June 2013

In a way, I'm thankful that this month is over.  I spent most of the month living out of a suitcase, which in case you have been missing the underlying theme of some of my blogs, I'm sick of living out of a suitcase!  Don't get me wrong, I have LOVED each and every adventure I have packed my suitcase for!

Low:

• Grammy has been under the weather a little often this month.  She's doing better now, but she's sick of going to the doctor.
• I wasn't able to get my car into the shop until just last week.  There have been some hot days with no AC!
• I didn't play with Ruby for a few days because she found a skunk.
• I'm starting to get a cold...I'm not a fan.

High:

• I finished out a school year!  I was so thankful for the opportunity to sub!
• I've spent so many wonderful summer days at home!  This has included sleeping in, playing with Ruby, reading for afternoons at a time, horseback riding, fishing, playing with Ruby, hunting up kitten litters, going to Gramps and Grammy's, and beginning to go through and pack up my belongings to move again.
• I spent Whit's birthday weekend with her!  We had a double-date to the drive-in, finished Caleb's quilt, watched movies, and just had some quality best friend time!
• I spent a lot of time at the Historical Society quilting with Grammy and her friends!  Such sweet days! :)
• Dustin, Rach, and I went to Country Night!  It was so much fun to be stomping around that dance floor in my boots again!
• I went to camp!!!!!  I was reunited with some of my best friends, had some WONDERFUL campers and had an all around great week in the Valley!  :)

• I got a sweet new library card.  I am now up to date!
• Dustin came down for the weekend and we spent most of the time outside!  Fishing, horseback riding, painting at Grammy's.  He even got Grammy to eat some fish!  

This month has also been monumental in the fact that I have found my theme for the year.  Last year, God taught me a lot about forgiveness and who I needed to forgive for past grievances.  This year, God is teaching me to recognize.  I will blog about that realization soon.  

This month has flown and the year is half over.  How can this be?!  I'm looking forward to next month with apartment searches, moving, classroom set up, berry picking, and so much more!

  

Favorite picture of the month!  :)

May 2013

This month I have been living out of a suitcase pretty regularly.  I've moved out and back in with families, and am temporarily staying with another one.  I've had interviews and offers.  I've had tears of homesickness and happiness.  This month has really been a roller coaster of a ride!

Low:

• I got really homesick by the end of student teaching.  It was rough for a couple of weeks.
• I did move out of the Abrahamson's house, but I did move back into my own...well, sort of.
• My mentor teacher had surgery which requires her to be gone for the rest of the year.

High:

• I got to go home!  Ruby missed me a little bit!  :)

• Whit and I went shopping for a bridesmaid's dress again.  This time, I really have it on the way.
• We had a garage sale where we both got rid of a bunch of junk we didn't need.  :)
• I sat at my sewing machine.  I baked cookies and bread.  I got a lot accomplished!

• Because of my teacher being gone for the rest of the year, they wanted to hire a long-term sub.  Who better than the one who just spent the last 8 weeks with them?  Of course I didn't turn this opportunity down!  After commuting the first couple of days, I loaded up a week's worth of stuff to move into my teacher's house.  I've now made a couple of furry friends.  Kitty and Winston are most hospitable!

• I got to see my dear friend, Tums, graduate!  So proud of that girl!

• Dustin and I had a wonderful Strawberry Point date in between commencement and the party.  Such a beautiful afternoon!  :)

• I GOT A JOB!!!  I'm so excited and looking forward to it all!  I've been very welcomed by a couple of people via e-mail and offers to help with the apartment search to make sure I'm in a safe place.  I'm excited to see what opportunities will arise from this classroom and city.

I could tell story after story of all the crazy things that have happened to me over the past month.  God has continued to answer prayers I haven't prayed since January that focused on student teaching.  Just because we stop praying about a certain topic, doesn't mean God stops answering.  He is always faithful.  This month is living proof of that.  Here's to June and all the crazy adventures it's sure to bring!  :)

April 2013

I have seriously been lacking in the blogging area lately.  With spring reluctantly arriving, my fingers want to dig into the dirt and grow something rather than type away at the keyboard.  And then again, how on Earth can it be the night before May 1st?!

