Run. Jump. Shout!

Run. Jump. Shout. Smile. Breathe. Laugh. Burst.

It's just on one of those amazing days.

and its people like these...

that make every day in between worth living for. :)

Mr. Black Ford Truck

Dear Mesa drivers on the 60 on Monday & Wednesday mornings,

Oh how impatient you are. The speed limit it 65. I am driving at a steady 67. You flash your brights at me, frustrated at my willingness to abide by rules provided for my safety..and yours. Twice you do this. I'm seeing spots..still. I was torn as to whether or not to speed up. Say I move up to 70. I'm sure you'd flash your lights at me in a similar fashion and we'd be where we are now. At first, I felt bad, a little stupid maybe because I won't just drive 70 like everyone else on the freeway. I refuse to feel either of these. I will not conform to the trends of the world flowing around me. THAT is stupid.

Mr. Black Ford Truck, 10 minutes after you blinded me and passed me, I could still see you not a mile ahead of me. WOW. Aren't you glad you drove at a significantly more reckless speed just to get half a mile farther? I would be too...*eye roll*.

You are so comfortable continuing at such speeds. Carefree really..."Pshh..I wont get pulled over going 70..", you say..."65 is granny slow.." Yes, you say that until the blue striped SUV shows up at the side of the road and all of a sudden you can't drive slow enough. 50mph, really Black Ford Truck? Not so tough now eh?

I hope you all enjoy the extra 2 minutes at your desk or wherever it was you were in such a hurry to get to this morning. But you should try to smell a rose, or finish an extra song on your drive, think a bit more about your life, or what you have to be grateful for...soon, the car ride to wherever won't be quite long enough.

Sincerely,

Your fellow driver,

=HOOT=

Story of my life.

Once upon a time, something awkward happened to me.

That time was tonight.

These moments and I will continue to coexist in such a manner for a decently long amount of time...maybe forever. Not exactly a happily ever after. So, amidst the duration of their stay..Just gotta run with it....

or laugh till the awkwardness settles...or drives away in a shiny whine Honda civic.

(I hold the highest hopes for the 2nd option, or even the 3rd...I'm not in such great shape and I honestly don't like to run all that much)

The end.

But they don't match!

There are some days at work when the handles to the shake machine don't line up with their corresponding flavors. Now, this doesn't affect the overall mechanics of the machine, I mean, they are only the handles. However, when you pull on the lever with the pink dot and chocolate comes out, it is an issue.

You might say, "Well Geez, Katelin, you've worked there HOW long and you still have to look at the dots to remember which spout is which?..Pathetic." Ya, you might say that...that is pretty much exactly the words my manager used too.

Well, sure. It may be just a little bit sad. But everyone falls for it. Newbies and Oldies. Everyone. At least once.... will pull the lever for a strawberry shake and find a cup full of vanilla.

You can give me any garbage you want for me needing to rely on little colored dots for my shake flavors, but first I'd like to hear YOU try to explain to a customer why in the world their Extra-large vanilla shake is extra pink.

=HOOT=

Bring it on.

I cannot run...

I cannot hide...

I just gotta face it....

School is back in session, and it is about to hit me with full force.

I only have one thing to say...

Bring it on.

(but if it wants to bring it only small and easy to chew & swallow bits, that is fine by me..I'm just sayin.)

..good thing he has a hero....

I recall a song. One from my youth. And today, it had more relevance than anyone could have ever anticipated such a song to have. It's a great song really...

It is a song about a poor fellow who starts on his day's journey only to be pushed down by the terrible opposition of the world. He must start then from the beginning, sitting on the brink of complete discouragement and udder despair. Then, just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore, his friend shows up to fix what has put the fellow is such a sad state. He then could continue on his journey with new hope and a feeling of great confidence. See? I told you...It's a great song..here..just see for yourself.

"The istsy-bitsy spider went up the water spout.

Down came the rain and washed the spider out.

Out came the sun and it dried up all the rain,

so the itsy-bitsy spider went up the spout again."

I'm the spider.

Britt is the sun.

And my rain is dry.

big bad college things

The end of the semester is quickly approaching...although some days I feel as though it's not coming quite quickly enough. It has been quite a semester, the kind filled with

toothbrush heros,

socialized fish,

and fancy black T-shirts;

the end seemed so illusionary. But…. Being able to now count the number of class sessions left on one hand makes me wonder what it is that I have even done these last 3 months. I feel almost as though I've just been kinda... waiting around to start learning all those big bad college things.

If someone were to ask me what I learned format his first semester of my freshman year of my big bad college education…the first thing that comes to mind is the time my shuttle departs to take me home or maybe that I can wake up at 8 and be ready & out the door by 8:20 if I wear a hat.

Sad. After all the stress, all the hours, the homework, the notes.......that's all I've got? Seems a bit pathetic...not that knowing either of those things is unimportant or irrelevant, because they both are. But really? Let's be serious.

The REAL things I've learned since I've been to college..Ready? :

You can find the hero in anything, even a toothbrush.

Sometimes, teachers who don't know what they want…are EXACTLY what you want.

Institute rocks.

Being on a first name basis with Cody at Hobby Lobby means I spend too much time (& money) there.

I can hold my breath for a significantly longer length of time than I thought previously. (Cigarettes are disgusting.)

Taking the stairs is indeed faster than the elevator.

Procrastination still sucks…and I still do it.

Sidewalks are smoother at night.

If you say, "Hi Bob," to a random person, they may just say, "Hey, what's up?".

The campus shuttles get 7 miles to the gallon.

You must make an appointment for walk-in advising meetings…still haven't figured that one

out….

Your lungs will slowly but surely heal themselves from the effects of cigarette smoke, but dust

is there FOREVER.

Never again will I take a night class.

Eating 3 meals a day is overrated…and who's got the time?

Dead cacti still have spines.

Becoming good friends with at least 1 person in each of your classes is important so that if you

happen to lose your mind..or your notes…they may just be able to help with at least one of

them.

You don't need every single one of your textbooks.

Some people just don't realize that spandex are not pants.

You CAN have a job and take 16 credit hours.

3.14 looks like "pie" backwards.

Having a car is great….not having a car payment is too.

Don't wear white pants to your studio classes.

Online classes are better in college.

Extra Credit isn't always worth it.

Required reading is often "Suggested" reading…work smart, not hard.

Teachers don't care if you are on scholarships.

Find joy in little things like the cement gumdrops outside of the Coor Building…sometimes it

feels like all there is to smile about.

What a great start to my big bad -super awesome, overly priced, but hopefully- worth -it -in -the -end college education.