Katie James’s Day Off!

Hello, Dear Readers!

Good day to you!

You know why it’s a good day? I definitely took it off of work!

Ha

Ha

HA!

That’s right. My students spent the day reading silently with a person they’ve probably never met. I spent it sleeping in, going for a drive, talking to Jesus in the wilderness, visiting a long, lost friend, watching Troy, eating chocolate, going for a run, and reading feedback on the first ten chapters of my manuscript!

At around eight-thirty, I got out of bed and made a lovely breakfast burrito, following it up with some left-over cake that Shasta bought to hostess our Valentine’s day event last night. We definitely had a few girls over and watched the third installment of the Stupid Sparkly-Vampires series, hating Bella for being such a dumb girl, hating Jacob and Edward for being so pathetic, and providing way better commentary than Riff Tracks could ever provide.

After my cake this morning, I got in the car and drove my V-dub out into the desert on windy roads. I thought about how crazy it is that it snowed for about 18 minutes during lunch yesterday, but the desert was already sunny and beautiful again. I contemplated the way the desert makes us redefine what is beautiful.

Then, I talked out-loud to Jesus in the wilderness. Luckily, I picked a good spot where I could see the six or seven people who also thought today was a lovely day for a hike, so none of them caught me in the act. I prayed thanks for all of the things that God is blessing me with right now… a peaceful home, possibilities of career things for next year, decent students, REALLY GREAT FRIENDS, a renewed spirit, rest… I asked Him to give me direction for the future, because I’m sailing without a map right now. And I asked Him what to do about Bible study, because it’s just not working out right now. I asked Him for romance, because yesterday was Valentine’s day, and I’m doing my best to believe and hope He’ll give me another shot or two and soon. The cool thing about being a high school teacher on Valentine’s day, is seeing how much hope teenagers hold. I got to see a grand gesture or two, a lot of heart-shaped balloons, and the choir kids singing love songs for $1. A student even enlisted them to sing “You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ to me.

They made me wear a pink boa.

After my time in the wilderness, I dropped by my friend Lauren’s house, and it was lovely to be spontaneous with such a splendid friend. I’ve got a three-mile run in about an hour.

And today is the type when I have to reclaim my idealism and hope for the best. I hope you’ll banish the cynic in your heart today, as well, and take a moment to believe in the grand gesture, just like my students do.

And if all else fails, I’ve been listening to Tim McGraw’s version of the song “Tiny Dancer”, which is bound to bring a smile to anyone’s heart.

Much love,

Katie

 

In a Contest!

If you feel inclined to read a quick version of the story of my worst Valentine’s Day ever, click here. Yesterday, Brigid Kemmerer (whose blog I’ve really been enjoying) hosted a contest for the best story of a worst Valentine’s Day experience, so I jotted down the one about my date with my dirtbag, and it turns out that I’m a finalist. I’m story #2, but feel free to vote for story #1 because I secretly think it’s worse (and less cliche than my story).

 

What a Wonderful Day

Hello, dear friends. I’m on my way to bed right now, but I thought I’d drop in and quickly say hello.

Hello!

For the one or two of you who can’t tell, I’m in a good mood after having had a decent Valentine’s Day. I didn’t get much sleep last night… and I’m a bit under the weather, but it’s been an altogether lovely day. Work was decent. I spent a little bit of the afternoon talking with the roommates. Passed an hour at Starbucks organizing my life and writing out Valentine’s Day cards. Party at the Schneiders (during which I ate some really GOOD bad for me foods). Finally, I left the party a bit early and had the most quality-est time with God I’ve had in a long while.

You see, it takes me a bit of time to prepare to engage the emotional parts of me. My brain is pretty much constantly going, but my heart has a tendency to wall off in times of stress or even just unuse. Therefore, quiet times frequently require more time for me than other people seem to spend (who knows how long anyone really spends… I’m definitely speculating here from relatively few observations). A REALLY QUALITY quiet time for me consists of 5+ chapters of the bible read out loud. I’m an auditory learner, so if I don’t do it out loud, there’s a decent chance I’ll read without taking any of it in. Then, I like to sing loudly for a long time, until those gentle rooms of my heart are finally accessible. Usually, I need a lot of light in the room for the bible reading, then hardly any at all for the singing… then I can pray. Without all of this preparation, I can definitely write letters to God and/or talk out loud to God, but I can’t sit silently before Him and pour out my heart. And of course not every quiet time is like this, though I do try to get this kind of awesomeness in at least once a week.

This is a problem because I live with other people. If there’s noise going on in the house, I get distracted. If there isn’t any noise but I know someone’s home, I get self-conscious. It would be different if we could do some quiet times together (which is one of the things we’re talking about for our next year of living together – can you believe it’s been more than a year?) But until we start doing that, I pretty much need the house completely to myself for a QUALITY quiet time. Of course, I do things to ensure that I get good time with God consistently, but it generally involves me going on long hikes and talking out loud to God in the wilderness (which makes me feel a little creepy).

So anyways… the point of all that was to say that I just finished up a fabulous chunk of alone time in the house, and spent it reading my bible, singing, and praying silently to Abba.

And now I’m ready for bed.

*P.S. I’ve created an email address just for STILL GROWING, because some things just can’t be said in the comments So feel free to send blog-related stuff (like questions, personal comments that you don’t want everyone to read, requests for future posts, requests for critique partner stuff, etc..) to KatieStillGrowing@hotmail.com

This is NOT my personal email address. I’m keeping them separate for organizational and privacy purposes. I’ll probably check both pretty regularly, but if you’ve already got my email address, don’t switch over. You’re good.

 

Toodles.