Life at the moment.

Hey yall! It's time for my monthly post! ha. This has been a good week so far, there is lots of fun stuff going on. Last night was the TR Halloween dance, and it was a blast! I was so impressed by the quality of costumes! There were definitely some creative ones! I got to see some of my ACE campers too, and dance with them! They make me happy :) Today we went on the Salem Ghost Tour with Mingle. Thursday I am supposed to be going on a field trip at school. Friday is dress up day in 1st grade. We are supposed to dress up as someone from "long ago" aka someone from the colonial times, and have fun things planned for the day. Saturday is the Roanoke Ghost Tour and we're going out for Halloween! Woo! Anyways, heres whats been up lately...

My little guy at work these past weeks has definitely been testing his limits. He's out of the honeymoon period, and now into the lets see what I can do and get away with period. He shouts out all the time, hits, and just generally does not listen! It's pretty bad when I just walk into the room and he shouts at me, "Just get away, get out NOW!" Last week, I felt like I was failing at my job. His behaviors escalated last week, and I didn't really know how to handle them. One day, the teacher I'm with had to discipline him all day because he would not listen to me anymore. I just felt stupid that I couldn't find the right way to discipline him, I mean after all thats why Im there, so she doesn't have to do that. But I had to tell myself that she has had 13 years experience with this, and I have had only 2 months of it. At camp, sure we had to discipline every now and then, but not to this extent. School is a lot more structured and strict, as where camp was more lenient and carefree. You have to be on top of them, schools not a place to goof around. I feel like sometimes I need to take a mean pill, so I can be more firm and stern with him. But I'm getting better with being authoritative with him.

I was warned when I got the job that the little guy I'm with could possibly be moving. Well, I got word this week that his family has sold their house, and will be moving soon. Since he is moving, I will be placed with someone new but it will be at the same school I am in. Even though he does have his behavior problems, I will miss him and the first grade class I am in. I knew I shouldn't get attached, but I did! :( But hopefully the new student/class I will be with will be just as good of experience!

So far, I am really enjoying my second job with Therapeutic Recreation. I am working with the adults with disabilities every Tuesday and Thursday, and some Fridays. The adults are a lot of fun and are a good change from the crazy kids. With the adults, you don't have to go chasing them around, put them in time out, or worry about bathroom needs. Sometimes I can't believe I get paid to hang out with cool people and do fun things! I actually look forward to going to work!

Something that has been breaking my heart lately is my Dad's esophagus problems. He has been battling the ulcers in his esophagus since February and he still is not better. All I want is for this to go away for him! He has had 3 stints put in, and now he just went to get a 4th one in. He did get some good news though when he went to get the 4th stint. He has 2 ulcers, one in the top, and one in bottom. Well the one in the top has gotten better, so they just had to put a stint in the for the bottom one! This is great news and I only hope the bottom one will do the same. They still don't know what is causing this and if they do all they can, and they still don't get better, he will have to undergo a very serious surgery to fix it. We don't want this! So say a little prayer for him, he's my hero!

I am very excited for a Halloween celebration this Saturday! I have decided to be Katy Perry. I hope my costume turns out ok, and that people recognize who I am! I will miss JMU Halloweens, they were so fun! We always had a house full at our apartment Halloween weekend, and the parties were always eventful. We are going downtown this year, so hopefully it will live up to JMU, probably not though.

I am going to be starting something new in the next couple of days. I am going to do 10 days of blogging, and each day will be a certain number things about me. I saw this on another blog, and stole the idea. So be on the lookout for that soon!

I hope everyone has a great Halloween week and weekend! :)
Kate

Halloween

So, as you can see I already have my Halloween template up and running! I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE Halloween, it is my favorite holiday! I love: pumpkins, Halloween decorations, costumes, Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens, pumpkin carving, pumpkin smells, changing leaves, crunchy leaves, the movie Hocus Pocus, scary movies, trick-or-treaters, candy corn, haunted houses, Halloween stores, black cats, orange and black, and anything else Halloween related! I know it is not October yet, but since the stores already have all their Halloween merchandise out, I figure I can start celebrating Halloween too! :)

Transitions

Well, it's official, summer is over, and fall is moving in. This summer went by SO fast, I know they all usually do, but this one seemed to go by the fastest. It was a good summer, not the best, but a good one. I had 5 weeks off to do completely nothing before my summer job started, went to the beach twice, spent a lot of time at the pool, went to several baseball games, attended 2 weddings and bachelorette parties, celebrated 4 years with Sterling, had a great 4th summer with ACE camp, and hung out a bunch with the friends, family, and boyfriend! Overall it was a very relaxing summer, and I know I probably won't get too many more like this one so I better have enjoyed it!

