live (obviously), but it SCARED me! I wasn't even doing anything wrong. I was going under the speed limit and I had tried to slow down way before I got to the car. But I still hydroplaned. I guess that goes to show that no matter how careful you are, it can still happen.

As all this was happening, I was kind of surprised by what I was thinking. You know, they say that your life flashes before your eyes, but that didn't happen to me. The images that flashes through my brain were kind of disturbing. I saw Moses in a ditch, squashed up and mangled, with me inside him. I saw the firemen getting me out, I saw the paramedics take me away, and I saw my family. I saw my parents, Rachel, and Aunt Sue and her family. I saw them crying and worrying and trying to get to me. I saw me in a hospital somewhere, with people coming to visit me. And I saw my funeral, with my family and friends mourning me. It was scary! In that moment, I realized how much I wanted to live. How I couldn't stand to do such a thing to the people I loved.

My few years at the high school, we had a couple of students die and some get in wrecks. I remember the principle coming on the announcements and talking to us. There were counselors brought in to talk to who ever needed that sort of thing. Teachers and students were excused for the day. I wonder if they would have done that for me. If I had gone off the road and wrecked Moses. If I was in critical condition in some hospital. What would happen? Would they bring the shrinks in just for me? Would they even both to announce it? Would anyone need to take the day off because of it? I kind of doubt it. Yeah, people would be worried, but I highly doubt people would be that worked up about me. It makes me kind of sad to think that I haven't lived a life that would merit that. So that's my goal, to live a life that affects people.

Stuck

2008-08-23T10:14:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but I just really can't get Mrs. Patranella, Ms. Ward, and Mrs. Hummel off my mind. I was going through some old pictures last night and I found some of me with both Mrs. Patranella and Ms. Ward. It made me smile. These women have been such a big part of my life. They came to my plays when I was with The Troop, they were at my baptism, they came to my graduation parties, etc. Over the years they've encouraged me, loved me, supported me, and guided me. I can't imagine my life without them. I love them so much!!

Indescribably Blessed

2008-08-21T22:35:00.000-07:00

It suddenly hit me today that I've been indescribably blessed. The enormity of it stunned me. It hit me today after I went to visit my 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Hummel. My years at College Hills were AMAZING! It was kind of hard having the same teachers as Rachel, but I got through it. I remember walking into my 3rd grade classroom and just being so excited to not have one of Rachel's teachers again. Third grade was my favorite year. I had a great teacher, which made everything more fun! Fourth grade was a close second though. Mrs. Hummel was amazing! And 2nd grade was my third favorite. Mrs. P. just loved up on me real good.

These three women have played a HUGE role in shaping my life, more than they realize. Of all my teachers, these are the ones that I've consistently continued to stay in contact with. These are the ones that I still go back and visit. I love how their faces light up when they see me. How I can give back just a little bit of the happiness they've given me. I love the smiles, the hugs, the talks, everything! They're just so dear to me. They will always hold a very special place in my heart!

I could honestly cry right now. I'm so overwhelmed with the blessings I've had in my life. The way that God provided each and every person that makes up my GIGANTIC support system. The love He's put in my heart for them. How He planned everything so perfectly for me. It absolutely blows my mind. He knew the perfect teachers for me, the ones that would stick with me for the rest of my life, the ones that I could have just as much of an impact on as they did on me. (At least I like to think I've impacted them like they have me.)

At SOAR this week we sang the song God is Love. For those that don't know this song, the soprano's part goes: "Love one another, for love is of God. He who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love, does not know God, for God is love. God is love." As I sang that I thought about how fully I've been surrounded by love even since I was little. In that moment I was bombarded by the realization of just how many people love me. ME; just little old worthless me. How did I get so lucky? And I knew how much I loved all of them right back. But put all together, none of it comes anywhere near how much God loves us. And that blows my mind.

So to all those people that read this, I want to remind you how much I love you. You mean more to me than you know. You have helped me grow into a better person and for that I thank you. I hope that I may be able to repay you in kind someday. My heart swells with all the love I have for each of you. But remember that, as much as I love you, God loves you even more!

Future

2008-08-19T17:03:00.000-07:00

So I'm about to leave to go to the SOAR check off party. Our church has an excellent college ministry. They're called the AFC (Aggies for Christ). I finally get to join this infamous group. SOAR is for incoming freshman and transfer students. It's a retreat that is supposed to build friendships. I wasn't sure I was going to go, but I finally decided to do it.

I'm really nervous though. I'm just not a social person. I don't do well in large crowds of people I don't know. But I am going because I think it's going to open up alot of doors for me. I want to make friends, it this seems the best way to do it.

The actual retreat starts tomorrow morning and ends Friday morning. I'm not staying for the whole thing. I'm not even sure if I'm staying Wednesday night. I'm so tired, I don't feel like I have the energy to last the whole retreat. Plus, I have a Baker-Brown appointment on Thursday that I really don't want to miss. I could go back out there after that...if I really wanted to. But I haven't even packed to stay the night. If I did, I'd have to do that tonight. I'm just babbling now. Sorry! I'm shutting up now.

The reason I was posting was because my mom said something interesting to me today. She told me I should go to the party tonight because I might meet my future husband. She was just joking, but it could really happen. Wouldn't that be weird!?! I mean, I know it happens, but still. So that's making me even more nervous. Y'all just pray for my nerves, OK? I have to go before I'm late. Love to all!

How it Went

2008-08-18T18:49:00.000-07:00

Today was a long day. I'm so exhausted! I didn't have all that much energy left from my trip and then I think I used it all up today. I got dressed up real nice and mom and I sat out. First we went to a clinic called Lovan Care Veterinary Clinic. This is place I feel like I have the most chance of actually getting hired. I wanted a job as a Vet. Tech., but they had already filled all of those positions. They did still have openings as a Kennel Tech. though. So that's what I applied for.

Then we ate lunch with Ms. Susan and she joined us on the job hunt. She was fun to have around. I felt like she definitely helped keep the mood light.

The next place we went was a placed called All Pets Veterinary Clinic. This was the placed I like the best. It was so CLEAN! And there was this really pretty cat sitting on the counter when I went in there. They were also playing KSBJ (our local Christian radio station) in the waiting room. The receptionist wasn't very helpful though. I asked to talk to the person in charge on hiring, but they were busy with a client at the moment. The girl acted like I had to sit there and fill the application out right there because I had to take the test in clinic. (Yeah, there was a test! I was a little freaked out. I guess they were really serious about not hiring idiots) I started to fill the application out, but then I got to the where I had to put 3 references. I couldn't fill this part out because it required that I put down their addresses and phone numbers. How was I supposed to know that off the top of my head!?! So I got a clean application and left. I'll take the application back tomorrow and then take the test while I'm there. I really did like this clinic, but I don't think I have a chance at actually getting hired.

Then we went to another clinic (I can't spell the name) that was on the feeder road of the highway. It was the furthest away from my house. I wasn't as impressed with it. It was small and didn't seem to be as well kept. I asked about job openings and if they had an application I could fill out. They said to just give them a resume, if I had one with me. Well, of course I had one with me! So I gave them my resume, my class schedule, and the list of days I could work. Yeah, I'm that prepared. I was proud of myself! They told me they didn't know if they'd be hiring yet, but if they were, they'd give me a call.

And that's how my day went. The first one was the hardest. I was so nervous. I totally choked up when they asked me a question. I felt like an idiot. But I must not have sounded like one because they gave me an application and told me they'd get back to me by the end of the week (after I turned in my application, resume, class schedule, and hours available). Thanks for all of your prayers! Please keep praying for me and this situation though!

Job Hunting

2008-08-18T08:44:00.000-07:00

I don't have time for a big long post right now, but I wanted to post a brief thing so that you could all be praying for me. Today I'm going around town to different vet clinics trying to find a job. I'm giving them my resume and different stuff like that. I've never done this before, so I don't know how it's going to go. I'm super nervous though! Please pray that everything goes smoothly and that opportunities open up for me. I'll let you know how it went later today. Love to all!

