Best Birfday Ever!

Hey Y'all! As you may or may not know, I recently (well, last month...) just had my sweet 16. And I must say, it was pretty sweet :] It all started when we were in Texas, my cousins birthday is 2 weeks earlier than mine and we happened to be visiting around that time. Towards the end of our stay in Dallas, my family threw us a "surprise" party at my Uncles house. (I say "Surprise" because it was a secret until the little ones kept hinting my cousin and me) We both had our own cake and got about 3 itunes gift cards each. It was AWESOME :] When we got back from Texas, my mom took me to the DMV the next day to get my permit and I passed my written test on the first attempt. I must say, I felt accomplished. So the next step was to enroll in a driving school (which is a whole other story in itself...) It took us a few hours to actually find a school and enroll in the same day. When it was all over, and I could legally drive with my mom, I figured this was my birthday present from my parents and I wouldn't be receiving anything else.
2 weeks go by, and I was feeling very down in the dumps and left out. We went to youth group and it didn't get much better. But later that night, we went to Jack-n-the-Box (like we always do after youth group) and there was a surprise birthday party waiting for me there! I seriously had no clue what was going on, and it explained why no one would talk to me. Torii, my sister, had set up the whole thing when we came back from Texas. I guess no one would talk to me because they were afraid they might hint word of the party to me. (Or I'm just weird, haha :])
But needless to say, I'm very thankful that my sister loves me enough to throw me a surprise party and actually persevere to pull it off. Love ya sis!

The Ketchup Post

Okay, peoples. This is what I like to call a Catch-Up post. A "Catch-Up Post" is a post the catches you up because the blogger hasn't blogged in awhile. Yup, this is one of those posts. And just because I'm completely Awesome like that, I'm calling it "The Ketchup Post" Because who doesn't like Ketchup? :P
(Here's where you start to get caught up ;] )
So, alot of things have happened since I got the Swine Flu.

• Abi Dislocated her Elbow
• My room is SOOOO close to being finished
• We are DONE moving in, minus the backyard (It needs some work...)
• I went to a baptism 2 weeks ago.
• ... I can't think of anything else right now, but once I do, I'll add it to the list x]

First things first, You might be wondering how Abi dislocated her elbow... WELL, ABI didn't really dislocate her elbow... Torii and I kinda did it for her :( We were playing like I was a monster and Torii was coming to save her, so I kept Abi in my lap and Torii tugged just a little too hard and 'POP', we dislocated her elbow. It took us a long time to realize we'd actually done anything to it. So around 8:00 later that night, my mom and I took Abi to the hospital and before we knew it, the doc had already put her elbow back into place. No lie, it took less than a second. I guess that happens to alot of little kids that he knew exactly what he was doing. But all is well now. Abi has never been better :]

Now, about my room. It is stinkin' awesome :] Lots of Blue, Pink, and Green. And just this weekend, my mom and I painted some art and though it is very girly art, it goes with the room perfectly! xD Don't worry, I will be adding pics soon, and hopefully, I will be taking another video of the house this weekend to post on my blog :]

The backyard is a tough task, when we moved in, everything in it was dead. I think I even saw a dead field mouse in it. So, we've put a little work into it and the backyard is now covered in over 100 bags of mulch, courtesy of our landlord. Yeah, mulch isn't my first choice, I would much rather be able to walk around barefoot in my backyard without getting splinters in my feet, but the mulch will have to do since we are only planning on being in Monterey for a year. We hope to add 1 or 2 trees to the yard soon, and bring the lavender bushes back to life. But me, having no gardening skills whatsoever, and my mother having less than that (she's notorious for killing plants...) this task of ours may not be possible. We will just have to leave it in the Lords hands.

Oh, right! The Baptism! I almost forgot ;) 2 weeks ago, alot of people in our youth group got baptised. It was the coolest baptism I've ever seen, and believe me, I've seen alot :] First, the student got into the water where our youth leader, Matt G. and youth helper, David Z. were waiting for them. Matt talked to the crowd a little bit, sharing with them his experiences with the student. Then they talked to the student a little bit more privately while the crowd was engaged in worship. And then, while the crowd was still worshiping, Matt and David prayed with the student and baptised them. It was so amazing and so personal for each and every one of the students.

Well, You will see more posts in a little bit, I'm gonna take a break :] But this, has been the "ketchup post" (try to imagine that like I was saying it as a news reporter. You know, more dramatic ;] )

Caught the Piggy Flu at Spirit West Coast

In case I haven't talked to you in awhile, or you're not on my facebook, or we've never even met before, I've been sick. And not just some little cold. I got the coveted, unavailable vaccination, H1N1 Virus. Also known as the Swine Flu... It's not as scary as you might think, odds are, you're not gonna die from it. But it is MISERABLE. And I had it for a grand total of, are you ready for this? TWO WEEKS. Now the big question is, how did I catch it?

