Your Name

first praise team practice tonight =)

it went really really SUPER well.

We are singing a few favorite songs of mine this week... "First Love" and "Your Name" among them.

Kathryne

...what did I do today again?

I'm honestly blanking...

OH!

duh.

Me & my 2 mateys (classmateys, that is... 2/3) went to a huge, ginormous, AWESOME library in the city. It was cool.

We were talking about stuff on the way back... one thing that one of them said made me almost cry laughing. Discussing how to counter unwanted affection, she said:

"I don't like you. Now leave me alone."

it made me crack up, seriously.

Kathryne

Liar!!

I loved today.

no, really.

Went to some friends' house and ate pizza and played liar's dice.

and, btw, YOU WILL NEVER WIN!!

(so stop trying to tickle me!!)

Kathryne

La-la-la-lovely day =)

Went to church at an insane hour of the morning...

all ready to sing my solo for the Christmas cantata. Yay!

...then, the other soloist didn't show up, so... SURPRISE! Kathryne gets two solos, one of which she prepared for... hah! Thankfully, I knew the song, so it was okay and I think I did pretty well.

Overall, it was fun but I think I'm glad it's over with.

Also today, we had dinner with my supersmart, awesome extended family.

My one cousin and I got into a little spat over when the Roman Empire fell... oh, only in my family. very fun.

Kathryne

Take a *RISK*

Today I played RISK for the first time.

(with Christine and some other awesome people)

I can't say I crushed, creamed, or beat anybody into the ground... but neither can I say that I lost, because I won =)

(Actually, we had to end early, and I just happened to have all of Asia and Australia)

beginner's luck, sure... but still fun.

Christmas song of the day:

No Eye Had Seen, by Amy Grant (feat. Michael W Smith)

Kathryne

Shabby Button!

What great store is it that has a name like the Shabby Button?

it's an awesome little shop that has the greatest vintage-y AND modern AND classy AND awesome stuff in it. *love*

Christmas song of the day:

Night Before Christmas, by Amy Grant

Kathryne

snoowwww!

Okay, while at first it REALLY bugged me that, somehow, we ONLY seem to get snow on weekends, it is still great to get 2 feet of snow. Even if it does start on a Saturday.

I finally went out in it today, in my jeans, but was it ever fun.

Yesterday's smile~ making chocolate pretzels and seeing just how FUNNY they look =P

Christmas song of the day:

Carol of the Bells/Sing We Now of Christmas, by BarlowGirl

Kathryne

love <3

Christine, Christine...

I adore her.

I haven't seen this girl since appx. October 30.

and we had an awesome time catching up and so many things about her make me smile =)

Plus I had Panera's broccoli-cheddar soup for dinner. THE LOVE!

Christmas song of the day:

The Little Drummer Boy, by Jessie Daniels

Kathryne

Awesome Possum.

I *guess* you could say I had a good day, hehe.

I had voice lessons combined with my teacher's other student. She's two years younger than I.

Let me tell you, I was incredibly envious of her

High notes (top B on hardly a warm-up!)

"E" vowels

VOLUME

and goodness was she gorgeous. yes.

and, I just love voice anyways.

AND, we had cantata rehearsal (love!)

Christmas song of the day:

O Come O Come Emmanuel, by BarlowGirl

Kathryne

future-minded

I might get an internship at a PR company this summer! I'm so veryvery excited!!

Christmas song of the day-

Silent Night, by Selah

Kathryne

I <3 Sarcasm

Today in my history class we had a Classical Civilizations Feast. My (homeschooled) sister decided she wanted to come, so she did.

While we were eating, my Headmaster comes in and says he'll need to see me for after-school detention tomorrow. Knowing he's kidding, I nod gravely.

Kristen asks me later: "Do you REALLY have detention??? Are you sure?!?"

Later, we were going over multiple choice quiz/worksheet things, and the Headmaster was back. He picks up my book to look for an answer we were stuck on (Daoist leaders-- the Yellow Turbans). He proceeds to go through the entire sentence, replacing "Yellow Turban" with "Pink Overcoat."

Kristen was filling my sheet in for me, since my hands were sticky from baklava, and she actually began to write the "P" in "Pink Overcoats."

It was highly amusing.

Christmas song of the day:

Sweet Little Jesus Boy, by Rebecca St. James

Kathryne

new things

New things today:

-Young Adult Christmas Party/Mixer (Juniors & Seniors invited)

-(Possible) invitation to sing on the Sunday Night Praise Team =)

(that would make 3 total, if you're counting, and not counting the one they're starting up at school soon)

-I discovered... that chivalry is NOT dead. Yay!! I love my awesome guy friends.

Christmas song of the day:

Do You Hear What I Hear, by Third Day

Kathryne

awesome, I say

I know it's not nighttime, but my moment has already come. And, sadly, it's gone too.

I went shopping with an old friend I haven't seen in a while, which was AWESOME.

we went to eat at a restaurant by the mall.

