Life with Kim

So recently we made a trip back to the states for a wedding, where I was in the bridal party GO ME! Yes, I have only been in one, stop griping about it. Anyway, upon our return we brought back my sister.

This is Kim. My younger sister. Not little, because well, have you seen my family?! They are huge! I am the shortest and I am 5'7''! Well, Kim is hanging with us for the next few months, which means more travel. She apparently wants to go places other than Germany. Goodness sakes. So we took her somewhere we haven't been yet. And some place Germany is popular for. We went to a CASTLE!! It was totally awesome! And boy did we pick an amazing day to go. It was cool outside, the sun was shining, and the fall colors were just beyond the beauty of these pictures. But here ya go so enjoy scrolling through.

Thanks!

Me & Conference

Every 6 months my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, aka Mormons, lds.org) holds a GIANT meeting, and by giant I mean 4 two hour long meetings 5 for the men, so that everyone can listen to the leaders of the church speak to us things that God would have us know. We call this General Conference.





Around this time, either the beginning of April or October, Mormons tend to be a little crazy. Doing stuff out of the norm. Which is what I found to be interesting!

What I am seeing, especially right now since this last weekend was conference, is that there is an exceeding amount of Mormon pride. Which is great and wonderful! But I guess what I am having a problem with is why is this an occurrence only every 6 months, or when a nearby temple is dedicated, or when an apostle is in the area. Why aren't we showing our "pride" everyday?

Let me be straight with you. I am NOT perfect! I know hard to believe. I hope you were sitting down. Sorry to break the new to you this way. But it is true. HOWEVER, I do STRIVE to be as Christ-like (perfect) as possible. It may not be easy, but what He asks is simple. Follow Him. Something that did stand out to me this conference was when Thomas S. Monson (President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) spoke about his encounter with a women when he was in Jerusalem. And how great she felt having potentially walked where Jesus walked. He told her,"That it is not so much important to walk where He walked, as to how He walked." I thought this was very powerful. For me, as much as it would be a cool experience to see where Jesus lived, that is not as important. I need to be living my life as Christ lived His. "Walk in His footsteps" so to speak.

I guess what I am saying is that showing the world how you live, and who you are, and who you want to become should not be a semi-annual thing. It should be something that is everyday through out the rest of your life!

<3

Also if you want to know I think my favorite talk was given by Dallin H. Oaks. He spoke about being kind to everyone. I could definitely work on being kinder(? more kind).

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch/2014/10?lang=eng&vid=3821076714001&cid=4

French Braiding Your Own Hair

Okay so this is the post I was going to post last time, and then totally went off topic. So I will try to stick to the point this time around.

This last week I have been sick. Not sure with what. And it hasn't been anything serious. I caught this, let's call it a cold, from Cole. Which is totally weird because usually he gets sick from me, I always manage to catch anything and everything that is going around. This cold was hitting Cole a different way everyday. Day 1- Sudden sore throat. Day 2- Headache. Day 3- Sinus. Day 4- Coughing. And so on and so forth.

By the time Cole had reached day 4 we realized that I was not sick! And what a miracle it was! I was happy. I have lots to do now. I don't have time to be sick! But alas, later that night I procured a sudden, completely out of no where, sore throat. And so began the misery of this illness.

I think the thing that was worse about this illness was that I was all alone. Cole had started 12 hour night shifts, so anytime he was home he was asleep. I didn't want to do anything. I literally spent an entire day in my bed watching Netflix. Sometimes it is necessary. *Shout out to Wendy for making me homemade chicken noodle soup. I ate it all by myself.

So right now you are probably thinking I have gone off topic. I haven't this is where the french braiding comes in.

