Hi! Long time without a post. You're shocked, I know. I'm currently in Berlin, PA chillin with my Nonna after her hip surgery. I think I'll do a post on my week of senior citizen livin' later in the week because as of right now I'm only on Day 2. So far the day is scheduled around when we'll eat next, day time television, and pill takin time. We even had a grand adventure and sat on the back porch a while. I'll be honest, I thought I was going to have a hard time with this schedule. But, so far I'm loving it. It is a simple life and I am going to enjoy it this week. I'm also really enjoying taking care of Nonna. I think there is value and a great love in taking care of your elders, and I'm honestly glad I'm getting the opportunity to do it. I look forward to give you a full recep of my senior citizen livin' at the end of the week!

Side note: I'm watching The Voice and yall Adam Levine is flawless. FLAWLESS. Also that model girlfriend of his broke up with him and broke his heart and I am ticked. How dareth she!! I don't care that she herself is a model and is also flawless...who does she think she is!?

I'm going to make a declaration. I am going to workout 5 days in a row this week. Day 1: check! Seriously, if I can't work out everyday this week I have no excuse. If I can't squeeze in a run between The Ellen Show and my afternoon nap then I just GIVE UP! I hope this public declaration gives me motivation or at least it may shame me into doing it on Day 5.

T-minus about a month and a half before I leave for San Angelo. Just typing that gave me a weird pressure in my chest. I'm nervous. I'm also feeling about as ready as I can possibly feel. This past year has been an interesting one for me. I feel like I have grown in independence and self-assuredness, and I have zero clue has this happened. I just know I feel different than I did a few months ago. I've noticed I am holding myself to more "adult" standards so maybe that's why I feel more mature? Maybe some of your are shaking your heads and saying "aw, that's cute. She thinks she's more mature." All I know is that I am not yet 23 (and I haven't been in any hurry to be 23), but for the past 6 months I've beening throwing around the "I'm 23 years old" card either to prove to my parents I'm an adult and that they have to treat me like one, or when something silly and immature happens to point out that my friends and I are adults and we have to act like it. Haha because clearly 23 year olds are so much more mature than 22 year olds. I guess I'm already feeling 23, and this is the first time that I've felt a certain age before I was actually there. I know I'm not perfect and nor will I be. I will probably throw a fit like a middle school girl at some point, but for the most part I just feel like this upcoming birthdays will be on of those ones where I wake up and feel older. Ok, let's end this scene of introspective-ness


That's all :)

Blog O' Pictures

I haven't done a post in a while so I thought I'd let pictures and captions do the talking :] I will say this though...I cannot wait for Fall. I want the cold. I want scarves. I want boots. I want hats. I want to watch football in the cold. I want soup. I needs it all!! Cometh cold front :)

Amanda, Liv, and Katie J: Out to dinner for Liv's Bday! Its a place that only serves Mac n Cheese dishes. Amazing. 

lurve them :]

Then we went for cupcakes 

After dinner and cupcakes we went to a bar in Houston that has private karaoke rooms. I cannot begin to explain how fun this is. I want to do it everyday!

Katie J 

Naturally, we had props

Too. Much. Fun

Nicole, me, Liv, Diana

Me saying goodbye to Rhonda. Little did I know that in about  2 minutes I would get the news that there was an issue with the bank loan and I would not be able to take my new baby car home. Rhonda LIVES! 

Bye Rhonda. She was good to me. She was a hardy steed. Surviving flash floods, large tree limbs, and roommate driving :]  Apparently she'll be going to Mexico :/

Katie J saying goodbye

Me! In my new car! Finally! I love him! I realize there are no pictures of the actual car. I shall work on that.

This is Oliver, our office fish. I've never seen a fish more spoiled. 

Woe, despair, and devastation. We planned to go to the Texas State fair to let our inner elementary selves go crazy to some Hanson. They cancelled the night before because they got "sick". Booo, you whore, Indeed!

Despite our disappointment we went anyways and had a lovely time. Fried shat everywhere! And no I could not bring myself to experience Fried Butter 

Ugly Mo

Fried S'more! 

Very excite

This was a real pumpkin!
Kristen: "I don't understand why this isn't a point of interest on the map! People NEED to see this!" 

I copied. It was too cute. 

Statues O' Butter!!

Como say what?! Yes, made entirely of butter

The one "ride" we did was a fun house called Bubble Town. Did we know it was called Bubble Town before we paid to go in? Nah. It wasn't until we got to the end hallway that was completely covered in bubbles that we realized our messy mistake. The girl in the pink shirt on the left (with bubbles in her hair) was "part of the attraction". She hung out in the bubble tube of doom and terrorized people with bubbles. Kinda had to be there to appreciated how funny it was. 

She's so hot. And she's gonna be a hot nurse. My friend got into nursing school! 

Me, Eliza, Kristen, Amanda, and J celebrating Kristen and her hotness/getting into nursing school

Dear Diry: 4th Edition

For you're entertainment...

