Your Prayers, Please?

So...beginning this Thursday is finals. Should be a good time, because finals means it's almost time for me to go home again!! But the worrisome part of finals for me is that I'm really not scared for them or freaking out about them. And that in and of itself scares me! I am more worried at this point about getting all my homework done that needs to be turned in by the time I take my finals so I've been concentrating on that work and haven't really started studying for the actual tests yet. I'm sure everything will turn out just fine but any and all prayers of yours would be greatly appreciated on my part!

On a happier note, tomorrow is the feast of the Immaculate Conception! That means that we get to honor our mother tomorrow and all the wonderful things she did for our world by saying "yes" to God. I hope that it is a great day of reflection for everyone and gives us all time to consider how many times we have said "no" to God when we should have said yes. It's not always the easiest thing for us to go along with God's plan but if we trust that He knows what is best for us in the long run and agree to follow His lead, we will be able to do great things for the world as well. Mary is our mother, and as a fellow female, I have such admiration for her and rely on her intercession so much. Each and every time I reflect on her greatness I am never less than amazed. Without her, our Savior would not have come into the world and so many things would have been different. Let us all dedicate our lives to Christ tomorrow especially as we try to replicate the life of Mary, His mother. Let us honor her with the deepest respect and awe for her "yes" when it would have been so much easier to say "no."

There are several activities going on around campus tomorrow. I will try to attend at least some of them and I will be sure to share the experience with all of you. Have a blessed feast day tomorrow and stay warm in this cold and snowy weather!

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided.

Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me.

Amen.

Epic Failure

So...it has been two and a half months since I have posted anything on here! :/ Yeah...fail at life as a blogger! Oh well, I guess late is better than never, right?! Well, life has been busy, if you couldn't guess by my lack of updates, but it has been very good! I am loving college life at BC and have met tons of new people and made several new friends!

Just a recap of everything that has happened since September 19th...

Mary came to visit BC and spent a weekend with Marissa and I. She also brought us tickets to the Iowa State/KState game in Kansas City so we got to go to Arrowhead Stadium and spend some time in Kansas City with some of my high school classmates.

A couple of weeks after the visit from Mary was Fall Break! It was perfect timing for a break and it was great to spend a few days back at home. I also got an extra perk of getting to see Wicked in Des Moines with all the girls in my extended family. Other fall break activities included brothers' football games, hanging out with family and friends and visiting the Pometto family!

We got back from Fall Break and were greeted by a crazy and packed Homecoming Week. In four days we had to build a float, get together a bed racing team, plan dorm decorations, and protect our bed from being stolen. It was super busy and hectic but I think everyone had a lot of fun and all the hard work definitely paid off in the end, even though we didn't win any of the contests. ;)

The weekend after Homecoming was Halloween. Several of us girls who are all 5'9" or taller dressed up as the seven dwarves. It was a good weekend and we had lots of fun with our costumes!

Since Halloween, Marissa came back to Iowa with me for a weekend. It was fun to show her where I am from and she got to meet some of my family and friends. That was definitely a busy weekend but it was certainly enjoyable! The weekend before Thanksgiving was NCYC. BC sponsored a whole area in the "Reign Forest" called the BC Sports Experience and we had 170ish BC students volunteer throughout the three day event. I was there all three days which was awesome but I don't think I've quite made up all the sleep I lost yet! ;)

Since NCYC, I've been at home for Thanksgiving break. It was a great time to be home and spend time with so many family and friends. It was a great reminder to me of just how thankful I am to have so many wonderful and holy people in my life not only at school but back home as well.

Now, only two more weeks and then I will be home again for Christmas. That is a blessing and a curse because as excited as I am to be home again, I have several papers, projects and finals to get done before I can come home again!

I hope this post finds you all in good health and thankful spirits and let us all remember to prepare for the coming of our Savior this Advent season! I promise I'll post again...soon!

