Christmas SLC Style

So Greg took me downtown Salt Lake to see the lights.  It was gorgeous and a super fun date, if not super freezing date too.  The temps were very low, but our spirits were super high!  Here are some pics of the date and to prove that we did not turn into icicles--although it was certainly cold enough.

Us

Well as some of you may have noticed, the title of the blog has changed.  It was once Katherine's Blog and now it is Greg & Katherine's Blog. That's because (drum roll please)

WE'RE ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hahaha! Yep it's true, we are officially engaged and have been since Friday, November 20, 2009! Yeehaw we're excited.  I'm glad and happy and more than ecstatic to introduce you all to Greg.

Ta da! Here he is! Pleased to introduce you to Greg.  We are so excited and will be updating our blog (hee hee so fun) soon.  We'll also probably start a wedding webpage or something of the sort to keep you all updated on the countdown to the big day and so on and such and such! Hooray!

Whoever decided Mosquitos were a good idea....

Official count from the last 24 hours: 38 bites!!!!!!!!!!! all red, all burning, all itching, none dying away


Really it's a total bummer. Thankfully there are none on my face or legs. Unfortunately, all are on my arms and feet----very inconvenient to wear shoes that rub on them and also to wear shirts, no matter which one, because they all rub on them too. Oh well, such is the price to pay for basking in the all too quickly fading summer nights. I swear these mosquitoes are getting better at what they do because I didn't feel a thing until it was too late. So basically all the skin that I was showing in the last 24 hours is covered in the vicious reminders of pesky mosquitoes who are determined to survive on the distracted meal tickets.

So since there are so many mosquitoes, why aren't there more dragonflies? Wouldn't it be lovely if there were just a plethora of these beautiful predators for the mosquitoes? I think so. Besides that they really are pretty. Interesting to note is that dragonflies and mosquitoes seem to look similar.....Anywho, I'll just sit here with my itching and pray that all the scratching, slapping, and nail biting will in some way alleviate the constant reminder that I am single-handedly supporting the mosquito population here in Provo.

Cheers!

Sick

So I am part of the epidemic. I got the dreaded swine flu. I went to the doctor last week right in the throws of it and they said there wasn't anything to do for it except sleep and drink lots of fluids. I got sick on Tuesday and have been coughing until now, still a residual one. But thankfully, the fever subsided. Even more thankfully, I had two friends brave enough and willing to take me to the Health Center in hopes of a remedy. I didn't know it was the swine flu, and well the doc never really said it either...really. She said that I had the flu and it was most probably the swine flu. But most probably isn't definitely. In any case...Greg and Jesus took me to the Health Center, then took my books back to the library (which was AWESOME since I had about 20 and they were huge), and they also took the note from the doctor to my work. Oh man, they came at just the right time. I'm so grateful to them. Pretty awesome dudes. Anywho, I'm pretty much better now. Just a slight cough still and still pretty tired, but other than that healthy.

Jesus (left) and Greg (right) waiting for me and the weighty diagnosis.

My lovely and quite fashionable mask to further delineate the embarrassing truth.

Today is a Special Day

It's my BIRTHDAY!!!
Yipee, hooray!

Twenty-one years later
I feel...uh....wiser?

It's been fun getting here
With all those I hold dear.

Thank you one and all.
You've made life a ball.

From diapers, to training wheels,
To soccer cleats, and finally heels

You've all taught me so very much
From this and that to such and such

I'm no where near all grown up,
But I sure feel like a lady, no pup.

I would not be the person I am today
If it weren't for all of you, so may I say

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I am so very grateful to all of you.

Thank you for your love and support,
And especially patient with my weird quirks.

I love you all for a plethora of reasons:
All the laughs and memories for every season

Let's celebrate and raise a glass
To your success and not letting a moment pass

For a better life filled with dreams
Hopes and bright sunbeams

Thanks for helping me get to today
My 21st Birthday!

Memorial Day Plans

GUESS WHAT?!?!?! I'M GOING TO VEGAS!!!!!!!!
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh Me Oh My

Oh me, oh my!
Where is the sky?

It seems to have fallen down?
Perhaps my world is upside down.

With whirlwind days, and
Brief visits from the Sand Man,

Life seems to just send me to my limits
Then stretch them minute by minute

'Til it seems that I really won't reach any further.
But wait, SURPRISE! Here's yet another

Task for you to push you on and on.
Once you start time is already gone.

But no worries, there's a smile
On my face all the while.

