It's Christmas

Christmas has come and gone. The new year is approaching fast. My holiday was different this year. But still blessed as ever.

One of my most favorite parts of the holiday is our Christmas Eve service at church. It was beautiful.

We spent Christmas Eve dinner with my grandparents, uncle, aunt, and cousins. Christmas Eve night always means lots of family jokes, presents, food, games, and getting home late. It's a blast!

On Christmas morning we all woke up around 7:00 (which is early for me folks) and headed downstairs to see what Santa had left us. And boy was it a sight. People, over my two days of Christmas, I've never seen so much Doctor Who merchandise...and it's now all found its home in my very own bedroom. *happy dance*

After all our presents were unwrapped and we'd all made a thorough mess, we got ready for our day. This year we hosted a big Christmas day brunch and invited multiple families from our church and home school group. Our house was packed! This was my absolute favorite part of Christmas this year. Serving these people, my friends, on Christmas Day...what a huge blessing!

{Photo credit goes to my dad.}

it's about time

Gah. I've become such a terrible blogger. I believe an update is in order.

School is out. Thank you Lord! I don't think I've ever wanted a break so badly in my life. The past week in a half I've pretty much been a slug. Other than work, I've done nothing productive. Absolutely nothing. (Well...unless you count reading and watching tons of Netflix.) It's amazing.

I watched The Hobbit. It was absolutely fantastic. I haven't read the book. Actually, I haven't read anything relating to The Lord of the Rings. But I'm a die hard fan of the movies. And The Hobbit definitely lived up to The Lord of the Rings awesomeness.

With there being a lovely break from school, I made myself a list of things to do.
     1) Start guitar lessons. My sister who is amazing agreed to teach me. So far I know the A chord and the Em chord. We aren't real far along in our lessons, but we're getting there. Exciting!

     2) Read Les Misérables. I probably won't finish it during winter break. It's 1,463 pages. O_o But my goal is to finish before the new movie leaves theaters. I've been watching the trailer over and over. Gosh, it looks fabulous.

    3) Spend lots of time with this dear girl.

So far, Bethany and I have had a sleep over, watched lots of Doctor Who, and got our hair cut together. On Sunday we're eating out at Pizza Hut and exchanging Christmas gifts. Can't wait!

Christmas is in three days. THREE. And I don't even have all my shopping done. I'm such a slacker. I plan on finishing up this afternoon though. Hopefully. And wrapping everything. Hopefully.

Downton Abbey season three comes out on DVD on January 29th. And I'm #4 in the hold list at the library. Eek! Excited!

Well...that's all from me. How about you? How is your winter break going?

just writing...

It's been a while.

Today I had kinda a stinky day.  So I thought I'd log in and just write...just write.

School's almost over for the semester and I'm about to jump for joy.  Next week I have finals.  The only one I'm really worried about is my anatomy final.  It's the only one that's cumulative.  Cumulative-ness scares me a bit.  Will my brain be able to retain that much information?  Part of me thinks it's entirely impossible.  But this girl's gonna try!...and study herself crazy.

It is officially decided.  I have some ah-mazing friends.  Like mentioned above, I had kinda a stinky day.  Well, maybe a couple stinky days...in a row.  And my superly fantastical, God given friends were there for me.  I love them.

Work has been swell.  Pretty consistent really.  Except that I am losing my best working buddy.  She's up and decided to move!  Shame on her.  Naw, joking, joking.  It's a good opportunity.  Best wishes to you, dearie.

So I'm reading back over this post and it's feeling pretty random and unorganized.  Aw well...

Hope you dearies have a splendid weekend. *smiles*

odd stuff

As many of you may know, I work at a public library. And I love it, don't get me wrong. But, what many of you may not know is that there are some weird happenings in libraries. I can testify first hand.  And because I have this knowledge, I feel it my civil duty to share it with you. ;) What goes on behind the scenes in public libraries....

