Welcome!

Hello, dear reader! Welcome to my blog, where you can share in the many wonderful things that happen to me by sheer accident. 

I created this, because often I have adventures that are intended to be repeatable, but I forget. So this is to remind me to live in the presents, and enjoy life. Maybe it will encourage you to as well! 

First off, a little bit about me. 

My name is Josie, and I am the second child of a family of four. My brother, Sam, I'm sure will be a topic of great discussion, as he is one of the most strange and rather irritating individuals I have ever met. I love to write. I fill up Moleskin's like nobody's business. It's the way that I communicate, and for some reason words just flow for me. Actually, most of the time I don't know what is going through my brain until I write it down. 

I love Jesus. I was really encouraged in Christ when I went to Kansas Bible Camp for the first time the summer of my 7th grade year. I mean, I have really great Christian parents who have taught me His love from the beginning, but it never became real until KBC. And my personal relationship started to grow when I came to KBC's Leadership Training Camp the summer before my freshmen year. There I learned that it was no longer about me, and I made such wonderful christ-like friends. I'll try and type up my full testimony sometime, or find my copy of it to share. It's not necessarily anything spectacular, I've never been raped, and both of my parents love me. I struggled with the fact that I felt it was nothing spectacular for a long time, until I realized that that meant I was lucky, and Christ saved me from a life of hurt and suffering early. 

I love tea. Almost all tea. It makes me so happy, brewing some tea and then waiting as it fills my belly with happy satisfaction and warmth. 

I love cows. My grandparents live on a cattle farm, and I've grown up loving them. My father is a professor of Animal Science and Kansas State University, and has also encouraged my love of cattle. All kinds really, especially Brahman, which I have never seen personally but have done my research. They are apparently the kindest, gentlest breed of cow. But I love dairy cows as well, and anything cow printed. 

I love to cook. I love creating delicious concotions, and my favorite times of the day are meal time. I will never ever have to worry about Anorexia, that's for sure. I love to cook way to much. From an early age, my father taught me to always eat everything that was put on my plate, even if I took to much. I think that's bittersweet. I sometimes overeat, because I have to eat everything I take. But now I am conscious of waste. I'm sure I will share my cooking adventures with you! 

I love to learn. School for me is a joy, because I have a constant desire to fill my head with facts about life, the universe, and everything. I love reading, and acquiring more knowledge. It's a thirst that I have. This year I have been blessed with many opportunities to take challenging classes at my school, Manhattan High School, and quench my thirst. I love reading classics, my favorite being Wuthering Heights. After reading a classic, I feel so accomplished and satisfied, like I did something to be proud of. I finally finished War and Peace at the beginning of winter break. Can't tell you how great that was (to be done with. It took FOREVER). I also love to read lighter books, ones that draw you in and don't allow you to put it down. I love Deeanne Gist, and really any historical fiction. I also love Sarah Dunant, who wrote The Birth of Venus. She's a fantastic writer, I'm always so impressed. I'm also a huge Harry Potter nerd. Ron Weasley. Swoon.

I love the BBC. Downton Abbey. Sherlock. Masterpiece Theater. Upstairs Downstairs. Call the Midwife. I love it all. 

I love my friends. I have been blessed with the best and the brightest of people to call my friends. Not only at KBC, but at school have I found really great christ-like friends who are absolutely to die for hilarious, and are so incredibly encouraging. And I get to talk to my friends at camp as well! Which is great, because they're great too!

I love my dog. MaKinzie is a border collie, and she is the smartest animal ever. She's crazy about fetching, and she's constantly seen running around the house with her special glow in the dark ball in her mouth. Crazy frightening at night, let me tell you. She's such a great snuggling partner. Kind of squirmy, but super happy all the time. Is it sad to say she is a role model of mine? She's so humble. When you yell at her, immediately she comes and "apologizes" but thrusting her face under your chin and whimpering for you to hold her. I should be like that too, when I do something wrong to someone. So often does my pride stop me from apologizing like I should. 

I love to bike. Well, exercise in general. It just makes me feel so satisfied and then food tastes so much better when I feel like I've deserved it. My father, mother, and I did the Octagenta in October of 2012. My father and I did the 10k time trial saturday morning, and I actually won my category! It was storming like CRAZY. In the middle of my trial, it started lightening and pouring buckets and buckets. I've never been more wet, honestly. And then sunday the three of us did the ride. My father went 80 miles, and my mother and I did the 50 miles. I finished first of the three of us! In 3hr44min. I beat my mother by a good forty-five minutes, and I think she felt really bad because she expected us to ride together. I didn't really think of that though, and to be fair, I am a good 30 years younger than she is. 

C'est tout! For this entry, that is. I'm off to move wood in our backyard. We've had to cut down so many trees lately because they're so dead, we're worried they will fall on our house. It's sad, I love trees. A whole bucket. But we have a wood burning fire stove, and so we do have a use for it all.