In attempt to write more in 2012

In an attempt to write more blogs in 2012 I have decided that they will be short blurbs. Today is in reference to Mindy Kaling's book that I just finished. It was worth the quick read but found myself skipping over certain parts that seemed to be added in attempt from taking short script and turning it into a book. She did however have some gems that left me laughing out loud on a plane ride and grabbing a pen to underline the quotable section. Here is one such section: "I don't think it should be socially acceptable for people to say they bad with names. No one is bad with names. That is not a real thing. Not knowing people's names is not a neurological condition; it's a choice. You choose to make not learning people's names a priority. It's like saying, 'Hey a disclaimer about me. I'm rude!'" More gems to come soon. Until that time a few pics from my trip.


Make yourself at home sir. Mi plane es su plane.


TPA to BNA


My lil mini-me. Leslie's daughter Kennedy. We are soul sistas! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:35,000 feet

SHREKED

My wish was to have time to write each of you an individual note but alas life happened and there are 30 of you so thats just a lot okay...

Words can't describe what an amazing experience these last 2 months have been! You all are some of the most wonderful people personally and professionally. I enjoyed the show every single time I saw it which is saying a lot. :)

You energized me with your spirit, your professionalism, your talent, your laughter, your humility, and of course your fun! You changed the lives of so many kids... which may sound dramatic but we know this to be true. We heard the stories of kids who always wanted to dance on stage or always wanted to meet Skipper. Kids who came back to our show 3, 4, 5 times. Kids who will remember this as the first show they ever went too. Who will have this moment as the moment they knew they wanted to be a performer as I am sure you all have those moments etched in your brains.

I don't know if you could see them but the last show we had ushers, cooks, waiters, and even execs doing dance moves to to our finale! They had come out especially to see our last performance and support all of you! What a testament to the awesomeness of our show!

A big thank you to Shelley, Bridget, and Chris for all of your amazing hard work. They were always so selfless and never actually got to see the show. So hopefully next year we can make those dreams come true.

To the amazing characters who endured all the pain and lack of sight and crazy kids and uncomfortableness. Thank you a million times over for not complaining and giving it your all everyday no matter what.

To our awesome dancers who dealt with sun, heat, a wet stage, quick changes, and kids dashing on the stage at any moment. Thanks for always giving it your all! Thanks for smiling and singing even when you didn't want too.

To Dennis who always goes above and beyond. Coming in early and staying late. Climbing on the roof week after week to refill the snow. Wiping the stage down when it was flooded. Dealing with people who didn't want to sit where they had too. And all of the late calls, sick calls, question calls. We appreciate all you do!!!

Thanks to all of you!

Please keep in touch! Call if you need anything and hope to see you all in 2012!

Much Love,

Katie

MID YEAR GOAL UPDATE

We are almost halfway through 2011. Crazy but true. So I decided to do a mid-year goal update to keep myself in check.

So here we go...

1. Love better. Needing the daily reminder to love others and myself better.

2. Be the best version of myself possible. Again this is a daily struggle. Yesterday was not so great but today I have the opportunity to be awesome!

3. Grow my business. Been a VERY slow first 5 months but have picked some things up over the next few months that are exciting and challenging! Thanks be to God!

4. Become a member of a church. I have been decent about attending a singular church although I still don't feel a huge connection there it might be time to just take the plunge and commit.

5. Go on some dates! Epic Fail on this one so far. Got asked out last week by a guy in a car next to me at a stop light. I think it was okay to pass on that one. We shall see where this one goes... but trying to be more approachable.

6. Run a half marathon. Definitely still a possibility. One of my other big goals this year that I didn't put on this list was to get in the best shape I can and that is going pretty well so hopefully the running this isn't too far behind.

7. Spend time traveling to Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii. This is pretty much all I talk about. You can ask my friends. It is such a huge goal for me. I am trying to figure out how to make it work, how to have money to do it for an extended period of time, what to do while I am there, etc. Any suggestions or ideas would be awesome!!!