Life is Wonderful :)

So, just an update :)

College life is going amazingly!! I still absolutely love Benedictine College and I've had so much fun since I have been here! God is wonderful and He has definitely been doing some amazing things in my life since I have been here!

Marissa and I are having tons of fun being roommates! We probably laugh way too much and talk about too many things but it's a blast! She actually just interviewed yesterday in Kansas City for a modeling job and she got it...so, yes, my roommate is a MODEL! Talk about high standards for Katlin to live up to! Sheesh! But maybe now it will give me an excuse to go to KC with her and I'm sure we will have fun in the big city! :) Also, rumor has it that if you post a video to YouTube and it gets one million hits then YouTube starts sending you money so here's our plan: Marissa has a video camera and once we can figure out how to clear all the video off the tapes we are going to start making some sweet videos from BC and you should all go to YouTube and watch them so we can start using YouTube as a source of income...possibly to pay off our college debt?! Haha...we'll see how it goes but regardless, I'm sure we will have fun with this adventure! ;) Other things we have done...we play DDR sometimes and we are really ridiculous at it but we laugh about it a lot and have fun which is all that really matters, right?!

Last weekend, I got to go home which was really exciting! It all happened super last minute and all came together really fast but I got to spend the weekend at home and my dad got me a ticket to the Iowa/Iowa State game so it was fun to be able to go to an ISU football game...definitely something I miss! And it was great to see my family and friends again! I miss all of you like crazy!

My faith life is growing A LOT right now which is way cool. :) I have been going to mass daily and that has provided me with immense support and it has just given me a peace and calmness that I've never had before so I am thoroughly enjoying that! The Lord has blessed me with so much in the past month and I am so grateful! I am trying to just completely devote my life to Him and let Him lead me through each and every day. And He is definitely working miracles! I decided to run as Student Government Rep for our dorm (elections are next Thursday so please pray lots!) and one of my professors asked me to help organize BC's exhibit at NCYC so I get to help plan everything for that and let me just say that our college is going far above and beyond what any other college is going to do so be looking out for that! ;) I'm super excited and can't wait to see what else God has in store for me while I'm here!

I'm a little nervous, I have two tests on Monday and I haven't had a test yet so we will have to see how those go. I'm actually not too worried, I don't think they are going to be too hard but that's what I get for thinking...they will probably be nearly impossible now that I said that! Other than that, not a whole lot is new. Next weekend is Family Weekend so I get to see my family again which will be loads of fun! The weekend after that Mary is coming for a college visit so I am pumped to see her and show her the campus and all its wonderfulness. Two weeks after that is Fall Break so I will be back in Iowa in less than a month!! I can't wait to see everyone again!! :)

Well, I'm off to bed...mass in the morning!

God Bless Your Day! :)

Archbishop Sambi...and Theology 101

So, I have now been living at BC for over a week now and it's still going great! I still love being here and everyone that I have met here! :)

But...the reason that I am writing this blog is because there is some exciting news going around campus! Tomorrow, the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Pietro Sambi is coming to BC and celebrating our opening all school mass and giving an address afterwards! For those of you who don't know what a Papal Nuncio is...I'll explain. ;) Archbishop Sambi is Pope Benedict's personal ambassador to the United States. In comparison to our society, he would be similar to one of the president's cabinet members...and he's going to be on campus tomorrow morning!! We are all very excited and I think everyone feels extremely honored to host Archbishop Sambi for the day. So, I will be sure to write another blog and update all of you about how the mass goes tomorrow...I definitely have some high expectations...possibly because I haven't been to an all school mass since elementary school . :)

Another note that I wanted to make was that for my Intro to Theology class one of our texts is titled "Theology and Sanity" by Frank Sheen. Now, I have only read a little bit of the beginning of this book but from what I can tell I'm going to enjoy it! In the twenty pages that I read, one thing that Sheen spent a lot of time talking about is our reliance on God. He made the point that we were made from nothing and without God in our lives that's exactly what we are...nothing. The way he explains the concept makes complete sense and it was a way of thinking I had never considered before so I enjoyed reading it. So...right now, I would say I highly suggest all of you to read the book (or at least pages 21-44) and read how Sheen describes theology and our dependence on our Savior.

