Shazam! I’m back from the Emerald Isle!
Spent the last 4 days staying with my awesome cousin David in his house in Dublin. I had a great time, and me and James managed to use aeroplanes and coaches and buses all by ourselves to get around and didn’t once get lost! YAY US FTW!
We spent most of the evenings talking about everything and anything (from American Politics to Stephen the lion in Dublin Zoo) Quite a lot of the time I think the conersation went over my head because James and David were talking about technical things that I didn’t really understand, but it was great all the same :D
We did a tour of Dublin (discovering a quarter of the way round after we’d got off the bus to do some shopping that we had infact been listening to the Kiddys Tour chanel - well none of the other chanels were in English and how were we supposed to know they had a chanel 0!)
We also were taken to Jonny Fox’s Pub, which is this amazing little pub up in the mountains of Dublin absolutly crammed full of random paraphernalia. Everything from old boots, old harnesses, old farming equipment, stuffed fox’s, newspaper cuttings and anything else you can really think of that might be irish. Its had a host of famous guests from President Clinton to Elijah Wood (yes, I was delighted when I heard that) and the seafood it serves is really tasty. They also have live music every nigh, and we watched a solo acoustic guitar and vocalist who had such a great voice. When he sung without his guitar, the entire pub went silent (and Jonny Fox’s is fairly lively) - it was so great.
David also gave us a tour of Googles office in Dublin where he works, which was really really cool (we enjoyed the free Ben and Jerrys ice cream) I don’t know really what I can and can’t say about google, because we had to sign an NDA before we were allowed in, but it was all very interesting.

So thanks to our gracious hosts David and Charlotte, I hope we weren’t too much trouble and we had a wonderful time!

Lotsa Love
Kat
xxx

So thanks everso to

I’m going to go to uni in 3 weeks 4 days.
In 3 weeks and 4 days my life changes, irreversibly. I somehow have to pack it up and fit it into my newly allocated room, and make it all fit there.
But there are some things I cant just pack up and take with me - it just so happens those things are the most important to me. I cant pack my friends into boxes and keep them under my bed for use when needed. I can’t pack my boyfriend off with me and hide him in my wardrobe. I cant bottle up the mysterious and downright crazy connection I have with my clostest friends, to be released at will. Somehow we’re all gonna have to cope without each other and learn how to make new friends, learn to find people who we can live with, laugh with and love to be with.
One thing I can pack up with me and take where ever I may go is my memories, and I treasure each and every memory I have from water fights to ultimate Frisbee. From walks to talks, I’m gonna hold onto them all as tight as I can.

So I guess this is really a tribute - to everyone who helped make and shape those memory’s, I thank.
Our lives are shaped by so many people in ways we can never even fathom, and I’m just glad that these years have happened to be shaped by the best people on this planet.

Lotsa Love
Kat
xxx

P.S You all rock

BEST RIDING LESSON EVARRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

It was so amazing! I jumped so much and all but one jump were uprights. My horse was being a bit difficult but we got over all the fences and it was such a confidence boost. Although at the end, we were doing some cross country jumps, it was the last jump and my horse kept refusing a hanging log, (a log held up on posts so there is a gap underneith) but we finally got over it, went for big gallop circle, came back and, at full cross country canter to keep up the impulsion we headed towards the jump, only for him to stop literally just infront of it - I however carried on over his head, smacked onto the log, and slid off it onto my feet. It hurt. A lot.
But I don’t really mind because there wasn’t a whole lot I could have dont to stop him doing that, and I’m still alive, last night the hip was very painful making walking up/down stairs fun and sitting down a bit of a mission but this morning its just a bit bruised :D

The week previous I went to a foam party at Fire club, and although it was absolutly packed to and beyond capacity, I had a lot of fun. It was lots of fun to dance whilst some guy sprayed everyone with layers of foamy stuff (leaving your hair smelling strangely of persil) Although towarsd the end, my lacking in stature became slightly hazardous, as I found myself increasingly getting crushed and had to be saved on a few occasions from complete flattening.
The next morning my ribs were sore!

