Regresando al Blog.

I really have considered firing back up ye olde blog several times over the last few months. But nothing ever seemed like a good enough re-entry post. And, let’s face it, looking back over my last few posts before the hiatus, they weren’t my best effort (although I stick by that Liz Lemon quote). So admittedly I had given up on the blog. I considered it a closed chapter, one that closed along with so many others in my life. But now Katie B. has breathed new life into double bird strike, and Kate blogs more faithfully than ever. And Sarah even started a married people blog! (post more please) and I am reminded of all the reasons why we all started blogs in the first place. Yes, we are all spread out all of the country but this is just a tiny way to stay a part of each other's lives. I am still so, so blessed. And thankful. So here it goes. I’m going to attempt to recap all that’s gone down since I last posted. Honestly, the 4ish people who will actually read this already know about/were there for the following, but it’s nice to see it all in neat, tidy, bloggy list.

1. March 2010: Navigators Spring Break Trip to Jacksonville, FL. An incredible (half) week of ministry and community. We went to a NeedToBreathe concert and Adam told me he liked me. I told him I shared a “mutual interest.” I'm awkward.

2. May 2010: Graduation finally came, the day I had been dreading. My big brother and most of my best friends were moving on and leaving me back here in T-town. But it was such a sweet time to remember what we have all meant to each other. We had a party to celebrate Fall ’06 and Cal dubbed me KMac 2.0. Ben moved to California, Kate moved to Birmingham, Sarah moved to Charlotte, Anna moved to Denver; and everyone else is spread out all over the place. But I know this for sure: the group will be reunited again. (T-town inhabitants: let's hang out!)

3. May 22, 2010: followed by an epically memorable bachelorette day of spa pampering, yummy dinner, and crazy antics around Birmingham, we all made the road trip to Chatty where we stayed at the beloved Stone Fort Inn and watched Sarah and Chris tie the knot. We all freaked out about our rehearsal dinner toasts, but after much rehearsing and tweaking, we all came up with something befitting of our own personalities and relationship with Sarah, and if I do say so myself, I think they were all perfect. And we all bawled our eyes out. The wedding day was equally wonderful. I think most of us would say our favorite part (no offense, Chris) was sitting in our matching robes all dolled up and ready to go, feasting on pizza, and watching an old Marilyn Monroe movie. The moment was just so… Sarah. It was the perfect final memory of Sarah Young before she became Sarah Jackson. Plus, the reception was a ballin’ dance party. And none of us tripped walking down the aisle!

4. May 2010: The Kallams four embarked on the final (for a while) family hooplah to our (ok, at least my) favorite place in the world, DISNEY WORLD. Unfortunately, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was not yet open as promised by Universal, but it was still an incredible trip. I cannot fully describe my love for Disney. Something about that place makes me feel like such a little kid. The nostalgia is overwhelming. Ben and I took over as the slave drivers/strategizers. And my dad, Mr. We-don’t-have-time-for-bathroom-breaks himself, was completely willing to turn the duties over into our capable hands. I got to try so many of the new rides I hadn’t done yet. And redid the old classics. Tower of Terror remains most favorite. I stinkin’ want that thing in my backyard. I love that we're 20 and 23 and still going to Disney World.

5. June 2010: Then I went to Spain. An experience that probably requires a whole blog in and of itself, but I never actually got around to starting one while was there. It was an incredible month to say the least. I feel like it forced me to grow up in a lot of the ways. I never thought I would be able to learn my way around a European city, but if you needed directions around Alcalá de Henares, I could navigate you like a pro. There’s something really empowering in that. The Lord provided awesome friends to make the trip so memorable. I was the victim of pickpocketing in Barcelona so some Spaniard should be enjoying my iPhone. Oh, and I improved my Spanish which was best of all. Ask me about my crazy abuela sometime.

(The last one's blurry because my camera also broke while in Spain.)

6. July 2010: Adam, Kyle, Graham, Shane, and I dressed up as cows to get free Chick-fil-a.

7. July 2010: Sarah drove all the way from the big lights of the Mississippi Delta to go see SHE & HIM with me at Sloss Furnace. Zooey naturally was amazing. And Sarah and I almost passed out of heat stroke. Thankfully we had incredible concert camaraderie with the folks around us because they all pitched in to cover the $4 water that Sarah and I had no cash to pay for.

