Update

I just updated my professional blog, katherineinmuseums.blogspot.com. It just updates you on the projects I'm working on. The Urban Museum Collaborative got the supplemental grant they've been wanting, which is WONDERFUL! I'm still working on the portrait gallery, 7 out of 15 write ups are done but I have to edit those 7 a LOT. I turned in my exit project proposal this week, BIG weight off my shoulders there. I'm really excited about this project - I'm creating a children's book that tells the story of Campbell House, then doing a story time education program to go with it (so anyone that has kids, be ready to get an invite to the 1st one in May :-) ). Plus Dr. Lankford says he thinks he found me an illustrator for the project! YAY! I still have to talk to her, but keep your fingers crossed it works, cause I can't draw at all and while I could always just photoshop the 1885 photographs I really wanted good illustrations that truly bring the house to life. Hopefully it'll work!

Other updates - I had my last class last night! WOOHOO! I felt good when Jay was talking about stuff cuase I felt like he finally explained where he'd been trying to get us to go for the past year and a half... and like I understood it... always a good thing. Afterwards my cohort went out to Schlafly bottleworks. It was definitely a bittersweet moment. On the one hand I had SO much fun with everybody and am SO SO SO glad the semester is over, cause I can have time to think again. But on the other hand, that was my last class with Jay - we don't have him next semester. It's also my last class with eveyrone in my cohort - with the directed readings and internet course next semester, I won't see anybody in class. I can't believe it's been a year and a half since we started, it's flown by, but I also feel like I've known this group of people forever. I'm really gonna miss seeing them all the time... which means we HAVE to get together out of class!

I was thinking about it at lunch and it absolutely amazes me how much life can change in a year. Think about it. This time last year:
- I went down to Shreveport to see Emily in Rabbit Hole. 1st time we'd been down and her ex wasn't there. I went to her church and said "I want a place like that, where I go in and everyone says "Hey Katherine! I saw..."
- I had no clue about the AAM conference, had never been to Philadelphia, and hadn't even thought about doing an internship in Natchez
- No clue what I was gonna do for an exit project
- Felt close to my cohort but was still feeling really lonely

Now:
- Emily's engaged
- I've found an amazing church
- I'm looking for jobs
- I had a great experience with the national park service in Natchez
- I loved AAM and fell in love with Philly
- I've got a wonderful exit project and a 2nd project that's so great
- I have wonderful friends, I'm even clsoer with the people in my cohort, and am no logner lonely (well most of the time)

Wow. And that's just part of it. If you know me, you'll be able to see how much I"ve changed over the past 2 years, and especially the past year. Thank you to everyoen that was a part of that.

Oh and speaking of conferences, I'm not gonna go to AAM this year. It's in LA. That's super expensive, both hotel and air fare wise. No one else is going for me to share a hotel room with. I don't really care that much about the museums in LA. I don't want to be out there, and most of the people will probably be on the west coast. There's just nothign that says "Oh I HAVE to go to that", and there were SO many things about Philly that said that last year. Same with most conferences I've found - the interesting ones aren't till later, all the upcoming ones are ones that make me say "Eh". I dont' want to pay bucu bucks for "eh". But there is a historic house museum conference in Texas in November 2010, so if I don't have a job by then (which hopefully I will) I"ll probably go to that.

December-January is gonna be my big push on job searching/really start the job search. I'll try to update you on how that goes. KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED!

Oh and I'm now addicted to Dr. Who. I blame the field house for this :-). They were tlaking about it at work. I got curious and watched it. LOVE it!

That's it. Bye now!

I don't get people

I don't want to say much in this post because I don't feel it's right to air the whole situation on a blog. I will say that this post is not about my family. My family has been amazing through this, absolute ANGELS.

All I'll say is I don't get why some people are so rude. Why they feel the need to be uppity. Why they feel the need to verbally attack someone without even hearing an explanation. Or why they freak out over a tiny little mistake.

People are ridiculous. That's all I can say.

At least it's almost Christmas! I hope you're all having a happy holiday season!

Oh paper trail

So tonight at Brad and Hannah's, we played a game we have named Paper Trail. It's a combo between telephone and pictionary - we actually played it a few times at Phoneathon to keep us happy on the phones. One person writes a common phrase on a piece of paper. They then hand it to the person next to them, who has to draw the phrase. The drawing is then passed along and the next person has to interpret the picture. The cycle continues like telephone till it gets back to the start.

Here are some of the funny phrases from tonight -

"Shut the front door!" became "All the lights in the house are on"

"Da roof, da roof, da roof is on fire" became "And suddenly, the house was on fire!"

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away" became "During apple season, don't eat too much or you'll end up in the hospital"

"Mama's, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys" became "I don't know if the herd is surrounded"

"Luck of the draw" became "No couple equal to back I have a pair" (hey I wrote what I saw!)

"God rest ye merry gentlemen" became "Dreaming of fairies and horseshoes will drive you crazy" (I drew a cross with an arrow to represent God, a bed with a guy sleeping for rest, a u to represent ye, a fairy plus m for merry, and guys with hats for gentlemen. They had no idea what my cross was, thought I'd crossed out the m, and wrote "Dreaming of fairies and horseshoes makes you crazy")

"No sex in the champagne room" was drawn. I'd never heard that phrase and wrote "We popped the champagne cork on the couch and now we can't sleep" to which I was told "That sounds dirty..."

"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" became "A fetus and the statue of liberty make me smile", then "A fetus and the statue of liberty are ecstatic", and SOMEHOW back to "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"

But here's the BEST one. I was handed "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickle peppers". So I drew a guy smoking a pipe to represent Peter Piper. He had a big hand and was reaching towards what I meant to be peppers. There was also a basket of peppers next to him. Brad thought my peppers were drugs and wrote A COLUMBIAN DRUG SMUGGLER CARRIES A PURSE . The drug smuggler then became Ethiopian. Finally the cards came back as "Just say no". Yep that was definitely my fault. It was HILARIOUS.

Yep I love paper trail. It's awesome.

By the way, I"m gonna take a break from thanks for the memories. I may pick it up later. But I"m kinda done with that series for now.

PS - other people know the phrase "Dance with the one who brung you", right? Because I was handed a drawing tonight and wrote that. Granted, the phrase started as "Do a little dance, make a little love" and became "Prom king and queen", which is what was drawn, so I was wrong anyway. But I wrote that and NO ONE there had heard that phrase before! Is it just a Southern thing, or just a Heugatter thing?

If we shadows have offended

"Listen
If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but slumber’d here while these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme, No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend: if you pardon, we will mend:
And, as I am an honest Puck, If we have unearned luck, Now to ’scape the serpent’s tongue, We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call;So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends, And Robin shall restore amends."
- William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream (yes I know I didn't put it in the right form but I needed to make it short).

