The Battle of Blackpool,

  So, I never got around to my room, due o a lot of road bumps and some procrastination. Such is the life of the teenager. Now I'm sitting in front of my mother's laptop in a hotel room in Eugene, and it's time to do homework. However, there are a few things that I want to say first:

   I've recently discovered Utah Valley University, and have recently set my heart on attending said university to major in Movement Studies with an emphasis on Ballroom Dance. This isn't the challenge. The challenge lies in getting on their Ballroom Dance Team. Here's a video to show you what I'm getting into:

The pursuit of this goal is going to take up most, if not all, of my spare time and money. I'm hoping to compete for a scholarship, which includes having two routines. It gets more and more intimidating as I keep digging in, but hey, such is life.

-Kati

Today's the Day.

Today's the day that I finally finish cleaning and reorganizing my room. I'm not off to the best of starts, as I just came out of my brother's room from watching him play video games the first time about forty-five minutes ago, and have yet to even go into my room. But tomorrow I have to go to work after church, and will probably be too exhausted to do anything about it then, so I'm going to take the next six hours to get this little menace knocked out. 

As a seamstress, I've always struggled with an organization plan with all my sewing supplies and things of that sort, and up until now I've kept everything in terribly disorganized totes. This presented itself as a problem the first time that I was struck by inspiration to create a dress. I pretty much tore all of my totes apart looking for the right supplies, making my father furious, and giving my room the illusion of a detonated fabric bomb. 

To relieve future frustration, this past Tuesday I went and bought some plastic drawer sets with varying drawer sizes to accommodate all of my various bits of clutter. I only bought two, but I think another one might be necessary.

Once my room's finished, I'm going to resume my sewing project that Ive been trying to work on for the last week or so. I'm using the halter version of Simplicity 2212, which, on first pass, had a few sizing issues, but I'll be making some modifications to it to which I think might actually turn out better than the original pattern.

Regardless, the time has come to get to work. Before and after pictures on both to come.

-Kati

Preview - Dancing with the Stars: Latin Cardio Dance

Yesterday I learned that I got fourth place at the state level for an essay contest my English teacher made the class enter. Considering the fact that I didn't put a ton of effort into my submitted essay, and that I had completely forgotten about the contest, it was a cool little addition to the day. The prize for fourth place was a certificate, a letter from the governor, and a $10 Borders gift card. So, like any self-respecting female, today I went shopping.

We don't have a Borders store in Bend, so I had to go online. Yesterday I had seen some Dancing with the Stars workout DVD's, and looking at the various Youtube videos, it looked pretty basic. I also looked at Jullianne Hough's workout video, which I liked a little more, but unfortunately I couldn't fabricate 86 cents out of thin air past the $10 that I had, so I went with my second choice: Dancing with the Stars: Latin Cardio Dance!!

Even the cover looks exciting! Here's the sales description:

"A glamorous, very high-energy workout that includes four Latin dances and ends with straight-forward toning. You’ll burn fat and have fun as you learn the Merengue, Cha Cha, Samba and Mambo. It’s taught by the TV show’s star instructors — Cheryl Burke and Maksim Chmerkovsky (so you’ll see both male and female teaching styles). You’ll learn the base steps, then add some optional directional and movement variations (or you can stick with the base move to keep your heart rate elevated). Note: more “workout-focused” than the original video; it has more repetitions and smoother transitions. Not recommended for carpeted floors. ©2008. DVD has: Programmable chapters, Close captions"

I'm really hoping that this is everything I think it is. Show season for this year is over and so my teacher is substantially cutting our number of classes from four to one, and this seems like it might be a good alternative to class. I'm looking forward to keeping my skills up and getting a better workout than I would with a class that stops and gos. 

Of course, this isn't a total body workout, but that's why you supplement the DVD with other exercise, like you would in a normal exercise routine. Whether or not this will actually come into fruition has yet to be determined, but I'm going to give it a try. More to come once it actually arrives.

-Kati

Things That I Am: An Introduction

At this point, I would like to think that I'm either talking to myself or strangers, and potentially God, if he so chooses. I don't foresee any of my friends from school reading this. Rather, I don't foresee anyone I have come face-to-face with reading my little blog, and I'm alright with that.

Physically, I am a human being, Caucasian, female, 18 years old, brown eyes, brunette, five feet and five inches tall, 159.7 pounds, 38 inch bust, 30 inch waist, 40 inch hip. I am scarred. Scars from my life cover my body. I'm pretty, too. When I can find the time, I like to exercise, and that's something that I want to get back into again.

Socially, I am... Well, I'm just me. I can be socially awkward, and I often kill conversations, but that's alright. I'm still loved. I'm not a cynic, although from the tone of this initial post, you (whoever you are) probably wouldn't guess that. Normally, with the appropriate amounts of sleep, I'm a pretty upbeat person when I'm with other people, if not a little shy.

Spiritually, I'd like to say that God and I know each other, but we've been estranged for a little while. We're like to people on the street that pass each other with a little nod. Or rather, I pass God on the street, he stops and opens his arms in a hug, and I keep walking. I'm not an atheist, though. I don't refuse to see Him. I'm just mad at him for now. He's ready to move up and on with our relationship, but I'm still trying to get there. 

Romantically, I am single. I'm okay with that. I don't like it, but it's one of those  things where I'm too emotionally exhausted romantically to care at this point. I loved a boy with the full intensity that I could for my eighteen years, and he left me after seven months. We haven't spoken since. But I'm still a romantic. I still daydream about Prince Charming with his kind heart, love for children, music, ballroom dancing, ambition, and physical fitness.

Vocationally, I'm a housekeeper for a resort. I don't love my job, but the people there make it pretty cool, and the pay isn't bad. 

Avocationally, I'm a ballroom dancer first. Ballroom dancing is my passion, and I have an awesome teacher. I've been going to classes since February of last year. I also like to sew. I've been sewing since I was a Freshman in high school. Before I started dancing, I wanted to go to college to become a fashion designer. But now I want to go to UVU to become a ballroom dance teacher. 

Emotionally, I'm struggling. I'm trying my very hardest to beat depression. I'm also trying to overcome my compulsion to cut myself. I am a cutter. But I'm in therapy now, and the days seem to get better sometimes.

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I'm afraid to tell you that this blog won't have a constant mood to it. I am putting myself out there in the rawest possible way I can, and how I feel changes from day to day, often from hour to hour. But then, hopefully most people could relate to that.

Additionally, this isn't a straight-up journal. It's more of a compilation of a lot of things that I like, with some reviews for things like movies, sewing patterns, and workout DVDs. Maybe a few tutorials, I don't know. It's a work in progress. What I'm trying to say is that there's a mutual benefit to this little blog. You get some reviews and tips and things, and I get to vent when it's needed. We can be friends here, we can have some equity. There's a balance. Just stick around, okay?

-Kati