Keep Calm and Carry On

How many have you seen this line of products that range from books to posters to shirts to almost anything you can imagine?

My new scripture journal is one such book. The original slogan was a poster produced by the British Government in 1939 during the beginning of World War II, intended to raise morale during difficult times (fun fact?). When I first saw it, I knew it was meant just for me. How perfect- Keep Calm and Carry On. It is meant to provides a sense of calm during uncertain times. I need a lot of that in my life. Especially lately it seems like.

But ya know what...! Sometimes being calm is really hard and it bites the big one. Sometimes it just sucks. Don't you ever feel like you need to just let it all go? Yesterday, I found this....

Talk about my describing my week to a flipping absolute Tee. Just one thing on top of one thing on top of a billion things on top of a kajillion messed up emotions. And it's true. Sometimes you just need to freak out and cry a little. It is good for the soul, I swear.

But it's a new week and I'm back to being cool, calm, and collected.

Good Friends Are Like Fabulous Shoes....They Should Be Prized

Speaking of fabulous shoes....I need a few pairs. But speaking of fabulous friends, I have those in abundance! I just need to take a moment to share.

My parents are in Cancun this week. Yeah, I know-not fair! I am bitterly cold with jealousy but also excited for them. So I have been driving back and forth from Cardston to school this week which hasn't been too bad. I must say, Kaden and I have been living the good life. But there is a reason why I dislike Southern Alberta! The roads today got pretty bad and my Grandma called around 4:00 and expressed concern for me to be driving home that evening. I still had a 6:00 class so I wasn't really sure what to do. Heaven forbid if I ever missed a class!! I went and talked to the Professor and found out that in class they would be assigned topics for the Research Paper that we will be working on all semester. It was first come-first serve, so he said if I couldn't be there I would just get whatever was left over (and there were some REALLY dry topics). I weighed my options back and forth, but in the end I decided that I would go home while there was still a little light on the roads and just take the pitsy writing assignment. As I was getting ready to leave, I met up with Jason quickly because we were supposed to go over a bonus assignment for one of our classes during my break. I met Jason about 2 years ago in school and we have stuck together ever since. He almost switched majors so that we could be in the same classes together, but in the end we decided to just take the same electives. I explained my predicament and instead of being upset that I couldn't work on our project together, he said he would go and sit in my class for me and sign me up for the topic I wanted! So he waited at the university for 45 minutes and then went and sat through an hour and a half long lecture on the different techniques of literary citation (enthralling I know!) just so that he could make sure I got a slightly less boring topic than necessary!!! I can't think of anyone else that would go to someone else's class for them...!

So good friends really should be prized. I have so many amazingly good friends. I don't know how I got to be so blessed as to have both such fabulous friends and family!

Thank you Jason!!!!

All Good Things Must Come To An End....

2010 has reached its close and with bittersweet feelings that I say goodbye. It has been an amazing year with many ups and downs. Definitely one of the best though.

School has been one of my saving graces this year. When I look back on all that I accomplished and everything that I was able to be a part of, I am overwhelmed. This past year has honestly changed my life.

I'm a nerd and found this picture today. It makes me somewhat happy though!

I spent the summer in Virginia and it was phenomenal! Spending time with Kyle and Jess and their family was such a highlight. I don't know what I would do without Jess in my life. She was my rock over the summer. When I got a little crazy and my mind wouldn't cooperate--she was there! And I loved everything about Virginia. Heck, I even loved my job! Who knew...me and bugs! But to be honest, it was really just all about being able to work with Kyle and spend more time with him.

I love Christmas. And this Christmas was extra special! We travelled up to Hinton to spend the holidays with Kennedy and Eric and their little ones! A day with the Holts is always one to remember. But we got an extra surprise this Christmas! Shayla went into labor 5 1/2 weeks early and it was a Christmas miracle! There was one bed available in all of Alberta. So at one in the morning on the 23rd, they ambulanced KJ and Shayla to Edmonton and baby Jonah James Wood was born that night. He weighed 5 pounds 10 ounces, which is a really good size for being a premie baby. Jonah was transferred down to Lethbridge on Sunday and is still in NICU but doing really well. And he is honestly just the cutest little baby anyone ever did see!

