Almost my life story...

I realize that it's been forever and a day since I have updated this blog. I'm fairly certain that there isn't really anyone who actually reads it anyway. If you do, thank you for waiting patiently for a new blog. A lot of life has happened since I last updated. So...here it is in less than three hours...

Mr. Mouse disappeared. I moved out of my apartment and in with my brother. While some would argue that I merely traded one rodent for another, I actually have enjoyed living with Kyle. It's nice having someone home whenever I so happen to return to the apartment. So...I'd take my brother over a rodent any day. Thank you, Kyle for letting me move in with you.

You may be wondering why I moved in with my brother. Well it's simple...my landlady informed me that she was moving, and therefore by default that meant that I was moving too. In a couple of months, after Kyle moves back to Elkhart, I will be moving in with my friend Jess. Her current roommate will be getting married in May. Congratulations Gina! You're going to make a great wife.

In February, I was able to head out west for a couple of days. I first flew to Phoenix to catch up with my friend Linz from my freshman year at MNU. I hadn't seen Linz since Kristin and Jeremiah got married four years ago. It was great seeing her. Sometimes you don't realize just how much you miss a person until you see them again. Linz is one of those friends that no matter how much time seems to pass we pick up right where we left off. My friend Kara is the same way. I actually headed west to attend her wedding in Seattle. I just took a little bit of a detour to go see Linz. Seattle was beautiful. Seriously...I loved it out there. Kara and Greg's wedding was gorgeous. So unique and absolutely, perfectly Kara. I'm not using my own computer at the moment, but next time I'll be sure to post some pictures from the wedding and Seattle. Plans are in the works for heading back out there as soon as possible. I'm thinking of maybe even going out there to get my doctorate. We'll see what God thinks of my plan...:) I'll keep everyone posted as to whether it's in His plan too.

About a month ago our Pastors, Mike and Kellie resigned from our church. Man, they are missed. I'm on the Church board, so we've been meeting with the District Superintendent to get the ball rolling on finding a new pastor. As much as I love and miss Mike and Kellie, I'm excited about the possibilities for the future. If we as a church are willing...I believe that God can do great things in and through us.

Last weekend, I was able to con a couple of friends from Church (Jenn, Donna, and Denise) into going St. Louis with me for a couple of days. I didn't have to twist their arms too hard. They actually agreed quite readily. Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, and Louie Giglio were in town, and since I hadn't seen them in quite some time I had decided months ago that I would make the four hour trek across Misery to St. Louis to see them (can you say run-on sentence?). It was a great time away...and the worship concert was amazing too. The Spirit was definitely in the building. How Great is Our God!

There are so many other things that I could, and probably should update you all on. Like for instance my job status and test preparation. But...I've already written a book, and while I hope you've enjoyed it, I think I'll sign off for the time being. Seriously...I'll try not to wait so long between posts.

Much love,

kayla

He's Back...

Well....he's back. Or maybe it's a she this time. Many of you will most likely remember my "critter" incident several months ago. I don't know how or why, but Mickey or Minnie has a junior and he or she is currently somewhere in my house. I'm just hoping that there's only one of them. Seriously...I'm going to be sleeping with lots of noise. I'm going to try to be a bigger person than I was the last time and actually sleep here. It may prove to be rather difficult this weekend though, becuase the weather is supposed to be nasty. I'm not sure that I can sit around waiting and wondering if I'll see him/her or not. Well...I'm praying that he'll go away soon. There's poison out and I think he's already been into it. So...it's just a matter of time right? I guess I'll be getting to bed...or trying to. Pray for me.

I'll update later...keeping everyone apprised of the status of the situation.

It's already over

Well...Christmas has come and gone. I absolutely love the Christmas season for so many reasons. This year was very nice. It seemed to go by so quickly though. It seems like Thanksgiving was just last week, and now Christmas is already over. Craziness. 2007 is only a couple of days away. It's been a good year.

Anyway...Christmas with the family was a lot of fun. We laughed a lot and generally just enjoyed one another. I got a new camera, so I'll be posting more pictures on here. I need to mess around with my photo software though. It's going to be so much fun having it (the camera). Be prepared to see lots of Sam, Duncan, and other random stuff. I like pictures...if you didn't know.

Well...I'm in the middle of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Good movie. I'll update more later...with more pictures of our family Christmas. Hope everyone had a Happy Christmas!

