i love kalee.
<3

I'm so scared.

I can't do this. I really don't think I can do this.

I'm so happy, I could cry.

I really could.

I saw my family yesterday.
My family.
The ones who went to Europe with me, and know all about Awkward Ben and Rubik's Cube Kevin and "SATAN!" and "SIX SIX SIX!!!" and "22!" and climbing mountains and Switzerland and the 5-Oh.

There is just something that is beyond comforting knowing that you can talk about all that and way more, and not have to give a back story and try to explain things until the joke isn't funny anymore. The contentedness that settles in when you're all bent over, clutching your sides from laughing about manpris (pronounced man-prees) and Rubik's Cubing in the dark, is impossibly comforting and impossibly hard to shake.

Heck, I'm still content.
:]

August 20t, 2009?h

That's when I move in.

August 24th, 2009?

That's when I start THESE:

MONDAY/THURSDAY
French | 9:25-10:15
Honors Program Humanities | 12:15-1:30
Band | 1:40-2:55
Cultural Anthropology | 3:05-4:20

TUESDAY/FRIDAY
French | 9:25-10:15
The World In Crisis | 1:40-2:30

WEDNESDAY
Spreadsheets | 9:25-10:40 | First 8 Weeks
Career & Self-Awareness | 9:25-10:40 | Second 8 Weeks

All in all, 16 credits.
Not too shabby, I'd say. :)

Ah, boo.

Well, I'm feeling great. I really am!
But my face is so big that I talk with a bit of a lisp and look like I'm cringing when I smile.
No Good.
Especially for minigolf tomorrow. Which I'm really excited about, by the way. :)

BOO.

I got my wisdom teeth out yesterday, and today, although I can eat a bit and swallow pills on my own, I'm even more puffy than yesterday.

KRIS.

I AM UPDATING.

:)

Haha. I love this class. :P

So. Lately...

-I won an extra $1,000 from Aquinas!
-I got a one at State S&E, with a 90.
-I have a job at the Halfway that makes me $7.40/hour. :)
-My birthday is next Tuesday!!!
-...So is opening day for baseball? haha.
-APUSH is winding down.
-I might get to see Michael and Michelle soon, especially if we all do the Western thing. Yay!
-Kris is a creeper. Hahaha.
-I forgot to turn in my AP money, but made a graceful recovery. :)
-I received a lovely letter of recommendation from Mr. Cardwell. :)
-I played a side-by-side with the GRS! Whooo!

That's about it. Not a lot of epic things going on here. How are YOU?? :)

hiiiii. :)

Look, a quick update before school!

I have recently:
-Dropped Spanish 2 in favor of Concert Band, where I make copies and practice my scales.
-Done an entire APUSH study guide in one day. TWICE. :P
-Laughed at my lovely juniors who take the ACT today.
-Cut my own hair, which much success.
-Written to Mr. Cardwell about a letter of recommendation
-Gotten a ONE at Orchestra Festival
-Gotten a two at Band Festival. Bleck.
-Gotten a ONE at Choir Festival.
-Participated in the Aquinas Scholarship Competition.
-Watched the Varsity Boys Basketball Team come back for a shocking win against Creston in Districts.
-Watched a Creston kid kick a water cart and scare the crap out of everyone watching.
-Been dating a re-cripple. Er... Yeah.
-Went for a walk with Nicola and Natalia. Yay!
-Meet the elusive John?
-Had a We're Lame Night with Becky. :)
-Went to most of the One Act events under the guise of Yearbook.
-Been wonderful. :)!

See? Update. :)

"Reminds you that the memories will fade..."

It's fascinating, in a horrible, twisted sort of way.

Right now, the world around me is more unstable than it has ever been in my recollection, from economic, political, and social standpoints. And mostly, I've been touched by that final of the three: the social upheavals in my small world have been monumental, and lately have all seemed to be centered around personal beliefs and, if nothing else, religion.

If the "R" word scares you, feel free to skip this entry and return to read when there's another, more light-hearted one. The last thing I want is to cause a problem, or to offend.

If you're okay with it, though, I'm religious, and while I always have been, I've lately started to feel closer to God, and I've begun to grow in my faith again. I just started a new devotional book, and I've also started to realize how truly and deeply happy I am with myself when I'm truly and deeply happy with my Maker. And while I'm so incredibly glad that I've had some experiences that have drawn me back to my faith, and I'm glad that I'll be going off to college with a solid belief in my religion, there have been events in the past months that make me really, really sad.

The people that I thought would be more dependable in their faith, or even those who I looked to for moral aptitude, have faltered or failed or completely abandoned their beliefs.

I'm not pointing fingers, and I'm not calling anyone out, and I'm not saying any of this to make you feel guilty or because of a better-than-thou complex. But honestly, this is really puzzling for me, and it's started to wear on my emotions. Today, I got an email from an old friend with whom my relationship has been rocky of late. In it, he confessed to me his thanks for those recent hardships, because I've helped him realize that he doesn't believe in God anymore, since he doesn't really have any "evidence" or "reason" to keep his faith. And although he thanked me for helping him find that part of himself, I can't help but be overwhelmingly crushed.

