Suprise! It's Christmas!

This morning I was awakened by my mother excitedly shouting, "Wake up, Katie! Santa was here!" My family had thrown Jack and me a SUPRISE EARLY CHRISTMAS, since we won't be home for the real Christmas (we report to the MTC on Dec. 17th) so the morning was spent by my family watching the two missionaries-to-be opening gifts. It was really nice, we got a lot of things that will be useful on the mish.... and my mom got Jack and me tickets to go see Manheim Steamroller this Saturday after our endowment. Yay! All-in-all a successful, though unusual, Christmas.
In other news, I had to speak in two wards this morning; My home ward and singles ward. I made a bit of a fool of myself in home ward, but I think it was a success in general.

Midnight Turkey Lovin'

It is currently 11:00pm, and what am I up to? Why, roasting a turkey, of course! My dad is having a thanksgiving-type luncheon at his job tomorrow and he is supposed to bring the turkey, so at 9:00pm he asked me to start roasting a 25 lb. turkey. According to the instructions that came with the bird, it will be done at 2:00 in the morning. Woo-hoo.

Twilight

I discovered one of my most favorite book series earlier this year; a book about true love overcoming the most impossible-seeming of obstascles, and that we can become better than we are, if we really want to..... yep, you guessed it, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. It was the sort of book I went into a "reading coma" for; my roomie Sarabeth told me herself that it was 'making me anti-social'. After finishing the first book, I was fully entranced, and I couldn't stop thinking about it even to concentrate on my schoolwork -- would everything turn out alright? would edward lose control and kill bella? why didnt he just turn her into a vampire already? I read every book in the series (which was only the three, at that time) within a week. I was at the release of Breaking Dawn, which I finished in one day. I have been to Meyer's website and read every single outtake and draft there was. It is safe to say that I am obsessed with Twilight. I also have an excellent memory for things I have read, so I remember every detail from every book in the Twilight series.

I went and saw the Twilight movie last night.

I had already had low expectations of it from trailers and movie updates I had seen on the internet... actually, I had originally intended to boycott this movie because of the things I had seen wrong from these previews, but I ended up going with some friends to see the midnight premiere, expecting dissappointment but hoping for magic.
But, not only was I dissappointed at this movie, I was outraged! I want to throw flaming daggers at the director and punch the writers in the kidney! The camera work was sporadic and nonsensical, like an 8 year old boy with a.d.d. The script was crap, and the actors? Kristen Stewart spent half the time with this stupid look on her face and delivered her lines like a broomstick. Robert Pattinson was okay as Edward (he actually exceeded my expectations) but it still seemed like sometimes he forgot his lines right before he begins to say them.
I could go on, but that is probably unnecessary, I'm sure I've made my sentiments clear. I give Twilight about twenty thousand thmbs so far down they are pretty much molten magma.

Welcome to Firehouse!

Working at Firehouse Subs has been one of the more interesting experiences of my life. Mostly because I've recently realized it is one of my most favorite jobs thast I have ever had. I haven't got anything bad to say about any of it; the hours are flexible, they guys (and one other girl) that I work with are nice and friendly. My manager Rolando is benevolent, and is a real help whenever I make a mistake (which is often enough). The people who eat there (for the most part, anyway) are patient and amiable, especially the "regulars".
Then there is the food. I love sandwiches, and firehouse makes a dang good sandwich. My personal favorite is the Steamer, which consists of pastrami, corned beef brisket, and provolone steamed with italian dressing. It usually comes with just mayo and spicy mustard, but I like to throw a little vegitation on there: lettuce, tomato, and black olives -- YUM!

A Night at the Theatre!

Katie A. got tickets to see Phantom of the Opera for her birthday, which is great cause this was the last week it was playing at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. She immediately asked me to go with her, and I enthusiastically (to say the least) accepted.
It was so fun! We dressed up (you have to when you go to the theatre) and I almost bought a pair of opera glasses, but they were 40 bucks. Maybe I'll ask for a pair next Christmas...
The show was fantastic, (though they could have picked a slightly better singer to be Christine Daae...) Christine was delicate-looking, Raoul was super handsome, and the Phantom was uber-creepy and totally ruthless. There were really cool special effects and great costumes. I laughed, I cried (not really), I went "ooh" and "aah". It was great!
Also fun that happened yesterday: the missionaries invaded firehouse while I was working. It was great to have them there, and it seemed everyone was happier while they were there, even my coworker matt noticed. I think it was the spirit the missionaries brought.

My ABC'S

I got this from my good friend Reyna!

A. Attached or Single? Single
B. Best Friend? All my old roomies: sarabeth, reyna, dawna, nicole, allie; and also katie a.
C. Cake or Pie? Cake, definately. (Tres Leches is my fave)
D. Day? Either Friday or Saturday
E. Essential Item? My ipod. I never go anywhere without it at school; and in Fla, I always keep it in the car so I can listen while I drive.
F. Favorite color? Blue
G. Gummy bears or worms? Probably worms, you can have more fun with them. But I'm not picky....
H. Hometown? T-town! Tampa Bay
I. Indulgence? Dark chocolate
J. January or July? July. I have a wierd fascination with fireworks.
K. Kids? I want about 4 or 5. But there are a lot more names than that that I like.... dilemma!
L. Life is incomplete without? Music, art, and somebody to love.
M. Marriage date? Several years from now....?
N. Number of siblings? 3 sisters, 2 brothers
O. Oranges or Apples? Definately apples -- Yum!
P. Phobia or Fears? Drowning, and spiders
Q. Quote? "Yesterday is history, and tomorrow's a mystery. But today is a gift, that's why it's called the present." In other words, don't dwell on what's past and don't worry about the future. Focus on the now.
R. Reason to smile? Life
S. Season? Spring or fall. I like them both.
T. Tag? You're it.....?
U. Unknown fact about me? I watch anime on the D.L.
V. Vegetarian or Oppressor of animal? Meat is murder. Tasty, tasty murder...
W. Worst Habit? I guess... knuckle cracking?
X. X-ray or Ultrasound? X-ray all the way. The last time I had to have a ultrasound, they made me drink about a million gallons of water; I thought my bladder was going to explode!
Y. Your favorite food? Favorite type: Mexican. Favorite food item: Sandwiches.
Z. Zodiac? Aquarius

I'm glad; they've called me on a mission!

