My Book List for 2012! Not as many as I'd hoped, but still better than nothing:)

1. Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay
2. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
3. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
4. Love Wins by Rob Bell(2nd time reading it)
5. Sex & the Soul by Donna Freitas
6. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
‎7. Johnny Cash and the Great American Contradiction by Rodney Clapp
8. The Magicians by Lev Grossman
9. The Beast God Forgot to Invent by Jim Harrison
10. One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp
11. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
12. Three by Ted Dekker
13. 5th Horseman by James Patterson
14. The 6th Target by James Patterson
15. No god but God by Reza Aslan
16. 7th Heaven by James Patterson
17. And She Was by Cindy Dyson
18. Lucky by Alice Sebold.
19. The 8th Confession by James Patterson
20. Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge
21. Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander M.D.
22.The 9th Judgement by James Patterson

DP

Today, my mom called and told me that a dear, sweet friend of mine had left the this world. It was so horrible and unbelievable. I'm pretty sure I was in shock for a good two hours. I then knew I needed to talk to one of my best friends and make sure he knew so he wouldn't have the unpleasant task of finding out via the internet. That call is one I never want to make again..To have to tell my sweet friend that someone who we both love and have made dear memories with over the years had left us too soon is something I never want to do again. It made me physically ill...
   It just doesn't seem real to me .. it doesn't seem right.. I just don't want to exist in a world where my friend isn't here..

From the first days I knew him in the 6th grade, David was kind to every single person he came in contact with. I, the nerdy girl throughout middle and high school, wasn't exactly the most popular girl in the world, yet David never failed to make me feel valuable and worthwhile.

I had the opportunity to sing with David in choirs, small groups, and act with him in a couple of productions at MCT -my favorite of which was The Hobbit in which I played Bilbo Baggins and David was one of the dwarfs. In the opening scene, David burst through my hobbit door,and said something really hilarious. He never failed to make me laugh and startle the heck out of me no matter how many times we rehearsed the scene.

We were certainly friends in middle school, but our mission trip to Mexico our freshman year of high school really solidified our friendship. There was a shrine built, sunburns acquired, chinese wood, surfing the waves, bus sing alongs, notes passed, walks through dusty fields, prayers by the campsite, a lot of peanut butter eaten out of jars, worship time, late night talks about God and our lives, and bobble headed pigs bought for best friends to give to me.
David was the guy who helped his best friend tell the girl he liked he was interested in her on a bus in the middle of nowhere Montana, and  literally listed off a  dozen reasons why this girl should be interested-even though he knew she wasn't - just because he loved his friend so much.He was the guy who was immensely talented, yet somehow remained humble.He was the kind of friend who went to Coldstone to pick up a gallon of chocolate ice cream just because he knew it was my favorite and would make my day better. He was also the guy who then proceeded to sit there and eat over half the gallon of ice cream while he sat on a blanket outside for hours until I believed what he was saying-namely  that I was awesome and it was all going to be ok. No problem was ever insignificant to him and no person was ever excluded from his heart.

He was the guy who never failed to bring me back little gifts from all of his amazing trips abroad. One in particular - a beautiful antique hand mirror-  I have carried in every single purse I have had since he gave it to me.  It has traveled with me everywhere and I treasure it more now than I ever have before.


David, I am so happy you are in  the presence of perfect peace. I am so happy that you are with our Father. Even though my heart aches for your parents, Catie, Nick, and all your friends still here, I know and believe you are rejoicing more than ever before. I pray that the peace you are experiencing now will cover your family.


David Daniel Propp,

Knowing you has and always will be an honor. Your smile, unwavering joy, and kind spirit will be missed on this earth.I need you to know this world is a better place because you were here. Your existence made this  world a better place, and as we remember you I pray that we will only honor your life through our actions. I pray we will all aim to be kind to every soul we meet regardless of how we perceive them at first glance. Your name truly suits you - just like David in the Bible- you are truly a man after God's own heart.We are homesick for the place where you are.. please save a place for us. I have only gratitude in my heart to God for your life.. I will remember all the songs you sang for me and I will be thankful

love you.
-k

                                          Best day ever.

                                     David and Kali clearly enjoyed the ice cream a lot.

