Some Random Photographs

This is a tuna sandwich, half a melon, and a glass of chocolate milk. Livin' the dream.

In spite of climbing four flights of stairs multiple times a day, the view from our room is spectacular.

Sometimes when it gets late, the bell tower looks a little bit like the Eye of Sauron.

O happy jar of Nutella. How I love thee.

And Kat made soup for me. What an angel.

This picture does no sort of justice to this absolutely stunning gold sunset.

I love herbal tea. And Bugs Bunny.

You can't tell, but I'm grinning at Tom Hiddleston.

Fall = sweaters!

Here is a waterfall I saw several months ago.

And now for some photos of me...as I really am.

Yep.

Those great moments when you're playing with the webcam and someone says something funny and you accidentally take a picture of yourself laughing. And then the picture makes you laugh, so you post it on your blog.

And here is a picture of a cow. I hope you have an excellent week.

Love,

Kate

On Being Comfortable With Yourself

It's not that easy being green,

Having to spend each day the color of the leaves,

When I think it could be nicer,

Being red or yellow or gold,

Or something much more colorful like that.

It's not that easy being green,

It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things,

And people tend to pass you over,

Cause you're not standing out like flashy sparkles on the water,

Or stars in the sky.

But green's the color of spring, 

And green can be cool and friendly-like,

And green can be big, like an ocean,

Or important, like a mountain,

Or tall like a tree.

When green is all there is to be,

It could make you wonder why,

But why wonder? Why wonder?
I am green, and it'll do fine. It's beautiful,

And I think it's what I want to be.

It's Not Easy Being Green - Kermit the Frog

This is my last September music post, even though it's technically October now. I'm feeling vaguely sentimental about this; it's been kind of fun. Anyway, this song is particularly dear to my heart, which is why it's the last one I'm posting. It's also why I have a Kermit the Frog pillow pet on my bed right now, but that's besides the point.

Finding the good things in other people is usually easy. Not always, of course. There will always be those people that are harder to get along with than others. But generally speaking, it's a pretty straightforward thing. Finding the good in ourselves, on the other hand, seems to be something of a lifelong quest. Or at least it is for me. I am more prone to forget my strengths and talents than I am to forget about other people's. I tend to be more brutal to myself than I would ever be to anyone else. I'm not always comfortable in my own skin--I tend to focus on the bad qualities more than the good. It's moments like these that I remember Kermit, or at least I try to. 

Sometimes, I think we all feel like it could be nicer being red or yellow or gold, or something much more colorful like that. Or that we feel that people tend to pass us over, 'cause we're not standing out like flashy sparkles on the water or stars in the sky. Maybe you're not smart enough, skinny enough, pretty enough, tall enough, rich enough, strong enough, witty enough, popular enough, etc. etc. And maybe you wonder why you were given your traits or your trials. But why wonder? You need to realize--whatever you are is beautiful, and when you start to love who you are and stop fantasizing about how happy you'd be if you were someone else, you can see that beauty.

So I'll allow you two verses to muse about why you're not good enough, but the rest of the song needs to be devoted to realizing that you're just right the way you are and loving you for who you are.

Happy October, my friends. You're all lovely.

-Kate

Michael.

Oh, Michael Jackson. I love you forever.

Say Say Say- Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney

I don't know if I'm the only one who has those days where they go off to get stuff done and accidentally spend 3 hours watching Michael Jackson music videos. He was revolutionary. Extraordinary. Fabulous. Absolutely unprecedented. One of the most incredible entertainers the world has ever seen. Michael Jackson is my love.

Thriller

Beat It

Smooth Criminal

They Don't Really Care About Us

Black or White

I want to keep posting them forever, but I'll refrain.

Also, Marina? Wanna play MJ Just Dance....please? :)

Kate

Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes

In case you were unaware, Paul Simon is one of my most favorite songwriters ever. Of all time. Him, Marcus Mumford, Sting, and Billy Joel are probably my favorite lyricists. Gee whiz, they write good music. So here's a nice Friday song for you. :)

Paul Simon - Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes

Happy Friday to you. Go do something you enjoy!

Kate

Gasoline, Milk, Country Music, and Home Depot

Judging from the title, you'd assume this post is a lot more exciting than it really is. I could tell you an extravagant story involving those things, but instead you're going to get two random facts, a story, and a song. The song first.

Just Fishin' - Trace Adkins

Working at a barn does things to your taste in music. So, secretly, I love country music. Plus this song reminds me how much I love fishing with my dad, and it makes me cry a lot.

Now, on to business.

1. I love 2% milk. 2% milk is my one and only, besides BYU chocolate milk. Dang it, I just love milk.

2. I like the smell of gasoline. I forgot about that until today. Do you want to know why? Good, I'll tell you. I like it because the towboats at Tom & Woods smelled like gasoline, and I had the best times of my childhood at Tom & Woods, catching frogs and swimming in the lake and fishing on the dock where the towboats were tied off. So...gasoline smells like childhood?

