yeah...

ok getting my wisdom teeth out wasn't that bad at all. I am a little wimp. It actually went VERY well. I didn't even have to take pain killers! hey ya for life and for blueberry gelato!

gulp.

so I'm uber scared.

tomorrow=extraction of the wisdom teeth. 

yikes.

I really can't afford to lose anymore wisdom. jeez.

ok... lame joke. to be expected.

but anyway, really, seriously, back to the main course of this tasty blog entry

(another lame joke. I blame the nerves)

I AM FREAKING OUT PEOPLE! 

who ever decided that taking out teeth would be a good idea!! if they were meant to be out they wouldn't exist!!?!?!?! right? RIGHT!?!? someone please. help. me.

falling into a deep pit.

ahhhhhhh

ahhhhhh

ahhhh

AHA. 

ok I just need to look at this situation in a new light

 all I need to do is make some lemonade out of these lemons 

...

hmmmm, I wonder if I can sell my wisdom teeth on ebay

nah, i'm just playing. 

why would I even think that!? maybe I had no wisdom to start off with. (ouch, another lame joke)

something even that outrageous and entertaining wouldn't bring consolation to the gut feeling of my impending demise. 

what a drama queen. i've.been.staring.at.the.computer.screen.too.long

well I guess I'll just let ya know how tomorrow works out for me. probably not though. I'll probably shut those memories to the furthest depths of my mind with the help of some loopy pain killers.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!!

I hope santa's good to you all!

the dog days are over!

Exams are finished, grades are in, and stress no longer resides in this human. I feel especially worn down and tired from this first semester. It's definitely time to rest up and rejuvenate. The mountain range of pimples on my forehead and my newfound love of coffee (and coffee shops!) are aftermath of this particularly stressful exam time. I must say that I shot myself in the foot with exams this year… but who cares. It's over now.

Now, I am ready to fully embrace the advent season and Christmas spirit. I want to make gifts, decorate, and simply wait in joyful hope for Christmas. All of my Christmas break endeavors are going to begin tonight with a white elephant party with my favorite cross country girls followed by a trip to city park. At the park, we are going to view the magical Christmas lights and release our inhibitions by spinning on the spinny chairs until we throw up.

WHOOHOOO

I can't wait

I hope you all enjoy this wonderful season! 

realizations.

school is beating me.
life is beating me.

but I feel better after talking to my mom. As much as saying that makes me cringe, she really did help me a lot. The mere thought of showing weakness and asking for help repulses me. Turns out, that's my problem. So I'm taking a giant leap out of my comfort zone in saying... I am not perfect, nor will I ever be. I need to rely on others help because no person is an island. phew. thanks mom for making me realize this. you are the best, even though we don't always treat you as the best.

and to everyone taking exams, GOOD LUCK! remember "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Christmas is coming...

 in honor of the Christmas season, check out my new blog title.

hey ya!

also,
today is the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe
check out her story here.

have a great day!

yeah I'm studying...

HELLO WORLD!

I'm supposed to be studying

...and i will study today

because I need to study lots and lots and lots

but first, I want to just say hey.

so hello my dear friends,

I hope your day is going swell,

 I hope its filled with many great things

because you are great.

It rained yesterday.

I like when it does that.

my sister is playing music from our room.

I like when she does that.

"high up above or down below

when you're too in love to let it go

if you never try you never know

just what you're worth

lights will guide you home.

and ignite your bones.

I will try 

to fix you."

ok now I'll study.

13 miles later.

yes. 

today we ran 13 miles. and it felt awesome.

Considering I've never ever ever run this far in my life, I am a little tired and sore. but honestly, I feel great for having run that distance. I feel like I could go do it again now! yay! ok well maybe not the whole thing again...

have you ever tried these little guys? that's what got us through the whole thing. It turns out that our failed attempt at 13 miles last week was due to under-hydration, improper eating before, lack of sleep, and lack of proper nutrition during the run. jeez, preparation really is everything.

now that amazing run is over, I feel motivated for life.

I'm actually ready to study.

WAHOOO I LOVE LIFE AND RUNNING!! 

Mystery Cookies.

This morning I received an email from the student receptionist telling me to stop by her office sometime today. I thought nothing of it and simply continued on with other duties of the morning. When I went to calculus, my friends Adele and Kendra were sitting in the back with little packages of cookies that they had picked up from the receptionist. I hurried down and picked mine up. It was a little wax paper package with four cookies inside. The note attached read:

"Dear Kathleen,

Have a WONDERFUL day. You deserve it."

that was it! nothing else but the delicious, homemade chocolate and pecan cookies. COME ON! you've got to be kidding me! We racked our brains all day trying to figure out who this kind stranger was. We went through everyone. WHO WOULD DO THIS FOR US?

