Back to Your Regular Scheduled Program.

Life right now is currently like a big breath of fresh air.

Why?

The semester is over, Christmas is almost here, and after a very long semester, the hard work paid off and I made it through Portfolio Review and into the upper division Graphic Design program. I'm telling you...months of freaking out and all-nighters took there toll but it was so incredibly worth it. I'm glad that it's behind me and I can move on now.


The past few days since the semester ended on Thursday have been my "catch up" days. Catching up on sleep, catching up on snuggles with the nephews, catching up on everything. Today was the ultimate though. Spent the morning with the littlest nephew Carter, the went to the store and came home and cooked dinner and enjoyed time with my wonderful parents. I haven't cooked in months and I was missing it...it's stress relief for me. So, naturally, I did it up big.

Two Corn Casserole

Poppy Seed Chicken

The Final Spread

It all turned out wonderful and it was nice to have the time to cook a full meal for the family.

On another note, I took a late night trip to walmart tonight and met a special someone. Readers....Meet Mr. Fabulous.


Indeed. He is a humidifier, but none the less, as fabulous as ever. This crazy winter mess has me all messed up. I'm talking nose bleeds and sandpaper skin every day. It is safe to say that in the thirty minutes he's been hooked up, I've fallen in love.

Alrighty. I know. This is possibly the most scattered post ever. From cooking to humidifiers, It's a jumbled mess. I promise a real thought out post is coming soon :) It's been too long.

Anyhoo. That's the end of this mess of a post. If I don't post before Christmas, Have a wonderful Christmas and remember the reason for the season <3

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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Intermission.

Dearest blog readers-

I have not abandoned you. I will return in December.

This next month is full of reworking projects, mounting and organizing, and preparing for finals and portfolio review. Prayers would be greatly appreciated as this review dictates whether I can advance to the final stages of the Graphic Design program at MTSU.

Review is on December 9th... expect a post with the results soon after.

Until then....

Happy fall!

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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In You.

I've written two blogs in the last hour. But I'm not publishing them. Not yet anyways. I'm not feeling very...blog-ish today. My heart is heavy, overwhelmed, & in need of a good system restart.

I need to be here.

or here. Oh, what I'd do to be right here again.

"My soul is longing to find Your peace. Lord, I just need to rest."

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The Constitution & Cowgirl Boots.

I'm three weeks into the semester and have only had one "freak out" moment. Those who know me know that is quite the accomplishment. I thought this semester was going to...well...quite frankly, kick me in the rear. Four Studio classes is on the verge of insanity in the art & graphic design department. Five is suicide. Me? I chose insanity. Four studio classes it is. I think what's helping me is the fact that I absolutely love every single class. It truly makes all the difference to love what you do.

Here's a few photos of what I've been working on...I don't have any pictures from Illustration or Word & Image yet. We're moving at a little slower pace and are just now getting into projects.

Setting type for my first official letterpress project

Locking the type onto the press bed. So. Stinkin. Complicated.

First set of rough prints :) I'll be doing the actual edition printing sometime in the next week.
The quotes says "Think of these things: Whence you came, where you are going, & to whom you must account." -Benjamin Franklin.

Learning Book #2....Not quite done. but a start.

Learning book #3...first hardcover book. Not done yet. More pictures later :)

So that's what consumes my Tuesdays & Thursdays. and I love it.

In other news.

Happy Constitution Day! :)

I'm thankful I live in a country that grants freedom of so many things people in other countries don't get the chance to enjoy. It's so easy to take those things for granted.

Recently there has been much debate about whether all religions are to be granted freedom to practice. It's become heated and people on both sides have acted viciously towards the other. It seems 85% of the debate is between the Muslims and Christians. While I could easily post a long post about this topic I will limit it to a small little section. Here we go:

•America's constitution grants freedom of religion. It is not limited to the realm of Christianity.
•Both Muslims AND Christians have acted horribly to the other. but just as we must distinguish between the extremest Muslims and the non-extremest Muslims, We must also distinguish between the extremest Christians and the non-extremest Christians.
•A note to my fellow Christians: We are not called to prove people wrong and hate them if they don't agree. As I recall, Christ orders us to love our enemies. I guarantee that burning someone's Koran (or any other hateful act) has never brought a Muslim closer to believing in Christ.

That's all. I'll step off my soap box before I get carried away. Comment all you want on this topic. I'm open to hearing other's views.

Finally: This southern-raised girl bought her first pair of Cowgirl boots this past weekend. And I totally rocked them on Tuesday night. Just sayin'.
How on earth I lived in Tennessee almost 22 years without owning a pair of boots is beyond me. I'm completely in love. And currently looking for a cute fall dress to wear them with.

That's all for today.

Love. Love. Love.
-Katie

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A Lovely Start

Just in case anyone out there is wondering classes have started out marvelously. I'm absolutely loving each and every one of my classes. It's going to be one crazy semester but it'll be exciting. I can't remember if I've mentioned what classes I'll be taking so here's a recap:

Word & Image

The third in my series of classes on my way to being a graphic designer. Exciting stuff. My last class was typography (anything and everything you wanted to know about the alphabet, letters, and type...and then some). This class is marrying type with imagery. It'll be exciting. It doesn't hurt that I have one of my favorite professors for the class.

Digital Illustration

This is by far the class I'm most nervous about. Drawing isn't my strongest asset. I can do it if I really put my mind to it but it's just not...my thing? For instance: A drawing that would take some people 30 minutes takes me three hours. Regardless: I'm excited about the class. It'll be quite useful in the years ahead.

Book Arts

For some reason this class is hard to explain to people. Essentially it is exactly what the name implies. The art of making books. Sounds simple but there is so much to it. I'll be learing everything from designing my own paper, to learning about binding my own books, making covers and everything you could want to learn about the art of books. So exciting. We've lready started on out first book and it's marvelous.

Letter Press

This class is already amazing me. If you don't know what a letter press is, youtube it. It's fascinating. and. I'm already giddy about using one from the 1800's at the end of the semester. So excited.


