what a feeling

obviously...

wishful thinking got a {makeover}


again.


it's just that the site i use gives me so many cute options... and i don't have a long enough attention span to stay the same for long anyway... so just get used to it!


in other news... i have a song for you.


i already know you love it, and you haven't even listened to it yet.


and without further ado, Wishful Thinking proudly presents, the always talented wife of Greg Laswell... INGRID MICHAELSON:

you're so welcome.

shame.

so... I hate to admit to this: but I had this really sick and twisted thought a couple weeks ago: "Wow, Kate. There hasn't been any drama in your life for a LONG time!"


That's not the bad part.. the bad part was the feeling that associated this thought: boredom.


I am so ashamed of myself to admit that I felt bored without any drama in my life?!


So what happened? Karma. That's what. I got just what I asked for.


In the middle of a totally normal conversation with a friend... we got interrupted by a third party. A third party that was seeking drama, intentionally. I let a few texts slide, and then after about half an hour of "refusing to feed his need for drama"... I slipped, and let him have it a little bit. Not contributing to the drama though, because after I said my two cents, nothing else happened.


And then I remembered why there isn't any drama.
Why I love my life without it.
And why I'm so glad that the last 3 months of my life have had slim to NONE. 


I am soooo not bored!!


Ooooh, that Katie Johnson.


I swear on my life I will never let that thought cross my mind again!


SPEAKING OF life lately, and these last 3 months inparticular... It has been 3 months-- In case you were wondering.


3 months of seeing my very best friend every single day. 3 months of adventures. 3 months of total bliss! And 3 months with a very promising future of endless months to come! Needless to say, everything is going perfectly :) school and work and life are stressful, but at the end of the day: Devin and I support each other, and are here for each other, and that is what matters. I couldn't ask for more!

felicity

Devin has proven himself to be someone I can trust. Someone I can talk to about difficult things that I don't especially want to have to talk about. Someone who doesn't take offense to those things, and supports me unconditionally, regardless of those things. He has helped me in so many ways, overcome obstacles that I know I couldn't have done alone, or with the help of anyone else, for that matter.


I have been finding myself so grateful lately for the kind of man Devin was raised to be. His parents did an awfully great job! He told me the other night about how he has been taught all his life how amazing pure daughters of Heavenly Father are, and that they deserve to be respected and treated properly. Wow!  


Kylee's blog kind of inspired this, a little bit. I totally agree with her: chivalry is in no way dead! Point to the gentleman that brought her flowers, just as a thank you! That is awesome.


Also, major points to Devin, for being so constantly... aware of me! How I'm feeling, doing his best (and succeeding) to make me feel comfortable, cared for, entertained, all of the above! He has not only made life easier, but much more enjoyable! I only hope he can say the same about me -- I definitely try my best each day to return the favor! I have never felt so loved and appreciated!


My main "Thank You", though, goes to Devin's wonderful parents, Vicki and Gaylon. Not only have you welcomed me into your lives so graciously, but you have become my friends! I will say it again: You raised an amazing man. He is such a great example to me every day, in everything he does. He definitely doesn't let you down! I am so grateful you are both in my life! I look forward to every chance I get to spend with you, whether it be every Sunday for dinner, stopping by to grab mail and some soda or an entertaining game of Nerts! I feel so loved and accepted, and can't wait for all the fun times ahead! I love you both so much! Thank you!!!

"We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins,then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues."


"Words and language are inadequate to express the gratitude I owe to my God for having given me so honorable a parentage." - Joseph Smith 

sweet is the work

Friday Afternoon Craft.


Did this all freehand.. I had tried to sketch it out with pencil, but got too impatient, and for a first try, without anything to follow, I think I did pretty good!

After I made it, I realized that I hadn't thought of a place to put it! So here's it's temporary home until I can think of something better:

day with the girls

I got to spend today with two of my favorite little girls EVER!


Sophia Ruth and Claire Rebekah! I love them so much, and they are ALWAYS so much fun!


Claire came over in the afternoon, while Sophie was still at school, and we "did makeovers" which just means I did her hair and put some make up on her while I was getting ready, then she insisted we paint her nails, and after that, we had some lunch and picked up Sophie.


Once Sophie was with us, we made some bracelets and necklaces and keychains, and then I took Sophie to her piano lessons, and Claire and I watched Up! It was such a great day!

I tell her she can't have a treat until she finishes her sandwich... so she shoves the whole sandwich in her mouth and laughs hysterically at herself! How clever

 No 3 year old can pick just ONE color!

Our matching toes

She is so much fun to play with -- so witty!

 Waiting for Sophie to get out of school!