Well, I went on this AMAZING christian music festival called "Spirit West Coast". 3 days of pure awesomeness :] I went with my youth group and since it was at a race track called 'Laguna Seca' that was a ways away from our house, and happened to be right by our youth leaders house, we ended up staying at their house for 3 days. There were a lot of amazing musicians at the festival. Including, Matthew West, David Crowder, Jeremy Camp, StellarKart, Falling Up, MercyMe, Tobymac, and a bunch more! Oh, did I mention MOI was there??? I know, awesome, right? His show was amazing and on the KLove stage (The main stage there) It was just like the worship we did at shorebreak, only bigger, and in the sun. I got to talk to him afterwards a couple times and met the rest of his band.

They're pretty cool :] And talking to Moi, I found out that he is going to be the worship leader for shorebreak next year. I think I'm gonna start saving for that... now. :) Hopefully I will be able to attend, but if not, I know its all in God's hands.

But yeah, sometime during spirit west coast, 4 of us from the youth group were all doing the same thing... who knows what, and caught the swine flu. This Friday was our first time back with our youth group since we were put on quarantine. Needless to say, now that I am better, I can get back to blogging :] Keep checking back as I'll be posting some more soon!

-Caitlin-

Soggy... Toilet Paper?

So, I woke up a few days ago and went through the normal routine. You know,
-Wake up
-Finally get out of bed
-Go to the bathroom
-Take a shower
Yeah, normal stuff. Only this day was different. The night before, SOMEBODY had left the window to one of the bathrooms open (haha, it was me :]) and the door to that bathroom open as well.
Now, to understand what I'm about to tell you, you need to know that Seaside Highlands, as well as the rest of Monterey, is VERY foggy. EVERY. DAY. The fog is in when you wake up, leaves right around lunch time, and stays out until about the time you're having dinner, then it stays for the rest of the night.
So anyway, in my mistake in leaving the window open (as well as the bathroom door) The fog came through the house. And in the morning, what was the result? Soggy Toilet Paper. It was like that in every bathroom in the house. Haha, who would've thunk?

-Caitlin-

And the Tears Came Down

In case you don't know me very well, I don't cry. Not often, anyway. My reasoning is this:

-I detest crying in front of people. (and I mean ANYONE)

-If I cry, someone else might start crying

-I look so much like a little kid throwing a tantrum when I cry

So, I've built up kind of a bad habit over the years where I don't cry when I get sad and I just keep storing the sadness up inside of me until all of the tears come out at once. It could be over something even really silly, but not likely. I've had a lot of reasons to be sad lately. Moving, being the main one.

We had been house hunting for a long time, a few months. Originally, we thought we were going to live on the base near the navy lodge, but my mother was not happy with the size of the house. All the kids liked it of course, because it was a 5 bedroom, but we were not focusing on the rest of the house. So we continued searching until we came across this supposed 5 bedroom at Seaside Highlands.
We went in and looked around the house and could hardly contain our joy, until....

We looked upstairs. only 3 bedrooms? How could this be? Well, there really are 5 bedrooms, one just happens to be open to the whole house, and the other downstairs. And there was another problem, all of the non-master bedrooms were even smaller than the ones we had in Yokosuka. I'm sure you could imagine my disappointment. I was very unhappy to see myself cleaning up after my sister in the future, and us arguing over the mirror, certain "toys", and space among other things. After retreating to the car that was parked in the driveway, the tears came down. Unfortunately, my mother saw me crying and then she started to get teary-eyed. It was all just a big mess. I really wanted to be alone.

Later, we went to Burger King for lunch and my parents worked it out so I could have my own room. Did you hear that? MY OWN ROOM! No more tears out of me! Look, here's a picture!

Haha, It's really not this small, I just had to stage it because I couldn't fit it all into the photo :] Notice the Air Mattress. I have a comforter and sheets for a twin bed and the air mattress just so happens to be Queen sized, so it doesn't quite fit. BUT our shipment from Japan comes this Thursday! Huzzah!

That's all for now!

-Caitlin-

Hello House!

We got a house! Can you believe it? I haven't lived in a real, non-military house in... a LONG time! I took video of it! You wanna see? Of course you do! Here it is: :]

Our house has a little more junk in it than viewed in the video.I mean, you saw the pic of my room, right? If not, look at the post above :] We've received our express shipment and one of our storage shipments since this video and guess what... we have 3 more shipments coming! Krazyness!!! I can't wait to be finally done moving.

Masalama!

-Caitlin-

You Melt My Heart With Peanut-Butter!

Have you met my friend, Hope?

She's a pretty cool chicka! I knew her in Yokosuka, for about half a year when we first moved there. Then she decided she didn't like me anymore, so she moved to Hawaii. (Haha, just kidding :P) Well, I hadn't seen her since she moved, which was about two years ago, until our visit to Hawaii! Look, here's us!

I got to spend a lot of time with her and her sister, Jenna, while we were in Hawaii. We had a couple of sleepovers and did some epic boogy-boarding together. One of the times she slept over at our place, we thought we would be random and try to tan everything but a heart shape on our backs. The plan was brilliant! We would sit out on the beach and let the sun do all the work. But, we had one little problem. How were we gonna keep the heart-shaped paper stuck to our backs? We tried spit. We tried sun screen. We were almost gonna try gum, but we weren't that desperate. So, we looked around. Bananas... Cherries... knives... PEANUT BUTTER!!!

