winter wonderland

Ok so maybe i forgot about how much i love winter sometimes... (winter and i have a love-hate relationship if you can't already tell.) Today was a good winter day because i had a S-N-O-W-D-A-Y!!!! That means it's another three day weekend! Oh yeeeahh!!! Today I went adventurin' with my besties and then i came home early to hang with my wittle brudders ♥

Brendy took this cool pic. He is quite the photographer, i must say. I love it because the tree branches are going in all different directions. I wonder if the trees are embarassed because they are so naked without their leaves.... (that was an insight to one of the manyyyy random/wierd questions i ask myself on a day-to-day basis.)

I scored some pretty tight pics at a park we explored today. Taking pictures is my newest addiction. I'm still workin on improving my photography skills but im signed up to take a photography class next year which i am absolutely stoked about! Anyway... here is a glance at my fun and eventful snowday...

Aww... all of us! We were standing on a bridge and i put the camera on the other side of the ledge with the self-timer on. I was so nervous it would fall over!!! Luckily, watching my cam float down the creek never ended up happening. Thankyou, God.

Yes. This is lauren pretending to charge after me with a GIANT tree branch. Normal.

♥

^ lumberjack boy

I'd say my day was tightly packed with fun adventure and bonding siblinghood. So thankful and very blessed for all my family and friends. They keep my heart warm on cold days like today.

sweet summertime

Today in class (as i froze my butt off) i started daydreamin about summer..........AHHH. It really can't come fast enough. But when it does get here, i will def be welcoming it with open arms. That's for suuuuure.

Summer 2010 was very good to me. Here are some of my fave summa mems that i've been thinkin about....



Spending 4th of July with my sweet family. (my mommy was takin the pic)

Ahh sunkissed.

Santana concert with Julia & Brendan!

All smiles with lo. (Those would be my sweeeet shades)

 An adventurous day with my italy crew.

Bein silly with my friend, Tara.

We rented a 6-seater bike! Def gonna be on the to-do list again for this upcoming summer.

lake!

Justin Bieber concert with my cousins! Oooh baby baby.

So basically...................

I miss my tan and my crazy freckles ♥ I miss playing night games outside ♥ I miss fresh watermelon ♥ I miss wearing flip flops ♥ I miss the sunshine beating on my back ♥ I miss sleeping in everyday ♥ I miss everything in full bloom ♥ I miss swimming in my pool ♥ I miss my red sunglasses ♥ I miss wearing shorts ♥ I miss camping out with friends in my backyard ♥ I MISS EVERYTHING ABOUT SUMMER♥

Summer = love

Sadly, this blog post has to end somewhere. But looking through old summer pics has been quite good therapy... hopefully it will last me through the end of winter. Only 91 days until summer break officially starts for me! Bring on the heat! ...Too bad we are expected to get around 6-9 inches of snow throughout the night where i live. Buzzkill.

cut it out

I ♥ my room. It is a place that i feel so comfortable in. I have filled the walls with happy memories from some of my favorite past times. Even though my room is usually very messy, i still love being in it because it is a place that reflects where i've been, the dreams i have, and the people i love to spend time with. I will admit that everytime my mother forces me to clean my room, the discovery of my floor surprises me everytime. Somehow, my clothes just cant seem to figure out how to hang themselves up. (My floor has a strong magnetic force that sucks clothes/other things down like a supermassive black hole.... that is my excuse, anyway. Hehe.)

Me studying on my dreamy bed in my spankin' clean room. I guarantee you it does not look like this right at the moment. :O

I hung photos of me n my fave peeps on my wall to look like the shape of a heart.

In addition to the many pics i've taken, i have my art on the walls, too. I enjoy collaging with all my heart. It is so fun. I could seriously collage all day long and not even know where the time went. Rainy days are my favorite time to collage because i like to find a cozy spot (usually my bed or the couch) and just relax while i am busy cutting out inspiring words, phrases, and pics out of magazines.

This is my bottom dresser drawer that i store my stash of magazines in. Lucky me... my aunt brings home the hospital labor and delivery waiting room (where she works) leftovers and gives them to me! ♥ I've also scored STACKS of mags from freecycle.com.

Wish i was collaging right now but its time to hit the books. Loads of homework ahead of me tonight. Blah.

turn up the volume

Yes. I am an artsy girl but i have absolutely no musical talent what-so-ever. I think i might remember how to play "mary had a little lamb" on the recorder. However, music is still a big part of my life. I like blasting tunes with my friends with the windows rolled down in my car. Listening to music is a way to escape from my stressful-homework-studying-high school-life. My taste in music is kind of all over the place... I really enjoy any artist with creative lyrics. I ♥ OneRepublic, Regina Spektor, John Mayer, Train, Sugarland, Rascal Flatts, Joshua Radin, Jason Mraz, Mumford & Sons, MGMT, Coldplay, Michael Buble, Kenny Chesney... the list is never ending!!!!!!!