One day over the summer I was walking through fiction to pull a book for a young lady, one of my friends actually. Along the back wall we have a bunch of window bays that people use for reading and studying and such. As I walk by one of the window bays I witness a man exercising.  And I'm talking like major exercising. He was doing stretches and push ups. In the library? It was one of those things that you see and have to do a double take to make sure you actually saw it.

Sometimes I feel that people think the library is a living google search. I get odd phone calls and questions sometimes. Such as, what is the answer to this crossword puzzle? Or, do you know how to put minutes on a go-phone? What district is such and such high school in? Who is Scarlett's best friend in the movie Gone With the Wind? Where can I rent a projector? How do you restart your iPhone after locking yourself out?

Not long ago I was working the night shift and my coworker, Kim, and I had stepped away from the information desk for a moment. When we return she says, "Oh look. We have flowers." Sure enough, we each had a single, pink rose bud at our work stations. Weird.

So these are just a few of my strange library excursions. Funny stuff!

Currently...

I stole borrowed this post idea from Miss Tessa Hall over at Christ is Write. Check out her blog; it's wonderful. She's been doing this post for the last few months and I always thought it was a really neat idea. So I thought, why not try it out.

Currently Reading...

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• Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers
• Jenny B. Jones books...she is fantastic.
• Rob Bell books...he's also pretty super.

Currently Watching...

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• Doctor Who. Lots and lots and lots of Doctor Who.
• Castle. Season five has started. Excited!

Currently Listening To...

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• Needtobreathe The Reckoning
• Tenth Avenue North The Struggle
• Way-FM Radio. The Wally Show is the best.

Currently Working On...

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• Anatomy and Physiology homework. Tests and papers are coming up!

Currently Sipping On...

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• White Chocolate Mochas...but I'm going to try out Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte soon as well.
• Fiji water.

Currently Looking Forward To...

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• Wednesday morning coffee and Bible study with my dear friend Bethany.

What are you doing here lately?

So I have this friend. And she's pretty much amazing.

Emily and I met through our blogs close to two years ago.  We started e-mailing and chatting on facebook...all the time.  You know, tell-tale signs of total best buds. ;)  But there was a bit of a downside to our friendship...12 hours of drive time separated us.  We didn't let that stop us though.  A couple different times we started planning trips to get together and meet in person.  They never worked out though.

But!  Last week...a week ago today in fact, we were able to meet, for the first time, face-to-face.

Talk about a neat experience!  This one definitely makes it to the top of the list.

We met at Cracker Barrel first and had breakfast together.  The first time we saw each other my family and I were on one side of the Cracker Barrel porch and Emily and her family came around the corner on the other side.  We kind of fast-walked to each other and hugged and smiled.  Epic, movie worthy stuff there, I'm telling you.

After Cracker Barrel, we went to the mall.  They had a Barnes and Noble, a Starbucks, a movie/music store and a Bath & Body Works...which equals a pretty fantastic time.

{We found these in Barnes and Noble and thought it great photo opportunity.}

So, to Emily...
Thanks for meeting me.
Thanks for putting up with my Doctor Who obsession.
Thanks for praying for me.
Thanks for being the macaroni to my cheese and the peanut butter to my jelly.  (Hehe!)
Thanks for being my bestie.

{Photo credit to my dad and Emily.}

Dear Florida,

Dear Florida,

We're back!

{Photo credit goes to my dad.}

Summer Bucket List

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Summer is over.  It was sad to watch it go.  Technically, summer as in 'no school' was gone quite a while ago.  But summer as in the 'weather' has just recently left.  Which means one great thing... Autumn has arrived!

Over the summer I made myself a bucket list.  It was my last summer as a high schooler and I wanted to do stuff.  I am happy to say that most of the items on my list I completed.  Some things I'm still working on (like reading all of Jane Austen's novels) and some things I didn't do quite so well (like take lots of pictures...hence the lack of photos in this post).  But I wanted to share the things I completed.

1. Read at least ten books.
I passed this with flying colors.  From the beginning of June through the month of August I read twelve books.

• Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
• Eragon by Christopher Paolini
• Short-Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer
• Persuasion by Jane Austen
• The Maze Runner by James Dashner
• The Lost Choice by Andy Andrews
• Crash by Jerry Spinelli
• Hamlet by William Shakespeare
• Save the Date by Jenny B. Jones
• Lies Young Women Believe by Nancy Leigh Demoss and Danna Gresh
• Christy Miller Collection Vol. 1 by Robin Jones Gunn
• Today I Will by Jerry and Eileen Spinelli

A good variety of fiction, non-fiction, teen, and adult, I think.  You can look at my ratings for each of these on my Goodreads account if you fancy.  You'll find the link on my sidebar.

2. Watch the sunrise.

I did this one morning.  I wish I had done it more often than that, though.  It was a really neat experience.  You can read about it here.

3. Be crafty.

I realize this item bay be a bit vague.  But I didn't want to give up on my crafts over the summer.  I knew I would have all this time on my hands being out of school and I didn't want to waste it all on facebook and pinterest.  So I did several different craft projects over the summer.  One major one being my bed.  You can see that here.  With the help of my dad and brother, I made my own headboard out of barn wood.  It turned out fantastic!

I also worked on my scrappy-journal quite a bit.  It doesn't take a lot of time and it's fun.  More about that here.

I decorated a mug with a Jane Austen quote.  That was really neat!  And it's so easy.  I think I'm definitely going to use it as a Christmas gift idea.  Check it out here.

4. Ride a roller coaster.

This was a biggy for me.  I really wanted to cross this off my list.  I knew I'd have the opportunity in August...we went to an amusement park for a Christian concert.  It was a blast!  And, YES, I did ride my very first roller coaster...and my second.  My good friend Bethany went with me.  I told her that because I went swimming with her in her very first lake, she'd have to take me on my first roller coaster.  We are now even.  I've gotta confess...I was pretty much terrified the entire time on the ride, and I probably won't be going on too many roller coasters in the future, but I can definitely say that I've done it!

5. Color my hair.

This was another first for me.  Over the summer I got highlights put in my hair for the first time.  They've mostly faded now...  But in these photos you can see them really well.  I love how it turned out!  And I might just do it again sometime.

6. Go to a drive-in theater.

So, my daddy said that I went to a drive-in when I was really little.  But last week I went to my very first memorable one.  I also did this Bethany.  We watched ParaNorman and Ice Age 4.  Wasn't a super big fan of ParaNorman...Ice Age was cute.  But we had a blast!  I think that we probably could have watched any movie and still had fun.

7. Buy a pair of skinny jeans.

Two pairs actually.  One pair being a peachy, coral color.  I love them!  I also had at the end of this bucket list item 'and be able to pull off the style'.  Eh, I think I do.  Haha!  I hope so anyway...'cause I really love wearing them.  I hope to post photos soon, so you'll have to tell me what you think.

That's all for me.  What did you do over the summer?  Was it fabulous?

ketchup

Hello all!

Ag!  It's been a while.  I'm feeling a catch up post coming on...

I am a college student.  Anybody else out there experiencing full time college for the first time?  Mind blowing!  Some days I'll get home and not have hardly any homework and get to read all day long.  "College life is amazing!"  Then other days I'll have tons of things to do in a day and a half on top of my job.  "Panic attack!"  But overall, I'm really enjoying my college career.  Anatomy and Physiology is tough.  I'm in love with my English class.  And I get lots of exercise walking from class to class and then to my car.  Today I got a really good parking spot and I felt like doing a happy dance.

I just finished reading an amazing book.  It's called Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. Wow.  It is incredibly thought provoking.  It's a Christian Non-Fiction and talks about repainting the Christian faith.  I definitely recommend it....but to those who are really grounded in your faith.  It touches on some major topics.

Still crazy about Doctor Who.  My sister and I actually redecorated our bathroom into a Doctor Who theme.  *grins*  I'm in the middle of season three now.  And, I'll try not to ruin it for anyone watching it currently, but the end of season two was probably one of the saddest things I have ever watched.  I cried.  And it took me a good while to move onto season three.  But, I'm okay now!  I'm getting used to Martha...she's nice.  Different.  But nice.

