frère joyeux anniversaire!!

So we ended up not going to blue fish in watters creek :( My brother had chose that for his birthday dinner, but changed to Dave & Busters (@ stonebriar) at the last minute. It was fun to go out to eat for his birthday and seeing him open all his presents. We got him a huge nerf sword that is ridiculous in size! Here are some other presents we got him :) 

He didnt eat the dessert they brought because he didnt like it! Dylan really ate it, but Cade wanted to take a picture to make it look like he ate it. Silly boy! After dinner, Cade and Dad went to play some games while Dylan, Claire, Mom and I went walking around the mall to do some Christmas shopping! It was a great night that ended with a game at quelf! 

This Friday is my interview and I am so excited to experience it! Dont worry, I will keep you updated :) 

bonjour il

Wow. I have not posted in forever. I am truly sorry. I have been so busy with school, volunteering, PA apps, and the holidays. Since my last post-like I just mentioned, I have applied to PA schools, being going strong at school and work, been volunteering regularly at Irving Interfaith Clinic, not liking that this is my last semester in college, and spending time with my family for the holidays.


I applied to 7 PA schools. 4 in TX (UT southwestern, UTMB, UNT, UNTHSCSA). 3 out of state: LMU, USA, and Harding. At this point, I am willing to go to any school that accepts me. I would prefer a school in TX, but I will go wherever. I have 1 interview until the new year: next Friday (Dec 3) at LMU. I am nervous to make the trip alone, but I know it will be ok. Oh, and I bought my first suit for the interviews... I look so professional in it. hehe :D


School and work are quickly coming to an end. I like and dont like it. I dont like that I will [most likely] move home away from all my friends and become a real adult, but also like that I will have a semester off before I start again. I think it will be a nice refresher before I start grad school. 


Volunteering at Irving Interfaith has been such a blessing. I love going and love all the people there. It is going to be sad when I have to leave, but I will never forget them. 


Thanksgiving/Black Friday have come and gone which means CHRISTMAS is around the corner! Christmas is probably my most favorite season of the whole year. I feel like everyone is nice to everyone because its a season of giving :) As I type, Christmas decorations are being put up in my house and cakes are being baked (for my brothers 9th birthday!) 

Outside of my life, THE RANGERS WENT  TO THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!! 

GO RANGERS!!!!!! Even though they lost I am super proud of them! 

My family's new favorites: watters creek, bluefish sushi, and quelf. we are going there tonight :) I will update you on our night tomorrow. Quelf is a new game that we found at target last night. It is a super fun and hilarious game that everyone should play! Ask me for more info about the game :) 

note: I started this post like 4 weeks before it was actually posted. 

Les Derniers Jours

These are the last few days of summer and as I sit back and think about it, I realize how FAST it went by. I have started to notice that as you get older, time goes by faster and faster--like a slippery slope. I cant believe that its already time for me to start my last semester of my undergraduate degree :'( I have ordered my books, arranged my schedule, and gotten on a school sleep schedule... All that needs to happen is to start going to classes. 


To update you, I will start volunteering at Irving Interfaith Clinic this week. I am excited to see how God uses me there and his purpose for connecting me with them. I am also applying this week to Charlton Methodist Hospital to volunteer there also. I cant wait to get involved and get some experience under my belt. With volunteering starting and the year coming to a close, CASPA deadlines are arriving very quickly. I have given myself the mental deadline of September 18 to make sure that I get all required documents and things in line so I can make sure I submit everything by the deadline. This being said, it is very likely I will be taking the GRE on Sept 4. YIKES! I am kinda nervous about the test, but I think it wont be as bad as I think. I luckily have been able to borrow a study guide from work so I can get some practice in before I take it. 


Today ended my experience with summer tutoring. I was asked by a former IEP student to tutor his child and his friend during the whole summer while the friend was visiting. I tutored 4 days a week at their apartment and the experience was one like no other. It was my first time to tutor English to anyone under the age of 18. In the beginning it was very difficult to manage my control issues, but I was able to loosen up as time went on. The visiting child will return to Korea tomorrow and I hope he had a great summer with me as his "teacher"! 


