Recap of Summer

Hello.
I'm mourning the end of summer.
It was a lot shorter than it should have been.
Then again, maybe it wasn't so very short. Maybe I just didn't do all the things I had planned to do.
Yep. That's what it is.
I didn't organize any photos.
Middlemarch, which supposed to be the first book of the summer, is still lying unread on my shelf.
No new crocheted creations have been listed.
More time was still spent indoors than out.
We didn't go chill at the lake as much as I thought we would.
There haven't been as many movie-nights as I had imagined.

Cuz you know what? Life still gets crazy and inconvenient. Even in the summer! And sometimes your plans just don't work out.
But guess what?
I'm okay with that. Because even though I have a whole list of things I didn't do, it was still a good summer.

Six Flags is great. I lost count of how many times I've been. Eight or Nine, at this point, I think. And the fun's not over yet, either. Now that everybody's going back to school I can take all the little peoples and we can have a blast riding things over and over while the lines are short.
And I'm going for Fright Fest this October, which will be a new experience for me.

I got to spend some quality time with some of my girls from church this summer, too! Alyssa and Erin spent the day at the lake with us, and then we watched A Streetcar Named Desire. haha... I don't know what we were expecting from it, but we came away with a couple jokes and a lot of laughs. I have a fantastic picture of Laura dropping popcorn off the side of the boat for Alyssa, so she could catch it in her mouth while swimming. lol I guess if they force me, I'll take the picture down.

Erin and I went to see a movie after Six Flags with a bunch of friends. We hated it and walked out together. I'd say that was a bonding experience. ;-)

Allison had me over for a weekend. That was unique. LOL And lots of fun, of course. I learned about Charlie the Unicorn and they learned about Daniel Gardner. YouTube Marathon... mhm. Oh, and we watched a creepy alien-abduction movie that made my shoulders ache from being tense!

I spent the night with Anna Leigh before we went to six flags last week. I just sat there, being lethargic while she made caramel bars and we talked about deep stuff. And the next morning I practically begged her to drive through Starbucks and then had to explain how Gordon was flirting with her... Oh, and then laughing til we couldn't breathe at the creepy gas station that night...

See? Six Flags picture! I had posted a boringly normal version of this picture because Picnik was flipping out on me. But yay for editing, because Picnik decided to behave and now I have a cool looking version!
I stole it from Anna Leigh. It turned out blurry, but the Batman is awesome back there.
(L-R Keith, Anna Leigh, Jonathan, me)

And this stuff is probably boring to you people that don't know my friends. Sorry! Just thought I would prove that, for all my whining, I've had a fantastic summer. And of course, there's been lots of other fun stuff which I won't bore you with right now. Even with the big family-crises thing that happened, it's been a good summer. And now I'm 20.

Preschool starts back beginning of September. I'm excited. Have I said that yet?
I still haven't sent the parents from last year the pictures of their children I told them I'd send. Bad me. It's what happens when you don't get a paycheck during the summer.

And there's finally something new for my Etsy shop, which I'm going to finish up and photograph today. I'll show you what it is once I get it listed. ;-)

So, this may not have been very cohesive, but... yeah. I hope you enjoyed your little glimpse of my summer.

Caiti

In Which Caitlin Turns Twenty

Today I am Twenty.
What does that mean?

I am no longer a teenager.
In a year, I will be twenty-one.
If I live to be eighty, a whole quarter of my life is over.
While I may be young, I can't just shrug and say "ah well, I'm still a child!", for I am not.
Being a grown-up comes along gradually, but being Twenty makes it more real.
Twenty does not "feel" different.

It has been an odd two days. In preparation for the coming school year, my fellow teachers and I attended a conference. Of course, you know that the other ladies I work with are all "grown ups" compared to myself. The conference was full of such grown ups. I'm certain I was at least six years younger than anyone else there. Twenty or thirty years younger than everyone, for the most part. So, while I was mourning becoming old, I was painfully aware of just how very young I am. Quite interesting.

The teacher I worked with last year told me today to stop calling her "Miss" so and so.

And now, I present you with a list of thing I have not yet done in my twenty years of life, and would like to accomplish sooner or later. Preferably sooner.

Twenty Things I'd Like To Do**

• Grow my hair out long again*
• Travel someplace exciting
• Become more like Christ*
• Lead some people to Christ
• Go to school for photography/cosmetology/writing
• Make my business more successful
• Learn another language
• Read the Bible through
• Write something publishable
• Develop patience for larger crochet projects
• Take guitar lessons
• Go skydiving
• Learn to dance
• Ride a horse
• Keep a quote journal
• Become somebody's special somebody***
• Read more great books*
• Write regularly
• Learn to play the piano again
• Be a fantastic Oldest Sister*

* currently a work in progress
** money, time, and God permitting/no particular timeline in mind
*** no particular somebody in mind at this point, in case you were wondering

Thank you to all the fantastic people who wished me a happy birthday.
I couldn't ask for better friends!