But, I have to go...of to mass in the Abbey! :)

COLLEGE! :)

Just wanted to give all of you a quick update...

I moved down to Benedictine on Saturday and have been loving it so far! Everyone that I've met has pretty much been awesome and super nice. When we got here on Saturday we were greeted by a big group of upperclassmen and they moved all my stuff up to my room for me which was AMAZING! Marissa was already here when I got here so we talked about how we wanted our rooms and our very kind and loving fathers moved everything for us. :) And we got everything set up and some of our stuff put away right away. Then we ran to Wal-Mart to get a few last minute things (like batteries...and thumb tacks) and then there was a send-off mass for students and parents. Let me just tell you, it was absolutely amazing! The Abbey church is gorgeous (so if you've never seen it you should probably come visit me sometime) and the mass was beautiful and included one of my favorite readings of all time (Ephesians 5:21-31). They had a wonderful meditation at the end about family and growing up and now moving to college and in all honesty, I teared up a little bit but I don't consider that crying. Then we said bye to parents/family and went to have dinner.

Ever since then we have been crazy busy with ROC (Raven Orientation Camp) Week activities and we are always doing something! We get back to our room at like 11:30 and we are dead tired! It's kind of ridiculous. Haha, but it has been a ton of fun and I think I have met approximately 200 people since I have been here but unfortunately...I don't remember anywhere near all of their names :/ but I'm hoping I will get better with names as time goes on...we'll just see about that. Classes start on Wednesday and I'm actually looking forward to them just for the simple fact that I can get in a routine again. I get so lost without a routine and knowing what's on my agenda for the day (weird, I know). But I am definitely a little worried about them at the same time...basically, I'm just hoping that they aren't so crazy hard that I can't do well in them!

So, everything is going really well. Marissa (roommate) and I have been getting along really well and haven't had any problems so I'm pretty sure this year is going to be fun with her :)

**side note** Marissa and I are the pretty much the talk of our dorm...why? you ask...because we have CARPET in our room. That's right...apparently nobody else actually has carpet in their room so we have gotten lots of visitors, it's pretty hilarious! :)

But I still miss everyone back at home...I cried for a long time the night before I left because I didn't want to leave everyone and it is still weird knowing that I am so far away from all of those people who are so dear to my heart and we can't just hang out whenever like we used to, but I know I will see them again soon! I'll be home in October...so that's not so far away from now! Love you and miss you all!

Heaven is Everywhere

Another profound conversation with a young mind. :)

If you weren't aware, yesterday was pretty much the perfect day to spend at a lake and it turned into a gorgeous night on the lake as well. So, after church and dinner we went tubing and then skiing (probably past the legal time limit to be pulling skiers but the sun was still kind of out so we could see just fine, haha) and after we got done skiing and boarding we were just driving around the lake and my "little man" Kael came and sat with my dad and I up in the front of the boat and we got into a pretty amazing (but still entertaining) conversation. He started out telling me everything a 6-year-old knows about the American flag and we discussed the significane of the number of stars and stripes etc.and then somehow (I'm not exactly sure how) the conversation turned to outer space and the moon and Kael told me that if you go to outer space you can't go to heaven...and it made me wonder what his reasoning for this statement was. So I asked him if the reason they couldn't go to heaven was because they were "above" heaven when they went to outer space to which he gave a "duh Katlin" response of "No, because heaven is everywhere...including outer space."

After my reflection on that one short statement, I agree with Kael, heaven is everywhere because our planet is God's way of giving us a small slice of heaven. So, no, heaven and earth are not the same but God has given us gifts here of earth that show us glimpses of His kingdom above and we just have to look more closely to realize what those gifts are. Contrary to Kael's beliefs though, I do think astronauts can go to heaven but the kid has a valid point and heaven truly is everywhere...we just have to look for it.