I really am trying to just be thankful for this kind gesture, but I can't stand to not know who did this kind deed. Needless to say, I am really grateful for the cookies. Their unexpected appearance into my life brightened my day and made that physics test seem a little bit "not so bad"ish . well kind of.

thank you dear unknown cookie monster

no worries, you won't be unknown for long.

click HERE to see kendra's take on the situation.

parking lots < trees

Today as my lovely friend Adele was driving me home from school, we noticed that the newly built fire station had an extremely large parking lot. This thought made me think of how unnecessary that was and how they could have planted grass there instead. Then that thought lead to me thinking one thing: why don't they plant trees there instead!? We need trees replenishing our oxygen especially with all the CO2 we produce these days. (Whoohoo thank you photosynthesis!...oh gosh what a nerd... well I mean I am typing this blogpost in a snuggie..oh yikes.)
so then the series of thoughts eventually lead me to have a short freak out session (in my mind of course) of how the earth was not going to be able to support future generations. I mean come on, What about my grandkids people!?

so I quickly came up with an final solution.

I'll open a Christmas tree farm!
You see, dear readers, the opportunities and benefits of a Christmas tree farm are endless. hayrides, a little country store, hot chocolate, helping families find that perfect tree... and not to mention, having all those photosynthesis producing trees. yay oxygen

why can't all problems be this simple?
ha.
just kidding

happy advent!

I hope all is well on this second Sunday of advent.
blessings and good wishes to everyone!
especially those with exams just around the corner...yikes.

last metro meet. ever.

Tuesday was my last metro meet ever. although it was one of the most painful races I've ever run (literally, I was nearly jogging in this race), I'm still excited for our team winning the meet with a super low score of 21 points. 

I'm gonna miss the team so much, they are forever my cross country sisters. 

below is a picture of the seniors.

that's where I wanna be.

today, all I want to do is live in a National Geographic magazine. A large portion of my day was spent on this website checking out everything from top rated gear to top 100 adventures around the world, and not to mention, tons and tons of breathtaking pictures to make your average life seem...well, average.

don't these pictures just look so enticing? I want to do them all.

 plummeting fearlessly down a treacherous waterfall.

  making the fish beg to come aboard your fine sailboat

and we all float on

 ending the day by snuggling up with a good book and watching the sunset from a dock 

*all pictures from National Geographic*

ahhhhh

my blog is suffering.
it needs to go to blog rehab.
none of my latest posts have been worth reading
(maybe never?...yikes.)

but hopefully I'll come back with a bang.
I'm still experiencing that writers block I guess...

brotherbrother.... sistersister?

Everybody's talking about the war and the weather

but I don't wanna be down

can i borrow your smile?

it's all about the climb

what can i say. Senior retreat was pretty awesome. I love my senior class.

almost as much as i loved working sophomore retreat today.

God is good.

"There's always gonna be another mountain, I'm always gonna wanna make it move. There's always gonna be an uphill battle. Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose. Ain't about how fast I get there. Ain't about what's waiting on the other side. It's the climb"

start spreading the news, I'm leaving today

I'm going. leaving. gone. that's right, goodbye my friends.

just kidding.

but sometimes I kind of wish I could just jump in a 15 passenger van with 14 of my closest friends and just drive with no destination in mind. See the people I meet. See the places I go. nothing but the open road ahead of me.

I actually am leaving tomorrow for a lovely senior retreat planned for us for the next two days. I'm excited to grow closer as a class and individually with God. I'll pray for you dear readers! 

i must say that being a senior, although extremely stressful at times, is proving to be pretty fun too. 

what's more fun than dressing as senior citizens for a peprally?

respect your elders!

adventures of the poptart

I gave in. Yes, I let down my guards, and was ambushed by an enemy. 

Everyday, I go into the kitchen and decide what I want to eat for breakfast. After looking around for a while, I notice the poptarts off to the side. First, I reject any thoughts raising the possibility of allowing myself to eat such an unhealthy breakfast. How am I supposed to maintain complete brain activity with that useless garbage (I mean I already have trouble doing that...)!? As I keep looking around, the poptart becomes a more appealing option. Grits? no. Cereal? nah. Eggs? too messy. Pancakes? too difficult. Toast? I don't feel like getting the toaster out.

all these thoughts rush through my mind. 

then the poptarts speak to me 

most of the time it ends here. but every now and then (like today) the poptart wins...

then I am defeated by the poptart.

and I'm left feeling lost and insecure

and slightly nauseated.

a quote to start off the monday

GOOD MORNING MY FRIENDS!

