4.25.2012
My “New reader? START
HERE!” post!!!
I thought this was important to share,
The very beginning… What this blog is all about
Hi. I’m Katelynn, and
I am so glad you are here.
So, I have this thing
for special needs babies and orphans in Africa.
(OK, I guess you could call it an obsession.)
Although I am not the
best writer, far from the most educated girl you will encounter and am the
worst person with being on time of anyone in the WORLD – I do have an enormous
hope for change...
No one is perfect and
who would I be helping with this blog anyways if I claimed to ever have it all
going on? So, I have decided to
make this blog as honest and real as they come.
Born in Wisconsin,
homeschooled for 8 years before attending “real” high school and college, who
fell in love with traveling in college after living in Monterey, San Francisco,
Barcelona and Paris within a 3 year gap (normally with just enough money to
survive - talk about some CRAZY adventures I need to write down!)
I guess I am not so “normal”
come to think of it, because I do think that the majority of girls my age plan their future dreaming about
a reliable job, the hunk that will sweep them off their feet, weddings,
babies, the picket fence, and the nice vacations they will take (every so often
when they can get off work.)
Not me.
You see, all I can seem to be
able to dream about is
Africa.. and how I am so unwilling to have been blessed with SO MUCH STUFF (material junk) when there are kids over there with no mommy, dinner or shoes.
But enough about me! “ME”
is not what this blog is about – this blog is about Him and about bringing
HOPE.
Love &
Healing
to the children who literally
have NOTHING.
Children like ….
Sweet Zak; Who when found weighed 30 lbs
at 10 years old, and was not being fed…
because
of his disability.
Zak is now at the brand new Ekisa
orphanage and doing well! Ekisa, is one of
the FEW orphanages for special needs children which was opened by a 22 year old
girl from Indiana who BELIEVED she could make a difference, and stepped out in
faith and has accomplished with God’s help the unimaginable!
Now,
normally when I start talking about my passion for disabled children in Africa [to
be treated as worthwhile and understood rather than stigmatized, and many times
abused and starved – more on that later though] I normally get asked – well, have
you ever been to Africa?
“I am going.”
It feels
so weird saying that, because for as long as I can remember, I have been
obsessed with this passion (so much so I even chose my major because of it) and
to admit I have not been in Africa yet boggles my mind, and perhaps the mind of
others as well.
But, then I remember…
that I am “only”
23
that timing is truly
everything
and that the time,
MY AFRICA TIME,
is
really,
truly,
finally,
NOW.
Won’t you PLEASE come
along with me on this journey? It is sure to be one heck of an adventure, and I
would love to have you along for the ride!
a beautiful description, written by a native of Africa. <33
4.18.2012
My little "nook"
Just when I have finally found peace living alone, my time living alone is almost up as this semester will be coming to an end in only a month. I thought I would document my first solo place a bit here in order to remember it.
My very favorite part about this apartment which sits on Main Street across from the lake in a little college town in Wisconsin is the 18 foot ceilings, the old school B&W tile floor in the kitchen and the little "nook" in the living room loft I created. Since the ceilings are so high, I assume the loft is about 15 feet up in the air, just big enough for a twin size mattress.
I filled this little, comfy space with a lot of traveling memories, and it is the perfect place to read, write, and of course - dream...
Ladder leading up to the little nook...
All the pictures on the wall are from magazines from Spain or France.
The white, sparkly hanging shawl is from my favorite vintage store in Paris.
4.08.2012
Easter weekend in pictures
Here is my Easter weekend in pictures :-) Happy Easter everyone!
"Home sweet home. This is the place to find happiness. If one doesn't find it here, one doesn't find it anywhere." M. K. Soni
Kiss, kiss!
- Kate
3.26.2012
PURE. GOOD. REAL. SOAP. The best soaps in the WORLD!
MAGIC Argan soap of Barcelona - FINALLY found!
My good friend Haeckel from 
I used that soap until it was gone! Every last little bit I saved in Paris. I remember purchasing a little soap dish for it even. Then, on my birthday, I bought a big ole' bottle of my first Dr. Bronner soap. I will never stop using his soap. I started with the Peppermint bought at American Apparel, and now I have the tea tree oil. It truly is MAGIC soap! Once you get this stuff - beware, you will be using it the rest of your life!
The best soap found in Paris - http://www.drbronner.com/
11.27.2011
25 things I learned traveling
while traveling
1.) Cherish the time you have with family. Make beautiful memories that are worth remembering. Don’t take family for granted. Friends come and go, family is forever.
2.) Your true friends will always be there for you, regardless of how many countries apart you may be.
3.) I never regret yoga after doing it. The hardest part is just getting started, but the way my body feels afterward is worth every minute I spend stretching and re-connecting my mind with my body.
4.) God is everywhere. I never have to feel lonely because He is everywhere we are, before we even get there.
5.) Appreciate everything. Every bite of food. Every minute spent with a good friend. Every sunset. Every kind encounter with a stranger. Every sunny day. Every rainy day. Every Bible verse. Appreciating the little things is my key to contentment.
6.) If something doesn’t make you happy – get rid of it.
7.) It is so much better to give than to receive.
8.) Money truly doesn’t matter. The happiest I have ever been is when I didn’t even have a wallet or a cent to my name.
9.) It is so important to spend time outside. I slept outdoors for weeks on end in Barcelona, and I have never felt more peace.
10.) No matter how you feel, there is someone else out there who feels the exact same way. Open yourself up to others and gain insight from people who have already been thru whatever issues you have in your life.
11.) You are never too old to create something new or learn a new skill.
12.) Those who matter don’t mind what you look like. Those who mind, don’t matter.
13.) True beauty is healthiness. The times in my life I have felt the most beautiful were the times I was being truly healthy. Not drinking, not eating processed foods, doing yoga daily and spending lots of time outdoors.
14.) The people you surround yourself with are of upmost importance in life.
15.) Don’t whine or complain. There are people out there who have far less than I do and far harder lives.
16.) Treat everyone the way you want to be treated and you will never be friendless.
17.) As long as you are a good, honest and loving person, good people really don’t care about much else.
18.) Age doesn’t matter. It really is important to spend time daily with both young and old.
19.) Respect animals and respect nature. We are all one or none.
20.) Time learning something new and having new experiences is never time wasted.
21.) Put time into relationships that matter. A hand written letter means far more than a facebook message. Things that take more time are appreciated when it comes to staying connected with each other. Show people you love how special they are to you.
22.) Give everyone a chance. There are too many good people in the world to live closed off to strangers. I have met some of my best friends by being open and aware to people around me. I met Ritchie on a plane while flying home from Monterey, Brittany while she was riding her bike outside my place in Paris and Sarah in the yoga tent during a rain storm in Barcelona as she was passing thru taking pictures.
23.) God is in control of my life. Since I am His princess, He keeps me safe if I allow Him to.
24.) Love is the most important thing in life; attempt to keep the spirit of love alive every day. True love is rare : 1 Corinthians 13 “1 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
25.) Hard work pays off and when I say work, I don’t mean slaving away for a master to make more money, I mean creating something beautiful and new – either in my own life or in someone else’s.
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