That's the run down for the semester. I'm trying to remember to take pictures of projects so I can post them when I get a minute.

In other news:
I've been meaning to post a link to a blog that I've become addicted to.
Have a read:
Enjoying the Small Things.
This has been a favorite blog of mine for a few months. I'm fascinated by the pictures that Kelle takes stunning pictures of her not so average life and her two beautiful girls, Lainey & Nella. Someone sent me the link to this page. and I've been hooked ever since. It's the beautiful story of the birth of Nella. Read it and have tissues near by. Don't say I didn't warn you. Kelle's a wonderful writer and you'll be waiting for her next post.


And lastly:

A quote that I saw in one of the art studios this past week that's been turning summersaults in my head since I read it.

"I've been fighting for all the right reasons in all the wrong ways."

Easy to read once...but then I caught myself reading it again. and again. I feel a blog coming on completely devoted to that little quote.

But first: Your thoughts? Come on people. Scroll to the bottom...I can see your visits...and not a single comment. Sad stuff for this blogging heart, I tell you.

New, less scatter-brained blog coming soon. Not now though. Tis late and this red head is beat.

As always.
Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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Summer turns to Fall

Growing up is a funny thing. There comes a point where you realize life is not anything like you expected it to be when you were younger. Where everything you were taught is questioned, for better or for worse. Where faith and your relationship with God takes on a whole new meaning.

I've hit that phase.

When I was little I believed that Church was only a Sunday thing and that that little circle of Christianity I was in was the only group that would be in heaven. Now, on the other hand, I go to church on Tuesday nights and feel God there more than I've ever felt him on any Sunday morning. My relationship with Christ isn't a "Be good, and God will love you" type of a relationship. It's a relationship that can't even be described. I don't deserve it, yet God is always sending reminders of how He loves me despite myself.

The beautiful body of Christ I'm blessed to call my church family.

I can honestly say I'm going into this semester tomorrow encouraged. Encouraged that my faith means that I'm never alone in this journey. Encouraged that I am incredibly blessed to have a wonderful family. Encouraged that I have an amazing group of friends that I also can describe as a beautiful example of the Body of Christ. Encouraged that life is so much more than I thought it was.

This semester will be a challenging one but I know it'll be just fine and work out exactly how it needs to.

So on that note, this summer ends. Classes start in the morning and I'll be back to my crazed state of being. I'll be blogging as often as I can but you know how it goes. Until next time...

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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Aunt Squared

That's right, people. Carter Thomas has made his entrance into the world.

He's absolutely beautiful. He & Chass are both doing well.
More pictures to come :)

Love. Love. Love.
"At Taytee" (Connor's version of "Aunt Katie")

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Loyalties.

Sometimes inconveniences turn out to be the greatest "happies" in life. Last week I was informed that our house would be shown at 9:30 on Wednesday morning. I became slightly annoyed simply because that is right in the middle of when I'd be getting up and ready for work. That meant I'd have to get up an hour and a half earlier and out of the house by 9 when I didn't have to be at work until 11. Yes, It is safe to say that I was less than thrilled with the bad timing.

None the less, I woke up, got ready and headed out the door early with a commentary on the book of Romans by NT Wright and my Bible in hand and head to Panera for some coffee.

I walked in, ordered an iced mocha and found a table in the corner. Now, you see, I'm a people watcher. I kept trying to focus on my book but there were so many other conversations going on around me, it just wasn't working. So I listened. I heard conversations about work and business trips, Ben Stein and intelligent design, kids and a brand new school year. Everyone has so much to talk about.

Finally, I decided I needed to focus. I opened my Bible to Lamentations because a verse at Kairos had caught my eye the night before.

You, O LORD, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation.
-Lamentations 5:19

It's a simple verse really. But it's just one of those verses that popped out. A good reminder of who is truly in control.

Long story short, It got me thinking about exactly who I follow....about whose name I am loyal to. It's so easy, especially in America today, to become wrapped up in politics and religion. To be completely honest, I'm tired of religion and politics. I'm tired of what America defines as "Christianity". Christians weren't meant to be Goody two shoes who act as if they live perfect lives and separate themselves from the world. I don't believe that's the life Christ called us to.

I believe we are called to a life of servanthood. A life of standing up for those whose voices can't be heard otherwise. A life of loving those the world has deemed unlovable. A life of feeding the hungry. A life of breaking down the barriers of racism and hate. A life that reflects the love of Christ to a world that is literally dieing to feel it.

I'm convinced God made me a people watcher for a reason. My prayer is that over the next few months I become more aware of the needs of people around me. That I not only hear their converstaions outwardly but also hear the words that aren't spoken. That my heart becomes more burdened for others rather than myself.

I pray that I am not loyal to a country or religion or political party first. But that I am first and foremost loyal to Christ. and that through my loyalty to Him, all other loyalties fall into place.

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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Baggage Claim

About two weeks ago, I heard a message that really hit home. It was like I was that kid in the outfield not really paying attention to the game and a ball hit me right between the eyes. I've been mulling over it for the last two weeks and I'm finally figuring out just how to put it into words. Here goes nothing:

We all have baggage. and a lot of it. Some small, some big. Not just sin, although that's definitely part of it, but also pain, secrets, relationships, etc. The list could go on forever. Me? I've spent my whole life trying to get rid of my baggage, so to speak. Shoving it as far away as I can, or searching for ways to make it go away, instead of facing it head on. Instead of claiming it.

That Tuesday night at Kairos, Pastor Mike shed a whole new light for me on it with just this one little statement.

"It's only through a relationship with Christ that you can have the courage to face your baggage in the correct way...claiming it & opening it up with Christ so that you don't have to fear it any longer." -Mike Glenn

I love those last eight words: "you don't have to fear it any longer". You see, spending our whole lives pushing it aside and not dealing with it never solves anything. It's only when we pull that baggage out from where ever we're hiding it and open it along side Christ and CLAIM it that we find healing. The sins, the lies, the hurt and pain, the regret. We don't have to fear it anymore. We were never meant to fear it. Fearing it only leads to it having control over us. Claiming it and facing it leads to freedom.