3. And now for Home Depot. I feel like I may have actually written about this event before, but it's good enough to be told again.
Once upon a golden summer, I went to Home Depot with my family to get paint. We were buying a lot of paint, and the guy at the counter told us it would take a while to mix it all, or whatever they do when they're getting paint ready. So we wandered off, looking for entertainment. I found mine in the form of paint can boxes, and the models thereupon. You know those boxes that all the cans come in? And they always have a picture on the front of some happy person sitting in a well-furnished room? Yeah, you can probably see where this is going. So I borrowed a pen from my mom and went from box to box, embellishing the boxes and happy people as I saw fit. I was transforming an especially cheerful man into a pirate when, in the middle of his fantastic mustache, my pen ran out of ink. I shook it and scribbled on the box, but to no avail. Right at that moment, I felt a tap on my shoulder and I knew I was in trouble. I turned around slowly to face the giant, burly, marine-like Home Depot employee that was standing behind me. I smiled in what I imagine was a slightly apologetic way, and he looked over my shoulder at the paint-can pirate, complete with earring and eyepatch. He raised one eyebrow and looked down at me. I felt completely ashamed and was about to offer a frantic apology when he reached into his apron and pulled out a ballpoint pen. "I just thought you might like to try this pen; I noticed yours stopped working," he said. I felt my jaw drop, and he chuckled a bit. I accepted the pen and mumbled a dumbfounded, "Thanks." He smiled and walked away, and over his shoulder he said, "Keep up the good work!"

Kate

Words to Live By, Part 2

Some days, all you can do is think about dancing chimney sweeps and post the rest of the quotes you started posting yesterday. Because some days are happy. Because some days Marcus Mumford's doppelganger is in your Book of Mormon class and there's a really cute trumpet player that smiles at you during rehearsal. Happy Tuesday to me! :)

Step in Time - Mary Poppins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu23HHmOG48

And the quotes.

"How are you even supposed to know if you're pregnant? Do you just wait 'til you get fat?"
-Steve

"I will NOT stand for this...woo hoo hoo, I WILL stand for it!"
-Jozi

"This is far too graceful for a man-hula." -Uncle Brian

"Even though I won't know, I will know! And I'll be mad!"
-Mrs. Van Orden

"Hey. Hey you. I can dress as gay as I want to while I'm making rap music!"
-Jozi

"Nuts in chocolate chip cookies are the end of innocence."
-Nick G.

"I dig possessed women..." -Jon-Michael

"Selling drugs...is okay!" -Caleb

"Just imagine the Easter Bunny and the Trix Rabbit greased up in a cage fight. That's always a good comfort for me." -John W.

"You speak Russian? Say something in Russian."

*drops to one knee and grabs my hand*

".........Stalin." -Me & Matthew

"If you're going to jump, you'd better do it and decrease the surplus population."

"Why are grown-ups always mourning for their lost youth?"
-Liam

"I have the type of low cheekbones that inspire that kind of faith in people."
-Andy

"How many thighs does she HAVE?" -Melody

"Why hast thou taken my scarf, woman? Returneth my scarf before the morrow or get thee down to hell and burneth in the infernal pit." -John W.

"What if Jon-Michael ruled the world?"

"Well, we'd all be up the creek without a paddle. And we wouldn't have any clothes." 

-Jozi & Jon-Michael

"I dunno, they're not exactly the type of friends I'd make people with."
-Emily

"I like my tea strong...and my women stronger." -Riley

"Well gosh, the government has been fighting pirates for years!"
-Henry

"I call him McDonald. Mick for short, Donald for long." -Mikey

"Guys, my waterbottle sounds like a flock of penguins." -Mary

"I'd kiss him all day and marry him my whole life." -Lauren

"I'm still feeling John's legs!" -Rebecca

"Those were my lips!" -Rebecca

"I didn't realize what it was...until I turned it sideways." -Mary

"Children tend to look a little winded when they hit adolescence."
-Rebecca

"I wish we were all wearing cute underwear." -Lauren

"Fine fellows--cannibals--in their place. That's what I always say."
-Mr. Davis

"Everyone calls him something different. Sometimes I call him Boat."
-Matt P.

"Look guys, this isn't rocket surgery." -Dr. T

"Culinary...does that mean food?" -John W.

"Wow, you guys are athletes with your faces." -Dr. T

"The world needs more humbability." -Marcus

"Little midget redheads. That's what I'm looking for in a man."
-Caroline

"Yesterday, I drowned. Luckily I didn't drown to death." -Tim

"I just want to grasp your Adam's apple. Is that so much to ask?"
-Jakey

"Nothing says love like a moose." -Wendy

"My fashion senses are tingling!" -Jakey

"Don't you come to California to take your pants off with the window open?"

"Actually, I go to Disneyland. With my pants on." -Miriam & Me

"Excuse me, my dress just exploded. I'm going to leave." 

"I bet I could kill you with my bare hands. Oh wait, I totally can."

"Nuns in a teacup: it's the new planking."

"Your coughdrop smells like the doctor."

"Yeah, it tastes like my doctor too." -Wendy & Me

"Since when have I been the enemy? I'm the fruit of your womb!"

"Is this ethical?"

"...meh." -Me & Riley

"You sound like I walked into heaven...and all the angels are drunk."
-Hipster Tipster

"Good morning. Why do you sound like a man?" -Dad

"Facundo Gilberto Rigazonni Lydamond!" -Kat

"I'm actually Presbyterian. We celebrate Easter, right?" -Lauren P.

"We are getting lectured about musical intuition by a person who only writes in parallel fifths."

-Lauren P.

