Today I decided to build a home—MY home!!! This is for real. I'm serious.:) Up until this point I haven't ever seen myself staying anywhere long enough to buy a home, and I haven't felt like I should buy a home. But I was inspired today by an email Sandra sent me. She's a lady I work with. I'm the editor for a book called Put Your Life on a Diet, and she sent me an email about a home for sale in Toronto that tied right in with the book. The author lives in a home that is 7 x 10 feet. Living in such small quarters doesn't appeal to me, but the little house you see here does appeal to me! Isn't it cute? I don't like that the house is so long (it was built in a driveway) and I think i would get claustrophobic without windows along the walls lengthwise, but I do love the idea of living in a small home.
I debated making the move to Toronto but decided that I don't want people to think I'm Canadian. I'd have to get a Canadian driver's license. I will just build my own home in the USA.






Of course, I have a long ways to go since I have no clue where I'd want to build it, how much land would cost, how much it'd cost to build the house, what I want my house to look like, and how long it would take to build. It's so exciting though!

Check out my Slide Show!

In Honor of Emma on Christmas Day (because she's so cute!)

This tag was from Megan—the same one came from Alycia. Thanks friends.:) Hope you all learn a whole lot of cool stuff about me from this.

The rules:
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. I absolutely love to plan parties and get together with my friends, but I think just as much as being a party girl, I love to do my own thing. If I don't get Katie time I feel off balance, like I'm just running from one thing to the next without time to get my life together.

2. Singing, talking to babies (esp.), and sometimes talking to people makes my eyes water. I’ve been like that since I was little. It’s sometimes annoying because it keeps me from talking to babies if there are lots of people around, but I guess it’s my spirit talking to their spirit and it’s emotional whether I realize it or not.

3. The following items give me varying degrees of fear: diving, riding horses, cooking anything that requires yeast, being misunderstood, being in an awkward kissing situation with someone I don’t want to kiss, roller skating, leading music, and dropping from heights.

4. I want to do everything and see everything. I don’t get bored with what I'm doing, so it's hard for me to understand it when I hear people say they’re bored. There are just too many things I want to/need to do! Life’s too short, and there are never enough hours in the day!:)

5. Homemade cookies are my absolute favorite dessert. I could eat them till I’m sick, and I LOVE drinking milk with them. Yum!!

6. Before I die, I am going to visit all of the main ruins in Central America, including Machu Picchu in Peru. For Christmas my mom gave me a calendar of ruins, so every day I get to look at El Tajin in Mexico, Tikal in Gautemala, and Copán in Honduras! I can't wait to see these places in real life!

I don't know who's already been tagged with this, but I'm going to say Emily Smith, Marci, Polly, Chels, Dee, and Jacq.

Joy to the World

Did you know that if you go caroling to someone's home—someone who is over the age of 65—the chances they will invite you in for a "treat" are pretty much 99.9%? Tonight we went caroling for part of our Relief Society Christmas Party, and we seriously had a blast! We parked and walked around a neighborhood with a map of the elderly people we knew would love to hear our singing. We did a good job of entertaining ourselves in between houses, too: slipping and falling on ice, talking about how we should invent caroling karaoke, laughing when we caught people in their under-roos, singing to a blind man and not realizing it until Nicole had been holding his card out to him for a good 30 seconds, and imitating the cute Danish woman's voice when she invited us in for a cookie and then wished us the best in finding the right man.
One man was in a wheelchair, and his wife and he invited us in to sing some more songs inside their home. It was so amazing to see how happy we made them—just a few minutes of our time changed their entire dispositions. One woman helped her husband to the door, and then he started mumbling along to the Christmas carols. When we finished she said, "You just made him happy for the rest of the week. Now he'll be singing all night.":)

Take time to make not only your Christmas memorable but others' as well. Watch out for those who may get overlooked. You can make a difference in their lives. Merry Christmas!!!

Ice is Nice, But Ice on the Road is Twice as Nice

Tonight the roads were completely covered with a layer of ice. As soon as I pulled out of my work parking lot and came to the stop sign a block away, my wheels were spinning! It was scary, but no cars were on the road so I just went through the stop sign. Then I passed three cars all crunched together in one of the Dan's Grocery Store parking lot driveways with a police car already on the scene. Going up the steep hill where my parents live was also very slippery. I knew it wasn't just me being paranoid when I saw a little triangular warning light come on my dashboard with a picture of a car and swirvy lines under the tires! I was very impressed with my Saab.:) Then I pushed on my little WEATHER button, which is like traction control to put motion in tires the front right and the back left (or something like that).

My motto has always been "Safety First," so I called off our Relief Society visits (which we usually do on Thursdays). I was really sad because we were all set to visit a lot of girls and take them cookies and invite them to our Relief Society Christmas Party on Tuesday night. But now, since I'm actually home (which is SO nice), I can update my blog. This entry is definitely action packed (as you can already see for yourself), so now you see what you've been missing out on the past couple of weeks. The only times I really update my blog are when I have pictures of Emma . . . or go on interesting dates. Lately I've actually felt paranoid about posting my date stories in case the boys mentioned in my date stories read my blog. So let's just say, I have at least two really good date stories that will make you gasp or just laugh really hard or say, "No way. No way!" So call me for the scoop. To give you a little sneak peak, one of the stories has to do with the guy rubbing ice on his lips during dinner.:) Yes, I am not lying.

I leave Saturday morning at 4 a.m. for Long Beach!! Lauren Buchanan is getting married on Sunday, so it should be a lot of fun to see high school friends and other very important people in my life.:) I can't wait to see the ocean. Ahhhh . . . I can smell it now! I have a work Christmas party tomorrow night, which is why I'm not flying out until Saturday, and then I will be back on Monday around midnight. My goal is to not get sick while I'm gone. Mom keeps making me promise her that I won't stay up late every night. That inevitably gets me sick. She keeps saying, "Remember, you can talk to Karina any time. You don't have to do it at 2 in the morning." But at 2 in the morning conversations are just starting to get good.:)

By the way, I had to share my favorite picture of Emma (so far), which is why it's part of this blog. An entry just wouldn't be the same without cute little Emma's face being part of it!:)

Celebs I Look Like!

Everyone loves those cheeks!

Emma is so squishable, especially in the facial area. I like her a lot. I like her so much I even bought her a silver cape with a fuzzy white collar so that she can come play dress-up with Aunt Katie when she's older. I'm planning ahead.:)




This is Kevin, my cousin who just got back from a mission in Chihuahua, Mexico. I ate dinner with his family last night before our monthly Family Night on my dad's side of the family, and It was so fun to speak to him in Spanish. The coolest thing is that his last mission president (Presidente Flores) was one of my supervisors when I was in Mexico teaching employment workshops!!! Hno. Flores was so cool and drove a little VW Bug and called Kizzy Kissy. We called him Papito. I can't wait to tell him that Kevin and I are cousins!

And these are my super-cute new shoes! I had to show them off. I was so excited when I found them and their aerosoles, so they're semi-comfy.

Laughing Joshua

Dee's little baby boy is growing up! He's such a cutie and smiles so easily. I got to hang out with Dee, Jon (her husband), and Joshua a little bit yesterday, and it's fun to watch Dee be a mommy. For all of you who don't know Dee, she was my mission companion, roommate in Alta Apt. in Provo, camping buddy, travel partner, and teaching partner in Mexico City.

Creepy People