Last day of CLASS!!!

I cannot believe that this time of year is here again! I am finding myself just leaving my last class of my fourth fall semester of college. It may be my last fall semester where I am actually sitting in class... such a crazy thought. Well, this is what this blog is about- thoughts, so let me share a few with you as I end this semester, and right before I jump in to the crazy pool known as finals!

* The church is true, and will bring happiness to your life. This semester has been like a roller coaster. I have really been through the highs and the lows of everything. It has been very stressful and I have found some of the most amazing solace this semester. The Lord knows what you are going through and will put people, classes and events in your life so that you cannot deny that he is with you cheering you on 100%.

* I might be addicted to work, but this semester I have looked forward to every break that I can find! haha, I still do love to work, and I LOVE the people that I work with, they are amazing girls, who are such great friends.

* I have THE BEST WARD Ever!!! I know that you might think student wards are cheesy, etc. But Seriously, I have the most amazing ward ever. Everyone is so spiritually in tune, and I leave every Sunday feeling so edified and happy. I feel like we are all really good friends, and I am amazed at how everyone feels included, and everyone is loved. It is seriously so awesome. Go BYU 38th!

{the Searle-Bingham Family- My cute FHE group}

Overall, I feel like this semester has been a learning semester, and I really feel like I know who I am so much more than I ever have before. I am excited to see what the future holds, with graduation looming in the near distance, and friendships being made every day.

I love life.

Kates

Back to the Blog! Where has the time gone?

Hi Everyone!

Sorry it has been FOREVER since my last post! I have been completely consumed with school, work, work, and trying to have a social life :)

Can you even believe that Thanksgiving is over already!? This year has definitely flown by. Oh yeah and there are 14 days left until finals... 14! So the last leg

of the journey is now in full swing. I guess it is true that life speeds up the older you get.

So, what have I been up to the last month/ Fall Season?

Quite a bit:

1. Carl Bloch: the Masters hand opened a few weeks

ago at the MOA and it has been completely insane. It is a magnificent art exhibit. I would like to personally invite everyone to come and view these amazing paintings- and have a wonderful testimony building experience.

http://moa.byu.edu/index.php?id=1809

Visit the site above.

So I am officially missing Fall. This is the view from my office window, and a few weeks ago, it was so amazingly beautiful. I decided that I had to take

my camera to school and document the beauty that is all around me. I love fall. {okay, but winter clothes are great too :) }

Also this semester, I attended a photography lecture about Image Anthropology(where you take pictures of the seemingly normal day to day things), a

nd I decided that I want to document my life like this. So, I am starting out with my apartment, so that in 30 years from now when people look back, they can see that their life is not so different from what it used to be.

Also, I have been able to craft a bit this semester- it has really been so fun to think of random things to create this semester! Unfortunately I haven't taken pictures of everything, but the things that I do have, I will post for sure! Watch for the next post all about the crafty things I have made :)

So stay tuned! I promise to blog more than I have lately!

-Kaitie

Am I Still Alive?!

Hello All!

Wow. All I can say is that mid terms are. the. worst. I feel like I have been treading water for forever and am just trying to stay afloat!! They are almost over, and I guess that is what Senior year is all about right?

The weather is SO amazing though! I love the crispness that is in the air, I really think that it makes taking outdoor pictures so much better. I will have to post some on here shortly.

Also, I am almost done decorating the apartment... just you wait!

This is a short post I know, but I just wanted to make sure you knew I am still alive, and will be putting up some awesome things shortly!!!

Let the school year begin!

Hello Everyone!!

School is in session, and what a busy semester it is turning out to be with school, work, and fitting in a social life!

Overall, life is good. It's for sure had it's up's and down's- which I am fairly certain that they have happened at a faster pace than ever.

My computer died for the second time over the weekend, and I finally got it back today, so this week has been especially hard in the technology department. But there is a surprise coming, so stay tuned!