Low:

• My time is winding down at my second placement.  It has literally flown by and I now only have 7 teaching days left!
• My car air conditioning needs recharged.  It was a long, hot drive back from the Twin Cities last weekend.  Just ask Dustin.
• Lu canceled her Netflix.  Just when I was almost done with Brothers & Sisters.

High:

• I have had great weekends this whole month!  The first one was spent with Whit having best friend time, the second one was spent at home with the niece and nephew for their birthdays, one was spent in Brandon and Iowa City, and last weekend was in the Twin Cities.  Great times were had!  :)

• I have had a wonderful time in my second placement!  I love the students, teachers, paras, and the random things that happen.  Like Duck Dynasty Day!  :)

• So far, I have sent out exactly 1 application for teaching positions.  I sent it yesterday.  I received a call to have an interview today.  I have an interview on Thursday!  Pray for me please?

What a crazy month before a summer of unknowns.  Some answers are slowly coming, but a lot of things are still up in the air.  Just knowing that God is always faithful keeps me hopeful.

February 2013

This one's a day late.  I kind of forgot that February ends at 28...  This month has flown by!  And with it has gone 4 weeks of student teaching!  It's incredible how fast the time has flown and to think of all the great and unexpected things that happened this month!

Low:

• I got stuck twice in one morning in the snow...I don't really want to talk about it...
• Some of those days of being fully in charge were rough.
• When some of my students said they hated me...I know they don't, but the fact that they even said it digs under my skin a little bit.

High:

• I was fully in charge for 2 weeks!  It was incredible!  It really gave me some great insight as to the teaching field.  It was exhausting, but completely worth it!  :)
• I got asked out on a date...and now we've been on 4 total!  He's coming home to meet my parents in a couple of weeks.  No pictures yet, but he did bring me this lovely bouquet of flowers on Valentine's day!  :)

• I have Skyped with so many friends this month!  I love it!  I miss them so much and it's so nice to be able to 'see' them and have the chance to catch up with them all!
• Not only was I able to help surprise Grammy for her 80th birthday, but Abbey and Tim were there too!!  It was so great to see my big sister!  :)
• Wedding dress shopping with Whit was so much fun!!  A tear jerking trip for sure, but it was FANTASTIC!!  :)

February, you were pretty great!  I have seen so many prayers be answered this month, and extensions to those answers.  I'm just so stinking blessed that sometimes it hardly seems real and it seems more like a dream than anything!

Favorite photo of the month!  :)

January 2013

How are there only 11 months left in 2013 already??  This month has flown by, and it's hard to believe that I've been living with the Abrahamson's for nearly a month already.  Next week marks the halfway mark for my first placement of student teaching.  It has been AMAZING month full of snowstorms, school, frozen fingers and toes, friends, and another move.

Low:

• I had to leave Ruby's sad little face...
• Early bedtimes are back on my schedule.  This means that I have to watch Nashville on Thursday afternoons instead of Wednesday nights.
• The cold.  My toes and fingers barely have time to thaw before I brave the elements each time...
• My 3rd graders have nasty habits.  They don't blow their noses, and they have this obsession with sanitizer.  Needlessly to say, after doing everything in my own willpower to avoid getting sick, they got me down after week 2.
• I drank expired milk for a week without realizing it...
• I made it to Week 3 before my first name was revealed to my students.  Well, at least they don't know I'm a Katelyn and not just a Katie!  :)

High:

• I was able to spend the first couple days of the new year with 2 of my best friends in Chicago!

• Spinelli is learning her lessons!  :)

• I moved in with my second family!  :)
• Week 1 of student teaching was simply amazing!  I love what I'm doing!  It's a lot of work in front of the kids, and behind the scenes, but I'm so happy to be in 3rd grade!  :)
• Momma got GREAT news at her doctor's appointment and doesn't have to go back for a whole year!
• The week that I do have a cold, we've gotten an ice day and a snow day, so I only spent two days at school this week!  More time to recuperate!

