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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