Happy Birthday to ME!

Well, it's official. I am legally an adult! Saturday was my eighteenth birthday, and the curse is broken. For some reason, every birthday I have had since I turned thirteen has been ruined by something. Thankfully, nothing went wrong this time! In fact, we had a great day. In the morning, Mum and I went to go pick up Daddy from the hospital. (He had to stay overnight after having two stints put in due to a blockage near his heart.) I am praising the Lord that he is feeling better and was even able to go to work today. Next, Mum and I went to our favorite nail salon and had some pampering time! After Mani-Pedi time with Mum, we went back home. When my brother, Casey, came home from work, he gave me a new Sarah Brightman CD and a Freddi Fish game. Freddi Fish is a little lame kid's computer game, but I love them! They bring back great memories and made me laugh. No one else would have ever bought me something like that; haha my brother's awesome! Next, I went to Blockbuster and bought my final birthday gift from my parents: THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON 2 DISC SPECIAL EDITION! Ahhhhh words cannot describe how much I love the Twilight Saga. The books and movies are amazing.
It was a very amazing birthday!

Last night, I attended the graduation for Crown Southwest and Norris Seminary. (Crown Southwest is a branch of The Crown College of the Bible that was opened a few years ago here in Dallas.) Our friends, Jordan and Kara (who we call Kay-Ruh) graduated last night. I'm so proud of them. They will be getting married in August of this year. I'm so excited for them.
After we went to the graduation, we went to Don Pablo's Mexican restaurant in Fort Worth. That place is AMAZING!!! The Smiths and Taylor went with us, and we all had tons of fun! My mum and Miss Jonna got the waiters to sing "Happy Birthday" for me and my brother, Casey. He turned 23 last Wednesday and this Saturday will be my 18th birthday. YIPPY!!! Oh, do you know how heavy real sombrerros are? man, they are extremely heavy! It was so much fun.
Tonight, our teen group will be going to Cassie's Fro-Yo for a special treat during class. I love that place!

Last night, I went to what would have been my last choir concert in public school. I was reminded of my ife before my family decided to finish my education through home schooling. It was so nice to see my choir friends and receive long awaited hugs from them, but it felt so strange to be there. I realized how much I missed them, but I still have no regrets about homeschooling. I believe it was a great decision, no matter what some of my public school friends think. A few of them (although they didn't look down on it) did not understand my decision to homeschool. It's just not the "normal" thing to them. When you know a lot of people who homeschool, it seems as normal as going to public or private schools, but in the city, it is thought to be weird.
Another thing my friends at public school don't seem to understand is the decision I made in tenth grade to not wear pants. I am probably the only person who many of them have ever met who doesn't wear pants. Even now when I go back to my old stomping grounds, I get strange looks from them. Even when I see my old friends, it is as if they forgot what it looks like to see someone wearing modest clothes. It makes me laugh, actually. I am not offended by their looks; it just makes me remember how feminist our world is. Of course, I am all for equal rights for women, but I am not a feminist. I am a young lady who wants to please the Lord by my actions and wardrobe. I am extremely proud of this!!!
I am so proud of my choir friends, especially the ACCAPELLA seniors. Congratulations guys; I love you! You are my ONLY regret for leaving public school. I miss you and hope to see you again soon!

Cassie's FroYo

I would like to write a review for a great place that opened in Grapevine, TX recently. If you are ever in the DFW area, make sure to take a trip to Cassie's Frozen Yogurt on Main Street in Grapevine. This self-serve FroYo place is very lovely to visit and the yogurt itself is delightful! I have only been to Cassie's twice, but I will recommend it to anyone! The employees are very kind and helpful, and the environment is VIBRANT! I love all of the neon colors on the walls. In addition to the several flavor options, there's a great topping bar, complete with your favorite candies and fruit. My favorite treat from Cassie's is a cup of Yellow Cake Batter yogurt topped with Mango, chocolate chip cookie dough pieces, pineapple, Oreo crumbles, and some jimmies. (For those of you who don't use random British terminology on a daily basis, "Jimmies" are sprinkles!)
Drop in to Cassie's next time you're in Grapevine!

