Flamingos in the Front Yard

On my way to work this morning,

I stumbled upon an unusual sight -
flamingos in the front yard.
It was so funny, I just had to share!

Gleeful Beauty

Last night I was watching one of my favorite shows, Glee (which is awesome, if you aren't watching it, you should be!), and it was a really great episode about beauty. In addition to the wonderful music throughout the show, it really sent a message about accepting yourself for you are and not conforming to the pressures of those around you. It really struck a chord with me, because like everyone in the world, I struggle with my self image from time to time.

As I was thinking about it, I was reminded of my friend Jessica, who would always say this verse from Zephaniah when we were in college "The King is enthralled by your beauty!" She loved the word entralled and loved to speak that over us. It was an encouragement - the maker of the universe, the King of kings is entralled with my beauty! If that isn't an ego booster, I don't know what is, haha.

I even went to a luncheon today and the speaker was talking about inward beauty and how that is so much more important than outward beauty. And I believe that's true! Your character and who you really are deep inside means so much more than the clothes you wear, your haircut and make-up and even, gasp, your weight!

God loves me for who I am and thinks I'm beautiful - I guess I needed to be reminded of that today. And guess what - He loves YOU too and thinks YOU are beautiful! Be encouraged! The King is entralled by your beauty! ;)

It's Spring Again

"It's spring again, it's spring again. Do you know how I know? All the leaves are on the trees and the grass is starting to grow!"

I learned this little poem when I was in Kindergarten and decided that I was going to recite it in our school talent show. It has some other verses I don't remember, but you get the gist. Isn't it funny the things that stay with you?

Well, it is spring and I'm so glad! This picture is the view from out of my office window at the Harrison House. Isn't this tree beautiful? I love all of the blooms everywhere on campus right now! I hope you are all enjoying the spring! Isn't it fun to be outside again? I love all of the green and the flowers and the sunshine. What a wonderful time of year!

I'm only going to have this view for a couple more weeks, because I am moving offices as soon as we wrap up Dr. Ellis' inauguration. I went over and looked at my new office yesterday. I like the furniture and the area looks really nice! The sad thing is that I don't have a window at all. I'm going to miss my view out of my eight different windows, but I'll survive!

It's so hard to believe that I won't be working at the Harrison House any more. This has been my home away from home for the past 5 years. I started working there my junior year of college and have been around ever since. My friend Kristy's son Tyler even calls it "Kalie's house." He actually thinks I live there, although one day he was really puzzled about where my bed was. I know I'm going to miss having Kristy right across the hall, but change is good, right? I am looking forward to being in a more centralized place on campus. Hopefully this move will help me stay more connected with everything going on. It does double my commute, though. Instead of leaving my apartment at 8:00 and arriving at work at 8:00, I may have to leave closer to 7:57 or so, depending on the traffic crossing Austin Avenue. haha.

Man, I Feel Like a Woman

I'm an adult. The signs have been creeping up for a while now. College graduation was the first tip off. Followed by the full-time job, bills, 10 p.m. bedtime, you know the story. Many of you are probably experiencing it too. My 25th birthday was definitely the turning point, there's no going back. It's not that I haven't wanted to be considered grown-up. I think I was born mature and I've always acted older than I am. I want to be grown-up, I just don't want to be old. You know what I mean?

This last week I realized that not only am I grown-up, and an adult. I'm also a woman. Haha. This sounds a little more drastic than I mean it to be. What I'm referring to is that I'm now being involved in "Women's ministries." Last Thursday I was elected for the third year as an officer in the HPU Woman's Club and during the meeting I was invited to be involved in the Women's Ministry at my church. I'm honored to serve in both ministries, it's just funny because it suddenly hit me - I'm an adult woman. Whoa! Times, they are a changing - and I'm glad. I'm looking forward to the Lord using me in new ways, it's just new territory and may take some getting used to.

In the know

I love to be "in the know." I don't know how to describe it beyond the fact that I just love to know as much as I can about everything - people, places and things (yep, all of the nouns).

I've known this about myself for a long time, but just recently I have noticed that I'm also a researcher. When I'm reading a story online, if there is a link, I'm probably going to click on it. Whether it provides some more details about whatever I'm interested in, has some photos or a video to watch or presents a new topic to consider, I'm hooked. Basically, I'm a constant clicker which leads me to some very interesting places on the web.

Today I had lunch with my friend Cassie and her husband, Tucker. It was so funny because at one point Tucker and I were comparing information that we have learned recently from the CIA world factbook. Apparently Tucker is a fellow researcher. We were talking about how neither one of us like to just read one story - we want to know more. We will go investigate to find the background information, more details on the story or what others are saying about it. Why do I love to know more?

