Picture of the Day: 

T-Rex Cafe, the coolest restaurant in Downtown Disney!

Quote of the Day:

"The ballet embodies the notes of music. And sometimes you almost feel like you can see the notes dance up there on the stage."

-Robert Caro

Hello, my dearest readers. I have quite a confession to make to you all here this day: I have not written or read a single thing since school has released. I have told myself almost daily to sit down and try my hand at penning something to paper, and yet it does not seem to work. I am inspired to be creative after my short trip to Disney, unfortunately it does not appear to be leading me anywhere near a book of any sort. No; I have been quite preoccupied with dance. 

I have been a dancer since I was three years old.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that I am amazing. I am merely trying to show you how ingrained dance is into me. I am not bad, and I am not eligible to rush out and join a company. But I do enjoy myself completely, and it shows when I am up on stage.

Now, I am planning two distinct dances--both of which are duets with my sister. Yes; it is going to be one amazing recital. In one, we want to do a very dark, twisted version of Swan Lake (but lets face it, Swan Lake is already dark!) to the amazing soundtrack of Black Swan.

I am not advocating seeing the movie--I heard it was very risque and, well, awkward at moments. However, the soundtrack is a beautiful mixture of Tchaikovsky and creepy ambient music. Here, take a listen to my personal favorite from the soundtrack:




Turn it up. It is quiet. Better yet, put in headphones.

I don't know why this is so tinny sounding, but bear with me. It is so lovely. See why it is absolutely amazing? Okay. Now, my sister and I are thinking about this song for our first duet:



Ooh. Amazing.

I will be playing the part of Odette, the White Swan. My sister will be playing the part of Odile, the Black Swan. Now. If you are unfamiliar with Swan Lake, the ending is not exactly cheery--the White Swan commits suicide after Prince Siegfried vows fidelity to the Black Swan in her stead. (In some versions, Siegfried plunges to his death with her. Depends on the rendition, I suppose.)

Anyway, I am finally pleased that the music is as dark as the tale.

And my sister and I plan on making the dance absolutely stunning--and haunting. Something the audience is not going to be entirely sure they want to clap to or not. It will be fabulous.

For the second dance, we plan on doing "Waiting on the World to Change" by John Mayer.

I can see some quizzical faces. I am not, by any means, someone with liberal political views. And, as most people are aware, John Mayer's song is...well...liberal. Hey--I am hoping for a better world, too. I just think that perhaps my way of getting there is different than Mr. Mayer's. So, I feel the song is not entirely out of place.

But that is not why we picked it.

See, my sister is fantastic at ASL. That is, for everyone who is confused, American Sign Language. She has taken one semester in college and flourished with it! (I am so proud of her!)

She knows the signs (or can learn the signs) for this entire song. So, while I do a contemporary/lyrical dance number to this, she will be in the corner interpreting the song for the audience. So, she will be doing this:


That little girl is the cutest thing. Ever. 


Only...she is wayyyy more interesting to watch. I do not lie. When we get it all together, I will record it and put it up here for you!

So, no, I have not written. But hey! I am being creative!

And maybe now that everyone has a breather, you can be too! 

Picture of the Day: 

Lady and the Tramp topiary at Epcot in Italy!

Quote of the Day: 

"All cartoon characters and fables must be exaggeration, caricatures. It is the very nature of fantasy and fable." 

-Walt Disney

Hello, my dearest readers! For most of you (I say this because I probably am physically acquainted with all of you!) are finished with school now. Some of you are even moving on to bigger and better things than college; some of you walked at USF's Commencement Ceremony! 

I skipped it. 

Yes. I skipped it and ran away. Someone asked me, "Katie, now that you have graduated, what are you going to do next?" I immediately responded, "I am going to Disney World!" And I did. My dearest reader, I left Friday morning at the ridiculous time of six in the morning and left late Sunday afternoon. And, I must admit, it was the most fun I have had in a while. 

I have not gone to Disney in a very long time. (Magic Kingdom I managed to get to for a little bit a few years ago, but I was not able to do anything, because for some reason or other, the entirety of us were in bad moods.) So, discounting that horrible happenstance of visitation, I have literally not been to anything in Disney World since I was eight years old. 