I don't know about you, but when I am sick my hair is the last thing I want to deal with. I want it out of my face, off of my neck, and not hurting my head. So the other day I put 2 french braids in my hair. Nothing fancy. One on the right, one on the left side of my head. There is no picture because it was not pretty. By the time I had finished and was finally able to put my arms down again (I don't know why hair is so exhausting on the arms) I noticed that there was a very small section in the back of my hair that didn't make it in the braid. I was frustrated, but didn't care no one was gonna see it. I couldn't see it it was on the back of my head! I just pushed it into my braid, and laid down. But it got me thinking. How much better it would have been if my mom, or even my grandma had braided my hair. I have many memories with me and my grandma playing with each others hair. I also have moments when I think, "What on earth was I thinking?" When I had my mom braid my hair before bed so the next day I could go out IN PUBLIC like this:

Man, I do miss the 90s. Good time, good times. And the answer is yes, my brother and I were both crazy when we were younger. Kevin was the only one who grew out of it.

So there it is the point of the post. Was pretty much I wanted my mom to take care of me whilst I was sick. And come braid my hair. Love you mom! Thanks for all the times you braided my hair.

<3

When the pictures says 1000 words you are not saying.

So I was talking to my mother the other day about my blog as opposed to my sisters blog. (Check her out at colorofkim.com) She told me that I needed to add more pictures. And yes I am aware that pictures are more intriguing to look at, or at least glance at as you are scrolling down the web page. But I feel as though, at least today I feel, that when you just look at the picture you're not getting the entire story.

For example, if I were to post this picture, you would see a cute picture of me where I actually look put together, and posting it on social media I just hope I get a bunch of thumbs up. (I never did post this pic, if you were wondering.) Because when I thought about it I wasn't trying to reach out for the attention that I was lookin' cute this day. In fact, when I look at this picture I see so much more.

To me this picture says, "Look. Look how hard you have worked to lose 20 pounds. And girl you look good!" But you didn't see that because you didn't know. You didn't know the struggle I have been facing with my weight, and how it always seems to come down to the fact that I am "overweight" which is why I have so many health issues, and is also why you have been unsuccessful having a child. So when I look at this picture I see myself fighting as hard as I can to get everything I want. I see myself as 1 step closer to not wearing yoga pants everywhere because that is all that fits, when I now actually have 3 pairs of jeans that fit comfortably and one pair that is way too large. I see myself healthier and happier, and hopefully closer to growing our family.

This was not the original thought I had while I was originally writing this post. It was going to be totally light hearted and funny. But I guess I just needed to vent, or let everyone know I am kicking life in the butt! My life is crazy blessed, and I am showing that I am grateful for all I have by taking better care of those things I cherish. And one of those things is me!

I hope you are grateful for yourself too, because I know I am grateful for you!

<3

This is my life.

Hello and welcome. It is I, Katie. It has been far too long since I have posted, but guess what. I have been up to stuff! Crazy I know! It was slow going, and nothing new, and then BAM! Life happened.

It all started around August, the month I was alone. And yet I realized that was not how the story goes. Cole left and went to school in Texas for TDY (Temporary Duty), you should know being in the military that EVERYTHING is an acronym when someone tells me something and I don't know what it is I just nod. So with Cole gone I was alone, I haven't really been a people person while I have been here, we tend to keep to ourselves. That was no longer an option for me however.

 I was like the groundhog coming out on the 2nd of February, and it was crazy sunny outside. The world was blinding! I just wanted to crawl back into my hole and watch Netflix. I was invited to FHE (Family Home Evening) there was a great gospel lesson, fun games, and treats. OOOOOoooohhhh the treats! I have to say I really liked FHE and this family was totally awesome! Invited me to dinner, let me hang out so I was never home alone, by the end of the month I was pretty much adopted into the family. Okay I need to pause for a moments, for when I wrote about treats one in particular came to mind, and it was the CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE!!!! Oh it was so delicious. It was like all the dreams I never knew I had came true. I may have been crying.

Alright back to story.

Throughout the month I was taken care of by many of the people in my ward. I think the best part about that month was the fact that I was able to speak to Cole EVERY SINGLE DAY! Thank goodness for technology!

Also while Cole was away I was practicing. For what? A TALENT SHOW! I am sure you are asking yourself which one. Katie is so immensely talented which one did she choose? Was it her pig noises, burping the ABCs, her dancing skills (that she thinks she has), NO! It was my singing of course! I hadn't sung in such a long time so it was great to get back on the stage!