Claiming our baggage isn't broadcasting our baggage to the world. It's something very intimate between Christ and His child. A one-on-one situation. Christ opens our baggage, pulls out the mess that inside and an almost silent "Yes...that's mine" is murmured from the lips of His child. Then it's done. The past is faced...we have no reason to fear it any longer.

Don't you feel like that kid in the outfield now?

Me too.

Romans 8:15-18
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

So I'm on a new little journey now. Baggage Claim can take a little longer than we like sometimes. There's a lot of bags to sort through but the end will be worth it.

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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Twenty-Five.

I love these things. I love reading them about other people and writing my own. So here you go:

25 things about yours truly

1. I secretly hate technology. Not really but in the realm of communication, I do. I love getting mail the "snail mail" way. I love writing letters and mailing them. Not so much with emails. I usually forget to email people back.

2. I want to be "green" but fail miserably. We have about 15 of those reusable grocery bag in our pantry. and I've used them once in the last year. I think recycling is marvelous but forget to do it. One day, I'll get the hang of it.

3. I love local stores, restaurants, farmers markets etc. I work at a local cafe and love it. I just went shopping today at a local little hole in the wall place that sells jewlery and art by local artist. and the farmers market? Don't get me started.

4. My dream life? working from home, raising a beautiful family, with a garden in the backyard that we get all our vegetables from. a simple life. I don't want the glitz and glamor. I just want...simplicity and family.

5. I have a ridiculous obsession with post it notes. I. love. them. As I'm typing this, I'm realizing that my stack is running low and I may need to make a walmart run just for post its.

6. Walgreens carries a new nail polish line thats only 2 dollars each and I'm obsessed. Finally nail polish that doesn'y cost 8 dollars a pop. Hm. Maybe I'll stop by on the way to pick up post it notes...

7. I swear by MAC makeup. end of story.

8. I only listen to country music in the summer. It just doesn't feel right in the winter time.

9. I get my news from Yahoo's homepage. Sad but true. Every day, I go and scroll through all the little headlines. If it's important, surely yahoo will cover it.

10. I've only encountered one scent of candle that I absolutely cannot stand. Orange Vanilla. It seriously makes me sick to my stomach. It's awful. and my mom loves it. yeah.

11. I can't ride a bike. I never learned when I was little and really haven't ever had a huge desire to learn. Weird, I know.

12. I'm addicted to the most shallow television show in the world. The Bachelor. I told myself I wouldn't watch it this season because it's just a waste of time. I did great until last weekend...when I watched all of the season up until this week in less that 48 hours.

13. It's past ridiculous how much will power it takes me to go through the school supplies without buying anything.

14. I want to get a passport just so that I have one. So that if I win the lottery I don't have to wait on stupid passport people to go on an extended vacation to Italy :)

15. Speaking of Italy, It's number on on my list of places I'd love to visit. Followed closely by: Spain, Africa, and Ireland.

16. I have a fish named Mr. Freckles. He's a picky little fish and his food cost more than he did. :) But I love him. and he loves me. I know because he does crazy swirl dances every morning when I get up.

17. When I get really excited or into a conversation I lose the ability to form whole sentences. My words start going all crazy and out of order. It's ridiculous.

18. I hate all thing creepy-crawly. There is not a "good" bug if you ask me. They all have the ability to send me running away screaming. Yes, it's that dramatic.

19. I think I have enough perfume to last me at least the next 10 or 15 years. No exaggeration. From where I'm sitting I can count 12 bottles. and there's more in the bathroom closet.

20. I must sleep with a fan on. If I don't I'll hear every noise through out all of Murfreesboro all night.

21. I also leave a light on when I fall asleep. Yes I'm 21. It's not that I'm scared of the dark...it's more habit? I fall asleep looking around my room thinking. I'm weird, I know.

22. I want to live on a farm. I'm talking full fledge-pig-raising-cow-milking-horse-riding-corn-growing farm. Which is odd because I don't know the first thing about farming.

23. There are two sounds that will make me cringe. First, nail files. the gritty scraping sound gives me shivers. Second, pulling cotton apart. as in, a cotton ball or q-tips stuck together. gross.

24. I don't do scary movies. at. all. not even once a year on Halloween.

25. I love series. series of books. series of movies etc. love love love them.


The End :)

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I think I was an Astronaut in my past life.

I'm not even kidding about the title to this blog. Okay. Maybe a little bit but seriously.
I just watched the Space Shuttle fly over our house and I seriously felt like I was 7 years old with how excited I got. Sad but true.

Alright. Maybe this will explain how giddy I am over this. I tried to upload the photo above
THREE times but kept hitting cancel instead of upload because I wouldn't slow down.

It's the little bitty white dot to the left of the picture a little under half way up. :) My camera phone didn't quite capture it but It was really bright in person. AND it's coming by again tomorrow. Yeah. You can bet I'll be watching.

Alright are you ready to feel REALLY small?

Just look at that. We are absolutely TINY compared to the sun.

Ready to feel even smaller?


The sun is just one of billions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy.
Feeling small, aren't you? Yeah, me too.

But wait.

The Milky Way is estimated to be just 1 of 125 BILLION galaxies by NASA.

Absolutely Insane.

It truly but everything in perspective, doesn't it? The world clearly doesn't revolve around us.

I'm so glad I serve the God that created every single star out there.

Psalm 19:1-4

¹ The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

² Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.

³ There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.

⁴ Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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Late night meanderings...