:)

My Downfall

So, I am sitting in my room writing this blog and really I should be cleaning my room and tending to other items on my ever-growing to do list...but instead I have chosen to sit here on my computer for nearly the past two hours not really doing anything. Way to go Katlin. Procrastination has always been something I am really bad about. If I can put something off, I will. I always get those things done on time but apparently I really enjoy making myself miserable and extremely stressed by not working on those tasks until the last possible moment! Just so you know...my room has been messy probably since about...March. I still have binders and things sitting around from State FCCLA Conference (which was March 30-April 1) as well as graduation gifts and cards and bags and clothes from random trips I have gone on throughout the summer. Awesome. And what's worse is that I have told myself countless times that I NEED to clean my room but I come up here to do it and I find something else to do that is more appealing (such as taking a nap, or in this case, writing a blog). 

The stress that comes from the procrastination is not something that I always handle with grace but through the years I have begun to get better at it. I like to blame this nasty habit of mine on 4-H. You probably won't understand this unless you were in 4-H but every 4-Her knows that the fair projects are never done until the night before judging and sometimes not even started until the week of judging. So the whole "goal oriented" business that comes with 4-H is really a good idea but we all know that 4-Hers don't set goals for themselves until shortly before fair so that we can have something to put on our write-up. So, when I first joined 4-H back when I was in elementary school and experienced the infamous "night before fair" for the first time I cried...a lot! I wanted to get everything done but I didn't see how I was going to be able to get all of my projects done before the next morning. This trend continued for the next few years...long enough that my dad began to label that Wednesday night "cry night" because he knew it would be stressful and a 7th grade girl isn't usually one to deal with stress well. :) Now, the "cry night" hasn't happened for several years but the stress is still there and this procrastination business is something that I try to improve upon constantly but I have yet to master it...dang.

Maybe college will help me kick that habit ;)

Off to clean!

Naps on the Beach

So, I just have to share this story from my day:

I got up to the lake this afternoon and two of my younger cousins were staying with our grandparents so we were all hangin' out up here and they left Patrick and I with Makiah and Reece while they went to church since Patrick and I are going to Teen Mass tomorrow night.

We played a lot, had a snack, wrestled, watched TV...you know, the usual. But then Reece and I decided we wanted to go outside. So we got out of the house I thought it would be a good idea to walk down to the little beach area down the street. So, of course, we were about halfway there and Reece decided he didn't like my idea and wanted to turn around and go home. But I told him he would have fun at the beach and picked him up and carried him for awhile until we were practically at the beach. When we got down to the water I told him he could play in the sand and at the edge of the water but I was going to sit on a stack of dock sections that was sitting back from the water a little ways. Immediately he said he wanted to sit on my lap. So, we just hung out and talked for a few minutes about all the things we could see but within 5 minutes he was asleep. So, I decided it would be a good choice to just hang out there for awhile and let him sleep instead of walking back to the house and risking the possibility of waking him up. After 45 minutes or an hour I decided to head back home and so I picked up his shoes and started the trek back. 

As I was walking it hit me that I was experiencing just a sliver of what Christ experienced and the love I showed for this boy is similar but on a much smaller scale. I was carrying Reece and I held his life in my arms and everything that came with his precious life. Christ carried all of our lives with him on his trek to Calvary and everything that came with our lives, including our sins. I gathered up Reece and picked up his sandals and carried his tired body back to the safe dwelling of our house. Likewise, Christ picks us up and carries us back to Him when we are too weary to find our way back to Him on our own. When we have worked so hard to find our way to our Lord and we have grown too weary to have faith anymore he is always right there to sweep us off our feet and take us back home. Once we got back to the cabin, Reece peacefully awoke and didn't throw a fit or anything! (that's slightly impressive for this 2 year old boy) and when we return to the house of the Lord we should be overjoyed and well-rested and ready to be on fire for our faith all over again. And, Reece was definitely ready to play with more energy than he had before his nap.

