It's FRIDAY!

woohoooo!! Happy friday everyone!!

i can already feel how cold it is outside because it's freezing in our apartment..and we definitely have our heat on!

Yikes, so this week has been insane. good. bad. insane. i don't know even where i'd begin to describe it, so i don't think that i will. haha...we'll just bypass it and move on. :)

yesterday my classes were cancelled, and my observations were cancelled today! of course since i am ohso studious all of the time...i am working dilligently on homework for these two days!! (ahem, or not) actually... i haven't event ouched my books since wed. night. sometimes you just need a break from reality for a little while. i'll check myself back into it this afternoon maybe. maaaaybe.

so i am officially registered for FOCUS conference! i am sooo stinking excited! orlando, here we come! :)

so i told the priest at my newman center the other day, "i think st. therese of lisiuex is stalking me. in a really loving way. but stalking me." and would you like to know what he responded with?

"well katie, she probably is!!" hahaha. and that was that. she is stalking me. apparently it is because she is praying for me right now! :) which is pretty sweet if you ask me.

any fun weekend plans? i think i am going to the children's museum in town to make play-doh! i know. AMAZING! haha. i am pretty psyched. :)

well, i should really go shower....and start being productive! have a wonderful day!!

just to quote my favorite saint,

"Jesus is my guiding force. He teaches me to do everything through love, to refuse him nothing, and to be happy when he gives me the chance to prove my love for him."
-St. Therese of Lisiuex

--how beautiful is it to show Jesus we love Him, when we don't really feel like loving? when we feel like we're struggling? when we feel in pain? that's when we need to love Him even more. that's when we know we're on the right track. He is sending us the pain to strengthen us, to make us grow in LOVE. (and since God IS Love, we are in turn growing in HIM.)

Bible Study Blessings & Tutoring Terffic(ness) ?

helllloooo everyone!

how is everyone? holy.cow. i feel like i am at that point in the semester where it's 'go big or go home' so to speak. junior year is such a reality check....it really makes you analyze where you are and where you're going with your life.

today was a notsogreat day, filled with lots of little blessings that eventually turned it into a pretty great day --- i guess it's all just a matter of perspective. :)

let me just start by saying...first graders are really stinkin' cute.

my little girl that i tutor is just adorable! she makes all the work that goes into this class so worth it because it means seeing her happy. she definitely is the highlight of my monday and wednesday afternoons!

today she gave me a HUGE hug when she saw me. so cute. and then she preceded to tell me all the happenings in her life. (there were quite a few considering she is a 6 year old!)

this one had to be my favorite...

b: so miss katie, i get to hang out with my best friend today.
me: ohh! alexis?
b: no no, my other best friend. he's a BOY.
me: Oooooh. a boy?? well that's exciting isn't it?
b: he loves me.
me: wow! how do you know?? ;)
b: he gives me hugs when he sees me.
me: oh gosh! well, how do you feel about that?
b: i don't know, i don't love him. but i don't want to hurt his feelings.
me: that's very considerate of you.
b: i just don't want to worry about it!
me: i think you have some time...don't you worry.

haha. so cute!!!

then today i met up with one of the girls who is in my Bible Study, and she just made my day! she made me a BEAUTIFUL drawing of st. therese of lisieux. (my Bible Study has heard time and time again about my obsession with this wonderful saint.) i was so touched. it just turned my whole day around. here's a picture!!


so pretty right?! what a fanatastic gift. :) i can't wait to hang it in my room!!

.....aside from these wonderful, wonderful blessings. i feel like i can't fight this feeling of being SO stressed out and not knowing how to channel it! i just have so much work all the time. and i feel like my brain is in too many places at once right now. i'd like it to stop jumping around and sit still for a few days. or even a few hours....that'd be nice. :)

please, please say a prayer for me at...ohhh, around 2:00 tomorrow! i'm giving a HUGE presentation, and i don't feel too prepared. :( wish me luck!!

Hope you're having a wonderful evening! I just realized i missed Glee!! sad, sad day!


