Calvin: no snacks = skinny katie

me: :O

O

Also, happy buss day to mi mummy! Where would I be without you? Really… )

Happy buss day mummy )

• You are definitely one of the hardest workers I know, and I am always inspired by your dedication in all your work. Although we didn’t really get close till the end of undergrad, you have been such an awesome friend to me during that time. Always willing to lend an ear without a hint of complaint, even when it’s the same story I’ve told you for the gazillionth time. I always remember you never ever forgetting my birthday or special dates/holidays, and even the gifts you give me are so thoughtfully chosen. You are also one of the most energetic and grounded people I know. There’s never much that can get you down, and even when you are down, all it takes is one prayer or a few words of encouragement to get you back on your feet right away. Thanks especially for all the words of wisdom, encouragement, and support that you have given me over the past 6 months. Can not thank you enoughhhhh!!
• I already said yours out loud during oikos, but it never hurts to hear more encouragement, right? Even though I was scared of you when you terrorized the halls of Ridgeview MS with your death stare, I’m glad that I can call you one of my best friends now teehee. Thanks for laughing at all my jokes whether they are funny or not, letting me finish your food most of the time, listening to my babble, etc. There is never an uncomfortable moment with you, and you tolerate and allow me to be my weird butt self to the max. You also may be small, but you are certainly not weak. I am so lucky to have an amazing friend like you! You’re a real gem.
• I am usually shaking my head at 99% of the things you say and making sure you know it, but I’ll give you credit for a few things. You are definitely a good sport when it comes to all the verbal abuse we throw your way. Also, despite your at times pompous and machismo attitude, I still think you’re a big softie inside. You definitely have your “moments” and those shouldn’t be overlooked, but the ego could still definitely be toned down a bit (which we will of course continue to assist you with…) But in all seriousness, if anything, I think God has blessed you with a servants heart. Always willing to lend a hand with the grunt work without hesitation. It’s also clear that you take care of friends in whatever capacity. Haha should be expected of a friend, but you definitely take the extra step to make sure they know you care. I respect that because it’ s not something that everyone necessarily does. One of my rare moments of kindness to you!
• Whenever I see you, I see that you are a man that is truly after God’s heart and I have a tremendousss amount of respect for that. I remember serving with you at the first Timothy retreat that I helped out with and just being very inspired and touched by your heart for the students. Now that you’re back to serve at NCFC again, I see how your heart has extended out to the Impact group as well. I’m sad that I won’t be around to see what else God is going to do through you for both ministries. Also, even though you looked at my elementary school picture and asked me if I had a brother, I forgive you.
• I’ve only known you really for a few weeks with our conversations being limited to fellowship time after church, but even during that short time I have been encouraged by your attendance. I know how hard it must be to continue coming to a church so large where you don’t know many people, but I’m glad that despite the circumstances you still made it out! You’re coooo.
• The way that God has been working in you the past few years is so encouraging! It is so clear how much the timothy kids love you, and I respect that you take time out of your busy schedule to spend time with them every week no matter what. They’re clearly one of the top priorities in your life, and I’m so touched by the heart that God has given you for the timothy students. You’ve also always, without question, been a gentleman (for example helping to take care of your friend’s flub ups, even when it’s something as big as having to take someone to HC. HAHA, do you remember?) Seeing your faith and dedication flourish over the years has blessed me immensely. Finally, random but I think you’re probably one of the most athletic people I know. Is there any sport you’re NOT good at??
• As was said on Saturday, you really do have one of the softest hearts of anyone I know. I have never seen you angry, and you’re always up for doing anything. The joy that God’s given you is truly a gift, and contagious as well! I remember specifically hanging out with you and the other guys 4th of July, and I didn’t think it you had that much fun, but when we all got home I remember you saying, “Man I had a GREAT time!!” and I felt so happy for some reason haha. I hope nothing ever happens to taint your joyful heart. Your happiness is a blessing to others as well.
• Though you are a man of few words, your passion for God is so evident in your actions. You’re always willing to serve when asked, and I can’t tell you how many times God has used you to bless me through worship. You’re also somehow amazingly good at EVERYTHING. Except taboo…HAHAHA. But besides that, I hope your passion for Him never dies. You bless me!
• Didn’t really get to know you all that well till this past year, but better late than never, right?. Thanks so much for taking the time out to really teach me how to lead worship and provide me with everything I need. Thanks also for listening and constantly pushing me to do things when I was in my slump. You are inappropriate sometimes, but a good friend. I’ve learned a lot from you, and God has truly anointed you with the gift of worship. Thanks dood for everythanggg.
• Sad that you are leaving for Korea! I’ve never seen you mad either! Always very patient, kind, and optimistic about everything. Such admirable qualities. I’ve been most blessed though by your faithfulness and commitment to Focus and our oikos specifically. Thanks for being an awesome leader. I know God will use you and bless you in Korea! You will be missedd!!
• Where to begin?? I think that you are one of the kindest, most caring, and gentle people I know. Thanks also for everything you have done for me. Just listening, hanging out, and being a wonderful unnie. It may sound weird, but when you are around I feel very safe and taken care of haha, but at the same time I can always have fun with you. Seeing how quickly you pick yourself up after hardships has also helped me a lot and I admire that a lot about you. Thanks for being a great role model and example of a Godly woman. Love you so much!!
• Just got to know you this past year, but you are probably one of the most down to earth people I know. Always very welcoming to everybody and trying to get everyone together without excluding anyone. I’m always encouraged by your desire to grow and enthusiasm for oikos! I also appreciate the one “heart to heart” we had over jumbo slice Ahaha.
• Last, but certainly not least, you are probably one of the most amazing living testimonies I have known to date. Whenever I see how far you have come along in your faith I”m always in awe. I’m also envious of your ability to always keep your head on straight and focus on the important things no matter what your circumstances. For me personally, I’m feel like I”m very weak hearted, so when I see you it teaches me to toughen up and stop complaining about the little things haha. Even before you came to know God He blessed you with a very loving and caring heart. I think one of my oldest and fondest memories of you is when I didn’t even really know you, but it was v-ball tryouts and I was getting a little bit discouraged and tired, but randomly you came up to me during one of the drills and said, “You’re really good!!” After you said that I remember being really happy hahaha. Only a very tiny example of your gimongous heart for others. You put up with my shennanigans daily for 4 years and still continue to do so to this very date. Thanks so much. Where would I be without you??

