go, fight, win.

It's good to have goals.
It's fun to be a grown up with the freedom/time to do things like fulfill my goals.

So all that stuff I always say "wish I could do that...." or "someday"....Today is the day. So, year of 2009, before you leave me I will complete/begin the following dreams...

1. Visit the East Coast.
2. Start my own business.
3. Write a book.
4. Record a CD.
5. Write a musical fireside.

Because i can.

Details to follow...

a fish to catch & a song to sing

Working world, you've done me well.

Sitting at a computer/wearing headphones + daily commute = plentiful hours for listening to music. Score!

And since my laptop has gone to a better place (R.I.P. old faithful) and left me without an iTunes to call my own, i've been obsessively writing down songs i wish to own rather than promptly buying them upon love at first sight...er, sound. The lists abound....

And so here we have it, my top 10 list of "crank-it-up-when-my-ipod-shuffles-to-it/don't-change-the-station-when-the-radio-plays-it" list from the past month, courtesy of a yellow sticky note that's been bouncing around in my silver grown-up purse.

(Disclaimer: This is by no means a comprehensive list of my all-time favorite songs. Don't mistake it for such. That task would be impossible, and we'll leave it at that.)

In NO particular order...be they new hits or hailing back to the days of Woodstock...The songs that captured my heart (and my eardrums) in the month of September:

1. The Fisherman Song - Mae

2. Big Green Tractor - Jason Aldean

3. Painting by Chagall - The Weepies

4. Everlasting Love - Robert Knight

5. Season of Love - Shiny Toy Guns

6. Tonight's Gonna be a Good Night - Black Eyed Peas (Mozeltoff!)

7. Everybody - Ingrid Michaelson

8. I Wanna Know What Love Is - Foreigner

9. 1,2,3,4 - Plain White T's

10. Danny's Song - Loggins & Messina

Badda bing, Badda boom.

The end.

October, I eagerly await your arrival.

Memoirs of a Zoobie

Dear Provo,

You were always magical to me. From the first time I drove north to visit friends for the weekend, I could feel it. Something in the way the light comes off the mountains, reflecting off streets crowded stop sign to stop sign with precariously paralleled vehicles. It can only be described as...hope. And mystery. And anticipation. The feeling of promise and adventures and opportunity and the great unknown, all lurking in the crevices between the hundreds of tightly packed apartment complexes. When I finally stopped dragging my feet and decided to try my hand at life in your city limits, I came with full force. I came with my expectations and my dreams, partly situated in large green storage bins and partly rolling about on the floorboards of my silver Honda. And fulfilling your potential, you gave me exactly what I wanted, and then some. You gave me a new life and a new fire and new ideas and new perspectives. And then, like I suppose most enchanted things do, you simply became REAL. When the glitter faded with the fiery Autumn leaves, you were just real. Just life. I imagine it's akin to the moment when a child finds out who REALLY stuffs his Christmas stocking, or when little girls in princess dresses realizes it's all just pretend. The good news is, like any yellow brick road and its man behind the curtain, the disappointment doesn't last forever. Real life has a funny way of holding just as many treasures as the North Pole or the Emerald City. Disillusioned children still go on to enjoy the holidays, after all. For me, I did not like it when I lost my hope in you, city of Provolone. I'm not easily disenchanted, so I always feel a little jaded whenever reality checks in. But truth be told, somewhere there toward the end, real life didn't seem so bad. Yes, you with all your flaws and reality checks became something I would learn to miss. And in the end, it was truthfully painful to leave you.

But I have to say...thank you. For showing me that I no longer need my kite strings or balloons to make me feel brave.

I came back to see you recently, after you sent me out into the "real world." For a while there, I thought I wanted you back, but then I realized...you're just you. Just life. So, again...thank you. Because I found, just briefly as I was watched the breeze playing in the Oak leaves...that feeling again. That same old magic, wafting through the branches and hiding just around the corner. And I realized, we are better off as long-distance friends, you and I. Keeping our mysteries and our intrigues to ourselves suits us, in the end. But just the same, you will still always be special to me. Magical, you might say.

Love, Katie

"All the things that break you are all the things that make you strong." -C. Underwood

The Interview

Grown up.
New shirt. New earrings. New day.
Building by the lake.
Validated parking.
Click click click.
Red high heels on tile.
Elevator ride.
1, 2, 3....7.
Deep breath.
Smile.
Painted walls.
Receptionist in jeans.
Artsy.
Handshake.
Desks. Faces.
Panoramic windows.
Conference room.

Resume.
Is there anything in my teeth?
Is my hair out of place?
What am I doing with my hands?
Small talk.
Big talk.
Thank you.
Hope.
Hallway. Elevator. Lobby.
Parking garage. Silver Honda.
Shoes off.
Toes wiggle.
Sigh.
Sunglasses.

iPod. Shuffle.
Miley. Archie. Jonas.
Little girl.