By the time Cole arrived home, we celebrated his birthday, with an Xbox of course. The weekend after he got home was the big day. Talent show day. I will tell you now I did not win. But I did get 20 bucks for participating. Let me know what you think:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Gf3c8d9gdQ

Life slowed down a bit after that, but there are great things coming. A few weeks ago I started teaching voice lessons, and it has been great! I actually love it!

Also this November I will be taking on the role of Tracy from Hairspray in an upcoming Musical Review. Hopefully you will be hearing a lot more from me!

Cole says hi.

Honesty

The last time I posted something was at the start of the new year. And since then I have had a lot more downs than ups it seems. I still don't really understand this whole blog thing. What the point is, or even if there is one. But I just need to get my words out. Whether people actually read this or not. I don't need your sympathy, and I don't need advice on how to make it better. This is just me, Katie. Trying to let out what I have kept to myself.

I guess I should start with me leaving AZ. I had just made a lot of amazing relationships. I made some awesome friends that I was sure we would keep in touch, and it would be great. I was also very nervous going back home because I didn't feel like I had many, if any, real friends. I was going to be alone for awhile, until Cole came back home. And I was more nervous for that than anything else.

Here is where that honesty part comes in. This is where you can read, but again I don't need any sympathy or advice. Right now my life is amazing. This is just the story of the rough road it took to get here.

I had felt like Cole and I were drifting apart. Our life goals weren't really the same anymore. It worried me. We had been apart for 6 months, so I wasn't about to do anything without both of us getting back together first. I still love him after all. When we did get back together it was really hard. We got on each others nerves a lot! He was driving me crazy! I knew that all that was happening just didn't seem real. I prayed a lot, and new if I continued doing what I knew to be right it would get better. I was able to go to the temple shortly after he got home with some of the sisters in the ward. And that helped a bunch because I could really feel the Lord on my side. Cole and I have been able to figure somethings out and we are doing really well. We are taking baby steps but they are working. I love him so much like crazy, and with the months that followed I really needed him.

In the midst of this I was able to get out of the house at night (Cole and I didn't really see much of each other once he got back because I kept myself busy). I was in a musical on base. Willy Wonka Jr. It went really fantastic actually. I played Mrs. Bucket and sang Cheer Up Charlie. It went really well. Towards the end of the show right when life was getting good, that's when it all went down hill.

I had gotten a message from an old supervisor from Chick fil A he had contacted me to ask if I had gotten any information about what was going on with a friend and former co-worker Cole and I had at CFA. When I told him no, I went digging. I admit there are time when I am a Facebook stalker, okay. As it turned out he had passed away. I was shocked. I was hurt and I just felt pain in my stomach. As I looked at his Facebook page it got a little worse. A few weeks after his death he was supposed to get married. It threw me off. It just didn't seem real. I will admit we weren't the best of friends, but he was there during a very important part of my life. And that meant something.

A few days later I woke up to a bunch of texts from my mom and sister saying it was a family emergency, and that I needed to call. I figured someone was in the hospital. But it was much worse. My cousin, Mason, who I didn't know all too well, had died in a hit and run. That was it for me. I cried. I knew that at that moment I was unable to make it back, and my mom said it was okay, because she didn't know when the funeral was going to be anyway. So there I am. At home. Alone. (Cole was still sleeping) Thinking that this guys who was a literal day younger than I, who had gone through so much crap in his life was just gone. I knew where he was because I know God's plan for us, but it was still weird. And it was terrible how it happened. I cried every time I thought about it for the next  2 days, but I was able to get back to normal life.