Amazing, something so thick, our backs won't absorb it, and we could wash it off when we were done! So, Hope and I immediately started taking the peanut butter and smothered it on each others backs, pasting the heart on top. We looked great :] (Regrettably, I did not take pictures because I thought that the end result would be awesome enough) So we laid out in the sun.

30 minutes went by... nothing yet. 45 minutes... still nothing. At about 50 minutes, we both realized our backs were getting incredibly sticky. We looked at each others backs, and the peanut butter was melting!!! EPIC FAIL! Both of us ran towards the water as fast as we could to wash off the peanut butter before it could ruin our bathing suits.

After recovering inside the cabin, Hope and Jenna had to go home before we could make a second attempt to reverse-tan our backs.

BUT, We tried again. Haha. Only this time, with Zinc. Unfortunately, we weren't out there long enough for it to work. But yeah. This is now an on-going joke between Hope and I :]

The End! xD

-Caitlin-

Hey Moi!

You know what's awesome?

ME!!!

Haha, yes. And as true as that may be, that awesomeness is not what I was referring to.
Have you ever heard of Moi? No not me, but Moi, the singer :]

He's a pretty cool guy. I first saw him in Okinawa when I went on Shorebreak. He was our worship leader that came with Hume Lake. I saw him around Okinawa a few times when I was staying with my buddy, Kate Cooper, and later told him that I was going to Hawaii for a vacation before I moved to California. It just so happened that he was going to be in Hawaii for a few concerts too! I couldn't wait! I was gonna see him in Hawaii and get to show my family and the Cassidy's a really cool Christian artist!

A few months later, in June, we had moved out of Japan and gone to Hawaii for vacation. Turns out, we missed our chance to go to Moi's concert. Dang it! I was depressed :(

On the same day that I found out we missed it, we decided to go for a hike to this lighthouse somewhat near the blow-hole on Oahu. Can you guess who we saw there? MOI!!! Krazy, right?

Don't believe me? I've got a pic to prove it!

See! :]

Well, That's one story down, a million more to go!

-Hasta La Pasta!-

-Caitlin-

The Return of KrazyKeiKei

So, in case you haven't noticed, I haven't been blogging in awhile... It's been KRAZY in my world! We've recently gone through a move and a small vacation to Hawaii before actually getting to Monterey. I've been very busy, and thought about blogging alot, but it was not my top priority when I had the chance to get on the internet. (facebook was, Haha.)
But forget about me NOT blogging. I have a couple of stories I would like to share and a video I made of the house to post just for you guys!
So, this starts the first of the posts.

-Caitlin- :]

iSpy... Ninjas!

"I spy with my little eye... something... that is... BROWN!", says Abi.

"Hmmm.... I don't know, Abi! You made this a tricky one. Is it..... a box?"

"Yeah! *giggle* How'd you know?"

"Oh, just a lucky guess. :] Okay, my turn. Uhh..... I spy with my little eye.... something that is... umm... brown!", I sarcastically replied, assuming my little sister would get it. I mean, how could she not? It's all there is to look at! (well, other than the dull, gray sky. But everyone knows how much fun that is!) So, what better way to pass the time than a game of eye spy?(or 'iSpy' I guess it is now-a-days) The movers shouldn't take long. Only a few hours left, and the first pack-out day will be over. After about 2-3 weeks of preparation for the move, the actual 'moving day' is the most relaxing day of all! 2-3 weeks of stress, unsocialism, and complete chaos, one day of 'nothingness' felt pretty good. No, scratch that. It felt amazing!
We could hardly wait until the movers were done so that the REAL fun could begin, involving tons of bouncy balls and no carpets in an empty house. (mwahahahahahahahahaha!!!)
Well, I've got to go. Just updating you guys on how far we were into the move!

Prayer Request:

• For everyone in the Amis household to maintain Sanity.

Praises:

• The mover-guys are super FAST! They're kinda quiet too... like Ninjas!!!
• We are done packing everything... minus the stuff for our express shipment
• I can be social again because I don't have to be home to pack stuff! :D

-Caitlin-

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Right now, I'm sitting in the computer room on the first floor of the TLF in Yokota with one of my greatest friends, Sarah, at the other computer on the other side of the room. You may be wondering, 'what is the occasion?' or you could be thinking, 'why would anyone be doing that on such a gorgeous Sunday?'. Well, in our defense, we are going to go take sticky pictures after we dine at Coco's for lunch (because Sarah's never been!(I know, shocking, right?)). We didn't go to church today because Sarah already said goodbye last week, I may be going to a Korean service with her later, but it depends on my mom. I'm sure she'll have no problem with it. :) But the reason for all this, Coco's/Sticky Pics/TLF, is because Sarah will be leaving Japan this Friday. I've known her for 3 years and I will be very sad when I see her off tomorrow. But, then again, not as sad as I could be. You see, Sarah and I have had a lot planned out for our future. We are hopefully going to go to college together, take a year off at some point and become either Wall mart greeters or flight attendants, go on a missions trip, then, when we're mature adults (like that'll ever happen!) we will live in the same neighborhood. When we realize we are too old for that, the nursing home will have to tolerate us chasing each other in our wheelchairs, singing HSM songs at the top of our lungs, and playing pranks on everyone else residing there.
With all this in mind, we'll probably end up back in eachothers lives, one way or another. And if none of it works out, I guess we could always wait 'till heaven.
So, in a way, I'm glad she's moving. Because if she didn't, our future wouldn't be so awesome. :]
Seeing her move, makes me realize how much time I have left in Japan. In reality, its only 37 days. I'm not ready to say good bye, I will miss everyone so much. But, I suppose my time in Japan is done, for now, atleast.
Well, I was kind of just rambling on this post... sorry about that.

