Crazy, I Tell You!

OK, so you know how I said how Wednesdays are my "crazy day?" Well, now all my days are my crazy day. I guess this stage of life can be called my crazy phase. Seriously- it's crazy how busy I am these days!

Yesterday, I woke up and did school until about noon. That was pretty normal. I then went to Hello Dolly rehearsal from 1:30 to 4:30. I love rehearsal- I get to see my friends, plus act, which is the best thing ever. After rehearsal, I went to meet Lexie, Julia, and Emily at North Little Rock High School to see their production of Beauty and the Beast. Oh, wow, it was good. Seriously. They had people flying all over the place, lots of fog, a strobe light, and amazing costumes. It was like seeing a professional show- I was so impressed! After the show, I went straight to my friend Tim's house for a party that I was already a couple hours late for. Hahahaha. I didn't get there until like 10:30, but it was still lots of fun! It was me, Gracie, Tim, Scott, Cori, and Carolyn. We ate, watched TV, played games, and talked a lot. I left around midnight, got home, and went straight to bed.

See what I'm saying about the craziness?

And this weekend, I'm doing nothing but volleyball. I'll be in Searcy for a tournament until tomorrow afternoon, probably.

Next weekend is the St. Andrews Sr. High Retreat! I'll leave early from that to get back to Little Rock to run the half marathon! Oh man. I can NOT wait.

Alrighty. I shall now watch Handy Manny with little Dash.
Farewell.

-caylielane

So...

So, co-op was good. Normal. I like co-op.
I'm just about to leave for an audition at the Rep. I'm really excited- I haven't been at the Rep in a while! I'm going to be singing Give My Regards to Broadway. I absolutely LOVE that song! I'll also be doing a monologue called Beautiful Day. This one is harder than the ones I've done in the past because it's more serious than the ones I've done in the past. I really wanted to challenge myself. We'll see what they think.

I'm watching American Idol. Good show, I tell you!
Farewell.

-caylielane

So, the middle school retreat was amazing. Basically. I absolutely loved getting to know the middle school girls. There were only about seven- it was a really small group. They were all absolutely wonderful and totally sweet.
We had lots of fun, too. We climbed a mountain, swam in the freezing cold water, did a video scavenger hunt, and learned a lot. Good weekend. Although I'm majorly lacking in the sleep department because of it.

So, today I had co-op, which was lovely. I had this huge spanish test that I had studied like a crazy person for. 9 and a half hours over the course of three days. Yes. I got a 91, so I guess I'm happy with that. Sigh. At least its an A, right?

I'm in a wierd mood. I wish I had something funny, clever, interesting, smart, beautiful, or profound to share, but I simply do not right now. My brain is turning to mush, because I desperately need sleep.

So, goodnight world. Sorry for the dry entry.

-caylielane

Scattered...

Hola. Today I leave for the St. Andrew's middle school retreat, to be a counselor. I absoluely cannot wait! I leave at around 6. Before that, I have Hello Dolly rehearsal, which I'm really excited about. My character is Minnie Faye, who is a ditsy, silly teenager who works at a hat shop. SO fun!! Right now, I'm about to get started on some schoolwork. Not so fun. I'm slightly stressing because I have a big spanish test on Monday, and I don't know how the studying is going to work out since I am going to that retreat. But I've already made a study guide, so I'll just be looking over it whenever I get the chance.

Yeah, there's my weekend for you.

Let me tell you, this whole 'no facebook' for Lent thing isn't quite as hard as I anticipated. Which I'm shocked at. I still have my blog, and twitter, and email. And skype. And texting. Definitely still connected.

Alright, well, I'll post about the retreat as soon as I can. It's called Liberate. Can't wait!

Toodloo, blog world.

Oh, by the way, 18 days until Rachel and I run the half marathon!! Crazy, I tell you.

Farewell.
caylielane

Good Day

Aujourd'hui etait un jour vraiment grand.
That's french for, today was a really great day. I wish I could speak french...

I woke up at about 7:20, giving me enough time to get ready for co-op without rushing like a crazy person. That was nice. Co-op went well- mainly the normal stuff. But the normal stuff is good- I've got my friends! After co-op, I had dance from 4:30- 7:00. Usually it gets a little bit long towards the end, but I enjoyed it all today. It was lovely. Then, I went straight to Orbit (the youth group at our new church, St. Andrews). It was the first time I've been to the Wednesday night stuff at that church; I've always gone to Echo at my old church. I'll probably go back and forth a little bit from now on. It was a really great service- they talked about Lent and what it means. It was a great reminder. We also sang some amazing worship songs. I also got to hang out with my friends there- they were great welcomers!

This weekend, I'm going to be a counselor at the Middle School retreat for St. Andrews. I absolutely cannot wait! I hope I can really get to know some of the kids. Its actually pretty funny, because this retreat is at the same place that winterchill was at! How crazy?

