Little Ways

Hello again!
You know, I can never think of a good way to writing something without diving right into the action. Its always been that way too. All my stories or essays have just cut to the chase and I don't know what to do about it!
So, to stick with tradition, I will cut to the chase!!
It has been exactly a week since school ended and goodness it has been exactly what I had imagined. Friday I basically took advantage of it being the first day of Summer break and was just lazy, slept in till noon and lounged around the house. But later my older brother graduated from College so we went to that ceremony and then to his Fiancé 's house for a little family celebration. On Saturday I went to my younger cousins graduation from highschool and my best friends. I felt so old over there, even though I only graduated last year it just kind of hits you when people you always hung out with are behind you a year.(If that makes any sense)
Now here's the best part; Sunday we started on the garden!! I raked out the entire garden and planned it out, then my mom and younger sister helped plant. We got cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, and a squash planted. After that at about 4:20 I went to Mike's graduation. And let me just tell you, I felt REALLY old over there! Most of the kids that were there hadn't even graduated. When one girl asked my age and I said 20 in January she just kind of stood there looking at me like "Wow...I thought you were 15..." I really don't look my age. Right now it seems like a curse, but I'm sure in about 40 years I'll be very thankful. ;)

That party was really fun, despite all the younger kids. While I was there something hit me...I realized this was the first time I had ever gone out on my own to one of my own friends places and hung out. I had always hung out with friends from church, ALWAYS. I felt proud of myself! And what was really great was the fact that I could easily talk to complete strangers and hold conversations! I guess the credit for helping me be more outgoing should go to my mom and best friend. They really pushed me to get me out there. Oh, and some credit to Colin. If he hadn't been a dork in Public Speech class, I'd be still shyly murmuring to people from a dark corner. ;D

Anyway, moving on! This week...Yikes. Let me just say, it has been one loooooong week. I hadn't really realized how hectic home had gotten now that dad was home all the time. Being at school really kept me sane, believe it or not. I can't really describe my dad...He cannot be doing nothing. EVER. This week he has started at least 5 projects, at once, and not finished one. He ripped up our front yard because we needed "parking space", he tore apart out laundry room to put a freezer in(granted we did need that new freezer) but the laundry room floor is a mess. Not to forget about the bathroom floor of course, that thing still doesn't have flooring...haha. Let's see...What else? Oh, on Sunday he said he would make bean and pea polls for the plants. He never made them and has yet to make them. We need them soon too!

Today we took apart our pantry cupboard in the kitchen and he put bigger shelves in. Again, granted we did need the shelf space it could have waited till everything else was done. He starts these little things without finishing any of the other little things and soon the house is a chaotic mess and he blames us for being unorganized!...*deep breath*
Lord, give me thy patience. How on earth are you so patient with us, dear Lord? I know you must get pretty impatient with me...Always being angry and all. I can't figure out how to just calm down...Sometimes I'm accused of being like my dad and man that just burns me up. I don't want to be like my dad and yet it's sooo hard to be patient and calm with everyone in this family. They're all at this point in their lives where they just seem very annoying to me. As if they are doing everything on purpose. But even when they don't do things on purpose and I get angry they retaliate by throwing fists or yelling and such.
I just really need to get away.....As I've said many times before.

Anywho! Tonight I am going to try something with myself.
After being outside all evening planting kholrobi, beats and pumpkins in the garden while thinking of anything and everything(and saying my night time prayers, which I must say was very relaxing) I came inside and watched a movie called Therese. It's about Saint Therese the Little Flower. I had always been fascinated by her, considering her my patron saint. However she had always just been a "good little girl" to me.
The movie, although very poorly acted, made me realize that doing good deeds in a small way isn't easy. At one point Therese was accused of breaking a pot which she found on a pew. She was about to object but sucked it up and suffered the consequences. I would have found that impossible to do!! I would have gotten angry and kept on objecting.
This coming week I am going to try my very hardest to stay happy. At the beginning of Summer break I told myself that now that I had more free time I would work on being kinder to the people around me. Honestly, I failed in that because I've gotten in big trouble 3 times by my mom since then. Sheesh that sounds so immature and childish, to get in trouble for back talking or fighting...
Anyway, I am going to work on that, try not to frown(I swear I wear a perpetual frown) and try to keep my temper down. This is going to be hard since my dad is home. I never lose my temper in front of him because I know the consequences would be severe so I always turn my anger on everyone else. Not a good habit!
So, to end this blog I would like to share a couple of prayers to help me in my trial.

