Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeelightful Day.

One Week!

Look at us. We are Such STUDS.... is what went through my head as I walked out of the judgement room, brimming with pride and relief. (That quote is from one of my little sister's friends, by the way. Just a little something she liked to say when she felt she was lookin' gooooooooooood.) Ok had to take a brag moment there. I played for constructive criticizm only, so no real consequences or rewards for this performance, but it felt darn good to get it over with. My Father did indeed pray for me on the phone just minutes before my time slot, and may I say that even if God didn't answer prayer, the sound of Dear Old Dad's voice always calms me down and takes the edge off my nerves so I can perform better, thus making the benefits twofold. I am in love with the world right now, and ready to take on anything! I always wonder though, what's going to be next in my life, because you know what they say- what goes up must come down, and right now I am definitely UP. Hmm. That's still on my list of movies to see. Alright, goodnight blogworld, I have had a satisfying day, and I hope you have too.

I Have Bitten Off All My Fingernails

Get it? Cloud Nine? I'm on Cloud Nine because I'm coming home in Nine Days. But I'm also in the Pit of Despair because I have to perfom one of my pieces for a judge TOMORROW. Suffice it to say I am NOT where I wanted to be by this time, and then on Tuesday I go to my College audition where I have to play Both my pieces Memorized, and then next Friday I'm in the recital! The good thing about all of this is that I'll be finished by the time I go home, and whatever the results are, they'll be out of my hands. Like most type A people, there are many, many, many times when I'd like to be in control. Sometimes though, it's a good feeling to do your best and then let the chips fall where they may, and the worrying part is over. And I can honestly say I have done my best in the practicing realm of things. Know that I will be calling my Dad to have him pray for me before all three of these events. I don't know if I've ever performed without having my Dad pray for me, and I wish I could say it takes away the butterflies and I always do swimmingly, but at the minimum, it staves off the panic attacks as I walk up to the bench. Ok gotta go practice. Cheers!

The Shopping Buddy

People, you all know what I'm talking about... Ok, Ladies, you all know what I'm talking about. That one special person in your life without whom your wardrobe would be a complete disaster. (Just admit it, you know it would) Here is my ode to this girl, brought on by my purchase of $4 shoes yesterday which I decided on all by myself and which I am hoping don't make my calves look big.

Ode to (insert friend's name here, for me it's Bry)

She'll tell you when you're looking fat,

She'll tell you where the bargain's at.

She never tires of talking shop,

Literally, and together you hop

Store to store and rack to rack,

Trying clothes and talking smack.

She's thrifty and with her you know

You'll never make a purchase woe.

She makes you weigh the cons and pros

Before you spend too much on those

Shoes whos only pro is brand,

When in them you could never stand.

So thank you, Bry, for always caring,

What I buy and what I'm wearing.

I hope to do the same for you,

And when we go some shopping to do,

You know I'll be there till the end,

Because we're more than average friends.

P.S. This may seem shallow, but don't be decieved by the trivial topic. It goes much deeper than simply the shopping experience. Plus, girls just tend to bond over things like this, the way men bond over... I don't know, cars? Sports? I won't pretend to understand men in the slightest.

I was productive in several ways today. Called my immediate family, practiced piano, bought a pair of shoes for $4, and made a delicious and nutritious dinner inspired by Sanna Stacke. Yeah, Sanna, I tried to copy your pasta sauce that you fixed for us while I was in Chicago, but it didn't come out as great as yours. The cheese kind of lumped together instead of mixing smoothly, but I added diced tomatoes and onions which I thought were pretty tasty. I think I skipped the step where you mix in some flour and make a rue? Anyways I wore this apron which I made back in eighth grade or something and listened to Dean Martin while I cooked and felt very 50's Italiano, if that means anything. I just forgot the lipstick. Plus my hair wasn't flawlessly curled, but that has never happened in my entire life so I wasn't mourning the fact. For your entertainment, here is a picture of my cheesy housewife smile and another picture of the mess I made, which is worse than usual, hence the photography of the event.