9-10-97

dear diry,

we had a sud today 

his name is Mr Young

he is so quit and his handwriting is wors then mine

he wocks like a robot 

"we had a sub today. His name is Mr. Young. He is so quiet and his handwriting is worse than mine. He walks like a robot." 

Bashing the sub...nice. 

9-13-97

dear diry, 

I had the most wonderful day of my life

Clay Hollend said he likes me. 

I told him I liked him to. So we,re not emberiss 

I heart this post! Me and Clay liked each other and we were NOT embarrassed!! I actually like 3rd grade Katie's version of embarrassed. Its a lot more fun to say emberiss. We was not emberrissed, we was not ashamed, and we was likin' each other. Congrats to you, 3rd grade Katie. 

*the picture of this post wasn't great. The lighting was weird and you couldn't read the page*

9-15-97

dear diry 

Clayton likes me I can't belive it

I like him to

I have a terrible, terrible memory but I actually remember the feeling of Clayton liking me back. Twas glorious. Haha 3rd grade Katie thought it was love. She's so cute. 

I can't even really tell you what this post says but its full of anger and aggression. As far as I can tell I was upset with one of my friends, vented to my diry and wrote mean things, then later felt bad and slashed through it with my pencil. 

That's all for now! 

Life Update: Purr like a cat style...edited edition

  This weekend I went to College Station to see friends and watch the heartbreak that was A&M v. OSU. The sickening feeling I had was too familiar. I hated watching them fall apart to OSU again. But, as Ags learn to do, I brushed it off and had a really great weekend. You can't help but get all warm and fuzzy inside being in College Station.

A few highlights from the weekend....

•  Hanging out with John. I had such a great time with him. He also said one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. It went something like this...

JT: (watching Tannehill on TV) "Hey Katie you should marry Ryan Tannehill"
Me: "Ohmygosh do you think he would like me?"
JT: "Yeah, I think he would."

Then the conversation spiraled out of control to the point where it was decided that John would quit his classes and social life and his sole purpose would be to track down Tannehill and tell him that he found his future wife, muah, and set up our rendezvous. Today I texted John to ask him for his address.
      
         His response...
      
         JT: "Are you getting married?"
         Me: "Um have you found Ryan Tannehill yet?"
         JT: "Touche...I have not"

         I love me some JT

• Tailgate fun with margaritas in bag form and foam fingers

• Staying with and getting to hang out with my new friend Mary. She had three tests so our hang out time wasn't nearly enough, but I'm ob freaking sessed with her. She's really sweet and beautiful. She writes lovely notes. And I think she gets Katie J and I's humor...I hope. 

• Seeing so many friends and I had a lot of conversations with people I enjoyed. Some were really sweet. Some were very funny. Some made me purr with happiness. Yeah kinda exactly  like a cat but more metaphorically. 

• Doing a classic NG trip that didn't involve a whole lot of drama. All around fun night. This picture was taken at one of the bars and I love it. I want it in large poster form and I want to hug Cliff for being on my wavelength. 

  * if you want an adequate view of some crazy eyes I suggest you click the picture*

Life at home has been sorta surprisingly pleasant. Besides getting in pointless tiffs with my mother over Hawaiian BBQ sauce it has been lovely. I've been trying to rock a positive attitude about it so I think it helps. I'm getting into the swing of things at work and I really do enjoy doing my job well and being all assistanty and such. I don't know how long this will last but I kinda like wearing big girl grown up clothes and I'm using that as an excuse to make trips to Target during my lunch break. I lack big girl grown up clothes.

Sidenote: If you know me even a little bit you know that I hate shopping. Yet, Target seriously makes me all happy and fluttery inside, and I not so metaphorically purr like a cat walking inside. Its a safe shopping space. 

  I'm enjoying my guiltless reading because I don't have to worry about studying or applying for graduate school. It really is one of the best feelings I've felt in a long time. Semi Grad Perk! I'm also loving Zumba class at the gym. I really feel like I would be the last person to admit it but it really is a great workout. I told Katie J that my goal is to "make my arms look good when I dance." I may have actually used the word "sexy," but that is a bit ambitious. And by good I mean not like a special white girl. I think its because my arms are like 2 inches too long for my body so I just look awkward when I try to move my legs, my butt, and my arms at the same time. My arms seem to be the first part not able to keep up so they kinda limply flail where they want while the rest of me concentrations fiercely on my feet. My arms look kinda something like they did when I had my major freak out on the Jumbtron at an A&M game my sophomore year. If you know the story, picture that. Yet, I shall Zumba on! 

That really is my life right now and I'm liking it. Totally do-able and its been awesome to feel prayers being answered. 

Today I read the quote "God is easy to find. Look wherever there is love." 

Reading this couldn't have come at a better time and it made my day. I sat there and prayed with it for a while. Its not mind blowing or anything I didn't know, but it was reassuring. It will be reassuring in times of prayer and adoration or when I'm in Mass and I'm frustrated because I'm not "feeling" the things I want to. For the times I feel disconnected from God I know I can just look to all of the love He has put in my life and encounter Him. It makes my soul purr like a cat when I think about all of the love in my life. Sorry I can't stop with the purring. 

