CountingTheStars

adios amigos!

2009-02-16T09:38:00.004-06:00

i'm leaving for Mexico tomorrow! :)

super excited.

yet kinda nervous.

flying scares me to death. watching Lost isn't a good thing either when you're about to fly...

but it shall be amazing. we're doing a worship ministry/construction crew thing down there.

Which means...bringing Ophelia. But i've been hearing some crazy things about bringing instruments down there... hmm. ha..

ALso...something i've noticed... we were practicing our songs yesterday for down there, and like there started to be division in our group and like all these little things started to bug me and i thought to myself SATAN IS A FREAK!!! he's the one whose trying to make us not united, trying to put all these little things in our way to make us stumble but NO WAY! we are not going to let him!! So we prayed and we prayed some more. And God is in control of everything. He has a plan, and a purpose for everything going on. (:

So peaceandlove girlscouts and i will have many a story when i come back.

live for Jesus.

adios!

paz.

-katie

lets all drive 55

2009-02-12T11:33:00.006-06:00

It was a tuesday evening... and i was going crazy from doing school... so i take a little break, and grab Ophelia [my guitar], and grab the camera... and IMPROV TUESDAY happened. I make up random songs on the spot. its quite fun! you should try it. you will laugh. laughing is good. it makes you smile. and smiling is good. OKAY. you all can watch me make a fool of myself if you want.. i laugh because its ridiculous. okay. peaceout girl scouts!!

Buster, now isn't the time for a snack!

2009-02-02T17:06:00.005-06:00

i am watching Arthur right now.

its clearly the most amazing show... besides Lost.

eat your wheaties!!

2009-02-02T15:29:00.001-06:00

this is the absolute best cereal ever:

listen.

2009-01-29T21:05:00.003-06:00

everyone has a story to tell they just need someone to listen.

lately Ephesians 5 has been on my heart and mind.

and living a life of love. following Christ's example.

so i've been trying to do so.

although a lot of people won't listen when you try to tell them about True Love because so many people are all talk these days and no action. i'm one of them. but i'm trying not to be.

i once heard it said "people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care"

and i have been realizing how true that is.
people want someone to listen to them, someone to care.

i was at the grocery store the other day, and i asked the tired-looking, non-smiling cashier how she was doing today, and she started to say some well rehearsed words and then stopped and looked at me with this confused/happy look and said she was doing good! and that no customer has ever asked her that before. So her and I had a lovely 3 minute talk. I wished her a lovely rest of the day, and walking away i notice her have a sparkle in her eye and a smile on her face.

i know thats just a little thing, and i probably won't see her again but just little things like that, i feel is a way to spread His love.

there's other ways i've been seeing it too. i know when i was going through highschool i always looked up to the seniors SO much. and a few weeks ago, i realized there's all these younger grade girls here, who i don't know if they look up to seniors like i did, but i don't want to chance it and ignore them, so i've been becoming friends with all these 7th grade girls. they looked lonely one day, so i started talking to them, and now every wednesday i see them. they talk. i listen.

listening to others lovely, but listening to someone who normally does the listening, is a beautiful thing.
(:

i failed.

2009-01-29T20:42:00.002-06:00

have you ever been reading God's Word and you see something and you're like "i need to apply this to my life!" so you write it out on a notecard, put it in your back pocket, so you can read it whenever you're at work or wherever you are and keep being reminded of it? And its going all good until that night ... you had to be somewhere you really didn't want to, and would rather be anywhere else but THERE [where you are], and you have so much to do, but you're at this place where you don't wanna be, and its a perfect oppertunity to apply whatever you're trying to apply to your life at the time, but you don't. you forgot about it. you were stuck in selfishness.
then you get home, and you hear a Voice say "hello love. whats in your pocket?" so you take it out and SMACK! you get hit in the face.
and you realize that you were just given an opportunity to apply this to your life. a "test" so to speak. and you realize that you failed it.

so it is.
i failed.

but
i find Grace. i find Love. He gives me more chances.
i am grateful.

2009-01-11T18:38:00.001-06:00

The still, quiet, winters... hushed by blankets and blankets of snow speak loudly of a reminder to be still before God. Breathe in. Breathe out. and see Beauty. Slow down and take time. Live every moment. See the little things in life that are Beautiful! Listen to peoples hearts! REST in God's Love

Today at work...

2008-11-20T16:30:00.002-06:00

I always have a lovely time at work...its like not even working, cause its such awesomeness. I have the two coolest Christian, generous bosses in the world!! And have some awesome co-workers! PLUS...its just like TONS O FUN to work at Big Apple Bagels.