Vacation was great and I am so glad our family was able to get away a little for the summer and be near the ocean. It was filled with seafood, sun, sand, and sleep :) It was a very restful time. The best memory would be going to the Kemah boardwalk: spending the day on carnival rides and the night seeing live music! The worst memory would be the burn I got from using expired sunscreen on the SECOND day--that didnt make the rest of the trip as enjoyable, but it was still great! 

My new favorite quote: Je t'aime plus qu'hier moins que demain. (Translation: I love you more than yesterday, less than tomorrow)


Goodnight :) 

la vie depuis la dernière fois

I have began mass efforts to find somewhere to volunteer or shadow. I again, have wasted most of a summer toying around with the idea and not doing anything! I have contacted Irving Interfaith Clinic, Charlton Methodist Hospital, and USMD Hospital in Arlington. I was going to shadow a PA from back home but since I have waited so long, I feel it is pointless considering it will be August before I get back and school will be starting soon! I am going to try to find one around this GP/Arlington area that I can try to shadow. I talked with the Director of Irving Interfaith Clinic today and I am excited now to start! I can start applying in August to volunteer at Charlton, and I am still waiting to hear back from USMD. I have left USMD a voicemail and sent an email. Hopefully they will contact me soon! I am excited to get plugged in somewhere and get things rolling. 


This Saturday my family, grandparents, Dylan, and I are going to a Rascal Flatts concert at Dr. Pepper Park in Frisco. I think it will be fun and we have great seats--floor level! It marks the beginning of my week long vacation at the beach. The day after the concert, my family is going to Galveston for vacation :) It is the closest we can get to Cozumel without actually going there and with our budget. I am excited to relax and finish my book, Eat Pray Love, that I mentioned last post! It is a great book and I cant wait to see the movie! 


I have been researching different ways to have loan forgiveness. I have discovered many options: Americorps, VISTA, Teach for America, and other teaching opportunities. I have also looked at ways to have PA school paid for. The US Department of Health offers scholarships to people who sign a contract to work for each year that aid is given! It is a great idea and they will reward up to $25,000 a YEAR! That is a crazy amount! That would cover PA school for sure! They also pay for all fees AND given $1300 monthly stipends for living expenses! I am so tempted to do this, but it almost seems too good to be true... should I trust it? hmmm...




Current Song: Marry Me, Train---Fabulous :)


Until next time..... revoir les amis

Eat Pray Love

I am starting a new book today. "Eat Pray Love." I am excited to read the book because the previews for the movie look VERY good! It is a true story about a woman and her journey to explore three areas of her life: pleasure, devotion, and the "balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence." I am in the first book about her travels in Italy! It makes me think of my lovely best friend Hayleah. She got to not only experience the captivating country, but she also got to do mission work there! She longs to go back! 


I can not believe today is the first day of July! It is crazy how fast June went bye. The time is getting closer and closer to the beginning of my last semester in undergrad and I am quite terrified. I am both excited and scared because of the same reason: new phase in life! Yesterday I talked with Kassidy and she calmed my nerves about PA down, so I am more fired up about the PA school application process. I plan on applying sometime around September. Most applications for Texas are due October 1 and I need to allow enough time for my CASPA to process. I am interested in maybe applying out-of-state somewhere up in the northeast! I love to entertain the thought of living in a new exciting city, but I think the reality of it would not set so well with me. I am still looking however! Also, I am on the hunt for eligible positions to volunteer in the medical field to get good experience! 


July means birthdays! Like I said in the last post this month involves my darling boyfriend and one of my best friends, Italo! I have a special night planned for Dylan, and I am excited for our time together!  I gave Italo's small present and card to his brother today because he is going to Brazil soon and will deliver it for me :D 


So as I am writing this, I had to give me some background noise from Pandora! AND GUESS WHAT?!?!?! Pandora is ALREADY playing Christmas music! I may or may not be listening to it already! Dont judge! Hayleah told me it is "Christmas in July." 


well, I am going to continue ready my new favorite book! Hayleah just got home and I need to update her of how amazing it is and how she needs to read it ;)    'night

movies, movies, and life things

why cant life be like the movies sometimes....

