Hello, Leon.

List of 6 Excuses 

(for why I haven't updated since November):

1. I'm a full-time college student and full-time college students are overworked, overcharged and overly-exhausted people. 

2. My creative well was bone dry due to an increased amount of stress and displeasure experienced during the last few months as a direct result of reason 1. 

3. My iCloud refuses to work properly and I refuse to spend more than 30 minutes figuring it out. I am stumped and have not a clue in the world how to talk my iPhone into sending my photo-stream directly to my computer beyond what I've already done. It just sits there and laughs at me. 

4. I've taken on yet another role. Go ahead and call me Intern Caitlyn again. This means I have to spend 120 hours of my little life working for the American Diabetes Association before May 3rd. It's fun but calculate 120 hours into real life and full-time college student status and (HELLO) you understand why this has made it to the List of 6 Excuses.

5. My French class is all-consuming. 

6. My babysitting business is starting to take off. One or two referrals and suddenly I feel like every Raleigh mom is giving me the once-over when I'm at the grocery store. But I love it- there are some stinking cute kids down here. And they call me Miss Caitlyn so basically I'm a fan. 

So there you go. That should clear things up. 

But if not, then you can kindly take your negativity elsewhere.

Yesterday was my 22nd birthday (whaaat?) and super-storm Leon made his big debut. 

I was really looking forward to celebrating on a nice warm day but Leon had other plans. 

Pushy. 

We did manage to make our way over to Whole Foods and got me a birthday cake. 

It's from Whole Foods so really it's like the healthiest cake we could've gotten, right? 

 

We got 2 inches of snow which isn't the biggest of deals but down here that's more than enough to call off schools and cancel classes and shut down businesses and hibernate for a day or two. 

So that's what I'm doing. Sort of hibernating. 

I slept way too long this morning and so all day I've been kind of groggy-stupid. I just want to go back to bed but I've gotten plenty of sleep and more would just make it worse. 

Why do bad things happen to good people? 

You know when you sleep too long in the morning and you're like borderline awake but then you have the craziest dreams? Or is that just a problem I have? 

Well either way, I had the weirdest dream this morning. 

Mary Catherine was our new kitten? 

She was human, but we treated her like a cat. 

And we let her outside but then we went to bed and accidentally locked her out. 

So she shacked up with a kind possum family that lived under our porch.

Then the next morning I went out to find her, my precious kitty, but I couldn't find her! 

I called her name over and over and then the neighbor told me she saw her go down the street to the hospital. 

So I made my way to the hospital and there she was, little kitty/MC curled up in the corner sleeping. 

I was warned by the nurse that she wouldn't act like a kitty because she was basically raised by possums. 

I figured it would be fine, she spent like 1 night with them, how bad could it be? 

But then I picked her up and she screamed some crazy, possum-like scream. 

Scared the crap out of me. Then I realized I was terrible and had really messed up my kitty-sister. 

I woke up crying. 

And no, we don't have a cat or a kitten, there is no possum family living under our porch, and there is no hospital down the street. 

I am also not implying that my sister is an animal or that she was raised by animals.

I conclude that I have a wild imagination and that sleeping past 10 is no longer a good idea.

Clearly 22 means that I can't handle all that sleep. 

Goodbye youth.

Want to re-cap Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks? Because I want to!

I'll go ahead and get all the puppy pictures out of the way first. There are a lot, brace yourselves. Shasta's just so photogenic and Iris is so stinking cute. 

Danny is Iris's favorite person. 

She's a stunner.

See? Shasta was born to pose. 

I taught Iris how to play Scrabble. She wasn't very good. 

Shasta got a haircut and we made fun of her, shame! 

And Baby Iris officially loves shoving her face into the snow. Good for her. 

I may be slightly obsessed with those two, but can you blame me? They're adorable and they are so cuddly and I miss them so bad! 

Winter in PA was lots of fun. We had snow more than we didn't have snow. Or maybe that's a lie, I can't really remember if I'm being honest. It seems like a life-time ago. 

 But we tried to play in the snow at one point. It was cold and windy and Iris was occupying herself so we didn't feel the need to stay out long. 

I do remember hanging out with Carli Sue a lot. We decided to decorate the guest-book at the Corner Coffee Shop over Thanksgiving break. She drew a lovely turkey with a coffee and I wrote an impressive list of what we were thankful for.

 

I'm thankful for her! 

I also saw old high school friends and we did our high-school-friend thing where we called someone and took a picture and tagged them on facebook. Because we're so creative like that. 

