Ode to Ken

(I realize I never finished my thankful alphabet. That will come later.)

I just presented a portfolio for one of my finals.
When we were done we had a slam poetry competition for random objects.

I love my major.

Anyway...

I won a Ken Doll.

Yep. Awesome.

And the winning poem (it's better if you read it out loud):

Ode to Ken

As a child I played
as I stayed
at a friend's.
You were there.
You were there, blonde hair, smoldering stare.
But just one.
Just one of you there, blonde hair, smoldering stare.
Three young girls, none with curls
And only one of you.
We fought.
Who would get you and that hair, that stare?
Who's Barbie's life would be complete?
We'd compete.
I'd lose.
But now...
Years later. I compete again, my dear Ken.
Your hair, that stare.
Complete me.


Written in five minutes, folks. It's been a good start to finals week.

Many Norwegian Optometrists Pay Quails Real Salaries Today

(That's an acronym for the letters I'm grateful for today, in case you didn't catch it.)

Holy pants. I got a little behind. I guess I'll just be SUPER grateful today.


M



I'm grateful for MUSIC. I told you this was coming. Music is my life. Well, a very large part of my life. I grew up listening to The Beatles with my dad, started playing the violin in sixth grade, and my love for music has only grown. Music sets a mood, it distracts me, it helps me focus, it makes me extremely happy and can help pity me in times of sadness. I just love it so. One of my favorite quotes is: When words fail, music speaks. How true that is!



N



I'm grateful for NERF GUNS. I played an awesome game of Humans vs. Zombies on campus a few weeks ago and I was very grateful I had a nerf gun to defend myself. Also, they are awesome.



O



I'm grateful for OSTRICHES. Lately my roommates and I have been coming up with a patronus for everyone we meet. I also did this in the summer with my old roommates, and they decided that I was an ostrich. At first I was resistant to this fact, but lately I've accepted that I'm an ostrich. They're pretty cool, I guess. :)



P



I'm grateful for my PAYCHECKS. Well, I'm more grateful that I have a job in general. Times are tough, and I know how difficult it is to find a job. It was hard to find a job myself. Now, I'm lucky enough to be on A-Team (the greatest job in the whole world) and work at The Marketplace (well, at least I get free meals...). I may complain about having to go to work, but really, I'm aware how lucky I am to have a job.



Q



I'm grateful for QUARTERS. Mostly because they help me do my laundry. And you can buy cool things from cool machines. When I was little, quarters were the best. I would always keep my quarters and throw my other coins at people and signs and the like. Quarters are awesome.



R



I'm grateful for my RELATIVES. I'm very blessed to have a wonderful family. My extended family is awesome and so fun to be around, and I feel the same way about my immediate family. I have the cutest nieces and nephews and I'm sure there will be many more to come. I'm so lucky!



S



I'm grateful for the SPECTRUM. For those who don't know, The Spectrum is where my beloved Aggies play basketball. There is nothing like an Aggie Basketball game. It's loud, it's crazy, and it's a blast. We may be mean, but it's all in good fun. So many good cheers, so many good times. It's just another reason I love my school.



T



Finally, I'm grateful for Thanksgiving. A little redundant, yes, but I really am! For me, I get a break from the stresses of school and I get to eat tons of delicious food and spend time with my awesome family. It's a splendid holiday.

This one's for you, Wave.

Shout out to my brother, Wave/Jeff. He told me blog today. So here I am.

Alrighty. I-L, I believe. (PS This is really hard to think of things. I'll think of something as I write it, and then the next day I'll be like, OH! I should have done THAT for that letter! Blast!)


I



Alright, I know it's lame, but today I'm grateful for my iPOD. But really. It's my perfect escape from the world. Not the iPod itself, but the music on it. I was on the bus today by myself and the bus driver was playing Christmas music. Anyone that knows me well understands why this is such a problem. I HATE Christmas music before Thanksgiving. It's blasphemous. So, I plugged in my headphones, cranked up a song by The Format and got lost in my own world. Music...man, music is awesome. I can almost guarantee that music is what I'll be thankful for when the time for "M" comes around in this blog. Music can affect me in ways that even surprise myself. Ahh I just love it. More on that later.