About 45 minutes later, I realize my (mom's) phone is missing. BAAAADDD. So we backtrack to the restaurant, and find a guy and his ... friend? I dunno, sitting at our old table. I don't see the phone, so I start to freak a little. then I realize the guy is talking on a phone, and there's another one on the table. OMGness. He's talking on my mom's phone!!

This very awesome stranger had taken the time to look up my mom in the contacts section and call her, and it was so very sweet =)

Unfortunately, I had to call her back very quickly and so I don't think I got to thank him quite as much as I should have. I hope he got the message that I was very very grateful, and oh, what a relief.

Christmas song of the day:

Offering, by Casting Crowns

Kathryne

YESYESYES!!!

sorry for no updates.

Tuesday- got contacts =) + awesome sleepover. SMILES BY THE BUCKET.

Wednesday- found out I not only passed a Chem test, I got an A!! woohoo!!

Thursday- sang my solo at cantata rehearsal and got away with writing the lyrics on my hand!

Today- finally was able to remove my contacts without great pain and difficulty. That's points. ANDDDD I'm almost done re-reading Pride and Prejudice, which I really started Tuesday. I LOVE THAT BOOK.

I'm overall in a very good mood. I had a half-day; Math and Teacher's Aide, then Chorus.

Christmas song of the day:

Good Christian Men Rejoice, by no artist in particular.

(I'm going to start a band called "no artist in particular." done.)

Kathryne

Guesssss what I got?

...CONTACTS!

and let me tell you, it's a wonder I EVER got those things in. Or, out, rather.

*achievement*

Christmas song of the day:

What Child is This, by Selah

Kathryne

Promotion?

Today, (I think...) I got promoted. In a way.

My Headmaster liked the video (cheers!! ayyy!!!) and so we're going to put it live on the school YouTube channel (of which I am now creator and maintainer) after they show it at that school-thing-that-I-will-not-be-able-to-attend.

Also, this video.

Christmas song of the day:

Joy to the World, by Vineyard Music

Finished!! For Real!!!!

Yep. I finally got the video 100% done. YESS!!!

Math homework? check.

History chapter? check

Worksheet? check

Powerpoint? check

LIT Leadership Assessment? check

...and only after about 7 hours total *eyeroll*

Christmas song of the day:

Breath of Heaven, by Amy Grant

Kathryne

How dorky am I?

What made me smile today was... ahem...

my book I'm reading for junior thesis.

ouch.

19th Century Russian Literature.

Today I read the chapter on Dostoyevsky (probably one of my favorite authors), and it was SO amazing and insightful and just SMILEY =)

Swing was tonight and I hung out with a future-celebrity (hilarious: he WILL have his own talk show... in 6 or 7 years when he's finished graduating stuff. yeah, he's a sophomore.)

Christmas song of the day:

Noel, by Selah

Kathryne

Finished!

Finally. I cannot believe it.

I'm doing a video project for my school's information night (which I won't even be able to attend), and I FINALLY got the video done. Not the audio... but having the visuals is prettty good all things considered.

Christmas song of the day:

Christmas Lullaby, by Amy Grant

Kathryne

Well...

I didn't fail my Chemistry test TOO badly... only a 70 =/

Although, the look on people's faces when they found out that I failed a test was priceless. They never saw that one coming.

That made me smile... a little.

Christmas song of the day:

Do You Hear What I Hear, by Martina McBride

Kathryne

Christmas is on its waaayyyy =)

Today I got out my blue ballpoint pen and made a list of what I'm getting everyone for Christmas... it isn't complete, yet, but it is on its way (kinda like Christmas!), and I already have gifts for ...5 people!

Christmas song of the day:

Hallelujah (Light has Come), by BarlowGirl

Kathryne

Black Friday!!

Surprisingly, my highlight of Black Friday was not some great buy I found.

No, I actually didn't even go shopping.

Instead, I babysat. Same boys as Monday, plus two older sisters (one of whom is a friend of mine and my sister's). Great time there...

but what really is amazing was seeing four very old, very good friends of mine (when I say old, I mean like 6-years-ago-old; and when I say good, I mean multiple-nights-in-a-row-sleepover-good.)

It was great seeing them =)

Christmas song of the day:

Highland Cathedral, by Amy Grant

Kathryne

Awww =)

If you asked me what my most challenging, stressed relationship is, I would say-- my sister.

So, when there are sweet moments like today when she complimented my singing, it just magnifies them times about 50,000.

ALSO- she made me smile again when, in her mime piece at the Thanksgiving-eve service (Angels) she had to duck to avoid being hit by another mime's "wing."

Christmas song of the day:

O Come O Come Emmanuel, by Casting Crowns

(that violin is breathtaking!)

Kathryne

sloww day

Doncha love the days when you can sleep in until 11, read until 1, and eat cereal for lunch?

btw-- Screwtape Letters (C. S. Lewis) = best. book. (maybe not BEST, but C. S. Lewis most definitely makes the cut.)

Christmas song of the day:

Adoramus Te, by Vineyard Music

Kathryne

Surfin' on a sound wave//Swingin' through the stars

Okay, tell me... who recognized that from the great old favorite...