And Another Week Passes...

Keith observed how vacation goes by so much faster every year. I told him it was the Matrix. They speed the program up a few notches every year. And if you haven't seen the Matrix, then you won't get that, but it's ok. It's not necessary for a well-rounded life. Time's just flying, and it's creeping me out.

Growing up is creeping me out. Life's crazy.

But you know what? God is good. All the time.
And I just read this article, and it really ministered to me. Read it. It's good.
(I wonder how many people actually click all the little linkies I love to include in my posts? lol)

Aaaand, Laura's home! I missed her while she was at camp the last two weeks. She's going back for another week on Monday. Then I'll miss her again. But I'll be busy going to six flags and a preschool conference.

We haven't done anything really awesome and sister-y. Like I said, life has decided to go all haywire on us. But I'm so glad she's home again. Even when we don't do fun stuff and talk a lot, it's just good to have here here. And now I must post a picture in honor of our sisterhood.So, yeah. I'm looking forward to going back to work. Yay! Until then, maybe I can squeeze in the other stuff I meant to do this summer. And maybe not. And if I don't, I won't feel guilty. It's been a nice summer.

And... well, I guess that's all I've got for now. Happy wishes to ya.
Caitlin

Can't stop reading...

You know how I had that great ideal about writing after each book I finish this summer?
Yeah, it's not going so well.

In addition to Romeo & Juliet and Fahrenheit 451, I've read For Women Only, How to be Your Own Selfish Pig, and Wedding Planning for Dummies. All of which were completed during my weekend stay with the Looneys. That makes us sound awfully boring, but there's nothing like being such good friends with someone that you can all sit around doing nothing together and enjoy it just as much as when you're doing fun stuff.

Okay, there are so many things in that one paragraph that I could write another whole paragraph on. Let me expound:

Firstly, I at least need to write a paragraph about each of the books I've read. But I'm not going to do that in this post.

Instead, what I'm going to say is that every woman needs to read For Women Only. Seriously. Ranting about how great it was could be entertaining, but I can just refer you to the above hyperlink where you can read about the book yourself. Now I need to read For Men Only so I can see what it is that men don't know about us. lol

And in case you were wondering why I was reading Wedding Planning for Dummies ... it was just lying around their house, so I picked it up. Fascinating. It made weddings sound like nothing but a long, expensive nightmare. I think maybe I'll just elope and have an elaborate photo shoot.

Now, in case you were wondering why it was lying around their house, I shall tell you.

MY VERY BEST FRIEND IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD IS ENGAGED!!

That's all.

=) But this post is supposed to be about how I can't stop reading, so I'll talk more about that later.

Since we're still talking about reading, I should inform you that I've already started another book.

The Beautiful Fight, by Gary Thomas. (recently retitled "Holy Available: what if holiness is about more than what we don't do") I meant to start reading Middlemarch, but I've been waiting for this book to get to my library forEVER. Or at least it seems like forever, because I was so excited about reading it since the minute I heard about it. I don't know if I've ever been this excited to read a "christian living" type book. Nope, I haven't. But this one's gonna be good. I've read the first couple chapters already... I have paper and a pencil handy while I'm reading it.

So... I guess that's all. Just thought I'd update you on my summer reading.

Life is good. And even when it's not, God is good. Amazing how you can still have joy when your soul is weighed down if Jesus Christ is holding you.

I'll post again soon!
Caitlin

P.S. I went to the post office and the library today. I went to the post office for something trivial just so I could say hey to the people who work there. Small towns are fun. :)

Rapunzel Returns

Time for another hair update!

(Last update: Rapunzel, Rapunzel )

So, my hair's growing slowly but surely. I wish it would grow quicker, but the awkard mid-length part is pretty much over. Aaaand, despite my constant lust for quirky hair, I'm resisting all thoughts of cutting it again. Dying it, too. No more fun hair. I'm going to grow it back out long and natural. And then guess what? I'll chop it off again!! **evil laughter* ... maybe. maybe not.

But the point of this post is so that you can admire my constancy and determination.
Also so you can tell me my hair looks great. Which means you need to see a picture.

Lucky for you, I have four.
I was feeling snap-happy.

Obviously, I straightened it. It looks longer when it's straight. Which means it looks shorter than this when it's curly. (don't you love my redundancy?) I have to straighten it every now and then to help me remember that it's growing.

After church, I ran around looking for batteries for the camera. "You guys, I have to find batteries!! I have to get a picture of my hair or all that time spent fixing it will be WASTED!"

Obviously, I found some batteries. And now you have this lovely post.

You're welcome.
:)