-Caitlin-

Prayer Request

• For Sarah and her family to have a safe trip to Oklahoma
• For us to be able to sell stuff in our Yard Sale that will give us the proper weight limit for moving.
• For us to handle saying goodbye
• For us to have a safe flight to Hawaii and California.
• That my cousin will be able to visit us in Hawaii :D

Praises

• I'm spending time with Sarah before she leaves
• Its a beautiful day, today.

Amazing 3 Weeks - For Real, This Time

Okay, so I didn't make you wait TOO long to see my next post. Odds are, you probably didn't even look at my previous post until you saw this one. Am I right?

Anywho, for 3 weeks I've been gone from Yokosuka. As amazing as those weeks were, I was disappointed that I wasn't spending time with my friends in the Yoko-hood before I move. But, such is life.

The first week I was gone, I had been in Yokota visiting friends and taking Cherry Blossom pictures. I got to spend time with one of my best buddies, Sarah, whom I recently found out is moving very soon. I also got to see her perform in HSM2 as Kelsi Neilson, along with other friends who were in the play.

The second week I was gone, I went to an amazing Island called Tokashiki where the best youth retreat ever, ShoreBreak, happened. It was so amazing. We had a really great group and all grew closer to eachother (well, atleast from my point of view) Not to mention, closer to God. Our worship leader was this awesome musician by the name of "Moi", who has stuff on Itunes, so, look him up! And the Recreation was phenominal! I think I was sore for a few days... but that may have been from the basketball tournament that my friends, Kyhlea, Kristina, and I won. Who knew I could play basketball? I'm also really happy that tons of my friends put their faith in God during this week, and so far, are still going strong. :]

The third week I was gone, I was spending some extra time in Okinawa (advantage of homeschooling. :P) with my buddy, Kate Cooper! We did tons of fun stuff. First, we had Easter service. I got to wear my Easter Dress :D The service was really short, but I'm okay with short. After the sermon (I was still in my dress) we went to the beach so Kate could go crazy with her camera and I could be a model for a day. Loads of fun, you should try it sometime! Then, later that evening, there was a post-ShoreBreak event with the Hume Lake people (Hume Lake hosted the retreat, they are from California) on Kadena. The parents were invited and some of the students stood up and said what they learned on the retreat. There were alot of people. It was great. Moi lead us in worship, it was cool to hear him again.

Then, the very next day, our buddy, Kristina Rohlin came up to visit in Oki and stayed with Kate, as well as I. We had some fun, Krazy, times! We did all sorts of things like the Aquarium, the beach, Karaoke, Sticky Pics, WW2 tunnels, a neat Lighthouse, and saw an Ice Cream BUS! It was a really great vacation :]

Well, there's so much more to say. But I don't really have time because I need to be getting to bed. I will blog more later, though!

Good night everybody!

-Caitlin-

Amazing 3 Weeks

Wow! These past 3 weeks have been AMAZAZING!!!
You're probably wondering, unless you were with me, what I've been doing for so long that kept me from blogging about it. Well, I could end this post right here and leave you hanging until the next post -OR- I could tell you right now so you don't have to wait...
Hmmmm.............

WELL, unfortunately, I have to leave to babysit in 2 minutes. SO, you're just going to have to wait until the next post. :]

Love you all!
-Caitlin-

I WON $5!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, these past few days have been pretty exciting and it just keeps getting better!
Yesterday was great. I won $5!!!! xD Yeah, it brightened up my whole day... maybe even week! We'll have to see :D I guess its not really the fact that I won the $5 that is making me so happy, but HOW I won the prize. Now, if you know me well, you know that I could not shoot a soccer ball to save my life... even without a goalie in the box. SO, my coach offered $5 to the first person who could make a shot past Roby's dad (he's a really awesome goalie) under 5 minutes. Of course, everyone tried their shot(s) against him and me, being the one everybody least expected to make it in, made the shot! Like I said, I'm happy :] Also, before that, I was put in goal and blocked every shot that came my way... It was a pretty small goal... but still. Then, later on was Youth Group. James (Our youth leader) shared his testimony. I'm very glad he did because it let us all get to know a little bit more about him and what God has done in his life. After the testimony, a few of us played an awesome game of "keep-away". Fun, Fun, Fun!
When I got home from Youth Group, there was no American Idol tonight because the president had something to say about something... needless to say, I didn't watch it. Heroes, one of the best shows ever, had downloaded and we were all ready to watch it in place of A.I. BUT, we had rented "The Boy in Striped Pyjamas" and it was due back the next day, so we had to watch that instead. It was a great movie, but I'm never going to watch it again. It made me sick to my stomach and it had a tragically sad ending. Despite watching that, though. I'm still ecstatic because I WON $5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

-Caitlin-

*Note: If I were telling this story to you in person, I would be talking sooooooo fast and you wouldn't be able to understand me... like the lady on Meet the Robinsons....