The Magic School Bus ??

yep.

Tonight while I was babysitting, we watched THREE episodes of that ever-educational show.

Also today--

found a GREAT consignment shop while out with my friend Amy, and fell absolutely in LOVE. loveloveloveLOOOVVEE. lots of smiles there =)

Christmas song of the day:

It Came Upon A Midnight Clear, by Caedmon's Call

Kathryne

cousins!

I love my family.

they are very smart.

and sometimes make me feel stupid.

but today was very nice.

and I love garlic parmesan bread, for the record.

Christmas song of the day:

Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee/ Angels We Have Heard On High, by Michelle Tumes

Kathryne

Christmas is here/ Bringing good cheer/ To young and old/ Meek and the bold

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!

I especially, superlyreallyamazinglyLOVE Christmas music.

Today, I loaded my Christmas music onto my iPod.

Now, don't look at me like that... yes, I know it's not Thanksgiving yet... but it IS Thanksgiving break and that is GOOD ENOUGH.

You're probably wondering why I don't talk about how I went on an all-day field trip to see a Shakespeare play with my Brit Lit class. Well, that made me smile, but it was more like a grimace. Christmas music is MORE smile-worthy.

In honor of the season, from today on I am going to have a "Christmas-song-of-the-day" that I shall post and promote and make you want to buy.

Todays?

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent, by Red Mountain Church

Kathryne

I've got a bow...

Today I decided to wear a hairbow.

A big, navy blue, early-90's hairbow.

I love it.

It makes me feel ... almost rebellious, hehe.

Did you know "hairbow" is not actually a word?

Kathryne

Psychology fun =)

I, heart, psychology. I absolutely love it.

personality profiling?

sign me up.

psychoanalyzing random things?

yep.

today was just a full day of it.

"*For the record* using two periods at the end of a sentence is the EPITOME of indecisiveness. It says, "Am I an accidental double period? Or am I am incomplete ellipsis?" It has no self-esteem; no definitive. There you go-- I just psychoanalyzed your punctuation.."

read it... live it... THANK you.

Kathryne

Playin' Around

I *heart* GarageBand. End of story. Any software that can make a pennywhistle sound like a bagpipe is TOPS.

Kathryne

Rrrrussian =)

Tonight was the Development Banquet at my school. My parents were sitting at a table with, actually, three of my teachers. They learned something I never knew... the one actually came from a Russian family, spoke quite fluently in college, and was going through her old books last night and is going to lend them to me!

How awesome!

I'm psyched. Me + Russian = meant to be =)

Kathryne

hehehehehehee

AHHHHhhhh...zzzZZZ

yeah, so I went to swing tonight.

there was chocolate.

homemade.

with more caffeine than two shots of espresso.

I am HYPED oh dear.

but... it was some of the best chocolate I've tasted.

Kathryne

Daddy Date Nite =)

Tonight was my Daddy-Daughter-Date Night (say it with me... awwwww!)

and we went to TGI Friday's. Yum!!!

while we were there, he got two emails through his phone.

Last night, he sent an invitation to a dating couple at church (two separate email addresses) to come to our house on Sunday for lunch. We get the responses tonight (paraphrased)...

"Sure! Sounds great!"

-Him

"We haven't collaborated yet, but it still looks good. I'll be bringing something, probably Italian, that can be prepared ahead and stuck in the oven. He'll be bringing..." (and so on)

-Her

My dad and I had a HUGE laugh about this... we imagined them as spoken responses, probably taking about the same amount of time from the two of them.

(BTW- some of my favorite people in the world, I love 'em!)

Kathryne

Coming Soon ...

So, today I finished the layout for... (dundundunduunnnn)... a NEW BLOG =)

Don't worry, not leaving you all, but I'm superly-incredibly thinking ahead this year to my New Year's resolutions. This won't be all too hard for me, but I've decided to take my devotional reflections from each night and make them into a blog, starting January 1 (1.1.10! how perfect!).

The basic principle of the thing is, each week, to take an attribute or title of God, and every day that week take a new verse relating to that and just... journal it. You do that with 52 attributes/names, 5 reflection verses and 2 application verses a week, and you've got a year's worth of stuff! I started this last July sometime, and it's AWESOME. And all the topics are in alphabetical order, of course =)

Kathryne

AP World History

Generally, AP World is NOT something that makes me smile. However. Today, I (finally) finished a 50-question SUPERHARD take-home test that I thought would never end.

See, in class, I spent 45 minutes on the first 11 questions. uuughhhh. Today was my last day to complete it, and, wouldn't you know, I still had 35 problems left to do. So I steel myself for a three-hour ordeal, which would be hard since I had an LIT meeting tonight (also smiles =)), but somehow walked away, finished, after... wait for it... ONE HOUR!! go Kathryne!!

In my defense, it did get considerably easy as it went along. It went from questions like "Which of the following was NOT a characteristic of Western modernization in the 20th century", with five very reasonable options, to questions like the one "Which of the following is NOT a condition of totalitarian regimes," with one of the answers being "selective purchase of tickle-me-Elmo dolls."

