GPAs and such

I got my cast off today!

And I turned in my Literature project!

And I was approached by exactly 4 people who had heard that I'd read the first two Harry Potter books, incredulous that I had liked them. Maddie practically had tears in her eyes. I thought it was great fun.

Doug practically ran into me, when this morning he shoved some Indiana Jones movie into my hands. Apparently I have officially stepped into pop culture. It's a fascinating place. The exchange went something like,
Katie: What?!
Dalvin: What was that?
Doug (to Dalvin): She's never seen them before!
Dalvin: Not any of them?!
Katie: Nope.
Doug (to Dalvin): See?! No wonder she's the way she is!

*eyeroll*

My grandparents are here. I was talking to my Nana about college, and she said,
"Two physical education classes?! There goes your grade point average!!"

haha.

I am in a good mood today.

Kathryne

Wouldn't it be loverly...

There is a Stephanie in my kitchen quoting My Fair Lady back and forth with my dad.

Day has been made.

Oh, and

Kevin: She stole my pillow and took a bite out of it!
Me: REALLY?!
Kevin: ...No, wait, actually that was me.


Kathryne

PS- also, I have the absolute best parents in the whole wide history of the world. end of story.

[insert heart symbol that is HTML-incorrect here]

Yesterday
-The Awkward Feely Conversation, during which Rachel and I both tripped over things because it was so Awkward and about Feelings
-"Rachel... the lawn gnome trucker!!!"
-Watched Titanic, finally. I enjoyed it thoroughly; it was a work of art. The motif of the hands is brilliant.
-Sleepover with Megan!

Today
-Saw Caleb a bunch for the first time in a while :)
-Began working on part of Christine's halfway present... yes, there will be one. muahaha. ha. ha.
-Learned tandem Charleston. The lead part. Partially. Ish. But it was fun. :)
-"Don't drool on me!" (my sister cracks me up)
-Dancing.
-Dancing in my sparkly outfit.
-Dancing lots of times and only hitting Mark in the face once :P
-Did I mention dancing?
-DADDY IS HOME!!!!<3

Kathryne

cousins :P

"People love my face!"
-Sam

This year, I finally got to sit at the "big-kid" table for the family Thanksgiving.

Explanation:
There are 9 cousins. In age order, the lineup looks like...
Kristen - Annie - Sam - Emily - KATIE - John - Lindy - Carrie - Nate
See? I'm exactly in the middle.
We had three tables: 4 "little" kids, 4 "big" kids, and 8 adults.
Usually I default to "little kid" and stick an extra chair in, but this year Carrie was away in Michigan. Therefore... I sat with Nate (college junior, pre-med), Lindy, and John (college freshmen, both undecided I think).

• Kristen is my sister. 8th grade. It's funny to see how embarrassed she gets at my parents.
• Annie is a high school freshman. She's HILARIOUS at "Guesstures." Her "hen" pantomime was the best.
  
• Sam is a sophomore. He wins quote-of-the-night. Also, funny to watch how attention-craving he was in all the home videos.
• Emily is a junior. She's more normal than anybody else.
• I'm... me. Senior. Only "academic" person in the immediate family NOT really interested in science/math. The universe and Mrs. Bond are conspiring against me to make me an engineer! I refuse!!
• John is the one I haven't seen in ages. He didn't come to the big family vacation because he can't fly. But neither can my mom, so it's okay.
• Lindy is the extravert... "I go to the gym and don't ever work out. I just talk to people! I need people." She and Annie are funny together.
• Carrie, as I said, was the absentee. She is junior. She has changed majors a zillion times... I think it was French last, but now she wants to get into culinary studies. I think that might be me.
• Nate is the pre-med, super-soccer-player, typical-oldest-child-slash-cousin. Overachiever. And tall.

Thus, my family.

I Learned...
I could maybe spend two years of college in SCOTLAND at St. Andrews! :D ...and that tuition would be cheaper in that (joint) degree than if I just did William & Mary by itself. This is assuming I am one of the 5 to get in for my program... probably English. They only offer it in Economics, English, International Relations, and History.

Kathryne

The Good, the Bad, and the Random

I couldn't post yesterday because I wasn't allowed on the computer after small group dinner. Boo. But yay, because it was fun... and I think I'm going to try out a new format for my posts for a few weeks. See how it goes.

The Good: talked to CHRISTINE! and small group dinner was wonderful :)

The Bad: Homework. all. day. My to-do list looked something like this... I finished about 1/3?

The Random: Without a doubt, that award goes to The Game of Things. Myyyy goodness.

Kathryne

beach :)

went for a walk with my mommy today... then it rained... but it was cool. the birds were sitting on the umbrella we (illegally) hid under during the worst.

Kathryne

Three Days

Dear. Me.