Okay whew that’s all. I tried to keep each one brief. There’s of course tons more things that could be said about everyone, but I ain’t trying to publish a novel on this thing. I also tried to leave out the incessant amount of smilies I tend to put in my entries. Have a vonderful day everyone! I leave you with pictures of our wonderful group (courtesy of Tai of course)

Second thing, when people blatantly keep things from you which wouldn’t be a big deal if they just TOLD YOU, but the fact that they actively graze over certain details just gives you reason to raise questions in your mind. I mean, especially when it’s someone you’re supposed to trust. Why you have to hide things?

Unfortunately that’s all I’ll say. I’m just so annoyed and in a terrible mood right now. I apologize that my once every 6 month entry had to be an angry one and also one of those vague ones that actually annoy me when I read them on other peoples pages, but I needed to vent. Thanks wordpress. Goodnight.

1) Obama overturned Bush’s old policy on stem cells http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/09/obama.science/index.html

2) A survey found that America is becoming “less Christian” http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/03/09/us.religion.less.christian/index.html

3) North Korea threatening to start war if anyone tries to interfere with the satellite they are trying to put in orbit http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/world/asia/10korea.html?_r=1&ref=world

Will comment on these later. Test tomorrow!

One thing I’m thankful for lately is the gorgeous weather we have been having this past week. I like winter and bundling up, but the gray skies and constant coldness take their toll after a while. I need sunshine, warmth, and some outdoor time! Absolutely can not wait till the sun starts shining AND it’s warm every single day. Plus the winter makes me heftier. My mentality becomes, ‘I can eat what I want because I’m going to cover myself with thick clothes anyway so no one will see.’ You get in trouble though on those random warm days which I guess serve as reminders that you can’t hide it forever. I’ve been better about it this winter though. Training for the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler is forcing me to stay in shape, but I think it’s also screwing up my knees. I usually run on the track so that I can tell how much I’m running, but afterwards there’s always some crucial soreness in my knees =/ I’ve been training since January and I’m kind of glad that I signed up. Before, the longest I’d ever run was 3 miles, but last week I finally reached 9! I of course can only do this with either 1 or 2 one minute breaks in between. I have to say that I used to hate running, and I still do a little bit, but while I’m running sometimes it’s just like an instant high (perhaps what crack feels like?) I guess it’s a combination of endorphins and the gratification from exceeding my weekly goal. Feels so good. Plus I look forward to the tasty and perhaps somewhat unhealthy treat afterwards that I tell myself I can eat for running so long