WE EXIST!!!

Hey y'all!
So, our team had our first scrimmage against the girls varsity team today. We played pretty well, shed the first blood (as in, scored the first goal... just so you're not worried :])... we still lost, but we got our foot in the door and let the Kinnick Varsity girls know that WE EXIST! It was a very frustrating scrimmage today, for multiple reasons:

• Coach put ALL of us in positions that were out of our comfort zones. It was good practice, though.
• Some of the Varsity girls were treating us like we weren't people... like, we're just an obstacle in their way. (I know that's kinda just how it is, but it doesn't feel good)
• The boys on our team completely forgot about us girls! Its like they hadn't learned anything about passing to us in the past few days. Very Frustrating.

I don't know what to think about our upcoming games this Saturday. I have no idea if we are ready... It's pretty good that we scored something in the scrimmage, today, but we didn't score much. Plus, none of us were in our comfort zones, which we played pretty well, but, like I said, it leaves me with no clue of how this weekends games are going to turn out. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Prayer Requests:

• For Strength to our team and the boys varsity team this weekend, we're gonna need it.
• For my shins... I am very prone to shin splints and lately, they REALLY hurt.

Praise Reports:

• We had our first scrimmage today!
• We scored in the scrimmage.
• ShoreBreak is almost here!!! xD

-Caitlin-

You WISH You Could Kick a Ball Like a Girl!

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. There really hasn't been any "big events" worth blogging about lately. BUT, I (we) have a big event(s) coming up! Our team's first game(s) are this weekend!!! YAY!!! We're playing Edgren (Misawa's High School) and Sasebo's High School. BOTH are Varsity boys. I hope we're ready for them. I still get an inkling that we're not, though. Mostly because the boys on our team keep forgetting that the girls on the team exist. I understand, though. But it gets really annoying when you're wide open and one of the boys who has the ball looks right "through" you and he ends up passing it to a boy who isn't open, and it happened multiple times today. SO, tomorrow, I'm gonna lead running and stretches, set it up so the guys have to remember that they have girls playing alongside them. I'm a little worried about the guys possibly getting mad at me, but they'll need to get over it. At least I got the coach's permission, so I have that to back me up, if I need it. Wish me luck!



Game Times and Location:

Friday: 1900 at the Turf/Berkey Field

Saturday: 1200 at the Turf/Berkey Field



Prayer Requests:

• For Strength to our team during our games.


• For Strength to the girls on our team

Praises:

• Soccer Practices are going well, despite the gender problem


• We played on Turf today and will be playing on it again tomorrow (instead of Briggs Bay...yuck!)


• We will be scrimmaging against the Girls Varsity tomorrow


• MY EASTER DRESS CAME IN!!!!!!!!! I can't wait 'till the Cherry Blossoms bloom to take pictures in it!

-Caitlin-

The Decision

So, I have decided. I am going to be on the JV team.

Yeah, It's gonna be alot of work getting up to Yokosuka everyday, but I think its worth it.

We've already had one practice, so far. We were supposed to have one today, but the rain was just coming down too hard. (It was kinda disappointing, since rain is the best soccer weather)

We get to pick our own uniforms, which is pretty cool. Though, being a Co-ed team, I think its going to be pretty difficult getting both genders to agree on an outfit. When they come in, I'll put pictures of them up :]

Other than soccer, today was a pretty good day! I babysat today, went to base, met up with Sophie and Rachael (and mine and Rachaels family) at Starbucks, went shopping, went to the Library, went home, watched "Signs" with Rachael, Bethany, Torii, my mom, and Ethan... ALL on the same couch... (yeah, we were squished) It was really funny when I knew something was going to freak everyone else on the couch out, and when it happened, they all screamed and jumped as I'm laughing maniacally. I don't get easily scared when it comes to movies, a trait that does NOT come from my mother. She thinks its pretty demented that I don't get scared...

ANYWHO, I really want to start working on the Swattball video. So if you want to be apart of it, please, comment or something :] I'm currently working on putting the song together. It's gonna be great!

TTFN, ta ta for now! (...wait... isn't that redundant?)

-Caitlin-

The First Shall Be Last...

I was sitting at our table in Club T, waiting with Torii and Bethany on our food to come. I've noticed over the years that there is a very strange pattern with the way the food is delivered. What I mean is, I'm always last. I'm not exaggerating. I'm ALWAYS the last person from whatever group I'm eating with to receive their food. I even try to make it simple for the restaurant sometimes. For example, at Chili's I usually order soup. It doesn't help, though. I'm still last. So, today as I was sitting in Club T, watching Torii and Bethany eat and waiting for my meal to arrive, I decided I will not order something simple anymore. I will just accept that I will always be last... for now, anyway.
When I first noticed the pattern, it was annoying. Now, I think its humorous and I make jokes about it everywhere I go. But I still can't help but wonder why. Why? Do all of the restaurants just say 'its Caitlin, make sure she is the last one to receive her meal' ? Is simplicity as complicated as the restaurants make it out to be? Does it have something to do with that 'First shall be last and last shall be first' verse? (If it does, I'm not quite sure how to link it to my situation...) Maybe I should experiment with this. Next time I go out to eat with friends, I'm going to order the same thing as one of my friends (provided, I like their selection of food). If I'm still last to receive my food, I'm gonna laugh.

