Packing

Well, I've spent the past week and a half slowly unpacking from camp life, and repacking for school life.  Back to the Arborshire on Monday.  I can't believe it's here so fast, though technically, the last time I moved in this late on move-in week was my Freshmen year.  The past two years have featured an early move in so that I could hang out with friends help the incoming Freshmen move into their new abodes.  It's almost poetic how many similarities there are this year with my Freshmen year.  I'm finding myself concerned as I move back for the final time.  Soon, I will be starting a new adventure, and I have mixed feelings on the entire idea.  I have loved school, though the pressure mixed with this upcoming year has me on pins and needles, and the thought of being done is exciting—but still scary!  I'm also not in love with the idea of leaving home—more than I have been since my first year.  While I would have to find more things to occupy myself if I were to stay home much longer, I love being here with my family and the idea of leaving has left me a little irritated.  Being an hour and a half away from the boyfriend doesn't help either :(

I mean, really, how could I be anxious to leave these lovely people?!

But I am going to be living in a house this year, and with some really awesome girls!  We already have a lot to be excited about as one of the girls is engaged, and we expect another to be in a short time :)  How fun it will be to spend this time with them—to be able to enjoy their company and help them get ready before they start their next adventure.
It will be good, it really will.
I am excited.  Just a little nervous.  A little extra prayerful.

He's a Wit

I spent quite a bit of Tuesday evening in deep thought.  I really have been blessed in so many ways, but there is always a time when the reality of money (or lack-thereof) will cause me to muse—and not necessarily in a good way.  The frustrating part is when I have nothing to do in order to earn money, and have made endeavors to continue making money—like earlier this week for instance.  I had contacted all of my clients for my while-not-at-camp summer jobs, and did not get a single bite.  Nothing.
So after talking it over with mom, I took the college loans, the upcoming bills and all other fast approaching expenses and I told on them.  Yes, I told God on them—it's His battle to fight, not mine.  I spent that evening in prayer over the high priced demands on my life, and soon felt better about it.

The next morning (Wednesday) I checked my Arborshire Email to find some unread message—holding my breath, I secretly hopped that they were from my clients, but alas, they were not.  In fact, they were all from the school.
Bummer.
So I skimmed through the weekly announcements, few of which applied to me now that I am not on campus and clicked through other writings—only to stumble upon an Email from the Student Development office.  Oh, how nice.
I had received an unexpected grant for $1000!!!  "Please reply if you would like to accept."  Is this a trick question...?  Umm, yes, I would love to accept the grant!
I had filled out an application for the grant in April and had completely forgotten about it—I had no expectation of getting it, so after I wrote the essays and sent it in, in completely slipped my mind.

Yes God, you are very funny.  Letting me sit and think and think, just waiting for me to hand it over lock, stock and barrel before telling me about this.  So funny ;]

Sleeping?

This place is getting crazy!  Only about 4.5 more weeks until the end of the semester! AH—so much to do!
There are, however, some entertaining side effects to the added stress in our lives.  A few weeks ago Mandie was with us again for a few nights and she instructed her students on proper public speaking—all while sleeping peacefully in her bed!
Sleep is less peaceful for those with stress—and when your father has the habit of sleep talking / walking when he is worried, then you're in for some really entertaining events!
My poor roommates... I have always giggled in my sleep—appariently I do so almost every night—but I have begun to talk quite a bit this past year or so (or maybe they are just now hearing me).  Last semester I cheerfully informed my roommates that "My kids are from Nebraska".
??
And the other night I gleefully asked: "Hi! Is there room for me?"
I'm not sure where I was going, but apparently I was pretty excited.  According to the roommates, I am always very excited and happy when I am sleeping—I guess that's better than being cranky :)

September 27, 2010

Today has been very strange in the Arborshire. Some thoughts of the day included:

"I wish I was one of the fairies from Sleeping Beauty. Then I would be able to make the bed by using my wand!"

"You know it's a dull day when you get excited about using new soap"

"Don't you hate it when you can only breath out of one nostril?"

"I don't even have time to die!!"

"I do dishes when I don't feel like doing homework" (dirty dishes don't last long in our room...)

Also, the fire alarm went off and I was in my pajamas... and it was raining outside! haha, oh well, at least this year I wasn't in the shower!

Oh Monday, how thankful I am that you are almost over...