Christmas is always a special time. I have many fond memories with my family around the holiday season. But each year, right around 10:00pm on December 24th, my dad and brothers approach me with this wildly desperate and pleading look in their eyes....and I just know. I know that I will be spending the next 2-3 hours wrapping their Christmas presents for them. My dad actually came to me earlier in the month this year but decided to dispense with the theatrics because he knew I would just do it. I've recently come across this blog about 1000 awesome things and thought this was so true. Don't you just love wrapping presents and how it is the best thing when the wrapping paper lines up perfectly!

This is un-awesome.

This is awesome!!

I want to be better at noticing those little things that make life awesome!

Do you want to know how I spent all last Christmas...???

Yup! That is what I did. And this Christmas hasn't been a whole lot different! It's been amazing and relaxing and just what I needed.

So this year has been amazing! But I am going to make 2011 even better!!!

PS- Happy Birthday Noah!!!!!!

I can't believe how big you are!!!!!

What a stud muffin!

Suddenly I See

I woke up this morning and could see the twinkle in the angel's eye on the Christmas tree. Big deal? Yes! Normally I just see some blur of a color blob. Miracle? Practically. I had laser eye surgery on Friday. Now, I'm sure I know what you are thinking. "Really Katie?! You?? You are such a wimp when it comes to anything like that." And it is so true. But it honestly was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

And really, it wasn't that bad. The appointment was about 4 hours long but the actual operation takes about 1 minute per eye. Just before I went under the knife, I found out that my parents helped pay for the surgery. I have the best parents in the entire world. When they put the numbing drops in my eyes, they couldn't tell what were tears and what were drops.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

Well actually it's not really that cold outside but I am definitely not complaining! I've decided that I wouldn't even mind if we don't have a white christmas! But knock on wood!

School ended with a bang. I didn't have any finals so I've basically been done for a week, and then plus some extra tutoring here and there. I realized more about how much of a wimp I am though. The last week of school I practically lived in the IB Commons lab working on a project for my Computerized Accounting class. It was a group project but I have issues 'letting go' so I kind of just did the whole 40 hour ordeal on my own (for some odd strange reason my partner didn't mind in the slightest)! I was helping another group set up their company and the guy, Ron, called me Stevie. I didn't correct him and so it went on...and on and on. "Look at the numbers that Stevie calculated for depreciation." "Check to see if Stevie has the same invoices." "Stevie, how did you set up your payroll?" After a couple hours I was getting ready to leave when one of the guys I tutored came over and asked, "Katie, could you come and look at our accounting case? Our numbers aren't working." Ron asked what my name was and then apologized profusely because he said he had been calling me 'Stevie' for the past few hours. I laughed and said, "Oh really! I hadn't even noticed!" There was a girl named Stevie in my last ward so I wonder if Ron had ever met her. Ok so dumb story but...well that's as good as it gets.

I came across this video and thought it was the most clever thing I've seen in a long time!

Merry Merry Christmas!

PS- After Friday, I'll be able to wake up in the morning and be able to see!!!

I'm Still Alive!

School is coming to a close pretty quick here! I have absolutely loved this semester! It hasn't been too stressful and I have filled my time with a lot of tutoring...a lot!! For the most part it has been a great experience. But my inability to say no has gotten me into trouble once again!

My roommate, Jen, asked if I could tutor some of her friends in their University Stats class. I wasn't sure how their class would differ from the class I took, but I said I would meet up with them and take a look with what they cover. I looked through the front of their notes and the content looked somewhat familiar....so I thought, "hmm, why not". That weekend I took a hard look into their text book and realized this wasn't just any old University Stats class. No, it was a Psychology University Stats class. Oh great! I spent 8 hours that weekend studying their class! What had I gotten myself into!?! But so far so good. I just have to spend more time going over their material than I do all of my own classes combined!