8. August 2010: I moved in to my new apartment! I absolutely love it. I have so much space and am so close to campus. I actually have a full kitchen which I am slowly becoming brave enough to use. And my roomie Kendall is just awesome. She cooks! Come visit! (I haven’t taken any pictures of it yet for some reason)

9. August 2010: I went through rush as a Rho Chi this year which was in a lot of ways really fun, but in even more ways really really tough. The Lord taught me some things that I don’t think I was prepared for, but I’m so glad that He did!

10. September 2010: Like Katie and Graham, Adam and I also celebrated 6 months of dating. I’m not one for internet PDA, but Adam’s pretty cool. And we've gotten a lot better about remembering to take pictures together.

Oh, and I got really fat.

...just kidding! That last one was the hilarious result of an iPhone app. As a matter of fact, I am probably more physically active than I have been in some time due to the fact that Katie, Liz, and I are enrolled in a spin class that FORCES me to go to the rec for a GRADE. Just the motivation I needed.

Welp, I guess you’re all caught up then. Blame the lengthiness of this post on the fact that I have a test on Thursday that I don’t want to start studying for. Maybe these posts will become regular again. Then again, maybe I'll see you in 6 months.

Katie K.

So here is what you've missed...

hello one. hello all.

it's only been a mere 6 months since i have camped out on this website, but the sabbatical is over, friends. i am embarrassed to say that i had a little difficulty remembering my blog password, so this blogpost almost didn't happen. but you can thank your lucky starts that i do have a little bit of a memory swimming somewhere around up in my head.

i've been thinking about this blog a lot lately... probably because i have missed it. i thought all the way back to its birth and tried to remember why this blog even started. and let's be honest, katie k and i were simply copying everybody else. but beyond that, we really did see it as a fun way to keep track of our super, crazy, fun college careers. well my super, crazy, fun college career is over halfway finished at this point, and i am letting it slip away undocumented. obviously, this must be fixed.

in addition, this blog was started by the best of friends and roommates... but sadly, for those that are unaware, katie k and i are currently not roommates (side note: there was not a falling out; we are still best friends. the situation got just a little beyond our control), so now more than ever this blog should be alive! "the katie's" live on!!

now after pumping everybody back up about doublebirdstrike, let me back track... since the start of my sabbatical until now a lot has happened, so here is a recap:

1. March 31, 2010, I was diagnosed with mono. And for those that don't have everything about me memorized, that's the day before my birthday! Needless to say, my 20th birthday SUCKED. How many people do you know that get an ER visit for their birthday?

so i spent a lot of my time doing things like this. i lost a lot of weight. that was cool. and then i gained it all back!

2. May 2010, I completed my sophomore year of college (which my mom didn't think would happen, thanks to the mono... but look at me!), and Sarah Young became Sarah Jackson.

although it has nothing to do with the wedding, i took this picture while in chattanooga.

3. May 2010 (part 2), the ending of school brought summer, but it also brought the start of my booming career at Bath & Body Works. I am pretty much a body lotion expert now. Be jealous!

4. July 5, 2010, This day was a very sad day. My sweet and very sick grandfather went to be with the Lord. He was my first grandparent to lose and a very, very special one to lose at that. In the time that surrounded his death, the Lord was so faithful to me and showed me His love through the support of my wonderful friends and family.

This is Granddaddy and I at his 75th Birthday party only a month before he passed away.

5. July 25, 2010, This was a happier day. Graham and I celebrated 6 months of dating (officially)!

I love him.

and after summer came rush, and after rush came school, and that's where we are now! so there you have it (in a nutshell, that is).

i have a good feeling about the resurrection of the blog. mind you, i have not spoken of this with katie k... but i feel like with enough cheering, she'll be back on board in no time!

so enough about me... what's new with you?

preach it, liz lemon

"but i'll tell you what i do want: i want someone who'll be monogamous and nice to his mother. and i want someone who likes musicals but knows to just shut his mouth when i'm watching lost. and i want someone who thinks being really into cars is lame and strip clubs are gross. i want someone who will actually empty the dishwasher instead of just taking out forks as needed, like i do. i want someone with clean hands and feet and beefy forearms like a damn disney prince. and i want him to genuinely like me. even when i'm old. and that's what i want."

-liz lemon

amen, sister.

katie k.

