irvine spectrum center...

okay, this is a really cool mall. it's great for going there at night, when it's not too hot. i don't recommend going during the day because all the walkways are brick and for cryin out loud it's like walking on the sun! but at night it's good. you can bring your dogs...not just to the mall but into the stores. weird, i know. but it's cool, there is a ferris wheel and a carousel, everything is lit up really nicely, sure you're car is bound to be broken into while you're shopping but, that's just a minor thing... this is why this mall is cool.



this is why it sucks to work at this mall. this is the employee shuttle. that's right. every friday and saturday night, we have to park about a mile away and be shuttled onto the mall grounds. are you kidding me? it's like the bad shuttles they use in the disney parking lot when you can't find your car. it's just sad. not to mention that they have overhead lights to be safe, so it's not only that we take the shuttle, it's like we're riding around in a little display box. it's a great feeling. it's know as the short bus for employees... it's just wonderful (enter your laughter here)



in other news...

my friend meredith took a teaching job with world impact as a missionary teaching in inner city christian schools in los angeles. she's really excited and moves in the very near future... i'm so excited for her, this is going to be great and she's going to be perfect for this job!

my friend justin just signed his contract to teach and coach in florida, i'm so excited for him! he'll be working at a new school so he's actually the one starting the basketball program, perfect for him! it'll be great. (when he coached with my friend sarahs husband brad, sarah and i would show up at the games wearing really random shirts we had made...something about condors...one said, "hey coach, you wanna go to vegas" because we were all going to vegas...it was hysterical

sharon and i started running! it's so funny because the dogs think that this is the time to attack since we are running away from them. i was convinced that we were going to end up face down in the dirt just from tripping over the dogs.

i finished my friend kat's scrapbooks for her wedding and now i'm terrified to send them to her in fear that she won't like them... (amber, they look very similar to yours)

oh, and i got a new ipod! so excited, it was a surprise. a friend of mine sent it to me...and it's fabulous!

thats all for now...

and scene.

i love bouncy balls.


i'm not gonna lie to you. i have this love for bouncy balls that is just plain odd. there are a couple things that no matter how bad my day is, they can cheer me up. a bouncy ball is one of them.

a couple years ago sarah, ben and i were in atlanta for the catalyst conference. for some reason i had a ton of bouncy balls i think we bought them at a walgreens or something. the best thing to do is...hide a bunch of them in your pocket or coat or something and wait until you get into an elevator... preferably with people you know... and then just chuck the handful and hope and pray you don't lose an eye. this is worth a laugh like you wouldn't believe.

that tradition continued in vegas...then huntington beach. in hb, california, we stayed at the hyatt (thank you hotwire) and the game then continued out of the elevator and then down the hall towards our room. so funny. those little things can hurt.

anyway, all this to say that my friend marco introduced me to my new favorite commercial. i'm a new lover of sony, just because they did this commercial. and by the way, it's real footage. they filmed in san fran and did it all in one take. watch it. it's so worth it.

http://www.bravia-advert.com/commercial/braviaextcommhigh.html or click here

ps. the other things that can brighten a day... one is one of those sticky hands you can get out of the vending machine at the grocery store. you know, you can slap something from about 4 feet away and then the hand sticks. it eventually unsticks and bounces back and slaps you back. it's great. i probably laugh to the point of tears every single time i have one of those. there are more but you know...

so i quit drinking pop about...three months ago... wow, that can't be right. anyway, a while ago. so, my new goal is to drink only water. and i'm trying to drink the whole 'eight 8oz glasses a day,' thing. it's harder than it sounds. or maybe it just is for me. but by the end of the day i am loathing that glass of water. anyway, today is the first day i've been able to finish all of it...i'm pretty impressed with myself actually.

my next goal...running. this is pretty funny to me cause right off the bat i know it's not going to go well. i HATE running. i don't see a point, it's not enjoyable to me. i think i would find it difficult to find enjoyment while running from large animals that threatened my very life. however, i'm trying to make big changes in my lifestyle and i hate to think that running will become part of my life. it's frightening. but, i also refuse to spend money for a gym membership...i just can't do it so we'll see how the running thing happens...i'll be starting that in the next couple weeks. i'm on another plan right now. (i give you permission to continue laughing through the next paragraph.)