I finally was able to get around to editing some of Mady and Brooklyn's roommate pictures, and can I just say that I Love Them. I love taking pictures of these girls and their roommates. They are so beautiful!!! Love you girls!

Here is a sneak peek at some of their pictures {let me know which is your fav} :

They are so fun to work with. Tell me your thoughts!

Kaits

ONE Week left!

For all of you that have already started school, I hope it has been great so far. I have exactly 4 days left of summer vacation. Now, the thought of starting school is actually quite exciting. I love the Fall season the football, basketball, seeing old faces, meeting new ones. It actually makes me quite happy. But, there is one thing that I don't think I am ready to handle. Can you guess it?


homework.

A few professors have emailed me their syllabi (is that correct?), and upon looking over it and seeing the schedule, I kind of got that sick feeling in my stomach of now knowing what is lingering in my future.

But, school will come in a few short days, and life will be back to the normal hustle and bustle that comes with each fall semester. I think that it is interesting that although this is my 7th semester, it all feels the same- yeah I am a bit more calm because I know where I am going, but the butterflies are the same. I guess it is that anticipation of what is to come and not knowing it.

Well, I wish all of you an amazing first day of school, and hope that mine will be as well!

Kaites

Where has Summer Gone!?

Summer is almost over. Today that was made so apparent to me when I walked into the bookstore on BYU campus and purchased this:
My 2010-2011 School Planner!!! Nothing Screams school like purchasing one of these bad boys. It means that it is time to get down to business and get organized.

SO... school starts in 19 days. I really cannot believe it. This summer has seriously flown by SO fast. It was by far one of my most packed summers I have ever had (and I guess I should get used to it, because I'm told that once you grow up this is how summers are.)

But looking back on all that I have done since the end of April, I feel like I have accomplished a lot. I took a few vacations, went to only a few weddings (surprised? I am too :) ), met a lot of new people, reached an anniversary, learned what sadness really is, realized the importance of good friends who are there for you no matter what, learned that the Lord really does direct your path, so you should follow it no matter what- even if it is the hardest thing you've ever done- if you have faith in him, he will never let you down, learned a little bit about events coordinating, and worked and worked and worked.

What a summer. Now onto fall. Fall is my favorite season, and I am looking forward to this fresh new start of this fall season. Yes, I will be a Senior! No, I will not be graduating- but that is the nice part of college, you get to have two senior years!!!

So, for the next 19 days... wish me luck that I can use up all of the summer that is left as best as possible!!!!


Kaits

I'm a Traveling Girl!

Over the past few months, I have traveled quite a bit I have realized, from coast to coast.

My latest adventure brought me to the wonderful state of New York! I went to visit my roommate Sarah, who is getting married this next week!!! I guess you could say it was our last roommate moment.

I flew out with Sarah and her mom from Salt Lake, and flew to Phoenix, then to Detroit, and finally to Binghamton, NY. Needless to say, there was quite a bit of time to get to know many airports. Our flight- with time changes- took basically an entire day. It was only my second time ever flying, and my first time ever having a layover. But luckily everything went smoothly, and we arrived on time.

We arrived at Sarah's house exhausted. I immediately noticed how humid it was (and I was excited to see how curly my hair would go!) I fell right into bed with the fan going and was out cold- I never realized how exhausting traveling is.

That next few days we slept in, rode bikes around her town and just chilled, which was so so needed! Saturday we went to Palmyra and watched the Hill Cummorah Pageant. It reminded me of when I visited the sites on Utah Valley Children's Choir tour about 6 years ago. That Sunday we went to her church and I met all of my friends (who are from there) parent's from my student ward.

On Monday we ventured down to New York City. We all got on a bus and drove for 4 hours. All I have to say about that is that Greyhound buses are gross. We got into the city and traveled through the Lincoln tunnel- which made me start quoting Elf, though no one got what I was talking about.