I'm also a blog clicker. Ever since I started my blog back in July, I have become a big blog reader and fan. I love to see what other people are writing, what kind of style they use and get updates on my friends. Oftentimes I find myself reading a friend's blog, clicking on another blog they follow, clicking on something in that and before I know it, I'm lost in the blog-o-sphere (and I love it!).

Here's a good example - I was just reading my friend Caty's blog and she was talking about her ideal cast for a new movie based on the book The Hunger Games. Well, I'd never heard of The Hunger Games before, so I went to look it up on amazon.com and this is what I found. Did I mention that I also followed her link to some girl named Lenzi's blog? I don't know Lenzi but apparently she talked about this book on her blog. Now, you ask, did I need to know all of that? Probably not, but at least now if someone else is talking about The Hunger Games, I will know what's going on!

I think my job is well suited for this aspect of my personality. Essentially, it's my job to find out as much as I can about what is happening at HPU and share that information with everyone else. Isn't it great that God knew this about me way before I did and provided me the opportunity to use this crazy quirk for good?

(Did you click on any of the links that I put in this post? If so, you might be more like me than you think!)

Packing idiosyncrasy

When preparing to go on a trip each person has their own priorities for packing. Some, like my mom, start packing weeks in advance, intentionally planning each article of clothing and accessory. Others wait until the very last minute and are pulling their clothes out of the dryer and throwing them into a suitcase while everyone else is sitting in the car ready to go (this would be my dad). I think I fall somewhere in between the two. I like to start thinking about what I'm going to bring in advance, and sometimes I make lists to ensure that I don't forget things, but I'm usually still throwing things into my suitcase at the last minute.

Clothes, accessories and toiletries are all important but here's my packing idiosyncrasy: the very first thing that I consider when I start preparing for a trip is what books I'm going to bring.

This may seem trivial to some, but books are so important to me. I love reading and trips are a great time to get in some good books. I usually remember what I read on a trip and associate them with my traveling. Picking the book up again reminds me of wherever I've been and memories come flooding back.

When I went to Italy with my friend Cassie I brought Dan Brown's Angels and Demons. I had been wanting to read a Dan Brown book for a while and this one turned out to be great. It was set in Rome and so as I traveled around the city I was able picture the book so much more vividly, because I was seeing what he was describing! Sometimes I like to bring challenging books with me that I wouldn't read otherwise and other times I bring fun books that are just enjoyable and make the time on the plane pass quickly. When I went to Milwaukee over Labor Day I brought Same Kind of Different as Me because I had heard great things about it, but couldn't make myself sit down and read it. Being on a plane with nothing else to do, I opened it up and couldn't put it down. It was incredible! On my spring break trip last year to England I brought Sophie Kinsella's Confessions of a Shopaholic and it was so much fun because it was set in London and I could identify with a lot of the references because I was there. I ended up buying the second and third book in the series on my trip because I couldn't get enough of them!

I usually bring two or three books to make sure that I never run out things to read - haha, I'm kind of embarrassed to admit this, but I think one of my biggest fears is facing a plane ride without adequate reading material.

So, in preparation for my trip to Taiwan, (which keep in mind is a 13 hour plane ride each way) I'm already thinking about what books I'm going to bring.

Here are some of my options -

Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
Love walked in by Marisa De Los Santos
The Gospel According to Lost by Chris Seay (my new Thomas Nelson book review book)
The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs
Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Sparkles by Louise Bagshawe
Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor

This is quite the compilation, I realize, but they are all books that I have bought or received recently and want to read. I'll let you know what I end up picking - probably a combination of fun/fluff and interesting/challenging. While you are laughing at me and thinking how crazy I am, ask yourself this question. Do you have any packing idiosyncrasies?

Mini Donut Cupcakes

Dear blog readers,

I have found that while the main purpose for starting this blog was to share my travel stories, I have a lot of other random things I like to talk about as well (as I'm sure you have noticed if you are a frequent reader). So, for those of you who want to hear all about my exotic adventures, stay tuned - there will be plenty more to come {for instance, in just one month and 2 days I'm heading to Taipei, Taiwan! More on that later}. So, anyway, thanks for humoring me and for being such a great reader and friend - here's a little treat for you. I found a new recipe that is so simple and so good. It's from a new cookbook I bought called "Quick Fixes from Mixes."

Mini Donut Cupcakes

1 box of yellow cake mix
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cake as the box directs and add nutmeg. Then, pour into mini muffin pans (that have been greased). Bake for about 14 minutes - you probably want to watch it because while it doesn't take as long to cook as cupcakes, it takes longer than you would think. Meanwhile, put the sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl. When the mini cupcakes are done, let them cool for a few minutes (important, otherwise they tend to crumble - this is the voice of experience talking) and then roll them in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. And tada - all done. It's delicious, I promise! And when I made them yesterday I was able to get 6 dozen out of the mix. Enough to share with lots of people. But beware - they are so good that you can't just eat one, or two ... :)

Enjoy! and Happy Tuesday!