Summer Update

Can you believe it's July?!?! Seems like just yesterday it was January! Before we know it January will be here again & it will be time to start a new year. I'm just not going to think about that for now. Yikes! :) I keep telling myself that this summer I would get back into blogging again & it just hasn't happened yet. I have been super busy this summer. The family took a trip to Austin to visit my Aunt, Uncle, Cousin & his family for a week. We had a great time! It had been a year since I had seen everyone so I enjoyed getting to catch up with everything going on. I also just love being in Austin! It's quiet & they have places to shop that our small little town doesn't have. When I got back I ended up having to go in for a root canal. :( This was not planned but the tooth started bothering me so I figured I might as well just get it over with! This week I have been in Dallas pet/house sitting. It has been nice to be alone & get some reading in. On Tuesday I took the DART train to Plano & had lunch at a little place & did some shopping! I always love riding the train when I'm here! Tomorrow I'm heading back to Austin for a few days to visit family & look for jobs. If possible I would like to move to Austin. I'm ready to be back in a bigger city! I hope I can find a job soon that is just what I need. While in Austin I'm going to make some cupcakes for my Twitter friend that had a stroke. He has been asking for people to bring him cupcakes & come visit him. He is still in the hospital but seems to be doing better. He will be there for another 2 months doing rehab & learning to do things all over again. Keep praying for his recovery! His goal is to walk out of the hospital when they release him. That would be great!

I hope y'all are having a great summer as well! If you comment be sure & tell me what you have been up to this summer.

Life

This week has been one of the hardest/worst weeks I have had in a while. I wake up each day praying it will turn around and be a good day but so far it hasn't yet. Hopefully tomorrow it will! Here's what I have dealt with so far this week:

Monday: It was Monday, that says it all. You know how most Monday's go, you don't want to start the week, something always seems to go wrong, it's a long day that seems to never end, and it just is a Monday. One of my friends said that Monday is Friday's evil twin. She was right about that!!

Tuesday: I had a great morning and I thought my week was going to get better until a tooth started bothering me in the afternoon. My first thought was why now and why me?? In the past month I have already had 2 root canals, 4 fillings, and a wisdom tooth pulled. Isn't that enough dental work for 1 month?!? Apparently not. (See Wednesday)

Wednesday: Went to the dentist to see about my tooth and ended up having a third root canal done this month. :( It should be my last! Yay!

Good things that have happened this week include: Father's Day movie with the family, my parents 35th Wedding anniversary, my car's air getting fixed (that's a must in Texas) and more!

I said all that to say this: I was really feeling down this week and wondering why I had to be the one to have the worst (to me) week ever until I found out a good friend of my was in ICU and not doing well. Even after I found that out, I was still upset about my week until this afternoon. As I was resting from my dental work, I realized that while this was the worst week for me it was MUCH better than the week my friend was having. I wasn't in ICU with slurred speech and signs of a stroke. I hadn't been in my house for 2 days alone and needed help. I was having a great week compared to my friend and many other people. I realized that I was truly not having a bad week, I was having a good week with just a few bumps in the road. I realized that you never know when something will happen that can change your life forever. I have to take these bumps in the road and just keep on trucking. I will be ok, I can survive the bumps.

Please pray for my friend David. It looks like he suffered a stroke this past weekend. He is now in ICU. I talked to him today and he seemed to be positive but he's not over this yet. He needs our prayers for recovery. Thank you friends!

May Update

It has been a while since I have done a real blog post so I'm just going to start with a update of what's been going on.

On May 13th I finished up with the Spring semester of college. Yay! I was so excited to get out of that class with my crazy teacher. To celebrate being out of school, on Friday I took the Amtrak train to Dallas to spend the weekend with my Mom's college friend. We always have a blast together! This time we got pedicures, did some shopping (always have to do that!), made a cake for her Mom's Birthday, & ended my visit with breakfast together & more shopping! :)

While I was gone on vacation, Mom & Dad had to put my cat of 17 years to sleep. Tiger was blind & hadn't been doing well so they took him to the vet & found out he had a tumor that was half his body weight. Not good. I miss he LOTS but I'm glad we caught it before he started suffering. That all happened on Friday. That previous Monday, my Grandma's dog that we took in when she passed away also had to be put to sleep. :( So now we are down to two dogs & two cats.

I got back from Dallas on Monday, May 17. That night around 10 Dad got a call from Hospice in OKC that my Grandfather wasn't doing well at all. They thought it would be best for my Dad to come ASAP. We decided we would all go & drive up to OKC during the night. We packed, went by Mom's school so she could leave notes & then went to Dad's school. While we were there we got a call just after midnight (Tues morn) that my Grandfather had passed away. I was SO upset that we didn't make it in time for me to say bye. I am thankful that he didn't have to suffer long & is now in a MUCH better place! Click here for his Obituary. Here is a picture of him when he was younger.

