halloween

basically the only reason i blog is because i have cute new pictures. so here they go.

halloween is the best.

blog world, meet winston.

my new dog.

i love him, and you will too.

(he only has to wear the cone for a little while)

ooh baby BABY!

whoa. let me just say. quite a few things have happened since my last blog.

witnessed child birth (july 10th).

hello beautiful perfection.

i didn't know i could love something so much that i'd only known really for 2 weeks.

i mean, i'm obsessed with this kid. seeing her grown in lakresha's stomach, watching her be born, seeing how much she's grown in the week i've been gone, all of these things are amazing.

watching such intense growth, it's quite remarkable.

i just love her so much. i want to be with her every day. i want to show her how much i love her. i want her to really feel how much her heavenly FATHER loves her, even if her earthly father is a punk. i don't want her to ever feel sad about that. even though i know she will.

i saw her today after being gone for 8 days. i was so excited, it was like i'd been gone for a month. she is precious to me. and to the lord. i just so strongly desire for her to know that.

i was at kamp the last week and watched a couple that had an 11 month old baby. i watched how that precious little girl loved her earthly father. he obviously means so much to her. my baby girl doesn't have that. it made me sad. i just pray that she would not feel such a void. that she would feel a physical love from her Father in heaven. oh baby khynaria, i love you.

i went to my first African wedding (July 19)

HELLO AMAZING.

one of my favorite African things I've attended. it was so precious to see the community come together. and the outfits were fun. and singing and dancing. plus precious children, all whom i love dearly. jeanine (perfect young lady, i talk about her a lot),

her dad got married.

also his dad.

i mean, i want you to be my child. son of the groom. beautifullllll

here comes the kicker. happy 22 to me, happy one year papa.

this has been the longest year of my entire life. the most trying and awful year i've ever experienced. i tried to ignore my birthday, it doesn't bring such great memories anymore. i don't feel like i dealt with it this year, but i think that's okay, sometimes it just hurts too much. i didnt talk to anyone about it except for my mom, but i knew what that day was. when i realize that it's been a whole year, it still makes me want to vomit. i think that will pass in time, i just can't believe it's been a year. a year is a long time. i have never been so broken and so fallen apart. i've been humbled and had the wind knocked out of me countless times.

but ya know what, i made it. i made it a year without him. i never would have thought i could do it. i have never missed anyone so much, i have never longed for a conversation so much, but the Lord has given me a strength i could not have envisioned for myself. but i still just miss him, so much. as much as i hate that i've lived a whole year of my life without him, now i feel like i can move on. i feel freed by it. which i guess is a good thing.

July 31 (in 4 days), 504 is falling apart. minus me and soph. as much i love them (we did our champagne toast tonight), i feel like i cannot move on while living in this house. i have too many memories. i think a new environment will allow for more growth, at least i hope anyways. but hey, now i can move on with my life.

here's to a new season of life, and to FINALLY letting go and moving on.

trust.

well blog, it's been a while.

i haven't really had much to say. i've been up to quite a lot.

-i've taken a summer school class. given it a very lousy effort. but hey, C's get degrees, and i'm a super senior, what do they expect?? it ends thursday. i haven't gone since last thursday. oopsie!!

-i've lost the ability to stay up late. i get so tired. i am happier when i go to bed earlier. which doesn't really work with my summer schedule.

-hence, i am no longer a barista. peace out dunn brothers, hello unemployment (i gladly welcome you.)

-summer is almost half way over, whoa.

only 4 weeks left in 504.

504 for life.

-then come july 31, me and soph move in with this hottie.

she's the best.

-i'm about to become a god mother (the one in the middle is being induced wednesday morning)

i cannot even tell you how much i love that unborn baby girl. i feel so blessed to be in her life and cannot wait to FINALLY meet her.

-i'm in the process of raising $24,000 for the year of 2010 and years beyond. so i can do things like this, all the day long. i could not be more excited.

and so i can love on precious little girls like these

the lord is teaching me how to really trust him with things, and it's kind of exciting. it's kind of a new thing. trusting God in all areas of my life (finances. whoa. who woulda thunk). it's a learning process. i have felt so incredibly blessed by the people in my life that are supporting me, it humbles me and and making me really understand what it feels like to be blessed by the Lord. (i've always thought that sounded so cliche, but now i understand what it is like)

life is looking sunny.

-mary katherine.

I WANT A CAKE

let me just preface this story: jeanine loves to call me on the phone. she thinks it hilarious.


(jeanine=child on the right.)

so she has my phone number memorized. she loves calling me. i love it when she calls me, it is the highlight of my day. literally. its hilarious.

so most of the time i answer. tonight i couldn't because i was at young life. so it went to voicemail. jeanine gets confused by voicemail. i often get 2 minute long voice mails of nothing but african chatter.

sometimes, when all the african kids get together, they give me a little prank call. or if jeanine is on the phone with me, one of them will usually grab it and start chatting.

apparently tonight. john had something in mind. (keep in mind this goes for 41 seconds). picture it in little precious african accents.


jeanine:


hello?

hello?(african rambling)

OOHGA

yadeezma

HEY
HEY
AYE
ahhhhhh


john:


MARY KATE
i want a cake my name is john
i want a cake and a hamburger (he told me his name was hamburger once, so i keep calling him hamburger)
(blah blah blah. its all an african blur)
I WANT A COOKIE CAKE

click.

i very much wish i could put it up on my blog. because it is the most precious and hilarious thing you've ever heard.

let me just say this: i love my life. these children add so much joy and laughter.

early this morning: "yeah, mary kate. this is andy from dunn brothers. you were supposed to be in at 5:30 (am), and it's 8:15"

crap. this is just the story of my life. let me just tell you what my life is like right now:



okay, just picture yourself driving on the highway, (I-70 to KC preferable. this is where this analogy came to me) in the rain, behind/next to a semi. you are trying to pass it, but the rain just keeps getting worse. you know you'll be past it soon, but as you get closer the rain just gets worse and worse. it's probably not totally safe to be this close to a semi, but you do it anyways. if somebody was in the car with you, they would probably become nervous. all of this to be said, you know you will get around it and the rain will subside, but in the mean time, it's pretty nerve-wracking. you could pretty easily fall off the road or smash into the semi. you have to pass the semi though. you have to or else you will never get where you are going. but you think it will be okay.

i hope that you all know the situation i am referring to (hopefully im not just a bad driver)
once you pass the semi, the most overwhelming sense of safety overcomes you. but until that moment, its probably a little dangerous.

this situation is how i would sum up my life right now. its raining. there are little moments of clear, while passing a semi, but then i come up to another semi. over all, its a rough drive. i know that it will end, i just have to endure it. anybody that really knew what it was like in the passenger seat be a little nervous, but i think i'll be ok. (good thing i'm single. HA!)

so. all this being said: if im a little down, just wait until may 11th. my drive will be much clearer. then wait until december 18th. then my drive will be home free. i will have arrived!!!


HORRAY! there is hope. i know they said that you shouldn't wish your life away, but i just don't believe them. (this might not seem like it, but it was meant to be a more hopeful post.)

-mary kate katherine.