 Yu Qing was on the phone. True story! 

I took so many pictures of all the happenings. I mean, it was Christmas would you expect anything less? Also it was my last winter break. The last time I'll get four weeks off for Christmas because apparently that's not normal and real people don't get that. 

That's a serious bummer.

And Kyle isn't in many pictures because he was gallivanting in Ukraine! We were super excited to have him back home!

This little Amish lady made me smile. I don't know why, but I found her absolutely adorable. And I felt bad that she was walking to get her mail in the cold, rain. I thought someone should recognize and document on her behalf. 

2014's going to be great, isn't it? 

So much hope for this year!

Holding out for a hero (because mom won't change the playlist)

Apparently while I was in school Danny reconnected with his love for oldies music. Seriously I have been sitting in the house listening to The Best of Michael Bolton for at least 20 minutes. Not gonna lie, it's time that playlist mysteriously reached its end.

Sharon has now switched Michael Bolton over to her 80's rock playlist. 

We're all shouting about the hero that we're holding out for.

Ain't that the truth Bonnie? 

So many other things have changed here since I've been gone. The other night mom asked me to light the tiki torches. We have tiki torches? 

We do now. 

We have also started grocery shopping online. Mom can't figure out how to keep her pictures organized on the computer but she knows how to buy groceries online? I just can't put all of this together in my mind. 

Speaking of the computer, MC and I have started our 2nd annual "Hot man on the computer desktop" battle. Not so much a battle but I really don't know what else to call it. Last summer we pretty much went through every attractive male in Hollywood and professional athletes. It got so intense that  government intervention became necessary. Not the government though- Sharon. Although she sort of represents the government in this situation if you really think about it. 

She gave new regulations which said the desktop was only allowed to be changed once each day. I think that rule came to be when someone changed Tim McGraw after mom had only had him on there for like an hour or something. 

So far this summer has been much more relaxed. Jake Gyllenhaal is the current background and has been for almost one week now.

So (and stay with me here, because I am going somewhere) MC was making fun of me one day and changed the background to a real- life person's picture. We all giggled and then changed it right back to Jake, but it was too late. MC apparently saved the other picture to our computer, into a folder that is frequently used in the computer's screensaver slide-show. 

So yesterday, after seeing this picture of this real-life person show up 2 times in the slide-show I decided it was time to locate the picture and officially delete it from our computer. 

That took me a little bit, but I did find it and delete it. 

All clear. 

But in the process I was forced to look through album after album of pictures from a few years ago. Most of them are pre-facebook and therefore never made it into a 200 picture album of randomness that nobody ever had time to look through and appreciate. 

I also found a video that MC, Kyle and I made for Lynda and Carter that we never showed them because we first forgot and then grew up and got embarrassed. 

The video is ridiculous and is currently under lock-down on the computer. 

I am confident that it is under lock-down because

1. Sharon doesn't know where to look or what to look for

2. Daddy doesn't know how to even begin looking for pictures/videos on our computer

and 3. Danny is easily blackmailed. 

Maybe one day the video will be unlocked, but I highly doubt it. It is pretty hilarious though. I'll say this: techno music, bad dancing, poor lip syncing, and a leaf blower. 

Yes, a leaf blower. 

Last week dad asked me if I knew how to use the leaf blower and I smiled and just said, "Of course!" 

Little did he know... 

But we can bring out some of those random sibling pictures I was talking about. High school days. Although we're going to stay away from the Dark Years. 

The Dark Years:

My junior year in high school I accidentally dyed my hair black. 

Black as night. It took some time for that to wash out. 

The box said "The darkest natural brown"- LIES.

Hence- The Dark Years. 

So Dark Years aside, let's look through some winners. 

Here is Dan, long ago. 

He was singing The Sound of Music... The hills are alive, with the sound of music! Also, his hair was really long and he was just a little squirt. 

He was shorter than me at one point. 

We also had a few thousand of the four of us just kinda... sitting. 

Soon after Cardinal Hill became our newest family place, mom and dad left us alone for one night and we got pretty bored. 

The only technology we had was a camera, so we went for it. 

This first lovely was snapped after MC fell off the couch and hit Kyle in the head. I'm just a fan of the eye contact going on. Also, Dan's wearing his hat like he used to when he was little so that's fun.

We literally have so many pictures from that night. I'm kind of surprised that we have never done anything with them. I mean we could've at least used them for National Sibling day or something, right? 