I mean, that's not quite what one wants to hear after they've decided that God truly is top priority in their life, right?

And I know it has to be hard, otherwise more people would be living differently, but (as cryptic and backward as it sounds) that doesn't make it any easier.

I love them!

Check out the PhotoBlog; this is there, too.

Nathalie was my Montagris, France, host mom, and Louise was my sister.
I emailed Nathalie about my acceptance to Aquinas. She's so sweet: she Googled it, translated the website into French, and read all about it.

:)

I love them.

Fabulous

You may question my actions when you can completely understand who I am not only as a human being, but also as an individual.

In other, brighter news: All three of our boys' basketball teams beat Belding last night. In VG, we're singing a gorgeous song that has just the right mixture of dissonance and occasionally eight-part harmony. Finally, Gia and Meredith and I are cat-watching today. It should be... what's the word? Oh, yes. "Fabulous."

MARINE. :)

Dude. I love my host sister, times a MILLION.
And someday, I'd really like to see her again. :P

I just got an email from her, complete with pictures. They're on the photo blog if you're interested. :)

EDIT: The Marine pics will be up later; I'm going into town with my mom, make up shopping! :] For now, though, feel free to comment on the posted baby picture! haha.

You know you're a nerd when your APUSH teacher makes a random "Better Off Dead" reference, and you're the only one to catch it (and laugh hysterically...) until he lets everyone else in on the joke.

Also, when you almost say to your section, "Hey, I know this marching thing is tough, especially without having done it in a few weeks. But seriously, I'm BSing music and marching barefoot on this freakin' uncomfortable track!"




In other news, Nicola came to lunch today! It was wonderful, really it was :)

Ever seen 'Miami Vice'?

Well, my mom first heard the name "Kaitlin" on that show.
And now my name is Kaitlin.

So I guess, in a roundabout way, I'm named after a character in 'Miami Vice' who has a thing with Don Johnson.

Could be worse. ;)

Today is my last day of the season, and while I'm happy to have my weekends back to do APUSH homework (no joke...), I'm really bummed about not working at Klackle's anymore. Yesterday especially, the girls and I had a ton of fun! We wrote poems to the boys in the back, and they were the cheesiest things ever.
"Your smile sparkles like the stars in the velvet sky."
"Your eyes are as blue as the depths of the sea."
Etcetera. :]

All in all, a smashing time. We'll see what today brings, regarding reciprocation.

Dear Nicola,

I'm sorry you don't feel like you fit here anymore, but I do appreciate you coming home even if I don't get to see you. It's nice to think of you as being in the same place as I am, and Natalia and I have decided that I'm going to GVSU for a weekend.

Although with regards to the fitting in bit... Now you know how I felt when I came home with Blue Lake.

Love, Katja.




There. A post dedicated to your lovely self should make it better, right? :P

Write Right - Unfinished

Her eyes were blue, I think, or green. I never really knew, as we hardly made eye contact; she was so shy. Her hair was brown, her waist was tiny, and her English was good. She, at the same time, was incredibly different from and exactly like her family.
Her older brother was most like her, and their mother. Quiet, but sweeter than the cantaloupe we would eat before meals. Brother, sister, mother were soft-spoken; the former were both incredibly gifted, musically. They tentatively accepted me into their family, but gladly accepted me into their home.
Her younger brother and father were the jokers in her family. They were friendly, open, made me feel at ease. Her father was so good with his English, and helped translate back and forth between us; her brother was hilarious, even in French. Both of them reminded me so much of my actual family back in America that it made me hurt.
She was like them too, my sister. After our trip to the music school, after sitting through accordion class, she opened like a book. We shared questions, culture differences, flute music. I showed her my Facebook; she was thrilled to see my family, friends, life. She left me fall asleep in the car on our trips into town, and on our final day as sisters, we took a trip together. She smiled, laughed; she opened up as she hadn’t before.
I saw the real her.
And then we parted, but stayed close. She was part of our music program in town; although she didn’t laugh as much, or talk as much, but she would smile and me, and I at her, and we held together as no other two did. After almost eleven days with her, with her family,

What the heck?!

I could survive for 1 minute, 25 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

I lasted longer than Nicola, but not as long as Josh.

Dude. How did that work?!

$20,000/year

Seems like a lot? Well, it is. But it's also how much Aquinas is willing to give me if/when I attend. Awesome, right??

Speaking of awesome, somebody just switched out of Write Right and into my Microsoft Office class. Which means I totally have a chance of taking his place in Write Right! ...Yes, I know that it's the fourth week of school, and yes, I know it might be hard to catch up. But seriously, I don't care. :]