Backpack, Backpack!

August twenty-thirteen is the beginning of a new beginning.
Profound, I know.

Entered into my fifth semester at Herron this past week and I'm absolutely stoked. 

Really! I am!

Moment of the school week via Twitter

(Condensed < 140 characters version):

Walks into class. Late.

Asks professor what class is.

No, that can't be it.

Leaves class...to find out it truly was the right class.

Great.

> 140 characters version:

Signed up for a class titled: "Print Rotating Topics".

So, naturally, I head to that class. 

Upon a late arrival, I entered the classroom to find all students legitimately flipping through pop-up books. Ranging from "Cinderella" to "The Chronicles of Narnia". 

With all eyes on my utterly confused being, I ask the nearly hearing-impaired professor at least a couple times if this class was indeed "Print Rotating Topics". Eventually I received my answer, quite loudly I might add: "PAPER ENGINEERING".

What just happened.

So, to try and play off the awkwardness in my own quirky way, I finger gun the class and cutely say, "Ohhh...wrong class guys..." and with that I quickly fled that room.

After trying to convince the directory staff that I had without a doubt went to the wrong class, they directed to the same room.

Turns out, "Paper Engineering" was the 'Rotating Topic'.

Sweet move, KAT.

After two and a half hours of dealing with unrelenting confusion, class was dismissed and I tracked down my guidance counselor-who I see more times in a semester than is really necessary. I frantically began with, "So, that class I just got out of was a drag and I cannot handle a whole semester of it unless I absolutely have to..." and her response began with a smirk and ended with, "Are you sure you don't want to cut paper all day?". 

I dropped that class faster than I could figure out how to cut my first open box cut.

The class I chose to replace it with was "History of North American Indians". 

On the registrar, all 32 seats were taken but to enhance my concept in my art classes and further my understanding of their culture, I was determined to find a way to take it. 

What is impossible with man is possible with God

-Luke 18.27

After several phone calls to different departments on campus, I decided to sit in on the class. After class, I went to my guidance counselor...again, and she made a way for me to take it for credit! 

My passion for their culture and people has grown exponentially within the past few months and I am so grateful that I get to take this class!

Schedule for 2013

Sunday: 

Work: 10-4

Engage: 4:30-6

Live: 6-?

Monday:

School: Lithography II: 9-11:30

Work: 12-6

Live:6-?

Tuesday:

School: 

Introduction to Contemporary Art: 10:30-11:45

History of North American Indians: 1:30-2:45

Etching II: 3:30-6

Live:6-?

Wednesday:

School: Lithography II: 9-11:30

Work: 12-6

Live:6-?

Thursday:

School: Introduction to Contemporary Art: 10:30-11:45

History of North American Indians: 1:30-2:45

Etching II: 3:30-6

Live:6-?

Friday: Live

Saturday:

Work: 9-4

Live: 4-?

My schedule is insanely packed like camping bags, but hey!
 I'm working my tushie off for a better tomorrow...at least that's what I tell myself.

This coming weekend: Kyndrick, Stevie, Alexx and I are packing our bags and roughin' in the woods! 

Which means I won't have computer access most likely until early/midweek so next week's blog will be delayed.

We'll see what my packed bags end up looking like...

If this list is missing anything, please do comment below and help me out!

Organize = Mezmerize

SO grateful for a job where I get a
name plate,
I get to watch New Girl,
and decorate my office space!
I feel like a grown up...or something.

Realized this week how much of a girl I can be. I spent five and a half out of the seven hours at work organizing my desk space and I couldn't get enough of it! I updated Alexx with my progress in the office throughout the day, and his response:

Yes he may have been right on in his response, but boys just don't get "it".

It.

{acronym}: Interesting Things

Organizing spaces is incredibly therapeutic for me.
I get so lost in finding homes for various items that I sometimes spend a half hour rearranging an area that is 12" x 12". Madness.
Madness results in gladness. In this instance...I suppose.

Now, I don't keep up spaces all that well...at all, but hey, you can't organize the space if the space is not unorganized. 

There's order to my madness.

At least, that's what I tell myself and all who ask. 

I can organize inanimate objects wonderfully, but when it comes to gatherings with live people and not just my stuffed animals...I blank. My birthday is a little less than a month away and I'm way too excited for my age! But also, way too under-qualified to plan a successful birthday bash. As you read last week, my party organization skills are nearly nonexistent as they are last minute and are dependent upon winging it...not so sturdy a foundation. So...I'm getting Alexx planning my birthday party! Or at the very least, helping me...by planning it.

Tipi party?! Totally making this up as I go.