Much love,

kj
i am not

Merry... uhh

Thanksgiving was fun. We had 67 at dinner. That's just crazy. It was fun though. The photo above is of my cousin Matt and his baby Weston. My family and Wayne's all went out to Nana and Papa's last night to watch the KU game. Dennis and Darla's family are in the mountains skiing so they didn't come. I guess they didn't think the commute would be worth it. And they don't like KU like the rest of us. Anyway...Weston is getting so big and did I mention that he's entirely too cute! Well he is.

Home has been nice. It's a completely different pace...and there are people around. That's a big change. It's nice though. Mom put the Christmas tree up yesterday. I just love Christmas. I'm thinking that maybe I need to put a tree up in my apartment. Otherwise...the only "Christmas" I get is at Sid and Abbie's. Hhhmmm....seriously considering it now.

Here's a picture Mom took of me in front of the Christmas tree. I really needed a new pic for my myspace page. So...there it is. Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. I've had trouble keeping my holiday's straight. I don't know how many times I went to say "Happy Thanksgiving" and started to say "Merry...uhh" instead. So...now I can say it "Merry Christmas" everybody!

Kentucky

Quote: Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film.

Well...it has been forever. I've not been very motivated to post on here. Probably because I don't really think that anybody actually reads this. Oh well... So last weekend I went to Kentucky to see Brian, Kelly, and the kids. It was a whirlwind weekend but it was great. I was able to see a couple of the kids from Ashland and to my suprise and great delight, was able to see Harold and Karen Berrian. It was great to see them... It was just a great weekend all around. The picture above is me with pretty Briley. Isn't she cute. I have a better picture of her...she's kinda making a funny face in that picture, but I don't have it on my computer yet. Here's a picture of me and Cody though. He's getting so big.

He looks so much like his daddy. Crazy, but he's a sweetheart. I was standing on the porch with Kelly when he got off the bus on Friday and he ran straight to me for a big hug. What a special kid! We went to his Bible quiz on Saturday and he did great. Scored a perfect round but missed a few in the second round. He didn't finish in the top 10 but was so cute when he told his daddy how he did. He told Brian that he did better than the last quiz when he got a trophy...this time he went straight past the trophies to the toys (they get a small toy for each perfect round). So cute!

I lied...I have another picture of Pretty Briley. I just didn't take it. She's being cute and pretty here. I wish I lived closer...

Well....I better go. My Jayhawks are back from halftime. They are playing MUCH better tonight. Fun stuff...I'll try not to wait so long between posts. I've got some big decisions coming in the next few weeks/months. I'll keep everyone up to date. Got to go...

much love

i am not

"I'm no angel"

"I'd love to make up my mind, but I can't remember where I left it."

Well...it's been almost two weeks since we finished up classes. I still have no idea what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. It's hard to believe that I'm finally done with school...not that I'm complaining.

The two monsters in the picture are the boys I take care of...Sammy and Duncan. Dunc was so funny today. When I picked him up from school the teacher gave me his school pictures. Way too cute. The camera certainly captured the orneriness in his eyes. Anyway...Sid came home for lunch and was looking at the pics. He said something about Duncan looking like an angel and D says..."I'm no angel." Sid and I just about died laughing. It was probably one of those...you had to be there moments but it was too cute. He's right, he is no angel, but he is my little buddy.

Well...I'd better wrap it up here. I'm meeting a friend to go walking here in a few minutes.

Much love

i am not

It is Finished!

I have finished my school work. It will actually be a couple of weeks before it's all "official" and I have the diploma, but I'm done! Unbelievable. God's been so faithful through it all.

i am not

A Little Life Humor

Reality is the leading cause of stress among those in touch with it.
- Lily Tomlin


Well...interesting few days. Had quite the adventure yesterday. Well...not really an adventure. I did manage to make quite a few people laugh. Someone even told me that it brightened their day listening to my woes. It started out great though...the day that is. I woke up in a good mood mainly because I didn't have to get up at 5:00 a.m. I decided to watch a couple of episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond...funny show. I was planning on finishing Raymond, going to take a shower, and then heading to Borders to get some of my paper written. Well...it didn't exactly go as I had planned.

I was in the middle of Raymond when I heard a scratching sound. Not too long after that a critter ran across my floor. A critter of the four legg-ed, tailed variety. Yes that's right...I've got a mouse in my house. After it had run across the room it tried to run back across the other way. I yelled at it to go away and it turned around and went back behind the stove. So...I went back in the bedroom and put some shoes on...and picked up some of the clothes that were laying around. Good thing I did. When I went back in the living room Mickey had run behind the TV and decided to head back to the stove. I was standing in the middle of the room hollering at him to go away when he decides to run over the the fridge. I'm still standing there yelling at him to get lost when he runs back in my bedroom. By now I'm freaking out. The stupid critter ran into my bedroom. Not good.