"The point - the only point - in being a messenger is that you deliver the message as instructed. Going around giving yourself airs as 'the messenger' may look impressive for a short while, but when you don't fulfill your commission it begins to look very odd." -N.T. Wright

I've become fascinated with my first N.T. Wright book. After hearing my best friend talk about how much she loves his writings for months, I finally wandered into Lifeway last week in search of a book of his. I came out with this:


It's a commentary he has written on Romans 1-8. I'm only on Romans 3:20 but I'm hooked. For months I've been searching for a good study of the Bible and this one is definitely the end to that search. He breaks it down into usually 3 to 5 verses and then talks about them. About whats going on at this time in history, what Paul meant when he used a certain word, what Paul was referring to. It's all just absolutely fascinating. More on the book when I finish but I thought I'd go ahead and mention it.

On a slightly different note, I've been thinking a lot lately about being completely whole in Christ. Every Christian has always heard "you can't do this" or "you can't do that" unless you're first completely complete in Christ.

Me? I was the skeptic of this until the last year. I knew I needed to be complete in Christ but never felt like I could really get there. Lord knows I'm not there yet but in the last few months, I've found a renewed since of hope in Christ. We live in such a broken world and one of the hardest things I've tried to figure out is why on earth God loves such a broken people. It's always been the "struggle" in my walk.

Until it just hit my like a ton of bricks. It does not nor will it ever make sense why He does. But the fact of the matter is...HE DOES. and there isn't a single thing I or anyone else can do to change that.

I'm slowly picking up speed in my journey to "completeness" in Him. I still hit those little bumps in the road where I hear satan yelling "You're worthless! You're broken...Why would God ever love you?" but it's Christ' ever present whisper saying "You're mine. I love you with an everlasting love." that keeps me going.

I'm His and He loves me with an everlasting Love.

And on that note...

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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**EDIT**
Comment box is fixed :)
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'It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.'

Alright. Much is going on in this wee little mind of mine. Maybe I'll start from the beginning? Stay with me folks. It may take a while to get there but I have a point (maybe two) to make.

On Tuesday Night, June 22, my church (also referred to as Kairos) held a night of worship. It was lovely. Just walking in, you could tell they put so much work in to the night to make it perfect. About half way through, they played a video that broke my heart. *ahem* Scroll to the bottom of my page, mute the lovely Josh Turner and then watch this video.

Amazing, huh? It's precisely what I needed to hear. It went directly to my heart. Everything about it. I've lived the "typical" Christian life for years. Not fake, mind you. Just typical.

This 4 minute video has broken my heart in the best way possible. I don't want to live like this anymore. I want to be a passionate Christian. One who's heart breaks for the Rahabs and Addicts of my world. For the children who beg for the church to fight for them. For the prisoners. For the Christians who lose everything for Christ. I want to LIVE worship.

I've sat back for years and let the world pass me by. Given when the "love offerings" come around for the missionaries that actually do go out into the world and fight for these people. It's not enough. I'm called to help them myself.

I could not shake this video. I watched it multiple times a day.

Fast Forward 4 Days.

Some of my Kairos Sisters and I went to the lakehouse. We all just really needed a girls weekend. A weekend to get away and relax.

Saturday Morning we all ended up on the porch after breakfast and started into a discussion of church and Christ and Kairos and a whole lot more. It was an incredible blessing to me. These girls each have such a passion for Christ. I can learn from each of them. and I did. We each talked about how that video had touched us. How we want to live worship. We talked for more than 2 hours and I felt like we could've talked for days.

All this to say, my heart is being changed. I know it's a process and it won't happen all at once. I have so much to learn about living worship instead of acting it. I need much more spiritual discipline among other things but, I'm changing. I hope the video changed a piece of you too.

That's really all I have to say about it all....I'm sure more posts will come as the journey continues, but for now...Have a wonderful week and Happy 4th of July. Thank a soldier.

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

•A few pictures from the Lake•

Where all the girl talks happened :)

My Beautiful Kairos sisters. I love these girls.

*Side note: I know my comment box isn't working. I'm working on getting it fixed. kinda. haha.

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Watermelon and Rain Showers

I beginning to doubt a single person reads this anymore. (Almost 3 months with not a single comment can do that to a blogger :) None the less, I continue with another post.

Summer is here in full swing. Complete with watermelon, summer rain showers, sun burns, late summer nights and evenings by the pool. Have I ever told you how much I LOVE summer? I think it's a tie between fall and summer as to which I love the most. Love them both.

Aside from all the obviously wonderful things about summer that I love, I'm also loving being able to get back into Kairos. For anyone who hasn't read about Kairos before on here, Kairos is a college ministry at Brentwood Baptist that some friends and I have been attending for almost a year. It's, essentially, my church. During the school year It's hard to make it every Tuesday night but I'm so glad to be back into the swing of things.

Last night at Kairos we had an "impact" night where instead of sitting and being given everything spiritually, we gave back. They had several things for us to do including helping the maitenance crew clean, writing letters to widows or soldiers over seas, doing miscellaneous odd jobs or going shopping for nonprofit organizations. It was wonderful. A good reminder that church is not about just coming and getting...it's just as much about giving back.

One last note: in 16 day's in heading to the lakehouse. THANK YOU SWEET JESUS! :)
This girl needs to get away for the weekend and I'm ridiculously excited.

Until next time-

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

ps: Blog makeover coming soon.

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Summer lovin'

I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will. -Charlotte Bronte

I have a new "adventure" for the summer. I'm an avid reader and I've been anxiously awaiting summer to dig into a few new books. I went book searching this past week and while in a book store decided I needed to broaden my horizons as far as literature goes. So I made myself a rule: For every "modern" book I read, I must also read a Classical book.

I proceeded to the classical literature sections hesitantly, such books can be quite frightening! To my surprise, I could hardly pick a book...they all sounded wonderful! I eventually settled on Charlotte Bronte's 'Jane Eyre' for my first classic read. I'm three chapters in and already in love. I will keep you updated on this wonderfulness I've discovered.

*Totally unrelated change of subject*

MAC makeup. I'm in LOVE. I've been using it for a few years and every time I venture into that wonderful section of the department store I fall even more in love. Today I had some spare time and paid MAC a visit. Planning to only but one thing, I left 15 minutes later with 50 dollars left in my bank account and three things in my bag. and could have easily spent 200 more.