"The Indigo Notebook"

The other day, I mentioned a book that I read recently, and I would like to take a few minutes to review it. Laura Resau's "The Indigo Notebook" follows the life of a young teenage girl, Zeeta, and her flighty mother. Every year, Zeeta's lived in a different country and writes information about the lives of those around her in a different colored notebook. Shortly after moving to Ecuador, Zeeta meets Wendell, a Otavaleno (I apologize for the spelling. It will not allow me to put the accent.) teenager who was adopted as a baby by an American family. Zeeta and Wendell set out on the adventure to find his birth parents. Meanwhile, Zeeta's mother, Layla, falls head over heels for Jeff Ryan, the ultimate "Handsome Magazine Dad" that Zeeta has always dreamt of. Will this new relationship cause Zeeta and Layla to move back to the States with Jeff? Will they abandon their lifestyle? Does Wendell discover the mystery behind his birth parents? I strongly recommend you check this book out and see for yourself. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it! I would give it 4 1/2 stars out of five.

I don't know if I have ever said this on my blog, but I have insomnia. It takes me hours to fall asleep some nights, and when I finally do fall asleep, I have extremely strange dreams. I believe that this is why I love to write. Everything I write down in my stories have occured in my dreams. It is amazing how it is all connected! In seventh and eighth grades, I had severe pains in my abdomen and had to have two surgeries and countless doctor visits. I would wake up in the middle of the night because of this pain or wouldn't be able to fall asleep because of the pain. I believe this is why I now am an insomniac! It was around eighth grade when I fell in love with writing stories. How is it that this is all connected?

Have you ever had a fabulous idea, but no inspiration? I had the amazing desire to write a novel, as I often have, but I seem to be lacking the inspiration needed for said novel. So far, we have a girl named Elizabeth Rose who lives with her adoptive family near London at their newly purchased old estate. One day while exploring, she finds a crest engraved onto a tile with a group of words in Finnish. She determines to discover the meaning behind these words and will eventually find herself in a magical land far different from her own. In this far distant world, she will learn of her biological family who abandoned her on the day of her birth. But, sadly, I can not find a way to get this story going.
Have any of you ever had a trouble with writer's block, whoever you may be? Is anyone even out there? Please comment... it will truly help me! Even if no one is reading this, blogging in strangely therapuedic for me. It's a way for me to express myself without the fear of being rejected. Putting all of my thoughts out for commentarry, not holding back anything. The freedom to express yourself in whichever way you see neccessary.

Once again, I apollogize for the lack of blog posts. Our computer has been ridiculously retarded, but my laptop came in via the UPS man yesterday!!! So, this is my first official blog post from my very own laptop!
I'm proud to announce that in 14 days, I will be eighteen years old, and in 3 months and 5 days, I will be on my way to Georgia for a week of vacation before heading up to college. I am so excited to be at college! The Crown College of the Bible sounds like a great, wonderful adventure! Of course I know that it will not all be fun and games, but it sounds like it will be so much fun!
I am still battling with severe Writer's block, and I hope that having my laptop handy at all time will help with this. By the time you can get across the house and switch users on the home computer, you have lost all inspiration that you had. So, thankfully, I can now just walk across my room and start typing whenever the Muse decends. (Of course this is an illustration. I do not and never have believed in Greek mythology! Hahaha...)
This morning, Mummy and I attended our church's Mother/Daughter banquet. We heard a great lesson about Ruth and Naomi. It's amazing how their relationship changed all of history. If it weren't for Naomi's faith being shown to Ruth, Ruth would never have married Boaz and eventually become King David's gentile grandmother. Of course, David was the ancestor of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of Naomi and Ruth, we gentiles are able to recieve Christ and have a home in heaven. Also, we were reminded that "Ruth" means "gracious". Take time to remember what it means to be ruthless. NEVER be ruthless.
So what has been happening? Not much besides preparing for Crown. Hahaha! And doing a whole lot of reading. I am beginning to recognize the faces (and even names) of all of my local librarians, and I think they think that I am crazy because I am there so much. My rule has always been "Stop whenever you can not fit anymore books in your black and white polkie-dot tote," but recently I keep, um, breaking the rule. I probably should either get a bigger tote or just have two totes! I just read a great book that I would reccomend to anyone. It's called "The Indigo Notebook". Also, I am currently reading a book called "Set in Stone". I don't remember either of the authors names, but they are awesome!
I hope you all have a great day! Oh, and a wonderful Mother's Day for any readers who happen to be blessed with children!
Caitlyn Mae