Howdy

Howdy!

My four day weekend has come to an end, and now I'm headed back into normal life again. Happy late labor day to you- I spent mine with an attempt to sleep in (9:15. lame.), and some bonding time with my family. It was good. Very relaxed, go with the flow kind of day. Later last night, Eli and I spent a couple of hours doing homework at Starbucks. I've found that I am much more studious and productive when I'm in a public place, like Starbucks or a bookstore. Not only do I not have all the distractions of home life, but the environment is nice. It's consistently clean, with people that do not know me.

I enjoy being anonymous sometimes. I've had the thought that, if I went somewhere and didn't utter a single word, I may as well be Russian to the people around me. Strange, right? But a little bit wonderful at the same time. When I was little, I used to pretend that I was deaf when I met other kids my age, simply for the thrill of seeing them believe it. It was either that, or I would put on a fake (and probably not very good, although I remember it being fantastic) British accent.

Gah.

This is a fantastic day, I do not lie.

Megan (my future OBU roomie!) spent the night with me last night, which was great. We talked about so many things- from catching up on our lives these days (it's been far too long) to brainstorming about our dorm room. We have officially concluded that 1.) Our room will be totally and completely lovely and 2.) Our room will be clean. The second part is a goal, obviously. Anyhoo, we're both really pumped. I can't wait until we start shopping for bedding and such!

This morning, WE SLEPT IN. That doesn't happen in my life. Period. It was incredible, despite the 4 (yes four) separate alarms that went off during the process. It's like my body has forgotten how to sleep past 8:00. Once Megan and I were finally up and around, we headed to Wal-Mart, bought some gluten-free brownie mix, and headed back to my house. After donning our lovely aprons, we started melting that butter and cracking those eggs! It was a party. Once the brownies were finally in the oven, we had a seat and ate some cereal for breakfast (well, brunch. It was late.).

About this time, Megan had to head out to run some errands. After making a "Love You" card, I headed to Firefly with the plate of powdered-sugar topped brownies. You see, Katie, this precious girl I work with, is leaving a week from today to live in Italy as an exchange student for a year! Crazy man, crazy. I know. So, it only seemed right to bring her a card and brownies and attack her with a hug. It was good times, good times.

From there, mom and I met up to do some ring shopping. Purity ring shopping that is. Hahaha. I ended up picking out a really gorgeous, sterling silver ring that says "True Love Waits" around it, in a font that looks a little bit scratchy and handwritten, which I like. It's a great ring, and I plan to wear it for a good while!

My sweet mama and I then headed to the mall and got our nails done while my ring was being engraved. Talk about a special day. Gah.

And, as if that weren't enough, I'm about to head out for a date night with Tim! Dinner and a movie. The Help. I've already seen it, and I'm thrilled to be seeing it again. If you haven't seen it, I recommend you do so ASAP. No joke, my friend, no joke.

Ok. Head out I must. Good day!

-caylielane.

goal: live it up.

I know....you don't....you.....you don't even have to say it. It's been a while. I miss you, blog. It's been far too long, and I desire to write, write, write all over you like I used to do!

Am I truly a senior this year? Is this SERIOUSLY my last year in this life at home? It's hard to believe- so hard that it really hasn't hit me yet. Emotionally, I'm so all over the place that it's like someone shoved me in a blender. One second I'm pitifully sentimental, already missing home, and then the next, I'm suffering from the most severe case of senioritis anyone has ever seen. Here's what I'm realizing though.

Senior year really is about living it up. I want to live it up with my family. Yes, I'll still see my family after I move out. Yes, I'll always be welcome at home. But no one can argue with the fact that, once I leave, it just won't be the same. I want to spend time with my family as a whole. I want to spend time with my brothers, individually. Maybe go grab some ice cream, or catch a movie. I want to take the time to enjoy and appreciate what I've been graciously given this year.

I want to live it up with my friends. Again, it won't be the same. However, that doesn't make these relationships any less meaningful. Relationships ARE worth it; that's something I've learned over time. I like to be what I call a "floater". The term is self explanatory- I like to float around, developing real relationships with as many people as I can. After all, you never know when you're making a lasting impact. You just can't assume anything based on how someone appears.

I want to live it up in my relationship with my Creator. Just think about it... how crazy is it that I just said that? That we even have that option- to develop a real relationship with the one who made us from dust? It's unbelievable, yet I so often let the craziness of my life push it aside.

Gah, I'm excited about college though. Not gonna lie.

-caylielane.

Big Day Today!

Well, today will be an adventure. I'm currently in bed, waiting for the lovely Eli to wake up. Today is her prom day!! So exciting! I'm going to run around town with her today while she gets her hair, nails, and makeup done. So fun! She's going to look STUNNING. Her dress is a gorgeous royal blue. Once she's all ready, I'm going to be doing pictures of four couples (including Eli and her date) before prom! That should be fun! I can't wait to see everyone all dressed up.

