Happy Birthday, Bro .

||Day Seventy-Four||

Today was my brother's birthday! And since he has a night-owl schedule (thus he was not awake for a large portion of the "daytime"), I spent my day preparing for his birthday.

After running a few errands, I came home and got to wrapping all his presents, which was really more fun than tedious. When I finished with the presents, I took my dog outside to play fetch since the handyman was here working on finishing our bathroom, again. I played until she got tired, but then I started to not feel so well, I've been getting daily headaches, so I decided to just lay on my bed and do nothing. It was just for a few minutes, but it was so relaxing, and even soothed my headache for a bit.

 After having not read for a couple of days, due to my daily headaches, today seemed like the perfect day to get in some reading. I sat up in the living room, where the light was pouring in, and delved into my books.

 Currently I'm reading two books, which I did the last time I read too and I thought it went pretty well. The first book is called "Smart Money, Smart Kids" by Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruze. My dad had actually given me the e-book as a birthday present. He said that he applies a lot of the Ramsey's methods, and he thought it would benefit me. Managing money is something that absolutely terrifies me, but so far this book has made me WANT to do it. It's well written, has a lot of good information, and is just humorous enough to not make it feel like I'm reading a textbook. Honestly I can't wait until I get back to work so I can start partitioning my money into "Save" and "Spend" envelopes.

 My other book, which I just started today, is "Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of Captives" by Thomas French. This was a book that was recommended to me on Goodreads based on other books I had marked as "to-read". I can't say I know exactly what it's about, but I'm fairly sure it has to do with the controversy over whether zoos are for the good of the animals, or if they go against nature. I'm pretty excited about it.

 I had just gotten a few pages into it when I realized that I still needed to make brownies for my brother. It seems like for the past year or so, we've ditched the idea of making/getting a cake every year for birthdays. Last year, I'm pretty sure, we spent my brothers birthday at The Cheesecake Factory. Needless to say, as much as I love cake, I'm a fan of this method.

 By the time the brownies were in the oven, it was getting kind of late, so I started dinner. I wasn't feeling particularly hungry, perhaps due to scraping the last of the brownie batter from the bowl, so I decided on a simple dinner of guacamole with chips and a microwave enchilada from Kashi.

 Before I knew it, it was almost 9 pm and my mom said that she was on her way home -- my brother, for his summer class, had gone to my mom's office to work on a project that I know basically nothing about. So, I quickly iced the brownies, added sprinkles (because that is the best way to eat a brownie), and then we all sat down to eat once they were home.

 After dinner and gifts, my mom and I insisted on putting a candle in a brownie and singing "Happy Birthday" to my brother. We may not go all out for birthdays, but there are just some traditions that you just can't do without.

Finally, in literally the last minute of his official birthday, I managed to post this awesome throwback photo of my brother and I at Disney World.

My brother is one of the smartest, kindest, most patient, and all around best guys I know. We have our arguments every once in a while, but we were always been best friends growing up. When we were much, much younger I used to want to be just like him, so much that I insisted on wearing Mickey Mouse underwear just like he did. My mom used to always say: "You thought he 'hung the moon'". And it's true even today. I look up to my brother so much. He is an amazing person, and the best brother I could have ever asked for. Happy birthday, bro.

♥K

See You In November .

||Day Seventy-Three||

This morning started out bright and early, and by early I mean 9:00 am. But Mandy had already been up for 2 hours, so I had to, as my mom would say, "shake a leg". We had breakfast, got ready, hung around for a bit, and then went to lunch at one of our favorite place: Hot Box Pizza. Hot Box is a chain restaurant, but they are only found in Indiana. So it only made sense that we get in one last Hot Box run before she moves to Tennessee. We originally agreed upon splitting a small spicy pepperoni and sausage pizza, with breadsticks, but when I got up to order I completely blanked and said we wanted a large. But that worked in my favor, I suppose, because now I have lunch for two more days!

We both ate way too much, but couldn't even regret it; it's too good. Afterwards we made a quick Target run, stopped by my house to drop off the pizza and Target bags, then headed out to the Indianapolis Zoo. I practically live there, but I'm not at all ashamed. I love it there, and I'm trying to make the most of my membership pass.

 My friend, Mandy, in her natural habitat -- looking at the seals. Why, you may ask? Because sometimes when she laughs it sounds like a seal's bark. Thus, she is one with the seals.

Penguins diving like dolphins.

By this point it was absolutely pouring down rain, but we were determined to see the tiger (which is one of Mandy's favorite animals) and get pictures/videos. Since it was raining, we had no problem getting close to the glass, and the tiger ended up walking right up to us twice. We were thrilled. Soaking wet and a little cold, but thrilled.