The goods?

MAC Eye Shadow - Color: "Expensive Pink"
•I am absolutely in LOVE with this. I told the girl who was working there that I wanted to try something new. I tend to stay on the nuetral side as far as eye shadow goes but wanted something to add a little pop...she showed me this and it is perfect. Love love love it.


MAC Eye Shadow- Color: "Hey"
This was a "safe" pick for me. I needed a good accent color for my first choice. One that would blend well and be able to tone the first down if blended right. Love love love it too :)

MAC Paint Pot- Color: Soft Ocre
This is my third time buying this product. It's my "must have". I use it as my base for eye shadows. It's amazing. I put it on my eye lids then apply my eye shadow on top of it. At the end of the day, my eye shadow looks just as good as it did when I applied it. Goodness I love this. It's worth the moola :)

I'm a MAC user for as long as I can afford it. Some people say it's too expensive but truthfully, their products are such good quality they last so much longer than cheaper brands. I had a bottle of their foundation for over a year, a tube of lip stick and lip gloss I've had for over a year and a half and still use it. The way I see it, I'd rather spend a little more once than a little bit every other month and have it add up quick. <3 me some MAC.

Alrighty friends, I had to give you an update on my two "happys" this week :)
Enjoy!

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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Welcome, Summer...

Hello there, friends-

It's been a while....the end of the semester was super busy and I never got around to updating. but. good news....I'm officially on summer break so I'll be back to blogging in no time.

Update for you!

•Portfolio Review (round 1)- So I was honestly scared out of my MIND about reviews. I had heard that they were intense and that they tended to give harsh reviews. I worked hard to get all of my work from the past 3 years together, organized and mounted in the midst of school craziness. I turned it in and waited a few days to hear back. (torture!) Well I got my review back on Tuesday and it had some critiques on it giving me a few things to work on then on the back it said "On course to acceptance". I have NEVER been so excited about 4 little words. Never. The feedback from the professors was good and they all told me I was on my way to being accepted into the program. Needless to say, that took my stress level down at least 20 notches. This summer I'm going to work on the things they told me to work on and keep my fingers crossed to officially being accepted in the fall.

In other news, I'm sure most of you know about the Nashville flood that happened on May 2nd. I still can't believe it. I love Nashville and it broke my heart to see it underwater. Another heartbreaking situation is the lack of care we are seeing from outside of Tennessee. I'm only getting on my soap box for a minute on this but it really bothers me. NO ONE has paid attention to this disaster in Nashville. I just don't get it. *steps off soap box*

My Kairos pastor, Mike Glenn, said on his twitter today this phrase and I think it sums up Nashville perfectly.

"Bad times do not make or break, only reveal. The flood hasn’t broken Nashville, just revealed the city’s great heart."

I believe that's all for tonight...I just thought I'd let you guys know I'm still alive :) I'll try to get some of my projects uploaded on here in the near future so ya'll can see the stuff I rant about constantly ;)

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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Happy Easter!

Hello my lovely friends!

Happy Easter! :)
I hope you take time today to reflect upon the meaning of Easter beyond the bunnies and candy. We serve a risen Savior and today is a special day to celebrate just that.

My church has a Saturday night and Sunday morning service so we went tonight. It was...amazing :) Such a wonderful time of celebrating together. I love my church.

Josh Turner was there also :) Let me just tell you...his voice is amazing. and his testimony is as well. He's a country singer that keeps Christ number one in his work. There's something to be said for that.

Updates:
1. Portfolio Reviews are April 27th....I'm nervous as anything even though they don't eliminate anyone until the fall reviews. None the less, be praying. Lord knows I could use it.

2. I register for classes this week....crossing my fingers that I get into the classes I need. Once i have my schedule set, I'll let yall know what classes I'll have next semester. I'm pretty excited :)

3.I made a 104 on my art history midterm. This is such exciting news. A friend and I studied out bootys off for this things! YES!

With all that said, It's going to be a busy next few weeks. I'd appreciate any prayers you'd like to send my way :)

Sorry to cut it short. I promise you a bigger update soon.

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

Ps. I added music :) Only 3 songs for now...but favorites. Enjoy!

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Things you never want to hear at the doctor:

I have found the number one thing you never want to hear at the doctor...are you ready?

1. "Oh, that looks horrid! It looks like some turned on a blow torch in your ear!"

Yep...that is exactly what I heard at the doctor this afternoon. Followed by a long explanation of how I have a sinus infection and a severe ear infection. Truthfully, I could've told you that! Especially after I didn't fall asleep until after 6 this morning from sharp pain in my ear. Oh dear...sometimes I wonder why I go to the doctor...Oh, that's right....for the ability they have to prescribe those little miracles in a bottle!

Well I've been since about 80 % of my spring break...classes start back tomorrow morning and I feel like I've been hit by a truck. This is not the way I planned on starting off the second half of the semester. Spring break did me more harm than good unfortunately.

This second half of the semester is going to be so busy. I apologize in advance because I know I won't be able to write as much but I'll try to squeeze in as many posts as possible.

Here's what on the agenda for the rest of the semester:

• Portfolio Reviews- This is our preliminary review before the official review at the end of the year. It will tell us where we stand and what we need to work on. I'll be spending a lot of time preparing for this.

• Midterms and papers- Self explanatory, I do believe.
  

• Projects, projects, projects- This is when things start getting busy...eep.
  

That's all for tonight....

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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Spring break and questions for YOU!

Hello there, friends!

I'm sorry it's been so long! School is keeping me so busy this semester. Finally, I'm on spring break so I thought I'd give you a nice little organized update update on everything.

School:

• Typography- this is my "focus" class of the semester. It's essential that I get an A (or at least high B) in this class for my major. We have portfolio reviews at the end of this next fall semester that tell us whether we can continue in this major or not. Therefor, I spend most of my time focusing on this class. It's an interesting class and I'm really liking is so far so it makes things a little easier to focus on. Still a challenging class but at least I enjoy it.
  