i am watching alot of movies lately. i bought two movies at target today: remember me and valentines day! both are great movies! i had never seen remember me, but it was on sale at target, so it was a must! needless to say, it was great! i will definitely watch it multiple times :) let me just say the ending was not expected at ALL! it totally caught me off guard, and i can normally figure out movies. Valentines day, i saw in the theatre, and it was definitely not one that i guessed either!

in honor of the eclipse premiere tomorrow, we are watching the twilight movies. we just love them so so so so much! they are great. hayleah and i were thinking of how dumb some of the things are in the first movie, but we still love it anyways! hehe :D

on the life side of things, june is coming to a close, and i still have yet to shadow a PA! i am getting scared of what this will cause life, but i am just scared to call and ask. it is a pride thing i am going to have to swallow and get over. hopefully i am meeting with a friend to chat PA-ly things this week though to get some encouragement.

life, also- having the world cup on TV and seeing brazilian fans and the brazilian team makes me miss my dear friend Italo! each time i talk to him on facebook, i miss him even more! his birthday is coming up and i shall send him some love from katie/texas!!

life, also also- speaking of birthdays coming up: my wonderful boyfriend's birthday is coming up! he will be the big 24. he is becoming an old geezer. geez! i have a plan to celebrate and i know he will like it! it will be a fun night doing what he likes to do! i just love him so much! also, his birthday also brings up the anniversary of my heart surgery. july 14, 2010 will be the 4th anniversary of my heart surgery! yay for hearts!!!

welp-brain is shutting offfff......must sleep to be rested for ecclliippppseeeeee...

GA Camp

This past week I went to GA camp.  The theme was LIVE LOVE! It was a very refreshing experience for me and my faith! I taught a bible study again this year and was blessed by all the girls in my class. We finally got to stay in the WMU this year, so the YAYA's were excited.


I wanted to share 4 of the experiences from camp that I had never experienced before. 
1. It was my first time to experience a foot washing. The pastor had each church and the YAYA group wash each others  feet. It was a great time to see each girl take it so seriously and reverently. Our inspiration: John 13 :)
2. It was my first time to experience the desire to read scripture all day long. I have never had a strong desire to read scripture because it has always been kinda a "task" to get done. God worked in my heart that week and gave me the desire to intensively read scripture.
3. It was my first time to experience the urgency to share the gospel. This feeling was straight from God himself and it was amazing to feel him moving! I can not share much about this due to privacy of those involved, but if you have any questions, ask me-please! It was one of the greatest feelings ever because I knew I was completely under Gods direction! 
4. It was my first time to experience a sermon that involved action to portray Christ's sacrifice for us. The pastor bought a small gift for everyone in the camp. He said somebody had to make a sacrifice/pay for the gift and he wanted to do it for us. He did a push-up for every person in the camp-225 push-ups DURING the worship service! He gave girls the opportunity to turn down the gift, but he still did push-ups for them to show that Christ died for everyone, even if they dont accept his gift of salvation! 


Overall, as you can tell, it was a great week at camp. It was the best GA camp that I have ever been to! 


Scripture: Philippians 4:4-7
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Sundeenight

im sitting in the quiet library at the moment :) trying to study but im getting distracted with music, people, and the view. i can see for mmmmiiilllllesssssssss. . .the world seems so calm from this spot.

this upcoming week will be filled with great joy! it is the end to microbiology, english, and art! micro killed me this semester, definitely the worst class of my college career, next to calculus ;) im am very ecstatic they are over, but sad because it means i only have 1 more semester left. but- one step at a time. i just need to worry about what im going to do today! 


current tunage: joshua radin, id rather be with you.