"Be still, and know that I AM."

dentures?!

do you ever just get incredibly loopy, and find everything funny? or just wonder really random things, and literally ponder over them forever? when it's stuff that you really wouldn't bother thinking about any other time?

i feel like tonight is one of those nights. i think i can prove this by my most recent text to justine, (sorry justine)

"Do you think dentures come in different styles? or have various teeth sizes?"

whaaaaat????!!!

hahaha then i sat there thinking about it for like 15 minutes. genuinely wondering. (you have no idea how much i wish i was joking) DO they come in different styles? flat teeth? rounded teeth? large teeth? medium? small?! maybe some come with gaps? i don't know. i don't even really care. but still, i sat thinking about this forever.

i'm over my denture phase though. for now at least.

i just watched Sweet Home Alabama for the first time! Everyone told me i'd love it, and i just haven't had a chance to watch it. it was pretty cute though!! i'm really enjoying being home SO much. i don't want to go back to school just yet! i loved having a stress-free weekend. it was so refreshing. :) tomorrow i am helping with the carnival for my little ones with down syndrome! i can't wait! it should be a good day. a little chilly, but fun. i can't wait to see all my kids from the summer!! i've missed them a lot. my weeks aren't the same without their little smiling faces.

my dad and i made chili tonight for Bible Study on Monday...yum yum, i loooove chili! it took all i had not to eat it. :)

p.s. we're having a really awesome meeting about conference on monday apparently! im SO excited and SO curious to see what we're going to do! :)

wellllllllllllllllll, off to spend some time with the fam before bed. and doing a pre-check to make sure i have everything packed. tomorrow i'm going to check about ten more times. don't want a repeat of last weekend now do we? ;)

P.S. --- SMILE! it's the weekend! :) Happy Saturday my loves!
tehe :]

'cause God is writing my love story. :)

my friend just send me this song, "average girl" by barlow girls.

i can't lie...the song itself isn't amazing. but the lyrics are SO good. take a look!

So what I'm not your average girl
I don't meet the standards of this world
Chasing after boys is not my thing
See I'm waiting for a wedding ring

No more dating
I'm just waiting
Like sleeping beauty
My prince will come for me
No more dating I'm just waiting
'Cause God is writing my love story

Boys are bad that's certainly not true
'Cause God's preparing one for you
If you get tired waiting till he comes
Gods arms are the perfect place to run

Sleep that's the only thing
For me 'cause when I sleep Gods
Preparing one for me

what a great reminder! i know i am guilty of sometimes getting so impatient, or thinking why is God taking so long! but lately i've been very confident in the fact that God is spending time making sure me and the man i am called to marry are completely 100% ready for each other. how cool is it to think that God is working on someone right now, specifically for me. specifically for you.

and though this is easy to say, or to tell other people when they are feeling a little sad, or confused and not always as easy to believe. but seriously. God needs to fill that place in our heart before we ask any guy to do it. and even if you feel ready, maybe HE isn't. i just thought this song really emphasized that well.

right now, i'm content waiting. (not to mention i have zero time for a relationship at the moment! heh.) i can't say i will feel the same way tomorrow, or the next. but i'm learning to trust more in His plan. remember how i said that i was stuggling with that?!

i'm really trying. :)

okay, well i am off to stufy for my HUGE midterm tomorrow. i'm basically stuck cramming for the rest of the night! wish me luck!!

bring on the sweaters!

Ahh, it is so chilly out today! it's sunny. breezy. and cold. i love it! i bundled up in a sweater this morning and walked to class -bug free!- shivering. it was the first fall day of the year. :) it made me really happy.

days like this make me want to bundle up, sit outside, drink hot chocolate, & read. :) actually... maybe i will do that today!

today is my first day of tutoring for one of my classes. we have to tutor 1st grade students two days a week in reading and plan lessons and do assessments. i'm really nervous! i hope my student likes me. i'm hoping the teacher, grown up katie in me takes over today, and nervous college katie vanishes for an hour or so. ;)

hah, want to hear a ridiculous story? yes? perfect.

yesterday i drove back from school, i left early and was in a good mood and it was beautiful outside. then i got to school and realized i left ALL my dress clothes (which i needed for tutoring), and regular clothes at home. ummm major problem.

