15/25 List

It's off. Lean In is postage-paid on its way to Mexico, heading for the lovely Miss Amanda Schmitz. I got an email this morning from USPS that it has left the LA post office sorting center, should only be a few days now. Mailing Lean In was Thing #10 on my List. Sheryl Sandberg, author of Lean In, has received incredible acclaim for her book on "women in the workplace." She's also garnered lots of criticism. While I'm not sure I agree with every word in her book, her ideas are important. The idea of Thing #10 is that this book becomes a continuing gift of inspiration to women around the world. I've read it, signed a page in the back and mailed it to Amanda. Her task is to read it, sign it and mail it to a woman she knows that will benefit from reading it. This is what I wrote on the inside cover, not just to Amanda, but to all who will read it: 

"Beautiful Friend,

This book is for you because you are going to change the world. It’s a big task, I know, but if anyone can do it, it’s you. Sheryl shares her story and proposes some thought-provoking ideas about what it means to be a working woman. I don’t know if she’s right about everything, but I know she’s right about one thing: If the world is really going to change for the better, women need to lead the charge.

Enjoy this book, make it your own. Make notes, highlight phrases, dog-ear the corners and most of all, let it inspire you. Then when you’ve loved this book as much as you can, sign your name proudly and pass it along to a friend, a woman, who you know is changing the world too.

Love,

Kate"

I'll admit, the rest of my 15 Things list has suffered. It's never actually grown to 15 things and the items that actually are on the list, well, I haven't been great at following through. But it's a new year so maybe now is the best time to try again. Life has settled down some, it's more stable, I've gotten a routine, and a full-time job. I've been working in the Study Abroad office at Gonzaga for almost a month now. It's crazy to think that it's been that long because I do NOT feel like I've been there that long already, but time flies. I have so much to learn, but so far, I love it.

Since apparently one job just isn't enough, I also took a part-time job at the women's clothing store Title Nine. I was not planning on it, but they called last week and I decided to accept. I had my first day yesterday and I think it's going to be really fun, something totally different than I've ever done before, but fun.

Things with Connor are great. His mom and sister were in town a last weekend and we had dinner. His sister is a junior in high school and thinking about coming to Gonzaga so they did some things on campus. Connor and I are heading to Seattle in a couple weeks for to see The Head and the Heart in concert. SO excited. It was my Christmas present from him, he knows me well.

Here's some photos to catch up:

I went to visit Julie just after Thanksgiving. 

The Kemp family Christmas:

It was great to see all of these girls while I was home, it's been a long time since we were all together. 

Clockwise from the bottom: Me, Laura, Tashah, Micah, Ashlee.
By the end of June, 3 out of 5 of us will be married. Crazy!
Mine and Ashlee's are fake ;)

Connor and I at his house for Thanksgiving.

My Christmas present from Connor. He's amazing at origami so he made the band, The Head and the Heart, out of paper and hid the concert tickets inside.

It's incredible.

Necessities of the new job:

ID cards and office key.

My first business card!

Update in Photos

I haven't posted anything for a while but I have been taking lots of photos. Here's some things that have been going on lately.

Meet Connor. We've been dating since June. He's pretty amazing. 

My dad's sister, Pam and her husband Bob came to Spokane for a few days with some of their friends from Iowa.
It was great to show them around my "neck of the woods."

I chopped my hair off!

One of the bonuses of traveling so much for volleyball is that we get to find lots of cool restaurants.
This was an ice cream sandwich shop. You picked what type of cookie you wanted and what type of ice cream and they made it right in front of you!

A picture of the team in San Francisco. 

On my way to Wisconsin for a wedding I stopped in Chicago to see Erinleigh.
She is teaching high school at an inner city school through Teach for America. 

The bride to be! Kaitlin and I have been friends since WASC camp back in middle school. 

Myself, Helen (Kaitlin's sister in law), and Jozi, another friend from WASC.

Helen and I became fast friends. 

The reception was at a golf course. It had a huge deck looking over this. It was beautiful.

Kaitlin and I 

Mike, Kaitlin and I

Our last volleyball trip took us to LA where I got to see Ashley, one of my best friends from Gonzaga
for the first time since graduation. 

List Item #10

I've added another item to my 15/25 list, I'm now at 10 items! The next thing is titled, "Sisterhood of the Traveling Book."

I'm in the process of reading the book Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg. If you don't know, Sheryl is currently the COO of Facebook and her book is about her journey to the top as a woman, the challenges she faced and those that still exist for women entering the workforce. As I read, I find myself in awe of the things she's accomplished, angered by the fact that this is still the world we live in and motivated to do something about it as I enter the working world.