The Man that Asked Me to Dance

2008-08-17T21:05:00.000-07:00

OK, so here's the story behind the man that asked me to dance at the Whitton wedding. We were at the reception and there was lots of dancing going on. It started out as just the wedding party on the dance floor and then they 'snow balled' and each went and got a new dance partner from the crowd. They danced with this person for awhile until they 'snow balled' again. They had already 'snow balled' a couple of times and I was just standing to the side watching. Then this guy come up to me and goes (these are his exact words), "I don't know who you are, but you need to be dancing." And he took my hand and led me out to the dance floor. I don't remember his name or anything else he said to me or even what he looked like exactly. I was in such shock. No one has ever asked me to dance....not once. The thought of someone wanting to dance with me in the first place had never even occurred to me. I do know that he was in college (upper years I think) and from Austin. So that's the story behind that guy that asked me to dance. Interesting enough for you, Aunt Martha?

I'm going to try to remember to post about my spontaneous trip to Abilene, Mary's extended sleep over with us, the Red Barren, and a random thought I had. So keep checking back here for more updates! Love to all!

I'm such a terrible blogger

2008-08-13T19:32:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't been posting much lately. I'm sorry! Though I think Aunt Martha is my only faithful reader (or at least the only one that leaves comments regularly), that's still no excuse. But I've been so busy! I'm working on remodeling and working at the pool. I'm not really getting very far in either. I feel kind of like I'm in limbo. Please keep that in your prayers, that I soon get back to feeling like I get things done and that I actually do get some things done. That's just a quick update. Maybe I'll have time later to tell y'all about my recent toothbrush crisis...but no guarantees. Love to all! Here's a few pictures to hold you off for awhile (you know in case your starting to forget not only my writing finesse, but how I look). Oh, and also coming sometime in the future: wedding pictures! (the ones taken by the actual wedding photographer!)

A Cool Little Thing

2008-08-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

I thought this was interesting. This takes some of the words you use most in your blog and puts it into a word collage. These are two that I liked:

Notice that both of them have Rachel as the biggest word. I guess that's a sign of how important she is to me and what a big role she plays in my life.

My To Do List

2008-08-06T07:15:00.000-07:00

I got up extra early today. I have alot I'm wanting to get done, so I'm going to make a to do list. The thought occurred to me that y'all might want to know what's happening in my life right now. I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone by making to do list on here. This way, you'll get a sense of what I'm doing now a days. So here we go:

Make my bed
Transfer bathrooms
Decorate my new bathroom
Pack up the craft closet in the hall
Make a trip to Target to get: a new shower curtain rod, a new window shade and curtain, 3 large baskets and 1 small basket for the cabinets, light bulbs (if my dad didn't get them already), light switch cover, fun paper towels, toilet paper, picture for empty wall space, foamy tan stuff to protect the bottom of my cabinets, return other basket that was too big, anything else I think of.
At Home Depot: get paint samples to match the tile in the bathroom, find out what the smallest paint quantity is, ask what to do about the air vent in the bathroom
Finish cleaning the mirror in the bathroom
Dust down the hall
Clean the ceiling light cover and put it back up
Put in new bulbs in bathroom
Write lesson plans for my sub...if I can get a sub

OK, that's all I can think of for right now. I'm going to try not to add too much to the list as the day goes on. Aunt Sue is coming into town today to help me, which I'm super excited about!! I think we're going to have so much fun!!

My prayer list:

That I don't try to do too much towards the remodeling. I need to take things slow. I need to respect my boundaries. My tendency is to push myself too far because I want to get stuff done. My goal had been to have everything all done before school starts, but it's looking like that isn't going to happen. I need to release this, but that's a hard thing for me to do. Just keep the whole remodeling stuff in general in your prayers. The Lord will know exactly what I need and how to deliver that to me, even if my prayer team doesn't know what my specific needs are.
That I get the schedule I want for school. Right now I have my Algebra class at 7:20 till 8 something. I'm not very good at nights. I'm really hoping for an earlier math class to open up. One that will not force me to change all my other classes around either. I'm not able to do anything till the 10th though. Last time I looked there were two options that I liked. One was at 12:00-1:15 and the other is 1:25-2:40. I haven't decided which one I would prefer over the other, but either one would work just fine. There was only 4 opening in the first one and 5 in the second. Please pray that at least one of these stays open and that I'm able to get a spot in it.
I started working night lessons for this session because they were sort handed at the pool. I took it rather last minute and didn't think about whether I had other plans. Today I remembered that one of my very dear friends has a son that is getting married on Friday. I was supposed to go to the rehearsal dinner and the wedding, but it looks like I might not be able to because I'm working at those times. I don't know if my boss will let me off, I don't know if I could even find a sub on so sort a notice, and I would have to write lesson plans. It's really stressing me out. Please pray for this whole situation in general, kind of like the remodeling, I'm confident the Lord will know my needs even if you don't.

I love you all! Thank you for being such a big support system in my life and for being my prayer warriors!

Busy as a Bee

2008-08-04T12:10:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't been posting alot lately. Things are just now getting back to a somewhat normal routine around here after the wedding. I'm starting to slowly get back to my remodeling. And I just volunteered to work night lessons at the pool for the next 2 weeks. I'm so busy! I don't know how much time I'm going to have to post. Please try to bear with me while my life is so hectic. I'll do my best to keep you updated, but I'm not going to guarantee anything. Love to all!

The Wedding

2008-07-30T10:28:00.000-07:00

There was alot that happened even before the actual wedding. The week before was pretty hectic. I didn't take any pictures of any of the pre-wedding stuff or the actual wedding. But Bethany did, so I'm stealing some of her pictures so that you can see. So here's how it went:

Monday-dad flies to Abilene to get Rachel. It was so weird not having him here. He never goes anywhere! And when he does go somewhere, we're always with him. So for him to not be here while we are still here felt a little strange. Mom and I went to Bed Bath and Beyond that night. I was so much fun! I really like that store. I kind of wish it had more decorative ideas though. This is when I bought my new chair. Then when we got home we filled the cream soda bottles with sand and I cut my finger on the deck.

Tuesday-Rachel and dad drive in from Abilene. Tuesday night mom, Rachel, and I watched the movie Penelope. It was really good! I like it alot. While we watched the movie, we all did something towards the wedding. Rachel was working on pictures and I was sanding the handles of the fans. I forget what mom was doing.

Wednesday-All I remember doing during the day was working on the fans. I don't know why, but I'm really drawing up blank on what we did during the day. I know Aunt Elsie got in that evening. And I know that Rachel and I had a sort of girls night that night. We shredded all of Bryan's stuff. Rachel and to destroy any soul ties she had left to him. It was really fun! And this is the night that I got dubbed a skilled catcher of the bottom. On Monday, Rachel had told me she wanted me to be her maid of honor because when the bottom fell out, I knew how to catch it. So then I just twisted the words around on Wednesday and we got "a skilled catcher of the bottom". Rachel says she going to make me a shirt with that on it.

Thursday-Most of the morning was taken up with getting mom and Aunt Elsie out to the site. We loaded their vans up and shipped them off. So Rachel and I spend the rest of the day finishing up the fans and doing a for errands. Jordan and I washed out some of the buckets that were going out to the site. Then Sean's mom, sister, and one of his sister's friends showed up. That was a little stressful. They took up alot of our time, especially my dad's time.

Rachel got pretty stressed out. So finally I just put her in the car and drove her away. We were leaving just as everyone was returning back from somewhere. Rachel didn't even say anything, I did all the talking. We went and put gas in my car, and then we went out to eat. Mom had given us some money for dinner, but we couldn't decide where to go. We tried Ken Martin's first, but it was closed. So I just start driving, without really knowing where I was going, and Rachel is talking on the phone and crying. Finally I just pull over somewhere so that I'm not using up all my gas.

At this point we find out that Sean missed his flight from Houston to here. So someone is going to have to go get him. The only person available to go get him is my dad, but he can't even leave to go get him until probably around midnight. Of course, this really upsets Rachel. Therefore, Rachel is having a meltdown, so I take the phone away from her and tell my mom (who was on the phone) that I'll call her back. I calm Rachel down enough that she can decide where we're going to eat. She decided on TGI Friday. So I dropped her off at the restaurant and ran back to the house for a few things. She ordered for us and we shared a chicken thingy. It was really good! And we got desert! The desert had chocolate dribbled on the plate (but not on the actual desert) and I tried some of it! I was so brave! But I still hate chocolate!! But anyway, the restaurant was so loud that we put in earplugs (I had brought some from the house). I know we looked ridiculous with purple earplugs sticking out our ears and us yelling at each other and the waitress. But it was so loud in there! We had so much fun!!! I think that might have been my favorite part of all that week.

After we ate, one of the other bride's maids got into town. We went to the house to let her in and all that kind of stuff. Then we went to the Beier's house so they could give Rachel her gift. And then we went to Blockbuster and rented two movies that we never got around to watching.

