The Moments that you get to LIVE

This morning I woke up and felt the sun on my face I brushed my teeth and I pulled my hair up. I pulled on my grey sweater and tied on an old pair of worn out imitation converse sneakers from Target. I filled my Trader Joes bag with books, ballet slippers and a granola bar and walked out the door, I made it down five flights of stairs and felt ready to start a new day. Unlocking my bike I began pedaling towards new hopes and dreams. It seems to me that much of life is filled with a lot of very ordinary experiences that seem rather unimportant and uninteresting. I have also noticed that life is full of many difficult experiences but in the midst of doing ordinary things everyday and dealing with the hard things in life there are moments that the clouds lift and a person is able to simply live and taste something of the divine. This week has been an interesting week, I have had a lot to do and had several times when I just had to stop and take a break. On Tuesday I was feeling stressed, I hadn’t packed myself a lunch so I ended up running to Au Bon Pain for a cup of soup. Rather than staying inside I decided to walk outside across the street and enjoy the beauty of the Christian Science Center. I sat down cross legged in front of a patch of Lavender in front of the reflecting pool and simply LIVED.

I'M BACK....and this is a very long blog.

It has been much to long since my last post and I have learned a lot since that last post. Since my last entry I visited New York City and had a life changing experience at the UN. I had a rejuvenating visit to Utah for my Grandparents 50th Wedding Anniversary and joined with the millions of other Bostonians who had to move on the 1st of September. I fell into a relationship and fell out of a relationship, I started school and hosted Apartment FEST I and II where Val and friends painted our room, made IKEA furniture, target and hardware store stops, bought a loft bed off of Craigslist and got lost in Quincy for two hours trying to find the couple who we were supposed to pick the bed up from. I have been choreographing and working on getting an outreach group up and running. Life is busy, Life is beautiful and I KNOW THAT GOD LOVES ME!!



What I have learned about the UN:
The UN is overrated it is full of a lot of people trying to do the right thing but get caught in bureaucratic tape and seem to talk themselves in circles. The most powerful experience I had while in New York was coming to realize how real things such as rape, aids and global warming really are and how important it is to stand up and do something about those who have been abused.
Something that I was really struck with was how much I need to be reaching out to others and using my talents to help those in need. In many ways I was out of place at this conference as a dance major it seemed funny to be rubbing shoulders with the owners and entrepreneurs of NGO’S and NPO’S from all over the world, but then I realized I can use my art to help raise funds for specific groups that I feel really driven and passionate about. My voice can be heard, it’s simply a matter of going out and “making my day work.” it made me realize that what I chose to do with my life is important and I began to finally feel at peace for choosing to live this creative and unconventional life style. For a long time I would always down play that fact that I wanted to pursue the arts but after talking to a lot of different people at this conference the spirit bore witness to me that this is what I am supposed to be doing right now and I can do a great deal of good with the talents that God has blessed me with.
Something else that really struck me while in New York was the power of our law and our freedom of speech and ability to voice what we believe to be true and right and how important it is to have righteous lawyers and judges. There are so many people in today’s world without integrity that would be willing to sell someone out for three pieces of silver and frankly it scares me, and it causes me to wonder what has happened to the honest and valiant?

mmmm...wow I feel like this is starting to sound like I have lost faith in humanity… I haven’t, but I was awakened into truly realizing that we get on our knees and pray to God with all our might and then get up off our knees and go to work following the commandments with integrity and steadfastness because this is how we are able to accomplish great things and truly help our brothers and sisters. When we have lawyers and judges who understand this concept it becomes easier to rely on

So relationships are funny things, actually they are beautiful and I truly have gained a testimony of relationships because I believe that that is what this life is about: Relationships and change. As I have grown closer to my Savior my hope in humanity has grown helping my faith increase and become brighter and my ability to really feel of the pure love of Christ, which is Charity, charity towards all those with whom I associate with.
On a side note a friend of mine sent me this quote and I liked it, if you change the ending to say that the “ greatest relationship of all is between you and God.”

"I got to thinking about relationships. There are those that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, those that bring you far from where you started and those that bring you back. But the most exciting, challenging, and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself."

Along with learning about relationships with others and with GOD I have felt extremely empowered as a women in the 21st century with painting our apartment paying rent, electricity, an gas bills. I love life, it is hard, stressful, and beautiful!!

I'M 21 !