For patience...
Dear Heavenly Father,
Praise be given to Your Holy name for Your forbearance and mercy. You have dealt gently with Your children in love. You have been patient with me in my humanness and stubbornness.Lord, through the work of Your Spirit, prompt me to be more jubilant in hope, more patient in times of trouble, and more consistent in my prayer life. Teach me, Lord, to wait with faith and expectancy, and may my trials be seen as times for growth in grace. Through Christ our Lord, I pray. Amen.


For..Anger management. x(
I beg you, Heavenly Father, to help me to be slower to anger than I am now, to stop lashing out at others with harsh and angry words and if I do, to seek their forgiveness immediately, to be quick to forgive.

In Your Son's name,

Amen

God bless you all and I hope you are having a much better beginning to Summer break than me. But if it is worse, than may God aid you first! =)

In Christ Jesus,
~Katherine.

*Saint Therese the Little Flower, pray for me*

"You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love at which we do them."

Computer Piano Projects

I wanted to add these. These are two of 4 of my projects I did for my Computer Piano class.
I created some quick(And when I say quick I mean quick) slide shows to go along with the music. I just wanted to show the music but didn't know how to share my music without turning it into a video. SO! Enjoy but listen to the music more than focusing on the slide show. x)

P.S. The program we used in class was EPIC. I'm sad it's over, I had fun with that thing. If you're interested look up Reason 5. It is amazing what you can do with it!


Project 2: It was just an assignment to do whatever but the music had to be a certain amount of measures long.

And

Project 3: This assignment we had to create a song that might be used in a movie. Mine turned out more of either a memorial tribute, a trailer, or the ending to a movie. (It had to be a minimum of 2 1/2 minutes long)

Wow, I always wait too long!

Oh my, where do I begin? It's almost been a month since I last posted and by golly a lot can happen in a single month!
Seriously though, I'm not sure where to begin! First, personal news before social!
So, I told you about my dads company and how he has to sell it, correct? Well, the day finally came. As of the 4th, I believe it was, my dad sold his company. We are now living off the money that the company was sold for until whenever my dad can find a new job. I don't mean to sound like a horrible daughter, but I hope and pray he finds one soon. He isn't an at-home dad. He goes crazy trying to find something to do and ends up just getting in a bad mood and spreading that bad mood all through the house. Unfortunately, he was offered a job in Idaho. Sure, it's a great job, it comes with benefits you could only imagine! It's our last resort, but let me just tell you, if we have to move, I'll be moving into my college until I'm done, then I'll find an apartment in or around our little town. I grew up here all my life, we've lived in the same house for 18 or the 19 years of my life. I could never imagine moving 2 States away. Never!

There are so many memories here, change is my biggest weakness. Growing up...Moving on...Leaving the past for something new. Maybe this sounds appealing to most people, it's normal. But me and my family, we're not quite normal you see. ;) Ok, I'm getting all sentimental, I need to stop before I start tearing up...Haha! SO! Moving on to better news, my sister and I MIGHT have a car by Monday or Tuesday. It's my brother's fiance's grandma's 1999 Saturn. Yeah, old, granny car...But you want to know what else it is? FREEDOM! I can go exploring and be alone and be away from this crazy house, haha!
However, I am going to be searching for a job like freaking crazy because next year my Financial Aid for college wont be enough to provide for tuition and classes and books....Not to mention the car payments and gas to/from school. Dang I hate money, but it's so weird, this little green papery thing and those shiny metal disks is what practically runs the whole world. It's just crazy and blows my mind!

So, what else about my personal life? Well, not too much. Now that school is over (As of today actually, and I'll get to that next) I really don't know what to do other than look for a job. My school was what ran my whole life. It was something to do and I was able to make lots of friends and actually meet up with them in the same place without having to plan anything. =) Sadly, Summer is here. People have places to go, other people to see...Whenever I plan anything it never seems to work out. So! I will have to wait to be invited to something...Or just talk to people on Facebook...(LAME!)
Oh, speaking of planning things, haha, I went up Mt. Peak again! On Saturday the 4th. With Colin. Just Colin. It was kind of awkward because we had gotten two other people to go with us, but they ditched at the last second. I really wanted to go up though because it was a gorgeous day finally, so he and I just went up. It went fine, of course. I was actually expecting it to be a lot more awkward, but him being Colin of course, we had plenty to talk about...Kind of, haha.