One of my favorite Shakespeare quotes! Why'd I start with this quote? Here's the dealio. So last night I was talking to someone about my recent post about Emily and Luke, which got some attention on facebook. First off, THANK YOU to all who read it, liked it, and commented on it! I was expecting "Wow that's cheesy" responses, especially from my sister, which made her comment even nicer. But just to clarify, while I love the "aww you're so sweet" responses and will take them any day, I wasn't fishing for that. I also didn't mean to reveal any stories that were personal and not supposed to be told. I was just calling things like I saw it, honest. That's what I'm trying to do on this blog, not fishing for "you're awesome Katherine" comments. SO the lucky ones in the story isn't me and my blog, it's my sister and her fiance. That said, if you want to comment on the note, go right ahead :-).

Anyway last night this person made a really good point - technically I have been saying things about people on here without their permission, via the "thanks for the memories" series and the post about Em and Luke. SO if you feel like I have said something about you that you don't want revealed in a blog, I sincerely apologize (seriously, I mean that). Let me know - message me, call me, etc. - and I will take it down, I promise. My intention was not to embarrass anyone or reveal anything personal. I just wanted to say that I was thankful for everyone that's influenced my life. Also, if I have posted something that you think I shouldn't have about myself - something that might hurt a job search or a friendship - let me know and I'll take it into consideration. Keep in mind that if you just disagree with an opinion I post, comment and tell me it, but you may not change your mind. But if I've said something that could hurt my life I appreciate the warning anyone gives me.

Look, like I've said before I'm trying not to turn this blog into a whine-fest, a constant vent, or something to talk about people, ESPECIALLY the ones that mean a lot to me. But this is a personal blog. I guess it's kinda like you guys are getting a peak into my personal diary (though I won't go into detail about some personal stuff). So I'm going to write about my life, what's happening in it, and what I think. Now my writing freedom ends where your nose starts, so if you don't want something out there I wrote, let me know. But otherwise, you kinda gotta grin and bear wtih me - I'm still figuring out this whole blog thing, what works, what doesn't.

So if I've made you uncomfortable with the "Thanks for the memories" stuff, I'm sorry. It's almost over, I promise. If I've made you uncomfortable iwth something else, I'm sorry. But hopefully it helps you understand me a little better.

Crazy life... what can I say...

Thanks for the memories

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I know I did.

Thanks for the memories -
I'm thankful for my dad. I love my daddy (that's right, I said Daddy). He's awesome. There's no other way to say it. I have so many great memories with my dad. My parents have been incredible role models for me and my sister, always encouraging us to do what we love rather than saying "have a back up plan". Daddy, thank you so much for everything you've done. Thank you for putting up with me, my hott temper, and my many stupid mistakes for 23 years. I love you!

2nd post

OK so this is my post for Emily and Luke, cause they're engaged!

For those that don't know her, Emily is a theater professor at Centenary College and her passion is Shakespeare. Well in February, this tour came through Shreveport from the American Shakespeare Center performing "Hamlet" (I know, perfect, right). Luke Eddy played Hamlet... bam, that was it, Emily was in love. Before you all start rolling your eyes, let me clarify this. I've never seen two people honestly embody the word "soulmate" like these guys. Mom and I have both said that we could not have found a better match for our crazy Emily than Luke if we had been able to design him ourselves. Luke is really and truly one of the best guys I have ever met - and believe me, I wouldn't say that about just any guy that Emily dated anymore. He's an amazing actor - up there with Royal Shakespeare Company actors I saw, not even kidding. Luke is so much like Emily and my dad, incredibly smart, loves Shakespeare, and best of all, head over heels in love with my sister. But here's the kicker - I have never seen my sister either so in love OR so truly happy!

I knew Luke would fit into our family when I saw what a great time he had with my parents at dinner the 2nd night we met him. I'd never seen a guy Emily was with fit with my family like this. It truly was like a piece of us was missing, and we didn't realize it until Luke was sitting with us... I know that sounds cheesy but it's true. I knew Luke would be a great brother-in-law when he came into Campbell House and had the same nerdy reaction that I did. He loved the story. He loved all the details, and appreciated them because he's worked on old houses before. It was awesome.

Here's the thing. I knew Luke was right for Emily when we went to see him in Hamlet. Yes he stared at her as they played instruments before the show, and he played to her a lot. But that wasn't the moment. We were waiting outside the theater for Luke to come out, and we saw him first. I saw him kinda looking around, obviously searching for her. He sees her, and relief washes over his face. It was like he was saying "Ahh there she is. That's her. All's right with the world." I don't think I've ever seen someone look at another person like this. That was it for me. I knew instantly that this guy was right for my sister. I didn't need any other explanations to accept him. Neither did my parents when they saw how great they were together. We just got the additional bonus of him fitting so absolutely perfectly.

In October, Luke called to ask my parents permission to marry Emily. Apparently he's been wanting to propose on Thanksgiving since April - what made the final decision for him was meeting our family (see what I mean about this guy?!). So Mom made a huge decision. Remember the cryptic blog I posted earlier? Here's the explanation. That "special thing" we freaked out over was my great-aunt Rita's gorgeous diamond ring. Mom has sworn for YEARS she would not split up that ring. But the Sunday after Luke asked permission, inspiration hit her and she decided to split it up and give Emily 1/2 the diamonds. So she sent it through the mail... it was lost for about 2 weeks! I had my CityLife groups praying over this ring, Mom had security called on her at the post office cause she was yelling at them about it... it was insane, we were so heartsick! LUCKILY they found it in Indianapolis (long story) and it got to Virginia in time for Luke to propose on his parents front porch!

Cheesy and stupid but had to post it - hopefully they won't care that I did. Just wanted to say how much I love them both! CONGRATS AGAIN GUYS!

Thanks for the memories #8

So today is a very special thanks for the memories.

I'm thankful for my sister... who just got engaged to this incredible guy!

Not sure how to make it bigger but you get the idea. This is Emily and her fiance Luke!!!

OK first off, here's why I'm thankful for my sister. Emily is 4 1/2 years older than me (almost exactly - she was born August 13, I was born February 22, literally a week away from exactly 4 1/2 years), 5 in school. I was definitely not an ideal little sister in a lot of ways... and there were times she would torment me too (like telling her kindergarten sister if she told some 4th grade boys she was in love with them I'd be allowed to play in her room)... but underneath it all Emily was constantly there for me. This is the girl that in 5th grade was often late to class cause she had to walk her sister to kindergarten, drop me off, give me a hug, and tell me she loved me every day. This is the girl that stuck up for me when kids made fun of how skinny I was, or how my brace looked. She constantly encourages me and loves listening to me nerd out about old houses and museums. Granted, she's also the one that nicknamed me "Skankfest" in 6th grade and says stuff like "Katherine needs a hott firefighter that can lift her up and cook for her!" But for 23 years, she has been an amazing role model for me. Emily is most definitely one of the strongest people I know, the girl has been through more than I can and will say and always comes out stronger and better because of it - how many people can say that? There have been times in my life where I've been scared to do things, but I look at Emily and say "if she can do it, so can I". Emily, I'm so thankful that you're my sister because you've been the best one I could have ever asked for! I love you so much!

