April: Sexual Assault Awareness/Prevention Month

Ok friends, tough subject time: Many of you may know that the entire month of April is Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. I know that I don't bring this subject up often, and that I usually steer clear of bringing up extremely personal things in my blog - - but I feel like admitting that this cause hits close to home personally will express just how important this post, and your support, is to me.

With this in mind, I would like to dedicate this post to raising awareness and showing my continued support for RAINN. "The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network is the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1.800.656.HOPE and the National Sexual Assault Online Hotline at rainn.org, and publicizes the hotlines' free, confidential services; educates the public about sexual violence; and leads national efforts to prevent sexual violence, improve services to victims and ensure that rapists are brought to justice" (RAINN's mission statement taken from rainn.org).

April also happens to be my birthday month :) I would like to ask again this year that if you were thinking about getting me a gift, to instead make a donation to RAINN in honor of awareness month. It's pretty easy to do! Just go to http://www.rainn.org/ and follow the directions. Their goal this year is $50,000 and as of today they are only $9,707 away from it with a current total of $40,293.

You can also donate/show support by purchasing the RAINN Hope Necklace, new to the campaign this year. 80% of the profits will be donated back to the non-profit organization. I haven't purchased it yet as it is a little out of my price range, so I don't know what it looks like in person - but judging by the online pictures I think it is pretty cute! Plus, it is one more way to show your support!

Any donations are appreciated; but if you cannot afford to donate right now that is ok too. There are many ways to show support for the cause, the organization, and for the survivors :)

Love and as always creatively yours,

Kat

Quick Update 4/25/11

Hello all - - there haven't been many updates lately but hopefully soon. There seems to be a lot going on in life lately and I just haven't had the time to dedicate to a full post on Blogger. I have been catching up on 302 days of journal writing and brainstorming ideas for a project my sister, Josh and I plan to work on this summer. I have also been working on a more personal piece the last several weeks. A lot is changing with my grandparents - my grandfather especially - and I'm so far away I can't really help and feel kind of helpless in the matter. So one night when I couldn't sleep I found it helpful to start writing about him. Before I knew it I was filling page after page with stories about my 96-year old grandfather. I liked it so much I decided to continue it and see where it lead.

Work is still going good, the twins are getting taller - - meaning they are able to get into more mischief and keeping me on my toes. They are 1 and a half this month :)

Summer is just about here, which we are all ready for - - minus the over 90 degree weather. It will be a busy one this year. May will be fun with a 4-day vacation for Josh and I with my sister and roommate. Our destination is Disney and we get to eat in the Disney Castle (which we had to reserve over 4 months in advance). June will be busy with work and end with a trip to Dallas, Texas the last week or so to visit Josh's parents before he flies out to Prague where he will be for most of July (I've never been to Texas, so I'm pretty excited)! Then I will fly back and that same week (the beginning of July) my little brother will be flying into Tallahassee to stay with me for a few weeks. I can't wait to see him, I miss him a lot :)

So like I said, a busy, busy summer! I am also in the process of figuring out what I want to do school and career wise. A few things are changing right now (but for the better) so I am ironing out the fine details before I announce anything. I'm pretty excited though. I feel like the last year things have just started falling into place. A few bumps here and there, but nothing that I can't handle!

I hope everyone is doing good :) Until next time...

Creatively yours,

Kat

Busy Bees, Babies, and Birthdays... oh April - - wait what?

When exactly did April get here? o_O I realized this morning that it had, and that I turn 23 on the 28th of this month! It snuck up on me as last time I checked my birthday was still several months away, ahh! Time has been flying, and it seems like things have managed to get even busier over the last few weeks. My work hours increased a bit and I just found out that they may go up again majorly in a month or so (which is a good thing, I need the hours)! So I have been spending a lot of time with the twins, which honestly, I don't mind a bit. They are getting so big and at the age where they seem to have learned something new everyday. This morning for instance, we went on a walk to the park for a bit. We played for quite awhile, until Joey grabbed my hand and made the noise he makes when he wants to give you a kiss. I bent down to give him one and received a sloppy peck on the cheek followed by a finger point to the stroller and a very firm, "GO!" He then walked to the stroller and waited. When I plopped him down and fastened the buckle, he began to sing his own version of The Cat in the Hat Show theme song. "Here we go go go go, on an adventure, the thing-a-majigger is up and awayyyy," is generally how it goes. Though his version was goes a little something like this; "Go go go go go go ahhhhh laaaa laaaa enture aaaa hooo oooo aaaa go go go go go go!" Pretty darn cute :) The entire time they were both busting out the dance moves!

As far as writing goes, there has been a whole lot of ideas, but not much writing due to lack of time. Though I am about to begin a project with Josh and Heather! I don't have time to give that the post it deserves, so I will write more about that in the next post. It involves combining 3 creative venues and we are pretty excited about it!

More later, but for now, it's nap time in Twinville!

Creatively yours,

Kat

Warmer Weather, Dolphins, and Visitors!

Melissa and I shortly after picking her up from the airport!

Summer has definitely made its grand entrance the last weekend as the temperatures here have shot up into the 80's; proving once again that I am not quite yet used to the heat! Though we made the best of it by spending a great deal of the weekend at the beach. My friends Melissa and Kyle were visiting from Kansas so we headed down to St. George Island to cool off and have fun. It ended up being even more fun when Josh and I ventured way out into the deep blue sea (though it was more like he pushed me out on a pink inner-tube because a) I had twisted my ankle the night before jogging on the beach and was unable to swim long distances and b) I may still be irrationally afraid of sharks). We just kept going and going until he could barely touch and then floated for a bit. It was a beautiful view, but the best part was by far when we were surprised by some special guests; a group of dolphins! One swam right in front of us, maybe 10 yards away! It was an amazing experience (after Josh had assured me several times that they were not sharks and I was able to calm the inner 5-year old down). They swam around for a bit, slowly getting farther and farther away before we were no longer able to see them. We realized after turning around that several people on the shore had figured out what was going on as well as they were snapping pictures as quickly as possible. Sadly we didn't have a camera with us, but if I had to choose between being on the beach taking pictures of the dolphins far away, or being the 2 people swimming with the dolphins... I'd stick with what I got ;) It was such an amazing weekend and we all desperately needed the break!

Josh and I on the beach at St. George Island

Website Under Construction

As of next weekend my website (not to be confused with this blog - they are two different things) will officially be under construction! I bounced the idea around for a few months and finally decided why spend a great deal of time updating the old one when I could be utilizing that time to start a new and improved one? So grab your hardhats! To visit the old site visit: http://www.freewebs.com/katcallaway/

I hope to have the new site up and running in a month or so, just in time for summer conferences. Look back here for updates!

Creatively yours,

Kat