J



I'm grateful for JOSEPH SMITH. He's the reason I am where I am today. He restored the gospel to the earth, and that very same gospel is what I owe my happiness to. I can't imagine where I would be without it. I don't WANT to imagine where I would be without it. Joseph Smith was an amazing example to me. He was persecuted, tarred and feathered, beaten, and martyred, the whole time his faith was unwavering. Undaunted, still he trusted.


K



I'm grateful for being a KATIE. Can I say I'm grateful for myself? I'm just grateful to be alive. I also really like my name. So, there it is.


L




I'm grateful for LOVE. Any type of love. Love from a parent, love from a friend, love from a boy, love from a sibling, love from anywhere, really! It's all wonderful! All you need is love!

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return."

Well, we all saw it coming.

I didn't keep up my post-a-day goal. Well, lucky you! You get to hear FOUR things I'm thankful for today.

Alright, here goes!



E



I'm grateful for my EYES. Eyes are wonderful. I often take for granted the beauty of the place I live, but I get to look at awesome mountains every day. As dry and ugly Utah can get sometimes, I love the fall colors as trees change and I love how beautiful things look during a soft snow fall. So, I'm grateful that I can see. Life is beautiful!




F



I'm grateful for being a FELIX. Seriously, we're the coolest family around. I'm the youngest of 11, and I wouldn't have it any other way. My siblings, Martins and Felix's alike, are the nicest, funniest, coolest people I know and it's a privilege to be part of such an amazing family. We. Are. Awesome.



G



I'm grateful for GREEN MILK. I say this because Jill and I dyed my whole carton of milk green today and it is just one of the many reasons I love her and being her roommate. We're really mature.




H



I'm grateful for HARRY POTTER. Seriously, though. I grew up with the famous trio, and I've never loved a book series more. I honestly cried reading the last one when it was over. SO amazing. This week I'm seeing the first half of the 7th movie with the roommies, and I'm SO excited. I'm one of the great nerds that dresses up and debates topics related to Hogwarts houses. I take it seriously, folks. And I'm proud of it! :)

C and D!

So far, so good on blogging every day! Go me.

Alright. C aaaaaand D:

C



I'm grateful for my CHILDHOOD. I honestly loved being the youngest of 11 kids. I always felt loved, protected, and just plain awesome hanging around my siblings. I have awesome memories with my childhood friends as well. We would play night games all the time at the Bonnet's house and jump on the tramp at the McCann's. I made friends at the age of two with Chelsea, and we're still the best of friends to this day, and always will be. I had the best ward, the best neighbors, and I am the person I am today because of the people in my childhood. So thanks, all of you. Thanks. :)


D



I am grateful for DINOSAURS. They're just cool. They always make me smile. That's it.

We Get Bored

Like it or not, here is insight into our minds and lives on boring Saturday afternoons. Enjoy.



Also, thanks to my lovely friend Jill, I've been inspired to start blogging about what I'm grateful for. I'm going to go through the whole alphabet and say one thing I'm grateful for each letter. I'm going to do my best to blog every day, and do two letters each day. (That puts me at Thanksgiving.) So, here it goes!

A

I love my AGGIES
Seriously. I love my school. I'll be honest, while it always felt like the right place for me to be, when I very first moved up here last year, I got really homesick. I started to question if I had made the right decision. Now, over a year later, I can tell you that I can't imagine myself anywhere else. I'm 398% sure I'm in the right place. The school spirit, the city of Logan, the awesome people I've met, my classes...it's home to me. Coming here was probably the best decision I've ever made.