i've realized recently how important encouragement is. i guess i've always kind of known but just recently the point was just driven home for me. that may sound really dumb. over the past few days/couple weeks i've run some random ideas past some friends its amazing to me how much my enthusiasm is effected by their reaction. i'm not a fan of all this. it bothers me. it makes me want to encourage my friends more. but with one friend reacting tellling me that it's a bad idea or implying that i wouldn't succeed, instantly my enthusiasm is gone and i can't help but think is it my idea that's just so out of this world, or is it my friend who doesn't see me past where i am right now? i'm trying to figure that out now. we'll see. until then, just think, "you can do it!" and you can.

okay, i'm so tired that it hurts to keep my eyes open and it hurts to think. i need some sleep.

k

ah traffic court.

i went to the laguna hills traffic court, thing, this morning. i got a ticket a while back for having indiana plates (are you kidding me?!?) and no seat belt (which i completely disagree with. at a stop light, i took off my seat belt to reach for my dogs leash so she wouldn't jump out of the car with now windows or top, and then put it back on. the cop watched the whole thing and still gave me a ticket.) so i wait about 15 minutes in line in the court house, i get up to the window to say, i'd like to see a judge but i have to work in 45 mintes," and the lady says, 'have you had a chance to register your car?' to which i told her, 'the dmv (if you call it a license branch here, they laugh in your face) told me i didn't need to.' she says, very plainly, "well, they were wrong, you do. you have an extension until sept 5." and that was it.

now i just have to find $500 to register my car. that's what the california website is telling me it is going to cost. i'm not okay with that.


we'll see.

i need to go teach some kids how to make a website...that we can't publish...i don't really get that but you know, whatever.

this picture is the one from vegas that cracks me up so much of justin and i. so funny. this is when i won $240 dollars the first time i had gambled (and the last time, by the way). oddly, the only reason i played is because this machine had crabs on it and i thought it was funny. justin normally looks a lot happier than this but he was a little bitter, but just a little bit. :)



also, i owe justin an apology. about a year ago i visited phoenix to hang out with holly. it was probably april, around the time that kat got married. i called justin and tried to convince him that moving to phoenix was the best thing ever. it was gorgeous. i helped holly coach basketball, outside, in april, overlooking mountains.

justin and i had a deal. i would take care of snakes and he would take care of spiders. i told him that the fear of something (in his case, snakes) shouldn't block you from living someplace cool.

however, i have changed my mind. while in phoenix, within the first 24 hours i found TWO black widow spiders. one the size of a dime. and the other about the size of a golf ball. oh good heavens!

so, justin, this apology is for you. i should have never tried to convince you to live on the sun where venomous spiders and snakes roam wild. i was insane and i believe the heat has cleared up my thinking. i've decided that southern califoria is much better. phoenix is great in january when the heat is normal but you still have the desert and spider and snake issues. i'm a strong believer that where i live, large lizards eat the large spiders...i'm happy with that image. lizards i can handle. so, justin, lets not move to phoenix because i don't want to die of a spider bite.

now i just have to convince you that so cal is better than florida...let the games begin

this is my favorite picture ever. it's my mom and dad. i think it's actually right before their wedding but its the day they picked him up when he got back from vietnam.

i love this picture

okay, i had to scan a picture in and thought i'd just can some of my favorites


this is ryan sprenger and i in disney world in october 1999. one of the greatest trips ever. the six of us, jess einfeld, calvin roskam, lauren radke, nate funk, ryan sprenger and i all bought 'mystery flight' tickets and ended up flying to florida for a day. it was fabulous. one of the many highlights of my freshman year of college.



these are my roommates from when i lived at woodleaf. amy (our boss' wife) josh, kat, liz, amanda, dave, bryan, me, brent, colin and tim. it was a great summer.

this is my roommate from my freshman/sophomore year of college. probably the best roommate i've ever had. i miss this girl. last i knew she was living in seattle with an incredible job at a financial company.

me and mark bogertman (got married two years ago) our freshman year at the celebration on the grand. swing dancing. of course.

ah, the notre dame game. my friends and i drove down from calvin and went to the nd vs boston college. mike, robin, paul, jess, lauren, mark, ryan and me. that game was a lot of fun.