Let me tell you, when I got there, I felt eight again. I got my picture with Pooh and Tigger, and with Goofy too! The latter of these characters took time to flirt with me a little bit before allowing me to pose for a picture. He has always been my favorite! (No joke, when I went at two, I was terrified of everyone but Goofy--you know, the tallest one? Hahaha. I even had a figurine that I held up so he could watch the parade with me.)

I am refreshed. I am happily drifting off into some fantastic fantasies. I, methinks, have finally found some form of inspiration. I do hope that it lasts long enough for me to work on something; preferably my pirate novel. I am so excited about that one, and want desperately to have this summer bring about productivity. 

So, for this passing entry I would like to offer up a few pictures from my adventure in Disney World. Perhaps they will be as magical to you as the experience was for me. 

We started off at Epcot; and by we, I mean my friend Jen and I did. Eventually my sister was able to join us (Much to my utter delight!) later in the afternoon. 

In line for Test Track, I took time to be a dummy. 

My friend and I posing in front of Lady and the Tramp. 

I hung out in China! 

At Norway, just off the exit of the Maelstrom. My sister's viking hat only has one horn. Hahahaha.

Oh. When we got off the Maelstrom and after we had posed for a picture with this friendly troll, we put down the hats and swords and axes and began to leave. On boy (wearing the hat my sister has on in the above picture: the one with two blonde braids down the side) picked up a sword and began to fight his brother. The part that made my day? He screamed, "For Narnia!" Yeah. That kid is the coolest thing ever.

Anyway, continuing on our picture journey...

The next day we hit Animal Kingdom for the first half of the day. This musical, by the way, is awesome.

Then, we had lunch at T-Rex, a Rainforest Cafe meets dinosaurs restaurant.

Okay. For a minute here, I want to plug this restaurant. It is the coolest place I have ever eaten. Ever. Basically, it is a restaurant with animatronic dinosaurs in it. Every fifteen minutes or so there is a meteor shower. It is the most fantastic thing on the planet. If you are ever in Downtown Disney, please do yourself a favor and hit this restaurant. Here is the link so you can make sure you are going to be able to plan accordingly. Oh. And you may want to make reservations. If you do, make sure they are made before midnight of the day before. It is so worth it.

And as you're leaving, they have a Build a Dino. It is like Build a Bear, but with prehistoric animals instead. I had to make one, so I did. Meet Achilles, the Ankylosaurus. Get it? Ankyl? Bahahaha. I am hilarious.

He is adorable. 

Then, the next day, my sister had to go home. So, my friend and I went back to the Magic Kingdom and explored there the rest of the trip. 

I found this hat that said "Pirate Princess", and put it on...with my crown. 

I love pirates. Yes. Yes I do.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!

Speaking of pirates! I rode Pirates of the Caribbean! Twice. I love that one. Anyway, when we got off, a show was about to start...so I made passing acquaintance with this guy: 

You may not believe me, but he looked JUST LIKE Jack Sparrow as played by Johnny Depp. He had the same voice and mannerisms too; and he was tops my age. Too bad you can no longer get your picture with him. 

Princesses!

Two of my favorites.

And my absolute favorite. 

Basically, it was amazing. There are plenty more pictures, but perhaps I shall save them for another time.  I am inspired to just be creative, let the story flow, and pray that one day it will catch on as well as all of this! (Okay...yeah right. Hahaha.) 

I hope that summer is starting off well for you, too! Do not fret, my readers. I will be able to update shortly with something of use; I am thinking I shall spend the remainder of my day today reading and writing. 

Picture of the Day: 

Arena Football; the most ridiculous sport I have ever witnessed firsthand.

Quote of the Day: 

"Don't call me a mindless philosopher, you overweight glob of grease!"

-C3PO

Hello, my dear readers! Today is Intergalactic Star Wars Day! If you were previously unaware of such a fact, then I am glad I have called it to your attention. It would be a shame to never celebrate such a holiday. In case you are wondering why the amazing 4th of May was chosen to be the host of such festivities, I merely wish to say this: 

May the 4th be with you!

All right. So, what can I say about today, except that it is a day to remember Han Solo, R2D2, Chewbacca, Leia and Luke for their bravery? Oh. And everyone else, too. Yes, this is a day to recall the great adventures from A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi. May they forever be watched and remembered on this amazing day!

What? You say there are more Star Wars movies than those? 

You say these people are in it?

Lies.

Anyway. To celebrate the only Star Wars movies around (yes, I will quite happily live in denial) I wish to make this post a one-stop need for all things intergalactic.


We will start with this video; it is a nice spoof called "Store Wars". Enjoy:

I do not own this. But it is hilarious.

I have already shared this video, but I must do it again in honor of this day. So, if you have seen this, feel free to skip.

If I have kids, I want them to be this awesome.

Okay. Now, let us all be real; not everyone knows a lot about Star Wars. On this day, I would like to shame those people. If you are one of the select few that know nothing, but want to keep up with all the cool kids today, I give you a link to Wookieepedia. Trust me, it is a one-stop information geyser that will tell you anything you need to know to keep up with the best of them today. 

What is a Wookiee? Madness I say! Still...it looks something like this: 

You know what else looks something like that? 

This dog:

It has got to be nice to know you own the most epic dog ever.

For veteran fans, I give you a link to a store for Star Wars memorabilia. This place. 

Today, you should definitely do something special. I will even give you a list of things that will make your day a little more epic. After all, what couldn't be epic when flavored with Star Wars? 

• Watch the movies. Yes, this seems like a no brainer. But really, that trilogy (See? Still in denial.) will not watch itself! 
• Go to the toy store and buy a lightsaber. Don't worry--I promise you won't be the only adult with a saber. And hey, once you own it, go have a fight with your friend in the lawn. Watch out for those Jedi force-chokes, though. Especially if your friend has turned to the dark side. 
• Go around breathing heavy. For added effect, wear a mask. Preferably one that looks like this:

For an added bonus, tell everyone you are their father.

• Tell everyone your other vehicle is the Millennium Falcon. Go ahead. All the cool kids are doing it.
• Say everything backwards. Trust me, it automatically makes you sound smarter. 

It would make Yoda proud. Ahem. Excuse me. Make Yoda proud, it would.

And finally...

• Discover you are a twin. This works best if you were separated at birth. However, it is doable with the right amount of acting skills and watching audience. Try a mall, movie theater, or just the park. 

There you have it, folks! Easy steps to becoming a regular Star Wars Day aficionado. 

May the Force be with you.

Picture of the Day: 

The albino peacock that struts the walkways of Busch Gardens!

Quote of the Day: 

"I lived to write, and wrote to live." 

-Samuel Rogers

We meet once more, my beloved readers! By this time tomorrow I will be seated in my last final for my undergraduate career, and pleasantly awaiting my release. After tomorrow, I shall be done forever. Hopefully. Verdict still has not come in on my essay for Global Conservation yet. But why ruin an otherwise joyous occasion with such topics? I am looking forward to summer. I am looking forward to whatever is next, and it is mostly because I am so tired of what is going on now.

I plan on focusing more on my writing this summer, so hopefully you will receive more updates that actually pertain to what I am working on! Everything is mapped out for my pirate novel, so I think that I could, potentially, finish it by the end of the year. (Yeah...I will believe it when I see it, myself. But it is nice to dream!) 

Oh! And speaking of pirates:

I cannot wait for this.

Jack Sparrow is back! This time with Blackbeard, mermaids and someone other than Orlando Bloom as his sidekick! (Really, I am stoked!) Hopefully seeing some new adventures on the open seas will give me some inspiration for my own novel--though, I will admit that I am pretty sure my idea is way cooler than this movie will probably be! 

I will probably fill my summer with books about pirates, royal navies, and sea monsters, hoping beyond hope that inspiration will keep me aflame for this novel's speedy finish. I am really excited about this particular endeavor, and I cannot wait to try my hand at finishing one of the many stories I have started. 

Maybe, once this one is finished, I can head back to working on my Legacy of Elysia series. If only I had not grown so tired of it! Ah, well. This one seems more interesting anyway--and while I refine my writing skills, I will gain the tools necessary to meet my Legacy of Elysia idea head on in battle...and win.

Anyway. I will leave you with another ship summary to satiate your growing hunger for my pirate novel.  And if you are not hungering or it, by all accounts, you should be! 

Meet the Sundowner, the fastest ship in the Veliarian Navy. She is light, not entirely well armed (at tops she has six guns), and modeled after a sloop from our world. Which means, she looks something like this: 

Yup. Also without the flag.

The Sundowner, as you can see, has no real cabin on the stern of the ship for the captain. This means that all the crew (Liam, and the commodore included) sleep below deck without any rank distinction. I may have Liam have a little bit more privacy by being at the very back of the ship or something, but he is not going to receive his own quarters. 