"I want a beard so bad." -Catie

"If you ever need to borrow my outer layer of clothing, just ask!"
-Michael

"Okay, here's your pen. Now act like you're slitting my throat."
-Riley

"You need more seduction. Lose the shirt." -Jozi

"Just kidding, I don't have multiple husbands." -Eli

"It's time to plant your foot squarely on the path to manhood! Plant it right...*stomp* HERE."
-DF

"I am a barbershop quartet!" -Mr. Larson

"Hello, naked." -Jake

"I was actually seduced by a man." -Ree

"You know those people from Holland? The Hollish?" -Catie

"What are you doing?"

"Listen to this horse noise, okay?" -Me & Oliver

"Moses split the sea, but somebody else seems to have split Moses."
-Oliver

"I love this shirt. It has adjustable modesty." -Maren

"Sometimes I say silly things when my mind goes for a walk. And then I'm like, 'Well, mouth, it's just you and me.'" -Eli

"Riley's thighs." 

"Oh my gosh, I KNOW." -Jozi & Me

"Wow, I wish I had girth." -Justin

"Hail, yourself...." -Kat

"You think I don't know a buttload of crap about the Gospel? I DO."
-Andy

"Her mom's straight outta Compton. And by Compton, I mean Sweden."
-Andy

"I'll trade you phones if I can have your social life." -Catie

"You're like a teddy bear."

"...oh."

"With huge muscles."

"THAT'S what I like to hear." -Me & Christian

"Once saw a shahk eat an entah rockin' chah." -Paul

"Oh look: 'Enter Polonius with his man'."

"No way, can I be your man?" -Michael & Henry

"You are a keen theatrical goatherd." -Kat

*In his best Gollum impression* "Master carries heavy burdens..."
-Matthew

"I am paying attention...to you..." -Bao

"And what do we do with our food before we eat it...?"

"We...smell it!" -Bro. Dykstra and a random seminary kid

"Let's play, 'If I Were in a Coma.' Ready, go!" -Daniel

"A life condemned to wearing nothing but an XXL plaid shirt...that would be a good life."
-Henry

"I think I'll wear tights. They'd go really well with..."

"...your legs?" -Riley & Katelyn

"I held a pig yesterday and my maternal instincts were going CRAZY."
-Tayla

"You are gay, except for the gay part." -Kat

"I want to go to Senior Ball with Kent." -John W.

"My brain is a room full of beards."

"'What if Hamlet met the Mormons?' Somebody in here said that, and it wasn't me!"
-Mr. Davis

"Hey, did you bring a printer?" -Kendall

"Wow, you smell like a girl." -Jared

"Hey Uncle Dennis, I need something to help me fly. Do you have a jet pack?"
-Wyatt

"This toast feels raw. Is it safe to eat raw toast?" -Kat & Jos

"Thessadermicle? What's that?"

"...I have no clue." -Jos & Me

"But driving 100 mph is against the law."

"Really??" -Kat & Lizzie

"This makes me feel like a wizard spy." -Mama Moulton

"We sit at meals, we sit in class, and we sit at home. We sit in the Testing Center too, but we don't want to think about that right now, do we? No. We don't."
-Professor R.

"Well, how about we steal the White House and replace it with an exact replica?"

*mumbles of thoughtful consent*

-Some kids I walked past on campus

"I'm sorry, I was ovulating."

"He doesn't even know I have a blog. And I'd prefer it stayed that way."

"So, I heard you were pregnant. Whore." -Jared

"NO! We can't have Nutella for dinner and Taco Bell for dessert."
-Kat

"What on earth is creepy about an old man polishing his nails?"
-Michael

"You can't just leave pee sitting around the kitchen. I've made that mistake before."
-Andy

"You are toothpaste." -John W.

"Brevity is the soul of wit."

"Your mom." -Michael & Me

"Don't be late. You need that five dollars for Pokemon cards."
-Professor R.

"You must kiss the oboe note. But please don't kiss the oboe player."
-Dr. Saville

What rapture is mine--my life is hilarious.

(This is a note to me: Remember to post the Home Depot story next time you blog. The people deserve to know.)

-Kate

Words to Live By, Part 1

This isn't going to be at all serious, so if you're looking for inspiration, you might consider going elsewhere. Here we go.

"You're not as funny as you think you are."

"Hush, we are one." -Me & Clint

"We should handcuff them to the seats."

"And duct-tape their mouths."

"And kill their families!" -Me, Wendy, & John

"What is this? Do you hate God? Do you hate seminary?"

"I hate you." -Nick & Said

"The space between my eyes and my cheekbones could be filled with secrets." -Andy

"I'm sorry, when I get scared I make loud screams." -Jozi

"So what happens when I look in the mirror? What do I see?"

"....yourself, unfortunately." -Mr. Mac & Nick W.

"I'm like a bolt of lightning covered with skin." -Andy

"You have pig flesh on your shirt." -Michael

"Pass, O Thou Devourer of Unworthy Spleens!" -Andy

"You practically gave birth to sanity." -Yon Soo

"I can't take my eyes off your shoes. They're like a drug."

"You just don't have an evil-tron sense of humor." -Dad

"I have a fancy on Katelyn." -Jozi

"If you are repulsed by the idea of plural marriage, that is wonderful! Good for you! For crying out loud, you should be!"
-Bro. Pearce

"My bare calves were quivering in anticipation." -Andy

"I'm gonna come to your party and make ALL of your friends."
-Andy

"You smell good. Like fruit...and girl." -Matthew

"Are you wearing your lifejacket as a diaper?"

"Ha! No. I'm wearing your lifejacket as a diaper." -Mom & Darin 

"You have a speedo?! Josh just told me the news!" -Ivan

"How do we get this makeup off?"