Sitting here, on this lonely dock 
Watch the rain play on the ocean top 
All the things I feel I need to say 
I can't explain in any other way 

I need to be bold 
Need to jump in the cold water 
Need to grow older with a girl like you 
Finally see you are naturally 
The one to make it so easy 
When you show me the truth 
Yeah, I'd rather be with you 
Say you want the same thing too 

Now here's the sun, come to dry the rain 
Warm my shoulders and relieve my pain 
You're the one thing that I'm missing here 
With you beside me I no longer fear 

I need to be bold 
Need to jump in the cold water 
Need to grow older with a girl like you 
Finally see you are naturally 
The one to make it so easy 
When you show me the truth 
Yeah, I'd rather be with you 
Say you want the same thing too 

I could have saved so much time for us 
Had I seen the way to get to where I am today 
You waited on me for so long 
So now, listen to me say: 

I need to be bold 
Need to jump in the cold water 
Need to grow older with a girl like you 
Finally see you are naturally 
The one to make it so easy 
When you show me the truth 
Yeah, I'd rather be with you 
Say you want the same thing too 
Say you feel the way I do


side note: colbie calliat makes my day SO SO better. sometimes i wish i could just sit around all day long and listen to her, while doing nothing :)

see ya on the flipflop, later :-|

phew.

wow wee. 


i have not blogged in forever. 


its getting to crunchtime in this household. ;) we have picked up a new obssession: pinkberry. very addicting- (mature audiences only). with summer on its way, i have to get things situated for PA school, working, and having fun with my girls!! im excited for a summer in the apt with the roomies. 


i am ready to start blogging more over the summer! 


see you blog.. hopefully not as long as this last break ;) i promise. 

Day 1 of 10SP

ALERT: katie just planted 3 trees in cameroon to help save the planet. hayleah planted 3 trees in cameroon. brandi planted 1 tree in lake tahoe and 1 tree in guatamala to help save the planet. thank you to chegg for helping us plant trees to help save the environment and saving us money on books :) we love you. 

**gunshot** let the race begin! the semester is underway and i cant believe that i am in my 6th semester of college. i feel like high school graduation was last year. 

current song: reign in us, starfield. sah-weet. 

I had two classes today, cell bio and english... yay for the first, barf on the second. i am dreading english already and i have only been once. i DO NOT like english one bit, esp the reading parts. i think i should have more of an appreciation for it, but its just not there for me. maybe its cause, in english, there is gray areas, and science/math there is less gray and more black/white. i like black/white worlds where there is a right or wrong answer. but then again, i feel like there is some gray areas in my life that i dont want judged to black/white standards. so gray, i welcome you.

first things first, had a quiz in cell bio! ON THE FIRST DAY! hopefully he wont count it :-/ (cause it was definitely bombed). english was ok, the professor seems very nice and understanding. im hoping she will be able to work with me when i struggle with interpreting these crazy hard poems, stories, and all the other crap literature. i think it will be out of my comfort zone for academics, but i think it will be a good semester in english. 

church on sunday was great. brandi went with hayleah and i, and from what i can tell, she liked it. "farmer phil" (who is from cali, like brandi---ironic, yes!) talked about the matt 13 passage of the different soil types. he challenged us to examine the condition of our own soil and our receptivity to the word of god and christ. out of the 3 soils, i feel like i am soil 3. i have a distracted heart that is caught up in idols of this world and therefore my faith and witness is weakened. to help me move to soil 4 (whole heartedly serving christ), "farmer phil" encouraged us to be honest with ourselves and god and repent. i am know striving to be real and honest with god this semester. pray for me in this journey. 

this next couple of weekends should be fun. i am turning 21 and am going to go wild and crazy- haha, lol. not really. i am going to eat with my parents, and probably my friends, and going to trail dust with some friends for a night of dancing and fellowship :) i cant wait

Move In Day

writing again, so soon. its a new thing for me. bear with me.

current song: daughters (acoustic live), john mayer.

yesterday i helped my new roommate brandi move in. she drove all the way from california- 1100 miles. whew! when she got here her dad, her, and i unloaded all of her stuff and took a stroll around campus. her dad had never seen it, so we showed him around. he seemed to like it! it is very small compared to her first school (dbu, 5000. davis, 30000)

after we finished giving a tour, we went to her cousins house in rockwall. we chilled on the couch watching snakes on a plane (very scary to me, i screamed more than once). i also learned a new term that is kinda like mongoloid  ;) <-- thats for you brandi :)

we went out to cici's for lunch- brandi's first time! i think she liked it. but then again, who doesnt like pizza. its kinda universally like from every place...i think? after we got back from lunch, her cousin, her and i talked about the upcoming semester, and many more things to do with life. it was fun :D

around 5:30 we left to drop her dad off at his hotel before we headed back to the apt. we were able to find the hotel and said goodbyes. there were tears- lots. even from me :'( it was a teary moment. her car fogged up- ok, not that much, but there were alot.