Sophie!

 Modeling their new jewelry they made all by themselves!

 Soph's bracelet-- how classy!

 I made this keychain... but it broke.

So I made this keychain

The funniest part of the whole day had to be when Claire told me how excited she was that my sister was getting married, and she asked me if I was getting married too, and I said "no, not yet. But I have a boyfriend!", so naturally, she had to see a picture of him. We got on facebook, and she wanted to look at ALL of Devin's pictures and kept saying "wait, wait! go back!" as I went through some of them. Then she said "he is cute. he should marry you!" She is 3.

Then, every time I picked up my phone, she would say, "That Devin?" and I would say "yes." and she would say "tell him to get married to you."

classic. i love her.

Remeber what I said about this craft thing being a disease?! It's true. I even made the little girls join in! So the plastic bead jewelry was our craft for the day. Plus Also... here is my craft for some time last week: I just hung up a couple clothesline picture lines around my room and I love them! My walls were bare in weird places, and there were already nails up in other places, so I made use of them, rather then take them down.

 I took this picture, because I realized that this corner actually looks pretty cool! MJ poster, pictures of Elvis... and no, that is not a picture of the temple upside down! It's a picture of the temple's reflection in a puddle on temple square... and I love it. haha

I also did these because I ran out of frames, and had just made lots of prints with pictures of Devin and I, and some other ones I had wanted prints of for awhile...

Everything is Amazing and Nobody is Happy.

I don't know why, but today has been an emotional one. I get this way sometimes, I guess. Every once in awhile, I will just get super sensitive, and everything makes me cry, but for good reason!:


Warning: DON'T LAUGH AT ME!


1. I have done it again: I made the mistake of getting hooked on this season of The Bachelor. If you follow it, awesome. Let's talk about it! It's soooo dramatic. And if not, here's some background on what made me CRY:


One girl, my favorite (yes, everyone picks their favorites, and everyone usually has the same favorites...) Emily, is from one of the Carolina states, and pre-Bachelor, she was engaged to this guy named Ricky, who was a race car driver. Every weekend, Emily would travel with Ricky to his races, but one weekend, right before they were supposed to fly to a race, Emily wasn't feeling good so Ricky told her to stay home. It was a Sunday. Ricky's plane crashed, and on Friday, Emily found out she was pregnant.


I CRIED.


2. THEN, This insane girl, Madison, who has vampire teeth, and has always been super weird, heard Emily's story, and SHE CRIED. And then she starting re-evaluating why she was there, and got all deep and thoughtful, and decided that she wasn't in it as much as the other girls, and they needed the chance more than she did, and they deserved it more, even though Madison thinks Brad is the bomb, she left voluntarily. And I CRIED. Well, mostly just teared up, but it's very thoughtful of her... well, as thoughtful as you can get on "reality TV".


3. During the Bachelor, THIS preview came on, for this new show on ABC called "Secret Millionaire". I can't WAIT to watch this. It is so inspiring. I CRIED.


"The greatest gift we can ever get is the chance to give."


"If you ever want to feel good about yourself, go help somebody out."


It says it's "A life-changing new series!"-- and I TOTALLY believe it.







4. I started watching UP today, and again, I CRIED. The very beginning, when it goes through Carl and Ellie's life, starting when they meet in the clubhouse, all the way through Ellie finding out she can't have kids, and then they grow old together, and she dies... and all the sweet little things they would do... aww it's so adorable. I decided today that UP is one of the cutest love stories ever. The whole movie, Carl is doing things for Ellie, and talking to her, and taking care of her house for her, and keeping his promise to put their house on Paradise Falls... if you think about it, it really is the sweetest story ever. And also one the most hilarious, and cutest animated movies made! Love it.

5. Devin. He made me cry a little bit today, too. (Dev, don't laugh at me. You're just the best, that's all...) He is easily, the most humble, genuine, simple person I know. He works FULL TIME, doing hard stuff, that he loves anyway, even though a lot of people are unhappy about having to see him, and he has to drive all day, and deal with people, and then he goes to school. Three classes, one online and the other two, each 2 hours long, but on different days, and sit through lectures... and then he has this giant heap of homework to do... so he goes to the library after class with the 2 hours he has to be productive with his schoolwork, and what does he do? He invites me to come keep him company. So I bring my book, and sit by him, and we both read (only his reading is from a MUCH less exciting textbook...), and then he is exhausted (naturally!) and it's bed time. AND THEN, he apologizes to me for not being more entertaining, and thanks me for being patient with him... Devin, I completely understand, and I am lucky to even get to spend any time with you at all!!! He is so amazing. The best example to me. I have never felt so loved!