Anyway... i get the early shift of work...meaning...waking up at 4:30 in the AM.

Yeah. SO we have this table everyday, reserved for the R.O.M.E.O.'s. (Retired Old Men Eating Out.) MMhmm...so basically they are all these old, funny guys that they all [except for 3] get the same thing everyday.

Today i got some weird/funny comments from them like.. "hey you beautiful hunk of woman.." and "hey honey! give me that honey oat bran!" and "hey ma'amo! the usual!" and then from this amazing lady, Tracy that comes in 2 times a day, "Hey cutie!" although she always says that...to everyone! haha! But yeah... that was work today. i laughed... alot. and then...JOELLE came in! great surprise. mmhmm.....

what a day!!

2008-11-17T15:06:00.002-06:00

So my sister and I played at the Xcel Energy Center in the prayer room/worship room.... we were slightly nervous, but it was amazing, and God was there. It was a great worship/prayer time!
We even got to wear these cool passes. ;) Talk to our awesome shoutlife people and my shoutlife mom! Drive around St.Paul with my sister and dad...
then a few hours later play at a coffee shop with my friends and sister. which was fantastic! i mean i'm sure i wasn't very good, but it was super jolly, and like so many of my friends came! even my two bosses from work came! haha...it was lovely.
but the next morning for church when i was playing guitar...my fingers wanted to die. they were so sore. haha!
i'll have photos up soon.
(:
peaceandlove

Saturday November 15th.

2008-11-14T22:10:00.003-06:00

...is tomorrow.

and lets me honest. i'm quite nervous for it to come.

Starting at 9am...my sister and I have to be at the Xcel Energy Center...to lead worship.

Um...yeah. that place is JUMBO.

what in the world!? two girls with two acoustic guitars? hmm...yes... this will be interesting. I just pray that people will not care about us, but just be able to worship God with all their heart! even if we do mess up...or anything like so. haha!

after we sing for TWO HOURS...we head home. maybe sleep [since i haven't gotten to sleep much at all because of work, and having to wake up at 4am, and getting to sleep at like 11pm. mm...yeah. i need some sleep]

THEN head off to a coffee shop to sing and play guitar more with my friend.

To make matters more lovely, its now past 10pm, my sister and i only practiced a few songs that we're going to play tomorrow... so we really have like no idea what we're doing...

um...yeah.. lovely.

haha...we'll see how this goes.

Saturday...even though i'm nervous for you, i'm ready for you!

peace!

"Music is from God and for God"

2008-11-08T23:45:00.003-06:00

[a quote there by Michael Watson...lead singer from Above The Golden State..]

I went to this fantastic concert last night with Above The Golden State and Starfield. My first time seeing them both live in concert.Lets just be honest...i'm a huge huge fan of Above The Golden State...and last night it was just Michael doing his stuff acoustic..with no band.

I got to talk to him before the show which was so very cool because he is such a nice guy, and we talked about Bon Iver and musical influences...and i asked him if he was going to play his song "Scared" and he said he wasn't, but he would for me. :) haha!

So yeah...his songs, and his lyrics...are incredible. And Michael from ATGS has such a heart for God, and he was saying that he hopes and prays that his music will just make you focus on God and worship Him, he said thats why he writes his songs, and he doesn't care if you buy the album or burn a copy of your friends...he was just saying that he hopes that his music will make you connect with God more. :)

It was fantastic.

And like lately, i've been downtown with my sister, riding the buses and just seeing the people..i've been thinking how can i show them God's love? i wonder what their story is... i mean...just random people that I probably won't see again... and Above The Golden State has this one song called "Streets" and the first part of the song goes

"When shadows turn to faces, when faces take on names, when names tell us their stories, their brokenness and pain..."

"Love is real. love will bleed. love will heal. love will lead."

Michael was also talking about how he bought a new pair of shoes, so he decided to auction off his old pair and use the money he got to give to this Hands of Hope back in Oregon where hes from, and they help out people in Africa. He ended up getting $111 for them.

I mean...just simple things like that...and it got me thinking...how much stuff, and shoes and clothes do i have that i don't even use or NEED.

And his music...just inspires you.

I suggest checking out their stuff. (:

www.myspace.com/abovethegoldenstate

Starfield was amazing as well, and just a wonderful night of worship

...and as everyone was singing this one verse to one of their songs..i forget which song... it said something about we are His chosen people......i just heard God speak to me and say "You are my desire!" and wow. We are God's desire. The Creator of the universe DESIRES us. You. me. I'm so often blown away by His love. Its truly incredible. But yet, i feel like when God says "you are My desire!!" He also asks us "am I yours? am I your Desire?"

