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

Well I haven't blogged in exactly one month, and I have been missing it! What has been happening?
First, I GOT MY FIRST CAR!!!!!!!! Unfortuantely, I can not add photos of it at this time, but I will soon. It's a blue 2003 Mitsubishi Outlander, fondly named Dory. I love my little car! It is just perfect for a young college student, and I praise God for leting us get a good deal on it!
Also, we have fully decided to go to the Independant Baptist Friends International conference at Temple Baptist Church in Powell, Tennessee. I'm super excited!!!! As well as my parents and myself, my good friend Taylor is coming with us! I don't think that I have ever been this anxious about anything in my whole life!!!! This conference will have a ton of fantastic men of God preaching as well as men and women giving day sessions. I ask you all to pray for those who are speaking as well for the attendes to have open hearts. Please pray for us as we drive up there. We leave as soon as Taylor gets out of school on April 9th, and will get there late on April 10th. It is a 17 hour drive, so we need to be allert. (Probably not a big challenge with Tay and me. lol)

Today is my fourth "veggiversary" or anniversary of being a vegetarian. I can not believe that it has already been four years since I decided to give up the consumption of meat! At times, it seems that I gave it up just a couple of days ago, and then at other times, I feel as if I have been a vegetarian for about ten years!

Last's Night Mexican Feast!!!

I used to HATE Mexican food, and now I absolutely love it. My brother says that I am actually Mexican and that they found me as a baby on the side of the road. (Since I have video proof that says otherwise, I doubt it. lol) Last night, our family had Mexican Lasagna, Fiesta Corn Salad, and some pretty awesome guacamole. (Don't wanna toot my own horn, but why not!) I thought I would share these lovely recipes with my fellow bloggers!

Mexican Lasagna:

• 1 pd. flour tortillas (We live in Dallas, so there are a lot of Mexican markets nearby. We can get fresh, homemade tortillas for really cheap!!!!!!)
• 1 package of veggie ground (or 1 lb. ground beef for you meat heads out there)
• 1 cup mild salsa
• 1 10 oz can enchilada sauce
• 1 pk. taco seasoning mix
• 1 16oz carton of cottage cheese (small curd)
• 1 can black beans
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (Mexican style)

-Brown veggie ground/ground beef and drain. Stir in black beans, salsa, enchilada sauce, and taco seasoning mix. Simmer and stir.

-In a seperate bowl, combine cottaes cheese, eggs and oregano.

-Line pan (9*13 inch) with tortillas.

-Top with half of bean mixture, and add all of cottage cheese mix. Add more tortillas, then rest of bean mixture.

-Top with shredded cheese.

-Bake 30-35 minuts in 375 degree (F) oven.

Fiesta Corn Salad:

• 3 (16 oz) cans whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 large diced yellow onion
• 1 diced bell pepper
• 2 cups diced fresh tomato
• 1 small can chopped green chilli peppers
• 8 oz. package softened cream cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

-In a large salad bowl, mix chili peppers with softened cream cheese. Stir in drained corn.

-Fold all remaining ingredients.

-Put in refrigerator for 2 or 3 hours before serving.

Guacamole:

• 4-5 medium, ripe Haas avocados, peeled and pitted
• 4 diced Roma tomatoes
• 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tsp. sea salt

-In a large bowl, mash all ingredients together until well combined. (So simple but SOOOOOOOOO good!)

It was a lot of fun making my lasagna and guacamole. Daddy made the corn salad and Mummy made a lasagna with meat for the rest of the family. These items are sure to be a huge success!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why, you ask, am I screaming? Well, yesterday, a very important phone call came to my house. It was Mr. Jullian Evans, the Dean of Students at The Crown College of the Bible, etc. and so forth. He was calling to tell us that I GOT INTO CROWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is soooooooooooo exciting! I didn't really have any doubts that I would get in, but waiting for an acceptance letter or call is EXTREMELY testing. About a week ago, I talked to a young man named Charlie who works in the Crown admissions office for a while. He called to see if I had any questions about the school and to help me figure out exactly what I would be facing while at college. As I have put on here before, I feel God wants me to be an elementary music teacher. This puts together two of my passions: music and working with children. Charlie and I figured out that I would be a education major with a emphasis on music. At the end of my schooling, I will take a test that will let me become qualified to teach music at any school in the country, public and private. I can't wait for August to get here!!!! Hopefully, my family will be heading up to Powell, TN this April for a week long Bible conference. If we don't go to that, August will feel even FARTHER away than it already does. Usually, about six months doesn't seem that too long, but right now, it feels like a lifetime! I am trying extremely hard to be patient, but it is very difficult! Nothing has ever felt "more right" than the decision to go to Crown. I love that school and the people who are a part of it more than I can say! It's so hard to explain why I love that school as much as I do, but I can't help it!!!! lol

February Already????