Why was it so important for me to post about Emily today? See, my super smart, talented, beautiful, incredibly strong, inspiring, and amazing older sister truly found her perfect match when this hott guy came through Shreveport, Louisiana playing Hamlet in a tour for the American Shakespeare Center. Yesterday, these two made it official when Luke proposed. Emily had NO idea that it was coming this soon and literally curled into the fetal position bawling when he got down on one knee :-). I'm SO happy for them!

I'm gonna write a 2nd post talking about Emily AND Luke so this one doesn't get SUPER long. I just wanted to say how thankful I am to have this amazing woman as my older sister and to have such a great guy coming into our family!

So for now I'll end this by sayuing...

CONGRATULATIONS EMILY AND LUKE! WE LOVE YOU!

Thanksgiving's Thanks for the Memories!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY! I hope you're all having a fabulous day with your families. For the Heugatter's, it's very low key. Our family Thanksgiving won't happen till Tuesday, when Dad, Emily, and Luke are all in town. But it's OK - I got to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (complete with a steamboat float that had an old man with a white beard piloting it... and Captain Bixby was sitting next to me... coincidence? I think not! Ok maybe... but I'm gonna say no!). I watched the Dog Show with Mom, both of us oohed and aahed over the dogs. We were bummed the Crested and the Boston Terrier didn't make the best in show, but I like the Scottie that won. Mom's making potatoes and gravy. And technically I got some turkey... this morning mom made me scrambled eggs and bacon, and shaped it like a turkey... I laughed and said it counts :-). I think we're gonna work on cleaning the house for when everybody gets back.

Today I'm very thankful for family. I definitely have the best family in the world.
This is us at my sister's 1st wedding.

My family is awesome. We're always there for each other, in good times and bad... and we've been through both most definitely. I can definitively say that I would not be where I am today had I not had these 3 amazing people behind me. Each of them is going to get an individual shout out, starting with my sister tomorrow (cause today's a VERY special day for her and I want to share it and can't wait). Then my parents will each get a day. You get the idea.


I hope that wherever you are today, you stop and say thank you for your family, whether it's one you create for yourself with friends, one you and your spouse create, one you marry into, or, like me, one you are so blessed to be born into.

Oh... and I'm also thankful for hunky firefighters that remember me when I stop by their grand opening and say "You're leaving? And I won't see you for a month!" when you have to leave ;-).

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY! Enjoy your turkey... no matter the form it comes in...

Thanks for the memories, again late

So I didn't post yesterday, here's the Thanks for the Memories entry...

I'm thankful for... all the opportunities I've had over the years and the people I've met there.

I'm thankful I got to spend a year in Oxford. I'm thankful during that time I got to travel Europe. I'm thankful for all the people I met there. Here's some pics -

Such amazing memories!

I'm thankful to be in the UMSL Museum Studies program, I already thanked my cohort but just the opportunity is amazing. I'm thankful I get to work at Campbell House. I'm thankful I got to go to Philadelphia last year for the AAM annual conference -

I'm thankful for Captain Horace Bixby, who built the house that inspired me to go into historic preservation. I'm thankful for Tom Keay who encouraged me to visit Campbell House, which I fell in love with, interned at for 3 summers, and has eventually led me here.

I'm thankful I got to spend a summer in Natchez and meet the amazing people I did down there. I already thanked my friends but just the opportunity was wonderful!

And I"m thankful for all the professors that inspired me to get here. Professors like my mom who always encouraged me (yeah I say professor cause she taught at Wash U for almost 20 years), Dr. Reynolds who first mentioned historic preservation to me, Jay Rounds, Dr. Lankford who's so excited about my exit project. And of course, last but MOST DEFINITELY AND CERTAINLY NOT LEAST, Francis and Penelope Warner -

God I miss them!

That's "Thanks for the Memories" for Wednesday 11/25! Now I"m going to write the official "Thanksgiving" Thanks for the memories!

Funny

Recently heard in the Heugatter household -

While watching Prince Caspian, after Lucy says "Do you forget who defeated the White Witch?"
Me: "Oh, Lucy is the voice of the apostle Paul. Wait, did I just say that?"

While watching Big Bang Theory:
Pointing to Howard - Mom: "OK he's DEFINITELY the engineer"
2 seconds later - Howard says "Sheldon I have a MASTERS in engineering from the Massachussets Institute of Technology!"

About Sheldon - Mom: "He's just like my student!"

Sheldon - "Biologically speaking..."
About Sheldon - Mom: "He's a physics guy, right?"
Me: "How do you know this stuff?"
Mom: "I've worked with these guys my whole life, I know how they think"

Man we're nerds!!!

In other news, I was able to get out of the tour next Tuesday, so I can hang out with my fam till class at 3:30! Woohoo!

Finally... hot firefighter preview tomorrow night...

Thanks for the memories #5

Today is a VERY special day and deserves a VERY special "Thanks for the memories" entry.

You see, 8 years ago today, I came home from working on Ladue's newspaper late at night. I was exhausted, hadn't eaten dinner, and super excited to see my sister. It was great to see Emily and all I wanted to do was scarf down the spaghetti my dad had made. But for some reason, Emily kept saying "I want to see your room! Show me your room!" So I take her upstairs and show it to her, which is when I notice the little cardboard box in front of the fireplace. I go over to see what it is and there's this tiny little black thing. I say "Is that a rat??" That's when this thing turns around and looks at me... and I see this face.
It was love at first sight. This is my Boston Terrier, Captain Bixby (or Mr. Bixby as I call him). It was 8 years ago today (well technically - I got him the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, so it may not be the date but it's the day) that I got him. He's been my best friend for 8 years. Now please don't take this to mean I don't love my human friends cause I do! But this dog has been by my side and loved me completely unconditionally for 8 years. No matter what I do, how bad I screw up, I know that Bixby still loves me. He gets depressed when I leave. When I'm away (like in England, at college, or in Natchez) I call home and ask to talk to Bixby so he can hear my voice. I got a web cam so I could see him and he could see me when we'd be apart for 6 months. When he sees me cry, he tries to kiss the tears away. He jumps all over me when I come home. He sleeps next to me when I'm home. And when I came home from England, he was so happy he would not let me off the floor. There were literally tears streaming down his face!

So Bixby, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING THE BEST BABY EVER! I love you so very very much and don't know what I would do without you. And Mom, THANK YOU for getting me the CHristmas present that will absolutely never be topped (the only way I can picture something in my life topping Bixby is if I get engaged for CHristmas or if I have a baby on/around Christmas). Bixby is the best thing I could ask for and I love him so much. SO now enjoy pictures of Mr. B!
Bixby's first Christmas - my dad and my sister with my sweet little baby boy. He was so tiny, we took a red sock, cut it off, and made it a sweater for him!

Bixby last Christmas with the AMAZING Dave Diehl. RIP Dave, we miss you. But isn't Bixby cute! How could anyone not love that face?!

Bixby sitting on our stairs. He was probably waiting for me to get home.