After the concert, i was walking by Michael and he was like "Katie, right?" haha..it was cool. then we talked for like 15 minutes about song writting and i thanked him for playing Scared and talked about Jon Foreman and what not...it was jolly. So if you have never heard of Above The Golden State...DO check them out.

www.myspace.com/abovethegoldenstate (:

we had a lovely drive home too. (:

peaceandlove to you my people. live to serve. bring glory to the King.

Recording Studio, Rain, Buses, Flannel...

2008-11-06T22:28:00.003-06:00

So today was very jolly!

I first took a midterm exam [not really the jolly part]

then headed down to the U of M where I met my sister, and she recorded me playing and singing some of my songs. It was so much fun! (:

Clearly this is not me, and this was not the studio... but it was kinda like it.

It rained today, but i got to see my lovely friend Joelle at her college. (:

Took the bus back to lizzy's house, made dinner, did some "stalking" ;), went to karate, stopped at a gas station and got free fruit.

oh...and I wore flannel today. ;)

So i get to get up in 6 hours for work. woot woot! peaceandlove.

And can i leave you with a quote? yes yes..i think i shall...

"always love. hate will get you everytime" - nada surf

today i realized...

2008-11-03T10:05:00.001-06:00

...that sometimes its good to just cry.

oh the years!

2008-10-30T13:03:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday to my brother Michael and my sister Elizabeth!!! 21 years old!! (: Oh how the years do go by.

They are both amazing!

sing to the chickens...

2008-10-30T12:46:00.004-05:00

We have these chickens.... like 35 of them ... and we always give them scraps of food right?
Anyway...i have discovered something amazing about our chickens... let me tell you about what i do everyday.

I start at the top of this hill and I see all the chickens below just walking around like chickens do, and i open my mouth and i start to sing and right when they hear my voice, they stop pecking at the ground, look up at me and start running towards me.

I start throwing them some of the food, and they all follow behind me, [still singing of course] and its like this jolly little parade. I slightly feel like Snow White.

They also love our horses...

Then i'll collect the eggs and all will be happy.

I'm sailing on a ship thats bound for life...

2008-10-17T12:31:00.008-05:00

On Sunday October 5th...I finally went to a Phil Wickham concert/worship.
My sister and I were WAY excited. [notice are HUGE smiles and excited faces]
And lets just be honest...it was one of THE most amazing worship experiences i have ever had!

Plus...Phil has a voice like an angel...as Jake Smith says.

The first show we went to was free [yay], and was at this church, and it was just him and candles, and ah..it was incredible.

of course...we had to take the classic bathroom pictures.. ;)

Awesome set up...like 90 candles and just acoustic guitars.. (:

Phil Wickham. :)

Incredible worship leader. (:

Friends. :)
Sister Sister!

Friends. :)

The set up at Northwestern College where Shawn McDonald was headlining.

Doesn't it look like birch bark? Yeah! it was sweet!

Siblings! (:
Friends!
Jake Smith! ha...he's so funny!

Phil Wickham talking about how INCREDIBLE our God is! (:

:)
Shawn McDonald! His stuff was fantastic! My favourite quote from him that night..

"His heart is beating for you"

Us with Jake Smith.
Us with Phil Wickham.

we wanted to do a not normal photo, so we're like "what should we do?" and phil was like "Hmm...how about we pretend to laugh...having a good time! " (:

So we did. and it was fantastic! I just wish we could have talked to Phil more. He's such a cool guy!

And if you haven't heard of Phil Wickham before...go and check out his music. Its incredible.

http://www.philwickham.com/

www.myspace.com/philwickham

Oh Oh...

2008-10-17T11:49:00.014-05:00

We Need Each Other [tour].

Friday September 26th was a lovely day. (:

Get to Club3 early…first in line.

Get right up front.

Look..its Pete's bus... [Prevost]. ha!

In front line. (:

Lightswitch opens, and are amazing...like always. (:

Then Vota shows us how to dance. ha!

Tenth Avenue North connects our hearts to worship the King!

The carpet. (:

Sammy A. inspires us all!

Join my Mocha Club team!
http://mochaclub.org/joinme/KatieAnn

Then...Sanctus Real takes the stage and rocks our faces OFF. mmhmm...thats about how it went. yup.

Tom's shoes. (:

(:

I got to talk with the bands like good ol' times. (: Mr. Mark

Pete!
Its Chris!!

Matt Hammitt!

Mr. Dan!

