Season of Thanks... And Cuteness!

My wonderful mom and big sister stayed up till 12:00 making these with me. We decided ours were cuter than the etsy ones :) we used printed ribbon instead of the classic fall colors. Emma and I had fun shopping for it, but since there was so much hot glue involved, she just watched us :) I had so much fun with these, and I made enough for all three of my nieces, Emma, Phoenix, and Eva; my bff's little sis Kelsi;and the girls I babysit, Abigail and Sariah :) also made a couple tie tacks, one for my brother-in-law on Emma's request, and one for Bryan :) They're super easy and way cute! Here are some other DIYs and crafts I'm excited to do:) Enjoy :)

Georgia/Thanksgiving Craft with Emma

I'm down in Georgia for the weekend, and I got to start the day doing baptisms at the Atlanta Temple (a seperate blog post about it will follow-- all I'm saying is that something cool seems to happen everytime I go there!) Afterwards, I spent the day at the mall with Bryan and we had SO much fun! He loves Taylor Swift almost (if not more) than I do, so we sang along to her new album the whole way! I helped him pick out some new shirts, jeans, and a pair of shoes (his parents told me that I had to approve of it before he could buy it--haha!!) We got lunch, hit the Godiva chocolate store, and snacked on some homemade teriyaki beef jerky my dad sent down. It was such a fun, chill day :)

NOW, I get to spend some time with my niece... and since I love holidays, we're going to make a few of these darling little turkey hair clips for her and her friends:

 

 Cant wait!!!
Loves,
Kat

Thank You, Mitt Romney

I just want to express my love and gratitude for our republican candidate who ran against Barack Obama this year. Although I'm pretty disappointed to see our country turn down one of the best candidates we've had in years, I'm thankful to be a free young woman in the most amazing country in the world.
Tonight at mutual, Brother Payne read this message from the First Presidency:

We congratulate President Obama on winning a second term as President of the United States.

After a long campaign, this is now a time for Americans to come together. It is a long tradition among Latter-day Saints to pray for our national leaders in our personal prayers and in our congregations. We invite Americans everywhere, whatever their political persuasion, to pray for the President, for his administration and the new Congress as they lead us through difficult and turbulent times. May our national leaders reflect the best in wisdom and judgment as they fulfill the great trust afforded to them by the American people.

We also commend Governor Romney for engaging at the highest level of our democratic process, which, by its nature, demands so much of those who offer themselves for public service. We wish him and his family every success in their future endeavors.


I want to really make sure that I start praying for our country on a more regular basis, and for our president as well. I believe any man or woman who has the desire to take America's problems into their own hands is a hero, regardless of their political views. I'm so grateful that we are free, and that our country isn't ruled by some evil dictator.
I am grateful that Mitt Romney made it so far. I supported him until the end, watching the debates, listening to some of his speeches (including his wife's!!!), painted my nails with his R slogan, and even wore my Romney shirt to sleep on election night! Haha! Here's to the next four years. May the odds be ever in our favor ;)
Loves,
Kat

Happy Halloween!!

This Halloween hasn't been insanely fantabulous since it was in the middle of the week, not that theres much {fun, clean} partying to do for small-town high schoolers like me (unless your definition of "party" is the ward Halloween Trick or Trunk!! Party hard, face painting, getting big hugs from a snipe-hunting deacon, candy-greedy toddlers...haha)! But I DID get to go trick or treating for UNICEF through the Key Club. My friends Ella and Madison and I raised *drumroll* a little over NINETY dollars!!!! Felt so good to know we were helping people out :) Plus, I got to wear my cute Halloween skirt and headband I made:) it was a fun day, but I am def looking forward to next year (def dressing up-- Kate Middleton, hmm?) and then fun Halloween parties at BYU (check out my brother's sweet costume-- can
you guess?)the year after!! Woohoo!!:) Happy Halloween, y'all. :)
Loves,
Kat

Georgia Babyyy!!!