8.20.10
I had a pretty fabulous night if I do say so myself. There were a gajillion people at swing dance, so… Christine! I danced enough for BOTH of us! :D
...and, I resisted the aerials! :P

Then Megan slept over, and even though we had to get up at 4 we didn’t turn the lights out until 12:15ish.

8.21.10
On vacation with my sister. (and my mom and dad and Megan, but they don’t cause quite as much uproar and/or entertainment)

Yeah, so, we left the house at 5! AM! Yay!

Then I slept for a long time. Then we stopped at some rest place in North Carolina, and I saw Brooke! It was absolutely crazy. We were going into Starbucks and she was coming out :P

Aaaaand I finished my section of the History of the American People monstrosity! At, like, 3pm. Because they had a book on tape going and I could not pay attention to the book. Because, while the book on tape was not terribly terribly engaging (it’s Lynn Austin, and I don’t care for her writing so much), it was more so than aHotAP.

The best part of the day, however, was Cookout. It is an amazing, drive-through restaurant. But you don’t go there for the food; ohhh no. For the same price as my ridiculously loaded-with-ice 12 oz lemonade at Starbucks, you get a 20 oz, super-filling, absolutely amazing “fancy milkshake” in one of about 40 flavors.

I got strawberry cheesecake :)
(which, by the way, was voted best-choice-in-car).

Now we’re here. And by here I mean a place at the beach in South Carolina. And by South Carolina I mean that muggy-hot, prone-to-tropical-storms, wonderfully-pretty place on the east coast of the United States. It’s great.

8.22.10
Watched Princess Bride. First question Kristen asks was when she saw Inigo. She asked, "What is his name?" (lol)

GOT INTERNET FINALLY! Short term, but it made me feel better to clean out the inbox :)


Kathryne

all of You is more than enough...

GAH. I love these people to death. I won't name names, but I really want to, but I do love you :)

And the evening service was awesome. Pat amazes me. Kristina is just phenomenal. (I'm highlighting these two because they seriously make my jaw drop).

OH, so, my dad has taken to making fun of teenage use of the word "epic." He inserts it into conversation wherever he can. It's very amusing.

Kathryne

home alone :)

...pretty much all day. I like it. I love my family, but I also love being able to work on whatever and do it all on my own schedule while multitasking with whatever and eating (almost) whatever I want. I got a lot accomplished today, actually :)

As for now, I am eating my favorite ice cream (Ben & Jerry's Cheesecake Brownie)

and listening to my new favorite artist (Audrey Assad... okay, so, tied with Regina Spektor. David, you asked, here's your answer. And she has a free single on iTunes!)

and talking to my favorite mother (I mean... my only one... on the phone)

and typing this to my favorite people (at least, most of them)

and my life could not be much better (unless I were miraculously to find my other purple sparkly shoelace).

Kathryne

today.

was cool.

I am FOREVER finished with cell phone accessory product descriptions! YAY!

my Daddy stopped in to visit me at work today :) he brought me an iced caramel macchiato from Starbucks :) it was so great to see him, and a total surprise.

ALSO: I forgot yesterday, but... it was the 1-year anniversary of the first time I ever talked to Christine!!!! So crazy. Today is the 1-year anniversary of... other things :P

Kathryne

crazywonderfuleffervescentLA!

I am... rapturous! And buoyant and blissful!

and... effervescent! and again I am trying really hard not to go all exclamation-point-crazy on you, because I know it's so annoying. But... [!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

Beyond that intangible and inexplicable [!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!], today was nice.

My dad and I told stories at dinner. Mostly my dad did, and I listened.

Apparently by the time I was 2 I knew that "was" and "were" were forms of the "to be" verb, and that "power" goes with "mighty" :P

Aaaaand TOMORROW is going to be AWESOME aaaand WEDNESDAY is going to be MOST EPIC aaaannd THURSDAY ...I go back to work but THAT'S OKAY! :)

Kathryne

I love life.

my life is crazy wonderful.

the people in my life are crazy wonderful. mostly crazy, but close enough.

I wore my happy skirt today.

I am trying really hard not to use exclamation points, but inside I am going [!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

and my face hurts because I have been smiling all day.

:)

Kathryne

Today is Wednesday, right?

This vacation has been super crazy awesome. I feel like we've been here a week and it's only been 3.5 days.

Today we went to Slide Rock state park. My cousins all jumped off of the 40 foot cliff. I abstained. I climbed rocks instead. I feel greater friendship with solid earth than with water. Or heights.

In other news... exactly 3 weeks from today will be Act Your Shoe Size Day!! This is the great day of the year where you have an excuse to act like a little kid again... unless, of course, you wear a size 13, in which case I pity you. I hated being thirteen.

I wear a 7.5, so I get to do all kinds of fun things and I am psyched :)

Kathryne

EPIC, for real.

Seriously, this place is amazing.
lots of pictures coming.

If there were a word to describe hiking & white-water-rafting the Grand Canyon, "epic" would be it.
But... dear me, am I ever exhausted.