Friday-This was kind of a mellow day. Bethany (another bride's maid) and I just ran alot of errands. We took Bethany to Jamba Juice 'cause she'd never been. We took Sean's ring back to the jewelers because it was too small. Rachel and Bethany went out to the site to look at some stuff. My dad, Sean, and Uncle George loaded stuff onto Uncle George's flat bed and took it out to the site.

That night, Rachel and Sean went out shopping for an outfit for her to wear on the plane to the honeymoon. They also went out to dinner. While they did all that, Bethany and I went to this Mexican restaurant. Then when Rachel and Sean get back, Rachel and I both have meltdowns. I posted somewhat about this. Rachel was wanting to go out to the site, but we were all so tired. We finally decided to just all stay at the house. So Rachel, Sean, Bethany, and I all slept at the house that night. Looking back on the situation, it was kind of funny. Rachel and I both were so tired and emotional. We were each needed to have a meltdown, but were trying to take care of the other one. So we kind of took turns crying and then helping the other one sort through things. We try to take good care of each other, even when we're stressed out ourselves. I think we're good sisters!

Saturday-Rachel, Sean, and Bethany went out to the site early that morning. I stay in town. The preachers wife (Deanna) and baby (Lydia) gets bumped off her flight from Houston to here. But the preacher (Miller) doesn't know that. So he heads to the airport from the site to get Deanna. He doesn't have a cellphone because he gave it to Deanna. So I head up to the airport to tell him Deanna and Lydia aren't coming. I take some stuff that needs to go out to the site with me so that he can take it out there. Ms. Diane drives in (also from the site) to get the car seat for Lydia from Miller because she's going to go to Houston to get Deanna and the baby. So we all get there and play Chinese fire drill with the stuff in our cars and then head back out to our separate destinations.

Mary comes into town while I'm at the airport. She picks my dad up at the house and take him to Target and HEB to get some last minute stuff. Then I load up the car and head over to pick Alison (another bride's maid). Mary loads her car up and follows me. We pick up Alison and head out to the site. I really like getting to talk with Alison! Of all of Rachel's friends from high school, Alison doesn't treat me like a little kid. She talks to me like an equal. She tries to keep up with what's going on in my life and then makes sure to ask me about it. She seems genuinely interested in me. So I really like my time with her.

The rehearsal dinner and the actual rehearsal went well. No major problems or anything. And then that night we all stayed up way too late working on stuff.

Mary actually got to stay in the bridal cabin with us! I was really excited about that. I understood that she was supposed to stay with the other ladies on the girls side because the bridal cabin was for the bridal party (plus my mom and Ms. Cathie O.) only! But Rachel said she could stay with us. I liked that.

I loved having Mary there! She was awesome! I supported Rachel emotionally and was there for her if she needed me all week. And by the time we got out the site, I was drained. I felt like I was holding Rachel up when she needed me to, but no one was doing that for me. The two people that usually support me (mom and Rachel) didn't have time for me then. By Saturday, I was such an emotional wreck. But I felt like I couldn't be because everyone needed me to be strong. When Mary got there, she supported me. She hardly ever left my side! She was so amazing!!! I can't even begin to describe what she did for me.

Sunday-The day of the wedding! We got up and had breakfast first. Breakfast was so good!!! I had pancakes, bacon, sausage, and a banana. My mouth is watering right now just remembering it. Then we had a devo in the wilderness chapel. At the end we all put our hands on Rachel and Sean and prayed over them.

After that, I went and took a nap with Mary. I was so exhausted and emotionally drained! We helped with a few things after lunch. And then we all went to get ready for the wedding.

Bethany did my hair and most of my makeup for me. Rachel had a professional come and do her hair. And the photographer showed up in the middle of us getting ready. It took a little longer than we expected to get ready. Especially for Rachel. We were a little late starting the wedding. Rachel kept freaking out because she thought they'd start the wedding without her! What kind of a wedding would it be without the bride?

The Wedding Ceremony-When everyone (Rachel) was finally ready, we all loaded up in the van.We had a room divide on the porch that the we all stood behind. The bride's maids picked it up moved it as Rachel walked to the car. We all piled into the van (Rachel, all 4 bride's maids, and the 2 flower girls). There was no back seat on, so Alison, Jessica, Cat, and I kind of just sat on the floor. We had forgotten to put something in the window so no one could see Rachel, so we had to rush and put up a towel. We drove over to the site and we all got out and stood behind the van. Then the bride's maid's lined up at the start of the LONG ail. And then we went. I was last to go because I was maid of honor. Rachel said a went really fast down the ail. I thought I did really good going down the part with lanterns on it, but I agree that I went a little fast down the part lined with chairs. But I didn't think I went too fast.

Then came the flower girls. They had a little trouble with the circle at the end. But were really cute. Then came the bride. Rachel look beautiful! I couldn't see Sean's face though! He had his back to me and I was looking right into the sun. But she was absolutely stunning!!

Miller did an excellent job with the ceremony. I was so proud of myself, I didn't cry! I teared up when mom read her letter about the circle of love and why they had done a circle of rose petals around Rachel and Sean. But no actual tears rolling down. I tried really hard not to look at any of the people from my dad's side of the family, because I know they were crying and it's hard to not cry when I see someone else (that I love) crying. But the ceremony went by pretty fast. My favorite part was the rings. When they asked for the ring, I didn't have it like I was supposed to. I pretended to look for it, then turned to the other bride's maids. They, in turn, all searched for with similarly fake distraught looks. Finally the we got to the last one. She checked the end of her flowers (which I thought was funny), then got this look on her face like a light bulb had gone off, and preceded to take her shoe off and pull the ring out of there. She inspected the ring, gave the crowd a thumbs up, and then Rachel marched over to her and took the ring. She hugged all of us and told us we were all dead. It was so funny!! But by the end they were still married.

Picture Time-After the ceremony was over, we took some pictures. I don't have any of those pictures. I'm checking the photographers website daily to see if she put them up yet. But after pictures we did the reception. I was a little moody during that, and missed most of the reception. Which I now regret!! But I think that's my only regret of the whole mess, so I think that's pretty good. I'd rather have no regrets, of course, but that's not how it usually goes is it?

(The fake get away.)

signing the marriage license! (I love the whole hand on hip thing Rachel's doing!)

The real getaway.

I like this one of me and Julie! She's so sweet! All weekend she kept asking me, "How are you doing?" On Sunday, she asked me that and I said fine like I always did. But then she asked me if I was sure. I said no. And so she was like, "Do you want to talk about it?" But I didn't. She's so thoughtful and caring. I love Julie!! In this picture she's letting me sit on her lap.

And that's pretty much all of it. Monday through today (Wednesday) we've been packing things up and bringing them home. It felt like we were never going to get out of there! I'm so glad to be home!! But now we've got all the stuff in our house, which is frustrating. I really just wish this wedding would end already!

I'm Back

2008-07-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

Did you miss me? Yeah, right! Anyway, I'm finally home from the wedding. It felt like it was never going to end! I promise to post all about it tomorrow. I don't have any pictures though, because I was kind of busy marrying my sister off and all. But I've got some fun stories. So stay tuned!