A few short weeks later I get a text from my mom saying that my uncle Charles is in the hospital from a heart attack, and to keep him in my prayers. I had received the text hours earlier, but I only looked at it once I was at the gym at 0530 helping Cole prep for his PT test. As I read this I had gotten another message from my mother to call. Since there was WiFi in the gym I figured I would FaceTime. She asked if I had gotten the messaged, and told me that Charles had passed. Now I have a lot of really good memories with Charles, I would say we were close as I was with any other uncle I had. I lost it. Right there in the gym. I collapsed on the track. Crying into the phone. The more details my mom gave me the worse the crying became. All I could think about were his wife and kids. Also how none of this made any sense. I found Cole, and scared Dennis (Cole's supervisor/ Physical Trainer). And we went home. Tears would not stop flowing from my eyes. I felt like I needed to find a way back for the funeral. But alas, tickets were crazy expensive, and was unable to. Which of course only made me cry more that I could not be there to support my family. I tried to contact my brother Kevin to see if he would go. But he didn't. It was rough. I remember when I first saw Charles. I was younger, like younger than 9. I had gotten up in the early morning to get a drink. When upon passing the living room saw a strange man slunk over the couch. I got my drink and returned to bed. Later learning it was Charles. I remember staying up though the night playing LOTR Risk with him, my uncle John, and my brother Kevin. So I decided that whole week, since I couldn't be there for my family, I would watch all the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings, and the Hobbit. It helped.

I have been having a hard time recently with something that has been a burden for a while. My older brother doesn't talk to anyone in this family anymore. There is a lot of back story that I won't go into, but it has been on my mind. A LOT. My emotions go up and down. Ranging from hatred to having no malice. I know families can be difficult, but I can't imagine just throwing them away. It would go against all I know, that families can be together forever. And that is what I want. A forever family.

Life has gotten betterish. We just got back from London which was awesome! For my birthday which the actual day was really...empty feeling. I felt at that moment that I had been forgotten about. The friends which I thought I had said nothing (I did remind everyone like a bunch), but I didn't even get anything from my siblings. Look I get life is busy, but you can send a text. (That was for my siblings.) London was awesome, you will soon see in an upcoming blog.

So yeah, as I look back at this post I realize I am ranting. But it was much needed, and I feel better.
Reminder: I don't need sympathy or advice. You can feel free to comment, but I may not respond.

Thanks for listening if you're out there.

I am so bad at this.

Seriously though, blogging is not my forte. I wish I could be good enough to be one of those super popular bloggers that make money. Because that just seems awesome! But I think I am more of the type of person that if you know me, like we've met, people tend to like me more, I mean like they understand my personality better than just seeing it on paper. I definitely have a unique sense of humor.

Man, okay so what have I done since my last post, which seems like FOREVER ago. I have changed my hair a few times.

I got highlights.

Which I haven't done that for a long time. Like since before I got married! Which was over 3 years ago!

I also went back to dark. But the color is a Red Violet which is very hard to see in pictures. And I got BANGS! Which I haven't done that since I was in Jr. High. But I think it's working for me. What do you think?

The bangs were seriously a last second decision I made right before going to Disneyland. I felt like my hair was still boring, even though the color was beautiful, it just needed that something more. I think I got it right.

So before I continue on with Disneyland, and trust me I will get there. Let me tell you what has happened since then.


We found out Cole was going on deployment so we decided to make a trip back to the states for his birthday, and to drop me off at my family's house where I would stay while he was away. So our first stop was West Virginia. The place Cole was from, where I had never been, and his mother still lives. (Okay I am going to take you out of the story for a moment to inform you that, unlike most of my other posts, this last month that I had with Cole before he left I was completely in the moment, and was more worried about holding his hand than taking any pictures. So with all that we did they are just beautiful memories now.) We actually flew into NC then drove up to WV. That was fun actually, because we were both excited to be back in the states, and being able to communicate in the same language, and to be able to have Wendy's spicy nuggets! We had about a day to just chill out until the three of us, Cole, his mom, and myself, got back into the car and drove all the way down to South Carolina where Cole's sister lives. It was totally amazing. I loved going to the beach, and seeing Charleston, and Fort Sumter. The best part was seeing my little nephew! Okay, I am going to be straight up with y'all. I have the most adorable nephew ever! That is a fact he is so smart and cute, and just the best. Oh ya we even got to see dolphins at the restaurant we ate at. I of course acted like a kid at Disneyland when I saw them. Everyone else just seemed so used to them.