Thank goodness i have the most amazing parents in the world. literally. my dad drove my stuff alllllll the way out here for me yesterday without even thinking twice.

however, after my dad got here. i realized i left all my make up at home too. ordinarily i could just deal with it, and get it next weekend since i have to go home again to help out at a carnival with my kids i volunteer with. but. tutoring. i need to be dressed up/look nice.

so i had to buy all new make up last night. :( ooof. what a waste of money.

as my dad said though, "it was an excuse for us to have dinner together!" (2.5 hours away from home...but dinner nonetheless)


i'm really lucky. :)

Just a few things!

Happy Friday everyone!!

It is a rainy, gloomy Friday here and i just woke up froma much needed nap! I'm actually pretty sick this weekend, so this morning i drove home from school to get a little TLC from my family. :) not gonna lie, it's pretty great to be in your own bed at home when you're not feelin' too great.

well, first of all! a BIG thanks to EMILY! at... show me Your way for a blog award!!

Emily is such a sweetheart! I feel like I know her so well after reading her blog for a little over a month now! It's so great having someone to relate to in the Blog world. I don't follow up with many blogs but I love reading hers! I knoooow we'd for sure be friends IRL! Thanks Emily!!


I am supposed to nominate 5 other people, however... i don't really have too many followers because I'm kind of an awful blogger and tend to never comment on people's blogs. Oopsies!
I promise I do read them. Sometimes I'm just kind of lazy....and also, two of my followers i actually know in real life. haha So, I will refrain from that part, and just leave it at thanking miss emily. :)

let's see what else?! this week has been a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions! remember in my post i said i was starting to feel far away from God?? i was starting to think about the fact that maybe God was using me a lot right now for my Bible study girls and others around me. and maybe He was using me SO much that it was just wearing me out. well, it's funny because our Sister at our Newman Center, gave a talk the other night...and in her talk she said sometimes, when we love others around us, part of us has to die - so others can grow, flourish, love, succeed, find God like we have.

which got me thinking.
and i was frustrated. i did not want part of myself to die! i didn't think i could bounce back from that. i was starting to get really, really angry. i felt forgotten. and alone. but then my view on things slowly started to change. and i started to feel okay about part of myself dying. because the thing about when part of us dies -- it comes back alive again even stronger than before.

(it only took getting to a point of absolute frustration and fear, a late night of sobbing with my fabulous discipler for me to get to this conclusion...bahaha oh the joys of being a girl)


Jesus died for us because He loves us. He gave us life through His death. which is exactly what we are doing for others by letting parts of ourselves die at times. so i think i am okay with letting part of myself die if it means the ones around me are growing. one of my Bible study girls told me that she is the happiest right now that she's been in awhile. so i guess God knows what He is doing... ;) even if i don't always like it.

on the ride home today i was thinking about this, and then "Only the good die young" came on the radio. it made me think that God was smiling at me. telling me that He has big plans for me, so to hang on a little longer. dig a little deeper. dive further into my faith. i will get through this.

(who knew you could get that much out of a silly little song, eh?)

sorry for the long, rambly post! have a WONDERFUL weekend!!

hit the road, gnats!

really gnats?! reeeallly?! did you really need to find your home in our boring little town and attack us as we walk to class??

i wish i was kidding but, we suddenly have a HUUUUGE gnat infestation out in the midwest apparently, because these.gnats.are.everywhere.

it's gross. it's disgusting. it's horrifying. (i promise you i am not being dramatic!)

they are everywhere!! people are afraid to leave their apartments, their dorms, their HOMES!! i walked to class today and had about 30 stuck to my clothes, a few stuck to my lip gloss, a few that i ate, in my eyes, in my NOSE! and for goodness sake, in my hair!!! i bet the fact that i have curly hair is like a happy little haven to these little nasty gnats.

i drenched myself in bugspray this morning...still no cure. i think i have probably consumed just as many gnats as food recently. want to hear the worst part of it all?! they aren't going anywhere.

not until the first frost.

which is not until decemeber usually.

i don't know if i can survive this long with the gnats living on me. they are not welcome here. noooo siree. blech blech blech.

anywaaaays.

tonight we are having a women's night, and i have to give a personal testimony/info about conference! i'm a little nervous that i won't say the right things. i get really nervous when i talk in front of large groups...something i should probably get over. fast. please say a prayer for me at 7:30 if you think of it?? =]

have a wonderful night!!

**Edit**
someone told me they are aphids.... but i still think they are gnats. baha. either way --- sick.