Coloring on the Lines

I figured I might as well just post something, since I'm in a writing mood.

I am officially starting my fourth week home in California, and have finally gotten used to calling this house 'Home', and Rexburg, 'School'. Separation of Church and State? Easy. Separation of Home and School? Not so much. What do I have to show for all my time here? Well, I've lost more weight (yay me!), I've filled out more applications than I care to consider, I've spent good time with friends and family, I've accepted a calling at church, and I've slept a lot.

Let's see, starting at the beginning. You've heard of the Freshman Fifteen, and the rumors of it actually being the Freshman Forty? Well, I conquered it. Yup, I'm down fifteen pounds from last fall! I have to admit though, not all of it is my fault. My inability to eat much of anything without getting sick for the first two months of school definitely took it's toll. After my surgery (of which, you can read my before and after blog posts) I was finally able to eat real food again. This included the yummy and healthy things, like raw veggies and whole grains that had always made me so sick before! But, because of the way my digestive system works now, I don't feel the need to eat as much. In short, I am happier and healthier than I've been in a long time, and I love it!

Next, applications. I think I've applied to every fast food restaurant within a 15 mile radius, all of the hardware stores, the drugstores, WinCo, Walmart, Costco, Sam's Club and so many others, it's crazy. I come up with two major problems though. First, I worked for two years in dentistry. Sure it's two years of job experience, but how in the world will my knowledge of the human mouth help me get a job cooking food? Second, very, very few people are hiring. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "Well, we're not hiring now, but we are accepting applications!" Fantastic. Here it is. I wish I could fill out a generic application and just mail it everywhere. They all ask the same questions. (No, I did not live in Louisiana in 2005. No, none of my dependents are eligible for food stamps. I can work any day, any time, because I will not have any sort of life until you hire me. Please hire me!)

One of the first things I did when I got home was ask my bishop to give me a calling. I loved being home, and I really didn't want to go to our singles' twig, (I kid you not, it's not even big enough to be a Branch) but Home Ward Relief Society and Sunday School are just too...I don't know...grown up for me. Luckily, I've been called as a Primary teacher! I get to play and learn with the ten year olds for two hours every Sunday. My first week in, I actually played with (I mean taught) the CTR 7 class instead, but oh well. I taught my class for the first time today, and love them all to death. I still haven't decided how they'll address me though. 'Katie' is excellent. I mean, it's my name, right? 'Sister Thompson' says 'Hi kids, I'm your teacher, and an adult, so you need to respect me. But Sister Thompson is my mom, not me. So then I considered 'Sister Katie'. I mean, back in the time of the Restoration, everyone went by Brother/Sister [first name], so why not? Well, because it sounds like I'm a nun if I go by Sister Katie. Actually, I'm going to post this as a question to my readers. What would you do?

Last exciting thing in my life: I gave my first Grown-Up Talk in Sacrament Meeting today! A full 15 minutes. By popular request, I'm posting it as one of the tabs on my Blog, so you can read it if you really want to. It was pretty well received, I guess. I mean, I hadn't even left the stand after the meeting before someone had asked for the copy of my talk I had with me, and someone else rushed up to tell me that I'm 18, but speak like I'm 40. I guess that's a good sign? (*sniffle* I'd like to thank my parents, for never giving up on me, and my AP classes for teaching me to write good stuff quickly, and my job for teaching me how to talk to people, and my love of story telling for helping me tie it all together!) Please excuse that drama moment.

Alright, I write way too much. I may be shy sometimes, but once you get me talking, you may never get me to shut up. Sorry. Since my writing, when not required to be professional, often comes across as very conversational, you can bet that my blogs and things will be much the same way: Never Ending. Oh well. Love you all! Good night!