ON TOP OF ALL THAT, he is getting ready for the Bridal Show, which is a HUGE deal, and has a sinus cold that's killing him, and is dealing with the aftermath of getting Captured By Dash Photography to Captured By Dash Photography, LLC, and he still manages to make me the HAPPIEST girl on the planet. Plus also, I am positive there are things I am leaving out... I don't know how he does it, but he does it ALL. Flawlessly. He is my hero. I have never felt so blessed. Yeah, all of that made me feel very humbled and grateful, so I cried a little bit to my sister. I love him so much!




ALRIGHT, Changing the subject, to something more uplifting... haha and also, the reason for the post's title:


Everything is Amazing and Nobody is Happy.

If you haven't seen this YouTube video yet, watch it. Now. And watch the other 2 on here... They are SO worth your time. After all, I wouldn't put ANYTHING on here that wasn't worth your time! ;) [another testament of the dire need in this society for a sarcasm font...]


ANYWAY, that video is sure to lighten the mood, but also to make you realize that you should seriously stop feeling sorry for yourself, stop being so self-absorbed, and get up and do something! I like how this guy puts it: spoiled idiots. No offense guys, cause I'm here too... but we live in a pretty RAD generation, with some AWESOME technology at our fingertips. We have accomplished things that were far fetched DREAMS that people laughed at other people for thinking 50 years ago... it is AMAZING the kind of things we can do now, the kind of things we have access to, and the means of which we can access these things! It is truly amazing! And everyone is COMPLAINING about it! Hilarious, but think about it. It's so true. SO true.


We are not nearly as grateful as we should be. Myself included.


ANOTHER THING (maybe this will redeem my personal lack of gratitude to society for a minute): I am currently re-reading my favorite book of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird.


The other day, I was talking about it and Devin asked me how many times I've read it, and I said it's been way too many to count, and he asked if I pick up anything new each time, and I said not usually... but TODAY, I stand corrected.


There I was, sitting next to D in the library, reading the book (I'm kind of rushing through it now, because Dev got me "The Infinite Atonement" for Christmas, and I really want to read THAT!), and I found something new!


If you don't know much about TKAM, then here's a little background that will help: The book is from the viewpoint of a little girl named Scout, and her father, Atticus is a lawyer.


Atticus has been appointed to represent a black man, Tom Robinson in court. Tom has been accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell. It's the 1930's, so racism is still alive and well, especially in Maycomb County.


This part of the book follows the whole trial, and during the trial, you come to realize that Tom is completely innocent, and was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, but SOLELY because he is black, he is guilty.


Scout's brother, Jem says "There's something in our world that makes men lose their heads --they couldn't be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the facts of life."


Tom gets sent to jail, obviously, even though EVERYONE in the town, INCLUDING the jury who convicted him, knows he is innocent.


I just finished the chapter where Scout hears Atticus tell his sister, Alexandra, that Tom was shot, as he was trying to escape the jail. The town news reporter, Mr. Underwood write a column about it and "He likened Tom's death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds..."


The book is called To Kill A Mockingbird. (coincidentally, my favorite bird...)


Rewind: For Christmas, Atticus gives Scout and Jem air-rifles and tells them, "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."


Scout doesn't understand, so she asks her neighbor, Miss Maudie about it, and Miss Maudie says, "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sing to kill a mockingbird."


Tom is like the Mockingbird, because he didn't do anything wrong, and everybody knows it, but he still gets shot. Yeah, sure, he tried to escape from jail... but what's the problem with letting him leave if HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG?!


This frustrates me, and I apologize for getting a little analytical, but I can't help it! The symbolism, and morals in this book are so amazing!


ANYWAY, all of this brought me to my second "everything's amazing" epiphany of the day: (not to be taken offensively.) Right after I read this, I looked up, and noticed that the library was filled with people of all different races.


All different races attending the same university. Not segregated in any way. And it's a nice university, too. I am just impressed with how far our country has come, and in a great direction. Sure, there is something to be said for some of the things going on in politics today, but the basis of where we are: united, free, equal... it's something worth being proud of. I am glad not only that this is happening, but that I notice it, and appreciate it.


Sure, it's been this way for years now, but it's still a miraculous change that our society made at one time, that has GREATLY impacted how our country is run now. I have so much respect! I am very proud :)


SO, it's been a good day. And I'm more than a happy camper!


Moral of the story: Everything IS amazing; cheer up, folks! Life is good!


Also, sent my cover letter, resume, and references to 6 different companies today: cross your fingers for me! They are all incredible jobs that I would love to have!