                                             David's the bearded guy behind me

St. Lucia 2012

So for spring break I headed to the gorgeous island of St. Lucia with my mom, Jen Ben, and Jana. The first day we flew to Atlanta and spent the night, and the next morning we left bright and early for St.Lucia:)

excited to be on the plane:)

The first day we got there we headed to the grocery store and picked up some essentials and headed to our amazing house:)

the most essential food on the planet

view from our house:)

The first full day there we spent the day exploring, hanging at the house, and finally we went out to a great dinner:)

The next day we went and did 3 wonderful dives and had another great meal:)

On Tuesday, we did one of the hardest hikes of my life- The Grand Piton.

the view from the top:)

exhausted, but we made it:)

reliving my ghana days:)

The next day we spent the day on a boat looking at the island, snorkeling, and walking around. That night we went to a restaurant where everything was made of cocoa. It was probably the worst meal of the trip, and I love chocolate. Luckily the sea breeze was excellent:)

Black Pearl from Pirates of the Carribean.

snorkeling

seabreezes:)

our house:)

The next day we did a couple of great dives- Superman's Flight was my favorite:) It was full of tons of marine life:)

Our last day in St. Lucia we spent at the beautiful Jade mountain resort:) We got scalp massages & rose facials, hung out at the beach, the pool, and a splendid dinner & drinks.

It was an amazing spring break & I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to go to this amazing island with some of my favorite people.

I'm one blessed person.

Skate reunited in Montana

So as many of you know, my dear friend from Ghana(well, actually Virginia) came to visit me this past week. We spent about 9 days together doing all sorts of random things.

For those of you who wish to know what we did over our time together(ALANNA), here is a recap:

Wendesday, December 28th- drove home from Spokane, had soup, and went to bed. On the three hour drive home, there was an incident where I was so afraid to pass a logging truck, and attempted and failed about 3 times. After I finally did it, Scott of course told me I was ridiculous and proceeded to mock me the rest of his time in Montana.

Thursday, December 29th- Woke up, went to the Book Exchange & Ace Hardware, drove around the University area & Downtown, and had lunch at my favorite burrito place- Taco Del Sol(Scott had the fish & I had the veggie & we talked with Sarah Worthing on the phone for a long while). Afterwards, we went to my grandparents' house to pick up my skis my grandfather waxed for me & went for a walk by the creek. My grandparents loved Scott & my grandmother even showed him her plants. As soon as we walked out of there, Scott looked at me & said " I love your grandparents." I think that was his way of telling me he liked them more than me. We then went by my mom's house, grabbed our stuff, and headed to Flathead Lake. On the way to the lake we stopped by the Missions & took some glorious pictures( see FBOOK Alanna), and stopped in Polson to pick up a veggie pizza(we originally wanted Thai food, but they were closed stupid people). We also stopped at Safeway and discovered the best ice cream ever- Red Velvet Cake by Ben & Jerry's. I cannot express to you how much I love this ice cream. Let's just say audible noises were made while I ate half of the pint. Once we got to the cabin, we ate dinner & ice cream, watched Modern Family, and went to bed.

Friday, December 30

Well.. we were going to go skiing, but I chickened out and didn't feel comfortable driving up the road.. so we got coffee and took a different route back to Missoula. Scott got to see a lot of orchards and terminal moraines, so I think he was happy. Once we arrived back in Missoula, Scott went on a run, and then we spent the rest of the afternoon chilling in my living room, being stupid on the internet, reading, and me sleeping a bit. That night we went on a date( I paid since Scott had already seen it- luckily we went at a weird time so we only had to pay $5.50) to see Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Needless to say it was a very graphic movie(I closed my eyes at one point), but it was enjoyable(although the book was much better). Alanna told me beforehand that Travis thought it was very humorous.. I only laughed once during the movie..so I have to question Travis' judgment a bit. After the movie got out we came home, had some dinner, and then went to bed early like old people.

Saturday, December 31

We woke up and Scott had a bunch of errands he wanted to run that I did not, so he dropped me off at my Dad's house so I could spend time with my family & brother on his 9th birthday, and he took the car and headed to the antique shop, nursery, and a coffee shop. After he finished his errands we went back to my mom's house and hung out a bit(and of course I fell asleep again). That night we went and met my friends Meaghan & Kahlen & Meg's friend from the academy - Gabe. We all went to the free ice skate(which wasn't really free since you had to rent skates). Ice skating was fun, although I was a total baby, and skated really slow. It is amazing to me that I used to figure skate as a child. During that whole experience, I kept thinking to myself how on earth did I used to skate backwards, do jumps, spin, and or even skate faster than one mile an hour. Everyone else skated super fast of course.. losers... Hey, at least I never fell. When my ankles started killing me, we all decided to hit up my favorite Mexican place Fiesta En Jalisco for dinner. Post dinner we went and saw the ice sculptures & a little indie women's group play. Once they started singing about spaghetti, we got up and left...

The rest of the night was spent at my home with me dozing in and out of consciousness & Scott trying to keep me awake to watch Parks & Rec and welcome in the new year. I yelled Happy New Year when it was 2012 in Virginia.. but he didn't seem to think that counted:(

January 1, 2012

Strep throat for Kate:( That day we mainly spent hanging out and doing nothing. That night we went to my grandparents house for about 4 hours and had dinner with my entire family plus friends & girlfriends minus the Arkansas fam. It was a great time, filled with a lot of laughs, great food(black eyed peas), and everyone in my family telling me how much they all loved Scott and that I should stop being stupid and marry him. Ah.. such is my life....