Uh...

duh.

*Peace*

Kathryne

not so sure

It was a pretty good day.

I wore my purple skirt.

I went to church.

I did homework.

I babysat.

I did more homework.

What made me smile, though? I really can't remember...

OH! right!! there was this kid at Children's Church who, after we played "The Lord's Army" yelled out really loudly, "That's my favorite!!" It was great.

Kathryne

REVOLVE!

Today, went to the Revolve tour with a group from my school... left the house at like 6:15, but it was worth it. And I hate mornings.

Amazingness=seeing Britt Nicole live. You have not seen genius until you have watched this girl jump around the stage and still hit every note and, if it's possible (which it is), sound BETTER than the recording.

All in all, good day... but I'm so beat.

Kathryne

Run, Kathryne, run!!

Today's story is a story of little short of miraculous. Today, mmmm, 7:30 AM, I am woken by my mom to get ready for school. It's already 30 minutes later than I had wanted, but I'm not paying attention to that. I'm not capable of that; I'm still 85% asleep. Half an hour later, 8 o'clock, I re-awaken with a kind of jolt. AUGH! I was supposed to be up an hour ago! I have to leave the house in 25 minutes! I rush to take my shower and get ready.

Somewhere in the madness, I made up for the hour I was running behind and was able to get to school only 10 minutes late... still before homeroom began. Right in time for standardized testing... woohoo. Of course... standardized testing means shorter classes, meaning 40 minutes of Chemistry as opposed to 80 =)

Kathryne

Mimes are COOOOLLL.

FYI, everybody needs to see an Innovo (or Innovo-trained) concert of mime before they die.

It is amazing.

You probably think, uh, what? mime? those freaks on the streets of NYC?

Not quite. It's French mime-- like a silent drama to music. That's the easiest, least-worthy definition, I think. As in, that doesn't begin to cover it. Check out the website and the video--

Innovo Physical Theater

(HQ) Promo Video

Kathryne

All Things in [Organization]

Today, after church (which was wonderful; I got to see my girl Christine again! yay!) I took my sermon notes from the past few weeks and transcribed them into my "God Book" ... before, they were on the backs of random pieces of paper in my music binder. Now, they are in an adorable brown notebook with little pink Japanese flowers on the cover. Why that makes me happy? I'm just cool (read: weird) like that =P

Kathryne

I'm Baaaaccckkk =)

I know that it has been over a MONTH since I've posted. wow.

but.

I have a good excuse.

I was in... AFRICA!!!

I don't have any "smile-thing-of-the-day" yet, I mean I just woke up, but I wanted to make an effort to jump back into the blogging world.

For now, let's talk about... AFRICA!!!

so there you have it... my little video. That song was recorded by one of my team members. All of those voices you hear? that's the kids.

Kathryne

*SPAZ*

So, I'm sorry I haven't been posting lately.

Right now, I am seriously SPAZZING.

4 AM tomorrow, leaving for AFRICA.

I can't believe it.

It's here.

Kathryne

uhmm

Today wasn't bad, but there wasn't anything particularly good about it either.

I had a really yummy doughnut?

Kathryne

Grow Deep, Go Wide

Today was the first youth group of the year!! (the title is our "motto")

but, um, smile... I slept until 12:30 today... yay.

AND all the crazy wonderful stuff that happens at youth group. It's great because I know (almost) every single person pretty closely. The amazingness of being a junior =)

Kathryne

MMMmmmMMM

Last day of the first week of school =)

and, to celebrate, we got chocolate in Calculus class. WAHOO. I may not love math, but I sure do *heart* chocolate!!

Kathryne

Small Groupies =)

YAY! today was the first small group of the year!!

mm, but smile moment... I'd have to say it was lunchtime. Eating my plum. I *heart* plums, sososoo much. AND they're purple =)

Kathryne

Finally!!!

'Twas the first day of school.

Afterwards, my sister's friend came over and I dressed up like an artsy person (shirt 5 sizes too big? check. Plaid? check. Random accessories? check. Hoops? check. Curls falling out all over the place? checkcheck.) and acted as the demanding director while they acted in a pretty awesome music video =)

I'm going to be editing it up and such to show them soon.

Kathryne

Last Day of Freedom...if

...and well-spent, if you ask me!

I went to the school to finish up the bulletin board this morning, and then *kidnapped* Megan and her sister (who were also there) and took them home with me =)

After much fun on Photoshop Elements (yes we are dorks and we love it), changing my "new mail" sound in MacMail (love that too), and plotting to write a song and record it, even if it's about hedgehogs and ostriches, we went shopping.

Found a great pair of boots while out... if they had been on sale I would have snatched them up for sure. It would also help if I didn't have toothpicks for ankles, hehe. As it was, I couldn't afford them on my spend-only-fifty-percent budget, so I bought a shirt that was 5 sizes too big for 50 cents =)

shoes-

Kathryne

And it begins =)

Today was the kick-off of Bible Force =)

That is the kids' church praise team =)

that's what got me into singing in church last Sunday. And today, I went back, happily, to my comfort zone.