I'm really terrible at taking pictures so I have to give credit to every single one of the pictures on my blog to someone else, most of them come from my very talented and amazing friend Katasha Cox, if you have not checked out her blog or know who she is please click on her name on the right hand column because she is fantastic, her birthday is in July and she loves the color red...what more do you need in order to be kindred spirits? No, but really she is fantastic and we got to share our Birthday party together, we had a whole bunch of our friends over for cake and ice cream and it was a lot of fun! I felt so blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful people, although I was not with my family I was so grateful for my loving roommates and friends who have literally become my Boston family!

Right now I am 21, still single, living in Boston, dancing, and spiritualy progressing.

The stars and stripes = Rascal Flats and Walden Pond

I experienced a traditional Bostonian 4th of July with the Boston Pops, fireworks, and swimming in Walden Pond. Here are just a few of the pictures from my fantastic
4th of July weekend.


Carly, Tiffany, and I getting ready for some Rascal Flats!


This was just after our dip in Walden pond!


The Beautiful Sunset before the big firework show.


The fire works were amazing! This picture was taken by my wonderful friend Katasha.

ODD-A-WALL-A

There is a beautiful pond several miles from my home, it is perfect and seems to be from another time and place altogether. In a way it is a lost treasure found by only a few who are willing to venture outside of the city and explore the greater metropolis of Boston. Jamaica pond truly is a magical and beautiful place and it was my dear friend Tiffany that introduced me to this sacred space at the beginning of the summer, since our first adventure to the pond I have since returned several times and have found an immense amount of love for this truly magical place. When Tiffany introduced me to this beautiful place we rode and parked our bikes near the boat house and began wandering around the pond until we found the perfect place to sit, talk, read and eat good food. We climbed a tree with a large branch that hung out over the pond and straddled the large branch facing each other. We hung our bags on nearby branches and just sat and soaked up the sun. We let it wash over our bodies making us feel rich and full. As we sat and talked about boys, religion, and life we peeled oranges and let the juice run down our arms. Time seemed to have slipped through the cracks of eternity giving us the opportunity to taste a bit of the divine. Before we left we decided that calling this supremely divine pond by its proper name would simply not suffice, so we decided to re-name the pond and came up with the name Oda walla. I’m not exactly sure what it means, but I do know that Oda Walla is a place where magic may occur. So no matter where you are in your life go on an adventure find a place of solitude and let time just wash by you.

This Month I am:

Going to New York to participate and perform in the United Nations Youth Assembly

Visiting Utah for a weekend in celebration of my Grandparents 50th wedding anniversary

I am also:

Choreographing, Working, Dancing, Sleeping, Eating, Going to Church, Singing in the rain, babysitting, studying my scriptures, enrichment, learning to cook delicious meals inexpensively, making salsa, getting my new bike fixed, reading and realizing that I did not even get half way through my summer reading list, last minute adventures, swing dancing at the Boston Harbor Hotel, dating, breathing, praying, laughing, and growing closer to God.

When I'm tired with a little bit MORE

I originally entitled this blog…when I’m tired because I honestly began writing and putting up posts late one Sunday night when I was tired. I was feeling wild and crazy and so I put on a bright red hat and began shooting out energy into the Universe. It was wonderful I let my fingers gracefully move across the key pad while my heart sang a song of Creative fulfillment. However, I have recently come to the realization that perhaps my blog might be a little bit more useful if I used it to stay in touch with family and friends. Of course my random blogs about pants, beagles, and rain are not going to stop but will simply be the beginning of the wonderful adventures yet to be sent out into the Universe.

Everyone puts their pants on the same way in the morning.

When I came out to Boston to go to school, I began to be bombarded with new ways of looking at the world. I began to feel extremely inadequate about many of my own views and talents I let my self become intimidated by almost everyone and everything, I was overwhelmed with the intelligence the talent and the incredible people I began to associate with and I began to start doubting my own ability to thrive in such a young and passionate city. It was then that I found my self falling into what Truman Capote’s fictional character Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s calls the “mean reds” which is simply “being afraid, yet not knowing what you are afraid of.”
Filled with the horrible mean reds at the beginning of my freshman year at the Conservatory I sat on the floor of my bathroom and talked and talked and talked to my mom until she was probably ready to explode, after talking for a good hour my mom finally interrupted me and said, “Katie, everyone puts their pants on the same way in the morning. You put on your pants in the same way that the President of the United States does as well as Michael Jordan and Miss Peggy Sue who lives around the corner does.” I did not know how to react at first so I laughed, because it is funny, but after listening to my mother I realized just how true that statement really is, “everyone puts their pants on the same way in the morning.” we are ALL Children of GOD and we all have the ability to do whatever righteous desire we wish to do with the talents that God has blessed us with. As we are all members of the human race adding our thread to the beautiful tapestry of humanity we may all choose to wear different pair of pants to express our individuality, culture and style but in the end we all put pants on the exact same way because we are ALL human and in the end “Everyone puts their pants on the same way in the morning.”

