The Bouquet Part Deux

I went to a wedding a couple weekends ago.  It was so much fun!!!  So pretty!  The wedding was so nice!  I'm so happy for my friend and her new husband.

At this time last year I wrote this blog post.

I caught the bouquet this weekend.

We'll see what happens won't we.

"He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this is my joy therefore is fulfilled." John 3:29

That's Not What I Meant

So I was in clinical the other day and the conversation went something like this:

Me: *whispering* What is that smell? OMG, it's awful. Do you smell that?
Adam-My-Fellow-Nursing-Student: *whispering* Smell what?
Me: *whispering* That smell, its terrible.  It all up and down this hall.  I don't think it's a patient though.
Adam: *whispering* I don't smell it.
Me: Like gas, idk. *shouting down the hall* Brittany?  Do you smell that awful smell?
Brittany-My-Fellow-Nursing-Student: *shouting down the hall* No.
Me: *shouting down the hall* It must be my period.


Me: I mean, like when you can smell stuff more when you are on your period.

"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer." Psalm 19:14

*Names changed to protect the identity of the student.

Plane Pangs

I went to Peru in 2008 for a missions trip.  We started in the capital of Peru, Lima.  We stayed there for about a week, then flew to Cusco, Peru for the second week.


If I remember correctly, the flight from Lima to Cusco was lacking in excitement, except for the fact that I had diarrhea.


As you learn quickly on a oversees missions trip, or any trip where digestive health is very important, everyone's bowel movements are up for discussion, whether that be the Big C or the Big D.  One girl was slightly embarrassed because she fessed up that she hadn't gone poo in a couple of days and we all laid hands on her and prayed for the Spirit to move - her bowels.


Anyway, in the airport going to Cusco, I had diarrhea.  I made to through security without too much trouble, PTL.  Now, waiting at the gate for the airplane to show up was a different story.  I think I went back and forth from my seat to the bathroom running like 6 times in an hour.


Finally, they started to board the airplane, and I had to run to the bathroom again, leaving all my stuff with the team (read, my tall guy friend).  I figured I had time to get this last bout of diarrhea out before the plane took off.  But no.


The entire plane must have boarded in less than 5 minutes, and was about to take off.  This is no American airline where you sit on the tarmac for at least 30 minutes before even taxiing out.  Unbeknownst to me the plane was about to close its door to passengers while I was in the bathroom.  And my guy friend has my purse in which my passport is enclosed.


Guy Friend to the Flight Attendant: She's in the bathroom, she will be right here!!!
Flight Attendant: She will just have to catch the next fight.
Guy Friend: She has diarrhea!


Insert British lady here.  She over hears this whole situation and runs too the bathroom to get me.


British lady: Katie!!
Me: *why does everyone have to be named Katie? Can't I just poo in peace?*
British lady: Katie, Katie!!
Me: *I don't know any British people*
British lady: Katie!
Me: Yes?
British lady: Your plane is all boarded, and your boyfriend or your husband is freaking out!
Me: OMG!!! *Wipe, sort of*


I didn't wash my hands.  They let me on the plane, thank God.  Off to Cusco.  I didn't have diarrhea on the plane for some reason, probably terror of being left sans passport and any command of the Spanish language in a Peruvian airport.


A shout out to the British lady who saved the day.  If you ever read this and recognize the story, email me.  And I apologize if you are Australian or South African, I haven't yet perfect my knowledge of accents.


You know what the team said when I sat down on the plane?  Glad you made it.


"Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ." Philippians 3:8 

I'm Glad I Don't Have A Beard

My Brother has an awesome beard.  Sometimes.


Last week I told him he looked like Zach Galifianakis.


He shaves whenever he feels like it, as any person should.


The reason I'm glad I don't have a beard is not because I don't think it wouldn't look good on me, but because EVERYONE (especially at church) comments on my Bro's beard or lack thereof.


He takes it in stride though.


If they ask him if he is growing out his beard, he says, "Nope, it does it by itself."


If someone says, "You shaved your beard."  He looks at them and smiles gently; I think he is laughing on the inside.


Obviously they are either jealous of his awesomeness or they are intimidated by his coolness, and they say silly things.  If I were them, I would be jealous of his beard.


"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore." Psalm 133 

His Eye Is On The Sparrow

1) I was at the bookstore helping a guy find a book.  He looked like Aziz Ansari.  He was standing next to me, we were almost shoulder to shoulder, he bends around to look me in the eye, and says:


"You have really blue eyes.  I bet your babies will have really blue eyes."
"Thank you?"


2) I was at an observation clinical, and one of the nurses is running around and says to me:


"You have Irish eyes."  And she runs off.


I tell the nurse I'm hanging with that I am Irish, and she yells to the other nurse, 


"She is Irish!"


