the chill. the glow. life at its fullest.

tonight i felt alive. really alive. i went outside on my dock on this freezing cold, crystal clear night and let myself feel. i let the wind chill me to the core and sweep across my face without trying to hide from it. i watched the stars dance across the water and shine brilliantly on the pitch black canopy above like little pin holes punched in the sky. i breathed in the cold, and let it fill my lungs deeply...i let it awaken my insides.

i got out of this overwhelming, sometimes deafening, deadening life and let myself feel. i had to get out of the rat race, away from the starbucks, the music, the superficiality, the standards. Away from the crowds, the traffic lights, the politics.

there are no expectations when you're with the stars. no deadlines. no noise.

There is life. Thriving life.

Simply.

Yes, I am a nerd.

Big News: I now have a favorite muscle. I'm sure most people reading this may not be too enthused, but it's a pretty exciting thing for me. You see, here in nerd-ville (aka: medical school) people tend to "adopt" a favorite muscle, disease, bone, nerve, etc...that just really excites them, or whatever. I've been lacking in this "favorite" department for a few months now, and welp, tonight I've discovered that my favorite muscle is (drum roll please......) the Palmaris Brevis. I think I like it so much because it makes just makes me laugh. Seriously, I laughed for a long time tonight over this thing. It just seems so non-functional and just....i dunno...great. I think I'll make this an interactive blog. Right now as you're reading I'd like for you to pick up your right hand and look at your palm. For real - do it. OK, now, right where your wrist meets your hand there is a crease and your palmaris brevis is located just above that crease on the pinky side of your hand. If you move your pinky finger a little bit you can kind of see this muscle flex a little -- it's just a tiny little triangle type muscle that's maybe like an inch and a half by an inch and a half big. crazy huh? One of its official actions is to "corrugate the skin of the palm" (this helps with grip....slightly) - but seriously, I think they just say that to make it feel important, so its feelings won't get hurt amongst all the other big-bad muscles of the hand. This isn't the greatest picture in the world, but you can check out the cause of all this excitement by going here - and seeing just what makes me smile so much. Enjoy!

SIMPLY AMAZING

hushed

Wrapped in a blanket
A blanket of green
Words come easy
When they’re not from my mouth
They swirl in the dark,
In the glow --
Untouched, yet….felt.

sparks inside
grow into wild fires
unstoppable, unquenchable
irreversible
strong and wild
consuming
the orange glow captures the eye
the dancing flame is so beautiful
the warmth surrounds
entrances
amazes
...destroys?

cereal

breakfast is the most fantastic meal ever invented. seriously. it's absolutely amazing at any time of the day, and i'd almost venture to say that having breakfast food at dinner time is even better than eating it in the morning.

thismorning i was enjoying a bowl of frosted flakes (they were delicious, I might add), and as I was preparing it just right, I began to wonder how everybody else eats their cereal. I know everyone has their preferences --- a lot of milk, no milk, a tiny bit of milk. They like their cereal to be wet when they eat it, or soggy, or they want the top half dry and the bottom half wet. Some like big bowls, some like big spoons, or little spoons...some drink the milk, some people think that's one of the grossest things ever.

Personally, I have to use a big spoon when I eat cereal - and I prefer to not eat it out of a bowl. I like it better when it's in a big mug for some reason -- or if it is a bowl, a deep bowl - not any of those lil' shallow soup bowls. I use a good bit of milk (skim usually - sometimes soy - sometimes 1/2%), almost filled up to the top of my cereal. After the milk is poured, I proceed to get every piece of cereal wet with milk. I don't like it soggy, it's just got to be wet, so I kinda mix it up a little bit until there is sufficient milk coverage on each flake/puff/loop/etc. Then, I indulge...and usually finish it off by drinking what's left of the the milk at the end.

There ya have it folks...Katie's cereal eating tactic.

Now the question is...how do you prefer your cereal? Enlighten me. :-)

an all too often occurence

a very sad and disturbing statistic i just learned:

"sexual abuse occurs in 1 of every 3 girls under the age of 14, and 1 out of every 7 boys."

wow. i knew it was bad, but not that bad. that's quite an eye opener.

something seems a lil' fishy.

I get to eat sushi tonight....YAAAAAAAAAY!

all smiles

This past weekend was wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.

I got to see Shane and Shane, David Crowder Band, and the Robbie Seay Band on Friday night (3 of my favorites in the world) - along with hangout w/ Bri, and see AJ and Sara Prothro and some other fun people that I haven't gotten to see in awhile. It was almost like a little sliver of Clemson served right there in Columbia for a short while.

I got to hangout with my family, and give my nephew piggy back rides, and see my cousins cheerleading competition.

But aside from the things that I "did" - it was the things that weren't necessarily supposed to be "entertaining" that were the best times of all. I got to browse for guitars, and CDs, and t-shirts; and sit in Barnes and Noble with Bri -- have coffee -- read -- write -- and just "be." Those are some of my favorite times in the world. The times where you are doing nothing at all- but couldn't be any more content or happy.

There is a sense of freedom that comes with spending time with a best friend...with sitting and saying nothing...and knowing that you can say anything. There is an understanding...a comfort... a security...a peace. I wouldn't trade that time for anything in the world. They are times that you have to force yourself to leave when it's time for you to go...the times you could always think of one more thing to say, or have one more hug to give if it would mean you got to stay a minute longer, because you know that the second you walk out the door there will be a longing to go back.