Well, I'm going to bed. Or at least I'm getting off the computer. By the way, day one without facebook is complete! Not easy, but I did it, and I'm glad.

Love,
caylielane

No Facebook?!

Lent begins in approximately 1 hour and 25 minutes... also known as Ash Wednesday.

I'll be giving up facebook. It will be super hard, but I'm determined to stick with it. I usually participate in Lent, but this will be one of the hardest things I've done. Last year, I gave up all sweets. Oh boy. That was not easy. We'll see how this one goes. I can still text and email and all that fun stuff, so I won't have to worry about being totally disconnected. I think this will be really good for me because I can spend the time that I would normally spend on facebook doing something more productive, like reading, hanging out with the family, or getting some exercise. Not that I'm not active- I end each day absolutely exhausted. It's crazy.

Romans 12:1 says "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices- holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship."

I love this verse because it not only reminds me that by sacrificing something during Lent, I am pleasing God. I also love how it says in view of God's mercy. It reminds me that my sacrifice of facebook is absolutely nothing compared to what God sacrificed for me- his own son. This is the least I can do.

So, here goes nothing. I'm determined to do this! If you see me around, tell me to stay away from facebook!

Ok, thanks. See ya.
-caylielane

Plans.

Hello there!
It's 8:15 at the moment. I just got back from yoga with Elizabeth,and mom and I are about to go jogging. After, I'll do some schoolwork, and then my day starts getting crazy. The plan is for me to go to rehearsal (Hello Dolly) from 1:30-4:30 and then leave straight from there to go to volleyball practice until 7. Craziness, I tell you. I like it though.

So, guess what? I'm officially going to Jamaica this summer on a mission trip! Wow. I'm excited. I just know it's going to be an awesome experience. The trip is with the organization called Praying Pelican. Look it up! Some of my homeschool friends, and a couple of my friends from my old school are going.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm so ready for summer. I'm tired of doing school. Let me just tell you, I'm such a summer girl. This morning, Elizabeth and I were talking about our plans for this summer. We decided that we'll do lots of going to the pool, we'll go to the zoo (yes, the Little Rock one.), and have random picnics at the park! How great does that sound? Wow, I love summer. The excitement of Jamaica just adds to it all.

I'm also going to be a counselor at Brookhill Ranch Camp this summer for a week. Brookhill is the most amazing camp ever- I went for seven years in a row. Its so much fun, and you get so close to the Lord in such a short period of time. It's going to be so amazing to be a counselor there this summer. Hmm... other summer plans. We (my family) might go to the beach, nothing's official. I would like to have a job, but I just don't have time. I really need money though. It's no fun being broke all the time.

OK, well, I'm off to go jogging with my lovely mother!
Proverbs 3:5- Look it up.

-caylielane

Any thoughts?

"Bringing up there, down here."

That was the slogan of winterchill this weekend. The mission was to help us close the gap between us and our Creator. Let me just say, it was awesome. I just want to share some of what the speaker, Dave shared with us, because it really hit home for me.

The first topic he addressed was what he called "mental floss." By this, he meant keeping our thoughts in check. He put it very bluntly:

To change your life, you have to change your mind.

Yes. It's that simple. It's not about feelings, or your environment, its all about your mind and what you allow to seep into it. He used Romans 12:2 (I love this verse, its up in my room. The whole chapter is amazing.)
"Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

The renewing of your mind. NOT the renewing of your emotions, or the renewing of your circumstances, because we all know that we can't control those factors of our lives at every moment. But a thought has infinite and unbelievable power over our hearts and our actions.
The way he put it, many thoughts will eventually become a belief. That belief will eventually become an action. Its how we work. This can be a great thing, if we're filling our minds with the Truth, but it can be harmful if we aren't careful. In fact, the power of our thought life is so strong that it determines every part of our life. For some, that could be a discouraging statement. But the good thing is that we have complete and total control. We've been blessed with total access to Christ and his truth.

So, you might be asking, "How can I begin this renewing of my mind?"
We need to begin the process of exposing and acknowledging the thoughts that are false. Catch yourself every time you find yourself pondering on something that is ungodly, and recognize that it is not from Christ. It is, in fact, from Satan. The devil puts lies in our heads. What we need to understand is that both lies from Satan and truth from Christ come to us in the same way. Through our minds. Are you beginning to see how critical our thought life is?