3) At clinical, by a patient,


"Oh my gosh, you have the prettiest blue eyes."
"Why, thank you."


It's the B vitamin I take; B for blue eyes.


Or it could be my affinity for blue eyeliner and shadow.

(UPDATE 6/26/11, 1750, My Father has blue eyes too.  So I probably get that from him.)

And if this post sounds conceited, it's not really.  These stories come at times when I need encouragement (except for maybe the first one, that's a weird story).


"For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil." 1 Peter 3:12

So There Was This One Time

...when I was at Sam's Club.


It was 2007.  October.  I was buying candy for a thing at the Christian Student Union at NOVA.


I was done shopping and ready to check out, and my Mother left me to go to the bathroom.


I had two big bags of candy.


The old creepy guy in front of me in line said, "That's a lot of candy for one girl."


Me, "That's a lot of coleslaw for one guy."  He had like 5 bags of coleslaw.


Old Creepy Guy, "I have a lot of meat to go with it."


Really, Old Guy, Really?


Eww.


"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him." Romans 6:6-8

The Art Of The Hand Shake

Today at church after the music, the pastor says to say hi to someone and shake their hand, like always.

The guy sitting next to me looked single and cute, so I was kind of excited about this.

Then he shook my hand.

Weak.

Ugh, gag me.

Doesn't he know he won't get a job or a wife shaking hands like that?

We went over how to shake hands in my Red Cross Babysitting class when I was like 11 or 12, so certainly this guy should know from somewhere that he needs to have a firm hand shake.

Side note: KWoww told me a funny story about the girl's hand she shook at church today too .

Maybe I should give him the benefit of the doubt and say he was shaking a female's hand and for some reason there is an idea that men shouldn't shake women's hands as firm as they do other men's.

Males, whoever told you to shake women's hands gently was silly and should be ignored.  You should shake everyone's hands the same.  I don't change how respectfully I speak to someone because they are male or female, why should you change how you respectfully shake someone's hand?  I actually think you giving me a weak hand shake because I am female is degrading.

But maybe I'm missing something and can't see the whole picture.  Please tell me if I am.


(Over 3,200 blog views!!!)

"Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons." Acts 10:34

What I Learned/Thought About This Week

1. Be married when you have babies, it makes life easier.
2. Why does it seem all the cute ones are married?
3. People see me as an adult, even if I don't.
4. Don't say everything that comes to your head.
5. Appearances do matter.
6. Just because they don't know how to write an email doesn't mean they are stupid and I don't need to point it out.
7. Go with the flow.
8. Gray hair is a good thing, I should stop pulling them out. 
9. It doesn't matter where the dishes go in the dishwasher.
10. Blue eyeliner and shadow looks awesome with my blue school uniform.
11. Smoking is the number one cause of bladder cancer, because nicotine gets flushed out of your body through the kidneys and then into the bladder, and every time you pee you don't 100% empty your bladder, you have about 10 ml (or 2 teaspoons) left of urine in your bladder and the carcinogens in that 10 ml attack the cells in your bladder and cause cancer.
12. I actually know stuff.
13. The house is cozier after it is vacuumed.
14. If you give an inch, they will take a mile.
15. Party City in Winchester is da bomb.
16. Don't leave ice/water in the cooler and forget about it.
17. Gas is super expensive, and I just dropped $50 at Exxon without even getting a bag of chips.
18. Facebook and Blogspot are distracting.
19. It's hard to get everyone to agree, but it is okay to agree to ignore each other.
20. I miss my family, and cannot wait for Easter.
21. I cannot count the ways God has made my life so blessed, all I know is that he came and made beauty of my mess

"Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained by living a godly life." Proverbs 16:31 NLT

Pet Peeve #2

Taking out the trash.


I really, really, really dislike taking out the trash.


It's not fun.


It's dirty.


And it's cold outside.


KWoww, as I am now referring to her, doesn't like to take the trash out either.


We need a guy to come over about QOD and take it out for us.


"Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ." Philippians 3:8

Must This Happen Again?

Well, I saw him again today.

"Him who?", you might ask.

The Creeper.  I first wrote about him in this earlier blog.  And again in this blog.

Kaywa and I went to Chipotle.  She wrote about it in her blog.  I really, really like Chipotle.  Before tonight, I hadn't been there in months.  Okay, weeks, but everything in my life either happened the other day or months ago.  We don't really go out on the weekdays that often unless it's Chic Fil A, so this was a success for me.

We walked in and got in line and I turned around to talk to Kaywa, and I saw him.  He and the Keeper were there, sitting together on the same side of the booth.  It was weird.  I told Kaywa that he was there, and she was excited and turned her head to look at them.

There was an awkward smile.