It goes without saying that I have just fallen in love with Georgia. I've been there so many times, but for some reason, this week was just more...magical!! It's been a couple years since I've gone down, so now that I'm {finally} sixteen, my sis Haley set me up on a date with a cutie from her ward.
Well, let me tell ya about him:
His name is Bryan. He's 17 and a senior in high school. Dark hair, dark eyes, thick eyebrows, cutest smile EVER. :) over 6 feet tall!! He has the most non-southern accent I've ever heard, yet he LOVES country music and fishing! He's in JROTC and has a twin sister who is the most gorgeous girl I have ever seen!! One of 6 kids in his family. He is THE Mr. Fancy Pants. We have this ongoing joke... I bought a bottle of the Essie Fall Collection and about died laughing when I saw the name: Miss Fancy Pants!!! Cracked. Me. UP!!!!:) It kills me how picky he is... Never tried a banana but says he hates them? Ordering fries and wings at a Mexican restaurant?? Waddup with that?? But his testimony is so strong, and he's such a spiritually-minded person that it makes up for it ;)
For our date, we went fishing :) He's like a pro. We had so much fun talking and getting to know each other!! We became fast friends :) we got fro yo and I made try kiwi for the first time!!! I went to his seminary every morning and he sat by me EVERY time :)
In the meantime, I LOVED going with my sister to take my twin nephews to preschool every morning. William and Jonathan are just the cutest little boys ever, and Emma is growing up WAY too fast!!
Haley and I went thrift store shopping at Goodwill and I found the tacky Christmas sweater of my DREAMS! We were cracking up at the hideous prom dresses from the 90's and full-body jumpsuits straight from the 70's! Talk about an adventure!! We did some REAL shopping at the mall and we both got a pair of cute leather boots for the fall! So excited to wear them!! We also HAD to hit the Godiva store... Our tradition :) my mom bought us each a Pandora bead, and I picked the "Journey" bead for all the places I love to travel to, and all the people I miss like crazy when I can't be with them! I feel like my sister and I became a whole lot closer this week.<3
The highlight of the week was most definitely the temple. I've seen pictures of the Atlanta temple and thought yeah it's pretty, it's a temple, all temples are pretty. But seeing it in person... It is absolutely beautiful!! It's amazing how all your worldly troubles just seem to melt away once you step on temple grounds.
In my session, it was only me and this older woman named Sister Smith. It was her first time at the temple and she was going to be baptized for her mother. Her eyes widened as we went into the baptismal room. During my baptisms, I noticed the Christening date for one of the names. It was October 18, 185-something. That day was October 18, 2012!! I felt so happy inside to know that this woman was being baptized on her Christening anniversary!!! :) back to Sister Smith. As I was back in the changing room, I was fixing my hair when I heard Sister Smith come in. The temple worker told her,"Now you can take a shower if you like." She said,"No thank you, I want to leave the water on me." In a dreamy voice, she sighed,"it's like a kiss from Jesus." Awhhhh!!!!!:):) I was so happy she felt that way in the Lord's house.
It was a wonderful week :) If I didn't have to go to a stupid football game, I could have stayed and gone camping with my friends!! But I'm going back tonight for Bryan's stake dance, and I thought I might as well stay for church tomorrow!! Tonight is going to be soooooo fun!!!:)
Stay tuned... ;)
loves, Kat

It's Feelin' Like Fall

FALL BREAK woohoo!!! :) I'm VERY excited to be going to Georgia next week to see my big sister, Haley and my sweet little niece Emma and twin nephews Jonathan and William. I miss them so much and cant wait to see them!! :)

I plan on going to the Atlanta Temple to do some baptisms (thats a new favorite must-do: visiting a temple when I go to a different place! So uplifting and sweet.)

I've never been, so that will be a wonderful first time experience!!

I LOVE shopping with my sister. We're going to go shopping (of course!) and I'm looking

for a new pair of rain boots that actually fit me haha :)

I'm after a pair of cute bright Hunters. Decisions, decisions...

I think its going to be a battle between the pink and the red. Looove the blue too :)

They're on the expensive side, but I would make them last through college and my mission :) I love this fall season, and love that I get to spend this break with my family <3
Loves,
Kat

Castles Fit for a Princess

This weekend I was so blessed to be able to go to the Nashville temple with my childhood best friend and his ward on Saturday. My ward was scheduled to go Friday, and my heart sunk because I have an obligation to be at every Friday night football game until November. Adam visited us over Labor Day weekend, and I discovered his ward was going the very next day!! Bishop Daddy called Adam's bishop and I was set :) I am so thankful for this tender mercy of the Lord, that He helped me to be at both the football game where I was obligated to be, and also at the temple, where I needed to be.  He knows how I love temples and how important it is for me to go whenever I can. Here are some snapshots from not only this fun weekend, but the other beautiful temples I have been so privileged to do baptisms in. :)