Monday, December 20, 2010

Christmas lights

I love looking at Christmas lights. It is one of my favorite things about the holiday. Over the past few weeks, I have had the pleasure of getting my full dose of lights! A few weekends ago, I went to Houston for Lights in the Heights. My great friend since elementary school, Genie, had people over so we could all go together. Brad and April joined me for the Houston adventure. We dressed up in tacky sweaters, had yummy hot toddies, and got to soak in the holiday spirit. April had a bell in her hair, I found a huge bow the size of my head and made it into a headband and Brad and I went to Wal-mart and found some awesome/tacky Christmas sweaters. There were TONS of people walking through the streets. I had no idea how big of a deal it was. Some houses had bands playing in their front yard, some had decorations in their yard for us to take pictures with, while others just went all out on their lights.
Brad made a friend
presents!
awesome sweaters
check out the bell and bow

On Friday, I got a text from Brad saying that he had an idea of what we could do for the night. He said it was a surprise...I needed to dress warmly (because it was outside) and he would be at my house in an hour. I put on my scarf, gloves, boots and jacket (better over-dressed then under!) We drove to a random garage to park the car and walked a few blocks. We turned the corner and there we were! Brad took me to 37th street to look at the awesome lights. It was like Lights in the Heights, only with the Austin spin. They go all out! Everything in the yard was covered with lights. There was 1 family who dressed up like Santa and the Elves. They made hot chocolate in a huge pot in the middle of the yard, and were handing out candy canes. I had no idea there was a street that did this every year for the Christmas season!
Both Lights in the Heights and 37th street are now on my list of Christmas traditions!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

organization

I love organization. One of my favorite things to do is buy a fresh new calendar and then go through each month and mark birthdays, fun events, etc. I also love new office supplies...but that is neither here nor there. Anyhoo, I love organization! Sometimes, if I have a lot of time on my hands, I find random ways to be more organized... just for the fun of it. Hmm should I maybe keep some of this to myself? Am I making myself sound super cool? Probably not. Oh well. I stumbled across this on one of my favorite blogs Bright Bold and Beautiful. I want this. I need this. Dear Santa, please build me this exact office space in my apartment. Thanks! Love, Katelyn

*PS- yes, I am fully aware of how big of a dork I am. I have embraced it. It's fine.

Friday, December 10, 2010

all

I like neat packages. I like to know what to expect. I don't do well with change. While some people love the unexpected and get bored after being in one place for a few months, I am on the other side of the spectrum. I am what you call a nester. I like to set up shop, get into a routine, learn my surroundings, figure out what to expect... that sort of thing.

Lately, I have nothing 'neat' in my life.... and it's killing me! I think this is God's way of saying "Hello Katelyn! You need to slow down and trust me." Well, God, you are exactly right. I have been trying to put ALL my faith in Him... trusting that He will lead me to where I need to be. Where do you want me to work? What do you want me to do with my life? Where can I go to better serve you?

ALL- this is such a hard word for me. I am good at trusting God with most things. I struggle with turning over every anxiety; every worry or thing that causes me a headache when I think about it for too long. :)
**ALL: entire, total, complete, everything.

My prayer these days is help to trust Him with every single little or big thing in my life. It's hard for me to give up that control, but I know it is the best thing I can do. Some days, it is incredibly easy, but it is on the tough days when I need to do it the most. Those days when I want to take matters into my own hands and handle it myself; that's when I need to stop and say, "OK. I can't do this without you. I am giving this to you."

Monday, December 6, 2010

1st adult Christmas tree

Here it is.... my first adult Christmas tree! I am such a proud mama. Since I don't have any room for a tree in my shoe-box of an apartment, Brad and I decided to get one and put it in his house. Thanks to Home Depot, we found the perfect tree! It is a 6 foot, freshly cut, well-priced tree. It made the house smell so yummy! I am slightly (very) jealous that the tree is at his house and not mine, but that is neither here nor there.
The tree! Isn't it pretty?! I didn't have very many ornaments or lights, and since we wanted to keep this a low budget project, we made do with what we had. I think it turned out pretty good. It fit perfectly in the corner. Our mission this week- find a good angel for the top.
We wanted everyone to be able to see our tree through the window. And by everyone, I mean the people in the front house and us...

Sunday, December 5, 2010

purpose driven connection

I subscribe to Purpose Driven Connection emails, and this is a such a great message! I had to share.

God Made You and You Belong to Him
And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." Luke 1:46-47

When it comes to planning, many Christians act like atheists. They realized Jesus saved them, but they don't really trust him. They think they can plan their life any way they want to. But the reality is everyone is created by God, and he made each person for a unique purpose. He has a specific destiny for everyone.

God had a plan for Mary. He chose her and he created her to become the mother of the Son of God. And what was Mary's response? She didn't say "I've got my own plans for my life. I'm too busy. I have to do what's best for me." No, she realized God had a purpose for her life and she was willing to do whatever he wanted.

