On being "skinny"

My entire life I have been the "skinny girl". I was that girl that people 'hated' because I literally ate pizza for lunch every day and didn't eat healthy and could eat a bucket of KFC chicken and not gain weight. From the time I was a little girl people would comment on how skinny I was, not in a bad way but almost like a compliment. I did sports all throughout my childhood. I was constantly doing some athletic activity until my junior year of high school when I didn't make the volley ball team, but even after I stopped consistently working out I was still "skinny". I never gained the "freshman 15" I think mainly because my diet never changed. I moved away from home and ate the exact same way I ate when I was home. Also I dislocated my ankle my first semester and so the first few weeks of college I was kind of on an eat when I need to diet because I couldn't walk. But that aside, I was always "skinny". I went on study abroad, where everyone gains weight, and I lost 10 pounds. I actually had a girl come up to me one day and ask me 'how I stayed so skinny' which was awkward because she was all about health and fitness and I, well, wasn't. People have always asked me that though, "How do you stay so thin?" "You're so skinny! How do you do that?". You guys, pizza and fries and moderate to sedentary exercise plan. That was my diet. That is what I did to stay "skinny".

This one is kind of a doozy. Putting in a break. Click through for more!

Life of an Unemployed College Grad

I graduated from college about a month and a half ago. Up until that point I had been a student for nearly 17 years of my life and then one day it just stopped. I took my last final exam and walked away. I didn't have a job, an internship, anything. I graduated unprepared to face the real world.

I still don't have a job but thank the heavens I have an internship so I don't just waste away. Do you know how awful it is to go from writing papers nearly every week to doing absolutely nothing? For the first two weeks I spent my days looking for jobs and because we didn't have a couch I looked for jobs on my bed. Dan would wake up and go to school and I'd wake up, force myself to shower and get dressed and then look for jobs. You guys, you can only look/apply for jobs for so long because there are only so many people looking to hire a recent graduate with a degree in Sociology trying to enter the world of Human Resources with little to no experience.

In the last month that I have been back in Utah and looking for a job I have had 2 interviews and I have another one next week (pray for me). One with Sprout-Kids where I now work as a Human Resources/Social Media Marketing Intern about 15 hours a week for no pay and one with an HR firm that didn't hire me. So, for the... 15-20 jobs I have applied to in the last 4 weeks only 3 people have contacted me. This is worse than dating!

I am so grateful for my internship and for the opportunities it has given me to expand and create new skills and develop more expertise in the fields that I am interested in. And even though they didn't hire me, I'm really grateful to the company that I had an interview with. I'm so grateful to the companies that give me the chance to become something great.  It feels good to know people think your skills are valuable and that they find you employable. It feels awful to be ignored by companies who only require a high school degree or equivalent but want 5 years of HR experience for their HR assistant position.

I know this is no fun to read but this is who I have been the last few weeks and I feel it has changed me a little. I wish I could go back 3 years and tell my college sophomore self to do things differently, but I can't. I do want to change how I act in the future though and I think this experience has helped me to kind of reevaluate myself and what/who I want to be. 

A Personal History- Valentines Day 4

And now the end of the saga. My most recent Valentines Day.

My current situation: living in a house with 4 amazing roommates. I have wonderful friends all around from various circles of my life (freshman/sophomore roommates, EFY, Jerusalem, high school, etc.) and of course I am still single {and enjoying it}

Highlights from February 14, 2012:

This was probably my busiest Valentines Day by far. It started with school and homework which was definitely not a high light but I digress. My real Valentines Day started with a Respite Night at Clear Horizons Academy. CHA is a special school for kids with autism- most of these kids are not high functioning and many have difficulties communicating. Respite Night was a chance for the parents of the students at the school to drop off all of their children (whether they're on the Autism spectrum or not) and just have a night off- a rare treat for parents of children with Autism. There were probably 50 volunteers and about as many kids that showed up. My special valentine was a boy named Fawkes {yes, like Guy Fawkes}. I help my friend Ryan watch him on Mondays while his mom is teacher her class. {Ryan says he looks like an Ewok... not sure if I entirely agree but I actually just looked up what an Ewok looked like because I didn't know what they looked like...**} So Fawkes and I were kind of buds before respite night but like any relationship we had our rough patches. For the most part though Fawkes and I had a great time playing with puzzles and flash cards- well Fawkes played and I watched and assisted when called upon by my little darlin. At the end of the night we were both just as happy as could be which is what I call a successful evening.

After respite night I dashed over to my grandparent's house to eat a delicious late dinner {my second dinner of the night} of enchiladas and other delicious Mexican foods. The special thing about that- and the reason why it was so late- was because my uncle John came into town.

Needless to say it was a fabulous Valentines Day. I got to play with kids all night and do a bit of service while doing it and I got to eat dinner with people who love me {even if it's just because they're biologically obligated to}. So not your typical Valentines Day but most definitely one to remember. New Valentines tradition? I think so.

**yes that was probably something I should have kept to myself- hide face in somewhat shame

A Personal History- Valentines Day 3

Sorry I'm a bit behind on this little series but here is the story of my 3rd real valentines day.

Sophomore year of college, living in King Henry {it was just a phase}. The weekend before Valentines day my roommate Taalin and I just spent the morning/early afternoon together. We went to Target and found this wonderful little place called Pizza Pie Cafe Express. It's basically Pizza Pie Cafe but to go and super cheap. We got 5 dollar pizza and a cheese bread and cinnamon bread and had a little picnic on our living room floor. It was so delicious and cheap, yum. I ended up getting a valentines day package from my mom that day which included lots and lots of candy and a letter from Dan. Best mail day ever.