It's tempting...but I probably shouldn't do it

2008-07-25T19:11:00.001-07:00

I'm so close to having an emotional breakdown. It's like it's hovering in the background, just waiting for the right chance to pounce. Just sitting here right now, I want to cry. But now is NOT the time for me to have a belt down because 1) the only other person here, besides me, is Bethany and I don't feel that comfortable with her, 2) things are already stressful enough, 3) I'm supposed to be the one that is supporting Rachel, not the other way around, 4) I'm just too tired for it. Perhaps it's because I am tired that I feel like this. Here's a list of reasons why I could easily just sit down and cry:

My mom is gone. She's been gone all day today and most of yesterday. Even though I've enjoyed the time I've had with Rachel here, and wouldn't have had it any other way, there comes a time when I really just want my mommy.
I haven't seen Aunt Sue all week and I miss her.
Rachel is out with Sean right now.
Bethany has been here since last night. She's a nice person and I like her, but it's just so hard having someone else here. I feel like I have to be friendly and social and everything. Those that know me well, know that I'm not very social around people I don't know. Under these high stress situations, I don't need the added stress of trying to be social. And, she's been with me all day. She goes everywhere with me. I've had alot of alone time with her, which is kind of awkward for me. It isn't that awkward, I'm just over dramatizing it because I'm tired and my nerves are stretching thin.
I'm exhausted
I had to eat at this Mexican restaurant with Bethany tonight because Rachel told me too and I don't really like Mexican food. And while I'm stuck doing that and stuck at the house alone with Bethany, Rachel and Sean are having a date night and eating at Olive Garden.
The tacos that I ordered at the Mexican place had all the fixing on it because I forgot to ask them to take them off. It felt like the thing that was going to push me over the edge and I almost started crying in the restaurant. I was so upset that I almost didn't eat at all. But I told myself I couldn't do that and instead went and asked them for two more tacos without stuff on them instead of the ones they had given me. And they did. So I did eat and they turned out to be pretty good.
I really miss my friends. I haven't gotten to see them very much this week. Things just feel different now. I really miss Mary and Rebecca! They were always the ones that I hung out with randomly and whenever I had extra time.
I'm tired of wedding stuff!
I'm tired of going to bed super late and getting up early. And then everyone telling me that they let me sleep in. I don't think 9 o'clock is late! (I required lots of sleep and then get cranky when I don't get it.)
Tomorrow I'm probably going to have to go out to the site and help all day.
My finger still hasn't healed all the way. So I still have to where a band aide all the time because mom won't let me just pull the skin off. My finger nail has this nasty sticky gunk on it and when I try to pull a band aide off to put another one on, it sticks to my nail and feels like it's going to pull it off. And I'll probably have to have a band aide on at the wedding, which totally SUCKS! It makes me so mad!
I scrapped some of the skin off my knees today while I was shaving and so now when I stand up that part squashes together and makes it hurt. If my knees hurt when I stand up for like 5 seconds, how am I going to stand up at the alter for an hour on Sunday?
I'm going to have to go out and stay at the site starting tomorrow. I don't know if I can deal with all those people.
I noticed that I somehow got a huge splash of dark green paint on my light green wall. It's above the window frame and it's really obvious. If I try to touch it up will it show through the lighter green because it's a darker color? And now I see it every time I go in the bathroom and it just robs me of my joy in there. It makes me kind of mad at myself, actually really mad at myself. And so now I don't really want to walk in there or past there or let people look in there because I think it looks bad now. And I can't fix it because then Rachel would get mad at me for doing paint stuff instead of focusing all my energy on the wedding every waking moment. Even if I did fix it, I don't think it would have time to dry all the way before someone would need to shower in the bathroom and that might ruin the paint.
My ear hurts really bad
I have a stoped up nose
My head has been itching really bad yesterday and today and I don't have anyone that can check it and make sure that it's just dandruff and not head lice.
I've had mad munchies all week. Well, it's like munchies except I can't think of anything that sounds good to eat. So instead I have the terrible craving to be chewing something, but nothing sounds good. And nothing sounds good to eat for meal either. So I'm not eating alot right now. But I'm not that hungry anyway. Maybe I'll lose a few pounds through all this.
And lots of other things that I'm either too tired to take the time to write about or I don't want to mention.

I know I wine alot on here and you all probably get sick of hearing about stuff like this. But please just keep me in your prayers right now. I really need it!

Memories

2008-07-24T17:03:00.001-07:00

Today I've been reminded of two very special and very gone people in my life. One was Granny and one was Jeno.

I said that Aunt Elsie was like an energizer bunny that just kept going. As soon as I said it, I regretted it. That's what we always called Granny. It makes me feel like I'm forgetting her, like I'm replacing her. I don't want either of those to happen! I did it on accident, which is the part that scares me. I didn't even think about it, it just slipped out. Does that mean that I'm subconsciously replacing Granny? It just made me a little upset at myself for doing that. I want to hold on to as much of Granny as I can, but I feel like this slip up made me lose a little part of her. It makes me want to cry.

Sean's mother, sister, and his sister's best friend came into town today. Katie (Sean's sister) and Ellen (Katie's friend, who just happens to have the same name as one of my best friends...weird!) are smokers. I don't like it when you walk by someone who is smoking and breathe in all that smoke, but the smell that smokers have (it is a very distinct smell) doesn't bother me in the least. I got so used to it with Jeno. Today whenever Katie and Ellen came back in from smoking, it just overwhelmed me a little bit. I was reminded of Jeno so strongly. I knew that Katie smoked, but it hadn't registered in my mind to prepare myself. Even though, somewhere in my mind, I was prepared for this, I was caught off guard.

I believe that everyone has their own distinct smell to them. But not in a bad way. It's like how mom's smell is country apple. It's the one smell that will always remind you of that person. Jeno was the only smoking person I ever knew intimately. So whenever I smell that, I'm reminded of her very strongly.

I was so close to her; the her that I thought she was at least. It's just hard for those memories to be shoved in my face right now. It's been over 3 years since I last saw or spoke to her. And nobody even notices anything is wrong. If they do notice they either don't ask or if they do ask, they don't take the time to hear my answer out. Do you know how frustrating that is? I'm just getting more and more moody. I don't know what exactly to say that I am. I know for sure that I'm absolutely exhausted! Please, please, please lift me up in prayers through out all of this!!

My Poor Little Finger

2008-07-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

OK, I have to ask, Aunt Martha how did you know my finger was hurt? For those that don't have super natural powers and don't already know (the only people that know is my mom and me and apparently Aunt Martha), I hurt my finger really bad yesterday. It might not be your definition of really bad, but it is mine.

My mom and I were sitting on our deck last night, filling up cream soda bottle with sand. The sand had been spread out to dry all day and we wanted to go ahead and just get it finished with. We had all 8 bottles full and so we were going to go back inside. I put my hand out on the deck to help me stand up. I guess my hand was sliding across the deck as I went to stand, but as it was sliding over the deck my middle finger got caught up on a splintered board. It sliced my finger up pretty good. It's right at the tip of my finger, like where a diabetic would prick themselves. It hurt so bad!!!!

It was really late and I had been fighting back tears anyway (we were talking about Granny), so I burst into tears. I cried quite a bit, actually. You can think me a baby all you want, but it hurt!! Mom was upset that I was upset. She kept saying that she wished it had been her instead of me. We washed the cut out, poured some peroxide on it, put some neosporin on it, and then stuck a band aide over it. There was lots of skin over the cut. It had cut my finger open, but the skin around it (even though sliced up) hadn't come off. Mom said she thought that was a good thing. So now I have an injured finger on my right hand (my dominant hand) and I'm really worried that I might have to have a band aide on my hand at the wedding (which would not be cool!). I told mom this, but she said that I probably wouldn't if we took real good care of it, which we would. But it still hurt!

So now, Aunt Martha, you know what happened to my finger. Maybe I didn't relate the story very well, but it was very dramatic. It hurt like all heck. I guess it's because you have so many nerve ending in you hands.

On to more pleasant things; I bought a new chair last night. I got it at Bed Bath and Beyond. It's so comfy! It's chocolate brown (to go with my room). I really like it. I think I'm going to get another one and I'll use them instead of a sofa. I might even get a foot rest to go with them. Right now my room is looking pretty bare. I haven't actually started working in there yet, but I do know some of the thing that are going to go in there. So far, I only have my bed, dresser, entertainment center, and this chair. Pathetic isn't it? I'm just so impatient to get started working on my room!

I better go. With only 5 days left till the wedding, there's alot of stuff I need to be doing. Keep us all in your prayers! For me especially: patience, understanding, self control, and joyfulness. Love to all!

Books...and their authors

2008-07-21T15:35:00.000-07:00

I love books! I love reading them and I love writing them (not that I've had much success in this area). What makes a book so good? I love how it totally captures me. I love how a good book will pull me out of my world and into its. Unfortunately I do not own very many books myself. So I've decided it's high time I start my own book collection. Here's the list of books I already own:

The Dragon Prince Trilogy
The Dragon Star Trilogy
Harry Potter 1-6
Little House on the Prairie (I think that's more my parents' than mine though)
Chronicles of Narnia (again, I think that's my parents')
The Magic Kingdom Series
the last couple of books in the Anne of Green Gables series

See what I mean? A very meager collection isn't it? I'd like to improve that. For Christmas this year, I think I'm going to ask for books off this list. Over the next year, I'm going to start collecting books slowly. I'm going to keep collecting books for the rest of my life. And I want to get a really nice book shelf to hold them all. Anyway, here's the beginning of my list of books I want:

The Twilight series
The Jane Austin books
The Traveling Pants series
The Acorna series
The Acorna's Children series
The Rowan series
The Powers That Be series?
Harry Potter 7
the first books of the Anne of Green Gables series
Ella Enchanted
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Eragon series
Dragon Riders of Pern series
Any other science fiction books by Anne McCaffery

I'd also like to start a collect of movies, but I can get into that later. That would take alot more time to think about than I have time for right now...or ever really. Maybe I'll just go to a movie store one day with a piece of paper and a pen and then spend hours writing down the movies I want to purchase. Who knows? But I do want to have a substantial book and movie collection. I don't know why, but I just do. That way I'll never run out of things to watch or read. Maybe it's because why don't own very movies at my house. I'm always envious of people like the Tomkins, the Spiveys, and Jessica, who have gigantic movie collections.