8. Step out of my comfort zone on a regular basis. Have been decent at this so far. I sang in a dear friends wedding in March which was hugely out of my comfort zone. But I probably need to keep taking more risks!

9. Go to Mardi Gras! Didn't do this. I was in Chicago for work. But alas maybe next year.

10. Make new friends but keep the old ones. I believe that this is going well! Have some wonderful new friends at the Y, made some other great friends at the beginning of the year, and have some more potential ones. There are definitely days where I feel lonely and wish I had an everyday partner but overall I am a blessed and happy girl!

Thanks for reading! Continuing to think about possibly writing a book about my adventures. Would you read it? I also have a lot of interest in writing about the way different cultures view God and their relationship with Him. I think it would be very interesting as I travel to see how the worldview is different from what we have deemed the norm here in the states. Love your thoughts.

Peace,

Birdie <3

GOALS, LENT, LIFE

Well as always there is a VERY long absence between blogs. I always think of all these things that I want to blog about but the energy it takes to open up my computer and write it all down seems to be too much at times. Pathetic I know.

I currently even try to stray away from getting on my computer at all except to watch an episode of The Office on HULU. I feel like I am in a place where I am moving away from technology and more towards face to face interaction. I am happier around people, I am happier when I am not stuck on a computer, so therefore I am trying to spend my time away from the internet.

I am writing this in the Teen Center at the Y because it is full of yelling kids and not in a quiet coffee shop that is playing Coldplay over and over. It brings me more happiness to be around the chaos I guess. Things you learn about yourself as you get older.

Speaking of getting older I had a birthday last week and hit the milestone of 31. I handled it much better than I expected. Birthdays are usually a really tough time for me. But my friends made me feel loved, I was able to keep busy, and overall I just felt very blessed all day. So a big thanks to everyone who came to the house last Thursday and made me feel SO very loved and appreciated.

I set some goals at the beginning of the year. They mainly had to do with me embracing the things that bring me joy and make me happy and eliminating the things that don't. As most of you know I have been walking the life of a vagabond for the last 3 years. As Jerry says, I have made a career out of not having a career. I have tried over and over again to find the full time, steady job that might be the perfect fit. And over and over again it is made VERY clear to me that it is not the current direction God has for me. I am not sure why... I cannot see that the end goal to all of this. But I am continuing to be taken care of by Him and am going to remain faithful to what He places in front of me. I feel like there is a greater reason why I am able to live a life that is very free. I am hoping that my goal of spending time in Hawaii, New Zealand, and Australia will come to fruition at the end of this year. I have wanted to travel there for so long and really besides money there is just no other reason why I shouldn't do it.

For Lent this year I have decided to give up sugar and laziness. Sugar because I think it messes with my energy and laziness because as Lecrae says "Don't wanna waste my life". I don't know if any of you saw the episode of Secret Millionaire last Sunday but there was a non-profit on there that is almost identical to the one I have dreamed of creating here in Nashville. I am hoping to go visit them and see all the ends and outs. Would be exciting!

Last but not least if you think of it.. please keep my dad in your prayers over the next few days. Would be greatly appreciated. I know this blog has been all over the place. I will try and make them more succinct in the future. Much love.

Birdie

A Valentines Reminder...

Inspired by the best Valentine's text message I have ever gotten. It says this...

"Today reminds me of the people that taught me how much I am loved by my Father and in turn should love myself that much. Not sure I would be the woman I am today without knowing that and knowing you! I love you so much and my life will be forever changed because of you. Thank you!"

I mean... come on! I was in tears.

That is what this day is about. Loving those who love us and of course loving the One who first loved us.

I love all of you so much and am so thankful for you loving me and for God loving me when I am so undeserving.

Take this day to remind yourself of all the people who love you and whom you love!!! Tell them, show them, LOVE them!

Happy Valentine's Day!

<3 Katie

New Beginnings

It has been a VERY long December as the song says and there is great reason to believe that maybe this year WILL be better than the last. Been trying to think through my annual goal list for the New Year so...

