The Honest Truth

I miss my family. Not in a homesick-need-a-hug type of way, but a life-is-happening-and-I-am- not-there sort of way.
I got this text message from one of them the other day....
"I think you are the fox and I am the hound and we are the bestest of friends. Even though we are growing while we are apart we stay the bestest of friends til the end."
And then a letter today...
"Dearest Kat- Things aren't the same without you. I simply feel better, think better, smile more, sing more..."
One of my sisters turned 18 a couple of weeks ago....this is also her senior year of highschool and her last semester rowing....and I have never been to a regatta.
My two youngest siblings got baptized a couple of Sundays ago.
My older brother is graduating from college. COLLEGE!
I could go on....
But the thing is in their day-to-day lives, I know little of what they face....their trials, joys, triumphs, fears, laughs. I used to know the members of my family better than I knew myself and they knew me better than I did. They are my closest friends, the people I am the most proud of, and the ones I want to share the joy and pain of life with......and now I am just. not. there.
Christ is abundantly sufficient. He knows and cares for me more than anyone ever could....and the same for my family too. It's a comfort, but makes me miss them all the more.

Laughter

Tonight we had our weekly Thursday night-spaghetti diner. The conversation is always lively. Tonight Tom told a story about hitting a deer here in Armada a few years ago....
"It was crazy...I even had deer horns on the front of my car, but they did not do any good."
Christina questioned, "Well, did you use it?!?"
The table erupted with laughter.

My Room

Cupcake Cones with Katie

Sounds like a tongue twister, eh?

Last night I hung out with Katie, a friend of mine. She goes to school over an hour away and because of varying circumstance, I had not seen her since before Christmas. Seeing her is always twofold....a blessing and a curse. She is so fun, but also an amazing baker and I like sweets. Last night we made and decorated this cupcake cones. I had more than my fair share.
Later on we played Wii fit. I don't know if you have ever done this, but it is a pretty fun way to work out....and what I mean by fun is funny, because if you had no idea what people where doing you would think they where crazy. My favorite game was hula hooping, which I am terrible at in real life. The Wii also has a little computer animated personal trainer....where she gets what she says I have no idea. She said things like,
"It is really hard to workout when you are tired, isn't it?"
"If your balance was better, you would be able to complete this exercise."
"If you would workout regularly, this would not be a problem for you."
I thought it was hilarious. I mean, think about it....in the world we like in today the only person that is truly honest with us is some computer that has processed certain information and spits out what it has been programed to say. On second thought, its rather sad.
And now, like on most of my posts, I have no idea how to conclude because I had no real point in writing in the first place.....so I am ending now. Bye.

Beauty from the Inside Out

When we stopped at the Hampton Inn in Ohio, this garage thing was next to the driveway. I thought it was a cool place for some pictures and Christina humored me.

North Carolina

Last Thursday, the 12th, I went out to leave to find that my car would not start. We were planning on leaving for North Carolina early the next morning, so instead of having someone pick me up then, I just stayed at Christina's the night before. We woke up bright and early the next morning and went to Papa's Diner for breakfast. We were at the Schroeder's by 6:45 and we were all rolling out by 7ish.
Let me just say right now that I LOVE traveling. New people, new places, new experiences, great memories, going somewhere....what could be better? On top of that, traveling with The Ezekiel Project is a breeze....for me at least. I eat. I sleep. I talk. I read. I laugh. All for several hours on end. And that pretty much sums it up for me.

(In the car on the way down)

We had to make a quick bathroom stop somewhere in Ohio. The nearest place was the Hampton Inn. When we got there, the were wrapping up their continental breakfast, so they told us we could have anything we wanted. Of course, we obliged them. I remember Chris saying, "Is this provision, or what?!?"

(Christina in front of a map at the Hampton Inn )

I have had some pretty ummm *interesting* experiences in Ohio. Everything that has gone wrong on my trips south and back seem to have gone wrong in Ohio and it is such a loooonnnnnggg state to drive through. But, I realized this time that in spite of all that, Ohio is actually really pretty and diverse. Signing like no one was listening with Barb, Murph, and Christina held the most special moments of the trip.

On our way down to the conference, we stopped at Mountain Top Youth Camp, near Winston-Salem, for the weekend. While there I hiked, rolled on scooter down a hill, went sledding for the first time (yes there was snow there, well, just the last day) rock climbing, and just some good hard playing...and resting. It was so relaxing and so nice just to step away from the reality of life for a few days.
...and you cannot beat the view! I don't think I would ever get used to it....or at least I would never want to.

At the Valentine's banquet, one of the girls I was staying with ran up to me, but something in my hand and said, "For when you leave." It was this sweetheart that said "Miss You" The big heart underneath it is soap, made by the girl's sister. So yes, because of them, not all the fun things or views, but doing it with them and others, that made it an amazing weekend.


And the conference? Well, I have a decade's worth of thinking to do to process it all, so I will write about it then. But seeing my grandfather was wonderful too.

Love, Love, L-O-V-E

One way to show how much you love someone is how much you give up for them....God gave His Son...Christ gave His life. Is there any greater demonstration of love? I submit that there is not. What a wonderful valentine!

I tend not to think much of Valentine's day, but this year I did send some homemade cards to some people that I care about the most. I printed pictures in black and white, wrote in red marker on the front, then made a post card out on the back.

Valentine's night, I went to a chapel that was having an outreach banquet. Several people come, heard the gospel clearly, and I played with the kids. I cannot think of a better way to celebrate God's gift of love.

Guess Who's Packing?

That's right! My trip to North Carolina is here! Well, almost. We leave in the morning. And what is packing without trying out all the outfits?!?