New York, New York!

"Start spreading the news,
I'm leaving today.
I want to be a part of it,
New York, New York!"

Love ya, Frank.

Well, the secret is out. I'm moving to New York in January. I bought my one way ticket a couple days ago and I'm heading out. I won't be gone long though, I'm thinking about coming home to Bellingham in June. Sooo six monthsish? Not too bad. But I feel like everyone and their mother is wondering about what this plan is all about, so this will hopefully clear it all up.

As most of you know, I have had the privelage of nannying for a great family in New York. This is the same family I've traveled with, most recently this past June and July to Italy. I love them dearly, and they treat me like gold. They are so wonderful, and I really value my relationships with all of them. Over the past couple years, Jen and I have talked about me moving out to NY. They have offered me their home, and said I am welcome to stay with them as long as I want! This summer I started seriously thinking about it, and I spent the Italy trip in prayer. I feel very confident in my choice to move to New York, and I'm really excited about it! There is no other time in my life that I can just pick up and move, so I'm going for it!

Now, I am well aware that I am dating a handsome man who lives on the West coast, and I am also well aware that New York is quite far from the little town of Sheridan, OR where he resides.I also know that both he and I are less than millionaires, so traveling back and forth will be minimal. BUT, I know that we have something pretty darn special going on, and we're really confident that we'll be just fine. (Think Skype. Lots and lots of Skype.) He has been nothing but encouraging about the whole thing. Of course we're both totally bummed about spending so much time apart, but six months isn't that long in the grand scheme of things.

In New York, I plan on doing some babysitting on the side for friends of theirs, most of whom I have already met many times over the past few years. I may also apply at the Starbucks in their town. I'm going to have to take one more class over in Westchester, so I'll get that done winter quarter. Other than that, I'll just be taking it one day at a time.

I love them.

Me and Jenny Bug in Rome.

See? We love each other.

Baby sister.

(:

Anyways, I'm thrilled to bits to be heading out and chasing this little dream of mine. Prayers are welcomed and encouraged.

it's a good life.

This sucker hasn't been updated in awhile. I'm also pretty sure that 4 out of every 5 posts begins with that statement, or one like it.

Here are some pictures from the last little while:

OH! First off, let me explain a little something. My blog title, "Wait for the Rain," comes from one of my very favorite songs. It's called "Colorless" by Logan Martin. He opened for Shawn McDonald at a concert I was at 4 or 5 years ago, and I just fell in love with him. His voice is amazing. Powerful lyrics, rich harmonies, the lot. It's great.

So, I told Dustin about this Logan Martin fellow awhile ago, and all of the sudden, everything clicked! Logan Martin, too, lives in Salem! (I remember this from reading the insert in his CD.)

Long story short, Daniel, one of D's roommates, is pretty good friends with Logan. So the last time I was in Salem, we arranged to meet up with him! Woo hoo! (Boyfriend and Daniel = 2 points each.)

So fun! (And I got a cute new jacket at Nordy's.) :)

D came up for Valentine's Day weekend, and we had a really good time. We had dinner with Derrick and Kathy (and Eli) on Saturday night, and spent Valentines Day at church, out kayaking on the lake, and then had lunch with the Hills. Then he left at 5 PM and I spent the night sulking. Kidding, it wasn't that horrible, but I'm not so good with the good byes. This is a particularly dweeby picture of us- an insane amount of squinting and big, puffy, orange life jackets. But oh well. We're relatively cute most of the time.

There. That's a decent update. Now I've got to get my scrubs on and get ready for another round of clinicals.

Ore-Gone

White sand?? Yes please!

I have found the recipe for a great mini-vacation. It includes the following:

-Rock climbing

-A beach

-Flying a kite

-Climbing up to the top of a lighthouse

-Fresh fish and chips overlooking the harbor

-Car games

-oh... and laughing till you cry.