So tell me... Who's the King of the Jungle??

Kathryne

Busybusy

I've been pretty busy lately... school starts up again Tuesday!

I'm not excited OR dreading it... I am indifferent. but I'll survive.

Happy- I'm rereading for the fifth, sixth, or seventh time (I really don't know) my FAVORITE trilogy of all time... it's an annual event.

check it out-

Mark of the Lion trilogy (Francine Rivers)

Kathryne

SABB

Students Against Boring Binders- that is a society I should really create.

I cannot stand having run-of-the-mill school supplies, or even ones covered in photos and memorabilia (ahh, ever the anti-conformist, eh?). So, every year, I get SUPER excited to get new binders... new playgrounds for the imagination in my fingers =)

Last year's was a pink be-sequined masterpiece, and the one before it was made out of an awesome pair of yard-sale jeans and duct tape. My LIT binder is covered in PURPLE duct tape and wrapping paper.

Today, I fabric-painted my pencil case, and got planning my next BINDER! yay!!

Kathryne

Africa Meeting

Tonight we had a big dinner with all of our Africa team members & families... and oh my was that EVER a good time. What cracked me up was the parody one of the members wrote to "In The Garden" about one of our team's sponsors, DeWalt tools. They're giving us a bunch of tools to take for construction work.

So, here goes...

We'll go to Na-mi-bi-a soon,

Many pro-jects we're still not know-ing;

But the tools we'll take

Will make or break

The purpose for our go-o-ing...

ANNDDDD DEEEEE WALT'S with me,

And DEWALT'S for free

And DEWALT'S wherever we'll gooooo!

And the joy we'll share,

As we carr-yyy there,

Our DEWALT access'ries alsooooo!!

*Thank you, thank you*

We were all cracking up. He is genius.

Kathryne

*smilesmilesmilesmile*

Ahem.

Last night I was "grounded" from the computer post-dinner, hence I did not post.

This morning, I woke up at 5:30, and started off on my BIG DAY.

And I mean HUGE.

Both services went veryveryvery well, and we all got tonnnssss of compliments, applause, etc. FUN =)

Then, around 2, we went over to the annual church picnic, which was amazing. Took walks, sang bunches, ate a lot, and played volleyball (or just pretended, in my case).

The thing most recent that made me smile was the volleyball... I am BEYOND horrible, but my (super competitive) friends who played with me just dealt. They didn't care. They let it go, for me. What a blessing =)

Kathryne

Simple Pleasures

One of my favorite things to do on non-busy days is to

-sleep the night before in the basement (aka pretty much pitch black)

-sleep in as late as I want

-after I finally wake up, just lay in bed and daydream =)

It's rawther fun; you should try it.

Kathryne

Coincidence? maybe.

This morning we had our first student government meeting of the year. Actually, more like our second-to-last of last year, but whatever. Anyhow, when we were bouncing ideas off of each other, my guidance councilor brought up... SWING. the dance. Yeahh, so we just might be able to sponsor swing lessons for the school this year. How COOL would that be??

As a second note, I found a song I want to do with Girls' Chorus this year... as the secondary pianist, I find myself doing that occasionally =) It's called "By Our Love" by Christy Nockels (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5NPUWCzsU0). It's gorgeous, and not too complicated a piano part. Of course, I haven't taken a lesson since 4th grade, and I read chord charts, so it won't be exactly the same, but whatever.

Kathryne

Practice makes... better

Tonight my church's youth praise team (for which I sing) had practice for Sunday morning. Sunday morning, we are leading the service. All 500-600 people. EEEK!!

BUT practice was amazing, and I am still able to laugh at my squeaky high E's which happen when I'm tired.

Kathryne

Mac beats PC.

Today I visited a college a few hours away from home... it was pretty much amazing. They have a Mac computer lab on the foreign language floor (awesome!).

What made me laugh:

These computers had little yard sale price stickers on them, to the right of the screen. However, instead of a price, these stickers said "CD" with an arrow pointing to the CD slot on the side. Now THAT is funny. My dad and I were laughing about the PC people looking for a sliding tray in a big box under the desk... uh-uh, not so my friend.

Kathryne

Learn Something New...

Today was pretty quiet.

Until the evening.

When I had my LIT meeting. sigh.

...not that it's a bad thing or anything, I mean I love Leaders-In-Training, but that was the end of the quiet.

HOWEVER. I can say that that's where I got my smiles =)

It seems like every time I get together with those kids (and by kids I mean my age, but "young at heart") I just can feed off of them and grow in my faith, get to know them, and learn something about myself. Today, I figured out a bit more of how my brain works vs how my friend Erin's does. I'm an abstract learner... she is concrete. I hated projection and loved doing sound board, but she was the complete opposite. I focus BETTER doing multiple things at once.

So, I've decided that I'm going to start taking notes backwards in school this year. It might help me focus in class better than I used to.

Kathryne

Many Things =)

It has been toooo long since I posted last.

Swing was Friday. fun times.

