Why Am I Doing This?

I don't know. But I'm going to do it anyway....oh the randomness.

30 Day Challenge, here I come! (On an side note...challenge? How is this a challenge? WHO CAME UP WITH THIS? Why am I conforming to the popularity of this nonsense? Why?!)

Day 1 – A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.
Day 2 – A photo of something you ate today.
Day 3 – A picture of somewhere you've been to.
Day 4 – A picture of you and your friends.
Day 5 – Your ideal first date.
Day 6 – A photo of an animal you’d love to keep as a pet.
Day 7 – Your dream wedding.
Day 8 – A song to match your mood.
Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased.
Day 10 – A photo of your favorite place to eat.
Day 11 – What’s in your makeup bag?
Day 12 – A photograph of the town you live in.
Day 13 – Your favorite musician and why?
Day 14 – A TV show you’re currently addicted to.
Day 15 – Something you don’t leave the house without.
Day 16 – Your celebrity crush.
Day 17 – A photo of you and your family.
Day 18 – Something you crave a lot.
Day 19 – Songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad.
Day 20 – The meaning behind your blog name.
Day 21 – Put your iPod on shuffle. List the first 10 songs that play.
Day 22 – A letter to someone who has hurt you recently.
Day 23 – 15 facts about you.
Day 24 – A photo of something that means a lot to you.
Day 25 – Nicknames you have and why you have them.
Day 26 – A baby picture.
Day 27 – A picture of something that makes you happy.
Day 28 – Your favorite movie.
Day 29 – Something you could never get tired of doing.
Day 30 – A photograph of yourself today + three good things that have happened in the last 30 days!

So....I guess we'll see how this goes. Hmm. Look for Day 1 in approximately four to five hours!

Love always,
Kate

A Full Plate

Background: I came home from church two hours early on account of feeling very ill, and, after determining what to eat (chicken noodle soup...ahh) I decided I should buck up and at least get some reading done for English.

I decided reading The Grapes of Wrath would be much more tolerable if I was rewarding myself with a less horrible book in between every few chapters. So I went into my room and thought to myself, "What am I reading right now that I could use in between?" and found all these books sitting on my bedside table in the state of being partially read:

1. The Life of Pi

2. Persuasion




3. Gone with the Wind


4. Tuesdays with Morrie




5. Ella Enchanted




6. The Shipping News




7. Heart of Darkness




8. Calvin and Hobbes




9. The Book of Mormon

So, technically speaking, I am in the process of reading ten books right now (if you can count Calvin and Hobbes and The Book of Mormon, which I'm always reading).

You may ask me why I don't just finish one book and move on to another....and I will not have a good answer for you. I just can't seem to come to terms with one at a time! Oh well, at least I have a lot to do over Spring Break! :)

Love always,
Kate

Weather.

Whether or not to blog about the weather.... Ha ha. I love words.

Anyway, I have been solemnly instructed by a parental unit to blog about the weather. So, here we go.

Weather. It's everywhere. The best thing about weather is....um....wind. I like wind, actually. It's so awesome. Wind can be refreshing or threatening or foreboding (!) or tickly or...anything really. I love wind.

Also, I love flowers. There are hyacinths and daffodils and irises and tulips coming up in our garden out front. They smell like heaven. I don't even mind the awkward snow/sun combinations we keep having because they make the flowers smell amazing. Seriously, I hope heaven smells like my garden does. Dirt and everything. (I like the smell of dirt. Is that weird?)

What else about weather? Random rain storms, I like those. Oh boy, I just realized I'm excited for summer lightning storms. Those are so cool. I hope the lightning strikes some sand so I can go glass hunting.

*rambles on incoherently about the weather for a little while longer*

The point is, I love spring! That's all.



Love always,
Kate

Oh Jane Austen. How I Wish to Be Thee.

Ooookay. So here's the low down. Yesterday I went to see Jane Austen's Persuasion at BYU. And it was so well done! The actors were excellent, the costumes were fantastic, the scenery was so fitting, and everything was just ship shape (forgive the pun, anyone that knows what I'm talking about...) But really, I loved it.

And today I thought to myself, I wish I was Jane Austen. She was so awesome. She wrote incredibly witty books for someone of her age. She was intelligent and pretty....and she never got married, but that's not the point. I wish I could be as unique and entertaining an author as she was. I don't think I'll ever be able to be though! Oh well. Now you'll have to endure a bunch of
Jane Austen men and wallow in pity with me.
































































































































And...just for the heck of it...














Love always,
Kate

Boys.

They are an epic waste of time and energy.

That will be all.

Love always,
Kate

Deep Thoughts on a Wednesday Afternoon

Do you ever have days where you just do not feel like you know what's going on? In or outside of yourself?

That is pretty much how I feel today. (I feel hypocritical writing this after my deep gratitude post, and I wonder why I can't be humble all the time, but there you have it.) Today, I don't feel like I know who I am. I feel like I don't know where I'm going, I feel like I don't know where I've been, I feel like I don't know what I want or what I like or...anything really.

Whenever I vent to my friends about this kind of problem, I get responses like "You're a wonderful person! You're so smart and nice and pretty and you're so good at everything you do!" Not that those are bad in any way, shape, or form. It's really nice to hear those things, and I'm grateful to my darling friends I complain to. Just by the way.

But when people say things like that, I have to wonder if that's what I am or who I am. And then I realize that those things are probably the same. But are they? Is what you are the same thing as who you are? Are you what you're good at? I mean obviously we're defined by the things we do. And for the most part, I do the things I'm good at (or think I'm good at, at any rate). And I really enjoy them. But is that who I am? What does that even MEAN?

And now I look over this extremely angst-y, over-thought post and realize I'm blowing this all out of proportion. (And I'm fine, Mom. For real.) Just some deep thoughts on a Wednesday afternoon.


Love always,
Kate

Gratitude

Some days just humble you into tears and onto your knees. Today was that day.

It's hard to believe how wrapped and tangled up I get in my own life. I complain over Physics homework. I think my life is difficult because I didn't get to practice as long as I wanted to. The guy I like doesn't like me back and I'm always up late doing homework. I'm not as skinny as I want to be and everyone is asking too much of me.

And then I remember that there are people surrounding me that have real problems, and I cry for being selfish and forgetting that I am blessed above and beyond anything I can ever hope to deserve.

I remember that I have a family that I adore, and that will put up with me.
I remember that my siblings and parents are all healthy.
I remember that my parents have jobs and can support our family.
I remember that I am strong and smart and am capable of doing anything I want to do.

Even the biggest hurt of my life is healing. The person that injured me more than I ever thought he could turned his life around and is doing wonderful things with it.

So many people don't have those things. And I can't believe I ever forget to be thankful for them. Many of my friends have lost parents and siblings to diseases and accidents. Kids I know are ruining their lives with drugs and alcohol.

I look at my amazing family that love me and I am grateful. I look at my incredible friends with strong testimonies and I am grateful. I have a roof over my head and a bed to sleep in. I look at the people literally surrounding me that are ready at a moment's notice to let me scream or cry or vent or talk whenever I need to.

And I am grateful.





















Love always,
Kate