A little "family" of lemurs all huddling together in the rain. Probably in my top 10 of the cutest things I've ever seen in my life. 

Nicky was the star of the orangutan exhibit today. While a few others sat in the hay piles in the corner, Nicky sat on a platform in front of the giant windows and looked mischievous.

She actually kept vomiting up her food and then proceeded to eat it all again to vomit later. She did this, according to the crowd of kids around her, at least seven times. As far as I know, it's not a sign of the animal being sick, considering how pleased she looked with herself every time, and is likely no different than how dogs eat their own vomit. Animals are awesome.

White handed gibbons -- one of my favorite exhibits at the zoo.

For the first time, in all the times I've been at this zoo, I got to see the bears being fed. This is also probably the most active I've ever seen the bears. They must have enjoyed the rain too.

Despite the rain, and the absolutely packed parking lot, this was one of my best zoo trips yet. We didn't even mind the rain, really; we embraced it and took advantage of the fact that everyone else was under shelter while we walked around. As I mentioned in my previous post, this was likely the last time I'll get to see my friend, Mandy, for a while; not until her birthday in November. She moves to Tennessee in just a few days, I'm going back to work in a couple of weeks, and school starts in less than a month. July has flown by incredibly fast.
But I'm feeling good about this upcoming year. I think I say that every year, but for now, 2014 seems to be my year and I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.

♥K

TGI Tuesday .

||Day Seventy-Two||

Today consisted of good company, good food, and good deals.

This afternoon one of my friends from college/work came to visit me. She's actually moving to Tennessee to transfer colleges this year, so this was probably the last time we will hangout until sometime during the school year when I'll visit her. So, to celebrate we went out to dinner, TGI Fridays, and then went to the mall.

I had one of the best side salads I've ever had and, one of my favorite things ever, french onion soup.

 Then, for dessert we split a Tennessee Whiskey Cake (because it was too fitting to the occasion not to). It. Was. Heavenly. Warm cake, cold ice cream, carmel sauce, and pecans. My mouth is watering just remembering it. 10/10 would get again and again and again.

 As we walked around the mall, we were both being pretty good. I even managed to come out of Bath&Body Works without buying anything. Not one candle. That's personal progress. Finally we were walking by Aerie and I suggested we go in, even though I didn't really see myself buying anything there either.

 Thankfully we went though, because we hit the motherlode. We were already perusing the sale items (6 for $20 underwear and $15 bras) when a sales associate came up to us and offered to give us 20% off. We were so ecstatic. I ended up getting the 6 for $20 deal on underwear, 2 bralettes (one coral, one purple), and this adorable seashell shirt, all for under $50. Should I have spent $50 on clothes? Probably not, but a girl's got to live a little.

All in all it was a successful day filled with laughter and girl talk. So glad to have her has friend, and can't wait to visit her in Tennessee soon!

♥K

Just Call Me Chef Kate .

||Day Seventy-One||

For the longest time I've been telling myself over and over that I need to start eating better, as well as just being more aware of what/how much I'm eating. Being in college, it's so easy to stress eat, binge eat, or to just eat poorly. I can't even tell you how many times I got home from classes, or work, and just put a hot pocket in the microwave and called it dinner. But this year I want to change that. And I'm going to try really hard to stick to it. Sure there will still be times when I'm too tired or even times when a Totino's Party Pizza just sounds good, but for the most part, I'm going to put an effort into it.

I personally believe that buying the right groceries is half the battle. If you want to eat better, then you darn well better be buying vegetables, fruit, and some lean meats like chicken or fish. And, at all costs, avoid temptation aisles such as cookies, chips, ice cream, etc. Though there's nothing wrong to treating yourself to a little Ben & Jerry's every once in a while.

Obviously the other main obstacle to eating better is making the time. It takes time to prep, it takes time to cook, and then (worst of all) it takes time to clean up also. So I say, start small.
Like today, I decided to make a grilled cheese. Although, this was no average grilled cheese, because after all, you want to keep things interesting and possibly healthier. Instead of white bread I used pumpernickel, I swapped the butter for olive oil, switched from American cheese to mozzarella, and added tomato slices. It hardly took any more time than a regular grilled cheese, minimal cooking utensils, and tasted amazing. I was pretty impressed with myself. 

Prepping food, like chopping up vegetables can sometimes be tedious and take a lot of time. So, I really like to utilize prepackaged, pre-washed vegetables. Just throw them in a bowl, and boom, you're done. Or if you're in the mood for something warm, heat up some frozen vegetables. You can say that frozen vegetables don't taste good, and that can often just differ with brands, but when it comes down to it, you're eating them for the health benefits. If you were eating things just for them to taste good you might as well just eat a donut. Just bear through it, eat your vegetables, and then you can eat a donut.