So I finally gathered up enough courage to go back there and put some different clothes on. I also put my hair in a pony tail and put a smidge of make-up on. When I walked out of the bathroom, I once again saw Mickey...run under my bed. Seriously freaking out by now. So I went to Walmart and bought a decon mouse trap. I also called my Mom, Grandma, Brother, and Landlady. Everybody laughed at me. That's okay, 'cause I was laughing too. Except when I went back into my apartment to set the stupid trap. Definitely not laughing then. Thankfully I didn't see Mickey again; I talked to him the whole time I was setting the traps though. Basically I just told him that he needed to stay away until I left then he could go get caught in the trap. I then gathered up some clothes and went to stay the night at my brothers house. I didn't get any of my paper done. Not good.

It's pretty funny except when I walk back into my apartment. My brothers also laugh becuase all day yesterday and today I've been super jumpy. I'm talking seriously traumatized here. I bout jumped out of my skin when a fly flew by when Kyle and I went to check the trap this afternoon...no Mickey. I'm hoping he's gone...although we did see some "evidence" on the couch that he had been there. Disgusting. My apartment will never be the same.

Well...if you've stayed with me I hope you've had a good laugh. I'm really hoping and praying that Mickey is caught by tomorrow so I can sleep at home in peace. I'm sure I'll still be jumpy for a while, but at least I'll know that Mickey is gone. I've definitely taken measures to make sure Mickey doesn't have a Minnie or little Mickey's running around too. Hopefully it'll work...or I might have to move out.

Okay...getting the chills typing about it. Better go before I throw up. Mickey's been good for the diet this weekend. Not so good for the homework though. Oh well...

Much love,
i am not

See the Morning

How can I keep from singing your praise/ How can I ever say enough/ How amazing is your love! How can I keep from shouting your name/ I know I am loved by the King/ And it makes my heart want to sing!
How Can I Keep From Singing by Chris Tomlin

What a beautiful day! Fall is upon us my friends. Although it's supposed to be around 80 today. I love the cool mornings and evenings. This morning when I got to work, I stepped out of my car and took a deep breath. It smelled like Red River. Seriously... I love the smell of fall (especially when it smells like the mountains).

The new Chris Tomlin CD is out today. I'm hoping that my copy will be in the mail when I go this afternoon afterwork. I'm actually listening to the album streamlined on MSN. They put it on there a couple of days ago and I've been listening to it for the last couple of days. It's beautiful. I've been listening to Tomlin for three or four years and have all of his albums. There is something about this one that just hits the heart. Purely Chris Tomlin. Anyway...go check it out. There's a "new" version of Amazing Grace on there that is beautiful. I also love the first track How Can I Keep From Singing. Beautiful. Just go get the CD already.

Well..I'd better go. My little Doodle is at school and I've got to go get him in just a little while. Be encouraged today...and Keep Singing.

Much love,

i am not

Long time coming

Quote of the day: "If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me."

Okay....so it's been a while. A really long while. I think I have a pretty good excuse. I've been crazy busy. Over labor day weekend I took care of Sid and Abbie's boys. Eleven straight days of Sam and Duncan. I love those boys, really, but I've come to realize how much I appreciate Friday through Sunday when I'm away and can actually sleep past five a.m. I'm so glad I don't have children right now.

School is back in full swing. The countdown is on and it is less than thirty days. I really can't remember what we're down to now. Check my myspace page. That'll tell you. So...that's been keeping me pretty busy too. I also had a houseguest for a couple of weeks. My dear brother crashed on an air mattress on my living room floor for nearly two weeks. I love my brother a lot but a one bedroom apartment is kind of pushing it a little. Actually we got a long really well. It was pretty nice to have someone at home...not that I was here much. Last weekend we started watching the first season of Prison Break. Wow! Awesome show! Not for people with high blood pressure. It raises it. Worse that college basketball. :)

Have I mentioned yet that my computer is in the computer Hospital in ICU. Yes...we nearly had a meltdown a week ago Wednesday. Not good. The puppy is pretty sick. I'm hoping that computer doctors will call me tomorrow and tell me that the thing is okay and ready to come home. I've managed to survive quite well without it. Right now I'm on my dad's computer. He's in town for the next couple of days and was gracious enough to allow me to use his 'puter. My only problem has been with class...two papers due this week and no computer does not equal a good outcome. It'll be fine though. I'm getting ready to email them to my professor.

Well...if you've managed to hang with me this long...bless you. My life is not really very interesting. That's okay...I won't complain too loudly.

Until next time...