....and with summer ending, so brings the next chapter in life: the year off...

The year off has started with a bang. I got a pretty perfect "in between" job. I am an instructional assistant to a little 1st grader who has autism. I am in a 1st grade classroom all day, and have morning car, lunch, and afternoon bus duty. It is a pretty easy job. I feel like I got lucky to be with the little guy I am with, I know a lot of other IA's can have difficult students, but mine is definitely one of the easier ones (so far! lets keep our fingers crossed). The only bad thing is, is that he may be moving soon and I don't know where or who I will be with after that. I do have a contract with the school system so I will have a job, but I am already getting attached to my little guy and the classroom I am in, I don't really want to leave! I also don't really want to leave the school, the principle and staff are super nice and friendly. I am still trying to get used to the fact that the studnets call me "Ms. Johnson", I don't feel old enough to have that said to me yet! It is also taking some getting used to working with all older adults. At camp and at school, I've always worked with people my same age, so it is different working with older people. Sometimes I feel like I have more in common with the 5th graders than some of the older teachers! ha. Overall, I think this will be a good experience for me so I can get practice working with kids in case I decide to work in a school setting one day.

During the summer, I had a thought about applying for grad school at Appalachian State for this coming spring semester. I had pretty much made up my mind that I was going to apply until I got this school job. I decided it was probably better to go ahead and wait to apply for fall 2011. It will give me more time to save money and more time to study for the second round of GRE's! And will give me plenty of time to plan for a certain something if that happens. So I will definitely be applying for fall semester 2011, as planned before.

I think I am handling the transition from JMU to Roanoke pretty well. I think I am finally over missing JMU and wishing I was going back, I think I have moved on. The biggest thing that has helped me cope with not heading back this semseter is being with Sterling. I do not miss the long distance relationship AT ALL. It is sooo nice being in the same city, and knowing that we do not have to leave each other again. Our relationship is finally right where I want it and I'm so ready to start building our lives together. Another thing that I do not miss is homework! I love getting off work and have nothing to do-no reading, busy work, or studying! But there is one thing I do miss, and that's living on my own. I do have independence living with my dad, but it's still not complete-living on your own-independence. I have thought seriously about moving out but I decided against it because it seems pointless to pay rent when I could be saving that money. So, until grad school, I will be living at home-rent and bill free.

Whew, so that was an update on the past 4 months of my life. I've said it before, but I'm going to try harder to update the blog more.

Thanks for reading!
Kate

Sorry!

Sorry everyone that I have not blogged in like 2 months, but I will be back soon! I don't really get on the computer much and I rarely think that I have something worthy to blog about. But after this weekend, I will update more.

So, Thursday I am going to JMU to finish cleaning out the apartment for the very last time *tears*. I can't believe that this phase of life is officially over. caput. done. So sad. I'm gonna miss that place and all the memories it brought. I just pray that we don't get fined for anything, I'm nervous about that!

After JMU I am going to Richmond to meet with my roomies and celebrate Natalie's wedding bachelorette style Friday night! Then on Saturday I will be going to her wedding shower. I'm super excited for some good times with the roomies this weekend!!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Kate

Five Question Fri/Sat.

Well I am bored watching a poker game, so I thought I'd do the 5 question Friday (well Saturday technically, since it is 1:55 am haha)


1. If you could go back to college would you change your major? Or, if you were to go to college right now...what major would you choose?

Sometimes I would like to go back and choose either dance or interior design as my major. I love dance and would love to do it all the time. I also love watching all the design shows on HGTV, and think that would be fun! But, I don't really find those very practical in real life, so I am happy about my major that I did choose! I could have chose dance as a minor but I think special-ed non-teaching will be more beneficial for me as a SLP! :)

2. What do you love most about your home?

Although I don't spend a lot of time at my home (Dad's house) because I'm usually at Sterling's or my Mom's, I do love love love my bed. It is like the most comfortable thing ever! I also like having my Dad to talk to, he's probably one of the easiest people I can talk to, so I like having him there to chat.