I may never become a gourmet chef, but hopefully I can at least master things such as flipping an egg without breaking the yolk or getting my pancakes to cook all the way through (though personally I like them a little undercooked). I suppose time will tell. To be continued.

♥K

A Brief Story On Self-Accomplishment .

||Day Seventy||

As of lately I have noticed a lot of people my age, or younger, or older, getting engaged. I have nothing against people getting engaged, or even married, young. Frankly, it's none of my business. If you feel secure, comfortable, and feel as though you have an understanding of who you are as a person, as well as who you partner is as a person, then who's to say anything against your decision to be together.

And as much as the girly-side of me wants to get engaged, plan a wedding, get married, buy a house, have kids, etc. A large part of me also feels the need to slow down. I want to travel. I want to buy my own apartment and pay for my own bills (crazy, I know, but it's the independence thing I'm going for). I want to get a dog and spoil it like crazy. I want to find a job that I love. I want to learn who I am and define myself. I want to make great accomplishments -- my own accomplishments.

A bloom from a tree that I passed on my run, and then again when I walked my dogs.

Recently, for example, I have decided to start trying to run again. I hate running. I hate it so much. But I'm trying to better myself and become more confident in my skin. So I told myself to suck it up, lace up my running shoes, and just bear through it. Today was Day 2 of running. It was not fun (according to my boyfriend, it doesn't get fun until you can run three miles; I'm working on one right now so I've got a ways to go), but I made an improvement. I ran a minute faster than yesterday. A part of me wants to rationalize that that could just be a flaw and that tomorrow I might have an even worse time than the first day; but I'm trying to view it more as progress. I felt a sense of self-accomplishment. And though this accomplishment may be small, it is important. It is my first step towards reaching my goal.

A "ground view" of the trees in my back yard. Taking pictures of things that I feel are beautiful, or make me happy, is another way that I'm trying to improve upon myself. By choosing to see the good in every day, I can develop a more optimistic view of life. Hopefully, it will help me to not get so overwhelmed over everyday obstacles.

My hibiscus plant, which is currently loving the sporadic rain showers that seem to occur daily.

I guess my point is that when I do get engaged, and eventually married, I want to be a person who feels confident, independent, and like I am the best version of myself as an individual. Then, as a married couple, my husband and I can continue to grow together, and I will continue to improve, but without losing who I am on my own. 

So for me, I don't see getting engaged in my near future. And I think that's okay. I have a lot of self-progress that I want to make, which I plan to work on it every day. After all, life has a way of working itself out. For now, I'm just going to enjoy it.

♥K

Simplicity .

||Day Sixty-Nine||

Every once in a while, I think it's important to step back and "enjoy the little things" in life. Sometimes it's hard to appreciate moments when they're happening, but afterwards you look back and realize just how wonderful it was. So here is my list of all the simple things I appreciated today:

{+} Sleeping in until 10:30, especially after not being able to sleep until 4:30/5:00 in the morning.

{+} A hot shower after neglecting to take one the day before.

{+} Going to my mom's office to help her redecorate.

{+} The lunch that she packed for us while I was showering/getting ready.

{+} Listening to a mixed CD on the way home from her office.

{+} Feeling the motivation to run and be active.

{+} Having a decent mile time, considering how much I dislike running and how long it has been since I last ran a mile.

{+} Taking my dog for a walk.

{+} Playing fetch with my other dog.

{+} A second hot shower to relax my muscles after my run.

{+} Blueberry pancakes for dinner (which I had been craving for far too long).

 {+} The sound of a small storm outside my window.

{+} Laying in (almost) complete darkness to soothe my migraine.

{+} Watching "House" to take my mind off of the fact that the aspirin wasn't kicking in.

{+} Reconnecting with friends via social media (as much of a pain as social media is, you can't deny that it has its benefits).

{+} Looking through old photos from high school and remembering fun memories and good haircuts.

{+} The "end of the night" talks I have with my mom in which we lose track of time by talking about anything and everything.

{+} The relief of no longer feeling a migraine.

It is so easy to take things for granted. So, when I feel myself becoming overwhelmed by negative thoughts, I just try to find the silver lining, as cheesy as that sounds. Does it always work? Not necessarily. But tonight it was just what I needed. Here's to simplicity and the joy of having a lot for which to be thankful.

♥K

Bibliophile .

||Day Sixty-Eight||

I can't stop reading.

It has become something I look forward to every day.