The whole time Dan was singing old rock songs. I think this song may have been something a little more romantic and less rocky since he's stroking MC's shoulder. Also, I believe Kyle may have just messed up my hair. Maybe MC helped him? 

And then, because the previous couch-shoot went so well, we decided it would be a good idea to do it again. This time we were at home though so we can't use the lack of technology excuse. This time... I'm not sure what to tell ya. 

Please appreciate Kyle's flexibility. I think that's what he wants to show us. 

And then- just because he's so loveable- we decided to squish Danny. 

What else has summer consisted of? A whole lot of nothing y'all. 

I did get a haircut. And you can ask mom and MC how many times I say how thankful I am that I finally got a haircut. So that was a big deal. 

I also bought a new pair of shoes that I fell quickly in love with... 

... But the excitement of new shoes was quickly overshadowed by the fact that I am unemployed for the next three months. I had to take a moment to gather myself after Dad gave me the "You need a job" speech.

It took a little bit, but I'm really okay with not working this summer. I'm kind of loving it actually. And no, don't go worrying that I'm getting bored or will have nothing to do or any of that. I am so easily entertained, it might actually be a problem. 

Anyone want to be my spontaneous beach buddy? Because I'm really hoping to at least darken a little bit this summer. It's hard going to a school in the south with translucent skin. In my geology class I learned what that's called- high albedo. My skin reflects so much light- like snow, or rain. I think that's what it's called anyway. I had geology almost a year ago and it was dreadfully boring. The word "Albedo" is literally the only word I can remember and I'm not too concerned with being all sciency.

So guys let's all pray that I can tan tan this summer. 

All that being said- beach buddy. I need you.

Also, Kyle spent a few days at home last week. He is staying in Lock Haven for the summer so... hello road-trip to LH to see Kylie!

Also, Shasta loves when Kyle is home. She's quite the poser- she really has no inhibitions. 

Dan and I ended up wearing Phillies t-shirts on the same day. We documented that rare occurrence. 

Yesterday Mary Cat and I decided that in order to entertain ourselves we would drive mom's car (wanted to save gas) to Park City to people-watch. The public didn't disappoint. There were so many people- so many colorful people. 

We also had high hopes that we would run into our dear mall friend who we call Alex. 

Mary Catherine and I first noticed Alex this year while we were Black Friday shopping. We snapped a few photos of him from far away- very sneaky of us, right? I thought so too. 

So there's Alex- the red arrow is pointing right to him. 

 Anyway, Alex used to work at the sock stand but we could hardly call him The Sock-Stand guy. Alex seemed fitting. 

So yesterday we were hoping to maybe see Alex but apparently socks don't need to be sold year-round (weird, I know). We were pretty bummed as we sat with our Auntie Anne's pretzels and had no Alex to look at. But we weren't disappointed very long. Suddenly MC said, "I'm not going to freak out" and just like that, Alex was there. Alex was walking RIGHT in front of us. 

Except Alex wasn't alone. He was dragging behind him a penguin balloon. 

The penguin had an orange leash. 

We died laughing immediately and I'm pretty sure we may have slightly offended him. 

So right away we were all... Fantastic, this guy is a freak who walks balloons through the mall! Then we went around trying unsuccessfully to find his new sock stand. Turns out Alex is the new helicopter guy and he works right beside a stand that sells animal balloons. 

We didn't feel so bad for him after realizing that. 

But still- a grown man walking around the mall with a penguin balloon on an orange leash? Maybe that wasn't your best idea, Alex.

Either way, we spent a good 20 minutes trying to piece together the Alex/ penguin-balloon mystery. 

And please, if you know this guy that we call Alex- feel free to just not say anything to me, Mary Catherine, or Alex. Because how weird would that be, right? It would be so weird. 

This cute guy was relaxing across from us the whole time. Feet propped up on his walker and iPhone in hand.

I mean, this guy is living his life. 

So finding things to do obviously isn't too difficult for me. And now I'm finding myself curled up on the couch as the Bachelorette begins a new season! 

This time Des has to win because she's the Bachelorette and I'm so glad. Yes, I am a fan of this show and I will be watching faithfully. Ever want to find me on a Monday night? Well don't because I'm not socializing I'm watching this show. 

That sounded harsh- but sometimes finding love is harsh guys! 

Here it goes! Happy summer.

It's about time

Guys, guess who finally made time to sit down and make some changes??

I did. This girl.

The last time I updated my blog was when I created it- pretty sure. So it was time. Let's be real. 

I was also hoping that this time I wouldn't have a huge amount of stuff to catch up on, but again I was wrong. 

