getting closer

My beautiful sister at 31 weeks.

You will be here so soon, baby. Your Aunt Kate loves you already. In fact, I have already bought you the most adorable polo shirt, with tiny overalls to go over it. I'm currently resisting the urge to buy you every tiny cowboy shirt in sight, but don't worry...I won't be able to resist for long. You'll be the cutest man in a western shirt I've ever seen.

Oh, your dad has requested that I not teach you how to burp like me, but he never has to know. There are some things that I just have to pass along. See you soon, baby.

proof!

Ever since I was a kid, my cure for the hiccups has been to drink water through a paper towel. My sister and I were taught this by some old friends of ours. It has always worked for me, and for most people who try it. Still, I've gotten a fair share of crazy looks and "whatever Katie, that's ridiculous" comments from those in disbelief. Well, I'm happy to say that this morning I stumbled upon proof for my cure. I was doing some aimless "I'm bored at work, and still not really awake" perusing of the internet, and came upon this article. Check out the section under hiccups, and see that it states "drinking through a washcloth" is a remedy. Honestly, I was a bit surprised to find it in print. I figured it was just some wierd deal that the people who taught us had figured out on their own. Guess not!

So, if you've ever given me that look when I tell you to drink through a paper towel, here's proof! I told you!

happy, for this moment in time

it's raining.

it's 12:22am.

there aren't very many things better than falling asleep to the sound of rain.

Chi-Town

At Passion in January, Beth Moore announced that she would be holding a women's conference in Chicago with Christy Nockels (of Watermark ). Because Laura and I developed an obsession with Christy Nockels during Passion (see: the night at the Ryman that changed my life ), we made our minds up then and there that the weekend of March 10-12, we would be in Chicago. So we loaded up last Friday morning, and headed to Chicago. The conference was short, but still amazing. The lessons taught by both Christy and Beth were very relevant to me at this time in my life. I felt very blessed for being there and hearing what they had to say. Plus, worship led by Christy is enough to move anyone, I don't care who you are. She has a powerful gift of worship.

Laura and I were bound and determined to meet Christy and let her know how much she impacted us in January at Passion. So, Saturday after the conference ended we found her and were able to thank her for her ministry. She was very sweet and let us take a picture with her (see slideshow below). Laura and I were pretty pumped about the whole experience. My favorite part was as we were saying goodbye to Christy, Laura said "Is your hair naturally curly?" Laura--you can always make me laugh.

We also did some sightseeing around Chicago with my friend Collin who goes to school there. He was a great tour guide, showing us around the city and sharing interesting facts he's learned during his time there. We were able to see Wrigley Field, have smoothies and cookies at Potbelly, go to the top of the Hancock Building, see our reflections in "The Bean" in Millineum Park, eat excellent Thai food at Star Siam, visit Collin's church , and so much more. We had a great time. And honestly, getting caught in the land of a million tornadoes on the way home was fun as well.

Check out the pictures below to see our adventures. And, if you're looking for a good album to buy, check out Watermark's farewall record "A Grateful People". A-Mazing.

"My kind of town, Chicago is
My kind of razzmatazz
And it has, all that jazz"
--Frank Sinatra, My Kind of Town

lappy

So, guess where I'm currently blogginatin' from?

Anyone?

That's right, my brand spankin' new iBook!! I've officially converted to the world of Mac. Ahhh... It feels good.

My new toy arrived three weeks early. Ya gotta love the promptness.

That's all for now, just wanted to share the news.

(Chicago post and pics coming soon!)

Boonville

Back Story: I went to Chicago over the weekend with Laura and her sister Amy for a Beth Moore Conference. More on that (and pictures!) later...

Sunday, we were continuing our road trip back to Lawrence, enjoying the nice weather and Coke with Lime from Quik Trip in St. Louis. We are driving through Boonville, MO reminiscing about some fun times we had there on the way back from Passion, when traffic on I-70 was suddenly taken down to one lane. We figure there is an accident, so we role down the windows and crank up the music while I keep the car at a steady 3 mph. There was some lightening in the distance, but I didn't think much of it. As we take the CD out of the player the radio comes on, and the announcer is discussing tornadoes that are touching down in our area. Oh..... We realize we are completely surrounded by very severe storms that are carrying with them tornadoes and baseball size hail. Just the kind of thing you want to be on I-70 for, right?

A few minutes down the road, they completely shut down I-70, exitting us all off the highway because of an overturned semi. So, we join about 35 other people at a small Conoco just off the exit ramp. Everyone is trying to figure out what's going on, and everyone has a different story. We find out from people back home that storms are completely surrounding us, basically travelling down I-70. Great. We meet some people headed back to Lawrence and Kansas City, and try to figure out what to do next. We find out from the highway patrol that it's not at all safe to travel west. They say the best bet is to head back east to Boonville. So, we meet up with our new found friends at the Holiday Inn and camp out around the TV in the lobby. The sirens were going off, kids were crying, and the hotel staff was getting extremely irritated. Craziness. After re-opening I-70, they shut it AGAIN, because of damage from a tornado. After a few more storms developed and passed through I-70, they once again re-opened the road. By then, all the others headed to the Lawrence area had decided to stay in Boonville. Amy, Laura, myself, and our new friend Ryan decided to head home around 1 am. The damage on I-70 was apparent, with many flipped over semi's, signs completely bent over backwards, or uprooted from the ground.

I made it home around 3 am, to a pitch black and freezing house without power. It had been out since Sunday morning at 8, and we didn't get it back until today at 1 pm. I was surprised to see just how much damage Lawrence had received. Every street you're on something has been ripped up, glass broken, or tree limbs down.

Anyhoo, I'm glad to be home safe. Chicago was good times, and I will post about that soon.