By the way, we weren't even supposed to get this puppy. See, Mom had planned to get me the runt of the litter. But she said that as she was holding the runt, this sweet little boy kept looking up at her with big eyes, as if sayinig "Grandma you're supposed to take me home". So she held him and changed her mind. I know I would've loved the runt... but I truly believe this particular dog was meant to be there as I weant through hard times for the past 8 years and show me the true meaning of unconditonal love. So I am SO VERY VERY THANKFUL that I have Mr. Bixby!

Thanks for the memories #4

Latest in thanks for the memories.

I'm thankful for... the friends I have that have kept me sane since I graduated

1. Friends from Steinmart
I don't have a pic of them, but all my friends there made that summer a really great one. I don't know how i would've survived the crazies and some people there without Meghan, Micah, Carla, and many others. Thanks for being so awesome ladies, I miss you!
2. My cohort.
Cohort 11. Pretty much the best one ever. Don't know how I could've survived the past 3 semesters without this awesome group of people. Thanks guys!

3. My Natchez Friends
This summer would've sucked had I not had these awesome people around me. Not to mention Darian, Mary, and all my "ladies night at the Vue" friends! Thanks for putting up with the frustration I often had, helping me as I dealt with not having internet, and just being awesome. You guys made the summer so much fun!
4. Jill and Hayley
Sadly I didn't get to spend as much time with these two as I'd hoped. But they were so awesome to get to know while they were in town. Plus they're so inspiring. I look at Hayley, who's off auditioning for broadway shows and tours in NY right now. She just decided "I'm done with Vegas", packed up, no plan, and decided to go see where life took her. Inspires me to face the job search with no fear.
5. Friends at work
Again no pic, but the docents and interns and staff at CHM and Eugene Field House make life so much more fun. I'm really glad I work with such cool people.

So thanks for keeping me sane guys - without all of you, I would definitely have lost my mind MULTIPLE times these past 2 years... and I pretty much have anyway, so thanks for putting up with me...

Tomorrow's a very special thanks for the memories for someone that's my best friend on the planet and has always shown me unconditional love. I'll probably also do a 2nd post tomorrow to tell you guys a funny story. Stay tuned!

Thanks for the memories #3

Short and sweet

I'm thankful for my church families. Both CityChurch and Lafayette Park. Both have brought people into my life that mean so much to me. I am so lucky to have people that care about me at 2 places. Especially thankful for the support I've been given on the journey over the past year and for the year ahead.

Thanks for the memories guys!

In other news, the Rams lost again. Dangit! BUT I watched live stats last night as the Wash U bears beat Ohio Wesleyan and I listened to the game as they beat Illinois Wesleyan at home and won the Titan Tip off Tournament. WAY TO GO BEARS!!! I'm really hoping that Mom finds soemone to work in the shop for her Dec 4 and 5, cause I REALLY want to go to the games!

Finally Thanksgiving got moved from Monday to Tuesday December 1. So I have a tour at 12:30 at Campbell House that FINGERS CROSSED Andy can find another docent for so I can spendc more time with my fam, then family dinner, then leaving for class at 3:30, then decorating the Christmas tree that night, followed by putting whatever final and finishing touches are needed on my ed program paper for Lankford and my "What is human nature" paper for Jay. Oh boy.

That's it.

Thanks for the memories- #2 a day late

Here I'm all excited for the Thanks for the Memories series, and I slack off on the second day of it. Sorry! I was at Mom's shop all day and we were swamped. I'll make up for it by doing 2 posts today.

I'm thankful for... my old school friends Meagan and Effie!
Note when I say old school, I mean we went to school together years ago, not that "they're old school" :-)

1. This is my best friend from high school Meagan. Oh the trouble we caused... ("Ben", "The Notebook", Sr. Rosemary - "having a bad day Meagan? hope it gets better!", "POPCORN!", and so many others)... good times, good times. This girl absolutely defined my HS experience, especially my senior year, and I STILL wouldn't change a single day of it (well maybe one or two days)... she is AMAZING and I love her like a sister. It's hard for us to find time to hang out a lot anymore and our relationship has changed a little, but we're still in touch and all it takes is one of us sending a text that says "Boys suck" and the other is there. I LOVE YOU MEAGAN!

2. Effie. Yeah I didn't have a pic of me and Effie together (BTW this needs to be remedied IMMEDIATELY) so I picked a super cute pic of her in Europe eating quiche. Effie and I grew up together, literally - we went to elementary school at Robinson together till the 3rd grade, then did a couple shows together (Effie do you remember you, me, and Ariel Simon singing "I'm too sexy for my fishing pole" during Steamboatin?). We lost touch for a while but got back in touch when I reconnected with her sister Emma who went to SEA for a few years/during the rage of AIM (it was pretty new at the time) in HS. Lost touch again until the summer after I graduated when our mom's ran into each other and we realized we were both in STL. Grabbed coffee together... fast forward a year and we're close friends again. Effie's such a great friend cause she knows where I and my family have been and understands where I'm at right now, cause she's there too in a lot of ways. I always look forward to coffee or happy hour or open mic night with Effie!! LOVE YOU GIRL!

Just wanted to say thanks for all the memories you two have given me over the years! I love both of you, and we need to hang out more!!!!

Check the blog later today to see who ELSE I'm thankful for - part 3 in the series!

BTW, if there are any girls in ST. Louis that are looking for something to do the night before Thanksgiving, call me - there's a preview night for the new restaurant in Lafayette Square across from Mom's shop where Soda Fountain Square used to be. It's gonna be run by local fire fighters and they're families... but some of them are single and probably hott... I know at least one is cause he came in last night... come on, we can scope out local hott fire fighters, how fun is that!

Thanks for the memories - #1

First "Thanks for the memories" entry! This is a series where I say thank you to all the people I'm thankful are/have been in my life, it'll go up to the Monday after Thanksgiving (when we do our family Thanksgiving) and hopefully once a week after that.

First up - LPUMC Youth group
I'm starting with them because A. I'm seeing them in a week, B. I went and saw New Moon with one of them last night :-).

This isn't everybody but it's a good recent picture (yes Alex IS in a pink sweater with a cow on it). 7 years ago my family went church shopping - my requirement was that they have a good youth group. I go visit Lafayette Park UMC with them and meet Sarah (2nd from left, next to Brian in the right) and Cassie (not pictured). 15 minutes after I meet them, they invite me to go whitewater rafting with the youth group. Kids I knew 15 years hadn't done that at my old church.

Since then we've become great friends. My friends in college would hang out with HS friends on break, I hung out with my youth group. I don't know what I would've done on those breaks in St. Louis without these guys! Everyone's all spread out now - Alyssa's in New Jersey, Sarah's in Iowa, Brian just moved back to St. Louis after getting out of the air force, Mackenzie's at Mizzou - but we still keep in touch and I consider them some of my closest friends. Everytime we're all back in town, we make sure we hang out and it's always a blast. We have so much fun and I'm so blessed to have them in my life.