Not that lots has happened, but what has happened is pretty monumental in my opinion. Like a BTR concert with the UNC Clef Hangers- that was pretty cool. A bunch of preppy guys decked out in bow-ties, flair-filled vests and khakis can serenade me any day! 

We helped ourselves to their vests when they foolishly left their dressing room unattended. It was like they begged us to try their vests on. 

No one got any phone numbers- much to all of our disappointment- and I think everyone cried about it. But we did get a semi-group picture with BTR and some of the Clefs. 

Us girls decided to go stomping through Raleigh the other week- that was a fun time. We found a random wall filled with color and we asked a kind-looking passerby to snap a quick group shot for us. 

We also found a cow sticking out of a building and had to take a picture with that too. It's not every day that you see a cow's rear-end sticking out of a window in downtown Raleigh! 

Then we walked around and acted crazy and drank coffee. Good group bonding time- you know. 

You know what else was really monumental for me?

Turning 21. 

Since my birthday was on Monday, we decided to celebrate all weekend long. Doesn't everyone do that? 

Kyle surprised me by flying down Friday night in the middle of this freak ice-storm that Raleigh just so happened to be experiencing. His flight was delayed at least 3 hours and our previous plans were pretty screwed up by the weather stuff. Lynda was going to have him show up at dinner wearing a big red bow to surprise me. 

Since that didn't happen, we all waited up playing Mario on the Wii until 11pm, then headed out to the airport to pick him up. The weather men were advising us to stay indoors what with the treacherous road conditions and all, but nothing could keep us from rescuing Kyle from the airport! Not that he was in danger, but for real- who wants to be stuck in an airport on my birthday weekend?? Not this girl. 

We did so many fun things that weekend, it'll probably make you really jealous. So if you can't handle it, if you're going to get all upset and start to really hate us, then just stop now. 

I'm serious. 

So serious.

Okay so here we go. Saturday we started the day off right- with a trip to Jubala for coffee and biscuits with the Crains, John and Harry, me and Kyle. 

Lynda and I had matching outfit concepts, and that was enough for us to pose appropriately for a photo. 

Boots, scarf, leather jacket- very similar concept. 

This was Kyle's first visit to Jubala and I'm pretty sure it was a huge hit. I know he was a big fan of the ham and cheese biscuit, but they lost a good 10 points when he realized he couldn't order a caramel macchiato (his number 1 go-to-drink). But he ordered the brown sugar cinnamon latte, and I think that he actually liked it. 

He drank it down to the very last drop anyway. 

Then someone took another picture of Lynda and I. We don't ask for these things, they just kind of happen! 

Just kidding, we totally asked someone to take this for us. 

Deal with it. 

 

After coffee we headed over to The Alley for some good, retro bowling. 

No computers, oldies music, and the foam gutter-guards. 

Perfect.

 

Harry and I decided to pose like the bowling pin on the window. I think we did a pretty great job. 

Then Kyle had the brilliant idea of making me into the lumpy bowling ball beside the pin. Of course, how silly of us to have originally ignored the poor little guy! 

And again- nailed it. 

 

Unfortunately the bowling part of things didn't go well. 

In case I didn't tell you before, I can't bowl. 

We tried the same thing last year for my birthday with mom, dad and MC, and I had similar results.

Except this time I didn't drop my ball, so I guess you could say I'm improving.

So yes, Kyle beat me. He was nailing strike after strike and I was all, "Oh good, I got 4 pins!" 

So yeah, I was a little bit disappointed in the score- which I conveniently don't remember.

After bowling we headed to some very random shops and of course posed with the most outrageous things we could find.

 

First to Sugar Magnolia for some crazy colorful hats. Kyle was tempted to buy that hat- it was a great deal and I'm honestly shocked that he left it behind. 

At least I know what to get him for his birthday this year.

Then to Father and Son's- the world's most random store filled with everything from paintings to furniture to vintage clothes and hot-pink mannequins. 

Lynda found a great pair of sunglasses. Can't you just see her lying on the beach sporting these babies? She didn't get them though- too bad. I think she was looking for something with a little more pizzazz. 

Kyle came around the corner at one point and very seriously said to me, "Cait, I found your wedding dress! You have to come see this!"  He was all excited as he grabbed my arm and quickly led me across the store and into a room with this. 

I told you. Hot-pink mannequin. 

The fact that she's pink- kinda weird. Then we see that she's basically chewing on her bangs and is missing a left hand and... do you have goosebumps? Because I really do. From all the weirdness. Moving on.

