a new year

2011 is just around the corner. 2010 was quite the eventful year..... lost a kidney, went to prom, graduated high school, worked at kamp, started college, pledged a sorority, made new friends, got a boyfriend, finished my first semester of college.... lots to be thankful for. I am blessed far beyond what I deserve. I am ready to start a fresh year (2010 is at full capacity)! I was thinking about everything I'm looking forward to in the new year. For christmas I got the Beth Moore bible study, Esther, that I've heard amazing things about. My mom, Meg, and I are doing it together! I love studies that dig deep into scripture. So excited to start it! Also for Christmas, my parents got me a plane ticket to Tucson! This is going to be my first time going and I am FREAKING OUT with excited!! I get to meet Louie's family and all his friends. It's supposed to be absolutely beautiful there AND.... here's the best part..... its supposed to be in the 60's while I'm there! EEEK! haha ok so the weather isn't even close to being the best part but a pretty big deal compared to the dreary weather in KC these days. I swear I havn't seen the sun in weeks! Im leaving Jan. 7 and come back the 12th (the countdown is at 10 days... yes more countdowns). Next, my friend, Tim Lindquist is selling me his Canon d50 for an amazing deal! Oh my word! I have been saving up for this camera for a VERY long time and finally have enough to have one of my own! AAAHH! Thank you thank you Tim :) I've always loved photography and now I finally have the equipment to get started! I aspire to have a blog like Jami Nato's someday! Oh my word its so stinkin darling... you need to check it out thenatos.blogspot.com! Also in the new year I'll be the new Arts Chair for KKG, which will be a lot of time and responsibility but so much fun! I'm already designing some of the banners for this semester. I've got a lot of excitement ahead of me this year! Bring it on 2011 :)

jingle jams

TOP 15 SONGS TO PUT YOU IN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT:

1) Christmas Lights....... Coldplay

2) Christmas Tonight (with hillary scott)..... Dave Barnes

3) Carol of the Bells......... Emmy Rossum

4) All I Want for Christmas is You............*NSYNC

5) Oh Santa........ Mariah Carey

6) Winter Song...... Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Micaelson

7) This Christmas...... Chris Brown

8) Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel...... Dave Barnes

9) Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas....... Relient K

10) Baby Its Cold Outside........ Drew and Ellie Holcomb

11) Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow......... Michael Buble

12) Auld Lang Syne......... Ben Rector

13) The Christmas Song....... The Raveonettes

14) Silent Night........ T Swift

15) White Christmas....... Frank Sinatra

the countdown is officially at 13 days till christmas..... yes i'm one of those people with a running countdown..... don't judge me! haha

psh finals week shminals week

So this week is supposed to be high stress, lots of cramming, headaches, yadda yadda blah blah blah! I'm so stinkin blessed though ...lemme tell ya! I have one final I have to study for that's not even accumulative (aka just study the night before... sorry mom just being honest) and then a final in Comp 1 that is just gonna be an in-class essay or something easy like that. PHEW! Seriously, this is a moment when working my booty off all semester pays off! Im just honestly so thankful for a stress- free finals week after a kind of stressful semester.... an AMAZING semester.... but a stressful one. So excited for christmas break! Over a month off baby! whoop whoop! I loooove christmas in KC! Ok I just love christmas in general! The food, the christmas lights, the tree, christmas music, peppermint hot chocolate... mmm makes my heart smile! I love all the traditions and time to just spend with the fam jam! I feel like the christmas season really got started this week! We had our Kappa Kissmas semi-formal that Louie came up to Fayetteville for! Then last night we had a huge christmas feast at the Kappa House and wore tacky christmas sweaters! so... Dear finals week, please just get over with already so I can go home. Much appreciated. Sincerely, Kate.

shanksgivin

Since I happen to be one of the most unoriginal bloggers on the internet I decided to live up to that standard and name the top 50 things I'm most thankful in the spirit of (belated) shanksgivin' (in the most absolutely random order):

1. crafting
2. chai tea latte with caramel
3. black friday shopping
4. christmas lights
5. wifi
6. KAPPA KAPPA GAMMA
7. christmas pageants
8. My mom: best friend and role model
9. My dad: my biggest supporter and teddy bear
10. cheer bows
11. my dog's barking collar (only when its working)
12. comfy couches
13. my macbook
14. Louie: a boyfriend who is a true leader in Christ/ his dedication is inspiring
15. pictures and memories
16. birthdays
17. kick butt nephrologists and urologists ;)
18. my hair (I was never guaranteed to have it right now)
19. sunflowers
20. my home
21. Megan: my (other) best friend and funniest person I know
22. that fresh laundry smell
23. hot glue guns
24. the PUSH girls
25. Kanakuk Kamps
26. cashmere
27. Dalton: big protective brother... don't know what i'd do w/o ya
28. Kansas City
29. acrylic paint
30. dance
31. QuickTrip
32. my dr. pepper with a shot of vanilla
33. those moments when you laugh so hard you can't breath
34. my digital watch
35. yoga pants
36. photography
37. my TOMS
38. Scripture
39. disney princesses
40. movie trailers
41. cookie dough
42. my education (even though im REALLY dreading writing this 5 pg research paper tomorrow. bleh)
43. Italy
44. culinary arts
45. a healthy (but lonely) kidney
46. my bike
47. Pandora
48. hammocks
49. discipleship
50. My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lived the life should have lived and died the death I should have died.