Jan Brett is one of my favorite Children's authors. I love her illustrations so much.

Gloomy

Today has been fairly relaxing, and it is definitely a day to stay in, watch movies, and sip cocoa. My usual Sunday lunch friends have gone down to Phoenix and are at my house as we speak... probably sleeping in my bedroom (well, it's not really mine anymore) and throwing the frisbee for my dog and eating my mom's cooking! My eyes are turning greener as we speak. However, I still managed to find some entertainment, and a latte at Starbucks. I convinced my grandma to pull out her old record player and sound system, and spent quite some time trying to get it all hooked up. Unfortunately I'm not as gifted in the electronics side of life as most of my peers, so the venture was unsuccessful. Now it's time for "Vogue" and my pjs. And tonight I shall start the countdown to when I leave for my 5 days in Phoenix!

I don't know how to say this, but...

Alright. To my three faithful readers, I feel that is only right for me to be honest with you. I won't try to be like those heroic people who try to live normal lives despite their illnesses and end up breaking everyone's hearts when they suddenly keel over and die. So here it goes... deep breath... I'm not healthy. I've known for a few days now, and it's been killing me to keep it from you. I have................. Spring Fever. Yes, that calamitous disease which causes people to act like fools and do crazy things like buy hats, try to get in shape, fall in love, and eat fresh vegetables simply because they are colorful. So I am only asking for your prayers and support as I go through this time of having difficulty controlling myself, and your patience as I may look stupid some (or all) of the time. I know, I know, you're saying to yourself, "but Kara always looks stupid all of the time. How could it possibly get any worse?!" And I say to you, "It can. Trust me." Sorry. In other unrelated news, I went Running today! And yesterday!

Horses and Peppermint Pie

Now, people are not generally huge fans of Valentine's Day unless they have a steady beau, and typically I tend to be the same way. It's like Mother's Day- if you're not a mother, you don't get anything good. If you're not a Lover on Valentine's Day, you do not get anything good except maybe those pink m&m's you bought to pacify yourself. A friend today wished me a happy Singles Awareness Day. But I digress. The point I wanted to get to was that despite it being Valentine's Day, today was one of my best Sundays since I've been here. It started like any other Sunday, with me waking up late because I hit the snooze button too many times, but I got ready in plenty of time and headed out the door slurping my coffee and feeling confident about my outfit. (I've been reading too many fashion blogs) Church: educational. One of the things I like about this church is that they don't worry too much about feelings. Yes, it can be a little blunt, but it is hard for me to accept things that are based in any way on emotions. I don't have any problem with experiencing raw, pure emotion, whatever it may be, but I don't trust its influence when it comes to decision-making, especially when the decision is something serious like whether to believe the Bible. One of the things I don't like about this church is that the music is as even-tempered as the sermons. The songs are good songs, and don't get me wrong, I know the demographics and the reasoning behind the style, but I miss the passion of the worship at Hope. It's a minor issue, however, and heavily outweighed by the positives.
So, to continue, the rest of my day was even more glorious. I was invited to lunch at the Folks house, after which Hannah and I made lattes and we all ate peppermint pie. Then I got to tag along on their hiking trip, and even got to ride their Aunt's horse! I've been on a few horses, but Aunt Dawn was the first to really teach me something about riding, and I thoroughly enjoyed being on that beautiful animal surrounded by sandstone and lava rocks with Pine Valley Mountain straight ahead of us. In summary: good church, good lunch, good coffee, good hike, good home.

Pinhole Pictures

Hold your applause, please! Yes, these are the photos I took with my homemade pinhole camera, which I made all by myself, but I'm not that pleased with myself. They could've been better. Ha! I took lots of duplicates while fooling with exposure time and writing stuff down, and the last one is the same as the second-to-last one just shorter exposure. So now that I know how, I can try to get artistic and try out different films and such. This was Kodak 35mm ISO 200 film. Oh and I wasted alot of film by winding it too far after each picture, but now I know better.