Much love
i am not

p.s. the art at the top of my post is my cousin Jerrod's. He's pretty stinkin' talented.

So it is...

The question is not can God bring peace on earth, but will we.

If you've been reading this blog then you know that I love the mountains. If you know me at all, you know I love the mountains. The above picture was taken from the Ski life in Red River. I promised more vacation pictures, so here they are...This is my brother Kyle and cousin Weston. Isn't he cute...Weston that is! Actually, it's not a bad shot of Brother either. Weston loved the pool. What a doll!

So...here's a pictue of me and the parentals. Not too shabby. Okay...the above picture was taken last year. That's 2005. My hair was really short. The picture was not really great but you can't be perfect for the camera all the time. Below is a pic from pretty close to the same spot...this year. That's 2006. Do I look any older yet? Because someone asked me earlier in the year if I was a high school student. Seriously...? In a few years I'll love that. It's just that it's not so good when you're trying to be a "professional."



Well...if you read this then I have satisfied the vacation pictures promise. Truth be told, I'll probably add more. Mainly because I like to see pictures and figure others do as well. Anyhow...hope you all have a happy Friday and a GREAT weekend.

much love,

i am not

Home Sweet Home

Some pursue happiness- others create it.

Well...I just got home from the mountains and Elkhart. Mountains= beautiful. It was such a refreshing week there. It rained, was cool, smells great...so many wonderful things. I went out with Bink and the girls a couple of nights on a "bear hunt." We only saw two when I went. Bink saw nine or ten the entire week. Oh well...did I mention that it was cool? I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything besides sit by the pool, read a little (yet somehow I didn't finish a book), swim, walk downtown, watch a few movies. I guess we did go up on the ski lift once. It was really great to have the time off.

Elkhart was Elkhart. It was good to see people and to have another week off. I finally finished the book I started in Red River. It was Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. He wrote the DiVinci Code. I actually liked it better than the DVC. Thursday I went down to Amarillo to see Kayla and beautiful Regan. I saw Eric too for about ten minutes. Kayla...if you are reading this, it was really great to see you and spend time with you. That doesn't happen enough. Regan is beautiful, of course.

Well...now it is Saturday and I have a ton of things to do. Top priority is a shower then go get the mail. Somehow I think my box might be overflowing. Well...we'll talk more later. I'll also add more pictures from vacation.

Much love
i am not

Mountains!!!

Well...it's Wednesday and I've done a whole lot of nothing. It's been great. Today I swam and sat out by the pool for a couple of hours. It was nice. Right now I'm watching Harry Potter...the first one and reading an article on the internet. I think I might go take a walk here in a little while...or maybe a nap. I still need to dry my hair though. Maybe I'll do that first. Whatever...it's nice to have no responsibilities. And the mountains are beautiful. I could stay here forever I think. Maybe I should find a job somewhere in the mountains. No way that it'll be in Red River though. Maybe somewhere in Colorado. Although...I was talking to Kara the other night and she's moving to Seattle. There are mountains not too far from there. That sounds good too. Maybe someday...we'll see.

At any rate. The mountains are beautiful as always. We went "bear hunting" the other night and saw a big one. Pretty cool... I'd better go. Talk later.

Much love,
i am not

Tomorrow is the day. Mountains here I come!

Much love,

i am not

B Collision and the Mountains?

"If I can be of any help, you're in more trouble than I thought."

That quote makes me laugh. Probably because it is so true. Ahhh...well it's been a few days and I figured that all (one) of you that read this blog are probably getting tired of looking at the previous picture and quote of the day. Actually, the real reason I'm posting is because I really don't want to work on paperwork. So sad...I'm almost finished though. It'll probably be another late night for me. Too much caffeine today. Not enough sleep last night. I'm starting to get a little worried about driving home on Friday. Not really but it's been a long time since I've spent that much time in the car at once. And I haven't had a lot of sleep this week. Reminds me of college. Except not because I'm not in class, work all day long, and don't live on campus. Okay so I've just been staying up late like I did in college because for whatever reason (I have a pretty good idea what it is) I can't get to bed early. Needless to say, spending seven hours in the car on Friday doesn't really sound like my idea of fun. Although, my iPod is ready to go with some good tunes.

Speaking of...I made a playlist for the drive...seven hours without repeating a song. I'll be listening to a lot of Crowder. Does anybody have his newest, "B Collision"? I downloaded it off iTunes. I love it. I was at the concert where the live recordings were recorded. If you look it says recorded in Kansas...Yep that was at MNU. It was a blast. I was actually supposed to see clients that night but one cancelled so I cancelled on the other one and went to the concert. I didn't know it but they were sold out, but Klay got me a ticket. One of the last. I sat with Karen and Mimi from Maranatha. I've never had so much fun at a concert. Seriously...SCC may be my all time favorite (CT ranks up there pretty high too) but Crowder is definitely the most fun concert I've ever been too. Who knew worship could be so much fun? (I'm being sarcastic but serious.)