The Elders Quorum even decided to buy all the girls in the ward flowers

{still the best idea I think I have ever heard- everyone should get flowers on Valentines Day}

The Monday of Valentines Day our ward had been invited to a dance. I ended up going with my roommate and some guy friends from my ward. The dance was actually really fun until they started playing this dating game activity. It was like mystery date where you'd have one boy and three girls and questions and all that jazz. It was painfully long and awkward and the speakers weren't working and we were all ready to dance again. {No need to have another reminder of how single we were and how desperate our bishops were to marry us off} They ended up doing 4 rounds (2 boys and 2 girls) and on the last one they were calling up thelast three girls and I hear "Katie Robison" faintly over the speaker. I about died. Out of the hundreds of girls names in that bowl of course my name was chosen. I walked up to the stage {none too thrilled might I add} and took my proper place as "contestant #3" {or #1, no one really knew} Because the speakers hadn't been working properly the entire time it was impossible for anyone to hear including the people on the stage. So after answering questions like "what is your best Halloween costume?" and "what's your best pick up line?" and no one being able to understand it was basically put up to a vote from the audience. AKA dudes, tell me which girl is hottest. So awkward {the feminist inside me was slightly raging at this point} In the end the lucky man on the other side of the curtain declared he had rightfully picked for what I'm sure his bishop had hoped to be his eternal companion: "contestant #3". Yes ladies and gentlemen, I was the prize date {I should put that on my resume... 'prize date for 28 year old single Belmont dude'} Our joint prize? a 25 dollar gift card to Red Robin. After awkwardly meeting for the first time on stage in front of our peers we went off to the side to exchange numbers so that he could call me and we could potentially fall in love and graduate from our respective singles wards.

Epilogue:

How did the date go you ask? Well turns out homeboy belmont {no I don't remember his name- should give you a clue as to how it went} didn't end up calling me until the first week of March {a month later if you were wondering}. We went out on a fabulous Thursday night date to an almost empty Red Robin. We ate burgers and talked {though he actually was never facing me during the date... awkward}. We successfully spent the $25 on burgers and a sundae for two {well it was more like for 10 but you know}. He dropped me back off at my apartment and we went our separate ways never to hear from each other again.

A Personal History- Valentines Day 2

Freshman year of college and I had a boyfriend- my first and only boyfriend {to date} and also the first boy I ever loved. We had been officially dating for 2 months and on our 2 month marker {anniversary just sounds weird} he brought me homemade chocolate chip cookies, a mix CD, and he told me he loved me. This was just a few days before Valentines Day that year and it is a memory that today I still cherish because at that time I was in love with my best friend {and the cookies were delicious}.
We didn't do much for Valentines Day. V-day was on a Sunday so we went out to dinner Saturday night {the malt shop in Provo} and came back to my apartment and just hung out with our friends. We actually ended up making this really embarrassing short video about apples to apples or something {it wasn't my idea}. On Sunday Dan and I sat next to each other at church and went to my grandparents for dinner. I think we might have even gone to a fireside {I know there was one going on but I don't remember if we went} and later that night we watched Monsters Inc. I know romantic, right?

The other thing I remember about that Valentines Day is that I had decided to make it more of a "thanking of the people I loved/appreciated" holiday. I went to the store and bought cards for my physical therapist from that year and took the office some chocolate and I bought my grandparents some flowers just to say thanks for being such amazing people and helping me while I was in Provo. I also made a cake and cupcakes just to have around the house and give people because my mom sent me a mix and cool heart shaped cake pan.

This part of that valentines day is my favorite part now because it reminds me of the amazing people I have in my life and that I am consistently around people that I love. I do love valentines day- not just because of the cheesy movies or chocolates and flowers but because it is a time to appreciate the people you love in your life. This specific valentines day also helps me remember that I don't need a boyfriend to have a good valentines day- not that I didn't enjoy every minute of Monsters Inc. and I did love Dan- but valentines day is more than that. It really is about all of the people you love.

My cake and one cupcake

I can't believe I'm putting this picture up- embarrassing

Oh did I mention I also gave blood that weekend for the first time and they totally screwed up-
yup, still haven't quite mentally recovered from have a needle moved around inside my arm
Happy Valentines Day

A Personal History- Valentines Day 1

So I thought I'd go down memory lane and revisit some of my more fabulous memories. And by fabulous I mean somewhat painfully funny memories. Valentines Day. This is kind of a 4 part series I guess. I have had 4 valentines days since I turned 16 so I guess that would mean that I have had 4 real valentines days. So this is my first real valentines day.

How great is this: GNO! That's right- Girls Night Out. Me and my besties: Laura {who is now engaged!!}, Kelsey, and Ariel {who is now married!!}. We got all dressed up, and went out to dinner at Pogacha. After an absolutely delightful dinner we decided to go to QFC and bought flowers for ourselves and family members {mom's and sisters and the like}. It was so much fun! After we went to Laura's for a delicious night of chocolate fondue and just had girl talk.

It was seriously one of the most fun nights of my life. Just spending the night with some of my best friends of all time.

Thanks girlies for making my first "real" valentines day so fantastic!!

Olivia and I pre-outing

Kelsey, Laura, Me, and Ariel at dinner

Me, Ariel, and Laura

Me and Laura buying flowers