Papa~ I love you with all of my heart & I miss you lots! I'm so happy you are in a better place now & I don't have to worry or be upset anymore that you aren't getting the care you should be. Now, you are pain free & healthy! I can't wait until the day that I join you.

Love, Katrina :)

New Blog Design!

Oh my gosh!! I LOVE my brand new blog design!!! It is so fun, I love the colors & the design! I really just love it all! I have to give MANY thanks to Heidi from Only The Curious. She is the one that came up with this awesome design & did it all in about 2 hours (if that!). It all started when I was sick in bed from the three hours of dental work I had done & she offered to make me a design. I had NO idea she would come up with something this cute!! I was so surprised & excited when I saw the finished design. Her blog design is awesome as well but I just never imagined she would do something like this for me. She is the best! If you haven't been to her blog be sure & go visit. While your there, sign up for her very first giveaway!



Heidi~
Thank you again for all of your hard work!! I'm happy to say that I'm in love with my blog again! THANK YOU!! :)

Speechless

I'm speechless. I have so much that I want to say but every time I just can't seem to type it out. My brain just stops & I sit and stare at the computer. A lot has been going on in my life the past month or so & I would like to share it with my readers but I just can't get it out. I hope one day soon (tomorrow would be nice!) I'm able to just type away again. Until that day comes, I'm speechless.

My New Sister

I have a new Sister! I don't know much about my new Sister but I know some & I have a picture. I haven't even known her a day but my love for her is strong. Even though we live thousands of miles away from each other, we love & worship the same God. One thing I like about her is we share the same name but we spell it differently. My Sister is 15 years younger than me, she is 9 years old. She is in the first grade & her favorite subject is English. That was probably my least favorite. I'm glad she likes it though. What she likes most about school is studying. Again, not my favorite thing to do. When she grows up she wants to be a nurse. She is most thankful for not having to pay school fees. My Sister has 5 other siblings not including me. She lives at a school in Uganda.

All my life I have wanted a Sister or Brother. I have been an only child until today. Starting today I have a Sister. After 24 years of my life, God has blessed me with a Sister. It gets better than that. God has also blessed my new Sister. He has blessed her with someone to love her, pray for her, & provide for her. I can't begin to imagine her reaction, her joy, & her thankfullness when she finds out that she has a new sister. I'm excited to begin this new journey of being a Sister. I know that God has been planning this for years, bringing the two of us together, and today on April 25, 2010 it happened. We both gained a new Sister, a love for each other & for the God that brought us together.

My Sister's favorite Bible verse is from Hebrews 11:6: And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. When I read that this afternoon, it hit me like a rock. The past few years I have gone through times when I struggled with just that. I had no idea that God was planning this but He was. He knew exactly what I needed. I needed a Sister, not just any Sister, but this very little girl. He knew before we even met, that she would teach me so much more about Him. She would bring me closer to Him.

I just did a search on Sister quotes & this was one that I loved: A sister is a forever friend. ~Author Unknown

God has blessed me so much today. He has given me more than I could ask for. He not only blessed me with the Sister that I have always wanted, but with a forever friend. A forever friend that in just one day has taught me so much more than I ever thought she could. I can't wait to find out what else God has in store for us, for me, & for her. If this first day was this powerful for me, the rest are going to be AMAZING! I will go to bed tonight & every night now thanking God, praising Him for what he has given to me. He gave me a Sister. A Sister that I needed. Thank you God!

This is the first picture I have of my Sister, Catherine.

I love you Catherine & I pray that as we begin this journey together that our relationship with God will continue to grow, that I am able in some way to bless you, encourage you, & guide you as you grow up. I also pray that one day God would bring the two of us together in person. I can't wait for that day and pray it comes sooner rather than later. You are the best Sister & I'm proud to say that your mine. I will praise & thank God for the rest of my life that He blessed me with you.

The Little Puppy

In January I signed up to be a substitute teacher for grades Head Start-1st. I have had a wonderful time doing this! My favorite class is Kindergarten. One day I hope to be a Kindergarten teacher. :) This is from today:

Yesterday morning one little boy brought a tiny stuffed puppy from home. He had  been told several times to stop playing with it and pay attention to the teacher. Well he just couldn't keep his hands off his little puppy so the teacher had to take it away. She told him that it would spend the night and he could have it back today. Fast forward to today... This little boy had to go visit the office and ended up getting spankings. The first thing he asked when he got back to class was if he could have his little puppy back. The teacher said he could as long as he had a good afternoon. He got all excited and started telling her that today was it's birthday and that he had to take him home so he wouldn't miss his party. He continued talking about the party for a few mins and then the teacher asked him if he was the dogs dad or if he was just a friend. The little boy said no I'm his Uncle. We just laughed and laughed at this little boys story about the party and being the the Uncle. He was just too cute! I wish I could say that he was able to take his puppy home but he ended up getting in trouble again. The puppy missed his party and will have to spend a few more nights at school. :(