There is one person that I've kinda lost touch with - Cassie. Last I heard she was living somewhere in St. Louis with this really weird girl who's super skinny and a big nerd and wants to work in museums and has a blog...
I'M JUST KIDDING!! Cassie and I live together and she's an AWESOME roommate!!!!!!!!!! She's always there when I need her, whether it's for a good laugh, to remind me not to fall into old traps, calm me down when I'm freaking about stuff, or someone to swoon with me over Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner ;-). I LOVE YOU ROOMIE, thanks for putting up with me, you are amazing!

So I just wanted to say thank you to everybody in my old church youth group who accepted a weird, skinny kid who came to visit with her parents and stuck by her for years. You guys are amazing. I love you. Can't wait to see you guys next week!! Thanks for the memories!!

Tune in tomorrow to see who else I'm thankful for!

BTW - seeing these pics again, I realize I should not wear that much dark eyeshadow... def does not work for me...

Seriously?

OK so this is gonna be a 3-blog post day. I know that's crazy. But the story I have so perfectly illustrates why I called this blog "The madness of Ms. Katherine" I have to tell it as well as starting the series. My life is crazy.

So I work at Campbell House Museum. Today 2 women come in and say "We have 15 minutes, can you give us a tour in that amount of time". Keep in mind that Campbell House is 3 floors, close to 10,000 square feet, and my tours normally last between 45minutes and an hour. This was not gonna be easy. So rather than introducing myself and taking my time like I normally do, I say "I won't be able to give much info on the story but I"ll try" and just launch into it, moving as quick as I can. We get to the servants exhibit, one woman needs to go to the bathroom so I show her where it is, and the other one and I talk a little about Philadelphia, which is where she's from. I loved Philly. If a job at a historic house museum opened in Philly, I would jump at it. Other woman comes back, we move on with our quick tour.

At the end, the woman from Philly starts talking to our director Andy and says "I'm the director of a historic mansion in Philadelphia". Yep. That's right. I gave a tour to a woman who runs a historic house in the city I'd love to be in. Perfect networking opportunity. I HAD NO CLUE TILL THE END! And I don't even have time to introduce myself and say I'm a museum studies student or give the pretty good (at least in my opinion and what I've heard from others) tour to her! Plus by the time she says this, she's talking to Andy about important stuff so I can't say "Hey I'm a museum studies student!" without sounding immature and dumb.

The good thing is I just looked the place up, and it's not a museum. It's a mansion owned by a college that you can rent out for events. So it's not the dream job I thougth it was when I first heard who she was. And Mom said it's perfectly OK for me to get her info from Andy (she gave him her card) and send her my resume saying 'I was your tour guide".

Yeah - PERFECT opportunity to get an in on jobs and they only have 15 minutes for the tour. Are you kidding me? See how crazy my life is????

Thanks for the memories starting tonight

OK so recently I've gotten into series' on blogs - i.e. Pioneer Woman's "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels" where you have a certain subject you write on for a while. With Thanksgiving less than a week away, I have decided to do my own series of counting my blessings. BUT instead of just saying "I'm thankful for my job, I'm thankful for my apartment" etc. I'm going to be thanking different PEOPLE or groups that mean and have meant a lot to me, saying "I'm thankful for you". I'm calling it "Thanks for the memories". Each day leading up to the Monday after Thanksgiving (That's when we're doing FAMILY Thanksgiving so it works) I'll be saying thank you to different people. I plan to try and keep this up 1x a week after that, so if you feel like you got short changed on your 'Thank you" or I don't recognize you chances are your time is coming. I'm starting it tonight, check back regularly to see who I'm thanking and what they've done for me! Know how much I love you all!!

In other news, I saw New Moon last night with Cassie - AH-MAZING! SO good! Better than Twilight! Like WAY better! Visual effects were up there with Harry Potter, Kristen STewart (who I thought was good as Bella in Twilight but my sister hated) was EVEN BETTER here, Taylor Lautner was GORGEOUS, just perfect. CAN'T WAIT FOR ECLIPSE!

That's it. Check back in tonight!

Short updates

This one I promise will be short and sweet.

I'm addicted to Pioneer Woman. Anybody that can have me reading a romance novel for 5 hours till 3 AM and it's not even fiction, it's a true story of her and her husband, is AH-MAZING! Much better than the Soupman addiction - she's free and funny!

I had my lunch out yesterday. Soupman was delicious.

Everything got to where it's supposed to go yesterday. WOOHOO! Big relief.

Cassie and I are going to see New Moon tonight at midnight! That's right. I'm a total Twilighter. I have no problem admitting it. I'm SUPER excited - New Moon was my least favorite book, but the movie already looks better than Twilight, and I loved Twilight the movie.

Oh. And BEST QUOTE EVER from last night - "I gotta go. They'll think I'm pooping".

Thanks for that Glee. I needed that moment of almost falling off the couch.

That's my crazy life for today!

I once was lost but now I"m found

Ok this is going to be a very obscure blog post. It has to be. Because if I explain exactly what I'm talking about, I run the risk of ruining a very very important surprise and get in BIG trouble - and by big I'm talking huge. So I'm going to be cryptic. If you really want to know what's going on, talk to me in person, send a facebook INBOX message (WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT WRITE ABOUT THIS ON MY FACEBOOK WALL, THAT'S AN EVEN EASIER WAY TO RUIN THIS SURPRISE!), etc. But I've told some people about what's going on in the hopes that prayer would work, which it did! So I wanted to update everyone as much as I can.

Recently my parents made a decision that was very big for some people close to us that we love a lot. That decision involved taking a step that would in some ways put something important to us out of our control. They took that step... and for about two weeks it seemed that that something important to us was lost forever. We were so heartsick. I started telling people about this so I could get it off my chest/have people commiserate and freak out with me/hoping that if they prayed for this important thing would come back to us. I specifically told some people at the CityLifes I go to (for those that attend Mike and Beth or Brad and Hannah's CityLife and read this, that's a BIG hint on what I'm talking about). However, the future seemed bleak as far as this. We made a plan B but knew in our hearts it wasn't as good as plan A, we were really upset about the seeming failure of plan A.

Well I'm here to tell you prayer, fingers crossed, and good thoughts worked!! The thing that we thought we'd never see again has been found, THANK GOD! I can't say where or how on here cause doing that could potentially reveal what I"m talking about. But I will say that it has been found, there should be enough time for everything to go as planned, Plan B is still in effect so there are multiple options, and I can't wait for this surprise to happen. The surprise will help give someone everything they deserve in the best way possible. Just wanted to say THANK YOU for all who prayed for me, my family, and that important thing is this crazy crazy situation! I'll explain this much better after Thanksgiving. If you want more info talk to me in person, in an e-mail, or on facebook inbox cause that's all I can do. Keep thinking good thoughts about my family.

Finally, the St. Louis Rams lost but we were THIS CLOSE to taking down the unbeaten Saints on Sunday! AWESOME! And THE WASH U BEARS WON!!!! Here's hoping for a 3-peat! I thought about posting some thoughts on community cause I talked about it 3 separate times last week but this was more important, even though I can't really explain.