Being the kind person I am, I said, "Hi, how are you?"  But in my tactful, I-acknowledge-your-presence-but-let's-not-talk-anymore voice, NOT my I-haven't-seen-you-in-forever-how's-it-been voice.

He said hi, and we ordered our food.

Kaywa and I sat as far away from them as we could without sitting in front of the door that whenever opened blew bone chilling wind on whomever was in its way.  Ten minutes later they were up, and I could see them coming toward us in the reflection of the window.  I think, "Oh no, really?  Leave me alone, I don't know how to interact with boys, let alone boys that are creepers and think they like me."

Then I realized we sat next to the trash cans.

He threw his stuff away and walked out without saying anything more to me.

It was exciting.  I mean weird.  If he ever reads this he should feel special.  I think I probably only write about Kaywa more than him.

"I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety." Psalms 4:8

Not again.

We're studying on main campus.  We've been here since like 7:30pm.


Remember the creeper I told you about a while back who ended up being married?


Well, his friend, "The Keeper," is in the library.  The Keeper goes no where without "The Creeper".


So that must mean that The Creeper is here somewhere.


But today this story is not about The Creeper, it's about The Keeper.


I HAD to go to the bathroom, as I rounded the corner, there The Keeper was, talking on the phone.  My heart skipped a beat remembering the trauma I'd been though before.  Before my brain could communicate to my body to turn around, he spotted me.  I headed straight for the bathroom, even though I had to walk through his bubble to get there, and pulled on the door.  BUT THE BATHROOM WAS OCCUPIED!!!  I turn around.


The Keeper: "Hey, beautiful."


Me: *Scowl.*


The Keeper turned into The Creeper²


Let me back up a bit, to the reason I was going to the bathroom.  It was not only because nature was calling, but because of something Kaywa said to me.


Me: *capped pen touching my face*.


Kaywa: Do you have pen on your face?!


Me: Ugh, I hope not.


Kaywa: Oh, ummmmm, never mind, maybe it's not pen?!


Me: What? *realization that I have a dark pen-mark-like hair on my chin*.


Kaywa: *face palm*.


Me: Give me your gosh darn tweezers!


"Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence." Psalm 91:3

The Miami Pizza Place

There was this one time I was in the Miami airport all by my lonesome.

And I had walked past the don't walk past this sign or else you will have to go through security again.  Oops.

I was hungry.

So I went to the pizza place they had there and ordered a slice of pizza and a soda.

While I was filling up my soda, the creepy, old, cleaning guy said to me, "Hey, you wanna share you soda with me?"

Me, smile and walk away.

Please explain to me why I have so many of these stories.

"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid." Matthew 5:14

We went to Southwest VA

I drove.  And I was booking it.  Then I had to pee.  So we stopped at a McDonald's to pee and get an ice tea, a.k.a. a sugary diuretic.

On the way out an older guy says, Hi girls.

We smile and say hi, just like any other nice interaction would happen in the South.

He proceeded to say he had been following us and was trying to keep up.

We then walked out of the building as quickly as possible.

It was weird.

Must I always attract the creepers?

"Deliver me, Oh LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me." Psalm  143:9

Kaywa's insight

The following came out of a conversation about how I wasn't really attracted to the males at the N.A. meeting.  

She told me I needed to be "more shallow so I can relate to people better."

"For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." 1 Corinthians 9:19-22

October 2007 Creeper Story

I'm at Sam's Club, buying 2 big bags of Halloween candy for the Christian Student Union at NOVA.

Mother leaves me to go to the restroom.  Do you see where this is going?

I go to the register to pay for my candy.

The older guy in front of me says to me, and I quote: "That's a lot of candy for one girl."

Me: "That's a lot of coleslaw for one guy." He had like 5 big bags of coleslaw.

Old guy: "I have a lot of meat to go with it."

"Hide me under the shadow of thy wings." Psalms 17:8

Apparently I attract the creepers

The other day,  I was talking to this guy at outside the bookstore at the nursing campus at school.  He asked for my phone number; I gave it to him.

I can hear you all saying, Katie, Katie, Katie, why did you do that?

Here is what I say to that, I felt like it.  He didn't seem like a creeper then.

Okay, I saw him later that same day at a restaurant, just by chance.  And we talked, whatever.  Nothing exciting.

The next day, my friend, who I'll call Ann, Facebooked (the verb) him.  He is married and has a baby.

What? What?? What???

I told this man that I didn't date married men.  "I'm separated," he said.  Really?  Come on now.

Oh, did I say that this was the first time in my whole 21 years that a guy asked for my phone number.  Well, I guess I won't be able to say that again.

Not looking for a mate anymore, one must fall in my lap from Abba Father.

"But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." James 1:4