Ahhhh Arizona.

so this past wednesday i jumped in my car after work and headed to phoenix for a concert. let me remind you that i'm a girl from indiana. i don't really know much about the desert. so in my mind, if i drive through at night, it will cool off a little bit. also remember that i drive a car that has no air (that you fred bedford the worst car salesman/snake i have ever met) so, i put the top down and head into the desert...it's supposed to be a 5.5 hour drive. well, it took me 7.5. reason being? i had to stop every hour and a half to douse my dog with ice cold water to keep her from dying. not only does the desert not cool down at night, the only difference between night a day in the desert is that the sun isn't there. it was 100º through the entire drive. and not 100º with a breeze. it was like someone was sitting in front of me aiming a blow drying in my face...for 7.5 hours. it was horrible. literally at a couple points during the drive, i seriously thought that i would die out there. not good. so anyway, all that aside, the trip had a point.

the rascal flatts concert!



this is holly and i, at the concert. oh, by the way, this was at about 9pm and it was 110º. okay, reread that. 110 DEGREES! at an outdoor concert. holy cow people, it was hot.



okay, at one point in the concert, a part of the stage drops from above, the band gets on, they are lifted up and it carrys them all the way back to where we were sitting (in the lawn seats). they get off the stage and say, "you know why we came all the way back here? cause this is where we sat before we were on stage." and then they did a couple songs out there. it was so great!



rascal flatts is one of my favorites. i love their music. i think my favorite song of all time is "bless the broken road." i love that song. pretty much every single song they have done, is absolutely wonderful. if you saw the movie 'Cars,' they actually are the band who redid the song at the end, "life is a highway." and they did it amazingly well. they managed to redo it, but also make it sound the same. however, the minute i heard it in the movie, i knew it was them. incredible! so, i could keep going...at least listen to their music...go to the itunes music store and test it out to see if you like it. i will even buy you one song...if you're nice to me.

i felt so bad that my dog had to ride back to california in the hot jeep and since the band was playing in the staples center the next night, i kept joking with holly, that i should just go up to the group and say, "look, if you guys could just let the dog ride in the bus, i'll just follow you there, she's very well behaved..." wouldn't that be nice. ah well, she was able to tough it out.

before the ride home, i went to walmart and bought an ice bandana (that cali is sporting), and a few gallons of water that i froze. as they melted (within the first hour and a half, starting at 5 am) i would dump them on the dog to keep her cool. i kept one behind my legs in the car to keep me cool and then packed some around the dog. people seriously must have thought i was insane.



overall, the show was worth every penny and every minute.
i recommend their concerts hands down. plus, the show in phoenix, it was a record breaker. it was the largest crowd they had for a country show in 16 years! isn't that great! i love it...
anyway, go to the show...if i could, i'd buy your ticket!

still recovering from the heat,
katie

also, a couple highlights from the show. one of the artists said, "we're changin the name of the tour. we'll change it to, "to hell with the music, look around at all the fine ass women." i was crackin up.

a guy got up on stage during one of the songs. and i kept looking at him like, 'why hasn't anyone removed him?' then as soon as the song ends, about four or five guys came running from all directions to escort him off stage. it would have been really funny to see him get tackled but that's just me.

the band compared the heat of phoenix to the heat of bagdad. no kidding

one of the band members went from playing the guitar, to the drums to the piano and i was AMAZED at his talents.

the fidler (?) was phenominal. he was walking around playing incredible pieces and i was blown away!

amazing show! probably the best show i've ever been too (sorry dave matthews, counting crows, john mayer, jimmy buffet...)

sorry about the longest post ever.

okay, so i've been harrassed by my friend justin who believes i'm not blogging frequently enough, so here it is. also, he mentioned that he wondered if he was "blog worthy."

so here you go jus10, this ones for you...

so, he just sent me a picture recently of his new hair style, i love it, think it's great. not that the old one was bad, but this is fun and new...so, i've included a before and after picture. feel free to leave your comments...

BEFORE

(i know this isnt the best picture but i had to throw it in because it was so funny when we took this in vegas. the cab driver was...interesting to say the least. but it's a funny memory.)



