Katie Goes...

I've been so lucky to travel before I met my family and we will travel again, but for now, I'm on a journey inward.  The backstory seems so huge and ponderous and I want to explain, but, to quote "The Princess Bride: 'There is no time, lemme sum up!'" The last three years have been crazy stressful and I've sabotaged multiple jobs and gotten sick and been working through deep grief at not being able to have kids.  Last August my husband and I met two children who we've been fostering and hopefully next month we will be able to adopt them.  I will get in to that later, because the layers on that one are six onions deep. My friend Rowan started working at a place called "PhD Weightloss" and even though I feel like I've been to this rodeo, I knew I needed to do something.  The moment I made the commitment was after leaving the kids' therapy appointment and my husband took the kids home; I drove past Krispy Kreme... Eating three doug...

This journey of 1558 miles starts with a single step... out the door, to the car: Asheville to Standing Rock, North Dakota. This is not practical and there are so many unknowns.  Perfect!  The last five years has been a roller coaster down into certain parts of my own personal hell, and up to the most amazing experience of my adult life: marriage.  I didn't realise how going into partnership really challenges me to find out who I am in this new context.  Fast forward to three weeks ago when that still little voice said, "could I really?" I mean, we have a house, kittens, work... but the little voice kept prodding, "go!" Nashville the first night, then Lawrence, Kansas; then Hot Springs, South Dakota; finally, to Standing Rock, North Dakota.

Watch "Beyond Coal", and the next episode is in Asheville:  Asheville Beyond Coal | Beyond Coal Thank you, Sierra Club, for the following information: Mining our Mountains In Appalachia, mining companies literally blow the tops off mountains to reach thin seams of coal. They then dump millions of tons of rubble and toxic waste into the streams and valleys below the mining sites. This destructive practice, known as mountaintop-removal mining, has damaged or destroyed nearly 2,000 miles of streams  and threatens to destroy 1.4 million acres of mountaintops and forests by 2020. The mining poisons drinking water, destroys beautiful, biodiverse forests and wildlife habitat, increases the risk of flooding, and wipes out entire communities. Who Gets Hurt Mountaintop-removal mining pollutes waterways and allows toxic heavy metals such as cadmium, selenium, and arsenic to leach into local water supplies that Appalachia's people rely on. But the danger isn't limited to dri...

How interesting to delve back into the world of acting and film.  As a kid I only wanted to be an actress or a C-5 pilot (my Mom was in the Air Force).   It feels like at least three lifetimes have happened from then to now.  Being forty and still unsure of what I want to "be" when I grow up is halfway between embarrassing, and, well, still exciting.  I'll be working with the New York Studio for Stage and Screen, as their development and social media manager! They are an incredibly talented group with an impressive array of professional instructors.  Ha.  Now this sounds like a commercial.  I'm just excited to be around people who love what they do and do it to the best of their abilities. Go Asheville for welcoming a professional acting conservatory!!  Here's the website, and a demo reel.  Enjoy! http://www.ashevilleactingclasses.com/ The New York Studio for Stage and Screen(NYS3) Commercial Highlight Reel

The theme for my birthday was "halfway to 80", so, naturally, a totally awesome '80s party (in a cool basement) ensued...it really was fantastic.  The music was perfect, the champagne was plentiful, and the pool table and firepit were hot all night!  All of the stress leading up to this "over the hill" moment dissolved like a bag of pop rocks and 1am found me outside with two of my best friends, toasting to love and gratitude, with a light snow falling in the background.    I am incredibly blessed and grateful for amazing friends and family. Thank you for a rockin' 40.  I think it was Carl Jung who said, "everything before 40 is just research"...excellent, let's get to it then! (cue Simple Minds' "Don't You Forget About Me"...)  

For the next six months I'm going to do something amazing every day.  It might be having a salad for dinner, or going to the gym...or happy hour at Mai Tais.  (Depends on the day) I approach forty like an eating disorder, which will be easier to deal with in hindsight, but here I am now.  Geneen Roth wrote a wonderful and heartbreaking book called, "When Food is Love" and I read it through tear-blurred eyes, the first time, when I was about 13.  One chapter, in particular, has stayed with me- the part about the little girl and M&Ms: A mother brought her overweight daughter to Ms. Roth, frantically overwrought that her daughter kept gaining wait and she was so young.  Ms. Roth asked the little girl what was her favourite treat, "M&Ms!!!" she cried.  The mother was instructed to get a pillow case and fill it with the chocolate candy and have her daughter carry it around with her wherever she went.  The mother did as instructed and the daught...