Changes. Again.

Yeah. I made changes to my blog. New background, new header, new colors, and new font.

Enjoy it :) the next change will come in the fall! :)

Halfway!

I am celebrating two halfway points.

1. I am halfway through my "once a day" journal challenge. Woot. :)
2. I am halfway through the journal I bought in March. In my old journal (before this challenge), I think it took me a year to get to the halfway point. So to get there in roughly three months is very exciting. :)

Just thought I'd let you guys know :)

Karen Leslie Bates McCabe

Mi madre y padre

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOTHER!!! I'm sorta depressed that I can't be there for her birthday...but I haven't been in Utah for any of my family members' birthdays (which is sad). 

Anyway. Here are the reasons as to why I love her:

1. You're my mom. You gave me life. 'Nuff said.
2. You do everything for the kids (you did everything for me as well): laundry, cleaning, cooking, paid for our dance/piano/soccer/whatever lessons, taking us to said lessons, etc.
3. You were there for me when the girls of the ward weren't exactly, ahem, friendly. You knew what I was going through because the women of the ward were doing the exact same thing to you.
4. You were there for me through the countless hours of crying about why my life sucked, why I wasn't going on dates, why I didn't have any friends, etc. 
5. Every year for the past five years or so (except this year...phooey) you have taken me to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for their wedding show, thanks to my obsessions with weddings when I was a wee lass. Those are some of my favorite times with you :) even though sometimes we disagree on what dress is pretty...haha
6. You take me to the movies almost every time I come home. Or you take me shopping or out to eat. Huzzah. 
7. It only took me 18 years to adapt it in to my life, but you taught me how to keep a home/bedroom clean.
8. You taught me how to cook lasagna, enchiladas, hawaiian haystacks, etc...which will come in handy when I'm married, cuz right now I just live off of microwavable/throw-everything-in-the-box-together foods. 
9. Even though your back/wrist/head/third toe on your left foot (hey. EVERYTHING hurts when it comes to you ;)) are hurting you, you still manage to do stuff around the house.
10. You gave me your camera (even though it's not as cool as your new one) when mine was being a piece of crap...
11. You taught me how to do my makeup (even though I do it completely different now).
12. You try your hardest to be able to give us kids the things we want/need. Want usually ends up in the "pay for it yourself" category, though ;)
13. Even though we disagree on almost EVERYTHING there is to disagree upon, we still manage to have fun together
14. You buy cinnamon roasted almonds at every BYU football game. And share them with me. :)
15. You let the kids use your stuff, even though you know there's a chance they could break it or there's a chance you will never see that item ever again.
16. You fulfill your calling as primary teacher, even though you absolutely hate it.
17. You passed your brown hair onto me. I'm grateful for this because, lets face it, I would not look good as a blonde.
18. You dye my hair every time I want to (time permitting). 
19. Remember how when I wanted to get my nails fixed for prom, you went out and bought a nail kit thing (like, a profesh one)? Sorry that I decided to go with Krista instead, but I love the fact that you wanted to buy a kit to help me. 
20. Even though I constantly said "I hate you" (what kid/teenager doesn't say that to their parents?), nowadays I love you to death. Thank you for being an example to me.

LOVE YOU MOM!!!

(Updated) Birthday Wishlist

Here is what I wish to receive on my day 'o birth. :) hover over the words and click on them to be taken to the link for the item.

• This t-shirt
• or this t-shirt
• or this one
• or this. tis on sale!
• this one would be awesome.
• i'll be the happiest person ever if you buy me this shirt.
• mmhmm.
• this one.
• i want this hoodie so bad.
• or this hoodie.
• yet another t-shirt
• this. is. amazing.
• oh. and this hoodie.
• anything from this site.
• this is sort of a necessity.
• and this.
• and this.
• any one of these
• this (or the other two "sizes")

Yeah. If I think of anything else, I'll be sure to post it.

I Feel Like Sharing This Information With Y'all...

MY FAVORITE SPANIARD IS STAYING IN THE US LONGER THAN PLANNED (he was supposed to go home this upcoming weekend). Epic win.

Another epic win was I got ALL (well...most of it) of my homework done today. Anyone have a gold star they want to stick on my forehead? JK.

Oh. We're going on 5 months in the journal. Yep.

All in all, life is going pretty splendiferous.

This Weekend = Best.

This weekend has been truly amazing, and I'm going to tell you all about it. This may or may not be a "novel" post.

• Nana and Grandpa picked me up in Rexburg Thursday night to go to their house for the night before driving to Utah the following day.
• Went to OLIVE GARDEN for dinner. Best.
• TNT was showing back to back episodes of Bones, including the final two episodes from this past season (which made me extremely happy because they are amazing episodes).
• Nana made cookies for our foreign exchange student's farewell party, and there were extras. I ate them.
• Slept in a big, comfortable bed. Twas amazing (considering I sleep on a small, nowhere-near-comfortable bed at school)
• Drove down to Utah Friday morning. Nana bought me a large fountain drink and donuts for the ride down. :)
• Ate my Olive Garden leftovers for lunch. Yum.
• Went to Coronado's Subs for an extra lunch with my dad and grandparents. I got the Barbecue Chicken wrap...and was not pleased.
• Tanned with my sister :)
• Went to a job interview for a job in Utah over the summer. I think it went well, and I hope something comes of it.
• Went to Target and JC Penney trying to look for a swimsuit. Unsuccessful trip.
• Went to Squi's retirement party. It was great seeing newspaper people (after not seeing some of them since LAST YEAR--unacceptable) and being attacked by Heidi Stromberg when I arrived. :)
• Went to the graduation/birthday party for one of my old newspaper friends. It was...interesting.
• Hung out with Heidi and her friend Dakota. We were so tired we were starting to sound drunk. Good times :)
• Slept over at Heidi's house
• Went to Kohl's to look for a swimsuit. Success. :)
• Prepared for Vicente's farewell party. 
• Vicente's farewell party (I provided the music). It was great seeing all the friends Vicente has made in his 9 months here in USA. The food was also delicious, courtesy of my dad and mom and Nana. 
• Went to see 17 Miracles with my mom and Nana. It was pretty good.
• Currently watching Hercules with my sister Caitlyn. :)

All in all, this weekend was amazing. I needed to get away from the drab life of Rexburg, and this was just the thing. I'm sad to be leaving, but I'll be back for my "summer vacation" in about two months. 

WANT.

I want this camera. That is all.