"Baby oil."

"And how does one obtain this....baby oil?"

"By squeezing a ripe baby?" -Michael, Kat, Henry, Michael

"I just came over to remind you how effing good-looking I am."
-Jozi

"Good! Understanding him is the first step to seducing him!"
 -Katelyn

"Guys, I am SO mildly irritated." -Whitney

"Shh, I'm trying to taste this cave."

"Ah, it's the underpants!" -Henry

"Dang it! I just unbuttoned my shirt all the way for nothing!"
-Isaac

"Hey, a good fine forehead can make all the difference." -Jacob

"I feel like some people could be fooled into thinking Mountain Rush is like...vogue or something." 

-Henry

"There are hieroglyphics on this bread. I think I just ate the history of a civilization."

"I never know when it might be socially acceptable to suddenly sprout a mustache. I think it would make things awkward." -Michael

"He probably dressed up for villain day. As the Master of Crimes Against Fashion." -Kat

"What are you looking at?"

"Christian Garrett. 'Cause he's hot." -Kat & John W.

"Yes, I've been blessed with loose skin." -Matthew B.

"Guys, Kate and I are getting married to Vegas." -Romain

"No, no. You never get used to Bigfoot." -Chauncey

"Don't go to your meeting, Luke. I am your father!"

"Get thee behind me, Darth." -Mom & Dad

"That can't be one of the three Nephites. His biceps are only about a third of the size they'd need to be." -Chauncey

"What do you call your facial hair?"

"Roscoe." -Jozi & Mr. Davis

"Why won't you trust me with the gavel?"
-Michael

"I need a nap so hard right now." -Wendy

"Why do you only ever think about seduction and babies?" -Jozi

"No, he comes to teach us art! R-A-T, art!" -Isaac

"I can't get this jacket onto my legs! They're so cold!"

"You know, some people wear pants."

"...oh."

-Isaac & Dad

"You know those days when you start talking and then you start crying? Why am I crying?! Somebody tell me!"

"I only joined Little League for the apple juice." -Jozi

"I'm making a smoke-ship. Mast! Fffff! The ship itself! Pfffft! And the mermaid! Pshhhhhh!" -Riley

"Okay, I have a good story. So. Never mind."

"Well what if I just have an avant-garde approach to punctuation?" -Jozi

"Funnel cakes. They're like sexy waffles." -Christian

"Not like we're doing anything out here, just rollin' doobies!"
-Caroline

"Oh my gosh, I love your hair! It looks like the sunset!" -Macy

"I'm not comfortable with my butt tumor." -Clint

"So what explanation can you offer?"

"I dunno...I'm just like Fred Astaire!" -Tayla & Jon

"That is not appropriate."

"Kiss me." -Tayla & Clint

"Can you tell that this is a comb-over?" -Michael

"How do you like your bananas?"

"Chilled."

"Room temperature."

"I prefer mine lukewarm." -Me, Miriam, & Katelyn

"Joseph Conrad was a hipster."

"Oh, everyone has their inner hipster." -Jozi & Me

"You guys like loincloths, right? Isn't that the new 'thing'?"
-Seminary substitute

"Oh, I get it. This is about babies, isn't it?" -Isaac

"I was disturbed...but I wanted to be even MORE disturbed."
-Fletcher

"I speak giggle. I'm actually quite fluent." -Aubrey

"You're worthless. You're worthless like a blob of oatmeal." 

"She actually went by Valborg instead of Helga." -Kat

"If rape were a serious crime...stop it, why are you laughing?"
-Jared

Sorry that was so excessively long--part two is coming tomorrow or Wednesday. I just live a charmed life...me and my merry band of comrades.

-Kate

I Will Wait

I'm sorry if I've already posted this song. But I don't think I have. In any case, it's been stuck in my head for the past two and a half weeks, and I love it.

Mumford & Sons- I Will Wait
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDOoCUKCDJg

Mumford & Sons are inspirational. I love the poop out of them.

-Kate

Thinking?

I've been known to think on the rare occasion. It's often closely related to fly fishing, which is pretty much one of my favorite things. I like to walk up rivers in my shorts and t-shirt and think about life and make analogies and metaphors and poems and songs. So here's my thoughts from our fly fishing trip on Friday.

Number one, sometimes things don't work out the way you think they will. In fact, I'd venture to say that most things don't turn out the way you'd initially imagined. I figured this out on my way down a cliff that I didn't think I'd have to climb down, but it ended up being the only way to get to the river...so down I went. It was an adventure. But in all seriousness, when you plan to walk down a path and end up having to scramble down a cliff, you think a little bit about how much life is like that. You may think you're headed for a wooded glen and find yourself on the edge of a gorge, and what do you do then? Freaking scramble down that gorge. But another thing--make sure you're not going it alone. Don't ask people that love you to stay away while you struggle; that's just selfish.

Next, education is dang exciting. Think about it--connecting things you learn from one place to things you're learning in another place, attaching your life experiences to the things you're talking about in Music Theory or Book of Mormon, and stuff like that? It's just so cool. The big idea I got from this discussion with Dad is that everything we learn contributes to our "worldview"--the lens through which we each individually see and interpret the things around us. My worldview isn't the same as Kat's, Kat's worldview isn't the same as her mom's, her mom's isn't the same as my mom's, my mom's isn't the same as my dad's, so on and so forth. We've all learned different things and thought about them differently, and that affects the way we see the world. I mean, if we were all standing around and Marcus Mumford walked past singing Lily's Eyes, we'd all have different reactions (like falling over in a dead faint, in my case). None of us would interpret it the same way, we'd all have different thoughts about it, and it would literally be a different experience for all of us. None of us would be exactly the same person we were before it happened. And here we could jump into Bakhtinian theory, but I'll save that for another day.