THE weekend

This last weekend I could easily say was the highlight of my semester. For those of you who remember, I said I'd explain "the boy" further once November 11th came. Well this last weekend a certain boy flew from Tucson, Arizona to KC to see me. His name is Louie Christensen (yes feel free to fb stalk haha). We met working at Kanakuk this summer. I was working in the kitchen and he was a councelor. He tried to get me to come on a night off with him but I kept saying no because, of course, I was too oblivious to figure out he was trying to ask me on a date. haha typical. We've been talking/skyping ever since. He quickly asked if he could come see me in KC. So sure enough he bought a plane ticket and we've had a countdown going for about two months. I was in such disbelief that this weekend had finally come. We had the most amazing time together.... went on our "first date" (haha only took 5 months to finally go on our official first date)... went horseback riding and 4-wheeling at the Trott's ranch... got to meet all my family and friends... got to go to church together. I wish you could all meet him. He's pretty much a one-of-a-kind guy. He waited 5 months to officially ask me to be his girlfriend just so he could ask my dad's permission to date me (which i would NEVER ask him to do but he wanted to). He's an amazing leader and is such a light for Christ at the University of Arizona. He's starting BYX (a christian fraternity) at his school and works with International Justice Missions. It's not really hard to brag about him. Long distance relationships are so different. Your time together is so much shorter but so much sweeter. For the first time, a boy in my life has been such a blessing in my walk with the Lord (not a distraction). I find myself even more dependent on Him. It's such a blessing to be dating a true leader who loves the Lord. I'm gonna be honest, it's a little weird for me to be blogging about a boy. Haha but if I'm going to be honest about how God is blessing me and working in my life right now then I have to share about Louie. My poor kidney's relationship status is still single but as for the rest of me..... IM TAKEN! haha.

My blog layout has been lookin' a little lame-o if ya ask me. I love all the layouts on shabbyblogs.com but I'm having trouble figuring out how to apply them to my blog so if there are any blog fanatics out there, give me a shout! I'm slightly incompetent when it comes to these things. ha! I think I'm going to turn this post into a buffet of random goodies going on in my life right now... I just started this book called Authentic Beauty by Leslie Ludy. I've only dug into the beginning of it but it is REALLY good so far. One of my best friends loaned it to me and she said it was amazing! Im excited to get deeper in it. Work in the studio has been cut back a lot this week after that insane photorealistic project, which has been so refreshing and much needed! This week I have two tests and a 6 page paper due so I'm feelin' a little anxious over that! EEK! I went to the Ben Rector concert this week and it was INCREDIBLE!!! The openers were phenominal too... check out Goose and Drew Holcomb on iTunes... They'll melt your face! Hmm what else?... OH, haha, funny story... last night I was in my dorm working on homework (like any other cool kid does on a saturday night). Everything on campus was closed and I don't have a car so I cant drive anywhere and I was STARVING!! I was skyping with Louie (ok I suck at keeping secrets... yes Louie is "the boy"... there, its out now... ya happy?! haha) and whining about how hungry I was. NO idea how he thought of this, but he decides to get on Dominos Pizza's website and order me a pizza from the comfort of his own home in TUCSON ARIZONA!!! haha sure enough, twenty minutes later a hot delicious pizza is delivered to my dorm! Oh my word it was sooo gooood! I don't think pizza has ever been so satisfying! haha! Seriously.... WHO DOES THIS!?!? Raise your hand if you think I should keep this boy around............. yeah I think so too! haha! Well I definitely need to get better at updating the blog more often but I feel like I say that in every post! Hope yall have a fantastic week :) peace, love, and pumpkin spice lattes!

this post needed a little color... eh here's a random pic from a pep rally for your viewing pleasure :)

the beast

This past weekend I finished the papa daddy of all projects! I had to blog about it because it consumed a whole week of my life that I will never get back! haha. I tallied how many hours I spent in the studio that week..... take a good guess.... nope higher.... even higher..... I tallied SEVENTY HOURS in the studio! Yep! Its the truth! The project was a montage of 5 photo realistic sketches of parts architectural structures around campus! Each sketch took me approx. 12 hours! Most nights I was in there till 3, 4, or 5 am! The last night i was working on it till 5:45am and had to BE at class at 8:30am! I was slightly delirious the next day, to say the least! Working in the studio that much makes you wonder if you're wasting your life away in this little cave. This got me to thinking about why all this work is worth it (besides that puny piece of paper I get in 4 yrs... by the way I want a friggin gold trophy when i get done with this program... just sayin). But in all seriousness, my motives need to be working as if I were working for the Lord and not for men (Col. 3:23). This is what will make my time have eternal value. I've also been trying to be intentional with my time in the studio with other interior design girls. I already got to share my testimony with some girls and how Christ has transformed my life. I know that I might be labeled as the "religious girl" but be praying that the news of the gospel might plant seeds. I desire to be a light in the place God puts me. Nevertheless, I WILL say that I was really proud of my work! I think they were pretty good replications of the photos I took. I took pictures of the sketches so I hope you like them :) Let me know what you think!!!