Porchfest — 2010

Porchfest:
Yet another reason to love the school I attend :)
Hopefully you'll be able to see the video—it's SO funny (click on 'Porchfest' at beginning of post)

Puppy Trump Card

Today in the lobby I noticed that there was yet another single male guitar player, singing away in the middle of the building as though he had no other care in the world. This is not an unusual occurrence at Spring Arbor, and these (rather smart) young men are almost always surrounded by single residents of our all girls dorm wearing "I heart Jesus" t-shirts and a dreamy haze over their eyes.
Unlike the past performers however, this individual was relatively alone and did not have much hope of being joined later. It had nothing to do with talent—from what I heard, he was quite good—but unfortunately for this poor individual, there was another heart throb in the building. A puppy. This puppy held the trump card against all other distractions and many girls from around the building were seen racing to the RD's room in hopes of having a chance to hold it.

Puppy: 1
Guitar Man: 0

Sorry buddy, try again another day—competition is a little steep this time around

The Domino Effect—Nap Edition

Mandie and Becky came into my room and interrupted my accidental nap so that we could go to dinner. As we waited for Emily to come back from class, I was joined on the couch and we experienced the domino effect and another short nap (about 2 minutes) until Emily came in and took a photo of us.

I love my friends :)

Weekend with the Girls

I am currently sitting with my best friends in Mandie's basement (she counts as one of my best friends in case it wasn't obvious). Tomorrow the 4 of us are going to see Beauty and the Beast the Musical! We bought the tickets in December and have been so excited ever since! I have been truly geeked! Every time the movie is mentioned or a song is played (from the movie of course) I get super excited—and now it's finally TIME! Well... tomorrow it will be time :)

The car ride here was crazy. It has been snowing for ages, heavy and wet, making the roads hazardous. Needless to say, there was a lot of silent prayer being lifted by yours truly. But it was great just knowing that even if we did get into an accident, we would be going somewhere SO MUCH better! We are all completely in love with our Savior and it was just comforting to know that if one of us died we wouldn't have to wonder.

That being said, I am also glad that we made it safe! I am just so thankful for the friends I have! High school was... long and, well... hard! I never would have guessed that I would be spending a weekend with 1 great friend, let alone 3! God really answered all of the prayers that I sobbed all through high school.

So thankful :)

So very, very, very thankful!

ps. the way Becky "bowls" on the Wii is the funniest thing I have ever seen!

Chinese Food and Banshees

Well, I have now successfully completed my 3rd day of the new semester.

And I am still alive! haha, of course it is not very hard yet—but adjusting to the new schedule is a little crazy as well as listening to all of the crazy-hard assignments that the professors continually threaten us will is enough to throw anyone into a nervous break down. But I am now done with classes for the day with only homework to occupy my thoughts before non-school related activities finally draw me away from my newly attained books.

So with an intimidating to-do list and a fresh mind, I immediately sat down to write a new post. Rather typical I am afraid to say...

But it has been an interesting past 24. Starting with a visit from my dear mom and sister :) We always have a blast when we get together, talking and laughing, and this time was no exception! We truly out did ourselves and I am sure everyone in Pizza Hut was annoyed with the sounds of our obnoxious laughter (often compared to a banshee).

We returned with just enough time for me to get ready for some special visitors. A small group of students from CHINA won a drama competition and as part of their reward, they get to spend 5 days here in Arborshire. Emily and I were asked to host them in our room, letting them use our beds and guiding them through the dorm life. We agreed to do it and are now living on the futon for about a week.

Emily agreed not to kick me as long as I did not 'wet the bed'. Thankfully we are not in the habit of doing either :)

Our girls are named (American names) "Gloria" and "Mia". They are both beautiful, very sweet, about 16 years old and can hardly speak English! It is truly crazy. They can speak enough so that we can usually understand what they are saying after a few minutes, but once in a while there are some crazy mix-ups. After struggling to say my name for about half an hour, we decided that I was to be called "Trina".

It's really cute to hear them read English—in fact I have a poem on my board that they were reading, but unfortunately it is a play on words so they didn't understand it! I had to explain that 'alonio' = 'alone', but that it was changed to rhyme with 'Antonio' just like half the words in the poem.

Oh goodness.

This morning was also a little strange—getting ready in our little room with 3 awake and 1 asleep is rough, especially when the only other person who speaks must English is the one who is still in bed! We eventually got out the door and I sprinted to class after making sure they got to their meeting place without any trouble.

Then after Chapel I was mixed up and almost went all the way to one of my Tuesday/Thursday classes! I remembered just in time, and turning around I walked back to the building I had already passed and into room SMC 110. I'm brilliant.

False.

Well, now I should get back to that homework I have been putting off... Hopefully another post will be up shortly!