Well, I'm off to some soccer meeting. What happens today will be my determining factor of whether I'm going to do JV or not... I'll let you know later.

Toodaloo!

-Caitlin-

Looking Back

Hehe... So, I was at Youth Group tonight and we were studying Psalm 105, because its the history of the Isrealites. We did a few cool exercises and one of them included writing OUR history. I wasn't expecting this because I had helped out with Quest (the middle school youth group that is an hour before One Way, the high school youth group) earlier. So, I wrote a story like I was talking to someone because typically, I thought we were going to share them. I had a little bit of trouble writing it down... I mean, this is my life story. How could I fit it all on one sheet? I managed to pull it off from birth to present day, focusing more on what God has done in my life. He's done so much. Its incredible! By the time we got into small groups, we did end up sharing our "life summaries" with the group, which not everyone did, it was optional. About half way through my story, I started crying. Probably not for the reason that anyone listening thought. I had realized that God planned it all. He planned me being in that room at that moment, looking back, and every little thing worked up to getting there. Every step you take, everywhere you go, whatever you do, it was all planned. One of the things I dislike with a passion is change. I very much dislike moving, and we are coming up on another move soon. But I know that it is all planned. I'm probably going to forget this life lesson, I did last time. But, God will remind me, again. I'm glad he is so patient.


-Caitlin-

Dilemmas and God's Speed

This is just a random post! (just so that you're not too confused)

Okay, I have a few dilemmas with JV soccer... I've been hearing that practice is going to be everyday. I know that if I were on Varsity, it would be the same BUT I don't know if I'm willing to take the train EvErYdAy up there for a team that barely competes. Also, I need to see if they'll let me take an extra week of spring break, because I'm planning to stay with Kate in Okinawa after shorebreak. If they don't, I don't know what I'll do. I'll probably skip out on soccer (as much as I love it) and go with Kate.

So, God answered my prayer REALLY fast. Actually, a few prayers! I was sitting in the pew this Sunday, as we were about to do the offering, and Sophie had just told me that Shorebreak was going to be the crazy cost that it is. I couldn't believe it. I wasn't expecting it to be THAT much. So, I prayed that somehow I would still be able to go to Shorebreak and visit Kate. I also prayed that the dude sitting next to me, Sean, could go too, because I know he was disappointed that he couldn't go. So, as soon as the service was over, my mom asked me to hand this little folded slip to my Youth Leader. Thinking nothing of it, I quickly accomplished the task and got back to socializing. It then occurred to me that the slip was something inside the Shorebreak brochure. My mom had paid for my Shorebreak trip!!! (thanks mom!) Now, I just have to pay her back, but the pressure isn't as high to make all the money in time. *sigh of relief*

THEN, later (I think it was just yesterday...) Sean was amazingly able to go to Shorebreak! THANK YOU JESUS! That was a fast answer to prayer.

So... yeah.

Prayer Requests:

• For the soccer team to allow me to take off an extra week of break

Praises:

• I'm Going to ShoreBreak!!!
• Sean can go to ShoreBreak!!!
• God is amazazing!!!

-Caitlin-

Now what?

So, I didn't make it on the Varsity Soccer team... now what?
There is a co-ed JV team, and that is an option for me, but we wouldn't be able to play games against other schools. No REAL competition. Rather disappointing.
I would atleast get practice for the next time I want to tryout for soccer.
*sigh*

I'll give ya'll an update when I decide whether I'm gonna go for JV or not...

-Caitlin-

Shivering Soccer Balls!

Wow, what a day. Soccer Tryouts...
I'm glad I wasn't out of breath right away, like some of the other girls when we started. I've been conditioning for about 2 weeks. Nothing big, just more than usual. But even though I came a little more prepared than most, I still feel like I did poorly. I wouldn't be surprised if I don't make the team, just disappointed.
I feel exhausted. It was freezing out on the field today and I was shivering all the way home (which took about an hour and a half). My muscles don't ache... yet. I could be coming down with something, though. My mom was sick for the past two days, so I could've caught what she had. However, this will not prevent me from going to soccer tryouts. I'm going even if I'm puking in the morning.

Tomorrow is gonna be scary. "Why?", you ask. Well, because Wednesdays are always my work-out day. I have Karate in the morning, Usually some form of exercise before we head to Yokosuka for Youth Group, then Youth Group, where we usually play soccer.

Prayer Request:

• Soccer Tryouts
• ShoreBreak cost

Praises

• God is awesome, and whatever happens with the soccer tryouts, it will be apart of his will.
• I babysat these AdOrAbLe baby twins, and they want me to come back! :]
• I survived Tryouts

V-day weekend Part 二

Okay, so I forgot to mention that on the 13th, Abi's Birthday, we went to the Onsen down by Tama. It was amazazing! There was a green tea bath, a salt scrub, a rose bath, a lavender bath, and an outdoors area, etc. It was incredible, and soooooo relaxing.