We were dropped off in the middle of the city. As I stepped out side the smell was something I had never smelt before, it was a mixture of humidity, heat, and smoke/ exhaust. It really is a concreate jungle. I felt so lost and had to quickly pull out the map to figure out where we were. We were right by Time Square, and we were only a few blocks from our Hotel. We stopped and ate at a restaurant called Schnippers** if you ever eat there, get a hamburger it was really the best**. The restaurant was right next to the New York Times building which was beautiful.

After eating, we walked down to fifth ave. seeing all of the places that I have seen in movies. It was fun to see the American Girl store- which was a mall for your doll, Saks, H&M, a store entirely devoted to Shape-Ups by Sketchers, and of course I had to stop and by my I heart NY t- shirt!!! We walked down to The Plaza and walked through- it is SO pretty! Then we went to AEO Schwartz and looked at all the fun toys. We gradually made our way to Central Park, where after buying a popcicle and sitting on a bench, I realized how much cooler the air was just because of the trees.

We were very tired and I didn't feel like walking anymore, so we sat and enjoyed to atmosphere. As we were doing so, a man came up and talked to us and tried to get us to buy a bike carriage tour. After saying we'd think about it, Sarah's mom said "Oh why not! Let's do it!!"

So, we got onto the carriage and this nice man from Africa talked about the founding of Central Park getting most of his facts correct :)

That night we ate at a fun pizza place that was just a few doors down from our hotel and then fell asleep.

On Tuesday we woke up pretty early and headed to Ellis Island! We took the Subway which I fell in love with. Although it was dirty and kind of sketchy, I loved it. We took the tour of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island that was SO fun!!! But, as we were getting off the ferry it started POURING rain. Like rain like I had never seen. I found some sketchy man selling umbrella's out of a garbage bag. Then we walked to Ground Zero, it is amazing how it is all construction now.

Then we took the Subway into China Town, where I got my knock off Coach bag!!! We also ate at this super legit Chinese Restaurant- so good! (and luckily, I knew how to use chopsticks, because this resturant didn't have any forks... at all!)

It was still a bit rainy, and we had accomplished everything on our to do list, so we caught a bus going back to Newark Valley and traveled back home.

That next morning I flew out to come back to Utah. This time I was flying by myself. But it was the same route that I had taken to go out, so I felt fine. I flew out of Binghamton and made it to Detroit a bit earlier than expected, which meant that I had a three and a half hour layover. I was fine with it, and grabbed some food, a magazine, and was going to watch a movie on my laptop as I waited for my flight to Arizona. But, after I finished getting my food, and started heading down to my gate, I checked the flight screen once more. This time, my flight had changed to the other side of the terminal, and it was delayed by an hour. After quickly figuring out how long it would take to get to Arizona with time zone changes, I realized that I would miss my connecting flight by about 10 minutes. I started to feel a panic feeling inside. Though, I was trying to stay calm and figure things out. I called my dad and explained the situation. He then called the Delta customer service, and they did all they could to change my flight, and then I had to wait in a line to have a real person authenticate my ticket.

I still had about two hours until my new flight was leaving, but this line was SO long... and there was only TWO people working at the desk that I needed to get to. So I was patiently waiting and waiting. I was talking to the people in the line with me as we shared our frustrations. I kept calling my parents trying to figure out what was going on. After an hour I realized that there was still probably about two hours left in the line. I was going to miss my flight. I did not want to stay in Detroit, and I had to be at work in the morning. The man behind me over heard me explaining my situation on the phone. He told me to go up to the front of the line and he would watch my bags. I was worried that everyone would get mad that I was cutting in the line. He assured me that it was fine. I walked to the front and there was a nice looking lady and her young daughter. I started talking to them and then I started crying, and could not stop it. I probably looked like a fake/ crazy person. I explained that this was the first time this had ever happened to me and I needed to get on my flight before it left. I asked her if it would be okay if I went before her. She looked concerned and said that it would be fine with her, but all of the people behind her wouldn't be too happy. I really didn't know what to do. She asked me where I was in line, and I pointed to the man who was holding my stuff and kindly waving at us. She told me that her flight was already cancelled and that she would trade me spots in line. This made me cry even harder- because I had been praying for something to work out- I quickly told her that I could not make her do that, because she had a little child with her. She reassured me that it was okay and calmly said, "I am a Christian, and this is what God would want me to do." I lost it completely and all that would come out of my mouth was Thank You. Thank you. I got to the desk and got a new ticket. The lady told me to hurry to my flight. So, I took off. I thanked the people behind her in line and they cheered me on to my flight. I then went back to the man who was now holding my suit case and the nice women's stuff too. I thanked him and gave him some money to give to her. He then said "Hurry go get on your flight! You will make it!!!" I rushed off and got onto my flight just in time. I sat in the seat, feeling exhausted, but feeling the spirit so strong.