B

I'm thankful for BOOKS. We all know it. I'm a nerd. But I can't tell you how much I love literature. I love it more when it's not assigned reading, but there is something so amazing about language that only a true English nerd can appreciate. It can make you laugh, cry, or just get lost in another world. It's my perfect escape from life. Now I wish I just had more time in my life to read books I WANT to read. :) I'm also very grateful for blankets, which also starts with a "B", so let's just combine them and say I love curling up in a BLANKET and reading a BOOK. There.

I hope I keep this up until Thanksgiving! Wish me luck, you wonderful people!

Everyone Hail the Pumpkin Song

Halloween.

Expectations every year:






Reality every year:



I love Halloween. I really do. I mean, come on...one of my favorite authors is Poe.

But usually, my expectations of Halloween never meet what really happens. I expect to have an awesome time, with awesome people, eating awesome food, wearing awesome costumes.

THAT never happens.

Usually I end up going to a lame party, or sitting at home doing nothing.

LAME.

Not this year.

The two reasons?


I live with these crazies.


AND



I'm making a Tanooki suit for my costume. Yeah.

It's gonna be a good year.

Jolly good...

My roommates and I can't stop talking in British accents

Seriously.

It's like a disease.

A really awesome disease.

Maybe it's annoying to some, but we rather enjoy it.

In other news, my last Saturday was

amazing.

My roommates and I had the chance to go to the General Relief Society meeting in Salt Lake. It was amazing to hear the General Relief Society presidency speak as well as President Monson.

ALSO.

Shook Elder Russell M. Nelson's hand at dinner.

He was eating at the table next to us at The Garden, and thanks to our dear neighbor Craig, we were informed that he was there and we got to meet him! Such an amazing man, and you can tell it just by looking in his eyes.

So, basically it was an amazing weekend! I love everyone!

Cheerio!

With our neighbor Craig(ery)

Blondes Have More Fun? We shall see...

Once upon a time...

I was a blonde.

Now I'm not.

Any questions?

I happen to like it.

Awake My Soul

How fickle my heart and how woozy my eyes,

I struggle to find any truth in your lies.

And now my heart stumbles on things I don't know.

My weakness I feel I must finally show.

Lend me your hand and we'll conquer them all.

But lend me your heart and I'll just let you fall.

Lend me your eyes I can change what you see.

But your soul you must keep totally free.

Awake, my soul.

-Mumford and Sons

[I'm utterly in love with everything about this song.]

Revamping!

So, I'm going to attempt to make my blog more presentable. I have no idea what I'm doing.

Wish me luck!

If it looks terrible as you're viewing this, give it time. It will look amazing. *crossing fingers*

Oh yeah...my blog...

Sorry everyone. (And by "everyone" I mean the 2.7 of you that probably read my blog.)

I haven't written in a while.

School has been craaaaaazy. It's been good, but craaaaaazy. I'm taking 16 credits, 15 of them English courses. You know what that means? I get to read lots and lots and lots. Now, don't get me wrong, I love reading as much as the next English nerd, but it takes a lot of time. I really like my classes and professors, though. I'm learning a lot. Mainly:

1. I'm SUPER scared to become an English teacher. I'm taking a Teaching Literature class and the talk of lesson plans, teaching, and the future of young developing minds freaks the demons out of me.

2. Equally, if not more so, I can't wait to become an English Teacher. I've had some pretty remarkable teachers in my life. While it is scary to think of teaching, I can't wait to have a classroom of my own with students that I can share my passion for English with. I want them to get excited about learning, like my teachers did for me. I hope I'm as awesome as they were/are!

3. Writing is more therapeutic than I thought. I'm also taking a Creative Nonfiction Writing class. It might be my favorite class. An ongoing assignment for that class is keeping a writing journal. We do a lot of writing exercises that help improve our writing style and content. I'm finding out a lot about my self by doing the exercises. Some exercises we just have to write, no thinking, just writing. I'm astounded about some of the things going on in my head that I never knew were there. I can tell this class is going to be a good outlet for me. I'm going to learn a lot about this crazy head of mine. Who needs therapy when you have a pen and paper?