The one good part of this store came in the form of a vintage couch that just happened to be my favorite color- mint! 

I want this couch. I want it in my cute downtown apartment that I don't have. 

Let's be real- this couch would make the look 100% complete. 

 

After the random shopping/browsing/entertainment, we headed off to Mellow Mushroom for some dinner. 

Kyle kept calling it "the mushroom". It was pretty cute. 

So there we are with our left-over potato pizza. It was literally a baked potato with sour cream, bacon bits, and cheese on a pizza. I didn't think it was possible either- but it is guys. It really is. 

Since this happened before my birthday, when Carter got a free fountain beverage coupon he quickly handed it to me and loudly exclaimed, "That's for you!" 

This is me being super happy for my free fountain beverage. 

Once again reminding me that I wasn't yet 21. 

 

Then after eating at The Mushroom (ha ha) we walked at least 5 miles down the street to the Cupcake Shoppe. Yes, it was 5 miles I'm pretty sure. All uphill too. It's like they wanted to kill me. Ugh. 

But the cupcakes were good- Kyle's never seen a fancy shmancy cupcake shop that only sells cupcakes. Apparently Lock Haven isn't into that?

They're missing out. 

 

 

Then Saturday ended. Saturday was a very long day- like never-ending, but in a good way. 

Then along came Sunday and whoever can guess how we started our day can call themselves special. 

That's right. Another Jubala start- pretty fantastic. 

 

Kyle and I enjoyed our lattes a lot. I actually look quite surprised to see mine. Kyle looks really excited. 

Basically that's exactly how we were feeling. 

We do get normal every now and again. Someone at school told me that they think Kyle and I look alike. I wondered if she had her eyes shut while she was looking at the picture. Just kidding- but I do think it's cool that someone things we look similar. It's cool.

 

 We also went to see a movie Sunday afternoon- Silver Linings Playbook- with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. 

It had 4 of my favorite things: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, lots of Eagles talk, and a lot of crazy. Seriously though- great movie. One of my new favs. 

Of course we did dinner in style- Bull City for some freaking amazing burgers. We were all big fans. Kyle told us that he liked Bull City the best of all the things we did that weekend. It was pretty cute.

 

There's all of us after devouring our burgers. Seriously, amazing. 

And then came Monday- my actual birthday. 

My actual 21st birthday! 

It started off pretty mild- Kyle and I had the morning/afternoon to ourselves so we went to the mall for some Gloria Jeans coffee. Kyle and I agree that it is the best coffee we've ever had.

So of course we took pictures with our favorite coffees. 

Then we went to Target because Kyle didn't believe me when I said that they have an entire isle of wine. 

There he is, in his isle of wine. He was in his heaven. 

Needless to say, he was pretty impressed. 

We did a pretty fantastic dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant with fabulous food and a waitress who was very attentive to my birthday needs. 

 

I don't know what I ate- some kind of pasta with chicken that was top notch. I'm actually sitting here drooling over the picture of that food.

My first drink was some kind of nutella something. Honestly the name was "nutella" so I didn't ask questions- just went with it. It was delicious! 

I was forced to wear some party glasses and a couple strands of garland. When I say forced, I mean someone literally put the garland around my neck and the glasses on my face. To be fair I really didn't fight it, I thought it was funny. 

You only turn 21 once, right? 

After dinner we headed off to sing some Karaoke and I had a blast! I picked some songs that really did nothing extra to highlight my vocals, clearly it was my first attempt at karaoke. There was a woman there named Lisa who really dominated and had obviously thought through what she was going to perform. I just got up there and had a fun time if I'm being honest. 

So that's how my 21st birthday went. It was a great time. Kyle left on Tuesday evening and I had to come back to classes and my new routine on Wednesday. Before he left he kept saying "I can't believe Christmas vacation is over already! I don't want it to end." 

At that point it wasn't quite February yet, so I guess that makes sense. I usually like my Christmas break to last through all of January too.

Back to reality, blah. This weekend is pretty quiet. I have loads of homework to catch up on after not having done anything last weekend. BTR is singing for some kind of high school leadership thing tomorrow morning at Meredith. We have to be at the Chapel at 9:30- please pray for me. 

Now I'm going to cuddle up and watch a movie. A girl just came by asking if I had Clorox disinfecting wipes for her to use. I don't know her, but I think she lives on my hall. I'm convinced that my life would win if I ever entered a "most random life" contest. Not that I would ever enter a contest like that, but I had to make my point. 

So there's that!