And every book I start I immediately want to finish so that I can start the next book, yet when I do finish it then I get sad because it's over. 

Today I finished two books that I had been reading, which was quite an accomplishment for me because usually I shudder at the idea of reading two books at once. However, this was fairly easy since one book was more of a biography and the other was a novel.

The first book I finished was "Wesley the Owl" by Stacey O'Brien. I first saw this book at the Louisville Zoo gift shop, of all places. This, and another animal book that I plan on reading, just somehow caught my eye. Then, being the Goodreads fanatic that I am, I was looking up these books, adding them to my "to-read" list when I saw suggestions for other books that were similar; thus started a whole new genre of books for me to devour: wildlife nonfiction. Since I figured this, along with three other animal books I had found, would not likely be found in my library, I decided to order it online. I ended up finding 5 books (the 4 animal ones and another book) for only about $5. I was on cloud nine. The catch, however, was that the shipping was $20. But after rationalizing that 5 books for $25, or $5 per book, was still a way better deal than I could find anywhere else, I decided to just order them and be done. Then for the next week or so I waited anxiously as they were all delivered in the mail. The books were all used, which was fine by me, but I had ordered the majority of them in "Like New/Good" condition. This was the first book that came in the mail, and while it was not the first book I wanted to read, I was just way to impatient to wait for them to all be delivered. 

I started reading this book on the way to my cousins wedding just last week.

And for a while I was skeptical of it catching my attention. I didn't want it to seem too much like a school assignment. But on the contrary, I loved this book. It could be a little tedious at times, usually on the longer chapters which just usually falter me in any kind of book. But as I neared the end I was more and more drawn to finishing it. Obviously this is not a book that everyone would enjoy, so I won't go into a lot of detail, but it spoke to my animal-loving science-oriented heart. And by the end of the book I was literally in tears. O'Brien writes with such passion and eloquence that made me not only feel connected to her, but also made me want to hug and appreciate my own pets more.

I would give this book an 8/10, but would likely only recommend it to fellow animal science/zoology/conservationists. It takes a certain kind of mindset to fully enjoy it.

The second book that I dove into whole-heartedly was a classic: "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. 

I read this book in the 7th grade, but didn't remember almost anything about it. I have a real issue with being forced to read things. I think I just like to read at my own pace and enjoy the book, so being told to "read chapters 1-5 for Tuesday" makes me feel pressured. So maybe I did legitimately read it, but because I was rushed to just follow the assignment I didn't actually retain it.  

What propelled me to re-read it in the first place, however, was seeing the trailer for the movie. Then, of course, I was on a Target run and looking at the books when I saw this on the shelf. It was the last copy and it was only $7 so I thought "why not". I read it in three days. I couldn't put it down. I'm such a sucker for dystopia/new world novels though. And reading it I almost wondered to myself why we had to even read it in 7th grade. It just seemed, to me, that I would have probably appreciated it more in freshman or sophomore year in high school. But I'm not an English teacher. The point is that this book is fantastic, the chapters seemed to go very quickly, and it's just such an interesting story.
I will say, however, that after watching the trailer, reading the book, then re-watching the trailer, that the movie does not follow the book. So, just go into the movie knowing that it is a tweaked story line and you're golden. I think the movie looks good though, so this girl will definitely be seeing it.
(If you haven't seen the trailer...)

Overall I would give this book a 9/10. I would definitely read it again, and will probably keep this guy for a while instead of re-selling it.

Though it was a rather uneventful day, I feel fairly accomplished and am proud of all the reading I've been doing this summer. I would like to continue reading into the school year, but it's likely that I won't since I will have time consuming classes and be working again (but, as of today, I learned that I am starting a new position once I head back to school. I am over the moon -- better hours and better pay will make for a much much happier Kate). But you never know, maybe I will just have to make time for reading.

 ♥K

The Last Day .

||Day Sixty-Seven||
This morning my eyes literally opened up just as the clock (and by "clock", I mean my phone) turned 9:01. I've never woken up so suddenly before. And this time, after I was awake, there was no going back to sleep. The roofers had already been working for an hour or so, and to my mother's surprise I hadn't heard any of the roof-ripping-ruckus that ensued in that hour. I sleep like a rock.

After a quick walk, featuring some running (I know, I was shocked too), and a shower I was fully ready for the day. Today was my mom's last day of summer. So, to celebrate, we treated ourself to a day. We ate lunch, briefly went to the mall (in an attempt to shop for my brother, unfortunately, not ourselves), then swung by a cupcakery.

