my "little" brother

This:

is my little brother. His name is Eric. Cute, right?

He is the best little brother a girl could have.

Now wait, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that your little brother is the best little brother someone could have. Well, I hate to break it to you, but you're wrong. Plain and simple. Mine already filled that spot long ago. I apologize for any offense taken. Here are a few reasons why Eric is the best:

- He didn't hate me after I would pour glasses of icy cold water on his head while he was in the shower as a small child. Okay, okay...maybe I did this even when he wasn't a small child.

- He still loves both Jeff and I after we used to squirt him in the face with a spray bottle every time he'd walk into a room as a little boy. He used to talk a lot. Like...a LOT. Jeff and I tried using that tactic to achieve silence. It might have had the opposite effect of what we were hoping. Mean, I know. I have since repented.

- He forgave me for threatening to bring the hose in through his window while he was sleeping and spray him to wake him up. Again, I know what you're thinking. Why all the water? ...No idea.

- When he was about three or four, I told him that his ravioli was monkey brains. He cried, but he still loves me today. I am fairly certain he even loved me then.

- He lets me give him hugs in front of his friends. Those of you with little brothers know this is a big deal. He even tells his friends that I'm cool sometimes. I know.

- He set up my computer on remote desktop so that he could fix my computer from his house when it breaks down, which happens to be a lot, I might add. I take no credit for this. Is it my fault if technology hates me?

- He is a technology genius. Seriously. You may have figured that out from the "remote desktop" thing. I didn't even know that existed until he told me he was going to set it up. Who knew.

- He is an incredible runner. He runs many-a-mile and barely breaks a sweat. When Eric goes running with me, I "run" and he walks nonchalantly beside me while I wheeze my lungs out. He is very encouraging the entire tme.

- Eric can fix things, let me tell you. If you need anything fixed, he is the one to call. No matter what it is. If you need anything broken, I am definitely the one to call. Again, I take no credit for this. In this case, I'll blame my parents for passing on their genes in a biased manner.

-He is an interesting mix between a skater and a redneck. Didn't know that combination was possible? Neither did I until about a year ago.

- Eric is incredibly musical. He plays guitar (which you probably figured out from the picture above) and trumpet and is pretty dang good at figuring things out on the piano for never having had a lesson. He also sings like a pro, in spite of denying it fiercely.

- He has the best heart of anyone I know. When I am talking to Eric, I always know he is being sincere.

- Eric is the best listener. When I need to vent or cry (or do both simultaneously), Eric is often my first choice, because he just listens and rubs my back, and it's obvious he really cares (again with the sincerity).

- In spite of the fact that there are four years between us in age, I can safely say that Eric is one of my best friends. Hands down.

Once again, I think I know what you're thinking. How did so many awesome traits end up in one kid? I'm honestly not sure. And I don't hold it against him either. He can't help being so awesome.

In case you couldn't tell:

I am so proud of my "little" brother.

Love you, Bud.

strange paranoia

Fact:

I have a very strange paranoia of walking into a men's restroom. Even if I have been to the same ladies' room a million times, I still check the sign outside the door every time...just to make sure. Hey, you never know when they'll decide to switch things up. I don't have any memory of ever having done this before; it's just something that worries me. Not like I sit at home at night and worry about it kind of worry. Just like I don't want it to happen in the near future. Or at any point in the future, for that matter.

Story:

Yesterday, I went to the restroom in the building where I TA. Been there a thousand times (give or take a hundred). I walked all the way in and realized I hadn't checked the sign outside the door, so I turned around, walked back out the door, checked the sign, glanced at the quizzical expression on the face of a studying student, and walked back in, satisfied that I hadn't just done something that I was going to regret.

Sometimes you just have to be sure, ya know?

instant replay

My brain does some very odd things.

We don't need to get into all of them today (I just don't have that much time), but let's talk about one of my favorite things that my brain does.

I call it...instant replay.

So you know how when someone tells a joke, everyone laughs, and then the moment is gone? Well, not for me. When someone tells me a joke, my brain replays it instantly and it's funny the first time,

the second time,

the third time,

the fourth time,

the fifth time,

(let's just say plus infinity) and I just laugh again and again and again.

It's really awkward, though, when the moment has passed for everyone else, and I'm still sitting there giggling to myself.

But to be honest, I don't worry about it too much because I'm just too busy laughing.

my saving grace

I am tired.

I wake up every day (after my alarm has gone off about six times), go to school (which is inevitably getting harder), sit in my office hours as a TA (do you even know how many students don't read the syllabus?), go to work (...well, at least they feed me. sometimes.), then come home and study for hours on end (depending on how many tests I happen to have that week) until I fall asleep.

Except that I left out my favorite part.

Running.

Running has become my saving grace (or at least...one of them). No matter how much tension I have built up in my neck or how badly I want to just cry (sometimes. not every day.), running always makes me feel better. At least until I start studying again. Ha.

I found early on in the semester that attempting to get up at 6:30am and go running didn't work very well. At least for me. No one's ever accused Katie Sparks of being a morning person.