Pearls and Lace

I have a fascination with old ladies and their beauty. And I don't mean to brag, but I have some serious beauty in my family; one cousin is an aspiring model, another was homecoming queen, as was my great- aunt, and my little sister, well, most of you know what she looks like. But two of the most beautiful people I know are my great- grandmothers. My mom's mom's mom (not to confuse you) has awe- inspiring beauty. Her skin just glows with energy at eighty-something, and she has a halo of fluffy white hair and the most gorgeous eyes. There is an unearthly radiance about her that reminds me of a youthful bride, and unlike most old ladies, I have no trouble picturing her as the innocent school girl she once was. My other great-grandmother is the one I live with. My mom's dad's mom has an entirely different look but she is no less amazing. She is motherly, and when I look into her eyes I am always wondering what she is thinking. You can see the pain and joy of a thousand memories written on her face, but one must ask probing questions to get her talking. I wonder what kind of person I will be when I'm eighty, and though I'm in no hurry to get there, I'm not dreading it as much as I thought I would.

Yesterday I made a pinhole camera. I bought this kit at Barnes and Noble because it was on sale, and made it out of cardboard and foil, and it's ready to take real pictures! I have to buy film, and I'll try a picture or two but it's cloudy today so I'm not sure how they'll turn out. I'm thinking my first few rolls will be entirely experimental. I read the book, and I was surprised how many different ways there are to take a picture with a cardboard camera. But I'm going to record each picture and my results when I get them and if I get anything good, I'll certainly post it. So look forward to some art.

Visitors

My mom, sister, and foster sister just left about an hour ago for Phoenix. We had some good times; we laughed, we cried, we reminisced about the old days... Not really, but we did have some fun. Keegan likes swimming and she likes swimsuits. She wears hers 24/7. For sleeping, for watching movies, for playing outside, for going to the grocery store, she just loves that thing. Now, allow me to share with you a tender moment and don't try to turn it against me because it was only a few moments before I was feeling cynical and annoyed again. Here it is: I was awakened this morning with a pair of soft little arms around my neck and those big blue eyes staring at me from two inches away, waiting to inform me that it was morning, and therefore time to get up, despite the fact that it was still dark outside and I had no obligations. Well, then she crawled into bed with me and promptly fell asleep, snuggled against my chest. It was a warm fuzzy feeling that lasted about twenty minutes, after which it really was time to get up. That was fun till I remembered all the screaming, hitting, and kicking fits and then I was ready to say goodbye.

Goodbye Mom and Grace, too. I love you.

Pictures Finally!

I think it is safe to say that Sundays are my new favorite day of the week. Although I would rather hit the snooze button four more times in the morning, once I have gotten up to face the world, I'm so glad I did. The frost on the grass, the sun rising over the hills, and the way my coffee warms me up when I'm cold inside makes it worth it. I usually spend a few minutes deliberating over my garb and then change it anyways once I'm dressed. Yes, call me a teenage girl; I don't mind since it's only been five months since I was thoroughly enjoying being one. Then I go out and pour my already brewed coffee. My grandma's coffee maker has that "delay brew" button which is probably fairly commonplace, but as I have only recently discovered it, it seems like magic. And it's off to church for me. I have always wanted to go to a little white church with a steeple, and I never thought the people would be so warm and welcoming. There is a family here that I've known... well, our fathers have been friends since before they were married, so I've known them all my life. Anyways, they invited me to this church and then I go to their house for Sunday Dinner afterwards, which is pretty much the cat's meow. Thank you, Folks for being my friends!

So here are the promised pictures. To anyone who lives in St. George, I'm sure you've seen better, but for all my friends back in Phoenix, this is what my new town looks like. I'm no photographer, but I think these are pretty fun photos. Oh and thank you to my mom for finding the USB cable in my closet at home!