Girls' Night

2008-07-19T17:13:00.000-07:00

I just love my friend, Ellen! She's my really girly girl friend. The one that I can talk about guys with and be silly and play dress up and all the jazz. I was kind of bored today and so I went on David's Bridal and was doing that thing were you can design your own wedding. It's like virtual barbie dolls. I was sitting there thinking that Ellen would really love to be doing this with me. So I called her and invited her over. But she was over here last night, so her parents said that she had to stay home tonight. Instead I'm going over to her house. We're going to play wedding. And then we're going to watch The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I just finished reading that book (Ellen let me borrow it) so now we're going to do compare and contrast the book with the movie. Now I'm reading the second book (I think there's supposed to be four books) and I can't wait till the 2nd movie comes out! Just thought I'd share what a fun night my night is shaping up to be. Hope everyone else has a great night too!

College Life

2008-07-19T13:38:00.000-07:00

I wanted to make this a separate post because I think I'm going to have alot to say on the subject. The way I decide what to post on here is kind of random. Sometimes a thing will just happened that I just can't not post about. Other times this is just a place to vent my feelings. Today, I have a subject that I've been shying away from thinking about because I'm afraid of what I'm going to find. I decided to blog about it because I want to get it off my chest and I want to put it out there for all of you to be praying about.

I never really know what I'm going to say when I start typing. I don't think about it very much, I just type. I let the words flow out of me and that usually means that it's a more accurate interpretation of what I'm feeling than I would have ever admitted if I actually planned out what I was going to say. So this blog is, in a sense, very therapeutic for me. Most times, after I'm done typing and I've posted it, I feel alot better. I know people that love me and care deeply about me read this and then lift me up in prayer over these issues. And I want to thank y'all for that, it really means alot to me and it gives me a sort of peace of mind.

But enough of that; let's get on to the more important issue at hand: Me Leaving for Florida. I know that big long intro probably made you think it would be something really drastic and you're probably sitting there thinking 'this is the big thing she was so scared about thinking about? What the heck!?!'. But let me tell you, it is a big thing. It's actually a GIGANTIC thing. I'm FREAKING out about it!

My life is changing so rapidly right now that I can hardly keep up. And it scared the crap out of me! I know I've said it before, but it's like I can't even sit down and take a breather anymore. I mean, think about it:

My last and most beloved grandmother just died
I graduated from high school
I was an instructor this year
I'm moving out of the room I've lived in since I was born
My only sister is getting married
My best friend is gone for the summer and is moving to Abilene next year
I'm starting college in the fall
I have to get a job for the fall
Everyone and their dog is moving to Abilene (the Orozcos, Haley, Mary, Darby, Ross)
In a year, I'm going to move to Florida!

Do you see where I could be freaking out just a little bit? I feel like I'm slowly losing everyone I love. Everyone that has always been here, is suddenly gone. And you know what? It sucks!! This next year I'm going to have a total of 2 close friends my own age here. And Ellen will be so wrapped up in school and band like she always is, that it will really be like only having 1. What am I going to do? Am I really ready for college?

And then there's Florida! Do you realize that I'm going to be in a completely different time zone? I'm not going to know a single person there. I will have no friends and no family. Florida is even further than Harding was. Mom only got to go see Rachel and few times a year then. Now that gas prices are so high, how is she going to manage to ever come see me? Rachel will never be able to come visit me because her and Sean won't have the money for gas. Nobody will be able to come see me. And I won't be able to come home because I'll be working int the zoo absolutely all the time. Even if I could get off to come home, I won't have the money because I won't be able to hold down a job while I'm there. I'm going to have to take out huge loans and drowned in debt. I don't know how to manage my own money! I don't want to have to do my own taxes! I don't want to have to grow up and live in the big world! And I have to work at the zoo even on holidays! So I probably won't be able to go to family reunions. So everybody will forget about me and I'll get out of the habit of going and then stop going all together. I don't want that to happen! I can't go 2 years without seeing my family!!!

And what if I don't want to go to Florida at all? How am I supposed to know that this is really what I'm supposed to do? What if I want to do something else? Well I can't do anything else because everyone expects me to do this! And what else would I do? I've allows thought this was what I wanted to do. I wouldn't even begin to know what else I could do because this is what everyone has always told me I want to do.

How am I going to survive it there? The work load is going to be unbelievable. I'm taking like 13 hours a semester...at the very least! And they expect me to spend 6 am to 3 pm at the zoo like almost every day!?! How am I going to do that? I'm not going to know what to do. I'll probably snap under the stress of it all and I'll have to drop out or something. I won't be good there. Everybody will know all this really cool stuff and be so much better at everything than I am.

I am seriously freaking out here! Can you tell? I just don't know if I can do it all. I don't know if I have it in me. I'm not that strong. I'd like to believe I am, but I'm not. I'm not like any of my Aunts and Uncles. They could do it. I can't. And I'm ashamed of it...

Update

2008-07-19T13:17:00.000-07:00

Aunt Martha has informed me that it is time for an update. As much as I would like to give you one, I don't know what to say. I'm in an especially weird mood today. I don't feel like doing anything. But I will try my hardest to give a proper update.

This week was very busy! Monday I finished painting the cabinets in the bathroom and I painted the door frame. Tuesday my mom and I put primer on all the walls and most of the ceiling. Wednesday (this was my favorite day this week!) Aunt Sue and I finished the primer on the ceiling and painted all of the walls (including the ceiling)! So I now have a painted bathroom. Thursday I didn't really do anything. And Friday, I went to see the batman movie with my youth group.

1) Painting with Aunt Sue was so much FUN!!!! I absolutely loved it!! I don't know why but I just love her company so much! She was helpful in anyway I needed her to be, but she also let me do it my own way. I can't explain it. But I want Aunt Sue to help me with all my painting from now on!

Despite us painting the walls and ceiling, I'm still not finished in the bathroom. This is so frustrating to me. It's like I'm never going to get it finished! The most frustrating part is that when I pulled the tape off some of the paint came with it in certain places. So now I have to figure out what I'm going to do about that. I need to touch up on the cabinets, window, door frame, and a few places on the wall. But how am I going to do that without having to put more tape up? Which would then peel more paint off? See the problem? My mind just feels like mush right now. Everything seems so daunting. I can't wrap my mind around things properly. It's so frustrating!! I feel like sitting down and crying!

2)I'm finally through with swim lessons!! I only had 4 kids pass though. And I had two super annoying parents! I won't go into it because it will just make me mad, but know that they were unbelievably snotty. I had a pretty interesting last day though. It started out with one of our male instructors having a gigantic hole in the back of his swim suit. You could even see his butt! It was nasty! Ellen and I told Jamie and she told him. For the first hour of lessons he had to walk around with a Finding Nemo sticker on his butt just to cover up the hole. It was hysterical!!!!! But then Jamie found him a new pair of swim trunks.

Then at night lessons the whole night's lessons had to be cancelled because a little kids pooped in the pool. It happened just before we started our first lessons, so we didn't get in the water at all. Because it was of a 'liquid nature' they're going to have to drain the whole pool and it'll take 12 hours to get it cleaned up. It was absolute chaos at lessons. Jamie wasn't there tonight so Diana (who is actually my boss's boss's boss (confusing? I know! The chain of command goes Jamie, Jenny, and then Diana)) had to fill in for her. Diana didn't know any of the kids because she doesn't come to night lessons, so she was up to her neck in a big mess. I felt so sorry for her! Ellen was subbing for someone that night so she gave me a ride home and then stayed over to watch a movie. It was fun! I love Ellen; she's such a great friend!