And on that note its bed times. Pip pip! Cherrio!  

Dear Diry, Number 3

4-16-97


My brother was born it 
was the happy
day 

I thought this one was sweet! I wish I had underlined, bolded, and drew a fluffy cloud around "the" so it had a little more significance. THE HAPPY DAY! Next year on my brother's birthday I'm going to deem it an official Cugini Holiday and call it MICHAEL'S BIRTHDAY: THE HAPPY DAY and everyone will say "Merry Happy Day to you, good sir!". I'm glad I deemed the day my brother was born as a happy one. Sadly (and strangely), I only have a few memories of that day so I'm also ticked 2nd grade Katie didn't write more. What's a diary for, kid??
* This post was actually from 2nd grade.


So I write one sentence about my brother's birth but I write an ENTIRE page on Princess Diana's death. I didn't even know who she was until she died, but I do remember being very confused about it because I had no idea that "real princesses" existed. I think it upset me a lot because I find out princesses are real then she died. Not so fairytalelish.

dear diry   8-31-97

princess diana died today
it was very sad
the driver was going a 150 miles an hour
they hit the pole and she died. 
The bodyguard was still a live
but he could not toke so he could not tell the stoy because his
mouth go hurt
it was very sad.
she was very nice and helpful

Complete with a picture I cut out of the newspaper.


dear diry 9-5-97


Dear Diry 


Paul say I was nice 
he didnt let some other girls cut
but he let me cut

Ok people. When I read this entry I laughed so hard I snorted. First, allow me to translate the situation a little bit. I think what happened was other girls tried to cut in front of Paul in the lunch line but he didn't let them and instead let me cut. I don't know how 3rd went for yall but at our 3rd grade this was clearly a flirtatious gesture. He then told me I was nice. This day was a good day for 3rd grade Katie. But by far the best part is the illustration. This is a piece of work.

"Your nice"
...."I am"
I'm glad we were on the same page

I said this with many different inflections trying to understand why I would draw something like this....(and yes I know I'm using "your" incorrectly)

"your nice"       "your nice"           "your nice"                                            
..."I am?"          ...."I am?!?!?"   ....*shrugs nonchalantly* "I am"      

"your nice"
....."I am!!!" (in a completely geeking out, thank goodness you finally noticed sorta way!)

So. good.

For the record: I was nice. I was too nice. I would run home to my mom and cry about how ANOTHER KID got in trouble and yelled at by the teacher. Something was seriously wrong with me. That reminds me of a story that I'll leave you with...

 I was a sheltered child. After the first day of kindergarden (half day kindergarden actually. That shat was amazing) I was riding home on the bus and I sat next to a fellow kinder named Drew. Drew was a girl. As soon as we sat down in our seat girl Drew whiped out a pencil and started POKING HOLES IN THE SEAT!!!!!!! There just aren't enough exclamation points to convey my horror. I vividly remember being completely disturbed by what I was witnessing. What kind of savage pokes holes in a bus seat? Wasn't she afraid of getting YELLED at? It was a complete monstrosity to kinder Katie. Now I'm not proud of this next moment because no one likes a tattle-tale, but I had to make the madness stop. So I said to girl Drew, "if you don't stop I'm going to tell the bus driver."

She then turned to me

and said

"SHUT. UP"

And I had NO idea what this meant. But, I did shut up. The rest of the bus ride I quietly contemplated what this could mean. When I got home I asked my mom what "shut up" meant, and she told me that it was a very mean way to tell someone to be quiet. I remember feeling so hurt and confused. Why would someone be mean to me? I burst into tears and cried for a very long time.

It has been a long, hard road from that moment (the moment I learned that people could be mean) to develop a semblance of a backbone. But now I can laugh at that story so all is well :]

Goodnight!

Dear Diry, Number Two

Haave you met 3rd grade Katie? Obsessed with a boy named Paul.

dear diry     9-3-97


thiers a boy I like in my class hes so cute 
but hes likes Jese 
thats heart bracking 
his name is PAUL

That illustration is heart bracking! There must have been some serious angst to inspire that drawing.


Dear Diry        9-4-97

I think Paul like me a little but still 
likes Jese I think he likes me 
secod     2 

I 

Ok, I have serious beef with this entry. Did 3rd grade Katie have no self-esteem? No self worth? Who gets excited about being second fiddle?

I want to sing Katie Perry's "Firework" to 3rd grade Katie, give her a hug, and tell her to move on!

That's all for now :]

Guest Blog on How to Lose a Girl In One Date!

Hallo there!

     If you don't read Elise's blog "How to Lose a Girl in One Date"....

1. Go read my guest blog post called "It started off, 'Hey cutie, where you from?"
2. Then go read the rest of her blog. It's hilarious and amazing.
3.  If you have any stories that can and should be published on H2LG1D, get in touch with Elise! She needs stories to keeping the blog running...I would hate for her to resort to seeking out the randos and the bad dates just for the sake of  a good story :]

How to Lose a Girl in One Date