Lotsa Love
Kat
xxx

Personally I dislike the idea of child beauty pagents. The whole idea of dressing up a girl of 10 or 11 in a full face of make up and wearing a ballgown smacks of a parent living through their child.
It also seems to be wrong to make such pretty children grow up so quickly. Some of the 11-13 year olds looked 15+. They have their whole lives to be adults and to live like that. Further more the girls seem to become sexualised far far too young - the dancing is often saucy and the girls are encouraged to use flirtatious expressions to win the judges attention. In a world obsessed with child security and paediphillia, this encouraged sexual behaviour seems out of place

I was watching ‘Sasha: beauty queen at 11′. Sasha was lovely - and maybe people will say I’m being bitter because I could clearly never compete in a pagent, even should I want to. but it seems to be wrong. Sasha often seemed uncomfortable and unsure of how she was meant to be behaving. Especially with her mother around who seemed just as interested in how much attention she could get for herself as for her daughters modeling career (the repeated reason given for pushing Sasha)
The mother herself was a model but her career was shortlived and started late. Altho the mother continuously said it was “about sasha”, she said many times ‘I’d like to do this - I should do this I could win this etc etc.’ Also when the attention was not on mother and daughter and just on daugher, she was very vocal about how boring it was.
A different pagent mum said “sasha could do very well. but it would be sasha’s success. not her mothers.” And that, to me, was a poignitent comment.

Maybe I’m being overly harsh, and I’m sure the girls love it. Dressing up as a princess would be incredible. I just dont understand why some parents would push so hard when the child wasn’t enjoying themselves. One grandma said “shes become my hobby” Wierd much?
But what harm is there and what is wrong with being proud of your child? None.
Whats wrong with pushing your child to live for your dream not theirs? Every thing.

Lotsa Love
Kat
xxx

Happy Birthday Blog!
(So I missed the 2 year mark)
I’ve used you to witter, complain, contemplate and discuss anything that popped into my head at any given stage.
I’ve found that blogging has made me a far more analytical person and a more reflective one. In these last two years I hope I’ve grown as a person.
May this continue.

I’m up to date with lonelygirl15.
SARAH? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Okay so I didn’t write a diary - but my trip was brilliant :D Photos are on facebook and a couple of videos are on my youtube channel (yeh, they’re really random and I don’t expect anyone to find them that funny, but you never know…)
It was lovely in the sun, although didn’t manage to tan…at all really, so I’ll just have to rock the not-that-pale-but-interesting-none-the-less look. We did have one night of rain, and a heavy, heavy downpour makes eating in an open air restaurant a soggy affair, but entertaining none the less.

It was also great just monging out in the apartment in the morning when we would all dive into one or other of our rooms and just crumple on the beds allowing our sleep fuddled brains to wake up very slowly and mumble vague plans for the day which usually involved either the beach or the pool and lots of salty crisps.

I enjoyed getting to know the girls in different ways and I feel that my friendship with them is stronger.
Thanks for the great times

Lotsa Love
Kat
xxx

I found this amazing video.
He makes so many good points, this should be on the curriculum!

Yesterday the blugaria (yes I realise I’m calling it bLugaria rather than buLgaria) crew were out in full numbers for a shopping extravaganza (well almost…never mind the fact that none of us really had much money and in the morning Kirstin and Gemma were seriously in need of caffeine and then by the afternoon me and Emily were flagging)
It was wonderful fun and we even remembered to get off the bus in the morning when we got to the station (well only after sitting there for a few minutes before Emily exclaimed “You guys! Don’t we need to get off here?”)
We found rainbow high heels (which the stroppy bitches in the shop wouldn’t let us photograph - because we’re blatantly gonna steal the design) and I was amazed at the amount of babies there seemed to be - once you’d noticed one there seemed to be hundreds!

I spent this evening with my two riding buddies and we watched the Hickstead show jumping competition with the infamous derby bank (a 10′6″ high bank with a 60 degree decent which rider and horse have to plunge down and then make a huge jump two strides later) which was absolutely brilliant - a real nail biter right to the end when they had to do a ‘jump off’ (ie, the two who were joint first jump another course, and whoever does it fastest or with the least amount of fences knocked over - depending on which comes first, wins) and it was even more exciting because it was the winner of last years even and the winner of 2006 jumping against each other.

Today was also my three year anniversary. Woop! :D
Lotsa Love
Kat
xxx
P.s - Simon, this is your prize for the e-hug. :p Things will go better now I’m sure:
Everyone - Simon rocks and this is his mention.

“dun dun dunun dununnun! [secret agent music]Look look theres a squiril in the bin!”
“See, that squiril is laughing at all its mates right, ‘cos its got that sandwich and all they have is nuts!”

That was just a snippet of the observational genious from a rather soggy picnic in the park with the blugaria crew (obviously minus one member who has a social life that is organised and not just randomly thought of the evening before) . Also my rather tragic parking was once again shown up.

In other news, I took my broken glasses to be fixed (clever me actually broke the lense by standing on them…mmmhmmm thats just how I roll) and it cost me a bank breaking £42.50 to get ONE lense replaced. The frames are fine so what the hell they do for that £42.50 I really don’t know. They better come back covered in a thin layer of diamond or something. I guess that will teach me for being a klutz.

…I lie it wont…

Lotsa Love
Kat
xxx