My hope in strangers was regained that day. I knew that these people had been placed in my life at the exact time that I needed help. My testimony was strengthened and all I could do was to stop and thank Heavenly Father for helping me make it home safely.

So, it was a wonderful trip. I experienced a lot of new and amazing things that I will never forget!!!

Kaits

I found a new love...

I am the proud owner of a new pair of TOMS!!! I have been very skeptical about these shoes ever since I saw their ad a few years ago. But as I saw others wear them around campus, I of course became curious. Everyone would always say how comfy they were... like you weren't even wearing shoes.

Lately I have been looking for a comfortable pair of closed toed shoes for work, and for the upcoming school year, because I walk SO much, and I always end up with a blister somewhere... {I guess pain for beauty??} But I think I have found my soulution. I Love My Toms. I seriously haven't taken them off since I bought them. So far, I love them.

Today is SO hot!!!

Okay, so I really don't like humidity. It does not work with my hair at all... well that is when I do it straight. But I am loving the warmth. I just want to soak it all in.

But it is a great Saturday. A lazy one, but it is so good to do that sometimes!!!

Oh and I finally got around to taking pictures of my newly renovated bedroom! (I wish that I had a before picture, because the before pictures I took just don't do the room justice. So, I am going to try to describe it to you:

Okay so this room used to actually be a very large bathroom... so as you walked through the door, there was a little hallway of sorts and then to your left there was a perfect bathroom in the corner. The tile and everything was in the perfect position, there was just one thing missing- a wall to make it a real bathroom. Instead it was just sitting in the corner of the room- odd, yes. So, my great dad- who is so handy in everything- seriously he can do it all. He built a wall betwen the bathroom and bedroom, and created a walk in closet-(one of my favorite parts!) So good. Now I have a room to come home to in the summers when I am home from school. And my parents have a nice guest room the rest of the year!

SO... here are the pictures of the room now. I was going for a more antique feel for the room, my bed spread isn't quite what I want, but is is one of my favorite quilts ever, and my mom has the most beautiful quilt that goes on the bed when I am not living in it :) I'll have to post that later.

So this is my room! I love it! So much! I also have a pink and brown woven rug on the floor that didn't manage to get into the pictures!

Kaites

today...

Okay so I just need to write right now. I just feel nervous. All I can say is trials make your life so crazy! I just was thinking about it last night, and this is the conclusion that I came up with:

1. I love to plan. I plan out my life so much, down to details. No seriously, ask me about anything in life and there is a plan for it formulated in my head... and if you are lucky, it is even written down somewhere. Well about 85% of the time, Heavenly Father looks at these plans that I have mapped out and kindly and lovingly chuckles to himself and says, "here, let me help you out." and just like that he tweaks my plans just enough that it causes me to throw a fit for a little bit, but then go with it and realize that had I gone with my original plan life would have not ended up.

I love life. All the ups and downs and turns.

go life.