SO! Speaking of friends, my Social Life!
My last post I was just rambling about how much I love nature. Well, Mother Nature and God got together one day and, as a last few weeks of school prank, set the schedule for our weather. We have gotten week after week of rain. Not very encouraging with Finals that were coming! Fortunately for us the weekend and today, my last day, was nice! Finals were relativity easy, got a 94% in my History final, and an 80% in my Math (Actually that was my worst score all quarter...xP) and I'm not sure what I got on my Music final.
I'm going to rewind just a little. This is going to lengthen my post a little bit but I feel I gotta talk about it.

I started College Spring 2010. I didn't really learn much then, I was new to everything and the whole quarter passed in a whirlwind of new experiences, both exciting and frightening. I took Math, Choir, Kick Boxing, and Psychology. Math I learned that I hated in-class math classes. Choir I learned that there are some crazy people in the world but also that I really and truly enjoy singing as loud as I can to my hearts content. Kick Boxing I learned that, even when you feel as if your lungs are going to collapse and your about to just die on the exercise mat, I still had a lot of energy.(And also that working out to music rhythmically is really fun!) In Psychology I learned that there are some pretty creepy and perverted teachers out there, but no matter what, you gotta just keep going till you reach the end. (I found that ignoring his lectures I did better in class, haha!)
After that quarter Summer began, I graduated, got a job, things were getting more and more new.

As Fall Quarter came closer that same feeling of dread came to me. I wasn't returning to my familiar high school with all my friends. I was going to College. This time for 3 whole quarters, one after the other.
So, Fall began! I took Math again, Piano, and Public Speech. In Math, I learned that online math classes are THEE best! (If you ever need a good math program to learn from Hawks Learning is the best!)
In piano I learned that, sure, I love playing the piano. But reading notes is such a bloody drag! I would rather make up my own songs than spend hours on a song I may never master for years.(And yet it's so rewarding in the end...xP I'll have to work on that over Summer!)
Now, here's the best one yet, Public Speech. I will never forget that class! I was my usual shy self, Sat in the back next to foreign exchange students from Asia who hardly spoke English while all the outgoing people were all up front. I remember clearly a very special day. I swear God smacked me in the head with a hammer, because I don't know what came over me! That day I got to class, I think it was about 3 weeks into the quarter. There were only a couple of students in class, the teacher wasn't there yet. I sat in my usual spot, all alone in the back. I got my book and notebook out and sat waiting. Then, there was the Heavenly hammer!! I shut my books, grab my backpack, rose from my seat and sat in the middle row where the usual talkative people sat. Something inside of me was telling me that I wanted something more. I wanted my own friends and God sure as heck heard me!

As students filed in and took their usual spots, a girl named Danielle sat to my left, a guy named Isaac to my far right, and to my immediate right sat a guy named Colin. He sits down turns to me and smiles as he says "Hey! You moved up from the back, hi!" Thus began the best class I will probably ever know. The teacher was AMAZING and the students I sat with were just as cool. Well, ok I lied, just those three I named. ;D Danielle and I would talk about usual girls stuff while we cringed and plugged our ears when the two boys talked about politics and guns.(Though, I would chime in now and then about exploding stuff. Hey, I grew up with two older brothers) Anyway, it was great! But alas, the quarter was winding down to an end. Fortunately for me I found out that a guy I (sortof) met in Choir of Spring, who was also my friend on facebook, was neighbors with Colin so naturally I found him on facebook too. Sadly Isaac didn't have facebook and Danielle and I didn't exactly get that close and I haven't seen her since then.
Thus ended the best and my second quarter.

Winter Quarter wasn't too bad either, but I'll go fast since I've already written so much and still have today to cover! Winter Quarter, I took Math..yet again, Weight Training(suggested by Colin for my required PE) and online Photography. Math, nothing new here except for a few formulas, Weight Training; I love working out and also even if I did talk to guys in Public Speech I still couldnt work up enough nerve to talk to that one cute guy!! And Photography, well, my sister is a professional photographer so nothing much new there.
I still talked with Colin over facebook now and then, I even got his number for texting. (I was going to ask him in Public Speech but it was easier over facebook, haaaah!) And actually the first day of classes I saw him and Isaac for a split second (each at different times). Anyway, about mid-way through the quarter I said, on facebook, that I hated being shy around people. Colin commented saying I should hang out with him and his group of friends, I wouldn't be shy after that! I remember feeling a little awkward and slightly afraid. After all, there are some pretty strange people out there. But I did end up meeting up with them that week. I met the group which included Mike and found out there was a girl who was at my highschool so I kind of knew her. Thus, more friendships were beginning to blossom! And that was really all Winter Quarter was.