Her response was a song of praise, "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." Mary recognized that God was her Lord and Savior and she was eager to do his will. She trusted him with her life even though she knew no one would believe her when she told them what the angel said.

Do you trust that God has made you for a specific destiny? The Bible says, "Know that the Lord is God. He made us, and we belong to him; we are his people." (Psalm 100:3)

You didn't make yourself. God made you. He created you and designed you and you belong to him. God's destiny for your life is better than any plan you'll ever come up with. So if you're going to trust somebody with your life, who better to trust than your Maker, the one who created you for a purpose?

Friday, December 3, 2010

bold

There is a grocery store near me that has the brightest and boldest colored flowers I have ever seen. I LOVE them! They make me smile. They make a statement. Instead of looking like an idiot and taking pictures of them at the store, I went online and found some pictures that are very similar to the flowers in the store. Have you ever seen anything so pretty?! For Christmas, you may get me tons of bright/ bold colored flowers. Thanks!


Thursday, December 2, 2010

introducing the world's smallest tree

Yes, this is my pathetically small Christmas tree. I love decorating for Christmas, but have no place for said decorations in my shoe box. So, may I introduce... (drum roll please).... the world's smallest Christmas tree! WOOHOOOO! It sits on my little kitchen table and provides me with Christmas spirit. As you can see, I have Mr. and Mrs. Claus salt and pepper shakers standing in front of the tree. I have plans to add more spirit around my house, but for now, this little tree will have to suffice. Isn't it cute??

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

the gym

With my cracked hip bone and 80 year old body telling me I need to stop running for awhile, I decided to join a gym. I settled on Gold's... mainly because they have a location just a few short skips away from my office. Getting myself motivated after I am already home from work is anything short of a miracle. So, I figured this would help with that problem....Hello best idea ever! I joined a little over a month ago, and I have very much enjoyed going. I bring my clothes to work, I don't have to worry about parking, and I can just walk down there whenever I am finished at the office.

For some reason (one I can't really figure out) I get shy at the gym. I feel out of place with all the weights, I tense up and I just want to keep to myself, work out, and then get out. The downtown location seems to be good for me. It's small and (depending on the time of day) not overly crowded. Everything is great... except for 1 small problem... the guys there are creepers!!

Example 1- I get to the gym around 10:30 on a random Saturday morning & it is almost empty... Perfect in my opinion! I get on the stair elliptical, turn up the iPod and get to work. About 30 minutes into it, this random dude who works there walks by, stops in front of me and starts talking to me. He introduces himself and says, “Hey. I would be happy to give you your free training session that you received when you signed up”, and then walked away. I figured okay, that’s odd, but, whatever. A few minutes later, he comes back with his card (cell phone on the back, of course). I say thanks, and figure that’s it. NOPE! He decides it would be a good idea to stand on the stair elliptical next to me (not work out- STAND) and say "I have some time to spare, so I figured I would talk to you." OH.MY.GOSH. By this time, I am sweating, breathing hard and in no mood to be polite to this guy who thinks this is okay. I take my head phones out and say "What?" So he STANDS on the machine and starts asking me random small talk questions. I try to be polite, but also try to give out a vibe that says “HELLO! I AM NOT INTERESTED. I am here to work out- not talk to random guys.” It didn’t work. He stayed for maybe 10-15 minutes. I ended up leaving the gym before I was finished. He annoyed me.

Example 2- This happened to a friend of mine. She was minding her own business, doing crunches on a bench. The bench is located kind of under the stairs. She had her iPod in. This rando comes up to her (while she is in the middle of her crunches) and says, "Looks like you are in the zone." First off- Way to go on the worst pick up line ever. So, she takes out her ear phones and says what? He repeats himself. Her response- oh, yeah, I guess so... He doesn't seem to get the hint. "You should put a poster of a guy on that wall so you have someone to stare at when you do crunches." Once again, I say OH.MY.GOSH. Seriously?! He then proceeds to tell her he wants a picture of Halle Berry to be taped everywhere in the gym, so he can stay motivated at all times. She did the awkward smile thing and put her music back in. He finally got the hint and walked away.

I could keep going but I think you get the picture. While the gym is a great place for me to go while I can't enjoy running around Town Lake, I do not appreciate the boys who attempt to pick up girls at the gym. Now, I am FULLY aware that I am not the only girl they hit on. In fact, I am 100% confident they hit on every girl in the place. So, please don't think I am walking around the gym thinking I am hot stuff... trust me... I am not. I asked a bunch of girlfriends their opinions and we are all in agreement- leave us alone! It's not attractive. It's not cool. It doesn't make us feel good about ourselves. Stop it. Leave girls alone at the gym! :)

**Please feel free to share any of your funny gym stories. I know I am not the only one who has them.**