I miss them all now. they are all so very nice and jolly. (:Ha...my smile is so...weird in this photo.

Those Lightswitch boys are great! haha! (:

Out of no where, Moy jumps across the tables and into the photo. haha!

Rachel and I...this is how we look after an amazing concert. haha!

My brother and I look dead... I was up for 22 hours at that point in this photo...but it was so worth it. Amazing concert!

Overall...amazing evening....

and one thing that is realized is, at the end of the day, when its all said and done…

...we need each other.

i love fall!

2008-10-01T11:18:00.000-05:00

I realized today, how much I love fall.
Everytime fall starts coming, I am missing summer so much that I forget how lovely fall really is.
some amazing things about fall are:
-mugs. drinking out of them is the best
-sweatshirts, warm and cozy

-you can wear a scarf! they are so nifty!
-bonefires with friends
-the SMELL of fall. AHhh.. (:
-apples RIGHT from your tree
-the weather…its PERFECT for a roadtrip, or just driving and listening to music…getting lost on country roads.
-soups
-hanging out in coffee shops
-the BEAUTIFUL colours of trees
-apple pies
-apple cider
-apple everything!
and just everything in all about fall is absolutely lovely!! (:
So go out and enjoy this GORGEOUS beautiful Fall day. There’s sunshine here. Its incredible.
And thank God, who created this wonderful day!!
peaceandlove

Summertimejoy Memories...

2008-08-14T15:46:00.000-05:00

There's nothing like summer than taking feet pictures!
In Stillwater for the day! :)

After a quiz practice, pulling out random clothes from my car's trunk that we were going to give to the thrifstore.
a day with some of my best friends!
my lovely friends!
My brother and I in iowa for a tang soo do tournament.
Districts!!!

nerds? yes.

Worldview Academy 08!
Roadtrip down to Florida!
Canoe Adventure!

On the way home from a bike ride with my friend!

My "sister"

Its true. We need each other.

My Bible study group!
Canoeing down the river with my friend and sister!
My sister and I in Florida!

Rebels in TN!

The WVA theme this year.
Fully Alive! in fl.
JOY!
Sunsets in Florida.
hehehe..i'm a nerd.

Summer oh eight...you are wonderful. i love you and never want you to leave.

Hosea 6...

2008-08-09T22:16:00.000-05:00

So today i read:

"Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him..." Hosea 6:3.

i like to replace the "acknowledge" with "know"....so then it would be like...

"Let us know the Lord; let us press on to know him..." Hosea 6:3.

When i read this in my quiet time today it was so cool, cuz i was listening to my ipod too..and i was listening to this one phil wickham song called "mystery" and its all about wanting to know God and everything, and thats like what the verse is saying...lets go after Him with everything we are. Just want our heart to beat more and more likes His, wanting whatever it is that breaks Him to break our hearts you know? wanting to be more like Christ...then i skipped a section and in chapter seven started reading this "their hearts are like an oven, their passion goes all night, in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire..." and i was like you know, what if my heart was like that for God? super on fire for Him...ya know?? I want that!!! I want to be so on fire for God!!!

[it wasn't until after i thought that, that i re-read that section and found out that that verse was totally saying somethigng else...kinda bad actually...but its the thought that counts...about using what they were saying as bad, and saying how if we were to have our hearts like that for God...how amazing would that be? Thats what I want!!! To be like that!!!]

So yes...my little verse of the day. haha! :)

would you?

2008-08-09T22:02:00.000-05:00

so here i am, laying outside underneath the stars and 1/2 moon after my mile jog in the cool night with my brother...and i was just looking at how beautiful everything is, and this passage in Isaiah that i read this morning came to mind "Holy holy holy is the Lord Almighty. The whole earth is filled with His glory"...

then i got to thinking about the passage and how Isaiah saw the Lord and how God wanted something to be done and Isaiah says "Here am i. send me.." and i was thinking like how cool it would be if God just flat out told me what He wants me to do with my life and right now... but then i was like...hmm....would i REALLY do it? I mean...if God told me to do something i always think "yeah, i'd do it!"..but what if He wanted me to do something totally unthinkable.....what if He wanted you to? would you do it?

"Here am I. Send me."

blogspot? wordpress? blogs?!?

2008-06-03T16:04:00.000-05:00

So...i guess i now have a blogspot. I have a wordpress and i was looking at my friends blog on blogspot, and i went to leave a comment and BAM! I guess I now have a blogspot. haha!
I might not be posting here as much as i do at wordpress, but i'll try. have a wonderous day everyone. peaceandlove.

♥ always
always ♥

-katie