If you would, take a moment and click on this link here.  Walking on Sonshine is my best friend's newly established blog.  I'll love you forever if you'll go check it out.  It's pretty great!

October Baby comes out on dvd today.  I saw it in theaters and thought it was just splendid.  I'm very tempted to go out and buy it.  I might, just might, go do it...then I can have a movie night tonight.

Before I close this post and hit the 'publish' button, I wanted to take moment to say something about today, 9/11.  It's been eleven years.  I pray that we all remember that tragic day and the lessons it taught us as a country.  I also pray for the grieving families out there that lost loved ones in the attacks.  You're in my thoughts and prayers.

Blessings to you all!  Have a super fantastic day.

headboard

Does anybody else have an incessantly squeaky bed?

Me!  Me!  *waves hand frantically*

That is until I found a way around it.  Yes, you don't have to ask, I found this idea on pinterest.  Haha!

It was mainly my headboard that gave me the most trouble.  My bed frame was old and passed down.  Some of the screws were missing from different places and it'd rattle.  I found this picture on pinterest a couple months ago and was inspired.  A headboard made out of barn wood? How cool!

I was going to do a step-by-step process on how to make this, but after seeing how difficult it was...  Well, I take that back, it's not so much as difficult as it requires a lot of man power.  My daddy and brother, Zach, are super guys, let me tell you.

But I will give you a brief description of how we went about creating my new headboard... First I had to find some barn wood.  My grandparents happened to have some laying around their farm, so I was able to get mine for free.  Which was outstanding!  After we cut it the right length, we went out and bought a big piece of plywood.  I went ahead and painted my plywood black, just in case some of it happened to show through the cracks.  After that, we nailed each piece of barn wood onto the plywood individually, in order to make one big board.  It worked out really nicely, but also ended up weighing a ton.  Hence, the man power.  My dad then nailed two two-by-fours onto the plywood to make legs for support.  He nailed these into my wall, pushed my bed up against it (after my old headboard was removed), and twa-da, I have a new headboard!

Here's the finished product:

I have to admit, the first night it was done, I didn't sleep so well.  I was so afraid it would some how come out of the wall and squish me.  Zachary made the joke that I'd then be "Flat Katie"...like "Flat Stanley".  Lovely brothers... ;)

But, the nails have done their duty and held fast.  I'm now sleeping peacefully without a rickety headboard.

all the difference

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Sometimes I feel like a fish out of water

Because of the way I believe

Like...I believe I was made for a purpose

That I'm here for a reason

All I am is because of HIM

And that's made all the difference

I'm not one who likes to stand out

When I do I get nervous

But then I learned something

I was made to stand out

It's one of my purposes

And that's made all the difference

I am a fish out of water

I wasn't made for this place called Earth

It's who I am, and how I live

But more than that

It's Who I'm living for

He's made all the difference



Doctor Who

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This is completely my sister's fault...for getting me hooked on this television show.  Well, that, and seeing it on pinterest all the time.

Here's how it started.  Annie found this new-to-her TV show on Netflix and just started going crazy about it.  Whenever she tried to explain it to me, though, it'd go something like this...

"There's a bunch of different doctors because they can regenerate themselves.  They're the same, but they look and act different.  And they're called Time Lords and travel in a time traveler called the TARDIS which is disguised as a telephone box and nobody knows his name, the doctor, and it's a crime to abbreviate doctor...it must be spelled out.  And such-and-such was born in his future and time travels back to meet him in his past... And it's just amazing!"

"Say what?"

Finally I had to just try this whole Doctor Who thing for myself.  And three episodes later I couldn't get enough.

Anybody else a Doctor Who fanatic out there?  I'm only on season two, so please, no spoilers.

Who's your favorite Doctor?  I quite enjoyed Doctor #9.  I thought he was...well...fantastic. ;)

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But Doctor #10 is definitely starting to grow on me.

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As is Rose.  I wasn't such a fan of her at first.  She frustrated me.  But I've gotten used to her and I think she goes well with The Doctor.