"He's the guy in the Burberry shirt."

A sad thing happened tonight. Something that may change the course of my life henceforth.

I was very excited to enjoy a fun girl dinner with Sarah and Anna at Bento. If you know me at all, you know that I LOVE Bento. It is by far my favorite restaurant in Tuscaloosa, and I eat there almost once a week. I'm there so much that I said hey to my usual waiter from there when I passed him on the Quad one time. I would gladly swim in a pool of their shrimp sauce.

So needless to say, I was pumped to catch up with my friends and eat some yummy teriyaki chicken dinner. I love every component of this meal. I devoured the house soup and ginger salad as soon as they were placed in front of me. I grew increasingly frustrated though as Sarah's sushi arrived, and Anna and I were left waiting for our dinners. Finally, the waitress brought our plates. As she set them before us, I immediately noticed a problem. In place of the delicious, salty noodles that usually lie between the rice and veggies was... edamame. I hate edamame. My face falling, I asked the waitress if they were out of noodles for the night when she informed me that the owner had decided to REMOVE NOODLES FROM THE MENU ENTIRELY. As reality set in, I pushed the green, furry beans to the edge of my plate and ate as usual.

As I got up later to go to the bathroom, I passed the restaurant owner in his Burberry shirt. I stopped him and introduced myself as a faithful customer who has brought him a great deal of business through the years. I expressed my extreme disappointment about his decision to 86 the noodles. He muttered some excuse about time efficiency and number of employees which I barely listened to. My anger turned to sadness as I realized his decision was final. I didn't bother threatening not to come back because we all know that would never happen. So I asked with one last glimmer of hope, "So are the noodles really gone forever?" He replied with a simple, "Yes."

I returned to my seat and defeatedly finished my fried rice and chicken. I offered my edamame to Sarah. She declined, leaving the steamed veggies cold and lonely on the plate. I hope it was worth sacrificing my noodles, Bento owner guy.

Feel better soon, rooms!

Katie K.

So, thread the light...

I think Twitter is contributing to my inability to blog. There's something challenging to me about trying to consolidate my thoughts/complaints/observations about the world into 140 characters, and I've gotten so used to this practice that I don't quite know what to do with the freedom that is the gaping white of a new blog post. But I hate it when people apologize/complain for never blogging, so I'll move on.

I find myself again in Amelia Gayle Gorgas library studying late into the night. I studied for two hours and only missed 2 questions on the practice test. I think that means I should be ok, right? Right. It's hard for me to believe how fast this semester is flying by. Things that used to seem like vague events on the horizon are hurtling toward me with their practicality and permanence. Whether I'm ready or not, things are going to change. And if you know me at all, you know I don't handle that particularly well. My mom still tells the story of when she had to pull over on the interstate between Atlanta and Birmingham because her petulant five year-old (me) would not stop kicking and screaming because she didn't want to move. Not much has changed. Sometimes when I think about the change thhat's coming, I want to kick and scream and just pull over, but then I remember the way it feels when change becomes normal. And that's one of my favorite things. Sometimes I forget that I ever lived in Atlanta.

I didn't mean for this post to be so introspective. On a lighter note, this semester has been wonderful thus far. I just love the freedom and relaxation of the Spring. I'm still busy but it feels different from the oppressive frenzy of the fall. I'm eager for the summer.

Tragically, I recently found out that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter doesn't open until June. I'll be in Orlando in May. ONE MONTH! Oh well, at least I'll get to spend a few days in the most magical place on earth.

This one's for Spence,

Katie K.

non sequitur

Apparently my rooms has taken some creative license with our blog. I don't even recognize this place anymore. I suppose that is my own fault.

Words with Friends and Twitter have taken over my life.

I attempted to take the CrimsonRide today because I was cold and ended up taking 37 minutes to get from AXO to Riverside.

I have embarked on the saga that is "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." I may never be the same.

Vienna sucks.

That's all I got,

Katie K.

oops

today, in the simple effort to help liz out with Haiti Benefit Concert responsibilities, i accidentally placed an order for approximately $1000 worth of publicity posters. thank goodness for sweet Office Max employees who call to confirm your outrageous order. much to the dismay, i'm sure, of the Office Max company, i only walked out of there with $45 worth of flyers.

sometimes i worry about how i'm going to survive in this world.