We went home afterwards & watched parks & rec with my puppy Gracie, and I of course fell asleep.

January 2, 2012.

We woke up early that morning and my step dad & Scott flew us to Alta, Wyoming for two days of skiing at Grand Targhee(the place we would always go for Martin Luther King Jr weekend when I was a child). We arrived fairly early, and spent the day on the slopes. The weather was fabulous and the snow as great & it was SO fun to spend time at place that holds some of my best childhood memories. Scott got to try some of the Northwest's best brews and we had the most incredible fries I have ever had in my life- with garlic & parmesan. We stopped skiing at about 4:00 and went inside to rest before dinner. I started reading a great book Sarah's Key while my grandfather slept. We went to dinner at around 6:30 and my mom and I split the best veggies & chicken EVER. After dinner we came back to the lodge. Scott and I read our individual books and my grandfather watched a football game. I of course, kicked Scott out at nine so that I could sleep.

January 3, 2012

We spent another day on the slopes with equally awesome weather though not as great snow. We flew back to Missoula that afternoon and arrived to a wonderful dinner prepared by my grandmother. I got cleaned up and Scott watched the Virginia Tech game while I went out to dessert with some of my friends.

January 4, 2012

We woke up and headed off to another antique shop for Scott to spend buckets of money on coins, a shop for me to get a replica of my cousin's Montana necklace, the nursery, and grocery store. We had lunch at Noodles Express & Subway, and then spent a lot of the afternoon hanging out with my mom watching The Bachelor- yep, that's right Scott watched it with us!!! AHHH Then we hiked the ranch with my dog, Gracie, and had dinner that night at my house. We both packed, relaxed, and of course watched Parks & Rec one last time... and I of course fell asleep.

January 5, 2012

We woke up early, got coffee & gas, and headed to Spokane to pick up Sarah! After picking up Sarah, we headed to downtown Spokane & got lunch at a place called Taste. This place had by far the best soup I have ever had- a grilled red pepper soup that I must find the recipe for. Plus there was a cute guy there- A WHOLE LOT OF WIN. Afterwards, we went to two stores and tried on two super cute dresses. I am pretty sure Scott wanted to kill himself.. oh well. Post shopping we headed to Sarah Trax's house where she showed us around and then took up to a grocery store to get ingredients to make Ghanaian food!!!! AHHHHHH

Her friend Kofi(from Ghana) came over and prepared everything - plantains, stew, rice, and chicken we got from the store. We listened to Ghanaian music and ate on the floor in a circle and talked about our various study abroad experiences with Sarah's roommates and friends. After dinner we headed to Jen's apartment and spent a lot of time talking about the wedding( Scott probably wanted to die again). Then we all went to sleep:)

January 6,2011

I woke up at 4... and then we left at 4:50 to take Scott to the Spokane airport. It was very sad when he left us:( Sarah and I then drove back to Missoula!! The one plus of driving so early was we got to watch the sun rise over the mountains!!!

I had an amazing time with Scott and I already miss him.. although not as much as my mom & dog probably do. Hopefully all of my Ghana friends can come to Montana this summer:)

40 Books in 2011

Well I set off to read 50 books this year, but my busy schedule kept me from reaching my goal! Therefore, I decided to try for 50 again in the year of 2012! Here is my final list from 2011 in case ya'll want to know:)

1. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

2. Anna & the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

5. Sex God by Rob Bell

6. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Steig Larson

7. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larson

8. The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne

9. Paper Towns by John Green

10. Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller(2nd read through)

11. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

12. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

13. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (2nd read through)

14. Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell

15. Same Kind of Different As Me by Denver Moore & Ron Hall

16. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen

17. Stones for Schools by Greg Mortensen

18. Crazy Love by Francis Chan

19. THe End of the Affair by Graham Greene

20. The Romantics by Galt Niederhoffer

21. Radical by David Platt

22. Light in August by William Faulkner

23. All We Ever Wanted Was Everything by Janelle Brown

24. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

25. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

26. Dating Jesus by Susan Campbell

27. Legacies of Crime by Peggy Giordano

28. Girl Meets God: On the Path to a Spiritual Life by Lauren F. Winner

29. 1st to Die by James Patterson

30. 2nd Chance by James Patterson & Andrew Gross

31. Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin

32. Dreaming Me by Jan Willis

33. 3rd Degree by James Patterson & Andrew Gross

34. 4th of July by James Patterson

35. Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan

36. Lock & Key by Sarah Dessen

37. Acts of Faith by Eboo Patel

38. Love Wins By Rob Bell

39. Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert

40 Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen