the beginning of an epic adventure

Obviously, the following post does not replace phone calls/random texts, but just wanted to give a mass update.

1. weather - IT IS BEAUTIFUL OUTSIDE! A little chillier than I'd prefer, but cloudless and perfect in the afternoons.

2. job - My commute is 10 minutes (maybe 15 if I have to stop at a red light) through the Wisconsin prairie. Lots of training sessions all day. I have an office in Isis; the building's theme is medieval (all the buildings are themed and decorated ornately; it's pretty wild). I park in one of the underground lots. Epic is just an amazing company. I'm going to begin my campaign now for one of you Landscape Architecture majors for a job here on the facilities team; they have cutting edge sustainability initiatives and are making it happen with their environmental design, policies and processes. It is incredible.

The application team I'm on is HIM, which stands for Health Information Management. I'll let you know what that is once I do, sometime after I go to App Camp! All the information has been really interesting so far; lots of topics and issues from my Health Econ class and medical anth classes. Nerding out and getting paid for it!

3. Madison - it is gorgeous. Big enough to be high energy and interesting, small enough to be cute and accessible. So many bike trails everywhere! I need a bike; Craigslist here I come.

4. frisbee - I played my first game last night and it was a blast. The team/league isn't very talented, which means that I get to be a handler and improve my skills! I took quite a tumble and skinned my shoulder. Not sure how that happened.

5. my back - hurts. Holler if you have ideas for caring for your mid-lower back.

6. people - so friendly! Some solid co-workers and teammates, a few with friend potential. I let you know if any particularly wise ones surface.

7. food - I MADE SOUR DOUGH BREAD AND IT IS DELICIOUS!

love x eleven (one for each of you and then a little extra),

kb

Special edition reading day eve post

Just a random post to commemorate Reading Day Eve.

I will buy a beer for the first person to say to me "Cowabunga," thus proving that they also still check this blog on spontaneous occasions.

So much love (and a little wisdom),

Katie B

go dolphins

sorority list serve...never fails to bring a smile to my day.
this is from our Rush leader:

>>>>

show details 12:41 AM (14 hours ago)

Hello!

I hope everyone is sound asleep right now and ready to wake up at 5:30ish.....a few things: Remember to be at the house ay 7:00am, bring makeup/straightener/deodorant/oil sheets/breath mints/anything else you may need, have your make up look "fresh" and not cakey or overdone, hair blown out, and pretty smiles!! Y'all have been so amazing through all of this and I can't thank each of you enough for being so awesome. After everyone's hard work, it's now time to have fun get the girls that we have spent the last week stalking! Love you all lots and see you bright (or dark) and early!

>>>
as i'm finding alternate routes to work so as not to pass the house, this made me feel good.

see ya'll at the lake!

Bye bye Cali

Well I have officially left California for the summer. My dad and I are at a Best Western in Tonopah, Nevada. It is a very strange and very poor mining town in the middle of the high desert in the great basin between the rockies and sierras. There are many attractions such as multiple "casinos", saloons, and even slot machines in every gas station.
Tomorrow we will head to Arches Nat'l Park in Moab, Utah for a bit more yet much different desert. Then on to Colorado to see some much missed and most loved individuals.
It was intensely hard to leave my family on the Kings. You take all those days for granted when they feel like they will never end and then all those people you accidentally fell in love with are no longer around. (Cal-bear my days are a little less full..) I am really going to miss those folks. And adjusting back into the real world will be quite the culture shock, good thing Costa Rica is around the corner!
Wise women I will see you at the lake on sunday, save me a BLsquared! Get ready for all my endless stories and don't feel bad telling me to shut up.
xxoxoxoxxoxoox

just sayin...

http://www.sewisewomen.com/

i saw a flyer out at the farm for a wise women conference up where they do the Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF) in Black Mountain. not that anyone here is a hippie. and not that any of us would really be able to go learn worldly wisdom from other women, date-wise and all.

just sayin.

love yall, c.

hanging out in northern india

Hey beautiful girls!

I am in Bir (pronounced beer), India, right now. It has poured non-stop for the past three days. We can't leave til the roads dry out a bit. Gotta love monsoon season.

Alright, here are a few semi-generic, summarizing. The Himalayas were magnificent and HUGE. Lots of camping, trekking, and driving. The program has not been what I thought it would be, in both negative and positive ways. The food is delicious; I've only been sick one day in Sangla, and I'm here to tell ya, explosive diahhrea ain't nothing to joke about. Monasteries are similar to geysers and light houses in that once you've seen two or three, you've pretty much seen them all. That has not stopped us from visiting one or two daily. Even with all the monasteries, temples and lecture, I still think I understand less about Buddhism and Hinduism than I did before coming here. Pick a god and stick with it. From here we're going to Dharamsala and then back to Delhi.

The land is beautiful and the bathrooms are universally disgusting.

These past few weeks have been remarkable. So many stories to tell, things to talk about, and new ideas to consider.

"When your life doesn't change with the man that's elected, decide what to be and go be it."
- my beloved Avett Brothers

Katie B.

Frisco

Wow ladies, I am so proud to even be able to mention you all as friends. Chale it was amazing to hear your voice today. I definitely needed it! Mia thanks for the bill paying, JT you better do some posting about this dog and/or boy, Bex I'm calling you tomorrow, I should have dropped you off in San Fran, so much awesomer! Jacq how did you ever leave this state? Katie B you are literally the coolest person I have ever met.

I have fallen in love with this place and these people. I am having a wonderful time. I am going o start training on the other rivers in the next weeks as long as I still have time to do some exploring. Cal and I came to San Francisco to see the Red Sox and Giants game which was awesome and intoxicating if you catch my drift. We are staying with some of her roommates from Colgate who are from here which is random but very cool. They are all going to do a spring break trip to Athens and are so excited. They are all girls we will be down with for sure. I've been working a lot and even trip leading, making the big bucks. I'll add some pictures of what I have, which is not much but just snaps of some of the adventures that have been my last few weeks. You all are amazing and just hearing about what you are doing brings a homesick tear to my eye. You girls are my family and I miss the freaking hell out of you!


Yosemite

Yosemite Falls

Half Dome

Ansel Adams Driftwood

30 mile ride from Piedra

Raft fruit

Kings friends

Frisco!