Life Is Now One Big Countdown.

CHRISTMAS IS LESS THAN 1 MONTH AWAY!

I need to get my butt in gear and start buying these Christmas presents... oh my word!

But Thanksgiving was nice =) It was bound to be with the snow flurries right away Thursday morning. I woke up to Sharon singing up the stairs, "Caitlyn! QUICK! If you look out your window you'll see big, fat snow flakes!"

So I looked, and was happy.

I cheered when we entered Pa, and when I saw signs for Lancaster, and when I saw signs for Gap, and when we got to that one road that I don't remember the name of but is long and straight and is fun to drive fast on (hehe Dad!).

But Thanksgiving is over already, what a fast holiday!? Fast, unlike my drive to and from Lancaster, Pa. The drive back to Raleigh took a little over 8 hours. A trip that we can usually make in 7. Freaking Thanksgiving traffic jamming up I-95 in Manassas and such.

Fast like I want this week and next to go. Finals- *shivers* in 5 days! BUT then I can go home and not have to worry about ANYTHING remotely related to school!

Oh goodness!

Wanna know what my favorite part of the past few days was?? Driving! And being able to drive myself places on backroads, or even just 2 lane roads. No big highways or interstates or anything like that. Sure the drive is a bit longer, but backroads are quite unbeatable.

And I don't have a car down here... or up there... thanks Dad.

RIP Soren Lawrenson.

Daddy did make a good Thanksgiving dinner for us though, I enjoyed it!

Dan and MC found the wishbone, and MC won herself a wish ;)

And Kyle put up our Christmas lights! yay =)

We also went to Kitchen Kettle for some fun stuff (Yarn, we bought yarn), and acted like tourists and didn't even care!

We sang with the choir...

Played trumpets with the angels...

Used school bus #23 as a backdrop...

Searched for an exit...

And had a fabulous time!

It's a good thing that I only have to wait 11 days until I go back for Christmas vacation! It'll be crazy.

We added 238 pictures to my camera card in 5 days. Imagine what we can do with a whole month.

It's mind boggling, I know.

I keep on counting down!

mmmm It's Christmas time =)



Christmas Time's a Comin'!

I googled "Thanksgiving Songs" in a weak attempt to try and make my excitement for Christmas a bit more bearable and these were a few of the results.

1. America the Beautiful

2. Star Spangled Banner

3. God Bless America

To name a few. I decided that this is the reason that I sing Christmas carols starting in late September, early October if I'm lucky.

Anyway, the purpose of this post is simple: to inform.

The first piece of news is concerning my competency essay score. I re-wrote the essay on Monday, and I got my score today.

You ready for this?

A 2-

So I passed.

Can I get an amen?

Thanks.

For those of you who don't remember, my first score was a 1+. And Emily Sproul told me to shut up and stop writing because she couldn't believe it or something?

Well yes, Em I passed. A 2- is not fantastic, but it's passing.

The other great piece of news you ask?

Next week at this time I will have spent a whole night in my very own bedroom with my very own bed and blankets and walls and pictures and AH I can't even wait!

And I will be able to hug my family again!

Can you say boo-ya?

Good work.

Thanksgiving is just a great holiday, and I cannot believe that it is already here. Seems like just 2 weeks ago I was moving out and getting set up all on my own so far from home.

Such a crazy weird feeling.

6 Days until I can run through real dirt, smell the countryside, tickle Danny, kiss Shasta, drink coffee and chat with my Mom, drive around the back roads with Kyle, laugh at Daddy's quirky ways, and read Mary Catherine's mind.

Sounds like Heaven, does it not?

It's going to be an early night for me. Don't make fun. I'm tired!

Witch Hazel,

Caitlyn.

Look Out Below!

I'm serious this time. My window is open and my statistics stuff is all crowded on the window sill waiting for the perfect moment to be shoved over the side toward its impending doom!

I am finished with statistics!

Not really though. Nor is my window open because apparently that isn't allowed here. Which makes me even more angry!

*screams and shouts and throws fists in air*

I have this oh so wonderful project in statistics (no, didn't need commas there because that would imply my only having one project when in fact that is far from the truth) which I need to have finished before Thursday.

Yes, Thursday is a long way away, BUT I hardly have time this week to be messing with freaking math!

AND I have no idea what the heck I'm doing. I need Chelsea or Yu Qing or any other math whiz to come help me. Where are my super smart high school friends when I need them?

I've decided to take a much needed break from working after looking at my clock thinking it would be maybe 3 or 3:30... it's now 5.

I've been doing school work ever since I got back from lunch around 1- dedication. I'm dedicated.

Let's talk about happy things!

Tomorrow I have the chance to put myself back into good standings with the English department:

Competency exam re-do. Yay! Not. If I don't own the essay this time, it's all over for me.

That would be sad.

So prayers are appreciated. I am sad to say I'm actually nervous for an essay. I guess failing the first time kinda scarred me? Yes, it did.

What happened to happy things? Like...