So, basically...God is amazing and it continues to impress me how he uses everyday happenings to bring Himself into our lives and remind us that He loves us more than we could ever imagine!

Tennessee, College, and More!

So as I write this I am sitting on a charter bus coming back from Nashville, TN and the FCCLA National Leadership Conference. It was a great week and it was so cool because now that I have been to so many national meetings I have met a ton of people from across the country and it's always exciting to see everyone at the national meetings and conferences! It is also really cool to see 5,000 people together in one place that all share such a strong passion for the same organization, its purposes and its ideals. One big highlight from the week was the announcement of the national outreach project for the next two years and all the new things we are going to do to try to publicize it even more than before! The Children's Miracle Network is our next partner and we will even have a true campaign over the next two years. We have a theme song and a Nickelodean star is serving as our spokesperson. I'm very anxious to see how powerful FCCLA can be with these resources seeing that we raised half a million dollars for our last national outreach project, Feed the Children.
Other things that are new in my life...I found out my housing assignment and roommate this past week so that was really exciting! I haven't really talked to Marissa much yet since I have been in Tennessee but I have been praying for her and I ask all of you to pray for her as well! I look forward to getting to know her and living with her in just a few short weeks! Yeah, only a few weeks until I move down to Benedictine! I went to orientation at the end of June and I got to meet some pretty cool people that I am so blessed to call my classmates! It was also crazy that when I got home I discovered that a past Kansas FCCLA officer is also going to BC and a girl that used to be in our small group will be joining our raven family. :) It's crazy how people you never expected to be will always end up being a part of your life! I love it!
You also may be curious as to how exactly I am writing this as I am on a charter bus...well, unfortunately, Verizon doesn't get any coverage in Atchison so we had to switch to Sprint and I am now the owner of a blackberry...scary huh?! I think the phone is smarter than I am and I really don't know how it all works yet :/ But oh well, that is the least of my worries these days!

But, I'm going to try to get another nap in before I get home and on top of that my phone is dying so I will continue to fill you in on my life some other time!

God Bless!

It's Been Awhile...

So, I realize that I haven't posted for over a month and I apologize but life has been BUSY! We had Baccalaureate, a couple different awards nights, my graduation open house, commencement, going to everyone else's open houses...the list goes on...and that's only things related to school/graduation! So, now I am graduated from high school and technically considered a college student now. Which is a little weird to say but I am so excited to go to Benedictine in August and see what wonderful things God has planned for me there. I've decided that I'm not necessarily happy to be leaving everyone around here but I am definitely ready to be done with high school...it's just that natural progression...I've spent 4 years in high school and now I'm ready for bigger and better things. So, no, I didn't cry at commencement...didn't even come close really because I know that I will stay in touch with some of my classmates and unfortunately I won't stay in touch with other classmates of mine but they will always be in my thoughts and prayers and like I said in my senior address at commencement "it's practically impossible to forget those people that you grew up with and spent 13 years with" so I have confidence that I will see all of them again and that graduation wasn't a goodbye but instead a "see you later".

So, other things that have been keeping me busy...I just spent a week in our nation's capital city for Citizenship Washington Focus (4-H trip) which was amazing! We got to see so many sights and visit so many monuments and memorials. I just love D.C. because as you walk through the streets and visit the national mall you can just feel the rich history of the city and you realize that our freedom and all the rights we have been granted were established in that city and it makes me realize how grateful I am for our founding fathers and the strong morals and values they possessed. I also got to meet a ton of new friends on the trip! There were 32 other high schoolers from central Iowa that went and we obviously got to be pretty close since we rode an 18 hour bus ride together! In addition, we got to meet people from Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Arizona, and Florida! It was definitely a great week and I'm so glad I went! I'm even considering applying for the internship out there next summer to show other high school students around the city for 8 weeks! But we'll see...that's far enough away that I don't have to seriously consider it yet!