3. What types of books do you like to read (if you like to read at all)?

I would love if I read really thought provoking books, but nah, I don't seem to like anything to do with them! Of course, I love the Twilight Saga, and all Nicholas Sparks books. I don't really like to read that much.

4. What is the grossest thing you've ever eaten?

Probably sushi. I was bet once to try sushi in return for 2 new shirts, and I took the bet, but had to end up throwing up the sushi in the bathroom I hated it so much!

5. If you HAD to be a character on a TV show, whom would you be?

Easy. I would be Pam Beasley from The Office. I would love to be married to Jim Halpert and to have his baby! They have the best tv romance in my opinion, and he is definitely easy on the eyes :)

Bored + new sandals.

Today has not been unlike any other day for the past 4 weeks. I had 5 weeks off before my summer job starts, and they are flying by! I love my days off doing whatever and I know I don't get this chance very often but I am kinda ready to get back to work, boredom is taking over! I love camp, seeing the kids, being bff's with the staff for the summer, and getting that paycheck! I wouldn't mind if camp started next week, but oh well, I will enjoy one more week off!


I told myself that I would do no more shopping with my graduation money, but I just couldn't pass up these sandals. A friend was talking about these Jack Rogers sandals the other day, and I knew I have seen people wearing them, but didn't know who made them. So I checked them out and tried them on downtown at that 310 Rosemont shop and liked them but I could not bring myself to pay $100 for them! So being the bargain shopper I am, I googled knock off Jack Rogers online and saw that Target carries the knock off and they look pretty much the same! Plus they are only $15. So what did I do? Got 2 pair! One in brown, and one in platinum. They are only available online, so you have to pay shipping, but still save a lot from the original brand. I just love finding bargains, deals, and steals! Here are what they look like:

These are the $100 Jack Rogers pair:

These are the $15 pair. They are not leather and look a little different but still look enough alike:

So, that is my shopping 2 cents for today. And after these sandals, I will do NO more graduation money shopping. :) Tonight, I think Sterling and I are going to join the Green Ridge gym. We've been wanting to join since I have got home from school, but have never made it out there for one reason or another. I am excited to have a gym to go to, and to get back into classes and a work out routine. I plan to go everyday next week while I am off of work. So, we'll see how that goes!

Well, I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Thanks for reading,

Kate

Favorite Pictures

For graduation, my mom and stepdad, Butch, gave me a new Nikon D3000 camera. I LOVE taking pictures with it and seeing the quality pictures it produces. There is still a lot I need to learn about the camera and photography, but for now I'm just pointing and shooting. I thought I'd share some of my favorite pictures I've taken so far.

Under the pier at Myrtle Beach.
Me and Scruffy.My cat on the porch.

My family at Myrtle Beach.
For my current project, I am trying to find objects-any object-that looks like a letter. I want to eventually be able to spell words with the letters and each picture will be in b&w. I have seen someone do it and each picture cost $8, so my name would have been $40! So I thought, heck, I'll try to find the letters myself. My vision for this picture was a "U" maybe? thoughts? ha.
I saw this as a "S". It needs to be cropped though.Life through a new lens. Love it!

Hoping to get better with this :)

So, I always thought it was annoying when someone created a blog, then they would never update it. Well, 3 weeks later, and here I am, one of those people! I thought I would blog a lot more, but I have not been on the computer much since graduation! So, I will try to get better at it, but no guarantees :)

Since graduation I have been unpacking, organizing, beach tripping, ballet recital dancing, not working, shopping, and sleeping in late. I have pretty much moved everything out of my apartment at school, and I can't believe all of the stuff I have. I have so much stuff and so little room to put it at home! I need a bigger room, closet, everything! I also had my dance recital at Harrisonburg High School the Saturday before last. Recital went great, and I will miss the girls there that I have danced with for the past year and 1/2! I love performing, and I realize how much I miss it every time I get on stage. I always find myself wanting to do it again once it's over. I have found an adult jazz, ballet, and tap class here in Roanoke that starts in the fall and I hope I can get into those and that they will be challenging! Camp doesn't start until June 14th, so I have had 5 weeks off before it starts. I love sleeping in to whenever I feel like it, and I pretty much have no obligations during the day! woo hoo for summer and being graduated!