Here is to the New Year with New Beginnings and some "new" things I have in mind. :-)

1. Love better. Its always on the list and is always something I strive for.

2. Be the best version of myself possible. Thanks to Oprah for this one. I dance to the beat of my own drum. Always have, always will and need to be okay with that everyday.

3. Grow my business. I have been richly blessed the second half of the year with some amazing opportunities and would love to continue to grow in that and get to the point with Birdie Events where I am having to turn work down instead of constantly looking for more.

4. Become a member of a church. I have been floating from church to church for about 4 years without making a commitment because of travel and being lazy. The time has come to commit!

5. Go on some dates! This one petrifies me! Instead of running from anyone who pays me attention I should probably try put myself out there more and seek out more dating opportunities no matter what the outcome.

6. Run a half marathon. This one is pretty ballsy since I have had 2 knee surgeries but I feel fairly confident I can do it. :)

7. Spend time traveling to Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii. Another bold one. But if you don't aim high & challenge yourself then you aren't really living, right?

8. Step out of my comfort zone on a regular basis. This one is all about taking risks. Wearing heels even when I know I will be the tallest in the room. Show up to a party even if I only know a few people. Go rock climbing even when I might not be any good at it. You get the point.

9. Go to Mardi Gras! Never been. Roommate is from New Orleans. Make it happen!

10. Make new friends but keep the old ones. I LOVE new people and want to continue to expand the beautiful friends I have in my life.

I remember at the beginning of 2009 I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. I was a mess of confusion. I have learned this last year is that its okay for things to look different and not be what the norm is.

As my friend Jerry says "I have made a career out of doing whatever I want." I guess that is fairly true. I feel blessed in that.

I hope the piece of wisdom I can impart to anyone who is struggling with what their life looks like or doesn't look like yet is to accept the present. We are told our whole lives that life has to look a certain way. Find one career and be that... your job defines you in our culture. Well i think my job is to love people... so let that define me.

We also put pressure on ourselves to be married and have a family by a certain time and without that we feel like failures or incomplete. Well I have a wonderful family of friends. They support me, love me, and care for me just as well as having my own family. I don't feel like I have to get married or have kids to be complete. I would love it if God blessed me with those experiences but I feel like those things don't define me. Loving God and loving people defines me. I say to the single people of the world... there is a reason why you are single so embrace it, love it, and thank God for it. I do.... most days. ;-)

I posted this last year around this time. But in case you are a new friend. Here it is again written by one of the best men who ever lived. Happy New Year everyone!

My prayer for you, and for me, at the beginning of this new year and after a long December, is that we will discover the beautiful grace of God in our lives and throughout God’s creation. Even as we do not understand, as in our sleeping and rising, may God’s grace be among us. And may this gift of God prompt is us a reason to believe that this year will be better than the last.

(Intellectual property of Dan Goodman, Copyright pending)

Life this month...

I feel very blessed for things to have picked up work wise in October... now if only if I could book a few things in November and December. Fingers crossed!

Here are the rest of the events I am working on this month in case you feel like getting out. :-)

Wednesday, October 13th- Capitol Records Street Party!

http://countrymusicrocksnet.blogspot.com/2010/09/more-details-about-capitol-records.html

Saturday, October 16th- Nashville Ultra Marathon

http://www.nashvilleultra.com/

Sunday, October 24th- Concert at Fontanel featuring Montgomery Gentry, Gretchen Wilson, & John Rich

www.fontanelmansion.com

Should be a fun rest of the month. Some photos from tour in the link below in case you haven't seen them yet. :-)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=52494&id=561668767&l=4ffa68607b

Still trying to take a trip to Gentry's Farm and Arrington Vineyards this month in between everything. Oh and I am moving the last weekend of the month... just into my friend Sara Beth's house in woodbine. It will be a big adjustment... but excited about the new adventure of having a roommate.

Have a great week everyone!