Today, I tried to get Sophie to go to the Onsen with my mom and I. It worked! BUT, our plans to go tonight were foiled because my brother had a friend spend the night and we couldn't leave them at home alone, not to mention Abi fell asleep, so we couldn't go :[ Very disappointing.

So, the Sophster is spendin' the night at my house tonight. We're gonna have fun :D

Last night, I spent the night with Sophie and 'Livia at Sophie's house. We were so hyper, it was insane. We watched Jurassic Park 3 (Sophie's dad scared Olivia soooo many times) and She's The Man while we were all on a sugar-high from Oreos, Starburst, Soda, Funions, Ice Cream, Chocolate, and Sun Chips. After we "calmed down", we went to Sophie's room and did a survey on myspace, talked, and laughed while I was trying to burn off atleast some of all I consumed. The night was hilarious and I'm glad I have such great friends.

So, back to today. This morning, I woke up and went home while Sophie and 'Livia went to the morning service. I wrote a blog about the trip to Tama, then got ready to go take pictures before I headed to "The Forge" (the youth group on Sundays, before the CEC service). After the CEC service, Sean, Sophie, Brandon, and I all headed over to the Food Court. It was packed tonight. We ran into Kaitlyn, David, and Ruth, who ended up sitting at the table behind us. Then Kyhlea ran into and sat with us. It was loads of fun.

Sophie and I are about to watch Eagle Eye because she hasn't seen it yet. I know, she's crazy.
Will blog more later!

-Caitlin-

V-Day Weekend Part Numero Uno

What do all of the following have in common?

• Web made out of string
• Confetti On top of a still fan (for now....)
• Underwear hanging from the ceiling
• Moustaches and scribbles on faces

Give up? They were the pranks that my awesomely awesome best friend, Sarah, and I played on my sister and her friends at Tama hills 2 days ago.

It was awesome :]

After watching Home Alone 2 in 日本語 and Ever After (in English), we set up for the prank. The Rooming Situation for Tama was like this: Our family was in one cabin, and Torii's friends family was in the other cabin. We just switched Torii for Sarah, who isn't apart of the other family, but came up with them anyway. So... yeah. After watching Home Alone 2 in 日本語 and Ever After (in English), we set up for the prank. We needed someone inside the other cabin to let us in. Why? Because you need a card-key to get inside. We chose Abbie, 'cuz she rockz.

So, 1:00 in the morning rolls around. Sarah and I are waiting outside to get Abbie to let us in, but she fell asleep and it would take ALOT to wake her up. We were banging on the windows, nobody woke up. I think no one woke up due to the really hard winds banging on the cabin, but still... At about 2:00, we started to give up. NO! Sarah would not. She ran to the front desk of Tama lodge and asked for the key to their room, and they gave it to her!!!

But our joy was only temporary, for when we tried using it in the door, it didn't work. NO! We were foiled! The cabin was locked from the inside.

So, now Sarah was giving up and it was my turn to persevere. I pulled out my phone and put on the most annoying, obnoxious, loud ring tone I could find. My ring tone. I put it on, and she and Torii finally woke up. They came and unlocked the door around 2:15. Sarah and I pretended we forgot something in their room, grabbed the AC remote and walked back to our cabin, cautioning Torii and Abbie to NOT lock the door behind them. While we were waiting for about 15 minutes for Torii and Abbie to fall back asleep, Sarah and I took a non-sleeping nap.

So, we made it back inside the other cabin and got to work. Their cabin ended up looking like this:

Well, it wasn't sideways... somethings just wrong with the picture. But, oh well. When they all work up in the morning, they said it looked like it was snowing, because Sarah and I put confetti on top of the fan, and they turned it on. (hahahahahahahaha)

So, yeah. The pranking was all over. They keep telling us how bad they're gonna get us back, but they never will. :] We had to clean up, which wasn't that hard, except the confetti got stuck in the cracks in the floor...

Anywho, after we moved ourselves out of the cabins, we went to lunch, then to UniQlo and Sarah and I picked manikins to copy. (hahahaha) We looked hilarious. Sorry, I'm not showin' pictures because they're classified. lol. I did end up getting this really cute, electric blue jacket for 1500 yen. Like, everything there was on sale, I could've shopped all day.

Later, we went to the park to bid our farewell to our Yokotian friends, then sort-of got lost because we were following the GPS directions for the "free way" on our car... won't be doing that again. It took us about 2 hours to get home and we found a really awesome amusement park. I don't have details about it yet. This was only half of my weekend, and I'm going to blog more about it later.

Hasta la Pasta Mi Amigos!