Well...I've put off long enough. I really must get back to the good ole paperwork. It's almost finished. Yippee! Mountains here I come...in three days!

Much love,
i am not

the spell check on this thing didn't recognize the word "blog." that's kind of crazy.

...and a diet cherry coke.

Quote of the day: "A leading authority is anyone who has guessed right more than once." If Reality Comes Knocking...I'm not answering the door.

Well...I'm buried up to my elbows in paperwork. That's okay. It'll all be over soon. I have been horribly unorganzied in the past few months (I wonder where I get it?). My house pretty much looks like a tornado hit it. Actually, it looks better than it did this morning. It was really bad then. The plan is to clean it before I go to Elkhart on Friday. We'll see if it actually happens.

I guess I don't have much to say today. Not that it really matters anyway. Maybe tomorrow I'll write something actually worth reading. Well...I'd better get back to my paperwork and diet cherry coke.

Oh...one week to go!

Much love,
i am not

The countdown continues

Quote of the day: " The more the big picture comes into view, the more we realize just how small a piece of the whole canvas we really see." Matt Redman "Facedown"

8 days until mountains! I'm ready. Not that there's anybody that really cares...mostly because I seriously doubt anyone actually reads this. Oh well...it's good therapy for me (haha). Maybe someday I'll post something more substantial. That day is not today however. I'm off to bed.

Much love,

i am not

It is finished...part one.

Quote of the day: "Impossible is only an opinion." unknown (at least to me)

Well...it has happened. Today's the day that I've been working toward for the last 15 months. The clinical part of my internship is finished. Wow. That's crazy. It's been a very long road. But one that I don't think I would trade for anything...even all the sleep I lost because of it. Just kidding....no not really.

I still have paperwork to finish and need meet with my supervisors and Cayla Bland, my clinical director. So...it should all be official next Tuesday. Oh and prayer request...Wednesday morning Barbara and Janet are meeting with someone (I don't remember who). If all goes well I may have a job (at least part-time) in October.

12 days to mountains.

Much love,
i am not

Heat, Printers, and such

Quote of the day: "i am not all-knowing." L.G.

Well, it's hot outside. Currently it's 10pm and 86 degrees with a humidity of 77%. I was just outside talking to my dad on the telephone (because it doesn't work in the house, stupid technology) and it was nasty. I can't wait until the cool, dry mountains. Less than two weeks now.

My printer broke tonight. I was trying to print some things and it would print one line of nonsense page after page. It only got through two pages of that and I tried unplugging it and canceling all print jobs...just about anything I could think of. Then comes the paper jam of the century. There's no way I'm getting that one out. I've had the printer for five years. I think it might be time for a new one. So it looks like "Matt," as my former roommate so affectionally called the printer (short story that I don't feel like telling) will be put to rest. Paperwork now on hold. On the positive side, I've got the ton of it somewhat organized though. It's only a matter of time.

I suspect that at this time tomorrow night I will be writing saying that I have completed the clinical portion of my internship. It won't be official until I meet with Cayla (yes...that's like mine only spelled differently) sometime next week. Loads to do before then. The end is in sight. The light at the end of the tunnel has been turned back on and is beginning to glow brighter. Almost there...

Much love,

i am not

Another day...

Quote of the day: "i am not holding it all together." L.G.

Today was supposed to be the day, but in the end it wasn't. Now, I only have half-an-hour left. So that just means that Monday will be the day. Oh well...as much paperwork as I've got left to finish it's not really a big deal. Actually, it shouldn't take me all that long to finish it out. Probably a good part of next week. I got a lot of it organized so I just need to type it up, print it out, and put it in the files. Not a problem. I hope.

One thing I've learned this year...expect the road to curve suddenly and very sharply, especially when you least expect it. I've certainly learned to fly by the seat of my pants when need be. I feel like I've learned a lot and grown so much. I promise...very soon I will quit talking about how many hours I have left and will get on to more interesting stuff. Okay...I can't promise my posts will become more interesting but they won't be so much about my clinical hours. Have I mentioned today that I go to the mountains in two weeks? I can't wait.

Well, I'd best be off. I'm singing in the worship team at church in the morning and have to be there by 8:30. That means that I should probably get to bed. Hope everyone has a blessed Sabbath.

Much love,
i am not