Greetings and Salutations!

This first entry is dedicated to my wonderful, beautiful momma. May she always watch over my family and I. Please keep me on the right path, whichever path that may be. I love you so much momma and miss you... 1/24/1946 - 2/13/2011

Hey guys! Welcome to my first ever blog entry! *nervous/excited* I'm not too sure what to say in my first post to be perfectly honest, but I guess I could start by introducing myself. My name is Kate. I am 21 years old and I have numerous passions.

I have always loved music. When I was little my parents put me into piano lessons, which I stuck with but was never in love with. Then in middle school my best friend and I found the niftiest elective... harp! So I was taking private piano lessons after school and harp in school. I had the opportunity to play for some of my school's theatre productions with her, and we started our own harp business together. After we graduated from middle school, we both started taking private harp lessons. Piano lessons slipped to the side and I eventually stopped those. But I am still playing harp. In fact, I am studying music (harp performance specifically) in school. My passion for music goes beyond just playing it though. I absolutely love listening to it. I feel very lost and alone without music. It brings happiness to my life and lifts me up when I'm down!

I started dancing when I was 4 and took lessons until sometime in highschool when I had so many things going on that I just didn't have time for it anymore. It started off with a ballet/tap combo class, then turned into a ballet class, tap class, jazz class, lyrical class. It was so much fun and I do wish I had continued, but I have so many things I love! I simply can't do it all. So while I'm no professional dancer, I sure do love to get down and boogie with my groovy sisters!

The past year I have discovered another passion, cooking. Well, make that cooking/baking, since for me the two go hand-in-hand. I would always help my mom out with baking when I was a kid. Baking was her thing. Cookies, cakes, dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, fudge, if it was sweet and yummy, she made it. For example, around Christmas and Easter mom would always make sugar cookies. She would do all the work of getting the dough ready and rolling it out to cut out the cookies. I had it easy, I was in charge of sprinkles. It was a messy job because my fingers always got dyed, but hey, someone had to do it! After my mom got sick last year, someone had to cook meals in the house because we all needed to eat, so I started doing it. I started off with meals involving frozen chicken breasts, but I have come a long way since then! Needless to say, a new passion was discovered (that I think my family is benefiting from! haha)!

I'm a geek. There, I said it. I absolutely love games. Not just board games (although I do love me some Clue!), but World of Warcraft, Starcraft, The Sims, Call of Duty, Halo, Grand Theft Auto... It's such a great stress reliever for me. Nothing like having a terrible day, so you decide that running down all of the pixelated innocents in GTA while running from the coppers that are chasing you because of the awesome car that you just stole sounds like a grand idea! LOL Gaming is so much more than just a stress relief for me though. I have met the greatest friends online (yes, from WoW!). In fact, my boyfriend and I met in World of Warcraft. I know it seems really silly, but we have been together for 3 years now and are still going strong! I <3 you TJ! ^_^

I have always been an avid reader. I remember in middle school having my reading tested to see what level I was at and it was always college level. I have my momma to thank for that one. She loved reading. Whenever a new book would come out, she had to have it. She had piles of books stacked up in her room just waiting to be read. I love reading because it takes me away for that period of time. I love getting caught up with the characters and their worries and drama. It's a lovely distraction from life sometimes. I look forward to rainy days so I can curl up with a good book. It's just so relaxing!

My final passion is for my family. I wasn't always a big family person, but I blame that on me being so selfish and sucked up into my own little world when I was younger (although to be honest, that really wasn't that long ago). The past year or so I learned a very valuable lesson about how important family really is. Although I didn't honestly realize how important it was at the time, I know now without a doubt. You see, about a year ago my momma was diagnosed with stage 4 COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). Her lungs were working at 25% capacity.

About six months before she was diagnosed my parents moved into a new home closer to my oldest sister and her family. At that time my boyfriend and I moved in with them. My sister thought that my parents moving closer to her was God trying to help her out since her husband was just starting his Master's program, and with his full time job, he wasn't going to be home a lot. Little did we know that God actually had other plans. Because of the move, my sister was able to spend more time with our mom, and because of me moving in, I was able to help care for her in her last year. It was a very rough last year. She had been in the hospital about 4 times. She stayed tough though, she was a true fighter. Sure, there were times where she no longer wanted to fight, but up until the day she passed, I truly think that she believed that she would beat this.

I know it's really sad that it took my mom's passing for me to realize how important my family is to me, but it did. I am so lucky to have the family that I have. We may not always get along, but what family does? I think this was mom's gift to me, the realization of how much I needed them. I love you guys!

Okay, so that's me! I'm sorry for such a super long first post, and for the sad ending of it. I have to admit I started crying a little as I wrote about my mom. I really do miss her. But this blog isn't just about the sad times. It's about me. My ups, my downs, my passions. I really hope that you enjoy reading it as I will enjoy writing it.

<3 Kate