This ship is the ship that Liam, Jarek and the commodore set out on their adventure in. It is manned (for this special trip) by the best of the navy. Normally, she is used for chasing down pirates (should the need arise). However, for Liam the Sundowner is a sloop of adventurous proportions. 

I cannot say too much about this particular ship, other than what is already mentioned. The Sundowner's name also stems from something nautical: it is a term used to describe an extra-strict navy officer.

It also is apparently a slang term for a drink to wind down after work. 

Take my word on it; that is not important. 

Picture of the Day: 

In light of the royal wedding, I give you a shot I took from my older sister's wedding.

Quote of the Day: 

"The trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit."

-Moliere

Hello once again, my dearest readers! April has come and gone (Well...almost, anyway), with it, so has the semester. (who counts finals week, I ask you!?) It is time to plan for summer (if you happen to be off from class), and make the best of life. It is time to breathe. It is time for May's book of the month! Let's kick back and celebrate the beginning of free time, and I have just the book to help you get started. 

Eyes of Crow

by Jeri Smith-Ready

Nothing says "I have free time to enjoy myself!" like young adult fantasy novels! Really. I do not lie; try to find something that beats it and get back to me. Anyway, for your newfound freedom, I encourage you to take a look at this book--one I read a few years ago and instantly became one of my favorites. Eyes of Crow is both well written and enchanting, and everyone I have recommended it to agrees!

This novel is set in a world that seemingly harkens to Native American mysticism for inspiration. Each member of the community goes through what is called a "bestowing", a ceremony where spirit animals lay claim to the people and grant them powers; and each animal brings with it different powers. For instance, swans have the gift of dreams, wasps are ferocious fighters, as are the wolverines. And, as you go through life, your bestowed magics grow; but not from mere age! No, as you go through stages of life, your powers become more exact. When you first are chosen, your powers will stay the same until you have your first child. They will then stay the same until you become a grandparent.

Oh, and absolutely everyone is chosen.

Swans, otters, turtles, wolverines, wasps, spiders, bears...everyone lives in harmony with one another.

And then Rhia gets chosen by Crow, and the entire community begins to treat her strangely. 

You see, Crows are extremely rare, and Crows are feared. Crow's chosen children are there to lead you into the afterlife and be there for the transition of death. Even Rhia thinks it is creepy. However, as things begin to progress, Rhia gets an inkling that perhaps it is no coincidence that a helper of Crow was needed now.  Perhaps a crow will be needed.

Once you pick up this novel, you will not be able to put it down! I assure you, it is a masterpiece! Be aware that while this is a fantasy novel, there is a very strong plot of romance, too--so, if you are one of those people who dislikes reading any sort of love story, I regret to say this is not the book for you. For the rest of you, though, it is one you cannot afford to miss! 

Now, I am going to take a little bit of extra time with this particular recommendation and say a few further things. This is book one in a trilogy. (I have not yet read the last one--it makes me feel horrible inside. I plan on buying it next week, though!) You will love the characters, and you will love the author. I have a few links for you.

Read the book? Love it? Want to know what aspect would be given to you? Jeri Smith-Ready (yes, the author!) has a little quiz out there on the internet for you to take so you know for sure! I got Swan, so my power is foretelling the future through dreams and dream walking! Go ahead. See yours. Don't be shy!

Let me know what you got in the comments. 

Also, Jeri Smith-Ready is active on Facebook. If you love her books, be sure to be her friend and let her know you adore her writing! She has a myspace too, if you are still on there. I was on her top friends on myspace! Yeah...it is the little things in life.

So, my fellow readers, go out there and conquer the world one book at a time! Summer is so close, I can taste it! 

Picture of the Day: 

Standing under a tiger at Busch Gardens! RAWR!

Quote of the Day: 

"A writer is a writer not because she writes well and easily, because she has amazing talent, because everything she does is golden. In my view, a writer is a writer because even when there is no hope, even when nothing you do shows any sign of promise, you keep writing anyway."

-Junot Diaz

Hello again, my dearest readers! I truly must confess this: I do not think I have been this on top of things since my freshman year of college. Allow me to explain. In the past four days, I have written three eight page papers, done a take home quiz, and now have an evening of rest before I receive my final take-home exam from one class, and get to work on studying for my Film and Culture exam. I will be finished by Tuesday. Completely. Forever. 