Then I slept over at Anna's house

many smiles

and she gave me a cute little notebook covered in smiley faces and the word "smile" which I think I will use as my "smile journal" along with this blog.

yay =)

OH and we stayed up until 5 AM. hehe

Kathryne

Sing, sing, sing!!

So, today, we had praise team practice for the first time in about 3 months, and it was AWESOME.

I have to say that the thing that made me (weirdly) smile was, when I was in the middle of the verse to "Open the Eyes of My Heart" and the tech girl's little brother (12 years old) was sitting in the back pew waving around an imaginary cell phone/candle/whatever. And even though I was quite busy and it's hard to sing while you laugh, I smiled BIG =)

Kathryne

So Materialistic. sigh.

I know it's awful, but the thing that made me smile today

was

a long

flowy

CHEAP

PURPLE

skirt.

that's right. $6 for the little beauty.

I *<3* it =")

Kathryne

¿Que es? ¿Que es? ..."estop-a!"

Today I mother's helper-ed for a lady with a kid, a toddler, a baby, and two Columbian girls who were visiting and spoke MAYBE 20 English words. including colors.

So we went to a local park/waterfall/woodsy area, and I got a kick out of trying to communicate with the twelve year old muchachas =)

...BUT, I think the thing that made me laugh (inwardly) the most, was... "estopa!" (their way of saying "stop"...or they could have been saying hemp, but I doubt that.)

Kathryne

stupid.

smile: finally won "Flood-It"

http://labpixies.com/gadget_page.php?id=10

it's fun. addicting. and mindless. kindof. That's why I was so weirdly happy when I won.

ALSO

went shopping with Amy and had a blasssstttt trying on skirts that looked like bad upholstery =P

Kathryne

Silly Puppy.

My dog is, I think, sometimes more OCD than I am. Really. He freaks out when there is something in our kitchen, living room, playroom, etc that should not be there. The first time was with my little sister's birthday balloon... then a watermelon... then apples... then MORE apples... then a cooler of ice cream... then, today, my Grandpa's briefcase!

I didn't catch this latest hilarity on tape, but I do have a few others in file... take 2 minutes to watch 'em.

Now every time I watch it, though, I'm reminded... where I live, there is no Graeter's =(

That's the best ice cream on earth if you haven't heard. Go for Black Raspberry Chip... mmmmm!

Kathryne

Baaackk!!

YAY.

So, my grandparents took my sister and me to a theme park a few hours from home and we stayed at a B&B for 2 nights =)

lots of smiles there.

One of the bigger smiles, came from the B&B... they had over a dozen horses, some of the CUTEST kittens I've ever seen, and 2 ALPACAS. hahaha.

Alpacas are the national animal of Peru (I think) and they are a lot like llamas. They are really funny-looking.

Kathryne

Inconsistency

I...eh...kinda forgot to post yesterday.

Actually, I didn't forget, I was just busy... and then more busy... and by the time i found time it was technically today (read: late and past my curfew).

So, last night my little sister had a friend sleep over... a friend who happens to have the same name as me =)

I'm Kathryne Elizabeth...

she's Katherine Elisabeth =P

So I gave them "spa treatments"- washed their hair then braided them in cornrows. woohoo! (and now their hair is all curly an' pretty)

Now, I'm going to have to bid y'all farewell again, because my grandparents are coming in and we're going. somewhere. I'm not sure where, but somewhere. 'Til Friday.

Kathryne

Eek!!

bit proud of myself...

I drove home today from the parking lot where I practice!

And I only made one wrong turn!

(of course, considering it's only 3-5 minutes driving away from home, that's still kind of sad =P )

more importantly and smile-worthy, Megan's girls' chorus did wonderfully this morning with the song "When the Saints" by Sara Groves. I played piano... managed not to mess up too many times... and nobody noticed that I left off the last chord, hehe

Kathryne

Julia & Julie

I went to see Julia & Julie with my family and a friend (whose husband is currently in Namibia at the same children's home we will be visiting in September!) and it was pretty wonderful.

Good movie.

It would push the envelope for PG, but was well restrained for a PG-13.

There were some HILARIOUS moments... but I think the thing that made our day, or at least my dad's and mine, was the Starburst commercial. It was all these contradictions, like Scotch Koreans and supposedly the candy itself, and ended with the albino lifeguard, LOL.

and, of course, I'm still riding high from last night. It's completely ridiculous, but why fight it?

Kathryne

I Could Have Danced All Night...

how 'bout a video? (I have this song pretty much memorized but I'm not about to sing it for y'all.)

So, basically, tonight was a SWING DANCE night. I <3>

Now, to pick a "smile moment"...

well, funnily enough, it's pretty much exactly the same thing that happened that got the Optimism Initiative started. It was another swing night, sometime in March, and I was just smiling so hard when I came home I couldn't NOT journal it.

So, tonight, I was told (straight up) that I was the BEST "follower" there. Meaning I read the leader well and don't backlead. and I'm good :)

Then, later, heard 2 guys discussing me and how good I am. It made me *blush* like seriously.

and no, this is not a roundabout way to brag, I promise.