(By the way...I don't think I was blogging over the time period that MY prom happened. Haha. Well...it happened! It was a couple of weeks ago and it was so wonderful. My dress was silverish blue, and strapless. I wore a chunky necklace with it, which was fun. I wore flats! Not the most formal, but definitely the most comfortable. Tim was my date, and a great one at that! We had such an awesome time together. Prom was followed by two after parties, and then the youth retreat! Crazy weekend. But it was incredible!)

Anyway, after doing everyone's pictures, they will head off to prom, and I will head off to Gracie's house for her 16th birthday party! So fun. Her house is all decorated for it, and it's just great. There are supposed to be 43 people there-quite a crowd! Can't wait! The thing I'm sad about, though, is the fact that Tim can't come. He has lifeguard certification class until 9. The good news is, he's coming right after he gets out! The party will still be rolling, I'm sure. So all will be well!

Please pray for my wonderful Mimi today- she's having a major surgery on her elbow.

Oh me, oh my. Crazy day.

I can't wait to watch the Royal Wedding!!

-caylielane.

I'm Coming Out Of My Hole!

You know, I really should stop making commitments on this blog.

Well, that was a bit general, I guess. But I'm particularly referring to my last post (which was written like, 15 years ago). I said, as soon as I get the lens, I will start adding pictures on my blog. Well, here's what happened.

I got the lens. Quite a while ago. But, I've still had computer difficulties with adding the pictures. But, I for some reason felt an extreme obligation not to post until I could add pictures. I mean, in my mind, I thought it would be wrong to write a words-only post, since I really did have the lens. What the heck? I don't know. My point is, that is the silly reason that I haven't posted in so very, very long.

I get my drivers license in a week! I can't even begin to express the OVERPOWERING joy that I have about this! (That is...assuming that I pass the behind-the-wheel test...I'm a little paranoid that I'm not going to.)

I'll be back. (:

Rambles. Seriously.

I'm really wanting to start adding pictures to my blog posts. I absolutely love all things photography, so I think it's kind of odd that I don't add pictures on this blog. This is easier said than done though, because my laptop doesn't like to let me upload my pictures onto blogger. BUT, we do have a desktop...I can somehow make it happen. And I'm thinking I'm going to start doing that. Don't hold me to it...but...I'm going to try.

I also think I'm going to be getting a new lens for my camera very, very soon! Like, possibly tomorrow. I cannot even begin to explain how excited that makes me! I can't. I've been in a rut of not taking pictures lately, for lack of a working camera. But that is about to change! I hope. Fingers crossed, tightly.

I'll say this. As soon as I get that lens, I will start adding pictures to my blog. That's the deal. So...that will hopefully be very soon.

I had an incredible lunch today. Last night, the Schwan's man came. Our family LOVES Schwan's food. Especially me. Well...mainly me. Anyhoo. Last night, when he came, I was at the Rep doing a show. But my incredible daddio went ahead and picked out a couple of things he thought I would like, including SUSHI. I don't know if I've ever talked about sushi on this here blog, but I love sushi. It's one of those little things in life that makes me smile just thinking about it. So, for lunch today, I ate one of the sushi rolls. It was delicious. Delicious.

Only THREE more shows at the Rep! How weird is THAT? Agh, it's hard to believe. I've been so consumed with the Rep since rehearsals began, that I've forgotten what it's like to have free time. Well, not really. But still. Wow. I'm so sad that the show is ending, because I love it. I love performing. It's such a fun show, and it makes me sad just thinking about not ever being able to do it again. But I'm excited about having more free time! Though I'm sure it won't be free for long. I tend to fill up every spare second I get. What can I say? I'm definitely not a homebody.

Mimi is here! I love her.

-caylielane.

Running On The Mind.

Well, it's Thursday, and so far so good, as far as the whole no-texting thing goes. I think it's gonna be a really good thing.

I am going to the Athletic club soon. Tim shall meet up with me there and we are going to work out and swim and stuff. It will be great! I've decided I'm just gonna go easy on my ankle until the half marathon. Maybe a few shorter runs here and there, but I'm not going to go on a long run between now and race day...that's only 10 days away!! I'm really excited. I can't even TELL YOU! It will be my second half marathon, and I get to run it with Carolyn! She's so wonderful.

After the half-marathon, I'm going to start focusing on my speed. I really want to improve my 5k time over the next year- right now my best time is around 26:30 (something around there.). That really isn't...specifically fast. Haha. I've trained myself to completely be a distance runner- meaning I can run a really LONG ways, but not overly fast. So, running a 5k (3.1 miles) actually is pretty intimidating, because it means I need to pick up the pace. I'm thinking I might be interested in running cross country in college, but if I wanted to do that, I'd need to shave some serious time off of my 5k! I'd like to get my time down below 23 minutes, at least. That's my goal!

So, after this half marathon, I'm going to start focusing on 5k's. It's official. (I mean, I've blogged about it. How much more official can it be?) I also want to run lots of 5k races in Arkansas this year. Let's just hope it actually happens!

I have my fourth-to-last show at the Rep tonight. Pretty crazy to think that it will all be over on Saturday night. Weird!

Schoolwork.

-caylielane.