The point of that rant is that every person on the earth is irreplaceable. Literally irreplaceable. Nobody on this whole planet is the same as you, and that makes you incredibly precious. The way you think about life and the world and the things around you is absolutely unique to your mind. Isn't that fascinating? And doesn't it make you feel special? (It should, because you totally are.)

Gee whiz, that's pretty heavy and I did a terrible job of explaining it. But I hope you got a least a little bit of sense out of that mangled mash of thought-vomit. If you only remember one thing, remember that you are the only you on the earth. You've never been here before and you'll never be here again, and you are wonderful and unique and special, so you better share yourself with everyone around you. They deserve to know you.

Hmm. I'm not sure that's the post I originally meant to write, but there you have it. Happy Sunday!

Oh, and by the way? I love temple dedications.

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing - MoTab
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uslytyVrWFw

-Kate

Saturdays is Good Days

Sometimes people say my taste in music is too mainstream, and I'm all, "Like I care what you think." I'm tired of the mentality that because something is popular, it's somehow automatically bad. Or because something is obscure it's automatically good. I listen to what I like! So there!

When You Were Young - The Killers (This one's for my cousin Andy.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXUcmVibTUI

Starlight - Muse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgum6OT_VH8

The Three Song - Smothers Brothers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUHlCGNtHBo

The Cave - Mumford & Sons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL_Ye0h5xEI

Admiral Halsey - Paul McCartney
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DupyAkOZLYA

Rylynn - Andy McKee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG0Prs_EqLE

If Darkness Would Rather Come - Cameron McGill & What Army
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhzs5E12hYU

Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuK6n2Lkza0

A Boy Named Sue - Johnny Cash
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOHPuY88Ry4

Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj1AesMfIf8

So how about that?

-Kate

Pow.

Right in the heart, guys. Right in the heart.

You Ain't No Sailor - Marcus Mumford
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF2u0TI-RSI

When You Come Back Down - Nickel Creek
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng5-VUDcjJ8

You Can Close Your Eyes - James Taylor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkIiaaXUjlE

Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) - Billy Joel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcnd55tLCv8

-Kate

Sulking.

Lover's Eyes - Mumford & Sons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWNq89joPrI

-Kate

Taylor the Latte Boy

Ha ha ha.

Taylor the Latte Boy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXS0nEOx_20

-Kate

Sometimes Lord of the Rings Dominates My Life

I'll apologize in advance for the number of lengthy songs I'm posting here, but I can't pick just one. I cussing love Howard Shore.

Rohan Themes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5_xb522jEo&feature=related

The Realm of Gondor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_JfHLs2Nc4

Last March of the Ents
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DPebk9YKco&feature=fvwrel

Pippin's Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WskRAEggqkQ&feature=fvwrel

The Shire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYhRGV8-kMw&feature=relmfu

The Coronation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H4Q_aA4QiQ

If you don't listen to any of them, just watch the last one. It never fails to make me weep. I love Lord of the Rings. Happy Sunday!

-Kate

Just a Song.

No deep thoughts today. I just like this song.

40 Mark Strasse-The Shins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kFH5A9J1uA

-Kate

Dirtbag.

I feel like a dirtbag because I forgot the adult session of Stake Conference was tonight. Gosh dang it. That's probably why all my roommates were gone when I got out of the shower. Grr. This is not my day. But, here's a song that's not making me feel any better. Happy Friday?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztccvaZ9_7k

-Kate

Good memories.

Here's a though about music. Somehow, it becomes even more extraordinary when you have memories attached to it. It's like having a picture book inside your head that you can open when you hear the music! That doesn't make any sense...but if you know what I mean, you know what I mean. Take this for example.

Schotissche--Suite of Old American Dances
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNxNawFHCN4

Or...this!

Sibelius Symphony No. 2, mvmt. III & IV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY6b1DdSCwk

Or THIS!

Singin' in the Rain-Gene Kelly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdxCx7GilbQ

I love the Timpview Band. I love All-State Orchestra. I love mornings with my mom when I was five. Memories galore. And all the best kind. :)

Love always,
Kate

Feeling Inside (And Stuff Like That)

This needs very little explanation. I hope you're willing to spend...fourteen...minutes...watching this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py_30jZGUYk

Love always,
Kate

Mondays are Poo.

I hate Mondays. Mondays are made of silly things like impossible Theory homework and no naps. However, sometimes there are nice little rays of sunshine like your sweet roommate making you a bowl of soup and bringing to you where you're moping over your Civ textbook. (Thanks Kat, you're an angel.) And other little rays like rainstorms and sunsets and looking forward to fall and your home teacher coming to visit for the first time. He smelled nice. Oh, and a new Lizzie Bennet diaries today!

So here's today's song. Not particularly cheerful, but it feels like fall. And fall is all I can think about today. So there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VI8-6aXsFA&feature=related

Love always,
Kate

Sunday Music

Sunday is by far the best day of the week. Sundays lend themselves to peace and naps and cookies and great music. So here's today's wonderful song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0btGYK3k0ts

It's the hymn Brightly Beams our Father's Mercy, arranged for the BYU Men's Chorus by Lane Johnson. I love this hymn, I love the Men's Chorus, and I love Sundays.