Wow... where did the month of January go? It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating Christmas, and now the stores are full of Valentines cards and ridicuously oversized teddy bears! What has been happening in my life? Well, as I said a few weeks ago, I began to take Advocare vitamins. My whole family has been making changes in our daily food choices, and we have all lost some weight. I'm not sure how much weight I've lost exactly, but I am fitting in clothes that I couldn't fit in just a year ago! It is such a blessing to see results this quickly. I encourage you all to take these products. Yes, you have to work for results and change the way you eat and think, but if you are too lazy to do that, you probably don't really care about your health!
I'm still waiting on my acceptance letter from Crown. I hope it gets here soon!

The Big Day....

Yesterday, Mummy and I filled out my application for The Crown College of the Bible. Every time she clicked the "Next" button, her stomach flipped and I got even more excited. She was sad because I am her baby and no parent is ever fully ready to send their baby off to college, especially when that college is a 17 hour drive away from home. my mom and I are extremely close so I know that this will be hard for both of us. Even though it will be hard, I am still SOOOOOOO excited about going to Crown in the Fall. I just wish that this year would go by quickly! Tommorrow, I am bringing three reccomendation forms to church. One has to be filled out by my pastor and the other two have to be filled out by general friends that are not related to me. I will probably have my youth director fill out one and and I'm not sure about the other one. I might get the couple that is over our junior high program to fill it out. I will ask them to send it in on Monday if possible, because Crown can not do anything with my application until they recieve the reccomendation forms. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
Oh, also, last night I dreamed that I was at Crown for registration and dorm assignments. LOL I must be excited about it!

Okay.....

I think that I need to make a daily schedule. If I do not have a schedule, I will not be able to focus and get everything accomplished as planned. With meals, I will put what I can eat.

The Daily Schedule of HRH Caitlyn Mae

• 7 AM - Wake up, do morning hygiene regimen, and do morning devotions.
• 8 AM - Make and eat breakfast. (2 bread, 1 protein, 1 fruit, 1 fat, 1 milk)
• 8:30 AM - Walk with the Leslie Sansome Walk Away the Pounds 2 or 3 mile video
• 9 AM - Clean the kitchen, bedroom, and do regular chores.
• 10 AM - Practice the piano
• 10:30 AM - Work on my blog and my novel, "My Own Meadow"
• 11 AM - Do whatever else I can do to be productive!
• 12 PM - Make and eat lunch. (2 breads, 2 proteins, 1 vegetable, 1 fat)
• 1 PM - 5 PM - Dependant on the day
• 5:30 - Help Mummy start dinner
• 6:30 - Eat Dinner with my family. (2 proteins, 1 bread, 1 vegetable, 1 fruit, 1 fat)

I am very excited about this meal plan. It is going to have to be a lifestyle change, but I know that I can do it! I plan on using this blog as a source of encouragement for myself. I feel that if I put my thoughts out there I will be able to stick to them easier.

AdvoCare, Day 1....

Okay, so I started my vitamins today. I took three CorePlex pills this morning and then later put the powder from three Carb-ease capsules into a small glass of apple cider and took them. Here is what I've learned today: When putting a powder into a cold liquid to take it, NEVER LET IT SIT THERE! Drink it as fast as possible or else a bunch of the powder will form on the bottom of the glass and taste horrible! The drink itself was okay, but when I got to the bottom, I h ad to force myself not to vomit. I think it will be a lot better in a hot tea or even a glass of warm water. Over all, my first day of this was pretty easy.

New Years...... GOALS!

Don't you hate when you can't think of anything in your life that is blog worthy? I haven't been feeling well enough to do any good baking (plus it would be disgusting for a sick person to even step into a kitchen) and I haven't really picked up a new hobby. (We'll I've gotten back into crochet, but that's not all that interesting.) What should I do? This year that has just begun marks a new chapter in my life's journal (My life's blog, if you will) and I truly need to become more interesting. I sadly failed at all of the goals that I set at the beginning of 2009, but I beleive that this year will be different. As I have mentioned before, this fall I will be starting college at The Crown College of the Bible in Powell, Tennessee (Thankfully, most people just call it Crown or conversations would be a lot longer there.). This year, I am not making a plan that by the end of next year I will be ashamed of. I have decided to set a period of eight months for my goals to be fulfilled. In August, I leave for Crown and I would like to be a LOT slimmer. I also would like to be more "put together". I have a bad habit of not caring what condition my room is in and not being very prim and proper, and I am becoming fed up with it. My room is now clean and it looks RATHER nice. I plan on keeping it that way for a long, long time.
Today I started taking AdvoCare vitamins as part of my weight loss plan. I am taking their "CorePlex" pills three times a day. Unfortuantly, the pills in their packs are not completely vegetarian, so I cannot take them. I will, though, be able to take a pill called "Carb-ease". Although this is in a gelatin capsule, I will be able to take it apart and sprinkle the vitamin powder into food making it completly vegetarian. My goal for now is to be 3 or 4 dress sizes smaller by the day I leave for Crown in August. That seems like a very good goal for me at this time. Please pray that I will stick to this plan!