But I was reading Gary Chapman's "The Five Love Languages" earlier today, and even though "Quality Time" is my "native language" (wow, that's a lot of quotes in one sentence... more to come...), "Words of Affirmation" are definitely high on the list.

Mark Twain once said, "I could live for two months off of a good compliment." Now, I'm not THAT self-sufficient, but it sure does put me on a high for a few hours. Especially the second comment.

When someone compliments you to your face, it can be hard to tell whether they're flattering you (or flirting with you, depending on the person). But when you overhear compliments about yourself (inverted gossip, I say) there's no fake to worry about. It's a wonderful thing and I wish it on everybody.

Kathryne

(ooh! bonus! found another guy who has a "misspelled" name... Nathanael. Oh. It's not underlined in red. So maybe not technically misspelled. ANDAND he has a friend who speaks Russian ANDAND he thought I was in college.)

Finally.

So, I procrastinate.

A lot.

I hate doing it,

And feel so much better when I don't,

But I do it anyways.

Well, to quote President Truman... "The buck stops here."

I will not blame anyone else for me not having written in my diary for over 2 weeks.

So today I sat down for about an hour (some of which was while watching TV) and caught myself up, for the most part.

   *insert smile here*

GOAL: don't do it again. (reaalll specific, I know.)

Kathryne

*sigh* 12-year-olds...

So, there's a 12-year-old girl who is staying with a family from my church for the summer (she's from Columbia). She knows like 10 words of English, but she is of the vibrant personality that she can communicate better than some American 12-year-olds!

Today, I found out that she got the role of the Enchantress in the play "Beauty and the Beast (Jr.)". She needed to borrow a "glitzy" dress... so, I lent her an old, floor-length, bright coral colored, very sparkly dress. Her face lit up like nothing I've ever seen when she caught a glimpse of that dress. She was... enthralled. And it was great for me to see, too =)

ANOTHER 12-year-old also made me smile today (and just happens to be my sister). She's being homeschooled this year, and she took her math placement test... which placed her in Algebra 1! Did I mention she's going into 7th grade? She has never been a math person, but this test would have her skip Pre-Algebra (like I did). It's great to have a little sister to follow in your footsteps.

Kathryne

РУССКАЯ?

So, um, I'm teaching myself Russian.

Yes. Russian.

As in, whole new alphabet.

But I think that's cool, so... yeah. I'm doing it the same way I learned to write English: starting with the alphabet. Right now I'm 3 letters in, but it's really more like 12 because I'm teaching myself upper-and-lower-case in print and cursive. Because nobody writes in capital print all the time (except engineers and doctors).

I figure that once I get the alphabet down I can move on to actual words. Unfortunately, I've learned that my name isn't even a valid Russian word, since there is no "long a" sound for my nickname, Katie, and no "th" sound for Kathryne. sighh. I guess I'm misspelled in English AND Russian.

Kathryne

*Apologies*

This past week has been a very bad one, and a very good one. It was very bad in that I was soooo busy ALL week, but very VERY good in that I was busy doing what I love.

This week was the week of the arts camp at my church. Being an LIT (Leader-In-Training) this was my week to be involved (read: be at church 7:45-3:30 even though the camp was 9-2) and make a difference (read: whittle 3.5 hours of video footage into a four-minute clip to be shown at church yesterday).

So I could list all the things that made me smile since I last posted, but I was working with 8-13 year olds. Just about everything that happened made me smile! One thing that actually made me start tearing up it made me smile so hard was when a little boy was interviewed as to his favorite elective, and he said "Guitar is the best because we get to sing songs about Jesus." I mean, doesn't that make a week of work just worth it?

It was also great to get to work with some of my best friends, and to see them get through and GET OVER silly dramas by the end of the week. God works, eh?

Kathryne

Carefree =)

Today's happy moment was, undoubtedly, and entirely... Everything.

Friend Andee & I went shopping... my other friend Rachel turned 16 and we went to her party... we went for a long walk down her back-country road... came back and ATE... then played volleyball and swing-dance-d in the pouring, thunder-and-lightening-ing rain =)))

It. Was. Amazing. There is something about dancing in the rain that just makes you feel incredibly ALIVE.

Kathryne

It's The End!!

Today... was the last day of Drivers' Ed.

nuff said.

Kathryne

...duh?

Drivers' Ed cracks me up sometimes, it's just so "DUH".

I can't believe they actually thought they had to tell me to "avoid ... brick walls" to lessen the effect of a collision. LOL.

Kathryne

Unofficial Holiday

Today is the day my friends and I dubbed "Act Your Shoe Size Day".

Basically, we do as close to what we did when we were the age of our shoe size (in my case, 7 1/2) all day. I can't say I've been exactly strict with it, as I am on the internet and I almost never did that in elementary school, but I did:

get up early

go outside

eat Mac & Cheese

(start) a friendship bracelet

watch cartoons =)

I'm going to look into making it a real holiday... maybe have Chuck-E-Cheese sponsor it.... "Where a kid (or anyone) can be a kid... Chuck-E-Cheese."