In other news, JUDAH WAS BORN! I was so excited and I haven't seen him for almost two weeks and it's killing me! Both him and Ruth Ann are doing well and he is a wonderful addition to the Pometto family! Summer has started and that means it's lake season! The deck and one of the docks went in last weekend and hopefully this weekend the other dock, trampoline and boat will go in! I love spending time up there with all of my family and just being around all of them is so valuable...especially now that I will be leaving in two months! Colin came home from his year in D.C. about a month ago so it's been great to have him back and be able to spend time with him again! Monday night was girls'/I hate boys night with almost all of the TOTB girls. We had lots of fun and just hung out and enjoyed each other's company which is always a nice way to spend a night! :)

I'm thinking that's pretty much all I've got for now. Nothing too exciting, I know, but it has definitely kept me busy but been very enjoyable at the same time! I'm so glad it's summer!!

Senior Skip Day

So, today is senior skip day and it has definitely been a nice change of pace for my life. :) Last night we had a track meet...in the pouring rain and when I got home I was soaked and freezing! But afterward I went out to a friend's house for "senior campout" which wasn't really a campout because we all hung out in her garage due to the weather and then everybody went home around 1a.m. because we all so tired! ...pretty lame, i know... but I got to sleep in until 10 this morning! And the only reason I woke up is because I got a phone call...but it was amazing to finally get some sleep! Today has been pretty chill...Drew came over for a few hours and we just hung out and I went through pictures for boards at my open house and he was cool with it...thanks Drew! :)

Now, I really should be finishing my boards and cleaning the house and getting all my other stuff ready for Saturday...but instead I'm writing a blog...awesome...

Time to go be productive again!

Busy, Crazy Life of a High School Senior

Wow! Life has been BUSY! And I don't think it's going to slow down at all for at least another month...which is okay because I am usually a lot more productive when I'm busy because it forces me to manage my time well and I get a lot more done but there are definitely some days that all I want to do is relax and catch up with friends over coffee or something. But it's been a fun busy and there are so many wonderful things that are going to happen in my life in the near future that I'm excited to be preparing for it all! Here's a quick, brief look at what I've been up to...

Two weekends ago was my senior prom. I had tons of fun and really enjoyed spending the night with all of my close friends and getting dressed up. It was an absolutely stress free day for me which was really nice. I'm not the type of girl who fusses over her makeup or hair...the way I see it is it's one night and who really is going to remember what my hair looked like anyway? So, my hair took a total of 25 minutes, I did my own makeup and I called it good! I had lots of fun and I think that's the most important part!

Preparation for the open house is in full swing at the Clancy household! Dad just finished painting tonight so he is very happy to have that done and now we have moved into cleaning mode! I have also been put in charge of anything and everything picture related so I am hard at work on picture boards and a slideshow and all that fun stuff. The big day is Saturday so I'm sure things will be busy around here for everyone over the next few days!

Two weekends ago we had Gauntlet (lock-in) at church and it was AMAZING! We played laser tag at a place in Pleasant Hill which was lots of fun and I got to ride with Julia so we had some wonderful bonding time! :) Once we got back to the church from that we had some witness talks and such and it was a really good time for me to reflect on my relationship with God and what I need to work on most but at the same time we managed to have a lot of fun and hopefully all who attended enjoyed the night because I know I did!

This past weekend I went to what was possibly the last Vow of Silence show I will get to see until sometime next year if I'm lucky enough to be home on a weekend when they're playing in Ames! It was an awesome show and it was really great to see Thoughts of Crossing as well! Saturday I worked at a Junior High Boys' State Track Meet for six and a half hours which was a little bit ridiculous...especially because I got sunburnt! My nose is BLISTERING and it's quite disgusting and it's really embarrassing because I stood in the same spot all afternoon while I was working high jump so only half of my face got burnt and then since I was holding a clipboard, only half of my hands got burnt...and did I mention that I was wearing a WINTER COAT the whole day?! Yeah...pretty awesome if I must say so myself. Saturday was the Relay for Life which was good. It is always a fun event and it's really touching to see how many people have been affected by cancer and how terrible of a disease it is. But we are doing all we can to fight back and hopefully one day we will live in a world that doesn't have to face the horrors of cancer.