February better be good since it's starting on a Friday and everything.

December 2012

It's almost that time again.  It's time to hang up the new camp calendar and flip it to January.  What a year it has been!  And it all ended with December.  What a cold month to wrap up so many things!

Low:

• I went to Pizza Ranch to meet up with Matt Jones, Julia, and Lincoln.  This was good.  Not even 5 minutes after arrival, the little thing that holds the peppermints and toothpicks got caught on my purse and dumped to the floor.  Rather embarrassing, but nothing out of the ordinary.
• That blizzard that was supposed to dump tons of snow only left my yard with a small dusting.
• Lu criticizes my driving...

High:

• I got to go see Tums in her play Bye Bye Birdie.  It was pretty great!  That was followed by Chinese with some great people!  :)

• I was able to meet my teachers and students for my student teaching placements!  I love them already and I know I will have an amazing 8 weeks in each place!
• I FINALLY got to go to Country Night with Racheal and Kelsey!  It was such a great night shuffling out on the dance floor!  :)

• Graduation.  Granted that I'm not completely done, I'm all but there.  Only student teaching is left!  :)

• I put in a BEAUTIFUL quilt!  This one could possibly be my favorite one so far!

• I got my near Christmas baby.  Isn't she sweet?  :)

• I went to camp to work for a couple of days, as well as spending the weekend with past staff!  :)
• I started a Chicago trip with Alison and Lu, but that blog happens in the New Year!
• My friends know me so well, and they gave me great gifts!  We did a thrift store challenge...well, except for Lu, and we did great!  So many treasures!!
• MY BEST FRIEND IS ENGAGED!!!!  She called me at camp telling Sue and Camie it was an emergency!  I've been bugging Caleb for months about this!!  

Favorite picture of the month!

December flew by and was filled with college, Christmas, quilts, snow, and friends.  What a crazy, crazy month!  It's hard to believe that I start student teaching in a couple of weeks!  Here's to the New Year and all we'll see in 2013!  :)

November 2012

My last full month of being a college student concludes in just a couple of hours!  How crazy is that?!  I'm so filled with excitement, and I am currently not scared/anxious/frightened, or any other emotions that come with getting ready to take on the world.  I know those will come soon enough though...  This month has been incredible with a long list of highs!  :)

Lows:

• I lost my car in the parking lot this month.  It was embarrassing.  There were people around and I was the one who could not fake the confusion and practical despair I felt as I wandered around the lot.
• In August I was raving about loving my room.  Sadly, that has come to an end.  I had to reloft my bed for the last couple of weeks.  I now HATE my room.  It felt more like an adult room, and now I feel like I've regressed.  Only 2 weeks left!
• I faced rejection this month.  MAJOR rejection.  I went to go visit my beautiful cow in her pregnant state.  Ya know, just to go stroke her belly and whisper sweet nothings in her ear.  She literally ran away from me.  I was devastated.  :(
• My contact that was replaced is giving me trouble, and I really don't like it!

High:

• In August I mentioned that I left my Oreos and body wash in Brock's truck on the night he left for Texas.  Finally, I received a big box filled with body wash, Oreos, and packing peanuts.  Someone was rather proud of himself for all my trouble with the static filler.

• I finally have my placements all figured out for student teaching!  I've been e-mailing with my teachers the past couple days and have meetings all set up to meet them and see their classroom!
• Phase 2 has been going wonderfully!  All I have left is 2 days!  The students really got into our lessons the past couple of weeks over the Alamo, Oregon Trail, and Western outlaws!  These are my favorite topics and so I enjoyed it quite a bit as well!  :)

• I almost missed RSVP for graduation because I didn't know about it.  Luckily, I made it and I came back from Thanksgiving break to my graduation gown, cap, and tassel!  December 15th can't come soon enough!
• I had a wonderful weekend when I went to Strawberry Point and to Elizabeth's musical!

• This month I added 2 medium sized snow globes to my collection!  I got one from Texas and one from Beauty and the Beast!  :)

• I WENT TO SEE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST!!!!!!!!!  