The formulas are absolutely crazy!

And they have gotten progressively worse since these ones.

But really, school has gone well so far. I am excited for the next few years.

I just want to brag about one of my students for a minute. Her first exam didn't go so well when she got a 63% on it. She really wanted to do better so she signed up for tutoring. We worked really hard together. Her next exam she aced with a 97%! I was so proud of her.

Wouldn't you love to come home from church to this?!?

Some guys thought it would be funny to put crayfish in our sinks and tub. We decided to thank them and cooked the creepy crawly little guys for their supper. Crayfish turn a bright orange color when cooked...gross.

I just took a picture with my phone so quality is poor but this one was really big and disgusting....take my word for it!

Melanie, my good friend from England, called me last week! I miss that girl so much. Anyways, she randomly got a phone call from this guy who said, "You don't know me but I recognized you at church today with a picture I have of you sticking your tongue out." Needless to say she was a little creeped out! But the guy went on to explain that he was a friend of mine and his name was John (well actually he would have said Elder Spencer). John is on a mission right now in the same area where I was when I was over seas nannying. He is serving in my old ward and has gotten to meet all of my dear dear friends over there!

This is the picture he recognized her from....she wasn't impressed!

But isn't she gorgeous! I miss her like this dickens and think she needs to come over here to visit!

A Weekend of Firsts

Finally! Something to report! Although I will admit it's kind of bitter sweet. For obvious reasons I can't post everything but some of you know what I am talking about. So I have moved into good ol' Lethbridge on the West Side and it has been great! You all know my goal has been to be more outgoing and try and get out more. Well, I think I have been doing a pretty bang up job with that. This past weekend, there was a YSA activity "Battle of the Airbands". And no, I didn't dress up and dance around like a crazy person pretending to play an air guitar...but I did take part in a skit in between the acts while people set up. That is me taking leaps and bounds I must say!

Here is the skit that we did. Haha. It went really well.

BonQuiQui

I was girl number 1...not BonQuiQui. Ha that was my roommate, Jen. She fit the part perfectly!!

Then on Saturday, I went to my first hockey game ever! Yup, ever! I feel like I am officially a Canadian now. But before that excitement began, I was taken to the Calgary Tower for dinner. It was amazing! We had Calamari as an appetizer. I had never had it before and I didn't even gag. Impressed!? It's chewy, like everyone says, but not too bad. And the view, outside the window, was amazing.

He had timed things perfectly with the Sunset and everything...

But a date isn't a date without it's awkward moments. When we were first seated at our table, my date excused himself to use the restroom. The waiter came over and asked what our plans were for the rest of the evening. I told him we were going to the hockey game and it was my first game ever! We chatted for a bit and then my date returned to the table. The waiter looked over at him and said, "So, you're out with a Virgin tonight!" That didn't make things weird at all...The waiter then clarified that he meant I was a Hockey Virgin. I am positive there were better words that could have been used.

The game was amazing though! It was the Flames vs. Oilers face-off. I have always had friends say that Hockey Players are hot and sexy but I never saw the appeal. I always imagined black eyes, missing teeth--you know, the beat up look. But I must admit there was some definite eye candy on that ice as the game was getting ready to start. And our seats were 10 rows from the ice! I couldn't believe how close we were. I have never been much of a hockey fan but there was a moment or two when my eyes welled a tear.

There were so many people!

And we were so ridiculously close!

So I was somewhat disappointed that there weren't any fights but one of the goals went in off of someone's face and there was blood all over the ice. I could have gone with a not as great view of that...but pretty intense huh!

Wahoo! And the flames won!!!

So it was definitely a weekend of firsts. Now, I know there are several details missing from this post so if you want the rest of the details you will have to give me a call...

And I found this song and now I love it (obvious reasons)! Really you just have to listen to the first minute and a half.