Whether it's fake or it's real,
So long as I tackle with zeal

Each new gift from life's plentiful bag
Of experiences. No time to lag!

Well time is far spent and I'm behind.
Good luck to all, smile all the while. Signed,

Katherine

Slightly Sane Spring Schedule

So upon going to work and classes today and yesterday, marking the start of the new Spring Term, I discovered that my social life will continue in its "on hold" status. My week is as follows:

Mondays and Wednesdays: 9am-2pm Classes; 2-5pm Work; then more than likely the library for hours to do homework.

Tuesdays and Thursdays: 9:30am-2:30pm Work; 4-6:30pm Class; then, once again to the library for homework.

Fridays: 8am-12pm Work; 12-2pm Class; then probably to the library, or finally elsewhere, but more often than not a few hours with Brother Lee.

So my days are pretty packed again. The work load is going to be double since the term is only half as long as a normal. I am looking forward to these classes, however. I'm taking Intro to PR, Modern Art History, and Intro to Astronomy. They are all very intense classes and I already feel behind, but I'm excited. I'll work really hard and then play summer term (heh heh).

Enough with that. I just got back from Moab this past weekend!!!! It was AWESOME!!!!!! I had a blast with some friends. We camped for three days and two nights in Moab. We just went hiking, but it was soooo gorgeous. We hiked all the major arches in Arches National Park. I didn't know it was going to be so windy, but to form those beautiful arhces it makes sense. I also got the first tan lines of the season and look forward to making more throughout the sunny days here inUtah. Here are some pics.

A Woman of Many Talents

I guess I don't share my talents nearly as often as I should because of the comments I received this weekend (which by the way was a complete BLAST!!!!)

So to begin Friday:

Mom and Dad came down to visit me for a few hours because I was receiving an achievement award for Art History. They came and brought Gma with them to come to the award ceremony. I got a scholarship for the Talent Award for the Art History department. I'm not sure exactly what I did, but I'm grateful that I was able to get the scholarship for this spring term. Way cool that Mom, Dad, and Gma would come support me. Thank you so much!!!! We went to dinner and had a blast eating waaaaaaaay too much and enjoying each other's company.

After dinner, received an invite to go play night games in Rock Canyon Park. Suuuuuuupppeeeerrrr fun. We played Dot. It's an extreme game of hide'n'go seek. There are 4-5 check points and 1 seeker that stands in one spot. He calls out a number and has to count 1 dot, 2 dot, 3 dot....etc. for the number he called. While he's counting his eyes are closed and you try to get to as many check points as possible before he stops counting. Once he stops he opens his eyes and tries to spot you. He calls out all the people that he can see and you join him. The point is to try and to reach all of the check points and back to the seeker before anyone else. I made it pretty far a few times, but then I always got caught or someone else won. After that a group of us went behind the temple grounds and rolled down the hill there and then rented a movie. It was fun. The interesting thing was that the people I was with didn't know that I would want to do something like that. They all said in a surprised voice that they were surprised that I was "Crazy." I laughed and told them it was true.

Then came Saturday:

Saturday started early with some boys making breakfast for me and a few friends. They attempted to make eggs benedict and crepes with strawberries. It turned out pretty well for never having made either dish before. After breakfast, I did some laundry...ugh!!!!!!!!!!

But then there was the ward closing social (HIGHLIGHT OF MY DAY!!!) we had a Redneck BBQ. Mmmmm burgers and hot dogs in the rain...football...soccer...tug of war....FUN!!!!! I tossed the football around with some people and then (my favorite part) we started up a game of soccer. We had the barefoot vs. shoes teams. I was on the barefoot team. It was awesome! It was raining, I was soaked, and the field was slick and muddy...my kind of game. I was slipping all over the place and fell a number of times. I was no sissy though. I shoulder tackled and tried my hand at slide tackling (well it was more trying to cover up that I was slipping and falling). I was sprinted to get to the ball and just had fun playing hard with the boys.

After we all came in, I had a number of people come up to me and exclaim their suprise (yet again) that I was so "hard core." No one knew I played soccer or that I would play "so well." It was fun to play and get back in the groove of my competetive athletic nature...like riding a bike. The kicker was when Brother Coplin, one of the bishopric members, came up to me wide eyed and impressed that I could, and I quote "throw like a boy!" His face and surprise was rather entertaining especially combined with the tone in his voice. It was like a line from a movie: " You throw like a boy!" I smiled, laughed a bit, nodded my head, and said a sheepish "thanks." He continued in his awe by describing my form of leading with the correct foot and then how complete my follow-through was. I was rather shocked at his shock and awe. I smiled again and said that I grew up with five boys, so I had better be able to throw like a boy. (THANK YOU BROS FOR MAKING SURE I THROW LIKE A BOY!)