It's funny, how much excitement can be caused by one piece of mail.
The first time I got this jumpy over correspondence was when I finally got my acceptance letter to BYU. But this letter is something else altogether. My Mission Call -- yes, soon I will be known as Sister Kelly to the good people of.... well, I don't know yet. I will finally be solving the perpetual mystery of where God sees fit to have me work tonight; the end of 'Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego'. I can't fully describe how excited I am right now.

Falling for Fall

Autumn has well established itself, but, unfortunately, I am unable to experience some of the highlights of the season because I'm stuck in Florida, where things are pretty uniform-looking all year 'round. What makes this wrose is that I know my good friend and former roomie Reyna is experiencing an actual autumn and I'm not there to enjoy it with her. I'm quite put out by the whole thing; so, to console myself, I am compiling a list of all my favorite things about the season.

1. The Weather
   

Florida's summers are great, and I love the beach; but it is HOT here! And humid, too. The fall brings milder weather, and it gets cool and crisp outside. The clarity and briskness make walking outside in the morning invigorating! These days I drive with the windows down, and even the smallest breeze puts a smile on my face.

2. Fall Leaves

As the weather turns, so too do the leaves. This is probably the thing I miss most about fall in Utah. I remember, my first fall at BYU, I collected fallen leaves from all over the campus -- I couldn't help myself, they are so beatuiful. And the COLORS -- there were some that I didn't even know a leaf could be! Apart from being pretty to look at, they are also ridiculously fun to walk through/jump in, as illustrated by this little drawing I did.

3. Pumpkins

I have a weird, and possibly unhealthy, obsession with pumpkins. And this is the time of year when lots of things are pumpkin-flavored or pumkin-oriented. There's pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin hot chocolate, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin chocolate-chip cookies, pumpkin pancakes at IHOP, and also pumpkin carving, pumpkin painting, and pumpkin smashing :). Also, just to be impish, I like to take the pumpkin guts out of a pumpkin I'm carving and throw them at people. This year I carved a pumpkin with some friends and had it entered into a contest. It won, and we got free tickets to howl-o-scream at busch gardens. So, boo-yah!

4. FOOBALL!

Fall is prime-time for football, one of my favorite sports. I like to watch it, and I love to play. As a matter of fact, this weekend we are having a powder-puff football game, and I am stoked!

5. The Fall Holidays

Though it's already passed, I've got to give a shout-out to Halloween. It's a holiday that calls for two things I like a lot: candy, and dressing up in costumes. I love dressing up for halloween, and every year I get so many good ideas for costumes that I have a hard time deciding what to be. This year I was Indiana Jones, because he is and anthropologist, and so am I. Well, I'm an anthropology major... but still..... Also good, and coming up soon, is Thanksgiving. I love food and cooking, and this holiday has to do with both (I make a mean turkey). But most importantly, this is the time of year for people to remember and really do honor to the blessings they have in this life. It also kicks off the Christmas season for my family. Besides that, the next day is Black Friday, which is both fun and exhausting for me, my mother, and my sisters.

So, Autumn, Fall, whatever you call it. It's an awesome season and I suggest that everybody make the most of it....

Ain't Nothin' But a Hootenanny!

So, I've finally done it. I've gone off the deep end and started a blog. What was I thinking?! I don't know if my life is even interesting enough to be catalogued like this...
J/k. I know, as well as many others, that I'm definately insane enough to make for good reading; if even only for my writing rather than the subject matter :D

I took a trip to Tallahassee this weekend with some friends from singles' ward, going to a Hootenanny. It was way fun, and I love car trips anyway. Even if it is only a four-hour drive. "What, in the name of Hanna Montana, is a Hootenanny?!", you might ask. Why, it is only the height of redneck/country bumpkin revelry! Set in a series of adjacent fencded pastures, there was barbeque, boiled peanuts, an enormous bonfire, and square dancing. Yes, you read right, square dancing. There were even demonstrations of whip-cracking (which I got the hang of pretty quickly, if I do say so myself) and roping (which I sucked at). After the square dancing was over, the local "DJ" (I use this term lightly) attempted to hold down the ones and twos, but he wasnt very successful, and he had some power problems. Eventually, my boy Big Mic had to help him out. I danced for a little while, but my dancey moods are few, and short when they do exist, so I ended up playing frisbee with some people farther out in the field before long. We (the girls) stayed the night with a nice family of Katie A.'s acquaintence, who had a large and beautiful home closer to the city. But, unfortunately, the girls didn't get a whole lot of sleep that night due to the combined bad choices of: a) going to bed late b) talking long after getting into bed c) sleeping all three of us in the same bed, and d) watching 'The Messengers" just beforehand.
I know, we're dumb.
So, we left Tally this morning in an effort to make it back to Tampa in time for T3's block, but we got there during sunday school. At least we made it for part of the meetings... though sitting in Gospel doctrine in jeans was a little awkward.

This post is dedicated to my fellow road-trippers: Matt, Brian, Katie A, and Carolyn; with whom I grew much closer as friends, due to happenings and conversations that were not allowed to leave Brian's car.
So, until next time...