• Drawing 2- This is probably my most challenging class of the semester. In drawing 1, it seemed like everyone in the class was in the same general skill level...it wasn't so intimidating. But in this class, there are some absolutely amazing skill levels and I'm definitely not one of those. Never the less, I'm just trying my hardest and my goal is to come out of the class with a B.
  

• Art History- this is a required class for my major and I usually dread the general education class but I'm not minding this one as much....maybe because it's art history instead of just general history. I love looking at art from different time periods :) This week I'm also going to the Frist museum and the Parthenon in Nashville for extra credit.
  

• Black and White Photography- I love this class! I absolutely love developing my own film and prints in the darkrooms. It's so addicting. The only down side is how time consuming it is. Taking the pictures can take anywhere from 1-3 hours depending on the assignment and then developing and printing takes at least 5 hours. So usually I have to devote Sundays to this which is most unfortunate.
  

That's my semester thus far. :) Busy but going good. Hopefully I'll get some pictures of some of my projects on here and/or facebook soon.

As far as weight loss goes, I'm still in a weird spot. I've lsot around 7 pounds total since the beginning of January. This isn't bad but it's still frustrating that I've already hit a plateau. I'm determined to overcome it this time though... I'm continuing to work out at least 3 times a week and now adding some strength training in.

My goal for March is to just get past this plateau. I don't care if I just get 1 pounds past it, it's a start. :)

I'm starting to realize that although that "jump start" in January was nice, it's not going to be that easy to get it off. I'm going ot have to work hard for this and I'm ready.

Alrighty...that's the updates for this week :)

Now two questions for YOU!

1. Where is a cheap vacation place for me and some girl friends to go this summer? We really want to get away this summer and just have a few days of fun that's also affordable. Anyone have any ideas?

2. I'm thinking I need to get my hair cut....any ideas? I'm not going any shorter than my shoulders. I needs something other than just the same simple hair I have now. :) drastic layers? sweepy bags? ideas anyone?

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Overreactions and Goal setting :)

Hello, again!

Good news.
Apparently, I've become way too obsessed with the scale. I weigh at least once a day lately. Not good. Mainly because weight fluctuates throughout the day. My "official" weigh in day where I actually log my weigh on Sparkpeople.com has always been Friday morning. I got on this morning and had lost the 2.5 pounds I was complaining about in my last post. I've decided....I'm going to try to weigh only once (maybe twice) a week now. It just stressed me out and makes me frustrated. No more!

Also, as busy as this weekend is going to be, I'm going to try to plan out a few quick meals for this upcoming week. I tend to eat unhealthy when I'm in a rush...so to avoid that, I'm going to start planning ahead. Anyone have any good healthy quick fix meals?

I'm giving up red meat for a while. I decided to do it for Lent but it may be longer...? not sure. I've just realized that it's so much healthier to eat poultry (no added horomones, please! :) and you can easily substitute ground turkey instead of ground beef. We'll see how it goes!


Okay so here's the run down of goals for this week:

1. Weigh in only on weigh in day (maybe one other day if it's driving me nuts)

2. Pay more attention to the food I put into my body, regardless of how busy I am.

3. Plan a few "quick fix" meals.

4. Drink at least 5 glasses of water a day. (I'm working my way up to 8...I'm not naturally a big drinker.)

5. Work out my 4 days.

There we go! I think those are reasonable for this week. :) I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks for all the encouraging comments. <3 you guys.

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

ps. Thought I'd share my favorite song as of lately. I went to see Wicked in September with my mother and best friend. It was amazing. I'd pay hundreds to see it again, no exaggeration. Anyhoo...this song "Defying Gravity" has been a favorite lately. Call my stupid but it's really encouraged me. Sometimes...alright...a lot of times, I put it in my CD player in the car on the way to work out. haha. I'm seriously in love with this song.

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Honesty.

If I'm going to do this I have to be honest with myself and you. So here we go...no fancy wording, no beating around the bush. Here is where I am, right now.

Here it is:

1. I'm scared. scared to death of failing.

2. I just stepped on the scale and I'm up 2.5 lbs from earlier this week.

3. I'm horrible at eating healthy. I don't know how...and don't know where to start.

4. I've never lost more than 15 pounds from a weight loss program or diet. I always hit a wall and give up.

5. My weight is my biggest insecurity. I can remember more times than I can count time I've been made fun of. I remember exactly where I was standing, who said it and the words that were said.


There it is. The ugly truth.

I want to give up.
but I can't.

I can't live this way anymore...I have no choice but to keep going.

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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News and a Cruise

Hello there!

Sorry it's been almost two weeks since I updated. Thing have been a little busy and every time I'd have time to blog, i'd be exhausted and ready for bed or needed to get going on some school stuff.
I do, however, have two very exciting things to share with you to make up for my lack of blogging lately.

Big News #1:
I'm going to be an aunt again! Matt and Chass are expecting their first baby on August 25th. I'm so extremely excited to be an aunt again and I'm so glad I can finally share the news with yall! They told me in early December but was sworn to secrecy for a little while. Anyhoo- I can't wait! I'm hoping it's a girl (then I'd have one of each! Nephew and Niece!) but I'd be just as happy with another nephew.

Big News #2:
(In story form)
Okay...so the other day I was in Art history and got a text from my brother, Matt. It read "Hey Katieboo. Chass and I just wanted to let you know that we noticed the results from you going to the gym last night and we're so proud of you". I thought, "aww. how sweet" and replied a quick thank you as to not get caught by the professor.
A minute later, I got another text that said "We have a proposition for you..." Upon asking what it was and then my phone being stupid and mixing up a bunch of text messages, I finally received a text back that read..."Write down your starting weight, put it in an envelope and put it in a safe, once you've lost 100 pounds prove it to one of us and...." *insert drumroll here* "....we'll pay for you to go on a cruise!" AHH! I then proceeded to try my very best not to freak out in the middle of class. I was shocked. It meant so much to me. Needless, to say I accepted their proposition and how have a pounds count down until a cruise up in my room.