The People I see in Boston

The Beagle Men



Nearly every week I run into the “Beagle Men” walking the streets of Boston. It is always in a different location, whether it be in front of Whole Foods, my School or randomly on Boylston St. I almost always with out fail I run into the, “Beagle Men” weekly. Now you may be asking your self, who are the “Beagle Men” well yes indeed, who are the “Beagle Men?” In many cases, it is still a mystery to me who these men are, but this much I do know...The “Beagle Men” are these two wonderful oddly old shaped men that walk the streets of Boston with their fat sausage like beagles, it’s as simple as that, and they make me laugh, and they make me wonder, WHY? Why do they own beagles, are they brothers, best friends, acquaintances, partners, who knows? The thing is I have never talked to either of them and yet I feel distinctly connected to these two funny sweater-wearing old men. They are a part of Boston that makes it magical. So next time you come to Boston be on the lookout for these two oddly shaped old men and their fat sausage like beagles I am positive that they will brighten you day!

Get lost in a Gigantic omelet

Several months ago, January to be precise, my friend Maya and I could not figure out what to do with ourselves on a freezing Saturday night. After missing the movie that we had set out to go see we dejectedly began walking back to a place of warmth, or at least a place that could spark some new ideas for a brilliant Saturday evening excursion, one slightly frost bitten nose and several tingly toes later we finally arrived at Maya’s apartment and began brainstorming what we could do with the rest of our evening that would be simply unforgettable.
We looked up clubs on line and then realized that neither one of us was old enough to get into a club. We looked up local events but most of the events had already passed and so that left us back to square one. After a good ½ hour of research we began to get hungry and so we headed over to the kitchen to see what we could whip up. As we looked into Maya’s seemingly empty cupboards, we decided to resort to the refrigerator, finding eggs and an assortment of varied vegetables we decided that we would make ourselves a GIGANTIC omelet! As we began chopping the onions and tomatoes for our dinner, we started listening to some African music and by the time, we sat down for dinner we were both entranced by the music. One of us would take a bite of the omelet and then do some sort of dance movement, we continued with this game back and forth for several minutes until it turned into a full out improve jam in Maya’s living room! The omelet was delicious and it was as though we were feeding ourselves something magical letting us move to the inspiring African drums. As we danced into the dark January night, our food disappeared filling not only our bellies but also our souls.
So next time you are sitting around on a Saturday night without anything to do make your self an omelet and let the magic of the moment take over you.

Have your self a Pillow Fight

The people who live above me have parties, frequently. The people who live below me have parties, frequently, this means I often times find myself listening to the banging of drums or the sweet strumming of the guitar late into the night, right now the tenants above me in apartment 33 are strumming their guitars and it makes me feel like I really belong in Boston.

It’s funny how these weird things make me feel more apart of Boston. In fact it was just the other day that I found myself singing Spice Girls inappropriately loud and smacking people with pillows in a massive pillow fight in Copley square, Oh man was it fun!! singing the songs of my childhood and releasing energy into the Universe by randomly smacking people with down feather pillows. Something about this experience helped me release stored up energy into the universe and it was wonderful!

When I got back home and I was so happy and I kept laughing at my self for getting so much joy out of whacking people with a feather pillow. And I suppose when I really come to think of it, a pillow fight is a rather funny situation because in a normal environment I would not be so inclined to simply whack a random individual, but I suppose when its done with a feather filled pillow it seems a little less like you need to enroll in an anger management course and a little bit more like a healthy release of energy.

So…next time you feel a certain level of built up energy make a date to have a pillow fight. Call a good friend grab a pillow and turn on some good music, sing laugh and release – have a pillow fight.

The Fellowship of the Unashamed

I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The dye has been cast! I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made; I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tainted visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, positions, promotions, plaudits or popularity. I now live by faith, lean on His
presence, walk with patience, am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power. My face is set, my gait is fast, and my goal is Heaven. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear! I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, divided or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, shut up, or let up, until I have stayed up stored up, and paid up of the cause of Christ. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till I know, and work till He stops me. And when He returns for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My banner will be clear.
Henry b. Eyring

 
Just rocking out at BYU-Idaho.