4. I don't really like Realism. What can I say? I'm a hopeless romantic. Now every realist piece I read, I just prepare myself for everyone dying or losing everything, that way when only half of the characters do, it's not so depressing.

5. Ping Pong makes you sweat. Who knew? So, I said I had 16 credits and 15 were English. Guess what the last one is? Yep, you guessed it. Table Tennis. It's everything I hoped it would be.

So, I've learned more things than this, but those are the ones that come to mind right now. I love my major. I love my friends. I love this school.

I'm happy.

Heavy Boots

I just finished reading the book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer.

And it was beautiful.

I absolutely love his writing. This might be my new favorite book.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

“We laughed and laughed, together and separately, out loud and silently, we were determined to ignore whatever needed to be ignored, to build a new world from nothing if nothing in our world could be salvaged, it was one of the best days of my life, a day during which I lived my life and didn’t think about my life at all.”

“Well, what would happen if a plane dropped you in the middle of the Sahara Desert and you picked up a single grain of sand with tweezers and moved it one millimeter?” I said, “I’d probable die of dehydration.” He said, “I just mean right then, when you moved that single grain of sand. What would that mean?” I said, “I dunno, what?” He said, “think about it.” I thought about it. “I guess I would have moved a grain of sand.” “Which would mean?” “Which would mean I moved a grain of sand?” “Which would mean you changed the Sahara.” “So?” “So? So the Sahara is a vast desert. And it has existed for million of years. And you changed it!” “That’s true!” I said, sitting up. “I changed the Sahara!” “Which means?” he said. “What? Tell me.” “Well, I’m not talking about moving that one grain of sand one millimeter.” “Yeah?” “If you hadn’t done it, human history would have been one way…” “Uh-huh?” “but you did do it, so…?” I stood on the bed, pointed my fingers at the fake stars, and screamed: “I changed the course of human history!” “That’s right.” “I changed the universe!” “You did.” “I’m God!’ “You’re an atheist.” “I don’t exist!” I fell back onto the bed, into his arms, and we cracked up together.

“Humans are the only animal that blushes, laughs, has religion, wages war, and kisses with lips. So in a way, the more you kiss with lips, the more human you are.”

“You cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness.”

An amazing book, for sure. I think I felt every possible emotion while reading it, and I love that in a book. It made me think about life, death, love, family, and the strangers that live around me.

As Oskar would say, "It kind of gave me heavy boots."

But I'm okay with that.

Summer

At this moment I'm sitting in a room. It's my room, but it feels less like mine now that I've taken down all my pictures and things of that sort. I'm getting ready to move out of the glorious Jones Hall. While it wasn't the most glamourous place to live, I think I'll look back and remember the amazing times I've had while living here rather than the constant stench this place upholds. My summer has been unforgettable! Here are some highlights:

- Waking up (ridiculously) early to go to SOAR
- Free pie nights at Village Inn
- Bear Lake
- Bringing Maeby into the family. What a great dog.
- Sharing my love of food with Sierra
- Going to Manti Pageant
- Never earning The Stars at post meeting
- Laying around listening to music instead of being productive
- Gossener's milk. 'Nuff said.
- Third Retreat
- Going to Salt Lake for Beirut as well as the Pioneer Day parade
- TACO TUESDAY
- Volleyball nights
- Closing A-Team Banquet
- Disco skating (That one time I went...)
- Newsies
- Floating down the Onieda River
- The Preston Rodeo
- Night fishing
- The best birthday EVER

Those are just a few that stick out to me at the moment, but there have been so many good times. I have some of the most amazing friends on this planet. I love my coworkers, I love my ward...I feel extremely blessed! Thank you to everyone that has made this summer so fan-freaking-tastic. :)

Picture time? I think yes.

My favorite girls. And Jo.



Riding the saddle...