• I'm over half done with the Scratch Cupcake Tour!  I've got a lot of work to do in the next 2 weeks!

It has been an amazing month and so much has happened!  Here I sit in a room I will vacate forever in 2 weeks.  Here I sit looking at the shapeless gown I will don on for a couple of hours.  Here I sit knowing that my life will dramatically change in 2 weeks.  On the bright side, I can finally start listening to Christmas music and watching Christmas movies every night since I always hold off until it actually hits December!  :)

Photo of the month!

October 2012

Can it really be Halloween already?  Am I really 22?  This month has FLOWN by and we are on the verge of November, people!  This month has been FANTASTIC with a few bumps like every other month.

Low:

• Right away on the 1st, I started my Phase 2.  The only downside was the HUG+E adjustment to an early bedtime with an early rising to follow.  I'm finally on a better schedule and now I go to bed super early and get called a grandma.  No big.
• The state decided to change/add to some rules for lincensure and now I have to take 2 Praxis 2 tests instead of one.  EXPENSIVE!  These are both 2 1/2 hours long, and not fun at all.  Not looking forward to actually taking these things...
• For 2 weeks of this month, I was driving my father's car because mine needed lots of love.  I really need my baby to last just a little while longer.  It needs to get me through student teaching and a bit longer if possible!
• Naturally, on my birthday I would break a contact.  Because I don't wear disposables, I had to order a new one and get it sent to me.  All I have are my crooked glasses that practically fall off my face.  Can't wait until my appointment over break!
• I had everything for teaching today EXCEPT the lesson plan and the main activity.  Yep, this Wednesday felt more like a Monday.  Luckily, my mentor teacher is AWESOME and was a tremendous help and I got through.  Note to self, don't forget that sort of thing again!

High:

• My Phase 2 experience has been WONDERFUL!  I absolutely love what I am doing and I really enjoy teaching at the junior high level.  My students are a blast and I have a wonderful mentor teacher.  Last week, I got to teach the students how to make Blueberry pancakes!  :)
• Momma & I hit up the World's Largest Garage Sale and I came back with quite the load of books!  :)

• My friend, Rach came back into town for the night and we got all the girls together for a night at Carlos o' Kelly's!  Such a wonderful time with some wonderful ladies!  :)

• I got to go home for 2 amazing weekends!  I love going home!  It's the best!  :)  One night involved a football game.  The other weekend was harvest and my birthday!  :)
• Camp.  Love camp, especially when it is 4 State time!  :)  Celebration of October birthdays also took place with Tums, Alison, and I!  What fun it was!

• Level 3 was last week.  What an exhausting, exciting week!  I learned so much and it was completely wonderful!  The best I ate all week was conference nights when there was food brought in.  :)
• My birthday was wonderful!  I got to hang out with my family and friends and was reunited with my bestie for the afternoon!  Love her!  :)

• I SCORED REALLY WELL ON A PRAXIS!!!  One down, one left!  :)

Seriously, this has been a wonderful month and I am only 5 1/2 weeks from graduation!!  :)  Life is so good, and I am so thankful!

This would probably have to be my favorite picture of the month!  :)

In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

-Ephesians 3:12

September 2012

Does tomorrow really start birthday month for me?!  Where did this month go?  It was so wonderful and so much happened and so much got done.  I had 30 jam packed days!  :)

Low:

• My car has been a low this month.  I am still lacking tail lights and this has restricted my driving at night.  I feel like my car is dying a slow death, but I need it to hang on just a couple more years...
• It took me close to 4 days to recover from Labor Day weekend.  Because of this, I accidentally slept through part of my night class one night, so I ended up not going at all.

High:

• Camp.  Labor Day weekend and Germantown Men's.  Love camp!
• I was FINALLY reunited with my best friend!

• I am getting sooooooo close to getting placements for student teaching!  I've got my placement for Phase 2 and that should be the same placement for Level 3.
• I applied for graduation!!!  I think it's still sinking in that it is my last semester and it's almost half over already!
• Bible Study.  I love it EVERY week.  I love our study.  I love our group.  I love our God.
• I got to ride a carousel and hang out with Tums and get a cute purse!
• Minnesota with my grandparents.
• I gave blood last week.  Thankfully, I didn't almost pass out like I did last year!  :)
• I feel so full of joy, and I love it!  God has continued to work in my heart since leaving camp, and I've been continuing to stretch and grow, and I want to continue on this path.  I've learned a lot this month and I am truly enjoying my semester!