we finally made it back to campus and decided to tackle her unpacking. it went surprisingly very easy and smooth. she was able to get everything in place and she realized she brought alot less clothes than she thought. afterwards there was a semi-long list of stuff she needed to make herself more at home! big bonus- she brought cookbooks, and JULIE AND JULIA! i was so happy.

after she was all unpacked, amanda, megan, and brandi decided they wanted to jump into the freezing pool! they were trying to get katie and i to join in, but it was not happening. i was the camerawoman instead. they jumped in and jumped out just as fast. brandi was crazy fast. she was already out by the time amanda and megan were up from the water. they decided to ALL get in a hot shower when they came back into the apt. it was a fun and crazy night..

we are going to church tonight again. im so excited :) oh- and the COWBOYS play today! yay! go cowboys!

until later..... au revoir

bonjour, bonjour

Im back! after much busyness procrastination, I have come back to let you all know what has been going on in the past weeks. I have to confess, I dont write, because I feel each post has to be long and involve drawn out thought. But I have realized, they dont- so I vow to try my best to blog each day about what impacted me most from the day.

To follow up from the french paragraph from the last post: its in french- the point was for you to translate it! I want to learn French, so I am translating some of my post into french for fun ;)

J'ai découvert des classes de langue française à DBU ! Je suis excité pour leur prendre mes semestres restants à DBU ! En outre, je vais obtenir la pierre de Rosetta (niveau 1-3) en français bientôt de mon ami merveilleux Hayleah ! Je biseaute l'attente pour apprendre !

Current song: The Way I Am, Ingrid Michaelson! 

Since I last wrote, I've experienced New Years, moving back to school to start working, and started going to a new church! 

New Years did not go as planned in the last blogpost. There were some changes to the party and we decided to go to the Youth Lock In at Trinity Baptist Church to ring in the New Year. It was fun. I was able to be on the other side of the annual Sardines game. I LOVE the game sardines, its pretty much amazing.

I moved back to school January sixth to start back at work. I work in the international office at DBU and love it! I love working with international students and trying to make their time at DBU fun and valuable. It a great opportunity to show Christs love to those from other cultures. My work schedule has not been the greatest, only because I am not used to it. This past week, I worked full time hours (40 hours). Some people think that is easy, smeasy, but for a girl who is definitely not used to getting up at 7 in the morning everyday, its killer. :) I have been exhausted from it, but its all worth it! Since I have been back at school, I have spent time with my wonderful roomies and Brandon and Julie. They have an awesome new dinner nook area which is too cute! I have also been awaiting the arrival of my other roomie from Cali, Brandi. I am so glad she had to drive, and not me- I would have pulled all my hair out DRIVING from Cali to Texas. Also, since being back at school, I have gone cookbook shopping. Its a rarity for me, since I hardly cook. But my roommates and I are inspired to cook more together this semester. We are going to try to cook real dinners and see how it turns out... it might even be cheaper- a huge PLUS!!

I have had a passion to make a point to deepen my relationship with Christ this semester. One way I have decided to live for Christ everyday is to start making my prayer, bible reading, and church time an everyday occurance. It is crazy to me how I kinda fell off the church map this past year and lost my daily time with Christ. So, I have decided to get involved in a church around here. Hayleah and I have started going to Fellowship Bible Church, Dallas. They have a contemporary service on Sunday nights that is geared towards college students called Fellowship Metro. We go to that and love it! We look forward to going every Sunday now. The Worship leader there is Jeff Johnson: he is great- you should check him out on iTunes. We have also decided we want have daily prayer and bible studies with/for each other. Im excited to see where this semester will end up!

AMOUR xoxoxo

As promised here are Christmas Photos :)