Like, if there were different Tipis set up and Tipi hopped! Like they do in Spain, where they bar hop, but instead, we'd be Midwest Tipi hopping!!! 

Painting objects in one, playing music in another, having a snack buffet Tipi accompanied by a dessert one?

Yeah. This sounds like a dream come true for me. I might cry.

Chances of this happening next month? Not sure! 

But the dream is A L I V E.

Hand-painted Tipis can be found on Etsy
(Can't wait to make one myself!)

If I could live in this I would. In a heartbeat.
 Disclaimer: no toilet.
But I am willing to dig holes.

This simple setup accompanied by a few more tipis of course, is probably what the Tipi Party
would look like WHEN (speaking it into existence folks) I have one.

Currently working on organizing my life. Aren't we all? I was told once that you can put all your ducks in a row but God's just gonna shoot them. Hilarious. The Big Guy truly does have a way with throwing us off course-according to our feeble minds. And for that, I am eternally grateful! Yeah, truly it sucks, but, He knows what He's doing. That is a concept I don't think our human minds can fully grasp. Although we may never fully understand that concept, it doesn't discount the truth of it.

Instead of working on organizing my life into a pretty box of false reality, I need to actively exercise my faith in God. That means I need to surrender my sense of control to the Author of my life. When I put it that way, it seems silly that I really think I've got this life figured out or that I actually have any control because without God's grace, I wouldn't even have breath. 

So shoot my ducks oh Lord, because I have no idea what I'm doing. 

Calling it before it happens-The next southern gospel hymn will be titled: "Shoot my ducks oh Lord".

Surrendering to your Maker is the most liberating form of trust. 

-BIE

Shared Hearts

There's nothing like finding a moldy sandwich in your lunchbox. 

Yeah, it was pretty devastating. 

I may have cried (or exaggerated), but it gave me an excuse to explore various eateries around town. 

I eventually happened upon an "organic" (whatever that means these days) fast food joint. 

After paying a grocery bill's worth for a singe layer burger, Urban Outfitters and I crossed paths.

 I didn't plan it that way-cross my heart! 

Urban Outfitters makes my heart sparkle so much that you'd probably end up blind if you were to perform open heart surgery on me.

But I mean, when you subconsciously end up at Urban, it could very well be sign. 

Of what I'm sure you're wondering? 

Yeah, me too. 

Saffron pants to compliment this rockin'
( or dorky or indie or _________ )
outfit courtesy of the outrageous sale at UO

When 5/5 of your friends are at work, your only option is to rest.
In a field.
Alone.

The more the merrier, and the merrier, the hairier.

-BIE

Alexx sharing his thoughts

Currently going through the book Multiply by Platt and Chan with my darling, Alexx and our good friend Eric. The content challenging as it is about disciples making disciples. For the past month we've been trying to get together once a week but every time we'd gather, all three of us had read different chapters or sections because we rock at communication. So for the past month or so, we'd get some pretty decent discussions going but not much depth from the book since we all read different things. 

                         

But alas! The other night we met at seven o' clock and didn't leave until half past ten! And! What made this meeting different than the others, we all had read or were in the midst of reading the same section and got quite a bit accomplished! We were open with our weaknesses and struggles which was great because between the three of us, we know that there's no judgement and that we have solid accountability. 

So many happenings this week...

I seriously can't keep up with myself.

 Breathe // Enjoy // Live

This is Erika (the girl who took me to Bieber)

She is moving to across the country in a few days for college so I decided to throw her a surprise farewell party! It sounded like a great idea until I remembered how bad I am at planning events and also how hard Erika is to surprise. The day of the event I was making phone calls and while talking to her mom and dad for about an hour, they kept emphasizing how hard it is to surprise this woman because she catches on to everything and has only been surprised once in her life of 20 years...that surely encouraged me to pull this thing off! 

This is my master plan I drafted just a  few hours before the shindig.
Fancy huh?
Everyone was "going to meet at Jack in the Box (down the road from her home)"
after Engage (the young adult ministry I'm involved in).
Abby (who ended up nominating Jess for job because she can't keep secrets) was going ask Erika if they could both stop at Erika's pad before Jack in the box because her car was having "problems" and Erika's dad (automobile mechanic) would conveniently be available to answer any questions.
While Erika's family and Jess were stalling, the rest of us were at Engage pitching in money to get some pizzas and further developing the game plan. 

As we were all driving single file to her house, behind a scooter that maxed at what seemed like 30 mph, I kept receiving messages from Jess saying to hurry! Erika was apparently beyond ready to leave and escape her from her dad who was going on and on about how to change oil. Erika was walking down the driveway when we all pulled up and not realizing that we were a;; there to surprise her she asks me, 

"So, we all going to Jack in the Box now?" and I respond with, "No, we're all here for you now...surprise!" 