I went to Oregon for a few days to visit my friend Dustin. He recently moved to Salem, so the day after my finals were over, I went to go visit him! We had such a blast. We drove to Portland for rock climbing at this great bouldering gym called The Circuit. I'm embarrassed to say that my shoulders are still a little sore. What a blast though. Then the next day, we gassed up his car and drove to the Oregon Coast. We went to Newport beach. It was gorgeous, and much warmer than we anticipated it being. (Warmer = about 40 degrees.)

This is right next to the lighthouse, overlooking the ocean.

Possibly my favorite picture of all time- we went to the tide pools below the lighthouse.

Dustin looks like he's six.

Here's the lighthouse. It wasn't that fabulous of a view, to be honest, but the tour guides made up for it. (I had to keep myself from looking at Dustin because I knew if I did I would burst out in laughter.)

When we first pulled into the beach.

We had super yummy fish and chips overlooking the harbor, we climbed to the top of a working lighthouse, and attempted to fly a kite that we purchased. There was literally NO wind. I forced Dustin to try and fly it though, because I figured that we bought this stupid little octopus kite, and therefore we are going to at least try. You know? So Dustin just started sprinting around the beach yelling "Katy! It's working! It's working!" I was trying to take pictures but had tears streaming down my face from laughing.

Dustin and our octopus.

Down on the beach.

All in all, it was a super fun little vacation. Neither of us had been to the Oregon coast in years, so it was fun for both of us. And it was also nice to take a break and just have fun after weeks of sitting in that stinkin' Western library.

Raspberry Picking!

Tino and I went raspberry picking a week or so ago and had so much fun- the raspberries out at Boxx Berry Farms were gigantic. Like, huge. Seriously. We made a delicious cobbler and it was so good that we decided to go out picking with some friends and make it again.

We went with our buddies Chris and Linden. The berries weren't quite as big this time around, but still delicious and the cobbler didn't fail us.

We plan to become professional bakers by the end of the summer.
Chris and Tino shared a cabin at Royal Family and have become good friends.

Linden and Chris! So cute.

Jesus, Jesus, How I Love Thee

I love Jesus. Gosh.... Yes. I love him. Every Wednesday I go to a worship night at some friends' house. Anywhere between 15 and 35 of us head into the basement where mismatched carpets line the floor, tea lights flicker (to create ambiance, of course), and a single strand of blue Christmas lights stretch across the ceiling. It's perfect. What I love about it is that there aren't any frills. It's just a dark freezing cold room filled with passionate students ready to worship our creator. A couple friends play guitar and we have an overhead projector so we can all follow along. Are you picturing it? Tonight was a great night. It was a good worship set, which always help, and I could just feel the passion. We sang Amazing Grace, a different version than what most are used to, but I absolutely love it. It is such a powerful song, even though I've heard it about a million times before.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound.
That saved a wretch like me.
Once was lost but now I'm found,
Once was blind but now I see

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

So powerful. What a blessing it is to be able to serve a God who loves us- a God who wants to save us, and wants us to be free. Free from bondage. Free from slavery. Free from being silenced by fear or anything else.

How sweet it is to be in the presence of a God who is compassionate, strong, courageous, gentle, slow to anger, abounding in love.

Be blessed, my friends, and know that wherever you and whatever your story- there is a God who loves you with a love deeper and more unconditional than your mind can even fathom. As I once read, he loves us to the very core of our beings- and that is something I am dwelling on tonight.

Secret Beach & Foil Dinners

If any of you have ever been to Camp Firwood, you know what I'm talking about. Ahhh the glory of a foil dinner. Bell peppers, potatoes, onions, carrots, and, of course, lots and lots of sausage. Mmmm delicious. I remember being a camper and always wishing (and praying, I'm sure) that my cabin would win the barbeque sauce for our campout. Long story short, tonight we had bbq and it was absolutely fabulous. I made the trek down to Secret Beach with my good friends Dustin and Nat, and then three other friends who staffed at FW with D last summer. We had such a great time. This is me and Dustin down at Secret Beach, which is located off of Chuckanut past Larrabee State Park. This next picture had great potential, but our lovely friend Dustin wanted to join us.Can I just say that Nat added an awful lot of spice to this little trip. He is deathly afraid of heights, and not exactly what one would call "the outdoorsy type." I laughed so hard on the way down the mountain. It's steep. VERY steep. So Nat just looked down in absolute terror and he clawed his way down. For me, it was completely hilarious. Poor guy.



