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. :(

Opening Up

It has been way too long since I have written here. I wish I could say that this post is going to be happy & fun but I don't think it will. What I'm going to be writing is something that has been on my mind a lot lately but I have just ignored it. It's something I don't want to admit but I feel the need to. It won't be easy to hit publish but I know when I do a huge weight will be lifted off of me. So here I go...

Growing up I have been the shy one, I didn't like crowds of new people I didn't know, I even went through a period of not going to Church when my parents were out of town. I felt most comfortable in my house or with people I knew. When I was a teenager I went through a period of depression, & my Mom & I had daily fights where we both ended up hurt & crying. I went to counseling & took some meds for my depression & got much better. I still wasn't the person I should/could have been, but I was better. When I moved out on my own for the first time it was because I couldn't respect my Mom enough to obey & not cause daily arguments. So I moved out. It took some time but our relationship grew. I feel like we repaired our broken relationship & got better. Looking back now I wish I had acted different then but I didn't. I lived in Tyler for about 2 years, had a pretty good job, and was enjoying my life. Only problem was I wasn't enjoying life like I should have. I met a Christian guy and we started dating, we really liked each other but our relationship didn't last for several reasons. One of those being sin. I won't go into detail but I did some things I shouldn't have done. That was about three years ago. During these past three years I have still struggled with different things. At times I like to think I'm perfect but I'm not. I'm far from it. I haven't been as close to God as I need to be. As much as I don't want to admit it, I pushed Him away. I turned to other things/people when I should have & needed to turn to God. Today I'm slowing crawling back to Him. I'm not where I need to be. I'm far from it. There are still many times when I don't turn to God, I ignore him. I know deep down inside that I need to change that but change is hard. I have been in a Beth Moore Bible study the past few weeks & it has made me really start to think about things & my life. I have ignored a lot but tonight I was opened back up & made myself think about some things. I realized that I can't go on living my life without God. He MUST be in my life daily, no matter what. There are several things in my life that I have been wanting lately but I haven't gotten them. I believe part of that is that my relationship with God hasn't been what it should be. Once I let Him back in my life he will start to bless me with things I have been wanting. I realized something: Why should He even bother giving me something now when I don't have my full faith in Him? I'm not trying to say that once I'm back on the right path and with Him 100% that he will grant me all my dreams & wishes. He may & he may not. I do know that as long as I'm off by myself & on vacation from Him then He won't. Life is hard & not easy at times but with God I can do it. Without Him, I am nothing. I don't want to be nothing, I want to be something. I want to be Katie. I want to be a Godly women not only for me but for my family, friends, & future Husband that is out there somewhere. 

Sorry if that made no sense at all or was just a mess. I was mostly writing things from my heart. It feels good to have that weight lifted off of me!

Pictures

Today I got out my camera and how some fun! Took pics of the first flower in the yard this year, my dog, and one of the cats. Then I played around with photo editing software. Enjoy!

Lola's pics will come another day. Hope you enjoyed these! I had fun playing around with them!

Ten in 10 Week 2

Hope you have had a good week. How did you do for week 2 of Ten in 10? I didn't do so well. I failed big time. Notice there is no list of foods I had or how much I walked. Yeah it was bad. I went way off this week. I'm happy to say that tomorrow is another day and a brand new week! I have 8 weeks to get back on this train and lose weight! For week 1 I ate better. I had salads for lunch, cut back on food intake, and walked. During this past week I didn't do hardly any of those. I ate junk food, didn't walk at all, and ate what I wanted. I think part of the reason I failed is that during week 1 I had a root canal. I couldn't eat much for about 5 days and what I could eat was nasty soft foods. It helped me lose 5 pounds during that first week but then when I could eat normal foods I just stuffed them in. I craved them. Like I said before I'm happy that tomorrow is a new day and a new week. A chance to start fresh! That is just what I'm going to do!

Here is my plan for week 3:

• Go back to having a salad at lunch. Put some turkey or chicken on it, a few nuts, and a boiled egg.
• Start walking again. I felt so much better when I was moving.
• Tuesday I'm joining a weight loss challenge group. This will be my fourth. I have gotten 2nd and 3rd place before and now I want to be 1st! I know I can do it! I just have to set my mind on it and go!
• Keep a food diary to post next week.

One new thing I did this week was to add a weight loss counter at the bottom of my blog. I have to say I didn't want to put it up. I think having it there where the world (and me) can see it will help encourage me to want to get this weight off so I can take that thing down!

I didn't want to get on my scale this week but I did. I knew I hadn't lost any weight. I could feel it. I was right. I gained 2 pounds. Yuck! This next week I want to get those back off and lose some more! I hope you all have a great week and good luck!