The things on my mind at 11:40 at night.

I have begun to grow and understand my purpose here on earth to a greater extent the past few days. I have also come to understand the power of the Godhead in my own life I am so Grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ a loving Heavenly Father and the still small voice of the spirit that lets me feel and know of Gods will. Lately I have been thinking a lot about 1 John 5:6-8 "6)This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood, and it is the spirit that beareth witness, becasue the spirit is TRUTH. 7)For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one. 8)And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three agree in one."

I am currently pondering these verses and there connection with Moses 6:59 if you have any insights please let me know. Later I will expound upon these verses when I am not as tired and perhaps have some more time.
I also am still very interested in the idea of thermodynamics and better understanding its concepts along with quantim physics, and the theory of special relativity. If you have any insights please...please share.

TODAY IS...

Today is a Peach Tea Day and Chocolate Chips are better when it is snowing.

In Celebration of a GREY rain

There are certain days that just seem magical. After a long day of class I stepped out into a Grey Rain and immediately felt like retreating to my covers and hibernating until the sun came back up reading an unearthly amount of books and drinking something rich and creamy. But this is where the true celebration occurred, I had several errands that could not be postponed so I bundled up and pulled on my supremely ridiculous moccasins over my jeans and braved the cold grey New England rain. As I headed to the Berklee book store I was suddenly delighted with everyone’s rain gear. Bright yellows and greens, red and blue nothing shabby to say the least.
Unfortunately Berklee did not have what I was looking for, but this only the beginning of my adventure. Re-entering a sea of greens yellows and purples. Splashing through the puddles I found myself in front of Newbury streets famous Trident Book Sellers. It was here that I had one of those, “WOW, I live in Boston” moments. It was a moment that I was able to simply BE, simply exists. Delving into each one of my senses and letting my inner self find joy in the funny smelling mold infested books and rank smelling coffee. The rain had made me alive it was almost as though the Grey rain was some sort of magic fairy dust drizzled from above awaking my inner self. As I walked out of trident I felt full, I felt at peace. Hurrying home through a sea of Rainbow colored galoshes and umbrellas I happened upon one of my favorite gelato stores on Mass Ave. Bon Bon, I was cold and didn’t have the money for gelato. But I am convinced that because of the grey rain I made eye contact with the person working the small gelato shop. She smiled, I smiled, I waved and she waved back. Taking a chance and going into the shop I ended up meeting a new friend and got a free cup of Gelato! Grey rain is the best because it is the type of rain that brings people too life letting them exist among everything else that is taking place within the universe.

Only months after High School

"Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteouse; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Chrsit the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil." Alma 11:44

November 30,2005
Laura was not someone who would open up and talk. In fact Laura slept most of the day and when she did have something to say it was usually negative. Laura enjoyed riding horses and loved music. She loved animals and had a large heart but unfortunately for Laura she was unable to communicate what she truly felt. Laura had many handicaps that held her back and made it so she was unable to function in our society. She took special classes and was helped by many to overcome these handicaps.
Last year I was chosen to help get a new program started at my High school seminary. Instead of meeting with kids that were my age and level every other day I went to a special class were I was partnered with someone who needed help. Throughout the Semester I was asked to help Laura read simplified scriptures, and sing hymns. She was never willing to participate; I didn’t know what to do to help her feel apart. I went and talked to one of our advisers and asked what type of things Laura liked. I found that she loved dogs, because of this I arranged to bring my dog to visit her one day. She loved playing with my dog. After this I found that it was easier to communicate with her. She was such a wonderful individual and one that has impacted my life forever. Her spirit was so strong; she just was unable to express it in the ways that I was used to understanding. I suppose that really she was teaching me, the simplicity in her actions was beautiful and pure; there was nothing fake about her. As she let me see a little bit of her world I was able to see a little bit of how she saw things and what she was experiencing. It is wonderful to have the knowledge that we will be returned to a perfect state in the next life and strong spirits such as Laura’s will be able to shine.

In Retrospect (April 4th 2007)

A PLAY ON WORDS

Yellow trees shimmer at the edge of black rainbows and sweatshirts like it when girls wear them upside down or on the side. Jeans are comfortable but only when worn on Sundays, breakfasts with lemon bring sunshine until it congeals and hardens, only to be softened again by the man at the subway station without a coat, and once again by the couple down the hall in room 4a who have been fighting now for over 6 months. The Newsstand is full of useful information, but only for those who do not eat tomatoes on Tuesdays. Yes life is funny and seen in a lot of different ways, and I personally like cracking the sugar on the top of my creme Brule but then again it happens every so often that I barley remember what it is to taste sugar. I wish that I could do everything I know I am capable of.