Also...I can't contain myself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=Aqpvjsc6X8Y

This Is The Christ, Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Makes me cry every time. Happy Sunday!

Love always,
Kate

Music and the Month of September

I'm sorry that music is all I blog about. Music and love. But not very sorry, because I like music.

So here's what. I've been thinking lately about all the fabulous music I love that I want people to know about, but I never know how to go about it. So, I'm going to post a song that I love every day for the rest of the month. It's gonna be all sorts of fun. You'll get symphonies and indie rock and folk music and Broadway and who knows what else? So. This is fun. I like this.

Today, the song is Elephant Gun by Beirut.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWSz_PAfgNc

There's a link for ya. The video's weird, but I really enjoy the song.

Happy Saturday!

Love always,
Kate

Campus is Great

I love going to school at BYU. There are a lot of a reasons for this, but one of the biggest ones is the fact that I get to see people I love every single day. Take today for example--I was walking out of the HFAC after rehearsal and I saw Rebecca, Caleb, and Ben all standing around chatting. They all waved and Caleb said, "Hey, you got the memo! School reunion right here, right now. Glad you could make it." And as we stood there Karli and Katelyn both walked up and joined us, and then Caleb, Katelyn, Rebecca and I all walked back to Heritage together.

What the heck? How did I get so lucky? Walking across campus over the past 8 days, I've seen Kat Moulton, Jon Bigelow, Caroline Madsen, Mimi Hamblin, John Wilson, Rebecca Devonas, Katelyn Rudy, Josh Brewer, Josh Burr, Caleb Karpowitz, Clint Purser, Rachel Chow, Laura Barnett, Aaron Davis, Anna Boucher, Rosemary Merrill, Karli Ellis, Michael Christensen, Riley Budd, John Oldroyd, Tyler Clark, James Leavy, Catie Brown and quite a few others. It's just so fun!

College is a friendly place when there are people you love lurking around every corner.

Love always,

Kate

Don't read this, it's about love.

I'll beg forgiveness in advance; this is a pretty silly post. But here we go anyway!

BYU is the ultimate haunt of happy couples. They are quite literally everywhere. I was walking up the hill to my apartment and there was a cute couple in front of me, walking together and holding hands, and I found myself absentmindedly wishing that I had someone to hold hands with while I walked home. When I caught myself, I felt very silly and pondered about happy couples and hand-holding for the rest of the walk home.

But then I had a revelation! I don't want that...until I've found someone that will be worth the struggle and the heartache that all relationships are. And that will think I'm worth it too. Sure, holding hands and snuggling and kissing is all great--but so pointless unless it's with someone you really love that loves you too, and I don't think that's too much to hold out for. He'll be just right for me, even though I'm not quite sure what that means yet. But I'm excited to find out.

So until I find him, and I know he's out there, I'll just smile at the darling couples all over campus and wait patiently. :)

Love always,

Kate

Seeking Truth

The BYU music program's catch phrase is "seeking truth through great music." And let me tell you, the moments when you find it are worth whatever it took to get there. Playing it, listening to it, whatever. Great music can change lives. Isn't that extraordinary?!

So my parents, Kat, and I all just went to see Mandy Patinkin live in concert at BYU (another one of the many reason I love going to school here. Performing arts series....unbelievable.) And he sang. Oh, did he sing. It was heart-stopping. He sang with a voice straight from heaven.

Now hear me out. I love words. I love the English language. I love using it and hearing it and writing in it and learning how it works. But there are some things that it simply does not accomplish--things that music is mysteriously capable of doing. Really great music can somehow express thoughts and feelings and emotions that we haven't discovered words for yet. I don't understand it, and I can't explain it. But gosh dang it, I love music. I love everything about it.

Here, listen to this. It's Lily's Eyes from The Secret Garden. It's one of my favorite songs of all time.

There's nothing like a little bit of magic to give you a lift.

Love always,
Kate

Key Lime Yogurt

This post actually has nothing to do with key lime yogurt, except that I'm eating some right now. I walked down to the Creamery and I bought this tasty yogurt. I also bought chocolate milk and tortilla chips and mascara, and then I walked back across campus with one of my best friends and we talked about college and life and groceries with our hands full of shopping bags. A little after that, I had another epiphany about life. (I know, I've had a lot of them lately. It'll be over soon, I'm sure.)

I realized that I'm not what I imagined I'd be at this point in my life. I thought I'd be...geez, pretty much a superhero. In my imagination, I saw a tall woman with wavy curls who was thinner and more confident than me, and who didn't have to deal with the problems I had. For some reason, I thought that as I grew up, I'd realize who I was and everything would be immediately clear to me. And then it suddenly occurred to me that who I am isn't some great mystery that I'll miraculously know the answer to all of a sudden. It's one of those many, many things that I seem to be stuck in for the long haul.