Birthday month begins tomorrow!  I turn 22 in 28 days!  Holy cow!  I'm that much closer to being a big kid and getting a real job and all the stuff that comes with it.  For now though, I'll spend bits of my free time relishing in Disney movies and coloring pages!  :)

"At times, my journey has seemed unbearable and full of concerns. But as a whole, my time on this Earth has proven to be joyous and filled with love and laughter." -Ami Dark-Rosen

August 2012

What a whirlwind of a month!  Can it really be the last day in August?  So much has happened in the last month!  I have been incredibly mobile.  I'm finding this to be a theme of my 20's.  I'm not sure how I feel about that, but hopefully, by this time next year, I will be staying in one place for a while.  So much has happened in the blur of 4 weeks.  Mostly it was my final weeks at camp, 1 week at home, and the past 2 at school.

Low:

·         I had to leave camp.  I didn't cry last year, but this year, the tears streamed.  I was also sick my last day.

·         Couldn't eat anything at The Skinny Dip because of said sickness.

·         My poor car had to spend 2 days in the shop. 

·         The whole mice incident at LAKESIDE.  That was the only thing that I hated about staying up there, granted that it was mostly my fault...

·         I shot milk out my nose during a chugging contest with Alison.

·         I thought it would be cool to play Banana on a trip to LAX with Brock.  Clearly, it ended well.

·         After said trip to LAX, I managed to leave my Wal-Mart stuff in Brock's truck.  He headed back to Texas that night.  Glad you enjoyed my Oreos.

·         Ruby knew when I was leaving for school.  She missed me a lot and it was hard to leave her again.

·         The noise of the Horseshoe that begins rather early.  Thank you, Bartlett Construction Crew...

High:

·         My grandparents celebrated their 60th anniversary!  :)

·         My last weeks at camp were incredible and fun and so many other adjectives!

·         I got to ride the horses with Dad and without a helmet!  I missed that so much over the summer.

·         Moving to school was actually a great experience.  I remembered my ID this year and the only thing I forgot was a filter for my Brita pitcher!  The girls from upstairs helped me move in and I had a great weekend hanging out with friends from camp and going to Scratch and stuff.

·         4-way-Skype was achieved with my best friends from camp!  :)

·         Pray! Shirt Friday!

·         I got 3 mini-snow globes for my collection!  One from Lu from Yellowstone, one from Kentucky, and one from Daytona Beach, both from Bryan and Sonya.

·         I have an amazing schedule that allows for lots of free time and I love my classes.  October might sound different because that is when I will actually get busy.

·         IT'S MY LAST SEMESTER!  It's crazy and almost hard to believe that next semester I will be living with the Abrahamson's and completing my student teaching!

·         Meeting up with Rose for a 4 Queens adventure, and Aaron on his way back to Texas for a Scratch adventure.  Could my life get any sweeter?  :)

·         Hanging out at Lu's was quite the adventure.  Who knew people decorated their flower beds with a giant T-Rex?!

·         I was able to see one of my campers from the first week of camp!  She was surprised to say the least!  Her brother was in Connor's cabin, so we made a short video to send to him!

·         BASIC started up again, and with that starts small-group Bible Study!  I'm back with Jenny for one last semester and it is going to be awesome!  We started on Tuesday and spent our time getting to know each other and what we will be studying.  We're doing the book/DVD series of The Mingling of Souls.  It's all about relationships and not just the guy/girl kind.

·         God has answered so many prayers this month about so many things.  I'll start writing about some of those and share a new one every Friday as part of the Pray! Shirt Friday movement.  Not only has He answered many, but I can see the beginnings of answers to prayer unfolding. 