The Hills Are Alive

A short story in picture and verse.


Adventure.

Flight.

Tumble.

Plop.

Satisfaction.

THE END

Blogorithmic

I'm re-evaluating the rhythm of my blogs. I was just reading thru old posts and I thought...hey, I used to WRITE on this thing....I think my monthly updates kind of usurped my blogging style, since writing at the end of each month was the easiest way to update everything. Well, I'll probably still update about the most exciting parts of my month every now and again, but I want to start WRITING again. Writing and opinionating and musing and bemusing.

But, since I began August by making a list of things to blog about as usual, I do want to put up my usual type of blog for the time being...just so the list doesn't feel neglected....
So, without further ado....adieu...wait, what is that saying?

- Frisbee tourney. My team made it to the championship game! Which, I happened to be in Arizona during. Word has it we lost by one point. But, semifinals were still exciting!

- Hook. Went to an outdoor movie theatre with my roommates, laid on the grass, and watched this old classic. Beauty.

- All-nighter. I remember during finals week of my freshman year, when I stayed up until 7am so I could study for my math test AND clean the fridge for cleaning checks, etc. The next afternoon my roommate found me lying on the couch, legitimately convinced that I could eat mashed potatoes and lie down at the same time. Hrmm. Anyway, during finals week of my last week of senior year, I stayed up until 5am finishing a project. Fitting, i know? I didn't try the potatoes thing again.

- Caraline's wedding. Ah yes, another one bitest the dust! This lovely friend of mine went and got herself hitched on August 8th. It gave me an excuse to dress up and eat carrot cake. I love weddings. They make me feel good.

- Guitar capo. Bought one. Loving it. Cue the "whole new world" theme music.

- Abby. My roommate Abby drove down to Arizona with me! Her sister lives in Gilbert so she stayed for a few days. Anyway, we spent an afternoon together doing the following: Mesa Temple, Pizzamart (best pizza place in the whole valley, I say), Bahama Bucks. A most excellent day!

- Bandslam. Yeah, THAT movie. The "wow, ANOTHER pre-teen movie with Disney channel starlets who sing" movie of the summer. I would like to meet the cast of the movie. To give them all good games. Really, i loved it! It definitely had some plot holes and amateur acting and quirky moments...but that's what i loved! The quirk. This movie had heart.

- Safford roadtrip. Caraline had a second reception out in eastern Arizona where her hubbycakes is from, and our friends Jackie and Daniela missed her first reception sooo...roadtrip! It involved...stocking up at QT (i love you QuikTrip!) and accidentally only having ONE cd for the entire drive....Taylor Swift's sophomore album, "Fearless." Did we get sick of it? Never. How dare you ask. But I digress....Safford. Thatcher. Did I mention I'm in love with small towns? My heart is set on living in one. We saw the stars. I will blog about my small-town aspirations on another day.

- Frisbee. Ah, two bulletpoints on frisbee in one blog! Happy day. I think I have found my new frisbee crew down here in AZ-town. It's a bunch of Tempe kids. ASU-ites, you might say. It's not the closest thing to my house, but it works. I am pleased :)

- Sojourner Center. Whilst hunting for a job, I came across one at an abuse shelter in downtown Phoenix. With the ambition of getting my foot in the door for employment, I signed up for one of their tours. In retrospect, I've decided that line of work is not for me...but it warmed my heart to be there, nonetheless. We got to peek in on the nursery, and I saw the kids all curled up on their mats. Heaven bless people who save the world.

- Sewing. Long lost hobby. I've become obsessed. I like it because you can't think about anything but your project while you're doing it. Total concentration. I think it's rejuvenating.

- Androo's game. My brudder decided to lace up his baseball cleats after many moons of retirement, and I ventured out to Glendale (almost to Flagstaff, I say) to watch his game the other night with his wife Bonnie and my sister Monica. I love baseball. I love gingerbread ice cream cones (I know, right? So random for a concession stand at a ballpark). Anyway his team played a double header and didn't win either, but my hermano scored the only runs in both games for his team. Woot!

And that's enough of that! I have lots of stuff I feel like rambling about. I mean, i just moved home and started my life completely over from scratch. Also, I graduated from college. Yeah, grown up time....Momentous, I know. Enough so that it deserves its OWN blog, not a bullet point on a list. I'll get back to you on that. In the meantime...

This is the skirt I fashioned out of a pair of pantalones...















One last hurrah on the porch swing...


















Mesa Temple!

















Abby and I preparing to eat our delicioso PizzaMart feast!