Now, Spring Quarter. Oh. My Goodness. Ok again I lied, THIS was the best quarter. I took Math 97, Ancient History online, and Computer Piano.(Again suggested by Colin who was taking it with Mike) In Math 97, I learned that taking an in-class math class is CRAZY. I don't know how people do it. My sister and I dropped the class after 3 weeks and got into another Math 97 class...Online! We had to catch up though, so I ended up doing 13 lessons in 5 days. The average lessons in 5 days is about 3...It was heck.
In History I learned that yes, there are people out there who believe that we evolved from monkeys...and that's actually very very very very INSANE. Goood grief Charlie Brown!! Professors are just really and truly brain fried aren't they? Anyway, I also learned that I want to be a teacher, yes, but I want to minor in History. I love History! I love learning about the past, and I also found out I love learning about other cultures and religions. It's all just so fascinating. =)
Aaaaaaand best of all...Computer Piano....<3
Best. Class. Ever. (Right up next to Public Speech, haha) First off, this class was awesome. It was basically what the name says. You play the piano connected to a computer and it records it and you can do amazing things! I became closer to Colin and Mike and also met two other guys, Jason and Miles. I'm not really that close to them because I wasn't really open till about the last 4 weeks of the quarter. Anyway! The class was just awesome and I got to hear so many cool creations.
Over that quarter I also became closer to the "Gang" which we were named now. And I was officially apart of it! There are about 6 people not including Colin, Mike and myself.
So, now to the last week. Tuesday was my second to last day, I wouldn't be seeing the Gang again till maybe Fall quarter(I'm not sure who all is graduating from the college or not) so we all went to Subway and just hung there for awhile. A friend dropped me and Colin off back at the school afterward, he left and I waited for the bus. It was very nice but rather sad...I really don't know when I'll see them again. =(
As for today, I woke at 4:40 because my ride had to leave earlier than usual. At 8 I did my Math final(2 and a half hours long!!) And at 11 I went to our last day of Music class. We sat through an hour and a half of songs and I was very sad when it was beginning to end. Fortunately for me Colin decided he would be nice and give me and Mike rides home! I was so glad that I didn't have to take the bus. On the way home we stopped by Taco Bell and also met up with Miles.(Funny guy!) I had never been to Taco Bell before so I took up 10 of the 30 minutes we spent there just trying to decide what to eat! It was so funny, the guys were done in 10 seconds each and when I took longer than 5 minutes they thought I was worried about calories. Silly boys...not calories....Money! I finally just got a hard taco and Dr. Pepper. =P
It was nice, we talked about school, which led to Summer, which led to jobs, which led to fast food, which led to the disgusting but entertaining topic of fat people...Hahahahaha!! I thought I was going to choke on my taco while laughing at them.
Anyway, Colin drove us home and now I have been home ever since.

Argh...All that goodness is gone. I have to wait till my little freedom comes so I can drive around for hours to find a job and waste my summer working instead of hanging with friends, which is what I should have been doing for the past 3 years. Blah, they always say "Your life is just beginning!" and yet it's the first 20 years that are spent with fun and carefree-ness. My 20 years are almost spent. The rest will be worrying about money, college, money, maybe a love life, college, work, money and repeat.

If you haven't noticed, I'm a pessimist most of the time. Hehe, I give God a hard time making my life good. x) BAD!
On the bright side...Uhm....OH! I'm still alive and God loves me with all his heart! =) That's one person I don't have to worry about forgetting about me or not including me in his plans. <3

So, without further adieu, God, you are greater than anyone could ever imagine. Everything you do is for a reason, good or bad. In this case, you have made my first year at College a success. I give you thanks from the bottom of my heart and am excited(and a little terrified) about what Summer will bring.

Your faithful daughter,
~Katherine

P.S. Who knows when I'm going to post next but hopefully it won't come close to 3 pages...SORRY!