Taylor Swift is one of my faves of all time. Her lyrics are magical.

I also love her bubbly personality. She is a good person and i think it is so cool how she is the one writing all of her songs. Her songs are inspirational for me because they are happy and relate alot to my teenage life.  Her new Speak Now cd is love. I have memorized every single song on it.

So, a few months ago I drew a portrait of her for my art class. I had to chose someone who inspires me and who i look up to. T-swift came first to my mind so that is why i drew her. (Plus she is so beautiful! Who wouldn't want to draw her luscious golden locks?)

P.S... I am lovin this whole blog thing!!! Finally getting the hang of it.

P.S.S.... OH! And i loooooooove getting comments! It makes me feel like im not talking to myself! Just sayin'. Over and out.

we've got sunshine on a rainy day

It was a pretty yucky weather day... non-stop rain plus it was F-F-F-F-FREEEZING out.... but, hey, i'm not complaining because indy has had some beautiful weather the previous few days.  Today was presidents day and i had the day off school so my friends and i decided to hang out and have some fun to celebrate our founding fathers (but mostly to celebrate the no school part). Hehehe. Somehow i feel like we had a pretty sunny day though! Lots of laughter and good memories.

(this picture pretty much sums up our friendship)

We are a pretty goofy crew and we can ALWAYS find something funny out of a sitch (abbreviation for situation). That's another thing... we shorten our words. Like for example, "I should probs start doin my math homework that i've totes put off this whole 3-day weekend." Our abbreviated dialect has become a habit but it just adds to our quirkyness i guess.

On sunday night, my friends and i went to steak n shake, our usual hangout. And we lost track of time.... i think we ended up staying there for almost 4 hours? But it was nice. We made friends with our waiter who even remembered us from the last time we were there (which was only a few days before that.) Obviously, steak n shake isn't fancy and its not gormet, but its cozy and fun. I am guilty of spending all my my money on food. Ha. But brendan and i took a silly pic. It looks like we are actually trapped in the machine!

My friends are wonderful. Like seriously, i don't know what i would do without them! I love hanging out with them because we always get along and we bring the happiness out of each other. My best friends and i even go back to elementary school.

Meet Lauren. I admire her kindness. Seriously, this girl doesn't have a mean bone in her body! We will be best friends forevs. I can picture the two of us as old ladies meeting together to have tea and talking about the fun adventures we had as kids.

Brendan. Brendy. Brend-0. Bren. He is the funniest person i know and his humor is effortless. I don't even kow how to explain it. He brings the adventure to my life! If it weren't for my awesome friend, Brendy, then i don't think my life would be as fun.

"This rat hurr be me n ma gur, jewleeuh!!!" In case you didn't understand that jibberish... Julia is my girl. I love her to death. We've got eachother's backs. Also, she has had lots of influence in my inspirations to make this blog!! She has good comedic timing.... I can see her on SNL someday... that's how funny she is. I'm gonna have to get her autograph before she gets too famous!

Car-Car (AKA Carly). She is awesome. She keeps all of us together. Her humor is hilarious. Her and I find ourselves laughing over nothing a lot. I love her because of her strength to overcome anything. She is the final puzzle piece to all of us. She is a genuine friend who is always there for me.

Without these four incredibly amazing friends, my life would be incomplete. They have helped shape my personality. I love you guys. Friends are the family we choose. And i would say i've picked a good family of friends. I know this kind of friendship lasts a lifetime.

sharing the light from within

So....I am finally taking the first step by making this blog to start the process of finding out who i am and what i am going to do with the rest of my life. No big deal, right? I think it is a great way to share my aspirations and to journal every twist and turn along the way.  Just a few days ago I had one of those "aha" moments. It was an epiphany. I decided that I will pursue art in college (which is only one and a half years away)... yikes! But knowing what path I am going to take is one of the most scary/exciting/happy feelings I've ever had. I AM SO FLIPPIN EXCITED! I am ready to embrace where life takes me and I''m not afraid of who I will become because God has a plan for me.

"Light tomorrow with today." -Anonymous



{Source: Tangled}

I love this quote because it applies to my life so much right now! I chose to name my blog "illuminating kate" for many reasons:

#1 Because illuminating is a happy, feel-good word. 

#2 My name is Kate. 

#3 The definition of illuminate is to enlighten, to decorate with colors, to display lights as in celebration, to supply or brighten with light. 

#4 I am "illuminating" myself by keeping my heart open to all the possibilities of this wonderful life. 

Let the adventure begin!