What do you mean?...

One may say if your capable then what would stop such glorious things from happening. But I would like to interject that there is the issue of time. Time is a relative matter and a tree planted in 1810 is still standing, yet it has aged. My grandma was planted at the beginning of the 21st century and is now in her 70’s. Time is relative, and a great measurement that in reality may or may not even matter. If you look at a color long enough your cornea begins to swim and lose sight of the crazy monkeys that seem to constantly jump up and down back and forth playing double dutch for extended periods of time. Jimmy the record store owner talked about getting ride of all of the old records until there would be nothing. Nothing but silence. Some people simply can not listen to monkey’s anymore and play games and try to discover how to create the silence. Jimmy was smart when he asked Louis how to pickle ham and roast marshmallows because it was another way of dealing with the monkey’s. Yet Louis had no answer. He was silent, as so many of us are. So many people are looking for something besides monkeys and double Dutch, but getting out of the every day is sometimes difficult. I once saw a girl sitting on the street drinking a Coke and eating a small loaf of bread. The street was dirty and covered in a collage of various cigarette buds. Carelessly thrown away or put out by five toes. The silver dust seemed to hover over the street covering the surface of the girls bread. Stale yeast and mildewing aluminum cans lined the edges of the rail road tracks.


Its snowing, the white pieces of lint fall continually blanketing double lines and smashed cigarettes. Its April 4th and I'm sewed into a paper doll without feeling. Paper dolls always bothered me. They, smile. You can change their clothes, but they never change, they are always smiling and their hair stays the same I AM REAL my hair is knotted when I wake up and my clothes are sometimes wrinkled. I AM REAL. When I turn of the lights I am still standing, doing hopscotch. Do you count to ten? I tend to skip 4 and 7 and occasionally 9. When ever I wear my glasses I feel like I am dreaming. Think of what it would be like to be in the looking glass. Alice was lucky that Lewis Carol was cracked out when he put her in the looking glass because crack only lasts for so long. Finding what is REAL what is TRUE what is of GOD is the most important.

RED sweatshirt

The summer before I moved away to school I found myself full of an immense amount of ardent anticipation and it hurt. During all of the eager waiting my family traveled to a nearly 100 degree Utah and I wore a RED sweatshirt almost the entire trip. What was I thinking? I had packed enough shirts to last me the entirety of the vacation and had plenty of other fabulous shirts at home that I could have chosen to bring with me, however I stayed with the RED sweatshirt. It was comfortable, and one of those articles of clothig that you don't know exactly where you got it but seems to just magically appear one day as though it were always supposed to be a part of your story. In fact this sweatshirt had been so well loved that the average person may not even consider this particular sweatshirt to be red but rather a deep orange red

(is there a better word for orange red, if so I really need to find out.)

I have always referred to it as my E.T. sweatshirt just because of its frighteningly uncanny resemblance to Eliot's sweatshirts in the movie E.T. I was a little overly obsessed with this sweatshirt during this vacation to Utah but it struck me after I had come out to school and lived a semester in Boston I hadn't really taken off that sweatshirt, I was having a seemingly difficult time trying on some of my other options because I was so set on my RED sweatshirt. After the family vacation to Utah I put the sweatshirt back in a box and have only worn it a few times since. However when I came out to Boston I think I somehow I brought it with me in my culture, my upbringing, and my beliefs. When I first arrived in Boston I had a difficult time adjusting to new culture understanding t-shirts that talked about atheism, the legalization of marijuana, abortion, hummus, whole foods, big snow storms, and Boston accents. I found it easy to stay in my RED sweat shirt because it was safe, but it has been over the course of the past two years I have learned to branch out and try on many different t-shirts. I am grateful for all truth and accept and embrace it with open arms, I have learned that truth comes in multitudinous ways and I enjoy finding it in the most obscure places and in people that seem to be forgotten.

This blog is the beginning of my experience of discovering truth, my ability to improve upon my own thoughts adding patches and sewing up ripped pockets on my RED sweatshirt with new and different t-shirts. It is my opportunity to send anything and everything into the universe and let it just BE.



I am listening to John Denver and am playing with ideas of patience, thermodynamics, and non-profit organizations. I am full of a great deal love for life and feel the love of God in my life. It truly is a wonderful life!