AFTER


he just moved to florida and he's applying for teaching jobs there. i'm so excited for him for a job that he's up for right now, teaching at a college close to where he lives. (just for the record, i've made it clear that i won't be calling him professor woodcox.) i'm so proud of him though, just moving and jumping in. i know it will pay off huge for him.

here is one more picture from the cubs game we went to last year with a couple of his friends and their extremely adorable son, annakin.



however, my favorite picture of justin is one where we were in vegas last year and i was sitting at a slot machine (after winning about $240 after playing for the first time) and justin had just 'donated' some money for vegas improvements, and he was looking a little bitter in the picture. so funny. but i don't have a digital of it, perhaps i'll post it later if i get it scanned. but it's a really funny picture.


so there you are justin, you're blog-worthy. i'm so tired i can't see straight so i'm going to bed. any mis-spellings, i apologize

does it mean i'm old when i'm in bed by 11 and awake (without an alarm clock) by 8. i don't think this is normal. i think i'm old...

okay, this is kyle. my husband. okay, before you freak out...let me explain.

two summers ago a lot of our friends started getting married. so, kyle and i noticed how many gifts and how much money you get when you get married. so, we came up with a plan. we were going to get engaged and then, kinda, call off the wedding and split the gifts. it's not like we actually did it. and it was worth a good laugh. so, every since then i call him my husband, he calls me his wife. so funny. it's become a fun little game for me. a long time ago i called his work, asked for him and told them, "can you just tell him his wife is on the phone." and it was all down hill from there. see, he works in the same place he's been a couple years. and these are all people he has known for a while. his friends work there, his family works there. so funny. ( to me at least) then, he got me back. when i was working at the scrapbook store, with my sister, kyle calls, my sister answers and kyle says, "hey can i talk to katie, just tell her that her husband is on the phone." so beck puts him on hold and from the back of the store i hear, "there's a guy on the phone who says he's your husband, should i be worried????" and it continues from there...

so, while i was home, i show up to see kyle at work. and when the receptionist asked me who i was, i said, "i'm katie but if you could not tell him that, that would be great." and she leans back and says, "oh, are you the california wife???" i was so excited! my reputation preceeds me.

so anyway, i got to meet his new girlfriend and she went to dinner with us...its a good thing i'm understanding.

Last night i got to go to dinner with some friends from camp. i had so much fun. i don't remember the last time i laughed that hard. seriously, tears were rolling down my face. actually, the last time i laughed that hard was probably the last time i hung out with all these people. christi, brian, sarah, kyle, me & sarah. so funny. brad was there for a bit but he left early to go to the gym. we discussed that the next time we get together we need to set up a camera to tape all of us telling stories and laughing so that if we have a bad day, we just have to watch the tape. plus, all these people dropped their plans because i just showed up in town. so, they dropped everything and went to dinner with me. good times.



this is my friend sarah who i worked with at camp. we had a lot of fun together. she and i would go to lunch and then back to work (after walmart and a movie). it was a lot of fun. we went to florida, georgia, (and the drive between indiana and floriday) then vegas and southern california. we had a lot of fun together. she and her husband just accepted a job in evansville indiana so they will be moving at the end of the month.


this is my aunt patti's dog. it's a pit bull. very intimidating to me. i know, i know. "pit bulls get a bad rap" but keep in mind you're reading the blog of a girl who has a scar on my face from one of these dogs...it's a little intimidating to me. she was very nice but i still flinched every time she jumped.


my cousin susie and i never really get to spend time together so we got to catch up. we even went to the ski show we used to go to when we were younger. it was a little different now...being that all the boys we went to oogle were replaced by sophomores in high school. it wasn't nearly as visually pleasing. however, i will say that the highlight is that you can just wait for people to wipe out. that's the highlight of my night. mean? maybe. but very entertaining. also, at one point during the weekend my cousin ryan's friend was cleaning the boat and right next to the boat was a circle of chairs with all my aunts and uncles and friends sitting around. now, ryan's friend is very attractive. and he was cleaning the boat shirtless. so, susie and i are reading magazines and the next thing i knew, everyone had gone and it was just susie and i...facing the boat. to which i turned to susie and said, "should i feel bad about watching him clean the boat?" to which she said, "no, but i'm married, i have to turn away. it's like the bill show over here!" very entertaining. we laughed about that for a while. poor bill.


and buckatabon wouldn't be the same without spending some time on the lake. i love this lake.