Fashion Week, Day 1

June 21st, 2009

[for those of you who don't know what's going on, check out my latest post]

Okay! Here we go with the fashion week:

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~Black and white polka dotted dress~

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It’s a fun, crazy pattern to wear (Nate claims it makes him dizzy), :-) and I love the feel of the dress! It’s very full, flowy and feminine.

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What I’m wearing:

Black and White Sundress; my oldest sister found this and another dress like it on sale at JC Penny’s for 8 dollars! (now we’re talking my language) Thanks, Sharon!

Shoes: you could easily dress this outfit up with stylish matching heels, but I chose the ever handy dandy and beloved black flip flops – comfortable, and casual. My favorite footwear!

Jewelry: sterling silver cross necklace (and purity ring and handmade anklets, but I’m wearing those all the time)

Sunglasses. (10$) Add a pair of sunglasses to any outfit, and it always looks cool! I’d been looking around for a pair like these for a while now, and finally found them at a gift shop in Mammoth Caves. They’re actually kids size, but my face is so small they still fit and work well. :-)

-Kasie

If You’re a Fashionable Girl…

June 20th, 2009

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…then join me in Amanda Beth’s week of modest fashion! Go here for more recent information,

Like many girls, I love to dress up and wear feminine, pretty things. However it’s not always easy to find clothes that have style and are modest (actually, add the word “inexpensive” in there too!).

During this week of fashion I’ll be sharing with you my own style through pictures of my favorite clothing ensembles and outfits. You won’t see any name brands, or pieces that cost more than 20$. I’m definitely a bargain shopper; most of my wardrobe comes from thrift stores, gifts from my bargain shopping sisters, :-) Goodwill, 80 and 90%  off sales, Walmart, or homemade. It is possible to create your own style in this simple way, and that’s what I’ll be sharing with you all this next week.

Get ready for a “host of posts” as I’ll be posting a picture everyday of my favorite ensembles! (as well as a couple of everyday life posts)

But in the meantime, I’ve reminiscing about our Civil War Ball lately (now there’s some fashion for you!), and, well…

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I’m looking forward to our Christmas Ball!

-Kasie

Friends

June 19th, 2009

They’re there to love, to fellowship with, to share life with…

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…and to be goofy with.

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:-D

What would we do without them?

-Kasie

Of Rainbows and Sunsets

June 17th, 2009

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I say no more, but let these pictures speak for themselves.

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Beautiful!

-Kasie

“The News”

June 15th, 2009

Update: They’re here! Our friends brought Sully and Violet a few hours ago this evening. Right now they’re familiarizing themselves with their new surroundings, and helping themselves to some grass. :-) Violet is looking so much better than before.The adventure begins!

In this post I promise to tell you the piece of news I’ve been hinting at the past few weeks and simply haven’t had the time to blog about it yet.

I have some bad news, and some good news for you.

The bad news is, Harley and Christy left last week for good. Their owner is taking them to a local Christian camp to be used for the summer, then they’ll be joining their family in South Carolina. I’m sure going to miss them!

And the good news is that I’m getting 2 horses of my own!

Yes, you read that right. This very week perhaps, gelding “Sully” and mare “Voilet” will be trailored into Providence Glen to stay: and they’ll be mine. :-)

Before you wonder how in the world this all came about, allow me to tell you the story…

There’s a family we know from church who live on a small farm outside of town. They rescued horses Sully and Violet four years ago and decided to keep them for their children to take care of, love and work with. The years went by, and although the family loved these horses to death, they simply didn’t have the time to train and be with them as much as they needed. (keep in mind these are rescue horses)

What with finances being tight, trying to sell their farm and moving closer to town, this family couldn’t keep the horses, and really wanted to give Sully and Violet a home where they would be loved on and worked with like crazy. So they began to pray.

And somehow, our name came up! :-) (not somehow really. I know it was God).

To make a long story short, after much prayer, consideration, and meeting Sully and Violet for ourselves, this family is giving us their two horses completely free, along with some tack and grooming accessories. AND if they don’t work out for any reason whatsoever, the family will take them back.

Isn’t that incredible? I’m ecstatic! Whoever thought that I’d be owning my own horses?

-Kasie

Facts About My Horses (because I just know you’re going to ask! :-P )

  • Violet’s real name is Easter Violet
  • Both Sully and Violet are “green”, meaning that they only have basic training skills (such as halter broken, maybe saddle). Sully also has problems with taking the bit and bridle, but I have experience with that. :-) I’m looking forward to the challenge, and the relationship between the horses and myself will be all the more real after with them.
  • Violet is extremely skinny. She’s been getting steadily better over the last few months, but has a lot of trouble keeping weight on. I’ve been reading up on horse nutrition, grains and feeds we can feed to her to keep her healthy. We need to fatten her up!
  • Sully and Violet hate being separated! They love being together, and are definitely a pair. That’s why we’re getting 2!
  • I really don’t know what type of horses they are. I tell people, if they were dogs, I would call them a mutt (not meant in a demeaning way). For a horse, they’re not very beautiful, but they’re sweet tempered, and they’re mine. That makes all the difference right there!
  • Sully and Violet are 8 and 10 years old.

Basically they both need lots of TLC, something I’m willing and ready to give them. This will be a great experience for me to train my own horses, to work with them, and to love them. It’ll be a lot of work but I’ll also be reaping all the benefits and joys. I just can’t believe this blessing! I totally didn’t see that one coming.

