So i'm bored at work - and Kortni Challenged me to post this. So here ya go my dear :)

8 Things I am PASSIONATE About...
1. The Gospel!
2. My Family
3. Friendships
4. Computers
5. Diet Coke
6. Politics
7. Hard Work
8. Integrity

8 "words" or "phrases" I say way to often...
1. "Oh my Hell
2. "I need a diet coke."
3. "Let me tell you why Mac is better than a PC"
4. "I work at Icon - yeah. . they make Proform and Nordictrack. .. . it's pretty great" - explaining my job
5. "I'm freakin out"
6. "I need a diet coke"
7. "CSI is on!!! "
8. "So i read in the news today that. . . ."


8 Things I want to do before I die...
1. See a receiver in the NFL call a fair catch and still get hit. and live - so i can laugh about it.
2. Start my own Interactive Design/Marketing Company
3. Be a Wife
4. Be a Mother
5. Own a Land Rover
6. Hear someone in Asia make fun of English.
7. Own my own MacPro
8. go SkyDiving

8 Things I have learned From my past...
1. You can't Change the past. Don't stew over mistakes. Learn from them, and move on.
2. Breaking your nose hurts.
3. As cliche as it is - time does heal all wounds.
4. Heartbreaks can't kill you - although at times you wish they would.
5. Hard work ALWAYS pays off. Don't ever slander your own name by slacking off.
6. Friends come and go - family doesn't.
7. you need kindling wood to start a fire :)
8. Integrity is everything. Everything. Everything.

8 Places I would love to see...
1. Paris
2. The Vatican
3. Niagra Falls
4. Sidney Australia
5. the McKinnon Castle is Scottland
6. the pyramids
7. King Tut's Tomb
8. Hong Kong


8 Things I Currently Need or Want...
1. I want to get a MacPro
2. I want to get a Facial
3. I want to take a nap
4. I want to go snowboarding. for a week.
5. I need to relax and let life happen.
6. I want the time to be 5 - cause then i'm off for Christmas
7. I need to not let stress drive me as much as it does.
8. I need to listen.

There ya go! :)

So I noticed something today. All of my friends who aren't web designers - have really cool, personalized blogs. I - am a web designer. . . and my blog is a plain template. I'm not going to change it. . .but I just thought that was pretty interesting. I guess since I spend all my time doing web stuff - I just don't put the effort in on my own stuff? Eh. I'm not too stressed about it.

I also realized I don't post nearly enough. I have been having less and less inspiration on blogging the past few months. . . I don't know whether I can credit that to the fact that I'm constantly working, so when I get a break from programming i just want to hide from my laptop - or the fact that I tried to quit diet coke for a few weeks, and that led to the drain of all my creativity? Either way. . . I intend to post more often from here on out.

So last night I got to go to dinner with an old friend. And I realized - I sure do love old friends. This particular friend and I have a tendency to slip into philosophical conversations about life - not only how we lead it, but how we can figure out the mentality of those we interact with on a daily basis. He and I are 'lucky' enough to have the same personality type, and so it's always fun to figure ourselves out through simple conversation - As we analyze what the other has to say, we often figure out our own little issues. I'm so grateful for friends like that. It's crazy how you can know mass amounts of people - but there will always be that select few that truly understand you, and that you can always call a close friend.

With it being the Holiday Season, I can't help but feel SOO blessed. I have the type family that used to be on TV - back before they started highlighting screwed up families. My family is not screwed up. They're fabulous. How lucky am i that I can honestly call my family my best friends? When I need someone to talk with, cry with, laugh with(*or at) - I know i can count on my family. I've got great friends, an amazing job. I'm just an all around lucky gal!!! Isn't it great that during this season we can recognize our own luck - and take the opportunies to spread the joy and the blessings with those that might be a little down on their own luck? I just challenge us all to count our many blessings - and try to share them :) Merry Christmas!

Putting on the Ritz. Literally.

So I figured it was time to write a new post! It's been about a month. . . which I know is way to long to go inbetween posts! But there's a good reason - I had no idea of what to write about!! I would think of random ideas - but none of them were good enough to make up an entire post.

So the exciting news is - I got a new computer last weekend. I love it. Mac just holds a very special place in my heart - and my new macbook isn't letting me down at all. I love this machine - and I haven't even reached the full 7 days of ownership mark. Work is going well too - we're heading into the busy season - and trying to get all of our main brands websites launched. So far NordicTrack and ProForm have launched - with HealthRider coming soon. I'm really excited to get all of the Redesigns out of the way - so we can start working on really tweaking them, spending more time on the details. I'm also trucking along in the freelance side of things. I'm having to tell potential clients "no thanks - i can't help ya" because I'm just too busy. Love that feeling! I'd much rather be too busy than to not have any work at all!

Speaking of Freelance, I actually just got hired as the web designer for the new "Discover USU" website. I am SOOO excited for this project for a lot of reasons! #1. USU is the love of my life! #2. I get to use all the fun little widgets/gadgets to make this website fun that just wouldn't fly on the sites I work on day to day here at Icon. We're talking make this baby just look "cool". And the purpose of the site? To help prospective students catch a glimpse into how amazing USU is. How great is it when you get to work on something that you're passionate about? Well, i'll answer my rhetorical question. It's very very great!
OK - so it's time to blog about something more interesting. The 'bad' news is I'm back on diet coke. I'm just a lot happier person when I'm not depriving myself of things I love. My biggest hope that came along with quitting was to lose weight. and guess what? You don't lose weight when you quit diet coke. you actually gain weight. Don't ask me how that is possible - well, ok. I know how it's possible. You replace diet coke with other things. . . like Snickers. In case you wondered, snickers has roughly 300 more calories than diet coke. which has none. Speaking of calories. . did you know that ritz crackers are full of them?! I didn't. I was trying to figure out why my fat butt wasn't getting smaller. . and so I started looking at the calories on my usual snacks. I was blown away to find out that ritz crackers have 35. In each of them. Tell me someone who can eat just 1 ritz cracker and I'll give that person a big high-5 for self control. Cause in my case - when I eat one cracker, the rest of the package quickly follows. So. . that's a whopping 3,000+ calories each time I eat a ritz cracker. Needless to say, I am no longer buying ritz crackers. I thought the whole "puttin on the ritz" was a jingle about a hotel and being rich, not about putting on pounds by eating the amazing crackers.