Things that I Know are True

Well as the end of the semester rolls around yet again, here are a few things that I am wanting to post:

Things that I know are true:

1. There is an end at every tunnel.
This phrase has taken a lot of different meanings this semester, and oh what a semester it has been. I am so grateful for all of the many many different experiences that I have been able to have this semester and this entire school year. I really feel blessed. I know that I am in the right spot and that coming to BYU now almost 2 years ago really was the best choice for me. (Heavenly Father really knows what he's doing.) I have met so many amazing people over the last two years and I know they were meant to bless my life, and hopefully I have blessed their lives too.

2. Even when it is hard, it is okay to have fun.
I have learned a little bit about myself this semester. I have come to find that in order for myself to reach my full happiness, I need to have fun. I don't mean the kind of fun that costs money, but more so, just being able to find the fun in all that I am doing- whether that is singing at the top of your lungs while cleaning your apartment after it has hit beyond nasty, enjoying the weather as you walk back to your car, even if it is pouring rain :), or just realizing how amazing it is when reading or studying for a class that you love and realizing that learning is so amazing!
Yes life is hard. Yes it is stressful. It always will be, that is a matter of fact. But, if you are able to put those moments into your life where you can have fun in the moment, no matter how stressful or hard it may be, life will be blissful. I have come to learn this. Live in the moment and your life will be rich.

3. Relationships of every size, shape and color are so important.
I am not talking about the kind of relationship where you walk past each other everyday and reply "fine" before being asked how you are, I am talking about the deep relationships that you make throughout the road of life with everyone- your co workers, boyfriends, roommates, family members, and people in your ward, who you can share your life details with and you know that they will be there to help you up when you fall, and you will be there to do the same. These relationships are so important in order to be happy and feel fulfillment in your life. Sometimes these relationships won't last a long time, but you have to know that they have made a difference in your life. A quote I once heard explains this concept so well:

"God puts people in your life for a specific reason.. and sometimes when their time is up.. and they're done fulfilling what their purpose was.. you just have to let them go their own way.. and remember the great times.. forget about the bad.. and live with your arms wide open so you can embrace the next person who's meant to touch your heart..." - Unknown

I love everyone that has come into and out of my life- genuinely, I love you, and Thank you for being a part of my life, I will ever be grateful for you!

4. Life is amazing.
Basically I want to sum up this post with one of my favorite quotes ever. Given by Nelson Mandela, who took it from someone else amazing:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Be a light in the world. Don't be afraid to show your potential, because you are amazing. We each have talents that are unique to us and we need to share those with others. Who knows, maybe you will be the answer to the prayer that someone has been pleading for.

One of the BIGGEST things that I have learned this past year: If you have a good thought, act upon it- what is the worst that could happen?

Positive Psychology

So I am in this class this semester called Positive Psychology. It is one of the most interesting classes ever!!! I love it. It is only one night a week, but it is probably the best 2 1/2 Hours ever.
Basically what this class teaches, is learning how to be happy. Now, I have never considered myself not a happy person, but I have found myself complaining a lot about different things. This class is helping me change that.

For one of our assignments, we are required to keep a gratitude journal for the entire semester where we write 3-4 times a week, and write 3-4 things that you are grateful for. Now this isn't just like "I am grateful for my car.", but more so you have to explain why you are grateful for it. It's a thinking more deeply about really why these things matter in your life.

It has been awesome to see how many things I am grateful for. Even when I am having a bad day, it is amazing how many things happen that are positive in my life.

SO, I challenge you to start a Gratitude Journal. It will improve your life. I promise.

Welcome 2010

Well, almost a year has past yet again, however, this year I am going to make more posts!!! I promise! I have now started my sixth semester of college and it is still as crazy as ever, but I love Love LOVE it!!! College is so crazy but even though it is so busy I still am trying to love every minute of it! I have the best roommates ever, really they are the best. And I love my major. I love Health Education.

So yes Welcome 2010. I am excited what you have to bring. I'm not saying that 2009 was not a fantastic year because it was. It was definitely a year that was full of change, and now I am starting to accept change a little bit more than I ever have in the past, so yes I have grown up a lot this last year, so bring it on 2010, I think I am ready for you!