Floor Worship

I was the SLA (Spiritual Life Advisor) on my floor for the past month. It has been a lot of fun, and a great opportunity to share my love for God with the girls I live with. For a bible study, we chose to go a more relaxing way that didn't include too much brain power for J-Term (one class, but condensed into 3 weeks!). So we repeated a successful bible study idea from last year. Armed with poster board and paints, we gathered together to worship our Lord through art :)

It was a great time to relax and just worship with our hands! We had worship music playing and painted for about 2 hours. Here are some of the pieces that we made for our Lord :)

My latest addiction:

A wonderful sister (in Christ) informed me of this website. I checked it out and it is now bookmarked and explored regularly :) It's an online magazine by Leslie Ludy and it's a great place to explore articles, look at other missions, dig deeper in the Word, and there are some great Q&A sections too. And to top it off, their heading features some pretty awesome typography :)

Check it out if you get the chance!

Christmas Break '09

Another semester has come and gone.  Ending with a bang and a sigh of relief.  I was not sure that I would make it about two weeks ago, first with the art show, then final projects and finally exams breeding panic in the pit of my stomach.

The art show ended well, it was a very good show I believe the judges did a good job picking the artwork (with a few exceptions).  I only entered only 3 pieces in this semester as opposed to the usual 4—unfortunately this was just not the greatest 'show' semester for me personally, but rather a growing semester because I was exploring brand new media.  I entered my 'Oxymoron' piece, 'Cappuccino to Go' logo, and my 'Stair' photo.  Both of my typography pieces made it in, but my photo did not... that was a little disappointing, and I took my first trip down the "walk of shame"—which is what we affectionately call the walk to the 2D room right after the show, because everyone knows that means at at least one of your pieces didn't make it in.

I wasn't completely heart broken, I did not have much confidence in my photo and so few photos were chosen this time around that I was not surprised.  But it would not have killed me to have all my pieces make it.

Now I'm home at last!  I have been much better about homesickness this year—but the last 2 weeks or so were difficult.  I was ready for family, rest, and Christmas! Although rest was not something I found right off the bat—my first night I had a 'college age' party, the next morning (Saturday) I spent the day shopping and came back just in time to babysit for the rest of the night.  I returned from that just in time to shower before passing out and going to church the next morning.  Still going strong, after a long lunch with friends mom and I went shopping again and finished up for my siblings before I went back to the church to chaperone the youth Christmas party with Evan and Sarah (photo).  Monday was a much needed lazy day!

Hopefully I will get a chance to update all of the artwork that I've done over the past week or so, but I do not have access to all of the files while I am at home...

Dear Blog...

I am dying to update you.  Really, I am.  Unfortunately, the pressures and demands of college life are holding me back and you will not be touched again until Thursday afternoon—if there is time to be found at that point.

I am truely sorry—and I promise to spend oodles of time updating and providing attention as soon as the final exams and projects of 2009 are non-existent.

Farewell for now,

Me

During My Free Moments...

...I like to work on small graphics—usually fun photo edits, or logos (the leaf symbol for example).  Which makes me feel a little better when I doubt my future—you know you'll succeed when you spend your free time doing something similar to what you've done all day!  Here's a photo edit that I did today in between writing a paper and doing photography.

It was fun, but it's nothing very interesting—just thought I should be adding the small things that I do for myself as well as the work that I try to pump out for my classes.

Fall '09 — over half way though!

Half an hour until Em-o and I go to pick up the two high school seniors that will be spending the night with us.  Pondering over the night ahead and sick of doing homework: A new post is born!

I can hardly believe that this semester is over half way complete!  It it still only the beginning in my mind.  At the same time, I feel like I never left this place—as though I've been here since mom and dad dropped me off on that horrid move-in day.  I lot has changed this year, my group of close friends has brightened in many corners, and dimmed in a few others.  But I am thankful for each area of growth—it has been an insightful semester.

The classes are certainly harder, especially the art classes (who knew that the upper level classes would be more difficult?).  But I am learning a lot this semester, exploring areas of my mind—creatively—that have not been worked in a long time.  It has been a struggle, and there has been—and will be—frustration, but I love what I am succeeding in! The fight makes it that much more rewarding in the end.

The room situation is also much better this year.  I get to room with my best friend and I love it!  Our room has been full of laughs, tears, venting and companionable silence(rarely, but it does happen once in a while).  I have also had the joy of seeing our home-away-from-home turn into a hang-out for our friends.  The futon has a guest or two on it constantly, and we are often forced to sit on the floor too because there is not enough space at the desks and futon (a GREAT problem to have!!)