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So, yes, I'm now a Doctor Who fan.  I'm looking at T-shirts on ebay and weighing the pros and cons of asking my parents if I can paint my door TARDIS blue.  We shall see.

while at work...

Last week, Tuesday evening to be exact, one of my coworkers, Sharon, came up to me before she got off and asked me to do her a favor.  Her summer reading program was the next day and the kids were going to be learning how to draw.  But they were also going to be making creations with their fingerprints using stamps.  So, Sharon asked me to test each stamp to make sure it was good and inky for the children.  I must have looked a tad bit dumbfounded because she confirmed that yes she really did want me to stick my fingers in the stamps and test them.  When I finished I left her note telling her which ones worked best.  And just out of impulse, I signed my name and then put my thumbprint beside it.  Mmhm...my job is awesome.

***

When I'm around my family, specifically my sister, I've learned to answer not only to Katie, but to Annie as well.  The same thing has occurred at work.  Only I'm called Rachael instead.  I've never met Rachael.  She left before I got there.  But apparently I'm a lot like her, both in build and mannerism.  And, I confess, after hearing about how much I was like her several times I finally looked her up on facebook.  There's definitely a resemblance.   I'd love to meet her someday and go up to her and say, "Hi, I'm Katie, but I'm often mistaken for you."

***

Many of my coworkers have commented on my hair in the last week after having it colored.  Most people say I look even more like my mom.  *grins*  But this one fellow, Ryan, worked the night shift with me one day last week.  It was probably two and a half, maybe three hours into our shift when he looks over at me and suddenly says, "Do you have a red streak in her hair?"  

I laugh and answer, "Yeah."  

"I guess it was intentional...?"  

I laugh again, "Yep."  

"I've been sitting here with you all night and I just now noticed!"  

Then one of our shelvers walks by and Ryan says to her while gesturing to me, "Is her hair different?"  

Right off the bat she answers, "Yeah she got highlights."  

It was really quite funny.  Good times...good times. 

through my window

If I wait too long to live my dream, I may find that it's too heavy.  But if I start now, day by day, every day, someday people may marvel at how much I can carry.

--Jerry Spinelli, "Today I Will"

coloring

I've been coloring!

No, not with crayons, markers, or paper.

What then?

Well...with my hair!

I have always had a bit of a fascination with red hair.  My hair is a little naturally strawberry blond anyway, but those girls that have the full head of red, natural hair...how cool!  My aunt recently got a dark highlight put in her bangs, and it, well, it inspired me.  Why not try the same thing with red?

So I did!






Yesterday afternoon I spent two hours in the hair salon.  It was the first time I've ever colored my hair, and it was quite an adventure.

{Sorry that these are blurry.  They're iPod pictures.}

Don't worry... I waited a good two weeks before making the appointment and spent a lot of time thinking about it.  I made absolutely sure I really wanted this put in my hair.  Haha!

Here are a couple pictures of the finished product.  I really love it!  And so does my mom...which is really saying something, because she was pretty nervous about the whole ordeal.

Persuasion

To recap, my brother Zach and I decided one of our projects for the remainder of the year was going to be to read all six of Jane Austen's novels.  We created our own, two person book club.  The Jane Austen Book Club.

"Persuasion" was our first pick.  My pick, actually.  I was pretty excited to read this one.  I'd heard good things about it.  Zach and I had our book discussion just today and we bantered about different things that I thought I'd share with you.  Feel free to answer any of the questions in a comment of your own if you've read the book and wish to join in.  If you haven't read the book, then I forewarn you here and now.  There are spoilers ahead.

Favorite character?
K: Anne.  Okay, I know, she was the main character.  But she was pretty awesome, you've got to admit.  So calm and collected even though she was surrounded by chaos nearly all the time.
Z: Captain Wentworth.

Least favorite character?
K: Mary.  She drove me batty most of the book.  I found her really very selfish and ready to push off any responsibility (including her children) onto Anne or some other willing soul as soon as she got the chance.
Z: Sir Walter.  He didn't even like his own daughter!  His only concern was his wealth and making a name for himself in society.