3) And I think that's all the major things right now. I will say that there are alot of little things that are bothering me right now, but I'm not going to bore you with them. Just pray that I make it through the wedding without too much damage to relationships, that the bathroom get finished somehow, that this whole remodeling thing get finished somehow, that I have the patience for the remodeling thing, that I'm able to make a decision about what to do after the wedding, and that I'm able to get my Blinn classes worked out....Oh, and that I just stop stressing and start having a little bit of peace about everything in general.

Painting Again

2008-07-12T12:52:00.001-07:00

I haven't been up to working on the bathroom at all this week because I'm so exhausted from swim lessons. So I was determined to get stuff done today. But it's coming along so SLOWLY! It's driving me crazy! I had hoped to get the cabinets and the door frame done today, but it's looking like I may have to change that into my goal for the whole weekend. Please pray that I have patience, that I feel as though I get something done (even if it's not as much as I hoped), and that it looks good in the end.

One of my mentors has a daughter that is getting married today. I'm having a hard time decided whether I'm going to the wedding. I want to stay and get more work done, but I would feel terrible not going to support Ms. Janice. I'm thinking maybe I'll go to the reception. I just don't know!

So guess what? I had told Jordan that I was painting today and he just called me and told me that he remember I was painting. He wanted to know if I needed his help. Isn't that so sweet!?! I told him it wasn't something he could really help with since the bathroom was so small, but I would love his company if he wanted to come and just sit with me. So he said he would. I have the greatest friends!!

Working Again

2008-07-10T10:40:00.000-07:00

So I'm sure you're all wondering how my first few days of being an instructor is going...at least I hope you were! Today was my third day. It's so exhausting. I get home and just crash. You know how you just get tired after being in the water? Well, imagine have to be in the water for 5 hours every day! Yeah, it's just a little tiring.

My first day, I was SO nervous. Being an aide is just so different than being an instructor. When you're an aide you just show up and do what your instructors tell you to. Now that I'm an instructor, I have to plan out what I'm going to do, I have to be responsible for the kids, I have to tell the aides what to do, etc. There's just so much. It's a little stressful. Not as bad as I thought it would be, but still slightly hard on the nerves. I feel like I'm a terrible instructor! None of my kids are really improving and I'm worried that they're not going to pass because I taught them wrong.

I remember being an aide and absolutely idolizing the instructors. They always looked like they were cool, calm, and collected. I feel like a scatter brain and a dumb blond. I doubt any of the aides view me as I once did the other instructors.

OK, on to my classes. My first hour, I have frogs. Frogs are the really little kids, about 3-6 in age. These classes are only half an hour, 'cause the kids' don't have much bigger attention spans. My first class is really hard. I have one kid that speaks no English and one kid that is a little on the 'special' side. The kid that speaks no English is super cute! He just stares blankly at you and will nod his head at pretty much whatever you say. I have to admire him though. Can you image being in his position? Not understanding anything we say and then having two complete strangers moving him around in the water. But he never freaks out or cries or doesn't do what we say. He's like the perfect kid; he agrees to whatever you say, never talks back, and will do anything (as long as your helping him). Ben (the 'special' one) on the other hand, gets on my nerves a little bit. I know it's terrible of me to say that, but it's just hard to deal with him. If I had had him and the kid that doesn't speak English in two separate classes, it would have been fine. But to put both of them in my class makes it really stressful on me.

My second frogs class isn't much better. I only have two kids! So I have two kids and an aide. It's just not good to have a 1:1 ratio; it makes it hard to fill up the time. Anyway, one kid is a level 2 and one is a bottom level 1. It's so annoying! So not only to I have only two kids, but I have 2 different leveled kids. So basically my aide take Kymberly (the level 2) and works with her and I take Claire (the level 1) and work with her. I hate my first hour of frogs!!!!

Next I have minnows. This is a 45 minute class. Minnows are like frogs for older kids. I have the higher low level minnows. I know that's confusing. We always have TONS of minnows, so we spit them up. The first day we test them and then sit them up on the wall according to upper and lower levels (we do the same in frogs). Then we divide them up between teachers, so-and-so take these 3, so-and-so takes these 4, etc. So I got the ones that aren't good enough to be level twos, but are almost there. I only have 3 kids. I also have an aide, which again presents the problem of having a slightly too small ratio. We manage though.

Third hour is frogs again. I like this hour a little better than the first one because I have no aide. Yeah, I'm all on my own! I like this because I don't have an aide getting in my way and I feel more like a real instructor. My first frogs class of this hour I have 4 kids. That's the max you can have by yourself! They're all pretty much level ones, some are upper level ones though. It's hard though because they all get on my nerves in different ways. One is always slicked up with sunscreen and greasy to touch; one always has this nasty gunk between his front teeth; one is constantly wondering off; and the other one is constantly trying to get out of the pool. I still think they're cute though. And I like teaching by myself because I don't have to worry about making a fool of myself and appearing like I don't know what I'm doing (which I don't most of the time) in front of my aide.

The second class of that hour is better. I have 2 level twos and one level 1. The level twos are both girls and are so cute. One is named Cadence, which always makes me miss my babies. (just as a side note, I really want to go over to Waco and see my babies soon!!!) The level one is this big boy. He's not fat, he's just broad shouldered and big boned. You hear people say, "you're not fat, you're big bones", well this time it's really true. He's a BIG boy. He looks like a 7 year old, but he's only 5. He's so annoying though. It's really hard to have 2 level twos and one level 1. He's terrified of everything and it slows me down trying to get him to do stuff. But the little girls are adorable!

My last hour is actually my favorite. I have seahorses!! They're definitely my favorite class to teach. They're old enough to not be winy babies and not be clingy, but they aren't quite old enough to sass back. I have 4 kids in this class, which is actually small for seahorses. Plus, I have a cool aide. She was in my Chemistry class this last year, so I already know her. She's really laid back. I don't really have to worry about what she thinks of me, because I don't really care. I know that sounds harsh. But my other aides have been around for years and I know they're really good at what they do, so I have alot of respect for them and I know they're watching me carefully. This girl, I didn't even know she was an aide until the staff meeting back in April. It's like her first year, so she's still learning. Therefore, she doesn't know what a really good instructor is yet, so she can't think me bad. See the logic? But let's move on to the kids. One kids is really annoying because she's constantly going underwater and not listening to me. And when we took them to the 5 ft. yesterday we had one kids that froze up and got all scared, which was hard to deal with and took us like 10 minutes just to get him to start doing stuff. But other than that it's a really awesome class.

That's my morning classes. I only have 1 hour at night. I'm helping with a special needs kid. He isn't that bad actually, I think he'd do just fine without an extra helper. But I also know it would be hard on me if he was in my class without a helper, so I'm happy to help. Plus, the instructor is one of my really good friends, so we have fun. The 2nd hour at night, I can either leave or be an extra. The one night that I have gone to nights (it got rained out last night), I stayed. I might as well get payed that extra hour. I might leave tonight though.

And that's about it. I have a really funny story about last night when swim lessons got canceled. But this post is too long already so I'll give your eyes rest. I'll try to remember to post the story later, it's definitely worth the wait! Love to all! And keep me in your prayers; that I have patients with these kids, that I have enough energy to deal with them, and the wisdom to know what to do for my lessons.

An Emotional Day

2008-07-06T20:58:00.000-07:00

Today at church was hard! Very emotional!! On Thursday we had a member of our congregation pass away. Today the service was dedicated to her. We also have a member who is going through a very hard time right now. She ran an in home daycare and one of the children got seriously injured. Child services was called in and she was arrested. She's on bail, but it's had a big impact on her family. Today was the first time she'd come to church since she'd gotten arrested. She said she came because of the death of Sarah Ann. Then we had another member go forward during the invitation. This family is one of the strongest, most influential Christian families in are church. So we were all a little surprised to see the dad go up there. When he confessed to having had an affair with 4 different women, we were all floored. The auditorium was dead silent.
Absolutely no one saw it coming, none of us suspected, and the family (this was the first time for them to hear about this) was in shock. The daughter got to crying so hard that she had to be helped off stage in the middle of his confession. After church we were all comforting this family and the one who's mother had been arrested for the daycare incident. I've never heard the congregation that quiet, aside from during service. It was unnerving! My heart just hurts for all three of these families. I knew all of them pretty well. It's just so sad!

