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