the race.

I am in a race. A race until the end of the semester. The finish line: December 15.
I am ready to cross that line. However, I know this is only the first of many finish lines. As the title of my blog tells, life is a journey. This journey I am on has lots of mini marathons that I have been purposed to finish. One being undergrad. I do not know what marathon God has next for me. This race has been full of lessons, ups, and downs, new friendships, death, new life, ministry, and love. Perhaps tomorrow I will know more about the next race God has registered me for. Until then I will keep running the race...

out of shape,

Katie

7 week bucket list?

I have 6 and a half weeks left before I graduate from IWU, so I decided I should make a bucket list.
Keeping in mind I have 6 weeks to complete this, they are not grand, but rather more symbolic and sentimental ideas.

- go inside President Smith's house
- go swing dancing in Indy
- take a trip to chi-town
- go to an IWU basketball game
- have ReaLife kid dates with the Moores
- celebrate Christmas with the girls
- spend an evening with Miss Anne & her family
- hang out at U of I for a weekend

I am already thinking about my goals for when we move back to Quincy but I'll save those for later...

Katie

they're here.

We got our wedding photos today! Kory got them in the mail and waited for me to get home from babysitting to look at them...besthusbandever.
here are just a few favorites....
((more will be posted on facebook soon))

all photos courtesy of Samantha Danielle Photography www.samanthadanielle.com

transition.

Is life after school the way it seems?
Do you just get to leave work and not think about it til 8am the next day?
While I am sure my expectations of life after undergrad are completely off, I like to day dream about when I get to come home from work and just relax. Not stay up working on a paper, or even worse, do busy work just to get that A.
I like to think about when we move back and get settled I'll finally be able to join a small group I know I can commit to, become a "Big Sister" and not have to leave her every few months, and just have a normal life. We will actually get to have dinner together at night and go to bed at a regular time.
    Oh, the joys of having so many expectations and plans when I should be living in the present. That is becoming more and more difficult each time we go back to Quincy. It is automatically assumed that we hate life in Marion and just want to be there. This is not true at all. I love it here, I love it there. I love the friendships and community I have in both places. It is like we have two different worlds that we constantly go back and forth to.
   This is a beautiful season in our life that God has given us to enjoy the best of both worlds. I would have never guessed I would get to experience my sister's first semester away at school with her. Kory is loving spending time with the boys for all of their last months in Marion. We are blessed. God has prepared this windy way for us for a reason and I will embrace it.

in the moment,
Katie

Senior.

    It was a great weekend. Even though I was fearing for Kory's life all weekend due to him spending 32 hours in a moving vehicle in three days, it was great...and he is alive :)
             The weekend practically started Thursday with all the homecoming festivities. Its my senior year and even though I am married I still get to have fun and be a college student (best of both worlds, if ya ask me!) My "bro" Chris is on the homecoming court so Kristen, Karli and I (his 3 beloved sisters) went to support him at the coronation. 

       Then we went to the most bizarre thing that IWU does: "Homecoming Torch Run and Rally." At 8 p.m. on a Thursday night all the athletes ride on fire trucks/floats downtown where they gather for a "rally." Then at 9:30 at night they drive back, sirens, honking, throwing candy to the non-existent children who couldn't be seen anyways. That being said, we had a blast. I am just enjoying being a senior. We cheered for all the senior athletes and made fun of IWU's traditions. Then we went to the best thing at IWU...the bonfire at good ole President Smith's house. While I have never been inside --- this is on my list of things to accomplish by december -- I love hanging out in his backyard eating a caramel apple next to a ginormous fire.
Here is a throw-back pic from freshman year Homecoming:

Senior year:

still not the same as high school,

Katie