I've also been thinking about friends who I want to read this book, to hear this message. I received my copy of the book as a gift. The day prior I had been in Barnes and Noble, saw the book, checked the price, and put it back down. "I can buy it when it comes out in paperback," I said to myself. But then, I walked into Katie B.'s office-a place I'll always treasure-and she had a copy of the book on her desk. "Katie!" I exclaimed, "Are you reading this?!" She explained that yes, she had just started, but that copy was actually an extra that had been ordered for a class. "You can have it," she said so nonchalantly. I, on the other hand, was ecstatic. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I said. And now, I think I want to keep gifting the book. When I'm done, I plan to sign my name and date it the day I finish. I'll write a note to the person I'm sending it to and to the women who I hope receive it in the future, my sisterhood, of girls and women I've never even met, but who I know will be the next Sheryl Sandbergs.

In deciding to do this, part of me was a little torn up over the fact that I would be losing my copy of the book. But, I reminded myself, I can just buy another one when it comes out in paperback.

A beautiful day for a hike

Today Connor and I hiked to the top of Mount Spokane. I had been feeling really cooped up; I just needed to go outside and do something. Even though I felt like this, I was struggling to get myself out of bed and find something to do that didn't cost money and wasn't a quick fix.

The hike turned out to be much harder than I anticipated and I have a couple nasty blisters, but I'm so happy that we did it and you can't beat the view from the top!

The Clean Closet Project

I cleaned my closet! 93 items remain; exactly half of what I began with. I did it in "sections," which made the process easier...but still not easy.

First, tshirts. I had 51 tshirts...that's a lot. Ended with 27.
Sweaters/sweatshirts: Began with 27, ended with 15.
Shorts/jeans/sweatpants: Began with 32, ended with 19.
Shirts: Began with 31, ended with 11.
Dresses/skirts/pants: Began with 25, ended with 12.
Shoes: Began with 19, ended with 11.

After that I had two more items to get rid of to reach 93...it was difficult, but I had two miscellaneous items that didn't really fit into these categories that I got rid of. The last five things were the hardest to get rid of, and I almost didn't. But then I would not have gotten rid of half of my closet, so I had to do it. And when I got to 93, I was so happy I did a little dance in my room. Success!

I took some of the clothes to a consignment shop and sold them for $33 of store credit. Then, I gave the rest to a friend. Some of the clothes I know will fit her and some will fit her daughter. She said she had a few bags of things that she was going to take to a clothing shop for refugees and anything they didn't want from my pile she would take there! Awesome for me!

At first, I immediately wanted to go shopping; my closet was so empty! I had nothing to wear! But the past few days something has happened that I was not expecting. It has been incredibly easy to get dressed each morning! Each piece of clothing in my closet now was literally hand-selected from the pile; I actually like every item in my closet right now! No matter what I pick to wear, I know I like it. I'm not sure how long this will last, but I'm going to try to not go shopping until it wears off.

The project was a bit challenging. But I'm happy I did it and I encourage you to do a little closet clean-up of your own. 

Good for some laughs

I'll admit, I'm kinda sucking at my 15/25 project. In my defense though, I have been in the midst of "camp season," arguably the busiest three weeks of my year. Volleyball camps consist of three 4-day overnight camps for kids ranging in age from 5th grade to 12th grade. Work is non-stop from 8am until 11pm or midnight. There is no stopping for breaks and barely time for a decent meal. It's absolute craziness; but, it's kinda fun.

Camps ended a couple days ago and I've had some down time. I've learned I'm not very good at being bored after three weeks of constant go-go-go. I did reread my list though and have some thoughts about the items on it.

I'm struggling to come up with fifteen items. I have added one though: cut my closet in half. Admittedly, this idea was stolen from Katie, but each morning I look at my closet and know that I will probably never wear most of it again. Most of the items aren't really old or in bad shape, but they've had their life with me and now it's time to pass them along. Cleaning my closet might be today's project :)

Tomorrow I'm meeting with Asher, a pastor at First Presbyterian Church here in Spokane. They have a service on Sunday evenings called Communitas, which I really enjoy going to. The crowd is young and there's lots of worship and time for conversation with others. I'm still not really sure what I'm looking for in my relationship with God, but I know that I enjoy going to Communitas because it provides a sense of community that I crave.

I also got to watch a few TED Talks. I'd forgotten how much I love them. I watched a few, but one I want to share with you is a comedian, Maz Jobrani, that is absolutely hilarious. Here's the link to watch it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmXiItk49Gw. Maz is an Iranian-American man who has teamed up with a Palestinian-American and Egyptian-American to create the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour. They poke fun at the stereotypes that surround the Middle East and people of Middle Eastern descent in the hopes of being able to break down those stereotypes and present Middle Easterners and Muslims in a positive light. Perhaps I just think it's hilarious because I spent a pretty good chunk of time in a Middle Eastern, Muslim country, but I think Maz's jokes will be funny to someone regardless of their background. They point out the ideas that you hold and perhaps where they came from and why maybe, just maybe, they're a bit flawed. He brings to light significant issues in a way that makes it comfortable to discuss them. The TED Talk is less than 10 minutes long and I really hope you check it out; I hope it makes you laugh and I hope it makes you think. 

The 15/25 Project

It's been too long. 