Friday before last, I went with Dad to paint my bathroom and bedroom at school from my pretty purple and teal walls to boring white. (thank you Jess for your amazing help as well!) It was a weird feeling being back in the apartment this time. My room is almost completely empty and with the walls painted white, it just didn't feel like my room anymore. As I layed in bed Friday night, my feelings turned to sadness. I was just thinking how different life changes right after graduation, and how its going to continue to change. I was thinking of how I will probably never see some of the people I hung out with on a regular basis again. I was thinking that all the amazing people I've become friends with will someday just be my "college friends" because we grow apart with distance and time. I was thinking of all the good memories that were made in our apartment and how I'm going to miss all the little moments that made the funniest memories. I was thinking just how different it is getting ready to be. A lot of people ask me if it feels any different being graduated, and the truth is yes, yes it does. It does not feel like the rest of the summers when I know I'll be back in the fall, it definitely feels different and I'm having a hard time accepting it! But I guess that is life, and the show must go on.

Well, that is it for now!
Thanks for reading!
Kate

Thoughts from today.

I originally started off writing a different topic for a blog tonight, but I decided to leave that for another time and write about whats on my mind right now.

Today was the last day of the weekly wednesday classes that I have certainly not been a fan of. They are classes for my minor- special education non-teaching. Usually, I love these special ed classes and I get A's in them, but this semester, I have been so frustrated with them. I may get B's in these 2 classes, and that bums me out. I am so glad they are over, and am glad I do not have to take any more classes that I am not interested in, or feel like I will never use!

Jenn, Jess, and I then went to the "senior" picnic. It was so disappointing, we basically missed out on all the free food and senior gifts because we did not get there in time because we were in class. If we didn't have class, I know we would have been there like an hour before it started to make sure we got our free gift! ha. I hate missing out things like that.

I then got home and talked to my Nonni on the phone, and she said Butch (my stepdad) had written me an e-mail. Butch is in China right now for work and had sent me an e-mail to tell me that he couldn't make it to my graduation. My mom had already told me that he probably couldn't make it home in time but I had not heard it from him yet. His e-mail made me cry it was so sweet. I just feel so bad for him that he can't make it home, I know he really wanted to be there. I feel so bad for him because I know he must feel so lonely on the other side of the world from all his family and friends. And I know how much he hates missing out on important moments in his families life. We've been talking and planning for this day for a long time, and I know it sucks to be away and missing out on something that you wish you were at. Not only does Butch have to miss graduation, so does my Me-Maw. She just had surgery and is not physically able to be up and moving around. I really wish they could both make it :(

I also talked to my dad tonight, and I still feel horrible for him. He spent a few days in the hospital in mid February for the stomach flu and diabetes complications, and hasn't got much better. He has not been able to return to work because of his diabetes, and is still having trouble with the ulcers in his esophagus. The doctors said these side effects would be gone in two months but after 2 and 1/2 months, he still hasn't recovered fully. He has a some type of procedure in May to help his esophagus feel better,so I just pray that that helps him get better. Please keep praying for him to return to normal and be healthy!

I don't know whats been up with me lately, but I have just felt so lazy and so disgusted with myself. Like when I get home from school all I want to do is get in bed,get on the computer, and watch tv til bed. I don't know if it's a lack of motivation or if I'm just tired of the same routine and ready to get to the life I know is waiting for me on the other side of 9 days. I have zero motivation for homework and assignments which is a bad thing since these grades now are crucial. This also carries over to my diet. Right now, all I want is the most unhealthy of foods, soft drinks, and more! I get on a diet for about a week, but then slowly start to slip back into my old, bad habits.I keep saying, tomorrow I will stop, and tomorrow I will work out. But, tomorrow comes and I don't feel like it. I want to lose weight and look good for upcoming events, but like I said, mentally, I'm out of motivation. Hopefully soon I will find this motivation and get back on tract and back into a healthy routine.

Wow, this was long, but I'm glad I got all this out, a little blog therapy! :)
Tomorrow will be great. I am going to try and get myself up and moving and make a positive change for these next 9 days!

Thanks for reading,
Kate

Taking a year off.