See how crazy my life is?

Tom Cruise has my dad's stopper

The title is not nearly as crazy as it sounds. So as you all know, my mom owns a shop (Looking Glass Designs... anyone in St. Louis should come visit, 1410 S. 18th St!). Anyway, my dad makes super cool wine stoppers out of antique door knobs. A guy came into Mom's shop several weeks ago and said he had done a movie with Tom Cruise. Yes, THAT Tom Cruise - Risky Business, jumping on Oprah's couch Tom Cruise, not Tom Cruise the inventor of hoverround. Apparently Tom Cruise collects wine stoppers. So this guy bought a super cool one and said he was gonna give it to Tom Cruise. So TOM CRUISE NOW HAS ONE OF MY DAD'S HOMEMADE WINE STOPPERS!

Now i know some of you may not be huge Tom Cruise fans. Generally I agree with you. But I find out Tom Cruise owns something my dad made, I get freakin excited... :-).

In other news, Shelley from Campbell House is now addicted to Soupman, just like I am.

Oh and big news... TOMORROW'S THE FIRST WASH U BASKETBALL GAME! As you'll all find out over the next year, I'm a huge Wash U bball fan. My mom recruited a lot of the team, several helped me move into my apartment, and I've gotten to know all the guys. They're all awesome. They've won the D-3 championship 2 years in a row (we were at the final four for the first one but had to miss last year's so we could meet Luke), and they only lost 1 senior last year, have a lot of seniors this year, and a big freshman class so there's a real good shot they'll at least go to the final 4 if not take it for the 3rd consecutive year! I'm going to the game, SO excited! GO BEARS!

Job update

K so you'll probably be reading a lot of these over the next year. But then that's kinda why I started the blog. So I could talk about everything that was going on in my life with jobs and work and school and life.

I applied for 3 jobs recently. One was a curatorial position in Suttonborough just outside of London, England. I knew it was a MAJOR long shot (it's a curatorial job, I don't have much experience with it. Plus it's in England, I'm a US citizen, they'd have to REALLY want me/be desperate in their pool of applicants to give me an interview) but I decided that I'd never know if I didn't try so I stuck my hat in the ring. One was at the African-American Museum of Iowa outside of Cedar Rapids. One was at the Montgomery County Historical Society in Rockville, MD. I really wanted that Maryland job. Heard from all 3. No such luck.

The England job like I said I figured as much, so wasn't surprised. The African-American museum said they'd already started the selection process (even though the deadline was the day I applied - I guess they already had a good enough pool to start doing interviews) BUT they'd put my resume on file. The Maryland job said I had an impressive resume but not "the combination of academic focus AND professional experience we were looking for" in a pool of 75 applicants. Translation - we don't want someone straight out of grad school.

Am I bummed? Yeah. Am I devastated? No, not at all. This is just the first 3 applications. I've already got others that I'm going to be applying for over Christmas break, when I can think straight. Plus sending my resume to places in St. Louis. Plus sending it to all the contacts I made at AAM. Plus talking to my cousin Lauren, who works with historic preservation in Galveston and might be able to help me on a job there (not in a museum but with historic houses in a cool area, should it happen I'd take it!) Plus whatever other postings come up next semester. There's gonna be many more applications, and to be honest probably many more rejections. The job market sucks right now, especially in museums, and I know that. But I also know that somewhere out there is my first job. All I can do is believe I'm gonna find something, trust that God's got a plan for me and do my best on applications until the plan actually happens.

Plus there are some silver linings. 1 - as cool as it would be to live in London (let's face it, it'd be totally AWESOME!), the job was only part time, so I'd have to take another job. Plus I'd be super far from my family, friends, and Bixby (for those that don't know, he's my Boston Terrier, and I LOVE him to death!). 2 - the Iowa job said they'd put my resume on file, always a good thing! 3 - the Maryland job flat out said I had an impressive resume. So not only did I get them past my cover letter and interested in my resume, they said they were IMPRESSED by it. So I'm getting past that first hurdle of deleting the cover letter all together without a glance at the resume, AND they look closely at the resume enough to be impressed. I've just gotta get past that hurdle to the interview!

In other news, we did our program presentation for Lankford's class. I got nervous right before we started cause Lankford reminded us that the program and evaluation of the exhibit we're putting together counts for 1/3 of not just the people that worked on those teams grades, but the WHOLE CLASS - aka if we screwed up, we screwed everyone over. But we did REALLY well, I felt great about it! He had a couple tough ?s which we were able to field, and with a few minor errors it went off perfectly! So that's great!

K this is long enough. Keep praying for me/your fingers crossed/good thoughts coming my way on the jobs! It's out there - I just hope I find it sooner (like May) rather than later (like May 2012).

Blog on Katherine in Museums

Apology off the bat - I have no idea how to put actual links in my posts, so if you want to look at the links, copy and paste the URLs!

So I just put a new post on my "Katherine in Museums" professional blog - read it here - http://www.katherineinmuseums.blogspot.com/.

Remember it's my professional blog, so any funny comments put HERE not there! Please and thank you!!

The post over there talked about 2 projects I started just before I left for Natchez this past summer. I won't go TOO into detail, since it's posted over there, but basically I started a facebook fan page and a weekly blog. If you're not already, PLEASE fan Campbell House Museum on facebook! We're trying to get our name out there and get more fans, so I'd really appreciate it!

Here are the links:
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Saint-Louis-MO/Campbell-House-Museum/57253224411?ref=ts

Blog - campbellhousemuseum.wordpress.com

For those that don't know, Campbell House Museum is the historic house museum that I work at. I've been here 5 years - 3 summers, 2 year long internship. I could go on for hours but here's the Cliffsnotes version - the house was built in 1851. Robert Campbell and his wife Virginia moved in in 1854. Their family was here for the next 80 years. Robert Campbell was a big businessman involved in every business you can think of in the 19th century (EXCEPT SOUP, Robert is NOT the founder of Campbell's soup!) When his last son died in 1938, with none of the 3 boys really working, his 1/3 of the estate was $2 MILLION. It's like $69 million today. We've been open as a museum since 1943. The house has been restored back to it's 1880s appearance, we know that for a fact because we have photographs from about 1885 of the interior.

So basically, Campbell House is super cool. You should all come check it out, especially if you're a fan of old houses. $6 for adults, kids 12 and under are free, open Wednesday-Saturday 10-4, Sunday noon-4. And if you can't make it, at least fan the facebook page and read the blog.

One last thing. Happy Veterans Day - thank god for all the service men and women that have defended us. And Happy belated anniversary Sesame Street!

The first step is admitting you have a problem

Ok folks. I have to admit something. I had a personal intervention and have come to a realization. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't easy. But I realized that I have a problem

I am addicted...

To Soupman.

Now some of you may laugh (btw that is kinda the point... though you didn't hear it from me...). But this is serious. This is up there with my Chipotle addiction senior year. Or my Pizza Hut addiction in college, where I would say my order and they knew who it was. Or my Morton's addiction in Oxford, where i walked there ALL the time. It's insane!