9 DAYS UNTIL THANKSGIVING VACATION?

I shout that over and over in my head until I pretend that my ears are ringing =)

I have big plans, do you?

Kyle and I are going to pick MC and Dan up from school and play Celtic Thunder (our favs) really loud with the windows down (regardless of temperature) on our way to Angela's Cafe to eat lunch with our wonderful mother. MMM What wonderful plans?

THEN Just because we can, MC and I are going to attempt to see Love and Other Drugs on Wed or Friday or something. The reason I say 'attempt' is due to the fact that MC isn't quite old enough to see a movie of its rating- so we'll either sneak her in or convince mom into a girls day out.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! Friday or Saturday (I kinda forget), Mom and I are going to make our way over to the Fancy Family Cupboard around the time that MC is finished with her shift, then we'll scoot on down 340 to make an appearance at Kitchen Kettle Village for a cookie or two. Oh, and this whole time we'll be taking loads of pictures. Because that's kind of what we do. We take pictures. Lots of pictures.

Wow.

Oh and I forgot Thursday! Turkey Day WOOHOO.

I'm going to wake up to either Sharon singing to me or the smell of coffee (either work for me!), walk down the steps while I'm half asleep with my hair all messy, my slippers and over sized t-shirt, have a little bit of coffee with my Fall flavored creamer, and I'm going to plop on the couch and wait for the Rockettes to make their infamous appearance on The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Does that not sound like a fabulous morning?

It's the morning I look forward to the most.

I wonder how many people actually watch the parade. It's tradition at our house, and we all know how us Martins feel about our traditions!

I've officially decided to ignore the statistics pile at my feet until tomorrow. Or Tuesday.

My stats book is currently resting on my feet. For real. I've lost circulation in my feet because that mamma is so heavy.

Last night I went to Target and Walmart with some friends from school. It made me happy to see that the entire world is ready to celebrate Christmas!

Yes, Target and Walmart make up the entire world.

I was very much in my element.

I downloaded a Christmas- countdown application on my phone yesterday. It sings to me and tells me when Christmas is. Right now we're at 41 days until Christmas. AND I STILL HAVE NO CHRISTMAS GIFTS!

Gulp.

Oh wrong. I have 1. I bought a gift for my dog- shut up, I miss her and yes, this is normal because 2 of my friends bought the same gift for their dogs.

Its a cute little puppy Christmas sweater! Shasty will LOVE it.

I can't wait to put it on her!

It's dark here- almost. It's 5:15? Sigh.

Today the temperature was 67 degrees. And someone tried to tell me that they were having an 'exceptional Fall season' this year. I laughed until I realized she was serious. Woops.

Fall down here does not mean cold. I have yet to figure out the accepted definition among these crazy people.

Maybe I'll try my luck at some dinner in the dining hall.

They sort of shut down on the weekends. It's not usually that great.

BUT here's to hoping!

Enduring Cold Showers

An evening post. Let's begin with a countdown:

1

0

Countdown over! That was fun.

 That's how many biology labs I have left. Only 1 yayayayayayayay! I cannot put into words how excited I am. Oh wait, I can. I am so so SOOOOOOO so excited to be finished with my biology lab class. So excited, that I would run around campus at 3 in the morning screaming "victory, victory, victory" at the top of my lungs for 45 minutes if it meant that the last bio lab would come quicker. I feel like I did a good job expressing my excitement. Good for me. Yay!

Shame, biology gives me good stuff for my blogging. I'm going to miss it. And I really pray that I don't have another class to replace it in its ridiculousness, but it would be funny. Mom laughed at my story today. Lab was cancelled, as was class. But I still went to lab, because I didn't receive a notice saying that I shouldn't. So I get there, and half of the class shows up along with the professor. She proceeds to tell us that it would be pointless for us to work in class, so we were all dismissed and are to complete an Internet assignment by next Monday.

God is good.

Can somebody say high school? Thank you.

So due to the cancellation of my huge, stinky pile of biology crap, I've completed 5 things and 5 things only today.

1. Made it to/through English (woohoo).

2. Did a load of white/light laundry.

3. Did a load of dark laundry.

4. Washed my sheets/towels

5. Took a nap.

This day, while totally and completely unproductive, was very nice. I haven't had much time to enjoy breathing in the past few weeks! No like for real, I haven't.

But I have been having fun! Mom, Dad and MC spent the weekend with me, shopping and spending money! Spending Daddy's money, that is... He's such a good man.

A good trooper too. He spent a Saturday walking around an overly crowded mall full of families with little kids in strollers screaming their heads off and old men in green track suits giving strange looks when all we wanted was a soft pretzel and a lemonade.

Weird man.

But yes, my father was a good sport. He's definitely a keeper for sure!

MC and Dad told me a pretty funny story. You may ask Dad to tell you- he does it best!

They were alllllll pumped for our parade =)

My roommate just informed me that our shower hates us and refuses to produce hot water. Great. I'm in line for the shower next.

This definitely gives me something to look forward to. YES.

Here I go... cold, cold, cold.

Woohoo!