After that I had quite a few invitations to go do things that evening. I've never had so many in one night. It was fun. I already had plans to go to the ballroom dance concert with one of my friends so I had to decline all of the invites. Hopefully I'll be able to raincheck the invites for another day.

Ahh Sunday:

Sooooo, our choir director didn't show up for our rehearsal before Sacrament meeting so I lead the best I could with my violin...interesting. Thankfully he showed up before we had to perform. I played with the choir. After the meeting it seemed like the whole ward came up to me, and again in surprised voices, claimed they didn't know I played the violin. It was even better when I said I've been playing for almost 14 years. I also got several comments on the little cadenza (really just a quick scale up) and how cool it sounded like an electric guitar. I'm not sure if that was supposed to be a compliment, I said thank you anyways. I had one of the guys I played soccer with on Saturday inform me that he and his roommates wanted to put pictures of me all over their walls in their apartment. I laughed and said I'd gladly be their poster child. (Personally I thought that was a bit strange....)

Later on Sunday I had the opportunity to go to Easter dinner with my friend and her family in Kaysville. We were invited to participate in the Easter Egg Hunt and I'm glad we did. Collectively we found $14.25! It was great!


So all in all, I had a splendid weekend. I got beat up pretty bad from all the falling and such, but I will say it was worth it in the end. I am surprised that people didn't know so much about me. I'm very grateful that I was able to share some of my talents this weekend. I'll try harder to share them more often because that's why we are blessed with talents. It reminded me of the parable of the talents and I feel a bit like the servant that buried his talents and did not increase. I'm striving to be more like the first servant that multiplied his to a great degree.

Happy Easter everyone! I hope that we are all able to share our talents more often and lift each other with the gifts that Heavenly Father has blessed and given each of us individually.

Lazy Day

So I was just sitting here at work....
Waiting for some perk....

Yet there was none.
No work to be done.

Homework tugging my sleeve,
Maybe some exercise (wheeze)?

Nah, I'd rather just be content
Sitting here, my buns making a dent

As they afffffffix to the chair at my desk
My eyes longing for a rest.

No date tonight. No pressure. No sweat.
No worry for a second date to set.

Tonight will be mine to whatsoever
Thing I fancy to discover.

Still, I'm open to a change of plans
Should that change include a man (wink, wink)

So here's to hopes for a rescue;
Perhaps some fun too.

Cheers to having a great weekend!
With plans(?), fun(definitely), and friends(heh heh)

Pictures

So here are some pictures of me from my dance competition. The first few are the waltz, then cha-cha, then quickstep.

Whiling away the hours

(for your viewing pleasure)

I wish I had hours to while away, but I'll take a few moments at work to express some thoughts on my mind.

So here I am again at yet another mid-college life crisis. I don't know if Art History is the field for me. I was thinking quite seriously about Public Relations. I don't know though. If any of you have any suggestions about how to reach a final decision, I'd love them.

Meanwhile, I competed last weekend in DanceSport. It's a ballroom dance competition nationally as well as within BYU. I danced the quickstep, cha-cha, and waltz. I made it to quarter finals for quickstep and the cut just before quarters for both cha-cha and waltz. Mom was able to come and watch me. It was so fun to have her here with me for a weekend. I'm really pleased with how my partners and I did. I had three different partners, one for each dance. It was fun. I would hand my shoes to one partner then run to the other one waiting in the line with my other shoes. (For those not aware: when dancing latin dances standard ballroom shoes don't work because you need more flexibility in your toes. So one partner would have my standard shoes, the other would have my shoes that I used for cha-cha). I danced quickstep on Friday and the other two on Saturday. It was super fun.

I did realize that I prefer dancing for fun and not for a competition. Although competing in something was fun and I liked knowing that I still enjoy the adrenaline rush that comes with a competition.

Other than that, life is same, old same old: sleep, school, work, school, school, school, eat(hopefullly), school, sleep(not long enough), repeat.

I'm still the first counselor of my relief society. I still try to do too much. I still don't have dates, other than the one with Dad tonight (Wee hee I'm so lucky!!!! really! I am!)!!!! I still am smiling and I'm still enjoying my life in college. It might be hard and ruthless and a huge struggle to get good grades, but it's all worth it in the end.