Katie B., one of the most amazing women I have ever met, has inspired me to create a list. Her list was "15/30"- 15 things she wants to accomplish before she turns 30 in two years. (Katie and her best friend Kristin have an amazing blog: www.theresalwaysmonday.com) My list is going to be 15/25- 15 things I want to do before I turn 25.

This is going to be hard for me. It really, really is. One thing I think I've learned about myself is that I struggle to set long-term, measurable goals and actually follow through on accomplishing them. And I'm going to struggle to just come up with the list- what are 15 (15!!!) things I really, really want to do before I'm 25? I have no idea! Perhaps making this list will help give me a sense of direction.

So, here we go:
(A little disclaimer, these are the order in which they came to me; in no way are they the order in which they will be accomplished.)

1. Get my masters degree or at least be in grad school.

2. Do 1-2 years of service work (i.e. JVC, Peace Corps, etc.). I realize that this and #1 do not coincide very well as they each take significant chunks of time but I think they're both important.

3. Continue to explore my relationship with God. I'm not totally sure what this means. I have trouble trusting and believing and praying and needing. But I think that God is good and I have a pull to be part of a community that believes in a collective something.

4. Write a personal mission statement. This would be edited as years went on, but I think it's important to be able to look at something and say: This is what I believe and this is who I am.

5. Read Harry Potter in Arabic. I purchased the first HP book in Arabic before I left Jordan and since then I've really only gotten through the first chapter. This is going to mean refreshing on the alphabet and all the vocab words I used to know. But I want to be confident in saying that my three years of Arabic class meant something and what better way to prove it than by reading Harry Potter.

6. Lead an active and healthy lifestyle. I don't think I'm fat and I don't think I'm skinny. I think I'm average and I'm ok with that. Could I lose a few pounds? Sure. Does that idea consume me? Nope, not at all. I've had grandiose plans that "this week I'm going to go to the gym five times!" and when it doesn't happen I feel crappy. I'm not committing to begin going to the gym five times a week, I'm saying I want to go for a 30-minute run and not feel like I'm dying. I want to choose to go for a walk after dinner instead of watching tv. I want to enjoy going for a bike ride. I want to choose a hearty salad over the huge hamburger (most of the time). I think I'm on my way there- to this type of lifestyle. And as I continue to have more freedom as to how I shape my life, I want it to be in this direction.

7. I want to have gone abroad for at least a month, not necessarily at one time. The travel bug is back and I want to go...places. I don't know where, I just want to go.

8. I want to watch a TED Talk or read an article and reflect on it-in writing-at least once a month. I realize that two months ago my blog post said I was going to do it twice a month and since then I have done it exactly zero times. So, I'm starting small(er).

This is only half the list I realize. But, I'm promising to finish my list by next Sunday, one week from today.

In the mean time, here's some photos to update you on what's been happening:

I graduated from college!!!

Can you spot me??

Thank you President McCulloh

Seeing a friend on my way back to my seat.

I lived with all of these beautiful faces freshman year on the fifth floor of Coughlin.
Amazingly, we're all still great friends. 

My RA freshman year, Rachel.

Mom and Dad. amazing parents.

The crew. 

Amanda, Katie, Emma and myself. Amazing girls with amazing dreams that I know will be accomplished.

Myself and housemate Kristine.

Julie and I

 

My second family in Spokane, the Armstrongs.
Eli, Owen, Grace.
Shawna, myself, Josh.
Just missing the oldest, Aiden.

Katie's (the inspiration for this post) 6 month-old baby girl Harper

   

Other shenanigans:

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo as it should be: with large margaritas.

Spending some time looking at the stars.

Happy hour with my Senior Women's CLC (christian life community)
Front: Ellie, Katie, Katy, Jenna.
Back: Janeen, Katherine, Julia, Michelle, Ingrid, myself.

Two people who have changed my life and will continue to do so for as long as I live.
Katie, myself, Josh.
The CLP banquet. 

Amanda and I at the Senior Retreat.

My amazing sister competed in her outdoor conference track and field meet.  so proud.

I completed Bloomsday with Erika and Katy!!!
It's a 7.5 mile run through Spokane that almost 50,000 people participate in!

The morning of my last day of class...ever. It was a perfect morning on campus.

I helped drive Amanda home to Ogden, UT. This was at a ski resort where some of the games from the Salt Lake Olympics were held. 

We made a stop in Salt Lake City. Had to take a picture with the Zag great, John Stockton.

I spent the first four weeks after graduation living with the Armstrong's. Josh was in Zambia so I tried to fill his shoes a bit and help Shawna get the kids to school/soccer practice/etc. 

Grace, Eli, Owen.

Owen and Grace putting my "Gonzaga Alumni" license plate frame on.

The finished product. Hooray!

  

  

Ice cream!!!

Children's choir night at church=awesome.

I was honored to attend Owen's kindergarten graduation.

Grace. She's been in the states a year and has adjusted incredibly well.
She amazes me as a five year-old and I know she will continue to do so as she gets older. 

I love these kids (sometimes like they're my own).
Aiden, Grace, myself, Owen, Eli.