The whole inside of the shop smelled absolutely delectable, and then once we saw all the cupcakes, it was almost impossible to resist drooling. There weren't a ton of different flavors, but enough to make it an incredibly difficult decision as to which ones we were going to try. In the end, my mom decided on the "Peanut Butter Blackout" and I decided to switch things up and try a "Burt Reynolds".

As you can see, my cupcake was considerably larger, however the ultimate deciding factor for me was the amount of icing on the cupcake. The icing is my favorite part of the cupcake, whereas for my mom it's the cake. We ended up cutting both of ours in half and sharing. As expected, the icing on both cupcakes was impossibly good, and my mom fell in love with the cake part of my cupcake. Overall it was a thumbs-up experience.

Once we came down off our sugar-high, we headed to a pottery painting place. I hesitate to call this a tradition, but we painted pottery on my mom's last day the year before, so I felt it was an appropriate way to spend this year's last day as well. We had actually stopped by this place an hour earlier and it was almost packed with people (mostly children -- like 5 kids for every adult) so we almost just called it quits on the whole notion of going. But, thankfully, we tested our luck post-cupcake and found the place to be nearly empty, aka perfect.

My mom painted a bowl and I painted this interesting yin-yang plate/bowl. We practically had the whole place to ourselves. We stayed there for almost an hour, taking our time painting, listening to a 80s/90s radio station that my mom said was "kind of annoying" yet proceeded to sing along to every other song. I loved it.

The summer is really starting to feel like it's wrapping up, especially now that I'm edging closer to having less than a month of summer left. That's when it all starts to go by faster. Thank goodness, though, for days like today; when you can sit back, relax, and just enjoy the company.

♥K

Rainy .

||Day Sixty-Six||

This morning I woke up, first, around 6:00am. This happens every once in a while. I'll go to bed fairly late, then wake up incredibly early, feeling as if I am ready to start the day. But then when I calculate how many hours I've actually slept, I know that I need more sleep. So I go back to bed. Then generally I end up waking up around 10:45 or 11:00, which always bums me out because I feel like I lost my morning. However, this morning, the second time I woke up, it was around 8:00 or 8:30. My mom was in my room telling me that the roofer was going to be here at 9:00. With much self-motivation, and the incentive to shower, I finally got out of bed. I was prepared to start my morning walk again, until I looked outside and saw the storm that was about to roll in. Thus started my rainy day.

Rainy days are tricky because they can go one of two ways: (1) absolutely no motivation to do anything whatsoever, or (2) an incessant need to be crafty and get things done.
Thankfully, today was the latter. 

My mom and I did a couple of errands then ate lunch at one of our favorite local places. We're pretty much regulars there. We go every time I'm home from school at least once, so this was our last time before I go back up to my apartment in August.

 It rained like crazy before we had left the house, so in anticipation of it possibly raining again, I wore my rain boots. Of course it didn't rain again. The ground was even fairly dry. I felt a little silly considering anyone else was wearing flip flops and shorts, whereas I was wearing jeans and boots. But that didn't stop me from getting complimented on my boots twice. Best rain boots I've ever owned.

 And what would a rain day be without at least one craft? After much scouring through the internet, a many pins on my "Getting Crafty" Pinterest board, and a multitude or other random DIY pages I favorited to my browser, I finally found something that seemed easy and worth the money to make.

It's this adorable "no sew" tote bag. It took some time, and even more time to just pick out a fabric I wanted, but I'm so pleased with the result.

Though it's not raining anymore, and probably won't again until the weekend, I'm going to end this rainy day right -- by snuggling up with my Pillowpet and a good book.

 ♥K

Real Hoosier Meal .

||Day Sixty-Five||

Today I didn't feel very well. Nothing major, just fought a headache for the better part of the day so I didn't really do much (which includes missing out on my daily walking) besides go on a Target run.
Other than that, I spent some time cleaning, catching up on laundry, and some reading.
It was the perfect day for reading. It was pretty hot outside, so I set myself up on my bed (with freshly washed sheets) and a few books I've been wanting to start. Then my mom, whilst also making dinner, so kindly fixed me another Perrier with lime. I just love how pretty it looks, especially in a mason jar.

For dinner we had, what my mom called, a "real Hoosier meal" -- why Indiana folk are referred to as "Hoosiers" still baffles me. She fixed corn on the cob, which for the record I helped shuck, sliced tomatoes (with some salt, pepper, and dill), and zucchini boats (which is basically just zucchini with sour cream and cheese on top, though we used cottage cheese, and then baked/broiled).

It was a simple meal, but a really tasty one. And it was one of those meals that felt like JUST the right amount of food. A good meal and the latest episode of "Pretty Little Liars" with my mom made for an exceptionally good night.

 ♥K