Oh, and I've decided to move...yet again. I can't seem to stay in one apartment for more than just two semesters, oh well such is the life here in Provo.

So that's all for now. (See I am getting better at posting stuff ;) )

Correction

So, the dance link didn't work. Sorry. Go to chhpvideo.byu.edu then click on Dance and then on Ballroom and then mine is under aubreycarr or something like that. It's under the first link of aubrey. I'm still the 6th couple. I just watched it and I look really sloppy. Don't worry, I'm working on it.

Okay!

So.....I don't have time when I go home to keep up the blog, but today is slow at work and thus there is time for an update.

First: I hope you are all doing well. I am.....well....let's up it this way---surviving (almost).

Life here at the Y is crazy. I'm super busy with most of every hour of my day planned an filled with things to do. Saturday is really my day. I don't have to turn anything in or be obligated to be anywhere. More often than not, I while it away thinking of all the things I should be doing and am not. But it's still nice to have the option to do that. Sunday's are busy busy busy! I am the first counselor in my relief society and my president is gone often for rugby games. Our meetings begin earlier than I'd ever like to be awake and end later than I would like. But it's fun to be involved and have things to occupy my mind. Cool thing going on now is that Elder Ballard is going to be at my Stake Conference next week! AND I'm in the Stake Choir! I get to see the back of his head for 4 hours!!! Saturday session and Sunday Session! I'm soooo stoked! It's going to be saaweeet!

Hmm...dare I bring up the subject?............................................................Yes. Boys. Well there are quite a few boys here at the Y. Some of them are not too shabby on the eyes...ahem...not that I check them out or anything like that...heh heh. I've been out on a few dates. Some fun. Some not so fun. And some that I'd really rather not remember. My ward is super fun. The boys there are all jokesters and we all have a good time together. Another interesting note is that I've been told that I'm intimidating....all I hear is dating right? No just kidding, but I am serious about the intimidating part. I thought that was interesting. I'm not too worried about it. Carla told me about how the boys in the branch in CO lovingly called us The Professional and the Apprentice. Ha ha ha! Whew, I had a good laugh at that one. You'll have to call her to get the whole story. Super funny though. Anywho, not too much else going on in that department. A date here, a date there-always have a good time when you have a smile on.

School is crazy busy and I find myself wondering what I really want to do with my life. Art History sounded so great before. Now, I think I've hit the mid-college-life crisis. The other thing is, is that I wouldn't know what else to do. I was contemplating Advertising for about a day. Accounting for about 5 minutes. And Under Water Basket weaving for about--well that one still sounds pretty good. I'm going to stay in Provo for both Spring and Summer. I'll take classes during Spring and just work during Summer. No worries, I'll be home for the big adventure in July! WOOT! I'm taking this semester a research writing class for art history (kicking my butt), French 321 (kicking my butt), writings of Isaiah (I like this one), a intro to all kinds of art class (this one is cool, but takes up a ton of time), and two dance classes. One of my dance classes is just the intro to social dance and the other is the intro do standard ballroom. I'm learning the foxtrot, waltz, cha-cha, quick step, triple swing, and I'll learn a few others too. I have some videos if you want to check them out. Don't laugh...k so you can laugh, but don't tell me that you think I look like a pigeon-toed rhino or something crazy like that (wink, wink). Just in case you wanted to check them out they are here. K so I guess there's only the one now, which is a bummer since my waltz one was better. I'm the 6th couple. Just wait for it to load and you can watch it as many times as you care to. I wasn't tested on it so don't worry that I stop and start over a lot, or that my teacher is making comments on form and foot work and so on.

Well other than that, I'm pretty much okay. Just have to remember to schedule time to eat, sleep, have fun, and do some exercise. Work is good. I work at the personal counseling center as a receptionist. The people I work with are super nice and understanding. I'm so grateful to be working. It's a bit of a stress just with classes and a 20 hour work week, but I'm still very grateful for it.

Hope this satisfies for a bit longer. Sorry, I'm something of an update hermit. I'll get better at it.

I'm A Mix

Thanks Honey, that was fun!

Which Disney Princess Are You?
	You are part Jasmine. You are loyal and would visit the ends of the earth for what you believe. You would never let obstacles stand in the way of true love.
	You are part Ariel. You are beautiful but impaired. At times you are naive. Still, your innocence and good heart make you sought after and loved.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com