Looking to the future...the next few weeks are going to be just as jampacked as the last few weeks have been. This week on Wednesday we have senior skip day (which I will probably spend at home working on things for the open house...cool, right?!) and then we also have Baccalaureate on Wednesday night which should be a nice, relaxing change of pace. Next weekend, I only have a million open houses to go to including my own so that will keep me busy and I will most likely gain at least ten pounds over the course of the weekend but that's what is supposed to happen... :) Next week is awards night on Monday and academic excellence awards on Wednesday. Our last day of school is next Thursday and commencement is on Sunday the 24th!! I'm so excited but defintely wouldn't say I'm necessarily ready for graduation...I still have yet to write my speech. :/ So any pointers on that would be greatly appreciated!!

I think that's about it from me for now...hope you didn't die of boredom during this post! I'll try to make the next one more exciting! :)

My Second Favorite Thing

So, I haven't shared this tidbit about myself with you yet but those people in that picture are some of the most amazing people in the entire world. After my faith, FCCLA (Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America) is my passion. I had the opportunity to serve as the 2008-2009 Iowa FCCLA President and I absolutely loved every single minute of it. In the picture are my other 6 officers along with our state officer coordinator at our state leadership conference held in March. During my term I learned so much about myself and about life in general and I owe all of those lessons to my fellow officers. They are all wonderful, amazing people with so much dedication for the things they involve themselves in and that is something I truly admire. People always said that we were a great team and I honestly believe that, we all worked so well together and got along perfectly that I couldn't have asked for six other people to work with for a year. We had way too much fun together but at the same time we knew when to buckle down and be productive so we could get home after a long weekend of work and planning.

Since our term ended at the end of March, I have been trying to forget about it and push it aside so I can focus on the things I have coming up in my life (for example, graduation) but it has been so hard! And it should be...it's impossible to forget about something or someone who made a great impact on your life and these people most definitely impacted the person I am. Honestly, it's not easy being done...and that sounds so greedy and selfish but I miss all of them more than anything. We are spread out all across the state and before I could always count on seeing them at our monthly meetings but now we're done and I haven't seen them for a month and it's proving to be quite trying. They are people who kept my life in check over the course of the year and they were always there to listen when I needed to vent and they are still there for me, they will always be there for me, but distance just makes things so much more difficult.

Just for you to get an idea of how much we all loved Iowa FCCLA...Rebeka (third from the right in the picture) texted me last week and said she hadn't unpacked her suitcase yet because she thought that if she didn't unpack then it wouldn't seem like she was really done yet. I laughed at her...because that's how our relationship works...and told her she was a little bit ridiculous but then I went upstairs later that night only to discover that my suitcase is still sitting in the middle of my floor and it's mostly unpacked but there are definitely still several items of clothing and other random supplies in my bag that I haven't even thought of unpacking yet. So apparently I am suffering from the same despression as Rebeka...and I really don't think it's completely hit me yet that it really is over and maybe I really haven't unpacked yet because I don't want to face the fact that I'm done.

I really don't know how to explain my emotions because I really am excited to see what the 2009-2010 officer team can do and all the great places they are going to take the association but at the same time, it sucks to have everything one day and then the next day have it all taken away. It comes with lots of shock, tears, hugs, sadness, joy, and relief...how's that for a mixture of emotions?! It's pretty much impossible to deal with all those emotions at the same time...and that's what I have been trying to do and it's not working because I am still living in denial and I really don't want to admit to the fact that I'm finished serving as president.