It has been exciting, and I am almost afraid for it to end!  I don't even mind the homework—it's the due dates that are the poison to all things right and beautiful! haha  But I truly will be sorry for this semester to pass away.

OH!  It is time to pick up our nervous guests!  Hopefully we will be able to show them a good time and they will end up coming next year.  I'm sure it will be a blast :)

Continued prayers are appreciated!  The stress has only begun, and as the art show begins to peak around the corner, I can feel my heart start to pound!  It's going to be a bumpy ride, but the thrill is half the fun...

Out in the Fields with God

The little cares that fretted me,

I lost them yesterday,

Among the fields, above the sea,

Among the winds at play;

Among the lowing of the herds,

The rustling of the trees;

Among the singing of the birds,

The humming of the bees.

The foolish fears of what may happen,

I cast them all away,

Among the clover-scented grass,

Among the new-mown hay;

Among the rustling of the corn,

Where drowsy poppies nod,

Where ill thoughts die and good are born—

Out in the fields with God.

—Elizabeth Bennett Browning

My new favorite poem - I've been singing it to myself for the past few days as I walk across campus (not a good idea...)

Trunk-r-Treat

Some of the members of our floor went to Trunk-r-Treat dressed up as 'Apples to Apples' cards! We picked that theme about a year ago, didn't know that we would actually DO IT! haha, but it was a lot of fun!

It was super cold outside, so we all got in a line and started dancing to whatever music came on the radio (there were about 10 of us total).

It was a lot of fun, the kids begged for candy and laughed at our dancing, while the parents laughed at our cards!

Next year we plan on being Eskimos—we want to be WARM next time!

Dear Homework,

Dear Homework,

If you died, I cannot say that I would mourn your loss at all -- even considering all the time we've spent together.

In fact, I would honestly say that you got your just reward. Keeping me from the social aspects of college life, sleep and sanity has made you a nuisance and I no longer enjoy your company--I do not believe I ever did.

I am sorry that things have to be this way, but unless you change your nature this is just how life will continue between us,

Katrina

19 Going On 12

Hair cut and braces removed (finally!)

My braces came off last week and that was a relief--my teeth have looked pretty much the same since november and I wasn't about to go back to school with them on if I could get away with it. I did end up finding a way and now they're off! At last, my days of being mistaken for a 12 year old were over!

Or so I though.

But then I decided to get my hair cut. The ends were not very happy with me and it just needed to be done. So I told Tina, my hairstylist, that I wanted it shorter and, well, she gave me what I asked for! It's shoulder length, something I have not tackled since 4th grade when I looked like a huge triangle! We'll see how it goes, the way she dried it makes the ends flip out so I look like a kindergartner--all I need is a doll, jumper and matching headband to complete the look.

Thus I made the unfortunate return to middle school, and will doubtless be mistaken for a 12 year old once again.

And the above photo is not what my hair looks like right now, but that is me back when I was about 2.5 years old =)

Hi. I'm New and Clueless

My tale commences before work, when I was politely informing my mother that I was not looking forward to working the register on Saturday.  AT ALL. Because I have had this awful feeling that my manager is going to throw me in front of the horrid foreign object and say: "if you mess up, you're FIRED!" But thankfully I don't have to worry about that until Saturday, right?

Wrongo!

I walked in today and my manager calmly enlightens me on my unexpected, and inevitable doom. Basically a CVS down the road was short a cashier and because the other members of our store did not want to go, I was obliged to rescue the sister store with my lack of experience. I was already brainstorming my final words to the living when he assured me that he was not going to send me off until I had practiced the register.  I had 1 hour to perfect the alien machine before driving to the #1 store in our area, hoping to provide some sort of "help".

If only I had been granted the promised hour!!! After about 30 minutes, my manager returned and informed me that it was time for me to leave (WHAT???).  I’m pretty sure that I had an uncontrollable twitch by this time, however I was not about to say “no” to my new boss.
So after receiving the location of my final resting place, I headed toward my car. As soon as I start the car--after unlocking it and buckling up of course--I call my mom in a panic, and to give her my last testament.

THANKFULLY!  Right as I was pulling out of the parking lot, my manager called my cell phone (that I was trying to call my mom with) and shows mercy on me.  The manager at the #1 store had found a replacement and I was off the hook!  I pulled a hasty U-turn and almost flew back into my store.  After that I was able to successfully avoid the cash register--that is, until tomorrow...

ps.

The picture is from my first month at the Arborshire.  I was avoiding homework and eating chocolate--the usual.  Unfortunately, as an art student I am not physically able to eat M&Ms like a normal human being--but it's more fun the way I do it!