We laid out all the food and before I sprinkled the area with pink faux rose petals, I gave her a crown, because if you aren't aware, she has a "sass problem that's offensive in several cultures" and is basically a princess. She was FINALLY surprised (her family was dumbfounded when I talked to them) and 

Mission Farewell Princess Erika was a success. Thanks to all who picked up the immensity of my slack!

My Love and my Spirit Sister

Erika just gets me. She shares in my frustrations, she understands my doubts, she doesn't judge my weaknesses but actively encourages me to seek Jesus in the midst of troubled times.

It's one of those relationships with an inseparable bond first because our love for our Maker and His for us but also, our ragamuffin souls. 

This is sleepy Erika not letting me go.
But when she wakes up and is across the country embarking on a new stage in life,
 I hope she knows I won't let her go.

Thankful for a week of sharing

Shared hearts

Shared thoughts

Shared tears

Feel the Spirit

Last August, a few days less than a year ago, Ted Nugent was scheduled to play on the free stage at the State Fair. Eager to see the crazy man himself, we waited. And waited. And waited some more, and, oh! I forgot to mention that it had just stormed and the temperature dropped about 10 degrees. Even still, we waited. All that anticipation led not to a mind blowing show, no, we waited all that time to have a Security guy announce "The show's off Folks". To this day I'm impressed with the crowd. They remained civil, and by that I mean, verbalizing the anger in their hearts with much force but impressively restrained themselves enough so that no one lost a limb.

This is me.
Waiting.

If it was up to Ted, he would've carried on the show-rain, snow, tornado, mass-destruction, etc.

No exaggeration. He's that crazy guys. 

You know how I know that without seeing him that day? 

I happened to stumble upon some tickets for his show this past Wednesday, the morning of the event, and conveniently on Stubhub. 

And...guess how much they were (before vague and unnecessary processing fees of course)...$7. 

SEVEN DOLLARS.

Excuse the inability of every single photo editing program my
phone and desktop has available to rotate this image a
SIMPLE 90 degrees.

2 tickets were purchased. One for me and one for Alexx.

Now, you need to know something about me. I die for surprises-the good kind of course.

It could be a rock with a whale sketched on it with Crayola chalk and I would be absolutely ecstatic.

Well, since I bought the tickets it's not a surprise for me obviously, but for Alexx.

I really wanted to surprise him Wednesday night so that meant I had to keep my mouth shut about it. For 8+ hours. Consider me a mute basically! That's the only thing I wanted to talk about all day. And I couldn't. Because surprises don't work that way. I've tried.

A quarter 'til 7 rolls around and the shows close to starting so we head to the venue to "see if the Will Call booth had any tickets available for sale". And...I pull out my tickets and surprise the man. Needless to say he was indeed surprised!

Uncle Ted, you put on quite the show but the Egyptian room is WAY too small a venue for your performance and your "spirit", as you like to put it.

Spirit.

The Fandana Festival definitely welcomed His spirit. Abigail and I ventured on over there this past weekend mainly to see NEEDTOBREATHE. If my life depended on it (for some obscure reason), I would claim NTB as my favorite collective by far. This was the third concert of theirs I've been able to attend and it truly gets better every time!

[Bear. Kat. Bo. Abby.]
Bear and Bo (NTB band-mates and brothers)
were just casually walking by us when
 I made it a point to get them to take a quick pic with us!

Me and Abby were so close I cried at one point in the night from pure amazement and joy. 

I have never seen Bo dance the way he did on stage before Fandana! 

No zoom.
This is a shot from when Bo came out on the attached stage
and jammed out literally right in front of me.
I basically died.

This boy did not stop moving all night!

NTB won my heart by their humility and heart for God. Their music subtly introduces their faith but does so in a way that appeals to those who may not have faith in God. Also, a couple of their albums (The Heat and The Reckoning) take me back to when me and Alexx began seeing one another. Those albums in particular remind me of the confirmation God gave me and continues to give me in being with him. 

Bear walking out on the attached stage!

Bear leading us in a moment of a cappella.
Beautiful.

Other than NTB's angelic voices, impressive dance moves, and incredible musical talent, this show helped me in reconnecting with my Maker by providing a lively environment where I generally tend to loosen up and become receptive to what God wants to reveal to me.

I was able to examine my heart, think about various things happening in my life but ultimately realize that surrendering my burdens and worries to The One who knows best is what will bring a peace that surpasses all understanding. (Philippians 4:4-7)

  

Another week of amazing shows has gone by and my wallet's become much thinner, but hey, 

Experiences > Paper