*phew* That's all my big news for now! :)

Here's a quick update on weight loss and working out:

I hit that road block I always hit about a month in last week. I had maintained and then gained a pound. I let it get me down for about two days then realized THIS is why I never lose the weight. because I let weeks like this completely get the best of me. So I pushed past it...got back on schedule this week and feel great.

So, unfortunately, there is no weight loss to report this week. Next week, hopefully!
but I have been on schedule for working out this week (with the exception of Superbowl Sunday). I worked out Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. I may even get in a quick workout tonight.

That's all for today, friends.

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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A Snowy Sunday Morning

"And now the King of Kings says, "As long as you live under the Kingdom of God, THIS is how you will live! You will love your enemies, you will pray for those who hate you, and when they mistreat you because you are a Christian, you will CELEBRATE because they recognized you as one of MINE. Now as long as you in this house, this is the way you live!" Jesus is Lord!"
--Mike Glenn

I love this quote...Pastor Mike said it last Tuesday at Kairos s0mewhat summarizing the whole lesson. (More on that in the last blog if you missed it) :) Just had to share it.

Here's the rundown for this past week.
Total days worked out: 3.
*Sigh.* 1 less than the goal. I'd blame it on the snow this weekend but we have a treadmill at our house so I can't truthfully use that excuse.
Total Minutes worked out: 120+ minutes
Still met the minimum amount of minutes I wanted to workout a week (30 minutes/4 times a week) in only 3 workouts. Still wish I'd gone Friday but glad I at least got to the minutes.
Total Weightloss: 1 pound (7 total, thus far)
After two weeks of losing 3 pounds, i was a little down but nevertheless a loss is a loss...just gotta keep going.

Not a bad week at all...just not as good as others :)

That's all for now! :)

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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Just some between class thinking...

Do to others as you would have them do to you.
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?
Even 'sinners' love those who love them.
And if you do good to those who are good to you,
what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that.
And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment,
what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full.
But love your enemies, do good to them,
and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.
Then your reward will be great,
and you will be sons of the Most High,
because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful
. Do not judge, and you will not be judged.
Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.
Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
-Luke 6:31-37

(If you skipped that, shame on you! :) Go back up there and read it!)
Starting after Christmas and going all the way through Easter, we're going through the book of Luke in Kairos. I was a little hesitant when Pastor Mike told us we'd be doing that....that's a looonnng time to stay in one book.

Now, though, I'm so grateful we are. These past 3 weeks have been those nights where God chooses to speak through Pastor Mike to exactly where I am in life right now. It's been some of the most powerful and passionate preaching I've heard filled with those moments when you wonder if there's even anyone else in the room but you.

Anyways...I just thought I'd share those verses up there with you. Those were some of the verses we went through last night and the ones that spoke most to my heart. Pastor Mike took a good portion of the night and concentrated on loving your enemies. He really drove the point to us that there are no exceptions to this rule. It's not "love your enemies until they become your friend." ...or..."Love your enemies but stop if they don't change." It's "Love your enemies." no exceptions. You see...we are owned by God. We are His. His rules become ours.

One thing he said at the end of his sermon was "If you're treated unjustly because you're a Christian, don't get mad or upset about it. Celebrate that they noticed."

That made me think...do people that don't really know me notice something different about me? Do they see Christ's love through me? If I didn't tell them I was a Christian, would they know it just by my actions? If not then my words mean nothing.

That's all for today, friends. Just had a few minutes to blog between classes.

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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Rainy Sundays

Hebrews 12:26-29
At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire.

This verse was the main verse last night for church...I love it. Pastor really emphasized the fact that the main purpose in this shaken world is to emphasize that things in life that cannot be shaken/destroyed...i.e. God and His kingdom. Love it.


Alrighty...If you've read that last "mini" post then you know but if not, here it is again:

I lost 3 more lbs this week! That's a total of 6 lbs in the last two weeks. (Hooray!)

I was SO excited when I got on the scales and saw that I'd lost more weight. I'm going to do it this time. I'm determined.

I've set up a "plan" for getting results. At first I wanted to set my goal to working out at least 5-6 times a week. I realized as soon as classes started up that it just wasn't going to be realistic for me to set that goal. So my new goal is 4 definite workout days a week, and then any other days I can add on are an added bonus, so to speak. Here's the workout schedule for this semester:

Workout days: Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. (4 days)
Off days: Saturday, Monday, Wednesday. (3 days)

Weigh-in day: Friday or Saturday Morning. (not sure yet.)

That's the plan! :) So far it's working great and I'm loving it. Oddly enough, working out isn't as bad as I thought it'd be. The gym I go to has a cardio movie theater that I've found is the best place for me to workout in for two reason: 1. It's much darker in there...which means I don't pay nearly as much attention to everything around me. Less distractions, less comparing myself to those around me. 2. movie. need I say more? It's "me" time and workout time all in one. Most of the time it's a great movie on that keeps my attention and I find myself working out longer than I planned.

One thing I have learned that I cannot go into the cardio theater for is scary movies. Anyone who knows me knows...I don't do scary movies. at. all. So Friday night, I walk into the theater and don't even look at the sign before entering that tells what movie is on. (Mistake number one). The movie has just started...great timing, i think to myself. I sit down on the stationary, start peddling and enjoy the movie. Harrison Ford is in it. Great. I love him. This is going to be a great movie, right? Wrong. Suddenly everything gets really creepy. Odd things start happening, I get that "This probably isn't such a happy movie" feeling. I know I should leave but think...maybe it won't be so bad (Mistake number two). Correct I was. It was "What Lies Beneath". Needless to say, when suspenseful part came about and I about jumped off the bike and let out a little squeal, I decided it was time for me to leave. Scary movies and I do not get along. At least I provided a little entertainment to the guy behind me who thought my little fright session was entertaining. :) Lesson Learned: always read the sign for which movie it is before entering.