Bit by little bit, I learn about myself. I learn that I like listening to Mumford & Sons and The Shins. I learn that spending time alone is important to me. I learn that I really do like the color pink. I learn that when people I like ask me to do something, I have a hard time saying no. I learn that walking with my daddy is one of my absolute favorite things. I learn that my mom is and always will be my best friend. I learn that I miss reading Winnie the Pooh to my baby brother. I learn that I bite my nails when I'm nervous. I learn that I like talking to Wade about school and girls. I learn that if I go over to Paul and Nicole's house and break down in tears, they'll sit me down and hug me and scratch my back and let me cry until I'm finished. I learn that Calvin & Hobbes is actually a great source of wisdom. I learn that key lime yogurt is really very good and I like eating it. I learn that practicing hard is enormously satisfying. I learn that having to feed myself is a weird experience. I learn that napping on the grass is fun and will probably leave you sunburned. I learn that late night burrito runs are sometimes a good thing. I learn that Bruce is "The Car of Secrets" and I kind of enjoy that. I learn that rain storms make me very comfortable. I learn that my sweet family means more to me than anything else ever will. I learn that fly fishing is the greatest therapy on earth. I learn that each of these things are part of me, and they always will be. Simple things like this...are me. I mean, they literally are me. I'm made up of them. Who I am is all these things piled up and glued together with chocolate milk and eclairs. I'm losing track of my thought-dogs, but you know what I mean.

I was at Borders with Kat the other day and I saw a pencil case that I want to go back and buy. It had cute green leaves and a wonderful quote on it. George Bernard Shaw said, "Life isn't about finding yourself. It's about creating yourself." I love that. I get to choose who and what I am, and I choose it by who I love and what I do and where I go. Isn't that just captivating? I love it. I'm going to finish my key lime yogurt and go practice, because that's what I like doing. Ha!

Love always,
Kate

Unexpected

Growing up is nothing like what I thought it'd be. Take my moving out as a random, non-specific example. I'll be less than a mile away, granted, but this is still harder, scarier, more intimidating, and more exciting than I ever thought it would be. I feel like a bubbly pot of emotions. Spilling all over the stove and making hissing noises and causing your brother to yell, "What food are you ruining in there?"

Maybe not exactly like that...but it's a pretty close analogy. Swinging from sheer excitement to overwhelming sadness and over to utter fear and back to excitement is unnerving to say the least. I feel like I spend a lot of my time in a blank, completely unaware of what's physically going on around me because I'm so preoccupied with my thoughts, which are like wicked little gremlins running rampant and stealing car keys and shoes. It's like trying to walk 13 dogs at once. I have to get them out of people's yards and clean up after them and hold all the leashes and not get tangled up and try not to lose them. I'm ashamed to say that I think I've misplaced several of my thought-dogs, which makes it hard to get anything done. Because you can't walk a thought-dog if you don't have a thought-dog. By which I mean I can't pack if I don't remember that I actually need to pack.

I'll try to abandon the bad analogies now, but it's really the only way to describe how I feel. I'm going to start doing for myself all the things that I didn't imagine myself doing until I was an adult. Oh, surprise! I am an adult! (Which is weird. I can't possibly be an adult, I'm too...short. And young. And tired?) So...I'm moving out of my house this week. I'll probably be able to see my house from my apartment window...but still. I won't be at home. I'll be studying and playing and doing laundry and going to class and practicing practicing practicing and grocery shopping and cooking and napping in hallways and bathrooms. (Remind me to tell you a story about that another time. It's a really funny story.) 

I think this blog post was over a long time ago. I'm still confused and tired. To sum it up in the eloquent words of my friend Eli, "Sometimes my mind goes on a walk. And then I'm like, 'Well mouth, it's just you and me.'" So I apologize for the rambling post. But it's pretty accurate.

Love always,

Kate

Anglophile (Smitten by Britain)

Anglophile [ang-gluh-fahyl, -fil] noun: a person who is friendly to or admires England or English customs, institutions, etc.


It's high time the world knew. I am excessively fond of...a cottage. No, I mean English culture. (Kat, that reference was for you.) I like Doctor Who. I like afternoon tea. I like Robin Hood. I like Oscar Wilde. I like Mumford & Sons. I like the BBC. I like Harry Potter. I like rolling hills and rainy days. I like Sherlock Holmes. I like The Beatles. I like English scones. I like Tom Hiddleston. I like fish and chips. I like Jane Austen. 


I like English accents and English customs and English humor and English television and English novels and English movies and English authors and English singers and English food and English architecture and English history and English legends. I want to go to England. Anyone up for a trip?


In the meantime...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=kF2u0TI-RSI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EgWb_89Uow

Come at, lads. Let's go parading before it's too late.

Love always,

Kate

Becoming a Student of the Sport

I have been tossing ideas for this post around in my head for upwards of two months, so I really need to write it. I'm using my thinker for the first time in a few weeks, so we'll see how this goes.

Let's start out with a little Sharing Time magic. I was sitting with my CTR 7 class in Sharing Time a few weeks back, having a grand old time singing "Nephi's Courage" and other classics. Then the lesson started, and Sister Peeler started displaying items of clothing and asking what they might be used for. After we had determined that coats are good for playing in the snow and church shoes are good for Primary, etc., we talked about how silly it would be to wear a bathing suit to school or a coat in the middle of summer. Partway through this discussion, a tiny little Sunbeam jumped out of his chair and yelled, "I'M LEARNING!" with such joy and enthusiasm that I had to excuse myself from the room to laugh. It was so effing cute. Now keep this in mind through the next story.