You know...until I finally decide to go back to school to get a masters in something. Or, I go into teaching. You must be wondering what happened about the class that was going to prevent me from graduating. The answer is simple: I have not the slightest idea. However, with the help of extra credit, a wonderful final test and a fantastic final paper (fingers crossed on that one; it has not been graded yet!) I can scrape out a high C. 

While a C is not something to be proud of necessarily, there is an old adage my campus minister taught me: "Cs get degrees." Yeah; I never thought I would come to accept a C with no protest, but God does work miracles, and in funny ways to boot! 

Well, in celebration of the nearing end, I would like to give you something to read that I have been working on, or at least mention an idea of something that is in the works; unfortunately, I really have not had time to work on anything--so instead, I want to talk about naming things. I know I have already posted about this a while back, but in this case I want to tie it directly in with my pirate novel. The names of navy and pirate ships!

Now, I struggle with naming things. I really, really, really do. That being said, I want every single name in my arsenal of ships to be down-right memorable and catchy. So, with a determinedness that bordered lunacy, I set out on the internet to find ship names. (I mentioned before, also, how I stumbled across the Happy Delivery during that exploration. Which has to be simultaneously the worst and best pirate ship name ever. I did manage to come up with significantly better names for my own ships, though. If you would believe it.) I also was determined to not use any name that was already used by a real pirate ship, or fantasy one. Originality was key.

There are a bunch of pirate ships in my novel, as well as a bunch of navy ships. So, needless to say, I needed quite a few names. I will not bore you with listing all of them. Instead, I would like to talk about my absolute favorite one I have come up with for the navy. I am quite proud of it, really.

So, I would like to introduce you to her. Meet The Garroter; the royal ship of the king's navy. She is a large ship, based on the ship design from our world known as "ship-of-the-line."

So, she would look something like this: 

Except without the British flag. 

Why the design? I chose a ship-of-the-line design for this particular ship because it was the baddest warship on the seven seas. It would hold a crew of nearly four hundred men. Oh. And it would hold a whole bunch of canons. In fact, this ship was designed to hold the most fire-power. The hull is not necessarily beautiful, but I suppose in my world, I can add some of the carrack's physical design.

Because of her size, she would be slow. So, I am thinking she is probably one of the only ships her size in Veliar's fleet. The rest of the fleet would be comprised of smaller frigates built for speed but still with firepower. Because of her speed, The Garroter is not a ship that actively pursues the pirates that come into Veliar's waters (she would never be able to keep up with them, no matter how good the wind was), but rather a warship specifically designed to meet others in combat. So, if the pirates happened to be outright attacking the kingdom, ransacking the civilians on land and therefore not able to flee when The Garroter approached, The Garroter would stand a good chance at sinking the pirate carrack due to its overwhelming amount of gunnery. 

This, as you can imagine, does not happen too often. And when it does, it happens to only the worst of the pirates. The Garroter is really designed and used for flat out confrontations between the other kingdoms around Veliar (say...Bellumar, or elsewhere) and only sometimes used for excursions to take care of pirates from the freelands.

The Garroter is specifically manned by the Commodore, and the only vessel type that the king will sail on (this is because of its hardy structure and gunpower.). Obviously, if things looked really bad for a ship like this, the king would be moved to a smaller frigate and sailed away quickly.

The Garroter is also the ship that our young Liam got to play on as he learned about dealing with the navy. (In case you cannot remember who Liam is, he is the prince of Veliar!) He knows that ship very well from all the shenanigans he pulled while a young child, and its crew is the best of the best of the navy. Jarek, Liam's friend, is a gunner on The Garroter himself, having proven himself a fantastic talent at manning canons. 

There you have it. Meet the Queen of the Royal Fleet. 

Oh, and in case you were wondering what The Garroter means, a good synonym for it is "The Hangman". 

Yeah, I know it's epic. 

Picture of the Day: 

Camo sheep. You can't see him!

Quote of the Day: 

"O, beware, my lord, of Jealousy! / It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock / The meat it feeds on."

-William Shakespeare, Othello

Hello, my dearest readers! I hope the weekend found you well, and you marked Easter with both joy and reverence. I must say that after the week I had, this weekend did not seem quite long enough for me to escape, but I truly only have a week and a half left. I think I can make it.