This is Keaton. Yes, he is a stud, and yes, he is holding a disgusting, rotten crab. Sick. He pitched this crab to Dustin and D hit it with his makeshift bat into the water. The poor crab broke into a million pieces.


Overall, the night was great. It was a nice night, no beautiful sunset, but no rain. We had the beach all to ourselves, and it was so good to enjoy the company of friends. The one downside? I smell like campfire. Boo.

Phew.

Gosh. It's been a long time since I've done this. I've started about 5 posts since I last published anything, but I never finished them for one reason or another. Well, I guess there's a lot to say! I passed all my classes last quarter, thank the Lord, and am nearing the end of another quarter. It went by quicky! Spanish is again proving to be difficult. I honestly had no idea there could be so many tenses for a language. English and my Social Psychology class are going well, and I've got a good grip on the content.


Here's something exciting- I'm going to Europe for a month this May and June! I'm moving out of the dorms for the Spring quarter and will be taking online classes. (Don't worry- I'm coming back to Western next Fall!) It just makes more sense because I will be in Europe during the academic year. I honestly can't wait! We (me and my good friend Matt) will be going to France, Italy, Switzerland, Ireland, England and Scotland. We've got lots and lots of plans! We are staying with Matt's friend in Scotland, my dad's family in England, and then with some of his cousins in Paris. We'll be staying in B&Bs and hostels for the remainder of the trip. Feel free to donate to the Europe-or-Bust fund! Only kidding. (Kind of...) :) I'll talk more about that later. For now, I'll just share some pictures with you from the last couple of months. Here is me and Missy at Boulevard. Missy is one of my very best friends and I'm sure you have all heard me talk about her at one point or another. We went to Arizona in November together and had a blast!

Me and three friends went up to Whistler and stayed in Carly's house for a long weekend. Here are a couple pictures from the trip.

L-O-V-E! Get it?
Max, Carly, Me, Noah




This is Noah, Carly, Max and me up on the ski lift at Whistler! We went for a long weekend and had sooooo much fun! The snow was crummy, but it was amazing weather. It was so great to relax with friends, hot chocolate and hot tubs.





That's all for now, I suppose. I'm off to bed. Spanish quiz in the morning and then a day full of Europe planning. (Rick Steves is my new best friend.) Blessings to you all!

Cheers,
Katy

Finals and Friends

This is my roommate Rachel and I at the CCF (Campus Christian Fellowship) Christmas party. She is from the Kent/Renton area and is such a great girl! We get along really well.

Today I had my first final for my spanish class. I woke up at 6:45 and walked into class an hour later with three sharpened pencils. :) I think it went well, but, as I told my mom this morning, I learned seven new tenses this quarter. So basically, its very possible that I mixed some of them up. Who knows. I wont know my grade for awhile.

I'm giving myself an hour long break before I start preparing for the long day ahead of me. I'm going to take a half hour nap and I figured I'd write a blog post in the meantime. I have my Chem final at 8 tomorrow and then my psych final at 3:30.

Enough with the finals, though. On Saturday night, I packed five of my friends into the back of Big Blue and we drove around town, stopping at some of my favorite places in Bellingham. We ended the night with spaghetti and fresh salad at my parents' house. Then we watched Elf and just relaxed for the night. We had a great day and it was so good to be able to fully relax for a full day.
The picture to the right shows all of us, from left to right, Mikaela, Carly, Me, Noah, Chris and Becca. They are great people and we had the best time hanging out together!

Time for my nap- I'm heading out!