We soon left the beautiful SC state, and went back to WV where things got really crazy. It was Cole's birthday, and you know what he wanted to do? He wanted to go WHITE WATER RAFTING!!! I had mixed emotions, but thought that hey it's Cole's birthday, and he had done this before, and was still alive. I should be okay... Well, we got there I was excited and scared, like insanely scared. But I just kept telling myself that I am a good swimmer, I'll be fine. Then you see the video of people flipping over, flying out of the raft, and all this near giant rocks! Okay, so we had a really awesome guide. Granted he teased me the entire ride down the river, but whatever. We were also fortunate to be able to go on a way longer trip than most people get to go on because of the water level. So we first started going, and we had some great people in our raft. I wasn't the only girl, which I was grateful for, the other girl reminded me so much of Whitney Cummings, they could be twins! Then her husband, it was his birthday too. Then we had these two guys who were traveling the country for the best water rafting, one of them was from Liverpool, so I loved to hear him talk. I started feeling a bit better since we had some experienced people. Our first stop was the jumping cliff, where you climb up this giant rock and jump off into the water. So I was the first to jump off the cliff because the guide said once the first person jumps he is taking the raft down river, and I didn't want to have to swim farther than I needed too. So the guide is telling me it's fine to just jump anywhere. So I jump, and he yells, "NOT THERE!!" So of course I am screaming all the way down into the water. Oh, yeah let me mention, since Cole is afraid of heights he did not jump into the water. Scaredy pants. So the rapids were crazy!! I am so glad I never got thrown out of the raft. I can't say the same for the rest of the people though. :) I am so proud of myself that I survived! However, I won't be doing that again anytime soon. But I totally will do it again.

Two days after that Cole's mom joined us and we went zip lining! That was a blast. I had no fear when it came to that. Cole did because we were zipping over the gorge. It was beautiful. And so much fun. Same day but after the zip lining and lunch we went on a 2 hour horse back ride. I was happy and enjoying it for the first half, but after that I was just hurting way too much to care about anything else. Granted that I have been on a horse before I was still a beginner, but I had a really good horse. This trail we went on was also really crazy. We had to go up and down a super steep mud hill and these horses just wanted to go through it as fast as possible. It was scary. But we all loved it and the joy on Cole's face was priceless.

We had some great times in WV I loved bonding with his mother over Downton Abbey. But our trip quickly came to an end and we were on our way to our next destination. Arizona. There we mostly just chilled at food at all of our favorite places, and just enjoyed what time we had together. But then came the time where he had to leave, and that was no fun at all.

I have stayed busy since he left. I of course went straight to the theatre program at CGCC where they were so excited to see me, and finally gave me and awesome solo in "A Grand Night For Singing" a Rodger's and Hammerstein music review. I met a lot of wonderful new people, but also got to hang out with some old friends. Oh yeah, and my little brother Jimmy did it with me, and let me tell you something, he amazed me. He is super talented!

Ya my "little" brother is over a foot taller than me.

Me, Wendy, and Jewell

Shelby, me, and Kassandra

Me and my "step-sister" Kristianna

Cast Lunch at YC's

I also had the good fortune of doing some of the girls hair. I was impressed with my skills.

This is Sam. He wishes he were as awesome as I.

Okay, this has a story all its own. Let me just say that our costume designer is just amazing.

I just had so much fun being apart of that cast. But the play was over, and I still had to find something to do, and there was one person that I just had to see on my trip. This girl.

Haile, my bestest super amazing friend ever!! BFF since Jr. High. And no matter what it will always be that way. Of course I couldn't have gotten to Cali without the lovely Kassandra.

Off to Disneyland we went. Made great time, and had the best of times. Just the three of us.

We saw so many characters, and hit just about every ride in both Disneyland and California Adventures.

Since then I had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. Keeping myself busy helping direct Seussical the Musical. I am just so ready to get back home to my hubby.