What is Soupman? Soupman is based off of the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld, yes the "NO soup for you!" guy. They even have him as their logo. But they obviously can't call the place "Soup Nazi's" so instead it's called Soupman. It's an AMAZING little place on 11th between Washington and Lucas. They have the most DELICIOUS soups I think I have ever tasted. And you can get a cup of soup, 1/2 a sandwich (I always get chicken salad sandwich) which is really the size of a whole sandwich cause it's so big, fruit, a piece of bread, a piece of chocolate, and a drink for under $10! If you get a bowl of soup it goes up obviously, but still... that's awesome. They're only open for lunch but man it is SO worth it. Nate first told me about it, and I tried the place... it is delicious!

Here's the problem. I go there all the time. I smell soup at lunch and I start wanting Soupman. I drive by there, and I want Soupman. I go there so often that the workers KNOW WHO I AM! They may not know me by name but we're at a point where we can make casual conversation... think about it, how often do I have to go into a lunch counter place for the people to know my face and say "Hey good to see you again!" Plus my bank account is beginning to show the effects of my addiction...

So I am going to try to limit my soup adventures. And eating out. Cause I really can't afford it, I have to accept the fact that I am a poor grad student and can not eat out all the time. I'm settinig a limit of eating out for lunch just once a week. Dinner same thing. We'll see if this lasts...

PS. If anyone who reads this blog has actually dealt with a real addiction, know that this is not meant to be offensive, it's just a joke. Although I do need to stop eating out so much and save money

And so it begins

Alright folks. The job search is officially starting. Well, technically it started last week when I filled out an app for a job outside of London but since that's such a longshot I don't really consider that the start.

Mom helped me with my resume, hopefully Jay will do the same. I'm working on my cover letter. Two job apps are due tomorrow.

Please be praying for me/keep your fingers crossed/send out good vibes (whatever you want, I'll take any good thoughts coming my way) for the next 6 months. The job market sucks for everyone right now, but especially anyone in industries that many see as "non-necessary", or "extra", like museums. Museums aren't hiring much right now, and everyone needs a job. So just keep me in your thoughts as I look for a job to start after graduation...

For those wondering, the first jobs are at the Montgomery County Historical Society in Rockville, MD, and the African-American Museum of Iowa in Cedar Rapids, IA. Both museum education. I REALLY want that maryland job, but who knows.

Also, for those worried, I AM applying to positions in St. Louis. In a perfect world, I would be able to stay here. But like I said above, the job market is slim right now, especially for museums. Also, as you will see throughout the year, I am stressed. This week, for example, I have 2 job applications due tomorrow, a 125-175 word label to write about my 3-D object of a finger puppet for class, a presentation of our semester-long program planning on Wednesday, and a 10 minute oral report on Thursday. I also have to finish the Campbell children write up for the portrait gallery, work on the servant write up, edit pictures from the Griot, put up posters for the holiday historic house tour, figure out my directed readings class next semester, and fill out an M-2 form. There's even more I could write about but I wont' go into it. Needless to say, I'm stressed. My plan is to work on applying for any jobs, like those in St. Louis, that DON'T have an application deadline or aren't even POSTED over Christmas break, when I have a few minutes to actually think. These two have a deadline of tomorrow. I'm starting there.

Thanks for listening as the craziness really starts!

Lumiere place show

Alright guys here's a better taste of what this blog is gonna be cause this post has nothing to do with church or theology. It is an announcement though.

Tonight at 7, my parents and I are going to see the "Elvis tribute show" at Lumiere Place. Tickets are $15 and I HIGHLY encourage you all to come cause it's gonna be great - we saw the Legends show there, and it was wonderful, so I know this one is gonna be too. Seriously, everybody come!!

Some of you may be wondering why I'm encouraging you to come see an Elvis show, or why I know about it at all. I'm good friends with two of the dancers in the show, Jill and Haley! They came into my mom's shop, Looking Glass Designs, several weeks ago. They love history and old houses and asked if they could see my parents old house. So I met them when they were touring the house, and we've gotten to be good friends. These girls are AWESOME! Sad thing is it's the last show. They actually leave town tomorrow. Haley's going to New York to audition for Broadway and a European tour. Jill's headed back to Vegas, which is where her husband is in the Air Force. They're deciding whether to do a 6 week tour across the country with the Elvis show or something else. But regardless of what they do, they won't be in St. Louis anymore. I'm really gonna miss them.

People like Haley, who before she came here said "I"m done with Vegas, I'm packing up all my stuff and will just see where life takes me, either to St. Louis, NY, Europe, or a US and Canada tour", and Katie Mohr, who moved to Guatemala for 7 months when she was adopting her son (I was on a total blog kick this week what can I say), really inspire me. I look at these women, or my sister, or my mom, who have just gone for stuff without knowing exactly what was gonna happen, and say "If they can do it, so can I!". And that's exactly what I'm gonna need over the next year, as I apply for jobs across the country (and across the world - I applied for one in England).

K that's long enough, you've had enough madness for today. Hope to see some of you at the Elvis show at Lumiere place at 7 tonight!

Update on hmmm...

OK so I have made a decision. Not an easy one to come to, although some of you may say "How was it not easy, she decided it in like 2 hours!" But after really thinking about who I am and what I believe and talking to my parents, I have decided what to do.

I am not going to become a member of CityChurch. Please understand this does NOT mean I'm not going to be attending! You'd better believe you'll still see my face on Sunday mornings as well as in CityLife. I'm still going to be a greeter and help with communion and everything I do now. However, officially I will only be an attendee, not a member. I just can't justify in my head and my heart leaving Lafayette Park, with two wonderful female pastors and so many amazing gay couples, to officially join a church that's in a denomination/presbytery which does not support those. So I am not going to be a member. Just an attendee.

K that's the madness of Katherine for today. Now onto working on programs and studying!

Hmmm...

OK so I'm gonna write about something that I'm wrestling with right now. Should this offend anyone, go against anyone's beliefs, or hurt anyone's feelings I apoligize. This is not my intention whatsoever. I'm writing out a decision that i am struggling with. Also, should anyone actually read this blog and feel the need to comment, just remember to be respectful cause the things I"m struggling with are hot-button issues.

As you saw in the previous post I was super excited about becoming a member of CityChurch. Now I am stuggling with the decision. For anyone that reads this and goes there, I ABSOLUTELY PROMISE YOU this is NOTHING against you guys, I love you all, and regardless of whether I'm a member or not I fully plan to keep attending every Sunday and going to CityLife!! But I need to think this through, and sometimes writing it out helps.