Kathryne


PS- I <3 desert squirrels!

perfect night :)

Tonight I saw Christine and talked about everything. I love you!
Then I got to dance a wee bit of lindy hop with David. Yay! It makes me want to learn more. Later.
Then I saw Sandy! *fish face*

Then we finished packing for the Grand Canyon... yup, tomorrow at 4:45 AM I am leaving for an 18-hour transit from BWI to Chicago to LAX (no, Miley Cyrus, I shall not be wearing cowboy boots nor shall I be listening to Jay-Z) back to Sedona, AZ. There I shall meet up with my cousins and (other) grandparents and begin our adventure :)

As for now... the air smells like cotton candy snowballs, and the moon looks like a giant ball of aged parmesan hanging in the sky. The iHome is playing "What a Wonderful World" (string quartet version), and I concur wholeheartedly. Life is awesome. I could not wish for anything more (except maybe the ability to not sleep... Sandy, I'm going to be Ursula to your Ariel and steal your soul!)

Goodnight and goodbye!*


Kathryne

*I may find internet access throughout the week.

whew!

CYMA-small-group planning with Erin was awesome.

LIT with everybody was awesomer.

Driving with Daddy was... okay :P

And now I am submitting my first college application... what?!

Kathryne

laptop!

I got a laptop! I am quite happy.

It is a 15" Powerbook G4. The internet doesn't work so well about now, but we are hopefully going to fix that ASAP.

I went to lunch with my daddy today :)

Kathryne

many yays :)

Well. I suppose I could go through my week and talk about things that made me smile each day, but I am far too impatient for that.

Basically:

my grandparents took Kristen & me (& Oscar) on a cruise to Bermuda.

It was gorgeous.

I read Jane Eyre and I totally called 2/4 plot twists.

I read The Bride Collector and there is no calling Ted Dekker.

I am reading The Silmarillion and it is beyond words.

I am then going to read something by John Grisham and then Portrait of a Lady.

I love summer.

My goal is to read two "classics" (aka good literature written before 1950 with 250+ pages) every 3 weeks. Not including my candy reads (see: Ted Dekker, John Grisham, Tim Downs, etc). Sound reasonable? That would mean I'd get nearly 10 really good books in, this summer. LOVE! (unfortunately, this would include 5 assigned reads like Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass... SIGH!)

Quote of the day:

Kristen: I had this dream about the mimes last night...

Katie: WOAH, me too; how weird.

Kristen: We must be telepathetic!!!*

*pun intended

Kathryne

PS- I am getting a laptop! Oh joy, joy, joy!!! It's a Powerbook G4... the predecessor to the MacBook Pro.

Firsts and Lasts...

Well. Today I did/made/had my first:

• sushi? sushimi?
• Pork bun... thing
• experience playing (and losing) Super Smash... something... on Wii
• cheap oil pastel (aka unsharpened crayon) drawing... thing
• random stranger say I was hot?

*SIDETRACK*

That was really funny.

Picture this:

I am at my library, walking out of the Reading List section with such wonderful things as Jane Eyre, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, and The Silmarillion.

This random guy (he looked to be about 15) looked up from his computer and says, "hi."

A young boy with him, probably his brother who would be 7 or 8, says, "Well, that was random."

I am about 8 or 9 yards away when I hear, "She's hot!"

The younger boy, obviously mortified and much more sensible, urgently says something under his breath.

His brother responds in a whisper, still loud and clear, "Yeah, I did say that pretty loud... I wonder if she heard me."

I roll my eyes at this point, but since I have turned the corner into another row of books they cannot see me.

And now for lasts:

• that was my last time EVER eating those red bean paste things... I'm sorry Sandy, it tasted like styrofoam.
• this is my last post for a week... I'm off on vacation with my grandparents :)

Kathryne

Ambition!

Yay!

So, Thursday, my Headmaster approached me about the "End of the Year Celebration" (read: Awards Ceremony). Since our little choir was so fabulous on Monday, he wants us to do do two songs at the end of the year thing. New songs. 2.5 weeks to prepare.

I'm like, okay, cool. Good songs. What Wondrous Love is This (amazing a cappella) and The Precious Blood (Sovereign Grace).

Unfortunately... well... I am the only one who halfway plays piano. So, I have to alltheway play piano. And while I don't need to worry about the a cappella beauty of WWLiT, The Precious Blood has a HARD piano part. Okay, it isn't that bad. But it's hard for a girl who only reads music for singing (so, can sight read the treble clef) and only took one year of lessons. And it's hard to play while singing.

I considered just using the chords and making up something half-decent like I usually do.

BUT.

I worked on it.

And worked.

And worked.

In fact, that's what I've been doing with all my free time.

And I think I have it!

And, yes, pride is a bad thing, but I am glad I stuck it out. It isn't great, but it's better than the cheat way :P

Kathryne

PS- Happy Birthday, Daddy!