Bear Lake



Milk.



Shooting at Third Retreat



Bring it on, school. BRING IT.

Attention!

I now own a slight variation of this treasure:



And I got it for $2 at DI.

Wondrous.

Come What May

Decisions: Sometimes they suck.

All I'm going to say is that I know the Lord loves me and as long as I include Him in my decisions, I'll get through it.

I'm at peace with my decision. I may struggle with the consequences. It's not going to be easy in any sense of the word.

But He loves me.

And that's all I need to know.

Samuel the Great

Today I think I'll share with you all some wonderful quotes uttered by a young boy named Samuel.

This blessed young soul came up to the third floor of the student center while my coworkers and I were on break. My friend Bryan and I were playing a game of ping pong and Samuel came over and said, "I was going to play." So, we let him play. Time after time he attempted to smack that ping pong ball, but to no avail. He then said, "Usually I hit things!"

Then he went over to the rest of the group to talk. There we found out that he was "five and a half". Just like his pet wolf. What is his wolf's name, you ask? Wolfy. Naturally.

He also snuggled up to a few people and "slept" and when it was finally time for him to go, (and by that I mean time for his mom to make him leave) he got up from the couch and realized one of the buttons on his shirt was undone, revealing his belly button. His mom kept saying, "Button your shirt!" as they were walking away, and little Samuel just said, "But they were belly button lovers!" And we all laughed. So, being the wise kid he is, tried for more laughs. "Are you sloppy joe lovers?"

Needless to say, he was the highlight of my day. My descriptions can't do him justice.

OH! BEST PART: He was wearing a sock on his arm and when asked about it, he would reply by saying, "It's my robot arm." and move it around in a robotic fashion. Love it.

Birthday!!

Alright. This may be a long post. My birthday this year may have been one of the best I've had in a long time. Here is how my day went:

To start off, I need to explain that my roommates had me make a list of 19 things I want to do in my life, whether it be crazy or not. Anything. So, I made the list and I sent it to my roommate Sunday afternoon. Here is the list:

1. Sleep on a beach
2. Picnic in an elevator
3. Cliff jumping
4. Paint pet rocks
5. Watch Cinderella the whole way through
6. Play hide and go seek in an empty department store
7. Read the entire Harry Potter series, back to back, only taking breaks to sleep
8. Build and live in a fort for several days
9. Stay awake for more than 24 hours
10. Have an entire amusement park to myself
11. Go to the airport, buy a random plane ticket, fly to that random place, spend the day and fly back home.
12. Learn all the lyrics to "One Week" by Barenaked Ladies
13. Spend the day on the set of a movie
14. Write a song
15. Take a road trip across the country
16. Write a letter to everyone that has had an impact on my life.
17. Make friends with a stranger on a long flight
18. Smash a guitar
19. Perfect a Scottish accent

This morning I woke up to my roommate Kate informing me that I had surprises waiting for me. I got up, walked into the kitchen to see an amazing fort in my living room. She beckoned me in, and had pancakes waiting for me. As I ate, she pulled up a youtube tutorial on how to speak with a Scottish accent. Awesome. Then we used a song generator online. (This song turned out to be HILARIOUS) She also gave me a CD that she burned for me as well as another CD with just the song "One Week" on it with the lyrics printed out for me to learn it. (Don't I have some awesome roommates?!) THEN she brought out an old clock that I turned 25 times, therefore staying awake for more than 24 hours. So great.

Anyway, then I took a shower and got ready for "an adventure". This adventure was having a picnic in an elevator! Seriously, a life long dream fulfilled! It was in a nearby residence hall where all the senior citizens live for the summer and so they would come in and out of the elevator and just laugh and talk to us. It was amazing! Then after lunch we went outside, picked out some rocks, and painted them. Mine is purple. His name is Lawrence. I'm quite fond of him.