I’d say the hardest part of all the training has been actually getting myself onto the treadmill/track. Before each run and when I start I’m always dreading the amount I’ve set aside for myself to run and how long it’s going to take. Sometimes I don’t think I’m going to make it, but I always make sure that I push myself a little more than the day before at the end. I guess before I could never get past 3 miles because I just didn’t push myself. I was content at 3, thought it was a lot relative to the amount I generally run, and thought running anything more was basically an impossibility. I’m training pretty diligently for this mini marathon but I wish I was this diligent in my own spiritual life. Things have just been dry for a few months now. I think last semester I was growing and then somewhere in the middle of it I just became too content and prideful with where I was and God definitely humbled me. I was “satisfied” with life, but not because I was satisfied with God alone, but because things in life seemed to be falling into place with other things and I kind of squeezed God in. I can always go deeper. There are so many aspects of God and His character that I still haven’t encountered yet, and at times I just get to a certain point and then stop there or just quit all together because I feel like I’ll never reach that far or I almost feel like I’ve gone “far enough”. I guess the challenge now is actually just getting myself back into the routine. It’s not that I forget or I don’t have time, but actually I find myself just thinking about doing it, but then avoiding it for some reason. Sometimes actually I feel like I’m so desperate to be in that “good place” again that I’m just looking for a quick fix. This might explain me avoiding doing QT…there’s a little part of me that’s desperately hoping that doing QT once is going to instantly “fix” me and make me grow. In reality though we all know it doesn’t work that way (usually at least) and I find myself avoiding it all together because I don’t want to be disappointed in the little progress I’ve made. It’s just like training for this marathon. I didn’t get this far in one day; it took me weeks to make this much progress and if I push myself harder who knows how far I can go. I know it’s a decision that I need to just make up in my head; to just keep my eyes and heart focused on Him and Him alone, but I feel like it’s a decision I am faced with and keep having to make every single day and I’m struggling like crazy. Rah anyway, enough writing for today.

On a random note: I miss taking Japanese and Spanish classes. Oyasumi nasai!

http://us.macmillan.com/lovelettersofgreatmen

I want.

Discovery 1: I’m probably all late with this, but I just discovered Pandora. Customized radio with no commercials? It is pretty freaking VONDERFUL. My radio station is currently set to John Mayer style. I am pleased with the selección of música! Trying not to download any more illegal music, but not ready to let go of my entire music library just yet. Hopefully Pandora will help make the transition easier.

Discovery 2 = HEALTHY CHIPS! For all those health conscious peeps, has anyone ever heard of the brand “Flat Earth”? They’re affiliated with Frito Lay and came out with chips that are actually good for you and taste really good! Well I guess not super good for you, but apparently they’re healthier than other veggie chips and such. Y’all can read up here. The only kind of tried really is the Tangy Tomato Ranch flavor. They have other ones but some of them sound kinda funky like, “wild berry patch” and “peach mango paradise”. Don’t know how I feel about fruit flavored chips but maybe tastier than I think?

Discovery 3: My Mom is a Fob. Hahaha this is one of the cutest sites. I was also surprised to see that there are moms that are more extreme about the sun than mine. Where do they even sell arm sheaths like these?? Hahaha this one made me crack up:

• Mom: Have you talked to your brother lately? Is he ok?
• Sister: I think so, I talked to him online the other day. He seems fine.
• Mom: Oh really? He e-mailed me and said he’s chilling.
• Sister: Uhh… yah, he’s “chilling” you know, relaxing?
• Mom: Oh you mean he’s not sick? He’s not cold?

and this one: “sno storm tonite dont get too drunk and die on the street.

Mom.”

hahaha. sometimes I wish my mom wuj more pob.

Discovery 4: I have an exam tomorrow that I didn’t know about till yesterday and an hour long presentation tomorrow that I must also prepare for. Me fail :O(

HAH ok sorry that’s my angry rant of the day.

Today I took Daisy out for her walk again and ended up bumping into some of the other neighbors as I usually do. I’ve met a lot of my neighbors that I would never talk to if we hadn’t gotten Daisy and bump into them pretty frequently now. One thing I realized though is that none of them (minus my next door neighbors) have ever asked me what I’m doing right now. I’m pretty sure they know that I’ve been living there and that I’m not in high school or middle school, so it makes me wonder whether they think I’m just a scrub livin’ in my parents house after graduation with a really cute puppy. I hope not, but then again, why should I care right? I guess I haven’t really asked them what they do either, but I feel like that would be an inappropriate question for me to ask. I know that most of the women are housewives, but I feel like being the older peeps, they should be able to ask me what I’m doing. Right? Meh.

I’m also paranoid about Daisy smell. Daisy’s smell is not terribly strong, but it’s also not entirely pleasant about a week after I’ve bathed her. I think I’ve gotten more used to it since I’m around her most of the time, but it makes me wonder whether I’m starting to smell like her. I’m paranoid b/c one of my friends who used to have a dog constantly WREAKED of her dog’s smell. Dog was adorable. Friend was awesome. Smell was intolerable. I didn’t want to be rude so I only mentioned it once and other times I just didn’t breathe through my nose when I was around her. :/

Please tell me if I begin to smell like doggie.

Oh and this is what I saw on the stop sign in my neighborhood as I drove out today:

YEAH YO.

I want to do too many things.

:/

Stolen from Jeanette. Bein in Flo Rida\’s posse