Here's the deal. There are two things that CityChurch disagrees with me on - homosexuality and ordination of women. Now I'm OK with the homosexuality disagreement. I personally believe that being gay is not a sin, they do. HOWEVER, I am OK with that because of how they handle it. One of CityChurch's core values is story, the idea that you can't judge someone because you odn't know their story, you don't know what they've been through. They also fully believe in loving everyone. As such, they really preach a gospel of openness, of "Believe and you will be saved", so that being gay is not a condemnation as it is with some churches. Thus you won't find CityChurch people picketing The Laramie Project with Fred Phelps. I'm OK with that. Although I disagree with the idea that it's a sin, I'd much rather be involved with a place that says "love all, get to know people's story, turn people to Christ" rather than "You are automatically going to Hell!"

So even though I disagree with it, I'm basically over that hurdle. But the ordination of women one is a hurdle that I don't know if I can jump. I've grown up with women pastors and it's been ingrained in me, both from my dad but especially from my mom, that we should not be disqualified from the pulpit purely because of our gender. Mom's always said she could never go to a Missouri Synod lutheran church because they don't ordain women. The presbytery that CityChurch is part of reserved the position of "Teaching Elder", which is a pastor, for men only. Now women can still hold high positions in the church - we can be deacons. But we cannot be pastors, AND we cannot be elders, which are the lay people that make up the full-on leadership of the church. I know there are bibilical reasons both for the ordination of women and homosexuality, but this is just what I personally feel.

Some of you may say "What's the big deal? You agree with so much of what they preach, you love everybody there, why are you struggling?". See, you can't be a member of two churches. Thus, to be a member of CityCHurch, I have to transfer my membership from Lafayette Park United Methodist Church. At LPUMC, gay men and women are fully accepted as children of God. Also, not only are women ordained, but the 2 pastors at LPUMC are women. I left Lafayette Park because there weren't young people I could relate to. I really have found a family with CityChurch, one that had been lacking with Lafayette Park. But can I really and completely leave a church that stands for everything I believe in to join one I love but stands for two things I am heartily against??

I really don't know. I think prayer and thought is definitely needed here. As I said, should any CityChurch people read this, PLEASE know that regardless of my decision I'm not leaving! I'm still gonna be a regular attendee! This is just something I need to work out with God and me.

Sad thing is I don't even know if I have time to really wrestle with this, cause right now I have to get my stuff together to meet with up Danny and Gretchen to talk about the programs we're presenting Wednesday. Oh and I also have to find an article to include with the 3 Jay assigned us and be ready to do an oral report on it for Thursday. Why do issues like this come up right when I'm already super busy???

God give me strength and enlightenment as I make this decision...

2nd blog

Ok guys here is the professional blog I just started -

http://www.katherineinmuseums.blogspot.com/

I am linking that to this site, but I will NOT be linking this site to that one (so you won't find a link to "The madness of Ms. Katherine" on the "Katherine in Museums" blog). I'm trying to keep them separate, so that this blog is all my funny, crazy, stressed out, good times stories, whereas that one is to update hopefully potential employers on my work projects. I may be talking about work projects on here cause it's such a big part of my life, but I am going to try and limit small updates to the professional blog.

Enjoy!
- Katherine

Hello blogosphere!

Hey everybody!
So recently I've been reading some friends blogs. I always get a kick out of them - typically end up at least smiling, nodding my head in agreement, rolling around laughing, or wiping away tears (more often the first 3 than the latter). I haven't figured out how to exactly link the blogs on here, so I'll just put ones I'm following on the side and you can read them as you want. As I've done this, I've thought, "Hey I can do that!" So I am. This blog is going to just be my ramblings on wherever the next year and maybe beyond takes me. Period.

Now you have the short version of the story. Here's the longer one. I was blog hopping last night, going back to the beginning of blogs I had just started reading, and noticed how interesting it is to see where people were a year ago. That's when I remembered the post I wrote exactly 1 year ago tomorrow. Here's a quote from it -

"I've decided to take some control in my life and change something that I just realized hasn't been going right. I am going back to church. No I do not necessarily mean LPUMC although I plan to still go there on Sunday mornings cause I love it. I'm going to listen to what my mom has been saying since I moved home and follow the example of my older sister last week and find my own church on probably Saturday nights, preferably one with a contemporary service and lots of students. What brought this on? I won't get into it too much but basically I was talking to one of my sisters and I had a revelation. I'm trying too hard to hold onto ADPi. The fact is my chapter doesn't need me the way they used to, they have their new girls and have moved on, but I haven't yet found a group that can fill the void that not being part of the chapter has left in my life. Working at Steinmart helped some, cause I had my friends there, but now that I've quit and don't see them anymore I look too much to the past through facebook and it needs to stop. Basically I'm lonely, and I think finding a group of friends at church, like what I found through Sunday roast after St. Michaels and Risky Living at St. Aldates in England, would help fill in the gap left by my college friends (although nothing can replace my ADPi sisters obviously). And who knows, there might just be someone waiting for me at that church too, which though not my focus would be a nice side benefit... hey it worked for my parents! The good thing about the church stuff is that last night I found out I'm not the only one of my recent graduate friends feeling this way, which made me feel SO much bettter!"

I smiled when I read that last night, because exactly one year after I decided to try to find my own church, I'm going to be doing a membership class to join CityChurch. That got me thinking about where I was this time last year vs. this year. I was lonely. I didn't have a church. I felt lost at work because I didn't have projects to work on. I had just found out about a love for museum education. I had no idea what I would be doing that summer, certainly never thought about Natchez, Mississippi. And I had absolutely no clue what I was gonna do for an exit project. Look at me now. I found a church I love and am getting involved with. I'm more social than I was last year. I spent the summer in Natchez, MS. I found a church in Natchez, MS and a group of friends that I miss dearly. I have 2 big projects that I'm doing for the museum. I'm applying for jobs. And I have a fabulous exit project. What a difference a year can make! As I realized that, I thought "I wonder where I will be next year this time?" With any luck, that answer will be in a job I love at a museum, settled in an awesome house or apartment. But who knows - I'll just have to wait and see what God has in store.

So this blog is just going to update anyone interested on wherever the next year might lead. I may give some details on the exit projects and work things I'm doing, but I think I'm going to create a 2nd blog primarily for that - that one will be a professional blog, which I still encourage you all to read. But to steal a phrase from my college friend "Sister Good", this blog is just my ordinary adventures :-). And no, this will not be a constant "Oh my life is so awesome! Yeah me!" blog. That's why I named it "The madness of Ms. Katherine". Number 1, I wanted a clever title, and thought a play on "The Madness of King George" would be funny. 2, I am crazy busy. I am stressed. A lot of times I feel like I am losing my mind. And I am anything but perfect. So this blog is just about my life - messy and crazy as it is.

I'm going to do my best to not let this turn into "Let's let Katherine vent about how stressed she is and how much her life sucks" land, to also include all those funny and "Yeah me!" stories. You'll get to hear about the job search. About the stress. About the exit project. About my friends and family (just what I do with them, no gossip of course). And about my journey as I grow as a person and in my relationship with God. For any non-Christian friends I'll try not to make this a constant "God is AWESOME!" blog but there are gonna be references so just bear with me.

Anyway I hope you all, or at least some people, enjoy reading this. Here goes my crazy life! Welcome!

- Ms. Katherine