The funeral for Sarah Ann was today at 2:30. I didn't go. I'm not very good at funerals and I just felt like it was too soon after Granny's. Just yesterday I watched the same Lost episode that I watched that Thursday of the funeral. That was hard. It brought back alot of memories and especially emotions. But going back to the funeral, my mom did go and she said the auditorium was absolutely packed. And we have a pretty nice sized auditorium! That is such a testimony to her! To have that many people who love you and care about you and want to support your family in a time like that. It got me to thinking about my life. Of course the most important thing is to live in a way that will glorify God and in way that will make Him proud. But what about the people here on earth? I'd like to say that I've lived in a way that had impacted other people. But who's can tell that? I suppose the best way to find out would be to see people's reactions after you die, to see how many people come to your funeral. The ironic thing is that you won't know who's at your funeral because you'll be dead.

I've always found it interesting that you (me in particular) think about how many people will be at a party, a wedding, a funeral, etc., but then when it actually rolls around you don't even notice. I know at Granny's funeral I didn't notice who was there. I was so wrapped up in my own personal grief that it didn't matter. For me, only my family was there. I had hugs and kisses and tears for only them. I was so busy trying to let myself cry, but at the same time trying to be strong for everyone else, that I didn't notice anything else. It's funny how that works isn't it? OK, that's enough serious/slightly morbid thinking for me tonight. Please keep these three families from my church in your prayers!! I don't want to disclose too much in respect for their privacy, but God will know who you're talking about and all the details. I love you all so much and I'm so glad that you're each a part of my life!

Painting At Last

2008-07-06T12:22:00.001-07:00

I'm finally going to start painting! Right now I'm only going to do the shelf, cabinets, window frame, and door frame. These things are a different color than the wall and ceiling in the bathroom. I'm going to start with the shelf, just see how things go. I don't think it's going to turn out that well because the only brush I have is a 1.5 in brush. So I think there's going to be alot of brush stokes visible. Which is why I'm going to start with the underside of the shelf. If it doesn't look good then I'll have to go get a wider brush. I'm painting outside, where it's hot, so I'm going to get all nasty. Wish me luck! I'll post more of an explanation of things and pictures of stuff later.

If It Has to Happen, I Hope It's a LONG Time Coming!

2008-07-04T18:10:00.000-07:00

I was sitting here working on some stuff and Granny came to mind. The hard part for me right now is my fear of forgetting her. I know I could NEVER forget her, but as the years go by I'll forget some of the little things. I don't remember that much about my dad's mom. I just don't want to forget how she smelled, the feel of her skin, the sound of her voice, those sorts of things. I'm not going to go into much detail right now because it's making me cry and I don't need to be crying right now 'cause I'm about to go to the fireworks with Jordan!! Maybe this is a bad time for me to write this because it's pretty emotional stuff. But I need to get it out.

As I was thinking about those things, I remembered how Granny always said she didn't want to out live any of her children. So the thought of any of the elven dieing came to mind. My heart was almost ripped to shred when I thought about it. Maybe it's because I'm still so emotional over losing Granny, and the thought of any more deaths scares me. But, for some reason, I don't think that's it. Granny's death really brought me closer to my entire family, the Aunts and Uncles especially. I don't know what I'd do if any of them died! Especially Aunt Sue! I was working on her Christmas present (it's so awesome that I have to start this early), so she's really the first one I thought of. I couldn't bare to lose her!!! What would I do without her? How would I go on? And then I thought about all the other siblings. And I don't want to think about it anymore because it hurts too much!!!!

A Bunch of Holiday Humbugs

2008-07-04T11:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day to everyone! I hope you're all having more eventful days than I am. My family isn't big into traditional holidays. Have you ever noticed that? Think about it, we don't celebrate Thanksgiving (mom says it's because our Thanksgiving is the reunion. I agree, but still.), we haven't had Christmas on December 25th in I don't know how long, we don't really do anything special for Easter (our Easter is kind of LTC), and we don't do anything for 4th of July either. I don't know why we do this.

Today honestly seems like just another day. Mom is actually working today! Right now the only plans I have are I might go see the fireworks with the Beiers tonight. I'm not saying the way we do things is bad. I'm just kind of thinking aloud. I've always enjoyed our holidays. But because we do things so differently, I've come to think of Thanksgiving and Christmas as the only real holidays. Easter used to be among them, but it's kind of fallen through the cracks.

I remember when we used to go out to Aunt Sue's house on the 4th. Uncle George would get fireworks and set them off once it got dark. We used to have so much fun! Every year they'd reminisce about the time that a fire cracker chased my dad all the way up Aunt Sue's drive way (which is really long). Then finally one year Aunt Sue said no more fire crackers. As they were putting Jessica to bed, Jessica goes, "But what about the fire crackers Daddy has in the back of his truck?" It was so funny! We all got a good laugh out of it...well, all of us except Aunt Sue. Uncle George was so stunned that Jessica had ratted him out that he didn't really know what to say. Aunt Sue was all like, "George!?!" He just kind of laughed in that way he does when he gets caught for something, scratched his head, and goes, "Well...I....um..." It was so funny! When he finally admitted to having gotten the firecrackers, we got all the kids back out of bed and set them off. I think that was the last year we ever went out there for the 4th. I miss those days sometimes. But there's a time and a season for everything.

And that's about it for now. Again, I hope you all have a happy 4th...however you choose to celebrate it.

Can You Hear the Music?

2008-07-02T13:37:00.000-07:00

For those of you who read my posts straight from my actual blog, you'll have noticed that I've added some music. For those that read my posts from their emails, if you want to check out the music you can follow this LINK. Some of the songs cut off before you have a chance to hear the whole song. I don't know how to fix that. They're all the absolute longest length that I could find. Most of the songs are on here just because I like them, but there are a few with deeper meanings. The song "The Impossible" I mentioned in one of my posts a while back (if you didn't read that one, you can recap by looking through my archives). I've also mentioned "Big Girls Don't Cry" briefly in one of my posts. A new one though, is "Daddy's Hands". For me, this song isn't about my dad's hands at all, it's about Granny's hands. "I'm No Stranger to the Rain" describes me pretty accurately, at least I think so. My mom says that song should be my Aunt Sue's theme song. I think I would have to agree! Anyway, I hope y'all like the music.

Kindred Spirits

2008-06-29T21:36:00.000-07:00

Of all the "best friends" I've had over the years, Mary has been the only one that truly deserved the title. I could not have asked for a better friend. I thank God everyday for putting Mary in my life and I honestly don't know what I'd do without her. Sometimes I feel as though God designed her just to be my best friend. We're so perfectly matched.

Mary is irreplaceable in my life. I've grown accustomed to relying on her too much. So her not being here for the last 2 months has been extremely difficult for me. She was away when Granny died. I didn't have the heart to call and tell her over the phone. But as soon as she found out she came over to my house immediately. By then I was already packing to leave. She sat with me as I packed, talked with me, lightenedd my spirits, she even offered to come along to the funeral just to be with me. How many people do you know that would do that? She had just gotten back from Virginia a few hours before, her family was getting ready to move to Guatemala in the next week, and she was offering to come to my grandmother's funeral in Arkansas just because she knew I needed her. I declined because I knew she needed to stay behind with her family and because I knew it was a time that I needed to be with mine.

After I got back from the funeral she moved to Guatemala with her family. That was so hard! I felt like I needed her so much during that month that she was gone. I was facing the lose of my last grandmother, what I felt like was the lose of my only sister, and graduating high school (which can be a scary and daunting thing as well). And on top of that I'd lost my best friend, my second half. She'll argue that I hadn't lost her, that she had simply moved somewhere where it wasn't possible for us to see each other. But it sure felt like losing her when I could see her whenever I wanted, when I could no longer make quick stops at her house just because I wanted to, when I could call her up and do stuff, etc. We still talked through IM and that sort of thing, but it was different. And then when she finally came home, she was only here for a few days before she left for an all summer long camp. I was so busy with graduation stuff that I never got any alone time with her. And the little bit that I saw her, we were both always surrounded by other people who claimed our attentions.

This week has been hard for me too. (Part of the reason for me throwing myself into the remodeling project is that it offers an escape for me. Scrapping wallpaper, ripping up flooring, picking out tile and paint colors, etc., doesn't require alot of emotional strain. It occupies my mind so that other things won't. I'm building a wall around myself. And I'm afraid that if I let down even a little bit of it, all the emotions (and there's quite a few) I'm trying to keep at bay will come crashing in.) Several times I've wished I had someone in there helping me, but every time no one comes to mind that I particularly want to be with right now. I always want Mary. She's a hard worker, but most importantly she'd know exactly how to act. She'd know when to be silent so that I could think, when and how to make me laugh, when to talk small talk or more serious stuff. She just knows what to do. Over the last 6 years (7 this December) she's become a part of me. She's like my second half. To the point where we can finish each others' sentences. I just want her here. I'm comforted by her presence alone, we don't even have to talk. I just want her back!