But, let's look on the bright side! In just a few short months, 6 of the 7 from our team are going to the National Leadership Conference in Nashville, TN and I am pretty much counting down the days until July 10th! It's going to be one of the best reunions ever and we are going to have a fun-filled, relaxing week with each other and with all the officers from around the country that we met over the course of our year. When I get down thinking about the fact that it's over, I just think about the fact that we are going to be together again soon and it's going to be amazing! It usually helps me get through the sadness and brings a smile to my face :)

Scholarships = Hard Core Thinking

So, Anna (youth minister) found this scholarship for me that's worth a ton of money and it's an awesome scholarship to the college that I'm going to. When I first got it, I looked over it and thought it would be a piece of cake but today while Anna and I were talking about it I realized that I don't think it's going to be as easy as I first suspected. There is no essay part to it and it's all just short answer questions...sounds pretty painless, right? Not so much...there are some pretty deep questions on this application that I don't know if I'm going to be able to give a complete answer in less that 300 words.

For example, one question asks for two ways in which I have brought others closer to Christ. I truly hope that I am bringing people around me to Christ every single day but I don't know that...they do, so this question is making me think quite a bit.I am most definitely going to say something about Theology of the Body because it is my passion and I really think that it is an amazing way for one to become closer to God and realize why He made you just the way you are. I am planning on talking about how we have evangelized with it and taken it to different youth groups and such. So, that's my easy answer but they asked for two...and I really don't know what I'm going to say for the other one because I don't feel like I actually bring anyone closer to Christ. I think that I expose them to His greatness and then they decide for themselves if they want to accept Christ or not. I think the whole process is between that person and Christ and not so much me but I guess I will have to change my style of thinking and come up with another way I have led someone to our Savior.

Another question asks about the depth of my commitment and how I practice my faith. I'm going to kind of approach this like a testimony...but how am I supposed to do that in under 300 words?! I will definitely talk about my Confirmation year which is when I truly took Catholicism as my own and made the decision that I wanted to pursue my faith and I wasn't going to just sit back and watch it happen, I wanted to be a part of it and since then I have been growing in my faith every single day and I learn more about God and how much He loves me constantly. But Theology, and our mission trip to Harlan, Kentucky, and my family, and youth group have all played vital roles in my spiritual journey and to try to put that into words is going to be somewhat difficult I have a feeling. I love to share my story with others and tell people how great of an impact God has had on my life but I've never written about it before so we will see how this all turns out.

So, along with all these questions, my brain has kind of been going crazy just really thinking about God's role in my life and how I can let Him play an even greater role. We can all let God take more control in our lives. And life would be so much easier if we truly gave every part of our life up to Him and didn't worry about controlling anything at all. But we can't actually do that...we are human and we live in society that's all about independence so we all strive to be in control of our lives and have a handle on everything that's going on but I think if we just let it all go and became a society that was dependent on God our lives would be dramatically different! We would be worry-free and careless and God would take perfect care of us...if only we lived in a perfect world...

Rookie

So, I've never done this before and to be honest, I don't really know what I'm doing. I mean, I was planning on starting a blog eventually just in case anyone back home in Iowa wanted to hear about my life in Kansas next year but I guess I just decided to do it now instead. So, if I begin to ramble on about things that make no sense...I apologize.

So, for those of you who don't know...here's a quick snapshot into my life at the moment. I just gave up my red jacket and I wouldn't say I'm handling it all too well. But each day is better and maybe one of these days I will finish unpacking and put my suitcase away. :) Luckily, my focus has began to shift to graduation. I absolutely cannot wait and I am so excited to start the next chapter in my life. Along with graduation comes scholarships, open houses, scholarships, baccalaureate, scholarships, awards night, scholarships, painting the house, and oh right, scholarships. Yeah, seems like it would fill my time pretty well, right? Wrong...I don't actually do any of those things and, more often then not, find myself bored, sitting in front of my TV most of the time...awesome use of your time, Katlin.

Other than graduation, I am currently sick, which is loads of fun, and I am keeping busy managing the girls' track team and hanging out with friends while I still can.

Sorry for the not so exciting blog post...hopefully they will improve over time! :)