About
Hi, I’m Kate! Thanks for coming by!
Here is just a little bit about me. First, the specs: I was a high school English and Bible teacher in a Christian school for 15 years – until the birth of my twin boys in April 2015. Currently, in my ‘spare’ time (ha ha!), I tutor and do freelance writing and editing (for details, see here). I live on Long Island with my husband (married in 2010), our boys, and our four cats (which, at the moment, is four too many). Even though we live in the suburbs, we really are country-at-heart are moving to Tennessee in the near future.
I’m a bit of a perfectionist, a worrier, and sometimes a procrastinator. I love the outdoors – kayaking, hiking, mountain biking – and I used to be a really fun and adventurous person before I had my boys! These days, adventure for me is taking the stroller down an unpaved walking trail – but as the boys get bigger, I’m sure fun and adventure will return!
I like to travel, eat Indian food, and I love to sleep (well, pre-children, I liked all of those things; I wouldn’t know much about it these days). I don’t have too much time for hobbies -blogging is probably my biggest experiment. ( I say ‘experiment’ because this is my 5th attempt at it).
I hate yard-work and I’m a terrible cook. Well, that’s not entirely true. When I was working full-time, yes to both. But now that I’m home, I would say that I tolerate yard-work and I’m a passable cook.
I’m creative more in the book-smart/academic/teacher-way rather than the crafty/homey/domestic-way. But I like the idea of being domestic, so I’m hoping this new season in my life will tip the scales.
I am a compulsive organizer when I have the time, and I’m obsessed with purging clutter. I am absent-minded, a horrible multi-tasker, and a little clumsy (runs in my family).
My mind is always busy, and I’m always coming up with new goals and projects to keep me motivated and inspired; I am a huge advocate of being a life-long learner, and if I had my way, I’d be a career student.
I LOVE missions and have had the honor of serving on over 20 short-term trips, with about 15 of those being overseas trips. My first trip was to Africa when I was 23, and it changed my life.
Here’s the real core of who I am: I believe that the only fulfilling life is one that is lived for something bigger than myself, something that will outlast me. I believe that ‘Something’ – really, SomeONE – is Jesus. My own story is too small to live for, and I love being a part of God’s Big Story. And when I’m in sync with Him, I’m at my happiest and my best. He’s won my heart, and what matters to Him matters to me. End of story.
About A Hundred Affections
Here’s the “story behind the story” of my blog:
In 2009, my sister (The Girl Creative) suggested blogging to me when I was planning my wedding, thus ‘One Girl’s Journey to the Altar‘ was born. I had that blog for a good year and a half, but the adjustments of a new marriage left little time for blogging. I let that one a die a slow death, and then picked up blogging again about a year later in 2012 with “This Side of Eden;” that one died a quick death. I was in the middle of one of my most stressful – and worst- years of teaching, and I probably was a little too ambitious in trying to kick it off when I did.
Later that same year, I had a miscarriage and started to blog again at A Hundred Affections (at Blogspot), but only for a short time. In the months that followed, God told me to quit my 2nd job and focus on writing (about what, I wasn’t – and still am not – quite sure. I just knew I was supposed to write). After procrastinating, squirming and pretending I didn’t hear, I finally obeyed and the blog before you now was born in July 2013.
The title comes from a line from the poem “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman:
“The press of my foot to the earth springs a hundred affections.”
I fell in love with this line during my first year of teaching. It perfectly captured the idea of there being something meaningful to discover with every experience in life. It’s all important and it all matters.
Our time on earth – brief, messy, beautiful – filled with both the trivial and significant, gives us the opportunity to grow in appreciation – and even affection – for ALL that occurs. While not every experience is life-changing, I think every experience can be life-growing and can add depth, growth and meaning to our human existence.
I believe Romans 8:28 with all my heart: “And we know that ALL things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”