I love it when I tell people that I am taking a year off, and they're like, that's great, you will love it! I find that most of the time, these people have also taken a year off and are telling me this from experience. It was never my original plan to take a year off, but while studying and stressing for the gre's last November, I had this thought, what if I took a year off? This might not sound like that big of deal or decision, but I guess it is to me, its my future after all. So, after consulting with my other half and thinking it over, I decided that it would be the path I would take. Convincing my family that this was a good decision, however, did not go as smoothly. As soon as I told them, I felt like they were all automatically thinking and assuming, "oh this is just an excuse or cover up for she never wants to go back". I got, "she will just get some $10 an hour job and lose the chance to make the good money and succeed." I also got, "You will forget how to study and won't be able to get back into the groove of school and class" Um hello, have I not been a student for the past 17 years of my life? Do you really think I will forget how to study and be a student and forget everything I've learned? After I listened to what everyone else thought was best for me , I thought about it more and ended up standing my ground. The application deadlines came and went, and it was official that I would be taking a year off.

So far, I am very happy with this decision, but time will tell if it was the best one or not. I'm hoping I won't be jealous of all of my friends going to graduate school and moving on with their career a year before me. Someone once reminded me that I do not have the same plans as them, and that I should stick with our original plan and be confident in it. I'm hoping I can find a job that requires a bachelors degree, and that I can use mine until grad school time. I'm hoping that all of our plans follow through like their supposed to. I hope to not regret this. I hope to prove everyone wrong. I hope this was the best choice...I'm super excited to be home for a bit and who knows, in a year I might be dying to get back to school and on my own again. I can only trust that this is what God's plan is for me and trust in that.

Thanks for reading,
Kate

One Month.

One month til graduation. And there’s sooo much to do! Jenn, Jess, Maria and I have so much left to do off our Senior list and so little time! We have to get on it, time is ticking away. I feel like I need to take in all that JMU is here in the next month.

Right now I’m packing for my last weekend trip to home before graduation. The next time I will be home after this weekend will be for good. This weekend Molly and Andrew are getting married and I am one of the bridesmaids! It should be a fun weekend and I am very happy for the two of them!

Sterling and I were talking the other day, and we realized that out of the 3 and ½ years we’ve been together, we’ve only physically been together/in the same town for around a year and ½ because of me being away at school. That’s a lot of time being a part if you think about it! We’ve always said, “distance make the heart grow fonder” and that certainly has been true, but now the distance is just pure annoying. Although I treasure my time at school and my independence here, I miss the most important person in my life. We don’t get to talk that much during the day and talking on the phone or computer is just not the same as being together in person. I feel so disconnected to him while at I’m at school and I’m over it. I think we’ve both been counting down until graduation because we know after that, we won’t have to be away from each other again, finally. We’ve held on for four years now, hopefully we can hang on for one more month. The end is in sight, but it’s hard being patient, I’m just ready.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and I’m sure I’ll be posting pictures from the wedding next week!

-Kate-

My very first blog!

Hey yall! It's Kate, Welcome to my brand new blog!

I feel that the majority of people who will read this already know me, but for those who do not, I'm 22 and about to graduate from James Madison University. I always told Jess that I would start a blog when a certain big event happened in my life, but I decided to not wait on that, and start one now! With graduation only a month away, I'm feeling a million different emotions and I thought this would be a good way to help me sort all of these emotions out.So while I try to figure out how this whole blog thing works, and try to get everything looking all cute, I will leave yall with a little more about me! :)

My name is Katie Johnson, but I like to go by Kate because there are just too many of us Katie's. Like I said before I'm 22 and a Sen10r at JMU. I will be getting my Bachelor's degree in CSD-Communications Sciences and Disorders, and have plans to get my Master's in Speech Language Pathology. After graduation, I am planning on moving back home and taking a year off. As of right now, I'm really happy with this decision, but time will tell if it was the right choice or not! Speaking of home, I'm from Roanoke, Va. I love Roanoke and love being home. I have an amazing family and the best of friends! I guess you could also say that I have a pretty amazing boyfriend too, Sterling, who is pretty much my everything. I few things I absolutely love are dancing (been dancing for 18 years), shopping, O.A.R., cats, eating out, October, laughing hard, and having genuinely good times that only come once in a lifetime. I'm not sure how I got so blessed with this life, but I don't take it for granted and thank God for it everyday!

I hope this wasn't too bad of a first post, and I hope you decide to visit again soon! :)

-Me-