P.S. I still can’t believe Dad said “yes” to this! Thanks so much, Dad!

Camping Trip

June 14th, 2009

My family has always loved camping! Every year in New York – for about ten straight years – we would camp for two weeks at our favorite spot in the Adirondack State Park. We have enough memories and adventures from those trips to last us a lifetime!

This year we decided to “shake it up a little”, as we like to say. :-) For some time now Mom has wanted to see the reknown Mammoth Caves – the largest known caves in the world! The Adirondacks are too far away from Tennessee anyway, so last week, we camped in Kentucky at a little campground called “Hutchins Ferry” to spend a couple of days enjoying outdoors and tour Mammoth Caves.

Our first night we had s’mores and sat around the campfire (which was very pathetic until we bought some lighter fluid). It was just like “old days”! I’m sure all my shirts had that lovely campfire aroma. :-)

On the next day we drove to a popular lake in the Mammoth Caves State Park called Nollin Lake. We brought our trusty canoes, our bathing suits and, well, the pictures will tell all that we did. :-)

Our second final night at Hutchins Ferry brought its share of adventures! Just as we were about to drift off to sleep in our tents, we heard a ruckus coming from the parking lot of the ferry (and campground). I climbed out of our tent to see what was happening, thinking it was just a bunch of highschoolers and college kids, ready to party and make a bunch of noise to bother us and our fellow campers. Dad and Walter had done the same, and Dad was walking toward the group motioning for us to stay back.

It wasn’t until a few minutes later as I watched that I realized they were fighting! Guys were lining up, taking turns, having a “rumble” basically (think West Side Story. :-) ) girls were rushing about taking video and pictures.

But God protected us. I’m so glad Dad was there! All he said was that the rangers had been notified, and they zoomed off in their jeeps and pick-ups yelling “cops”! Neither the park rangers or police ever showed up, but at least the mob had left.

How’s that for an exciting, interesting adventure! Whew! That’s certainly never happened to us before. Anyone else? :-)

Anyway, back to our planned activities…

Wednesday we went to see Mammoth Caves. We didn’t take just any tour, however, we took a lantern tour, in which you have about 42 people per tour, and 10 oil lanterns for light. For three hours we walked in parts of the cave where there are no electric lights, the purpose of it being to recreate the ambience of what it must have been like for the earlier explorers.

I thought I might be a bit claustrophobic, but I enjoyed myself immensely: it was amazing! Mamoth Caves is truly, mammoth indeed. And we only saw a small section of it!

Our trip was wonderful. We had a great time! (thanks Dad!) I am glad to be back home though. You know the feeling of walking through the door after a day or two absence? Ah, “Home Sweet Home”. I love being able to say that!

Have a blessed day!

-Kasie

The New Fashion

June 12th, 2009

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Upside down sunglasses! Soon, everyone will be sporting these. :-D

-Kasie

Coming Up

June 11th, 2009

Hello all! This is just a note to say “hey” and that there will be posting on this blog soon. :-) Things have been busy around here!

Last night we returned from a camping trip in Kentucky, had a great time and lots of adventures, so look for pictures and tales of that! Nate and I played a couple of intense games of Ultimate Frisbee tonight (something we usually do weekly), so I’m rather wiped now. Now that I’ve relaxed a while, watched Dick Van Dyke with family, I’m totally ready for bed. Boy, will I sleep well tonight!

Goodnight everyone! I’ll most likely be posting sometime this weekend.

-Kasie

Don’t Believe in Yourself

June 6th, 2009

This is the really short speech that I made at Angie’s homeschool graduation.

Life in the Big City, err… Country

June 2nd, 2009

Well, I promised a couple weeks ago that I’d finally post again – and here I am! Life has been amazingly full for me during the past few months – and it shows no sign of stopping. :)

I guess I better start at the beginning.

About 3-4 months ago, I became troubled in my spirit. I was restless to an extent that I’ve never been before, but didn’t know why. I kept thinking about it and getting more and more frustrated, pacing the nights away.

All I knew was that something needed to (or was going to) change. But what? How?

As I cried out to God, He helped me re-focus and prioritize. And He used my parents to infuse peace into my soul. No sooner had I received God’s peace, things started happening.

A job possibility that had previously been a “maybe” busted wide open into a “how soon can you work!” situation. So I began working as part of a web contracting team for an international company. This job has truly been a God-send! I have freedom of hours, good wage, and am learning lots of skills that will serve me well down the road.

This is the major reason I’ve been pretty absent from the blog, btw. :)

God then started confirming things that he had spoken to me before about (sometimes many years before), and putting them in motion. It made me realize once again that it is God who goes before me – I don’t have to worry about accomplishing that which he has promised. I just need to be ready to be used.

But God wasn’t done yet – he started throwing me more opportunities to grow and learn. :) A graduation speech (my first ever “speech”), another speaking engagement for an Independence Day rally, a band gig for a whole week of Christian summer camp, and so much more. A video of that graduation speech (and Angie’s diploma presentation) will be coming soon.

In short, the past few months have been full, busy, and wonderful for me. I’m still learning how to deal with how to prioritize and balance 2 different jobs, which although both part time, have a different set of requirements. This has been interesting!

What’s next? Well, I’m looking into CollegePlus, and will probably move forward with that pretty soon. My prayer is just that I would be a good steward of my time, and learn how to use it wisely.

Thanks for your love and support. I really enjoy reading all your comments, and hope to post more often in the future!