Kathryne

You Learn Something New Every Day...

...And today my friend taught me how to flirt =)

I'm still a hopeless case, but there are just toooo many rules, I mean come on. I'll never be good, but now I know what not to do, at least.

Kathryne

Wow.

I never expected a teacher to tell me: "We're going to watch a video, but it's okay if you want your cell phones out, a book, or doodling... just stay quiet and we can get out of here on time."

Such are the times I don't mind drivers' ed so much.

Also, today Megan and I went shopping, and I don't think I could count the things that made me smile there =) gooood times.

Kathryne

Oops... again.

I WILL get it right this time.

I'll post for yesterday AND today.

Alright, so yesterday...

I went to a youth group party at my friends' house (which is awesome), and went swimming, swinging, talking, eating, etc. But the best part was showing up and seeing my counselors from my youth group's mission trip to Washington DC July 5-11! Sarah & Sofia were wonderful to us there, and to show up to a party and see that they'd driven all the way to see us on their day off was wonderful :)

And today...

I spent forever on it, and finally got my finances from the past year and a half or so all tightened up! I accounted for and reconciled all my interest, and the spending and saving I've done since then, and it's all done!

...plus I have a binder for it :) I love binders.

Kathryne

Oops.

Wow, I forgot to post yesterday. whoops.

BUT I can say that the reason I forgot is that I was out having a wonderful, optimist-accommodating time until 11:30-ish.

I was swing dancing.

There are few things that are so happy as dancing.

and last night was pretty much excellent.

Kathryne

PINK.

Pink is just a lovely color, isn't it?

Anyhow, today after drivers' ed I took my baby sister shopping. Of course, I can't really call her "baby" because she actually can wear clothes from the same stores I shop at.

Such are the times I'm glad I have a sister and not a brother. You can't do makeovers with a brother. You can't go into Charlotte Russe and DEB with a brother and try on every crazy thing you want. It just doesn't work.

And besides it just being fun overall, I got some fairly nice PINK sparkly socks for very cheap. I'm a very cheap person, I think =P

Kathryne

I'm Special

I readily admit that I am strange... at least to people on the "outside" of my little world. Inside my world I am the epitome of normal.

That said, one of those few very simple things that makes me strangely excited is getting a new [insert hair product here].

That's right... today I went to the new Dollar Tree in my area and got a nice 18 fl oz bottle of White Rain Apple Blossom conditioner. The smell "makes my heart happy", and the fact it was only a dollar adds to the wonderful-ness. And besides that... no 'cones. Those are ingredients in most hair products that can only be removed by certain harsh detergents, which are also in most shampoos and are horrible for your hair. But that all is a rant for another day...

Kathryne

I had no idea...

The obvious highlight of the day (other than keeping wide awake all day even after staying up 'til 3:30 last night... power to me, right?) was... learning how to buckle my seatbelt.

Okay, maybe not so much, but it did make me smile that they had to tell us that in drivers' ed. I mean... really.

Kathryne

Good Day

Hello all!

today was a rather good day.

Lots of things made me smile...

1) I slept in til 11, yay!

2) I had my first day of drivers' ed. Megan is taking it with me, and to add to that, I showed up and saw another friend from church =)

3) This one takes some background...

My family is going on a mission trip to Africa this fall. We will be working at a children's home there. Needless to say, being in Africa, it was not going to be cheap to go... at all.

As a team (my family + 6 others), we decided to NOT fundraise the traditional way. We did NOT want to go by "you donate money and get ___ in return". We wanted everything to be free-will, so that others could experience God's blessing with us.

Now, a bit over 3 months after our first meeting, we covered the last $76 needed today! Even getting to just needing $76 so soon would have been a sure sign of God's favor. Now, "our cup runneth over", and we hope to be able to pass that on to the children at the home!

Kathryne

Once Upon a Time... the Beginning of the Optimism Initiative

Once upon a time, I was in a bad spot. It was cold, dreary weather and it had been for a long while. It was the middle of Lent, too, and I had given up the internet. I was not exactly depressed... maybe foggy would be a better word.

Anyways, one Friday night someone made a comment to me that, for some reason, just made me smile. I wrote it down in my journal and decided on a whim to record something, no matter how stupid, that made me smile, every day for the next 30 days.

I did, and I have to say my "experiment" was a success. I was much less "foggy" by the end. This wasn't just good for the people around me (since I stopped being so "glass-half-empty" and negative), but it's just more fun to be an optimist. I didn't continue it in my journal, because I wanted to use my journal for important stuff like whining and moping.

So here I am, a good 3 months later, starting up again... this time to share with y'all that are interested in the smiles of a high school girl with a misspelled name.

Kathryne

----------------------------------------------------

Today, my happy-moment was starting this blog. I promised myself WEEKS ago that I would, and meeting goals, even mundane ones, just makes me happy =)

Also, I ate two White Fudge Chunky Chips Ahoy cookies. Nothin like chocolate to uplift spirits, no?