For most of us, every thought that crosses our mind feels true. Feelings make our actions come alive. However, it takes discernment from the Lord to be able to separate the lies from the truth. Discernment and knowledge are critical. Constantly reading God's word is so important, because it's a direct letter from our Creator, containing absolute unchanging truth for our lives. So, pray for discernment and stay in the Word. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says to "take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ." I love how straightforward the Bible is. Take every thought captive, because its about more than just our feelings, this is Truth we're dealing with. So, to sum this up, begin by recognizing the lie that you are being fed by Satan. Then, immediately replace it with the Truth (this is where knowledge of God's Word comes in). Pray for discernment always.

Repeat the process. There's something to think about!
-caylielane.

Today I'm leaving for Winter Chill!

What is Winter Chill you might ask? Only an amazing weekend retreat with my amazing youth group. It's going to be amazing. (Yes, I just used the word amazing three times in two sentences.) I always learn so much and have an amazing time. I'll fill you in when I get back.

-caylielane

Written Thursday, February 11th at 10:50 pm.

Today was a long day.

I woke up this morning and did a little bit of schoolwork. Then, after getting ready, I headed to the Rep to load the bus for sweet Libby's funeral in Hot Springs. The funeral was in honor of Libby, Catie, and their father. Though it was unbelievably sad, I thought it was done really well. The music and speaking all pointed to Christ and reminded everyone that these three are in heaven with their Savior now. It was hard to see the Cooper family struggling, especially Mrs. Cooper. I can't even imagine what she's going through. However, I felt blessed to have brought her a little bit of joy when we sang Oh Happy Day for everyone. We could tell she really loved it.

After getting back from Hot Springs, Mom and I met my dad and brothers at Corkys for a fast meal. Then I went home, picked up my books, and headed straight for tutoring. Fun, right? Not gonna lie, it was LONG today.

And THEN I went to the gym to run. I would have run outside (thats what I prefer) but it was dark and freezing, so I passed on that. I was supposed to run 4.5 miles for the half marathon training program I'm doing. Usually that's not too hard for me, but today it just drug on and on. Part of it was because I was on the treadmill (my distance watch wouldn't work indoors, so I couldn't use the track). But it was just....not fun.

So there you have it. My day. Whew. I'm tired.
And I should probably get to bed considering I'm waking up at 5:15 tomorrow to go to the gym with Elizabeth. My life is crazy.

-caylielane

Back To Real Life

Well, after two "snow days" (one really was, the other we had to do school at home), I'm going back to real life. By real life, I mean co-op. Sad day.
Yes, I love my friends, but I would much rather see them outside of a school environment. Don't get me wrong, education is mucho important. You know what I'm trying to get across. What can I say, I'm a babbler?

Today is my crazy day. Every Wednesday is. I have co-op until 3:30, dance from 4:30-7:00, and church from 7:30-9:30. Crazy, right? Oh well, its Ok. I like staying busy. I guess I should get ready. It's 8:56, and we need to leave at 9:20 for co-op. I'm most certainly not ready for public yet. hahaha....

I still can't get Libby out of my mind. I miss her. She was my friend, and I loved her so much. Please, please pray for her mother and brother. This loss was more than they could have ever been prepared for. Tomorrow is their funeral- I know it will be hard for them.

Back to life. Oh my.
-caylielane

SNOW DAY!

Wow, I wasn't expecting it...

But I woke up to a beautiful white world this morning! How wonderful!! I love snow.
...Well, I don't like cold weather at all. But if it MUST be cold, bring on the snow, you know? Haha. Today is a good day.

-caylielane

Sweet Libby

I don't know if anyone reads this, but if you are...

Please pray for the Cooper family. Yesterday Libby, Catie, and their father were in a small plane on their way to see a Razorback basketball game. Something went wrong and the plane crashed, killing all three of them. Libby was in 8th grade and Catie was in 10th. I knew Libby from doing shows with her, and she was so talented, and unbelievably sweet.

I, along with the Rep's young artists, will be performing at the funeral for Libby, Catie, and Mr. Cooper on Thursday. It will be held in Hot Springs. We will be singing the song Oh Happy Day from one of our past shows.

Earlier this year, another one of the Rep's young artists, Victorya Van Pelt, was lost due to complications with pneumonia. These two deaths in such a short time really make me see how short life is, and how suddenly life can end. We should make every single day count. It's not worth it to have a bad attitude. Life's too short not to give it our all, you know?

Please keep her mother and older brother in your prayers!

Love,
caylielane

Sick Day...

So today, I went to co-op feeling a little off. I was nautious and lazy all during spanish, so one of my friends drove me home after my first period class. I was feeling pretty crummy, so I plopped onto the couch, planning on taking a little nap.
I went to sleep at 10:30, and woke up at 4:30. Hahaha, I guess it was a wee bit more than a little nap. So I have been laying here all day, basically. And I actually have nothing interesting to write about right now, but after laying here for hours and hours, I needed to do something.

Well, I guess I'll wind this up. Talk to you soon. Hopefully when I feel better.
-caylielane