The Memory of Diet Coke

So. . . I've been thinking a lot lately. OH wow - that sounds so ridiculous. I - as a human being. . . have actually been capable of thought! :) Lets put it this way - the past little while, i have been thinking more deeply than usual - and even though I may be around friends, i have seemed to drift into my own little world of thought - because what's going on in my mind seems more pressing than what's going on around me. What's causing this. .. well - that's extremely hard to explain. I'll try to spare you the details - but i think the vague idea is pretty darn interesting.

I am the sort of person who likes to be in control - and sad as it is to admit. . i like to be ahead of the curve. I take a little pride in where i am in life - and that i appear to be growing up. But. . . i'm starting to wonder if I'm growing up at all. The same issues that plagued me two years ago, are still on my mind. I wonder why it is that we hold onto some things. . things that hurt us in the end. Take my addiction to Diet Coke. Even though I know that delicious black liquid will probably give me ulcers and eventually cancer. . i drink it religiously, fully aware that it may hurt me in the end. There are times in my life that I try my very hardest to quit - and ya know. . i do pretty well when i set my mind to it. I'm currently 2 weeks clean, and feeling quite proud of myself. but I still just adore diet coke. why?! when i know it's not good for me, that i feel better when i'm not drinking it. . . why do i still crave it?

I'd like to blame it on my lack of self-control. That would make sense wouldn't it? I wonder if that's really it though. . . or if it's something deeper. I know that if i set my mind to stuff - i can do it. I pride myself on that fact. My parents rooted in me the knowledge that i can do anything I want - and i think therein lies the key. "what I want". Our deepest desires drive our actions. . . and i think if i was to change my desire - i would no longer crave diet coke. But nothing yet has made me change my core belief that Diet Coke is the best drink ever. Strange. . . that even the knowledge that it's bad for me, that aspartame gives me headaches, the carbonation makes me bloated. . . that all that sodium makes me retain water and look about 10lbs heavier. . . the facts are there. but - but i look past the facts, cause for some crazy reason diet coke and I have a connection. I hope by now you've realized i'm not just talking about diet coke - but that this parallels lots of other parts of my life.

So. .. that's what i've been thinking about lately. I currently have 100 days until the New Year. And i'm doing things a little differently this year - i've got some resolutions i hope to achieve by New Years - so that I won't start of the new year hoping to change things, but that things will change before it comes - and i can start the new year off with a clean slate. Will i be free of diet coke, and other things that have plagued me for more than just 2 years? I hope so. I need to rid my life of things that I know will only hurt me in the end. Water is soooo much better for me - and it won't only not hurt me - it will help me become healthier! Stronger! I need to get rid of diet coke for good, as sad as it is to let it go. . . and become addicted to water. So here's to water. And the memory of diet coke.

When Exhaustion Hits - PhotoShop Slows

So. . I'm not in college anymore. And yet - I've been living the same lifestyle lately that I did when I was 18. I have been staying up way too late, and then trying to get up and function like a normal human being the next day. I can tell you from experience, this madness can only go on so long before you lose your sanity. Sure - Red Bulls and Rockstars will get you through a few days. . but then your eyes start to go all funny. . . you begin to lose normal speech ability, and you often stare into space.

This crazy pattern of staying up late was fine back in the college days, but now that i'm supposed to be an adult - and work 9-5. . it's not really jiving with my whole pretending to be a professional thing. The though of giving myself a bed-time makes me laugh. . so I guess i'll just have to grow up and be more responsible? I hate how responsibility sneaks up on you in the strangest places - and the older you get, the more you realize how much you suck at some areas of life. Sleep is one large area in which i suck. I also am one of those people who finds it necessary to speak whatever is on my mind. Because obviously. . the world wants to know! How could they not? My mind is full of opinions that should be perceived as fact, and so I blab on in an effort to convince those within the range of my voice that Kat's perception, should be everyone's reality.

I think I've blogged about this before - this desire to have the world revolve around my own perception. Woudln't it be nice though? Think of all the misunderstandings that could be avoided if everyone could empathize, because we were all drones. . . lol. Yeah - when you really think about it, the whole everyone thinking the same way as you would kind of take the fun out of life wouldn't it?! I love how everyone's uniqueness makes life worth living. The constant suprises, the having to shut your mouth so you don't offend, and even voicing your opinion more than you feel comfortable (*this is rare in my case. . but i see my friends struggle to let people know how they feel). All of these things, they just make life fun. More of an adventure! The constant battle of being aware of your surroundings - now that makes our lives into our own little reality-shows!

Whether we're in a family setting, at work, school, or home with the roommates - i just love to observe how people interract, how everyone is so different. I've made a hobby out of analyzing people (*may i emphasize hobby, i'm no psyche major) - and it's just so interesting to me how everyone is so different. Sometimes it's mind boggling trying to understand the other perspective, but I think as we try and do so, it refines us into better people! So if you catch me staring at you, with a little grin on my face - don't be freaked out. It's just me, trying to figure out what on earth is going on in your mind to make you act the way you do. :)