August, you have been good!  You always seem to bring a lot of good with the last fun weeks of camp, home, and the start of school.  This is my last August at UNI, and it is wonderful!  God has really been on the move in my life this month and it has been extraordinary to move with him.  I want to continue to feel myself stretching and growing in my faith like I have felt in the past month.  September's looking good too!  :)

"If you're not dead, you're not done."

July 2012

It's already August?  Seriously??  I feel like the 4th of July was yesterday!  It has been one crazy, busy month filled with challenges, fun, laughter, adventures of a lifetime, and lots of lessons.  God is so good all the time and so much this month has proved just that.

Low:

• I have been trying to kick my first cold of the summer for about a week and a half.  I don't like it.
• Staff members are beginning to make their ways back home and I don't want them to leave yet.
• I found that a mouse had gotten into a bag of Skittles that I had forgotten in my suitcase last night.
• Grammy was going through some things medically, and I wasn't at home to be with her which made it hard, but she is doing better!
• I haven't seen Whit in a couple of months and I miss her dearly, but on the upside, she's in Africa spreading the Gospel!

High:

• IT RAINED!!!  :)

• I had an amazing family for Family 1, a great group of girls for Young Teen 2, a chance to recharge during Family 2, a great group of girls for Horsemanship Level 2, and the start to an amazing week as Craft Room Facilitator for Family 3!
• I'm staying in Lakeside for the second time this month and with the sweet relief that it is cooler!  :)
• My parents and Alex visited over a weekend after Young Teen 2 and we went to Cabela's and met up with some other staff for supper and had a great recharge weekend.
• Lookout Point.

• God has really been working in my heart this month on the whole bitterness thing.  I've been realizing that I've been holding a lot of bitterness towards certain people in my life and I've really been working through that this month.  It takes a lot of humble pie eating, but I'll take it.
• I love being able to serve here.  I love being able to interact with so many people and hold wholesome conversations about God, life, and everything under the sun.

This month has been crazy and as my time at VCBC winds down for the summer, I'll hold these memories in my heart for a long, long time.  God is so BIG.  God is so MIGHTY.

June 2012

This post is a little late only because I've been so wonderfully busy and exhausted!  I love camp!  :)

Low:

• I lost my voice playing dodgeball during Senior High week here at camp, but it was sooooo worth it!
• I was taking an online class and it was hard for the first and last week to have stuff due everyday of the week and have spotty internet.  Good thing the end of June brought the end of the class!  I had to do 7 Dippy Dips to celebrate.  :)
• There is only 6 more weeks of camp for me.  

High:

• CAMP.  Seriously, just go back through my blogs for the past few weeks.  There is so much that goes on that I feel I can't list here.  Its just been so wonderful up here!  I get to serve God by way of counseling His children and its just been amazing!
• One of my goals for the summer/forever is to work on Scripture references and fine tuning verse memorization.  It's going alright.  I'm glad I decided to work on it though.
• I've had 2 camp outs and 2 times up to Trail Breakfast.  Stars are a beautiful creation!  
• Weekend outings have been a BLAST even if the ice skating rink was closed last weekend.  Its been so much fun to connect to the staff even more and do uncamp related activities.  I've also frequented The Skinny Dip almost every weekend for chicken strips and cheese balls!

• I found out on the last day of June that I would be spending a week at Lakeside!  I LOVE this cabin! Sure, it's a little hot, but it is so peaceful to be away from the rest of the camp and to pick red raspberries right away in the morning.
• God has just been working here in the Valley and it's amazing to be a part of this ministry here.  There is a lot of unity among the staff and there has been much laughter and encouragement all around.
• I chopped 9 inches of hair off during Senior High week!  It feels wonderful to have short hair again!  The time was right and I don't regret not being able to wait until August to cut it!  :)

I thought I would leave you with some adventurous pictures from the month here at camp!  :)

The wranglers didn't let me ride like this though...

Lu and I really are partners in crime...

I managed to throw my keys on the roof, and then almost hit Alison in the face...

We participated in the first ever VCBC Dance Party!  I had the best dancing shoes...

Its been amazing, June.  July, you've been good so far!  Keep it up!  :)