January Update

Wow this year is flying by already!! I hope that you are all having a great year! This next Tuesday I start back at collge. Last semester I was at TJC but this semester I will be at Kilgore College. I will miss TJC but it is not in our district and since Dad no longer teaches there it has just gotten too expensive for me to go. So back to KC I go. Last time I went to KC(about 5 years ago, yikes!) I didn't enjoy it that much. I hated it! Of course I had just graduated and school of any kind was the last thing on my mind! With this being a new year things are bound to be better! :) I'm just going to enjoy my last week off before school and stay positive about it all. Monday I will start helping out at the school where Mom works. I did this about 6 years ago and LOVED it! I'm also going to get on the Sub list so that I can possibly make some money. I'm excited about that! I think that is the latest news for me. Life is just flying by way too fast!

Stop back by on Friday for a coupon giveaway! :) It will be my first! 

Something Magical

Got your attention didn't I?? :) Yes, you read that correctly. Something Magical. I'm sure your wondering what it could be. Well that something magical is...Magical Peanut Butter Cookies! These magical cookies are easy to make and taste great! I wish I could say I came up with the recipe but I didn't. Another wonderful chef(in my opinion) is the one that came up with these Magical Peanut Butter Cookies. Let me give you a hint: She LOVES and I mean LOVES to cook with butter. Hmmm...you can think about who it is and I will tell you later. Sorry no prizes to give out just a magical recipe. 

Magical Peanut Butter Cookies:

1 Cup Peanut Butter, creamy or crunchy
1 Cup Splenda Baking Blend
1 Egg
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Optional: Splenda to coat your fork with and to dust cookies

Preheat oven to 350. Grease or foil a large baking sheet.

In a mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter and Splenda. Mix together with a fork. Add the egg and vanilla, stir well. Spoon or roll the dough into balls the size of walnuts(or your desired size). Place the balls on the baking sheet. With a fork, dipped in Splenda(prevents sticking), press a crisscross design on each cookie. Bake for 12 minutes, remove from the oven, and sprinkle with Splenda. Cool slightly before removing from the pan. Makes about 18 cookies.

Note: I used natural crunchy PB and it worked just fine. I used the full cup of Splenda and it was too sweet. Next time I'm going to try just 1/2 cup of the Splenda. Also I didn't dust the cookies when they came out of the oven. I'm glad I didn't since I thought they were a little too sweet tasting.

These cookies would go great with a glass of milk. I hope you enjoy them! In case you didn't know, these are from Paula Deen.

Ten in 10 Week 1:

I have made it through week one! Yay! One week down and nine left! I have decided to post what I eat(Mon-Fri) here each night and at the end of the week I will publish the post. I think this will help me keep on track. At least for now. I might change my mind later.

Monday:

Breakfast: Turkey and cheese, bread, grapes
Snack: Cheese stick(low fat)
Lunch: Green salad with grilled turkey breast, cheese, sliced salad almonds, ranch dressing(I measured out a serving, and it was plenty!)
Dinner: Chicken salad on bread
Snack: Nuts and popcorn

Drinks: Water, sparkling water, diet cranberry juice, iced tea, hot chocolate
Exercise: Treadmill walked for a mile

Tuesday:

Breakfast: Oatmeal, turkey sausage, banana with yogurt
Lunch: Green salad with grilled turkey breast, cheese, sliced salad almonds, ranch dressing
Dinner: Spagehtti with meat sauce(ate way too much)

Drinks: Water, tea, sparkling water
Exercise: 45 mins(almost 2 miles) on treadmill

Wednesday: Went in for a root canal and have not wanted much to eat. Have only been able to eat soft foods so far.

Breakfast: Chicken salad on sandwhich thin, grapes
Snack: Cheese stick
Lunch: No lunch-had dental appt and didn't want to go on a full stomach
Dinner: Soup

Drinks: Water, tea(cold & hot), cranberry juice
Exercise: None :(

Thursday:

Breakfast: Yogurt
Lunch: Soup
Dinner: Noodles with cheese

Drinks: Tea, water, Juice
Exercise: None

Friday:

Breakfast: Yogurt
Lunch: Cheese, banana, bread
Dinner: Noodles with cheese & red sauce
Snack: PB crackers

Drinks: Water, juice
Exercise: None

I lost a total of 5 pounds! Yay!!

Goals for this next week I'm going to try and cut out some carbs(I love my carbs!), eat more veggies & fruits, & try and have salads for lunch! Stop by next Saturday to find out how I did!

A New Year!

2010 is a new year, it is the start of a new decade, and the start of the new me! 2010 is the year for me to lose weight and get healthy! Over the summer and fall I had lost just over 10 pounds. During the past few months I have gained most of it back. I have decided that it is time to lose the weight and keep it off for good! To help me get started I have joined the Ten in 10 challenge. During these 10 weeks I plan to:

• Lose at least 10 pounds
• Lower my blood sugar
• Exercise at least 5 times a week
• Cut out soft drinks

It seems like it might be easy to accomplish that now but I know that it won't be. I'm happy to say that by joining the Ten in 10 Challenge I will have a support group of other people doing the same thing. I know that they will help encourage and support me along the way. I have also joined sparkpeople.com to help track what I eat, how much I exercise and more. I'm excited to start along this journey and can't wait to see where it takes me!

For more information or how to join just go here. Stay tuned for updates along the way!