"Stuff your eyes with wonder. Live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world, it's greater than anything made or paid for in factories. There are no guarantees; ask for no securities. "

happy adventures!

sorry i haven't posted in a while. so here's some contradictory thoughts to make up for it

Darkness and Light both hold a certain connotation in our minds.

It came to me, that neither light nor darkness

holds completely true to Their assigned identities.

Poor darkness. There he stands, Shy and alone.

No one understands that he isn't all bad.

Everyone sees him as depressed. A permanent first impression

Is it not in darkness where we feel most comfortable with ourselves?

Away from the expectations and judgments of others.

And is it not in darkness where we can find rest?

Peace comes when we are in darkness. Like a comfortable bed in a dark bedroom.

And doesn't a blackened room provides the canvas for dreams as you sleep?

Free to dream and soar among your thoughts

while you subconsciously go through the events of the day.

Light, while it most definitely is good and it is truth, must also be questioned

How can he take such a prominent spot in our ideals

Without ever challenging the concept of light itself?

Just as dark is not all bad, light is not all good.

Light is overstimulating. While it does expose truth,

often it can shine too brightly, causing a migrane

Light along with heat, it's partner in crime,

 is also proof of a chemical reaction. Proof of a change.

Changing things into other things that they may not be

Or want to be.

Light, while it does brighten the way, can also make things feel stark.

Unfriendly, unnatural, sterile. Like fluorescent lights.

Light is intrinsically good. Dark is intrinsically  bad.

How can we place a blanket statement on such dynamic states of exsistence?

That is why I believe We must

Think about things in a new light

Or should I say a new darkness?

Pay It Forward

We just finished watching "Pay It Forward" in theology in film class. It is essentially about a young boy who responds to an assignment by coming up with the idea to do good deeds simply to make the world a better place. From this simple and slightly idealistic concept, he starts a movement that spreads like wildfire across the country. The idea was uncomplicated: do three good deeds for three different people and then they would in turn do three good deeds for three other people until the number of people paying it forward increases exponentially. but the catch is, those good deeds have to be BIG things. things that person couldn't do on their own.

quite an idea, eh?

dearest readers, this week I challenge you to pay it forward. do something kind. do something unexpected, even if that just means letting someone cut in front of you in traffic. whether it be big or small, well that is up to you  my friends. because you never know how much of an impact one person has until you see it in action.

and please keep me posted, I'd love to hear about how you are changing the world.

weekend in a few pictures

{in no particular order}

 have a stellar week! 

much needed.

Dearest readers, I just so happened to have a extraordinarily lovely time this past weekend.  My friend Kendra summed it up perfectly on her blog if you are interested in hearing about it!
 http://thehugsandthewishes.blogspot.com/2010/09/wonderful-weekends.html

it reminded me that we have to live in the present moment. all we can do is enjoy life, seek adventure, and then trust that God's grace will always be enough for that present moment.

what is this?

today I can see a slight break in the clouds, a sudden shimmer of light peeping out to provide brilliant illuminating light and a new hope to cling on to. Yes dear readers, I am free of the all consuming burden commonly referred to as homework.

well, for tonight at least.

What is this strange occurrence? what did I even do with myself before my life was consumed by school?

As thoughts of my new found freedom began flying through my mind, excitement shook through my body as I thought of the fun things I could do with this abundance of time.  then the light slowly dimmed as I came to the stark realization that I still have an everlasting to do list looming over my head. (thank you college applications)

so I can't quite kick off my shoes and relax. not yet. 

must. keep. working.

but hey, it's almost the weekend! 

I hope you all have an amazing adventure in store for you! 

new thoughts

Dearest readers, I've come to a conclusion.

I'm not going to dread all of this work I have to do anymore.

I'm going to see it as an opportunity. and really, truly I'm going to just try to enjoy everything I do. 

because there's always going to be something needing to be done, and stress probably will never go away

also, I don't want to take myself too seriously, it just makes me stressed!

and stress=a mountain range of pimples on your forehead

I've also decided that I think I'm experiencing writers block. 

so here's a funny picture to make up for it! 

ok maybe not...

have a great tuesday!

sorry for lack of posts this week...

it's kind of hard to juggle the blog, college applications, physics, calculus AP, and cross country

gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

adventures of the weekend.

most of the weekend revolved around this:

after winning the meet saturday and mingling at the cross country social on sunday, I'm proud to say that this team is my life.