There have been several occasion when she'd spend the night and we'd be doing stuff in separate rooms of the house. The first few times my mom would ask why I wasn't with my friend and I would tell her we were with each other. But eventually my parents learned that Mary and mine's relationship was alot different than all my other friends'. I don't have any other friends that I could do that with. I honestly feel as though Mary is the perfect match for me. She's my anchor, my rock, my comforter, and so much more. Maybe this sounds creepy that I put so much stock in her and that I love her this much. But if you've ever had a friend like Mary, you'll understand. If you haven't had a friend like her (a friend that is your kindred spirit, that is your perfect match, your second half) then I'm truly sorry for you; you're missing out on what I think is one of God's greatest gifts to us. And I hope that someday (if you already haven't) each one of you will have your own Mary's.

The Kind of People That Know People

2008-06-29T12:57:00.000-07:00

My family and I have a weird tendency to run into someone we know almost everywhere we go. It's kind of funny at times. I've caught myself thinking, 'OK, I wonder who I'm going to run into while I'm out today?'.

My mom and I went to Lowes this afternoon and, of course, ran into some people we know. While we were checking out, I spotted my Indv. Sports coach from first semester, coach Holubec. She really sweet! It was weird seeing her in her normal clothes. She such a cutie! And she had her daughter with her. OMG! Her daughter is ADORABLE! I want to say her daughter's name is Riley, but I'm not for sure. I like the name Riley, for a boy or a girl. But it was nice to see her. It's so weird to think about the fact that I'm not going back to the high school next year, so this will be the only way I get to see any of those people any more.

Then on the way out to the car, I spotted my 2nd grade teacher. She was also my sister's 2nd grade teacher. Needless to say, she's pretty special to our family. I pointed her out to my mom. Naturally, my mom immediately set about getting her attention. When she finally noticed us, she was very excited to see us. She gave us a big hug, which was hard for me to return since both my hands were full. She told us about how her grandkids were in town. She said she had a graduation and wedding gift for us at her house. Hopefully, she'll be able to come to the wedding. She thinks she will. We also met her husband. When introducing us she told him, "You know those pictures I have by the phone? This is that family! Both of them." So I guess she has mine and Rachel's graduation and wedding invitation by her phone. Isn't that just hysterical!?! I'm very honored to be dubbed by-the-phone worthy.

It seems that I've been dubbed similarly worthy by several other people as well. I've had tons of people come up to me and tell me how much they like the thank you letters I sent out for graduation. Several of them have also told me that they've put my picture on their refrigerators, bulletin boards, walls, etc. It's made me feel very good! I'm so glad people are liking the thank you letters. I didn't think they'd be this big of a hit. People are even telling my mom how much they like them. I've had a few guys tell me they liked them! And guys don't usually pay much attention to those types of things. So apparently I did something right as far as those letters were concerned. I meant what I said in them too!

Anyway, I guess that's about it for now. We kind of on a stand still with the remodeling stuff. Some of the boards in the bathroom are rotted, so we have to take care of that before we can go much farther. We can still fill in the cracks in the wall and put the primer on the walls before the floor gets fixed. But the painting will have to wait. Mom says if we painted and then had the floor fixed alot of dirt would come up and we'd have to wash the walls down again. As soon as the boards are fixed, we can continue on. We're going to have to put this stuff called backerboard (I think that's what it's called, but don't hold me to that) down on the floor so that we can tile on top of it. And then we'll begin tiling. We went to a tiling class at Home Depot on Saturday, so now we at least know sort of what we're doing. Since the class, we've had to change what tile we're putting down. I think we might have finally found one that we can at least live with. It's not my favorite but we don't have many other options. We're being very specific as to what we're looking for.

OK, now, that's all I have to say. Continue to keep us in your prayers as we work on the remodeling and also prepare for the wedding. Love to all!

I Told You So

2008-06-27T09:18:00.000-07:00

As soon as I was finished writing my last post my mom called me. And do you know what she said? She asked me to call one of the bride's maids to see how their dress alterations were going. That's fine, I don't mind doing that. But do you know what else she told me? She 'reminded' me that the dishwasher needed unloading, that their were towels to be folded, and that their were clean clothes to be sorted and folded. It's like she doesn't think I have enough to do today. And from the previous post, we all know that isn't true! Just because I stay at home all day, doesn't mean I sit around on my butt and do nothing. See, this is what I'm talking about, that's 4 things added to the list of things I need to get done today. This is just madness!

Mind Blowing

2008-06-27T08:54:00.000-07:00

I know how stupid this is going to sound, but I never knew how much work it was going to be to remodel. Right now, I'm only able to work on the bathroom because it's the only thing cleaned out enough. So far I've gotten most of the wallpaper off (I still have these two trouble areas) and ripped up the flooring. But I still have so much left to do. In the order that I think it'll go in: I have to fill in the cracks in the wall and put primer over the nail heads; possibly prime the walls; scrap up the backing of the linoleum that's left on the sub-floors; put the first coat of paint on the walls; touch up the paint; paint the door frame, cabinets, window sill, and shelf; put in the new flooring (along with whatever that entails); clean out the cabinets; and put in all my new stuff. And that's just the bathroom! I haven't even started on the hall, hall closet, or the TV room (which is going to be my new bedroom)! It's so complicated! And laugh at me if you want to, but this is my first foray into this sort of thing.

My goal for today is to get the last of the wallpaper off, work on cleaning my room some, and getting the cracks and nail heads taken care of in the bathroom. It shouldn't take all that long to get the wallpaper off. One spot is right above the mirror and right under the light thing. So I have to be careful not to electrocute myself. Another thing I want to do is try to get the mirror off the wall. Don't worry, I'll wait for my parents to help me. But I want to see if there's any wall paper behind it. Knowing my luck, there probably is wallpaper under that. The other spot I need to take the wallpaper off of is right under the cabinets. For some reason the cabinets don't go right up the wall. So there's these little hollow spots between the cabinets and the wall. And the genius who put the wall paper on, put wallpaper up these hollow spots. The paper doesn't go all the way up. It just goes far enough up that I can't get my scrapper in there good. It totally stinks!

As for the room stuff, I don't have to do too much in there today. My mom and I decided that the most important thing for me to get finished in there is to take care of my graduation gifts. Right now they're all piled at the end of my bed. My mom wouldn't let me do anything with them until I got the thank you letters out. So I'm going to get those put away. That will clear up the space at the end of my bed so that we can move the furniture around in there to make room for some of the stuff from the TV room. Once we get the stuff out of the TV room, we can rip up the carpet in there.

So the things that I'm planning on doing today: make my bed, clean off my trunk, clean the area around my trunk, clean off my dresser, take care of the stuff at the end of my bed, clean the area around my closet, clean off the little table under the window in my room, cash my checks, balance my check book (that'll have to wait for my parents to get here so they can help me 'cause I've never done that before), scrap off the remainder of the wallpaper, buy the stuff to put over the nail heads and fill in the cracks, and actually fill in the cracks and put prime the nail heads. I think that's all I have to do today. I'm sure at least ten more things are going to pop up as the day progresses! So I should stop putting it off and just go get started! Please pray that I get everything done in!

The Pictures

2008-06-25T13:22:00.000-07:00

OK, here you go Aunt Martha. Click on the following: Pictures. That should take you straight to my pictures. If it doesn't just let me know.

A Possible Introduction

2008-06-25T08:33:00.000-07:00

OK, so I just scribbled this down yesterday and thought it MIGHT work as an introduction to the book about my family. I want y'all to tell me what you think...honestly.

"It's difficult to understand the sum of a person's life. Some people would tell you it's measured by the ones left behind. Some believe it can be measured in faith. Some say by love. Other folk say life has no meaning at all." -The Bucket List

It is a firm belief of mine that Marie Katherine Martin had a life well lived and then some. I base this fact on the quality of the people she left behind and the love they all shared for her. Eleven children, twenty-seven grandchildren, forty-nine great grandchildren, and four great great grandchildren; this is the legacy she left on this earth. What better way to tell you her story, than to tell you their's?

Corny? Lame? To short? I don't think I like it anymore. See this is one of those times where it sounds fine in my head, but really stupid out loud.