Alright, my dear friends, it's time for me to wrap this up and get busy with some school work. (heh.)

Hope you all have an incredible week.

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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Mini update

About to head to the gym but thought i'd give a really quick update on how this gym/weightloss thing is going.

I lost 3 more pounds this week! :) Thats a total of 6 since I started working out etc. last week! WOO!

I'm ecstatic! :)

I've set my realistic workout goal for the week to Four cardio workouts consisting of at least 30 minutes a week. I think this is realistic with my school/work schedule. That's not to say I won't be going more, just a minimum!

I'll redo this blog later, I just had to update yall...gym time!

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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Pancakes are food...but not friends. :)

Hello, Friends!

First off, thanks to all of you for the comments you left on my last blog. It was really encouraging to read them. Ya'll are great. :)

GREAT news...and some lessons learned.

I joined the gym on Monday....signed at 18 month membership agreement and got 3 months free! Since joining I've gone 5 times in 4 days. I. Love. It. Apparently I like it more than I thought. :)

and...according to the scales this morning, I've lost 3-4 pounds (depending on what time I weigh. haha). I'm so excited.

Okay, that was the good news...now the lesson learned.

Pancakes are not my friend.
I went today and did 35 minutes of cardio with 15 minutes in the sauna before and after. I came home crazing eggs and turkey sausage. (healthy, right?) So I go to the fridge but none the less, our eggs have expired. So what do i do? resort to pancakes. not a good substitute. Now I'm sitting here with that "Ugh my stomach is going to explode" feeling from eating too much. So new rule: No pancakes for dinner anymore. To add to that, I cooked what I thought to be turkey sausage....turns out it was regular sausage. Boo to that. I came very close to going over my calorie intake for today.

Lesson learned, though.

In other news, classes started today. I'm excited about this semester although it'll be another busy one with three studio classes (Drawing 2, Typography, B&W Photography) and Art History. Biggest fear/goal of the semester: balancing working out with school work.

I believe that's all for now. Hope ya'll have had a good week!

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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Back on track...wait...is there a track?

"If you don't do what's best for your body, you're the one who comes up on the short end."

Alrighty, friends.

Here's the deal. Most of you know that I started a "weight loss" diet/thing last year. Well here I am, beginning of 2010, the exact same as 2009. Why? My Fault. Did you read that right? yes. It's MY FAULT. No more blaming anyone but myself. If I want to be healthy and get to a healthy weight it's all on me. No one else.

So here I am...I'm going to be completely transparent with you starting with some confessions.

1. I hate exercising. This is going to be the biggest challenge for me, I believe. When I have free time, the last thing I want to do is go to a gym and sweat. I'd rather spend it painting, talking to friends...or...the dreaded S word...shopping! But none the less, I must, must, must start. I'm going to join a gym and make a point to get there at the very least 3 times a week for cardio exercising. Not only that, but I'm going to try to be a more faithful blogger and write out my exercise schedules for the week on here. My thinking is that if I post it, maybe I'll be more likely to follow through with it.

2. I love cooking. This is not a bad thing. The bad thing is that I'm not cooking the right things. Solution? I've bought a healthy cooking cookbook. If i learn what my body needs as opposed to what it wants and cook by that, I'm convinced it'll make a difference.

3. I need help! I need you. I need people to hold me accountable. Comment on my page if I'm not updating you on how it's going. Ask me if I've made it to the gym. and if i make excuses...call me out on it. It's easy for me to make excuses. Heck. I've made them for years now. My health is going to have to become a priority. I'd rather choose to make it one before it gets the best of me and then I have no choice.

4. This is so much more than a physical issue. What most people don't understand about overweight/obese/fat/whatever you want to call us people is the emotional/spiritual side of it. It's easy to stand from the outside looking in and call us fat and lazy and tell us to just eat less and take a walk. It's not easy to sit down and understand the emotional stress of it all. Ask any overweight person you know and if they answer truthfully, they DO care what you think of them. The world's opinion of us is one of the hardest things to look past. I'm making it a point to work on this completely. Not just losing weight but working on how I view myself and looking past what others think of me.

Everyone who knows me knows this isn't a "oh my word, I need to lose 20 pounds." type of thing. The fact of the matter is that it's much more than that. and I realize that it may take a while but sticking with it will be key.

I can go ahead and warn you that there will be blogs where I'm flat out over it. I give you permission to tell me to get out of my pity party and push through.

I have a lot to look forward to. I've set goals and rewards for those goals (i.e. new outfits, girls nights etc). I'm excited to see results. Once I've got it all sorted out, I'll post them in another post.

I've got a lot to look forward to this year and a lot of things that will benefit from losing this weight...
Connor is turning 2 in November...gotta keep up with him!
My best friend is getting married in December/January...gotta look good in a bridesmaid dress!
Summer...need i say anything more than swimsuit? bleh.
and sooo much more! :)

Anyways, I believe that all for today...going to do some more WiiFit! :) and make a call or two about joining the gym!

Thanks for reading, friends.

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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Eat this, not that.

So, I bought a book last night at SuperTarget (my new love).

It's called "Eat This, not That" and It's all about making better choices about what you put into your body. I bought it because in the last few weeks I've been really interested in exactly what is put into the food we eat....like the chemicals companies put in, the genetically modified foods, the hidden ingredients (like beetles in yoplait strawberry yogurt. yes. beetles. look it up! ) Anyways...SUCH a good investment if you're interested in that type of stuff.


Like I said, it's a very interesting read. There's a section that talks about FDA regulations for foods and you'll be surprised at the stuff that is allowed in our food. It's shocking and will make you want to but everything organic....ha! If only I had the money/time for that!

Regardless, I'm trying to start a healthier lifestyle. Starting first and foremost about being educated about the food I put into my body.

That's all for today :) Thought I'd share my new favorite book!

Love. Love. Love.
Katie

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