So, a few weeks ago, I started running directly after I got home from work. And it was wonderful. The weather had finally cooled down to the point where I could do that and not die of heat exhaustion.

Then it started getting dark early. And I kept running. When Jason and Jerod found out that I was running while it was dark, they decided to make it their personal mission to make sure I didn't run by myself at night. I'm sure my dad will be eternally grateful to them. So now I have running buddies.

At first, I wasn't sure how I would like that, since trying to talk while I'm running has never been a strong suit of mine. But it's so fun. I love it. My favorite is when we've been running a while and one of them says something to make me laugh. It comes out as sort of a wheez-laugh-wheez-laugh while I'm half-running, half-falling over, which only makes me wheez-laugh-wheez-laugh harder because it's such a funny predicament. I can only imagine what people driving by are thinking as they see "that special girl" running down the block.

Moral of the Story:

I am inexpressibly grateful that Thanksgiving break is next week.

Moral of the Story #2:

Please don't throw rocks at me while I'm running.

the icing AND the cake

Today, I have been feeling especially happy. I just can't stop smiling. Here are a few reasons for this:

1. I got to go to institute. And it was awesome. It's only 50 minutes long, but it reminds me who I am, where I came from, and why I'm here. It makes me excited to read the word of God from the scriptures and apply those concepts in my life! Brother Calton always challenges us, and makes us do lots of little self-evaluations to aid us in making necessary changes. And I find myself wanting to make changes for the better!

2. Today is Matt's P-Day, which means two very exciting things: I got an email from him today and will get a letter from him in a few days! He sounds so happy right now, which always just makes me happy, too. Heavenly Father always blesses us when we strive to do His will. :)

3. The semester is about half-way over! The end is in sight! And that means Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up quick! Hallelujah! I get to see my family and friends very soon!

4. The sun is shining and it is a beautiful day! I don't know how to explain the effect that this has on me. It's as if the rays beam down and come straight back out my heart. The sun makes me smile, and I can barely contain my happiness. It helps to go to school on a scenic campus. If you ever see a nerdy girl outside in the sun reading (hopefully not a textbook)...it may or may not be me. But it probably is.

5. I am thinking about doing a double major and going to grad school. I can't say exactly why this makes me as excited as it does, but thinking about it just makes me feel empowered somehow. I must confess, there are some days where the prospect of more school does NOT make me excited, but today it does.

6. I just recently started thinking about possibly trying out to be a Young Performing Missionary in Nauvoo, Illinois. Recent as in, like, today. Yeah, it may or may not happen (I would say the likelihood of me getting accepted isn't very good as there are only 20 spots), but it makes me excited to think of it as a possibility.

7. Sometimes I like looking up quotes about random subjects. Today, I decided to look up quotes on happiness. I found this one (which is probably a little tongue-in-cheek):

"Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory."
-Albert Schweitzer

But I think this one that I found on lds.org expresses the feelings of my heart in a much deeper way:

"True conversion yields the fruit of enduring happiness that can be enjoyed even when the world is in turmoil and most are anything but happy."
-Elder Richard G. Scott

That is the true source of my happiness--that incredible knowledge that I have of a loving Father in Heaven and his son, Jesus Christ, and their plan for us--ALL of us. Everything else is just icing on the cake.

no thank you, homework

Remember that back to blogging post? I might have been lying. Not intentionally, of course. But lying nonetheless. I can't lie on purpose. Like really can't. At least lie and make it sound believeable. I should never be a spy...

School is HARD this semester. Whoever came up with the idea that classes should get harder as you become an upper-classman? Rude. Not only are they harder, but they are more stressful and MUCH more work. Redundant? Possibly. Whoever you are, I am NOT your number one fan. I'm not even your number one HUNDRED or one hundred THOUSAND fan. That's right. Take that. Now if you could just change that policy, please. Thank you.

I never realized how much time Matt spent calming me down every day as I would stress out about every little thing until he wasn't here to do it. Go figure. However, his letters still do a world of good.

School, I love you.

Homework, I don't. You make my life much harder. I'm trying to love you; they do say that trials make the heart grow stronger, don't they? Well regardless of whether they do or they don't, I'm pretty sure trials do just that. So I'm sure someday I'll thank you. In the meantime...

yep. i do this a lot.

Background:

I have two classes in the same building an hour and a half apart from each other. They are on different floors, but the floorplan on each floor is exactly the same.

Story (for which the Background info. is needed):

So the other day, I walked into one of my classes, and saw a bunch of kids I didn't recognize. This is actually not uncommon for me since I sit in the back and don't normally pay very much attention to the other kids in the class except for those that sit in my direct vicinity. Then a girl that I recognized from one of the past semesters called out to me, "Hey, Katie! Have you been in this class the whole time?!"

I looked around, now uncertain of my surroundings. "Uhh...is this Abnormal Child Psych?"

She gave me a look that suggested she was about to laugh. I knew the answer already. "Haha no," she replied.

"Okay...bye," I said. Then I turned around and walked out.

Explanation (for the Story):

Yep, that's right. I went to the location on the first floor where my class is on the third floor.

Confused? So was I.

Thanks for listening.