Every year, my dad and I like to take a backpacking trip with Wade and sometimes Paul. My favorite part of the whole trip is the talks I get to have in the car with my pops. I love talking to my dad--he always has so many interesting stories and thoughts and experiences. On our trip last year, we got talking about a book he was working on at the time. It's a book about the history and traditions of hunting and fishing in North America (and here it is, in case you're curious). In the course of this discussion, he mentioned an interview they had included in the book. The man he quoted, Eddie Robinson, said, "...the biggest thing somebody has to learn is that they don't know what they're doing. As soon as you think like that, you're done; you'll never improve. But if you can hand the guy the perspective and the understanding that he doesn't know what he's doing, regardless of how long he's been doing it, that's probably, I think, the most difficult thing to learn, and that's what you can't teach people. People either automatically have that or they don't. They're either students of the sport or they're already knowing it all. You can teach anybody to fish. I can teach anybody to fish, but what you can't give them is a perspective."

That little excerpt, particularly the phrase, "student of the sport," has been haunting me for upwards of a year. The idea that you're never, ever going to be good enough at something that there won't be anything left to learn about it is rather intimidating and entirely thrilling. When you break it down to its base components, it's humility. Realizing deep inside yourself that you honestly do not know everything and are not always right is a hefty thing to be level with, and it requires TONS of humility. The equivalent of a buttload. It takes a buttload of a humility to admit that you're wrong and to legitimately come to terms with the fact that you simply do not know everything. Or even most of everything. Not even close. Being a teenager, particularly, makes this difficult. We know that kids are too little to know anything, our elders can't understand our generation, our friends just don't get it, or any number of other misunderstood, angsty excuses. Heaven forbid we should swallow our pride, admit we don't always know best, and have the grace to accept advice and knowledge from anybody but ourselves.

I think humility is really a key component of joy. People that go around with holier-than-thou, noses in the air attitudes are just straight up obnoxious. You want to whack them around the head and make them understand that they're not always right about everything. But honestly, most everybody is like that in some way or another. People that are honestly, truly, cheerfully trying to learn from their mistakes and aren't too proud to admit that they do, in fact, make mistakes, are not obnoxious and for some reason tend to be happier.

If everybody had the same zeal for learning as that precious little Sunbeam, if every person was constantly a student of the sport, how much happier would we all be? If we all jumped out of our chairs, tickled to our toes that we were filling our brains with knowledge, how wonderful would that be? Happiness is being a student of the sport--realizing and, beyond that, hoping that we will find new things to explore and learn and discover about everything we know.

"Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow." -Anthony D'Angelo

Love always,

Kate

Tom Hiddleston

I just need to straight up get this out of my system. I have a whole noggin full of good things to blog about, but I can't CONCENTRATE. I watched Avengers on Tuesday, and it's been destroying me ever since. So, without further ado, Tom Hiddleston.

 

Yeah, this is borderline obsession. Tom Hiddleston is rather good-looking. Yes, I'm completely smitten, and yes, it's completely stupid. But you know what?! I just graduated from high school and got a job, so I feel perfectly justified in being a little ridiculous. I think I might buy myself a new pair of shoes too! How about THAT?

*whew* I feel better. :)

Love always,
Kate

Heh heh heh!

I just plugged Percival in to charge and he made a loud and obnoxious beeping noise.

"Shh," I told him, "That noise is loud and I need to sleep! I have work in the morning!"

And then I smiled and giggled, like this: :) *giggle!*

....... heh heh. I have work in the morning! *giggle giggle*

Love always,

Kate

Not Graduation.

I feel like I should write a sentimental post about graduation, but I don't much feel like it today. Maybe tomorrow, or next week. Nope, here's what I want to blog about.

I came home from graduation practice about half an hour ago, and I just saw the cutest thing. The sprinkler was on, and it was watering the front garden as well as the lawn. In the front garden, there is an orange rock. A somewhat flat rock which makes quite an excellent seat when it's dry. It has various and sundry chunks missing from the surface. All these little pockets had about an inch of water in them. And in that little inch of water on that little orange rock was a teeny weeny sparrow taking a bath. I stopped pulling into the driveway so I wouldn't scare him away, and I watched him splash and wiggle in the water for a couple of minutes. I don't know why it made me so happy, but now I am irrationally cheerful. :)

Love always,
Kate

A Day in Photographs

Today has been the loveliest of days. I am just going to show you some pictures. With some captions. Because it's such a lovely day!

My angel Marylou brought me CAKE. And a LETTER!!! And FLOWERS! Golly, she's sweet.

Story: My dad and I gave my dog a very serious haircut and bath today. The haircut is awful and it screams death camp survivor. I tried to take a picture, but evidently he's too upset with me to come out of his doghouse, so maybe I'll get it later. :)

Snapdragons are the grandest flowers.

This isn't a very good picture of it, but the sky over the mountain was just wonderfully gray and angsty. I love angsty clouds. 

The roses in my yard are in full and violent bloom. Is there any felicity in the world superior to this?

Contrary to popular belief, I do indeed have toes.

This bug did not want to be photographed. So I named him Frederick and followed him around for about 2 minutes.

My parents got me a cute graduation sign. They are good parents.

I just really enjoy pink roses.

Marylou snuck over to my home. (We're watching Sleepless in Seattle!)

There is a veritable plethora of cherries on this tree. I can't wait 'til they're ripe.

Here are some cute chickens. They live in my yard.

Graduation robes (?!)

 This is the divine cake and the beautiful flowers that Mary made me. She is too sweet for words.

Mary wants to graduate too. (You are too young. Go enjoy high school.)

Clearly, I have the greatest life ever. I'm graduating in two days and life is a lovely place to be. Happy Tuesday! :)

Love always,

Kate