What makes the book different than other works of Austen?
We haven't read many of her other books but we've seen several movies.  We noticed that in this one Anne is older.  She's nearly 30 and not in her prime, unlike other characters in Austen's books.

Favorite scene/thing?
K: Forgiveness towards Lady Russell.  When Anne and Captain Wentworth were engaged the first time, Lady Russell was the one who advised Anne against it.  In the long run, it was the wrong advice to give.  But Anne didn't hold that lost time against her.  Lady Russell was Anne's best friend in the book.
Z: Anne was lacking a mother figure and didn't have all that great of a father and yet she was still so polite and just an all around great young lady.  She was her own person, and though she did take advice from others, she didn't let any one control her.

Least favorite scene/thing?
K: The conversation with Mrs. Smith over the character of Mr. Elliot.  Mrs. Smith's part of this conversation just didn't sit right with me.  The first thing that pops out of her mouth about Mr. Elliot when she thinks Anne is engaged to him is selfish.  Instead of having Anne's well being at heart and warning her right off about Mr. Elliot's character, it was all about what she might gain.
Z: The ending.  Of course I liked that Anne and Wentworth got together in the end, but I wish Austen had written dialogue instead of narrating their walk together.

Thoughts on Mr. Elliot...
We both thought that Austen might have had a twist in the book and have Anne end up with Mr. Elliot.  Though neither of us wanted it.  We were slightly surprised when he ended up having an underlying reason for being friends with the Elliot family.

Favorite quote:
Both of our favorite quotes came from Captain Wentworth's letter to Anne.
K: "I have loved none but you."
Z: "You pierce my soul."

I hope you enjoyed this little Jane Austen review.  More to come as we move onto our second book..."Emma".

Scrappy-Journal

This is a book that I like to affectionately refer to as my scrappy-journal.  (Scrapbook + Journal = Scrappy-Journal)  All it is really is an ordinary composition notebook.  At least it was when I bought it.  Clearance at Walmart...can't beat that!  When I got it, I made a pact with myself that I wasn't going to be a perfectionist.  I was going to cut and tape and scribble...even be messy if I felt like it.  And that's what I've done.  As you can see, it's bulging with creativity.  And it's incredibly easy, so I thought I'd show you how to do it.

(Oh, before I go any further, I know the quality of some of these photos isn't the best.  They were hurriedly snapped in my darkish room.  My apologies.)

(Oh, very random side note...I just happen to be grooving to the Tarzan soundtrack right now. ;) )

Okay, back to my journal.  I thought I would do a very brave thing and let you see inside.  On one condition.  No making fun, okay?  Sound good?

My first couple pages are book lists.  I love to look back and see old titles I've read and remember the stories.  Plus it helps me keep up with how many books I've read in a month/year.

I like to write funny quotes that I find on pinterest...things that just plain describe me.  And I also tape or stick things that I find places.  Like the stickers below.

One of my most treasured pages is the one below.  I made it for one of the dearest people I know.  Emily is my pen pal and best friend.  We met over blogger a year and a half ago, and someday we'll meet in person.  I just feel it in my bones.  So I made a page with things we want to do when we meet.

After a couple months of taping and sticking, my journal started to get...well a bit fat.  I didn't want anything falling out, so I grabbed a heavy duty hole punch from my mom's office and punched a hole in each side.  With a couple pieces of ribbon I'm able to tie it up.  It works very nicely.

Not only do I like to put funny things in my book, but also little pieces of inspiration.  Quotes, song lyrics...things I find on pinterest or other blogs.  Things I simply want to remember.

The page below happens to be my most recent.  "All the time God is writing a bigger narrative."

I also have a summer bucket list, old movie tickets, my birthday and graduation invitations.  I used a few pages for people to sign at my graduation ceremony.  I have my first "I Voted" sticker in there.  A seashell I got in Florida last year.  And an origami frog that I made.  Random...and yet special things to me.