After rock painting I went to Spoon Me with my brothers Chris and Devin. It was delicious as usual. Then we went to a park near my apartment and flew kites for a brief time but then, due to poor wind conditions, we ended up just sitting and talking under a tree. We were shortly joined by my sister-in-law Randi and their dog Maeby. It was a good time for sure.

Then we went to Texas Roadhouse with about 15 of my friends. SO much fun! It was so good to be with everyone and just enjoy talking and even though I was forced to "ride the saddle" for my birthday (humiliating) it was so great! Then I went home, my brothers came over, we ate cake, I smashed a cardboard guitar (made by Kate) and we talked about our childhoods.

So, many things on my list got crossed off today, and I couldn't be happier. I had a great time, with great people, and I feel so blessed to have such great friends and family in my life! I would be nothing without them! (I know it's cliche, but...seriously.)

Now it's off to sleep in my fort. Ah, the joy that sentence brings me.

With Hands Now Pledged

For courage to accept thy will, To listen and obey.
We love thee, Lord; our hearts are full.

We'll walk thy chosen way.

Mid-year's Resolution

Looking back on my posts thus far, I realized they all involve music in some way. Shows you how much music is a part of my life, eh?

Well, this post isn't about music. Sorry.

Tonight I had some psychologically revealing conversation with some friends. We talked about things we liked about ourselves as well as things we disliked. In talking with them, I realized that I let people walk over me. Maybe too much. I'm an extremely passive person and I hate confrontation. At some times, this is a blessing. I let things slide and don't get too worked up over them, which is a good thing. However, I often compromise my happiness so others can be content.

Not such a good thing.

So here it is, cyberspace: I'm making a goal to buck up. I'm not going to let people choose for me. I'm not going to let people take advantage of my passive nature. And by george, I'll do it with a smile on my face.

Now, here's to fighting every urge I have to hide behind a tree and forget about everything I just typed.

Open the Gates

Tonight?

Oh, just belted out Newsies with Sierra.

I love living with people that understand me. :)

Ahh Music...

Wanna know what mood I'm in? Here:



Not necessarily the lyrics, but just the feeling of the song.

I've listened to it 9 times in a row.

It's been one of those days.

...10 times.

Play the Sunset

Tonight I decided I would watch the movie Mr. Holland's Opus. Now, I've seen this movie many times before, but not since graduating from High School. As I was watching it tonight a few things came to my realization.

The first is this: I might actually miss playing the violin. I always liked orchestra. I loved that feeling I would get when we would play a song that finally came together after months and months of drilling and counting and rehearsing. It gave me goosebumps.
Anyway, my senior year of High School we played "An American Symphony" from Mr. Holland's Opus. It was probably one of my favorite things we ever played in orchestra. Watching the movie tonight and hearing the score brought back great memories of playing those songs and being part of a huge group.
There is no way I could mention the orchestra without mentioning the man behind it all. Sam Tsugawa. We always joked about how strict and tough he was in the classroom, and it was no secret that Sam got what Sam wanted. And what a blessing that was. Without that guy, our orchestra would have been NOTHING. He genuinely cared about every one of his students and I've never met a man more dedicated to his profession than he was, and still is. And holy cow, he may be the only short brown man that can make me more frightened than a small nun at a penguin shoot. In a good way, of course. :)

The other thing I realized from watching this movie was that I'm terrified to be a teacher. I have this fear that I'll be like the Mr. Holland at the beginning of the movie: boring and disliked. While I'm scared out of my wits, I'm also extremely excited. I have the opportunity to teach. To have an impact on a young person's life. Kind of enpowering, right?! I've had so many teachers that have inspired me and I just hope that one day I can do the same.

Here is one of my favorite quotes from the movie:

"A teacher has two jobs. To fill young minds with knowledge, yes, but more important: give those minds a compass so that knowledge doesn't go to waste."

[End of cheesy post]

Here we go again...

Attempt #3 at blogging. I have to fit in with the world I live in somehow.

Wish me luck.

Yours truly,

Katie