I have not had time to write anything other than papers. Really. All of my professors are going wild with the assignments they are handing out, and I must say that I am barely able to keep up with it all. It is like they forget I am enrolled in more classes than theirs. Sure, a take home exam, take home test and essay for a class is not too bad. When each of your classes are sending home the same amount of work, and you are taking four classes, it starts to get stressful. But I digress.

I really wish I could be writing. I tried to set aside some time to just work creatively, hoping to rejuvenate my mind enough to tackle the rest of the homework, but when I sat down, absolutely nothing happened. It seems, once more, a severe case of writer's block has sunk its claws into my imaginings and drained them away. I have been unable to think of a proper opening for my pirate novel, and even while I have some scenes in my mind, getting them out on paper is simply not happening for me right now. 

I think I shall force myself to try a scene later today and see what happens. I hate forcing my writing, but maybe this is just something that I have to work through. We shall see what happens!

Okay. If that was all that I was going to update with, this would be a relatively useless entry. "Hey guys. Me here. I have writers block, and have effectively wasted your time by not posting anything about anything I am working on. Ha!" So, in an effort to avoid wasting your time, I would like to say that if you are a single woman, I have something to share with you.

If you are not a single woman, feel free to leave right now. Maybe bookmark this if you ever happen to be single again. Or, take a chance and take a listen. Who knows? Maybe you will learn something from it anyway. 

Okay. 

So, let me start by reiterating something I have already shared before. I have never been on a date. Yes, I just turned twenty-two. No, I am not lying. Sometimes, I feel frustrated that it looks like my life is completely meant to be lived alone and without any companionship at all. Sometimes, I am lonely. Most of the time, I am just afraid that someone will never come along. My thinking is something along the lines of: "Well, obviously there is something wrong with me for nobody to look at me and think I am worth a chance." Or, sometimes I go as far as to think, "All of my friends are getting married or engaged or dating someone. Probably because they are prettier." (Actually, I wholeheartedly stand by that statement. They are not only beautiful on the inside, but on the out. Something, sadly, I shall never be able to fix completely.) 

Well, my friend shared this on her Facebook, and while I was not sure I would want to take a listen, I did anyway. Do me a favor, and listen to this, too: 

All right. Snapping aside, this is actually a very powerful poem.

How many of us single people, women especially, feel like it is just a curse? We are prancing off to go to our friends' weddings, mustering up congratulations when they receive the engagement rings, and smiling when they tell us they are going to have a baby. We sit and watch girls that must be inherently better than us get everything we desire, while we barely seem to be able to have a decent date (or in my case, to get a date at all).

I will admit I have flat out lied to some of the girls I know, faking "I am so happy for you!" talk so that I would not reveal how truly jealous I was. The worst part comes when they realize how jealous you are, and instead of doing something that actually would make you feel better, they start telling you things that really do not aide you at all. A list of the responses I have gotten from my friends include the following:

"Aw, Katie, don't feel bad. Someday God may send you someone."
"You'll find someone. You aren't that bad looking."
"Boyfriends and husbands aren't that great. Trust me. I miss my single days."
"I thought I was never going to find someone. But look. I did! It can happen to you, too."

Might I qualify these things with another statement: every single one of these has come from a sister in Christ. Now, let me explain, one by one, why these are all horribly offensive.

"Aw, Katie, don't feel bad. Someday God may send you someone."
Now. This one is pretty obvious. The last thing a single person really wants to think about is facing an entire lifetime alone, and losing all of their friends to marriage and families. And while they cannot outright assure me that I am going to get married, when you are truly hurting, it is probably not a good choice of words.

"You'll find someone. You aren't that bad looking."
Excuse me? Not that bad looking? Implying that I am a tad unfortunate, but not enough to deter a man completely. It will just take longer to find someone to put up with my ugliness. Thanks a lot. Yeah. I feel better now.

"Boyfriends and husbands aren't that great. Trust me. I miss my single days."
This is probably the most annoying out of the list. Yeah. You really miss your single days; that is exactly why you are getting married, talking about your wedding nonstop and not getting out of your relationship. This is probably the most hypocritical thing anyone has ever said to me, ever. And I hear it all the time.