I love cross country. 

have a great week!

some thoughts on independence

WARNING: this isn't a "Hilarious" blog post, sorry mom…

picture for your entertainment, dear readers. gah. what a goofball.

As of late, I've realized the extreme importance of maintaining one's independence. By maintaining independence, I don't mean living as a hermit free from the ideas, expectations, or help of others; but rather, living in community with others while sticking to the sincerity of your soul. It's important to live according to your own values, free from the expectations of others.

 If we aren't independent, we will rarely achieve our goals and therefore rarely ever achieve happiness. This independence is strongly rooted in self validation and faith. It gives you a clear vision making it easier to help others, solve your own problems, and even strengthen the relationships in your life. To achieve this self reliance, you must realize that you don't need the approval of others to succeed. 

You stand proud, you stand tall, and you let society's expectations just roll right off your back.  And I promise, This  leads to immense joy.

I might be slightly idealistic, maybe even a little naïve. But who cares, I'm independent.

And I'm on the pursuit of happiness. 

...and I'm FREE

first.race.of.the.last.year.

wake up. 4:30 AM

I stumbled out of bed and got to work with preparing myself for the upcoming battle. 

The morning passed pretty quickly and soon I found myself eating my four slices of toast. They had grown kind of soggy (well just less toasty and crisp). I imagined all the energy present in the toast I was consuming. 

Then, there I was. on the starting line. and before I knew it we were off. I quickly assembled a strategy in my head-- run the first mile and secure a place, challenge others and myself on the second mile, and then race on the third mile. The whole race was tiring, challenging, and very difficult. Around the start of the second mile, I specifically remember thinking "why in the world do I do this!?". I also remember a little voice in my head saying something like, "you really are a bad racer. I don't even know why you do this sport. you're just have no competitiveness and no drive". 

but for once in my life, I didn't let those voices conquer me. 

WOOOOHOOO it's gonna be a good season. 

*sidenote* 

sorry about the frequent use of paint drawings in my blog posts. 

It really is just an excuse to keep me doing something other than applying to college/finishing my homework...

adventures of a wolf mask

I love my cross country carpool

we often spend our evenings terrorizing the town in a wolf mask while jamming out to various songs on the radio

have a great weekend

and do something adventurous! 

hey, it's just LIFE in general.

"what do you want to be when you grow up?"

a firefighter, an astronaut, a pilot, a bug catcher, a professional juggler, an artist, an architect, a doctor, a cardiologist, a heart surgeon, a social worker, a mission worker, a farmer, an entrepreneur

the list goes on.

these are all answers that I've given when asked the question of how I want to spend the rest. of. my. life. Some were serious and deliberate while others were on a whim and soon forgotten. You see, dear readers, I've changed my mind countless times.  I want to do everything because it just all sounds so interesting. 

since I'm still unable to pin myself down to one occupation or even one field of study, I've made the executive decision on the one thing I want to be...

happy. 

not so fast

It's times like these where we must stop and think about the good things in life. Everything and everyone gets so so so busy and we forget about those special things, those dear moments that make life good. It's those tiny happenings of each day that go unnoticed, but leave us with a good feeling. Since I've been so stressed lately (the culprit for my lack of "hilarious" posts on this blog), I've taken this time between calculus homework, cross country practice, minds on physics, club meetings, deadlines, writing essays, planning the cross country sleepover, and a gazillion other details to stop and write a list of wonderful little things. 

I hope you enjoy this, and find the little adventures in each day. 

a fresh tube of toothpaste

the satisfying feeling of completing a hard workout

finishing the last bits of a painting

watching the sunrise

doing your homework before school is over

riding around with the windows down and the music up

people watching

home runs

anticipating a good meal

making up a random song on the guitar

getting a rock star parking spot

meeting someone new and learning their name

a fresh box of pencils 

smelling all the deodorants at walgreens to see which is the best

hugs

farm for the weekend

Two or three weekends ago, my best friends and I traveled down to Rayne, Louisiana for good times filled with good music, good food, four wheelers, campfires, photo shoots, mud fights, and nothing short of the extraordinary adventure. Since three of them are going to college very soon (one started this week!), it was a trip marked with happy memories and a strong desire to end with a real bang. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here's an essay for you.