What a gift

I've talked to my dad every day this week.

At least once.

Today twice.

Yeah... good thing I have such a great one.

... for all the times when I'm tired and confused and hurt and sad.

For all the times when life is just too much.

He listens and encourages and stands up for me along the way.

And this year, this week, today especially... has kinda kicked my ass.

So thanks God, for giving me a father who loves me so well.

... All the time.

... Just because I am his.

And thanks for doing that tenfold for each of your children.

What a gift.

Opposites attract...

Richard's reaction to potentially stressful situations. Slightly different than mine... 

Thankful list

I'm thankful for:
- rainy days in Hawaii
- my brothers; my two actual ones and the many others who treat me like a little sister
- fun nail polish colors
- thrift stores
- Richard
- Indian food
- the ocean; even though it separates me from people I love
- the ability to be physically active
- my family; the best in the world
- laughter
- coffee
- my dad who demonstrates fatherly love so well
- angry birds
- friends
- freedom
- brightly-colored running shoes
- brightly-colored running shorts
- long days at the beach
- Taylor swift albums
- times to work hard
- times to play
- blogging

The missing note

My mom, as many of you know, works at a high school in St. Louis. She takes care of more kids than any normal person would ever want to, and she is great at it.

This week was an especially busy time for her and I wanted to send her flowers. I looked at some websites and found similar problems: too expensive, flowers looked crappy, and no one advertised "willing to walk around a crazy high school and search for curly-haired lady who is most likely doing something ridiculous like trying to stop a fight or help a pregnant student get to the hospital".

So I asked my pseudo little sister Stephanie to pick out flowers and write a note from me... and hand deliver them. She was a great sport and took them at just the right time!

Unfortunately, the letter got misplaced. It happens, no biggie.

But since I'm not going to have her rewrite it, I'd add it to the blog where it can be read whenever:)

The note read:

"Mama,

I know these are very busy days for you, and I just wanted to say I love you and think about you all the time. I wish I could be there this week so badly, but I suppose it all works out because I know there are so many kids there that need your time and attention. Thanks for being an incredible mom to me, the boys, and half of inner city St. Louis ; ) We are all so blessed to have you!

Kates"

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, especially my family:)

Quote of the day

"If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague"

... ha.

My great grandmother can take your great grandmother.

Fact... my great grandmother is tougher than me.

A little background: Viola Graff, born 95 years ago, lives on a farm in Minnesota. Which equals a lot of work, a lot of cooking, and A LOT of snow. She and her husband lived on the same farm for some 70 plus odd years (until he passed away a few years ago), where she has tended to her vegetable and flower garden religiously. She has faced family problems, farming issues, and several medical procedures in her lifetime. Not to mention, the loss of her husband. Almost all of her family lives in other places.

Yes, I come from farm people. Which is sort of ironic since I don't like to cook, be in cold weather, grow anything, wake up early, or stay focused on any given task for very long.

Somewhere I have farmers genes though...

Yesterday I received a call about my great grandmother. She was apparently shoveling the snow (several feet of it was on the ground...), and when coming in the house wearing her snow boots, slipped down an entire flight of stairs--only to land on a cement floor. :(

What did she do, having landed very hard on the floor (which we later learned caused two breaks in her tibia)????

She proceeded to pull herself up the entire flight of stairs to reach a telephone and get help.

She had surgery last night and she seems to be recovering well (praise God).

Okay so putting aside that this was really sad and it kills me that she was in so much pain... I just HAVE to go on the record of saying, that this story is completely bad ass. I mean, this woman has the pain tolerance of a super hero and continues to amaze me with just how strong she is.

95 years old, people. Shoveling snow, falling down the stairs, and handling it. That's crazy.

Further proof that our generation is soft.

Obviously I wish this incident would never have happened. But being that it did, I just can't help but think that my grandma, a woman of faith, in all her years and all her experiences, is pretty darn tough.

If it were me, I probably would have laid there complaining to God and feeling sorry for myself.

She is kind of my hero today.

And frankly, next time I begin to get so bogged down by issues that are minute in the grand scheme of things, I hope I can remember her strength and pray to be more like that:)

In all seriousness though, please be praying for her recovery and all that it entails. Clearly a tough woman, but I pray her pain will be minimal.

Not so pretty huh?

I have become a poor blogger because my IPhone fills that desire to use technology:).

Okay, maybe not. Maybe I'm just being a slacker because I don't have too much I'm proud to say right now.

But an update all the same:

I have been working more than ever... praise God for that. But I find that the hours of cleaning and chasing kids leave me with little energy or emotion to devote elsewhere. Although this is truly exhausting, it's also perhaps a blessing because I have a tendency to possess more energy and emotion than I know what to do with:).

If I'm honest, I'd say my biggest struggle at the moment is that life isn't going just as I had planned; according to my timeline and up to par with what I think it should look like. And in that disappointment, I struggle to know how to act and what to do.

I know, I know... I'm healthy. I get to see my family soon. I'm loved well. I have work. I have shelter. I have food. I have friends. I have a very sweet boyfriend. I don't have it all together, but I am certainly blessed by the Lord in so many ways.

There is so so much to be thankful for. And I am. Probably not enough, but I am thankful and I do see these things.

But I'm also frustrated. Frustrated that I don't have control of everything. Frustrated that St. Louis doesn't seem to be drifting any closer to Hawaii. Frustrated that even with the knowledge and love of the Lord that I have, I still don't naturally desire His will above my own. Or if I do, I'm sure not acting like it... otherwise I probably wouldn't be so frustrated to start with ha.

Details aside, that's sad. Given that I serve a God who loves me beyond comprehension, has provided for me all my life, and is faithful to every promise He has ever and will ever make... well, it's sad.

I'd say there are a few circumstances in life that are disappointing me or frustrating me right now. And I'm hurting as I work through them. But more than that, I'd say I'm disappointed at my own sinful heart and reaction to things. I'm disappointed by my reaction to disappointment... which is fear/pride/anger/other crappy things.

Not so pretty huh? Yeah, tell me about it.

That's my update. Sorry it's a downer, just being honest.

Looking forward to some refreshing time with my family. Plane ticket is purchased for Christmas and I can't even express how excited I am to be going to see everyone!

Conversation of the day...

The three-year-old I babysit (From the backseat of the car...): "Katie, I'm threw my apple juice out the window."


Me: "What??!!! Why would you do that??" (Not yelling, but a good deal confused). 


Little girl: "Well I was finished, and I saw a trash can". 


:)