"I thought I was never going to find someone. But look. I did! It can happen to you, too."
Well, I can understand that every girl must go through a period where she thinks she is entirely unlovable. The problem is, it is really hard for someone who always had a boyfriend and was simply worried about finding "the one" to really understand the plight of perpetual singleness. Plus, the entire sentence implied that miracles do still happen, and I could be one of them. Not to mention they were only a year older than me. Yeah; you waited a really long time.

The kicker? All four of these were said to me by the same sister in one sitting. I left this conversation certain of only one thing, and that was that I was completely hopeless. See, this particular sister must know what it takes to get a guy. She was always dating, and now is married. So, naturally, she must know that it is going to take a miracle for me to find someone. And, in all honesty, I do not believe miracles work like that.

I have spent hours upon hours crying over this fear of dying alone, and wasting my time here on this earth by never actually making any connections with another human being. Let's face it. I don't have friends I call to hang out with. I spend most of my time alone in my apartment or with my family. (So, realistically, I should not be so surprised I never get asked out. Nobody is ever going to know me well enough to ask, and truly, once they knew me, they would not want to.) The girls of my group get together semi-regularly, but I have politely declined attending so many times, that I no longer get an invitation anymore. I do not blame them. I know I am very little fun to be around.

Yet, for some weird reason people think that I, Kathryn Elizabeth, shall magically find someone and get married. "Don't underestimate God!" they tell me. God is not going to UPS the guy to my door. So, while I should not underestimate God, I certainly should not bank on my awesome people skills to help me find someone who thinks I am worth time to date and get to know. And on some level, everyone agrees with me on this, because whenever they seek to console me on my loneliness, they mention the idea that "God is powerful and can do anything. Anything at all. Like...create the world. Or find you a guy."

Now, not everyone is as hopeless as I am, and it is for that reason that I am posting this video and little blurb about singleness. I know it is hard being around a whole bunch of people that are living your desires out, especially when all they are doing is complaining about something you think is a blessing. (For instance, one of my sisters is going to have a baby. She should be happy and excited, not griping to me about how she hates getting fat and how she does not feel cute. Dude. I am fat. You're pregnant. There is a difference.)

There is a plan.

Yeah, I know it sounds horribly cliche, or even a rote Christian answer to any problem you have. But, it is true.

I have a hard time looking at things and seeing a plan. For instance, my situation with graduation and my singleness both make me feel completely worthless and cursed. However, I hold fast to the idea that everything happens for a reason. Well, if everything happens for a reason, nothing horrible happens without cause. The problem is that we cannot see the plan, and God is not going to swoop down and say, "Katie, relax. In three years, you are going to be in a bookstore and you are going to find the guy of your dreams. Not only will he be smart (he is in a bookstore, so you know he reads!) But he is going to be British, love me with all of his heart, and he will take good care of you. Aren't I awesome?" So, we just have to have faith. Probably the hardest thing about the Christian way of life.

Believing without seeing is something that I struggle with. I know others do too. Sometimes girls feel like they are ready for their man now, and should not have to wait. I raise this question: what if he is not ready for you? What if right now he is struggling with something that would make him sabotage your relationship, but in a few years he will have worked through it and be ready to meet you and treat you well?

Singleness is not a punishment (although it feels like it, I know!). It is just part of God's plan to help you grow.

Now, I cannot tackle all of this with enough extensiveness or wisdom to help you completely. But that poem is a good thing to listen to when you are feeling alone. You are not the only girl out there that is struggling with the fear of being alone. It helps to know that not everyone is passing you by. There are people out there that can relate to you.

I would like to recommend a book to check out if you feel you are flat out waiting for Mr. Right:

Lady in Waiting: Becoming God's Best While Waiting for Mr. Right

by Jackie Kendall and Debby Jones

This book is amazing. I have read it close to three times (two and half, really) and each time I have gotten something new out of it. While it does not promise you a man, it does promise a point. Which is precisely what I want out of life. The only downside is that the book makes you feel better about waiting for a man to come, and then in the last chapter is like, "Oh yeah. By the way; God doesn't have to send you someone. You should be okay with that too." Though, to make the blow better, they provide a nifty little chart that shows why God fills every role a husband can. Only better. Good touch, I must say. 

As you can tell by this post, these problems will not magically go away just because you read a book about it. Nonetheless, you can get better with work. I highly recommend this book for the struggling woman. 

I will leave you with this thought, which helps me feel better when I think my life here on earth is resulting in nothing but hardship and disappointment: 

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

-John 16:33