-Caitlin-

Clueless Example

It all started a few months ago(Thanksgiving, to be exact). I brought home a "twilight" book. I had taken it to this neighborhood party and had asked my mom if I could read it. She was kind of busy when I asked her, but I didn't notice because I really wanted to start reading the book. It was only a matter of weeks before the movie came out on the big screen. Anywho, she said yes... at first. I finished reading the prologue, then read a few sentences of the first chapter just before "Caitlin! What are you doing!?!? I said I never wanted any of you reading those books!" The borrowed book was confiscated. In my rage, which I kept bottled up inside, I moped. This wasn't cool. Everyone I knew, everyone around me, were reading these books. I thought I would go insane! Every time someone asked me who was better, Edward or Jacob, I had to say "I'm not allowed to be involved with Twilight stuff" The rage kept building up inside of me.
Finally, the week of the movie coming out and everyone was anticipating the moment that the tickets would come on sale. I don't remember what I was doing, the day I finally cracked, but I do remember the situation.
I was hanging out with one of my friends, who was with a few of her friends, and we were about to head somewhere (I think it was to Youth Group...). They were all going to go get tickets from the ITT almost as soon as school was over. I volunteered to stay behind at school, but I was somehow talked into going and getting tickets with everyone.
We all walked over, and when we arrived in the ITT office, it kept packing in with tons of girls waiting for their Twilight Tickets. I sat in the middle of the room (which wasn't very big) and tried to keep my emotions bottled up while everyone was around me, in the chaos. People kept asking me, "Aren't you going to get a ticket too?" I had to respond with what was programmed in me, "I'm not allowed"
As soon as everyone was done, I remember taking some time to myself. Breathing in. Breathing out. I didn't know how to handle this.
Eventually, the Twilight fad had died down... a little bit. It still gets annoying, but I don't have to constantly say that "I'm not allowed" anymore.
Today, I was babysitting for the PWOC meeting in Yokosuka, and a lady came up to me. I don't really remember who is was, but she said she remembered seeing me in the ITT that day and she admired the way I could say 'no' and didn't bash my mom when I did so.
It was really weird, because I fought with my mom the through the whole process. I really disliked the fact that I could not participate in any of the twilight stuff. I asked God to somehow have my mom change her mind and let me go see the movie, but it never happened.
I never knew that others were watching me. I never knew that I was being an example, to children and adults.
So, I just want to say thanks. Thanks to God and thanks to my mom. I also wanted to say sorry to them both, as well. I suppose I was blinded by my own wants because all I was seeing was what was going on around me instead of the big picture.
Yeah, that was cool.

-Caitlin-

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Today, I was walking Abi, my little 3 (almost 4) year old sister, and her friend up to her house. It was about 5:30 and already dark outside. Even though there are lights along the pathway, we came to a part that was not lit. Abi got scared and started pulling on my hand, standing her ground in the light. Her friend was not sure what to do, she was more concerned about what Abi would think about her decision. Of course, I was playing tug-of-war with my sister on whether to proceed in the direction of her friends house, into the dark, or to let them go back and I make the journey alone. It wasn't long before I persuaded her to come with me, but it got me thinking. Say that this whole situation was just a parody. Really, think about it. Obviously, light and dark are opposing forces, good & evil. Abi represents us...

If you were her, would you be influenced to go into the dark? Would you be worried about what your friend was thinking about you, even though you may or may not influence her decision.

In the dark, our eyes adjust, but never completely. Nothing you see will ever be clear. Your eyes even "play tricks on you". You are more vulnerable. Therefore, the advantage is the light.

I took them both into the dark. When I did, I noticed a few things.

• The light seems even brighter in the dark.
• We bumped into a few things.
• At one point, we got off-road because we could not see where we were walking.

But we got back onto the road. Again, we saw the light. We were walking in it again. We didn't bump into anything else and the two little girls I was escourting were happy. They could see.

*sigh* Here I am, just rambling. You may have gotten nothing out of this, but I sure did. It was awesome. My mind wanders with this kind of stuff. For example, if I brought a flashlight, we would be carrying the light with us through the dark. OR giving light to other things in the dark. I love it when God reminds me of little lessons that I have learned before.

Like, earlier today, I was talking with one of my friends about a temptation they've been having. They sought help and overcame it. Like Abi and her friend didn't want to go into the dark, but they did and sought the light. In my opinion, that's stinkin' cool. :]

Well, I'm off now. If this doesn't make sense, or would like to tell me I'm wrong about something, please comment :)

-Caitlin-

Happy Birthday Abi

9:00 - First Attempt to wake up. "Ahh! I'm gonna miss the superbowl... I've gotta wake up... gotta wake up... *snore*"

9:30 - Second Attempt to wake up. "Ahh! No! What is this??? Its almost half time... I'll just sleep a few more seconds...*snore*

10:15 - Finally wake up. "It's Half-Time! I've gotta wake up!" I wake up and splat water on my face to make sure I remain awake. Then go downstairs, sit down on the couch, decide which team I'm rooting for, and yell at the TV hoping that the football players and referees will hear me.

12:00 - Lunch Time. "Hi Abi! How are you? Did you have a good sleep? Are you ready for tonight?" Tonight... Abi's birthday party. Must prepare for the chaos. When I first saw Abi this morning, she was already dressed in her party dress. She couldn't wait.
For lunch, we had Tuna Casarole by popular vote (demand) and procrastinated setting up for the party by watching 'Little Rascals' on ABC Family.

1:30 - Preparation. We all actually had to get our lazy bums off the couch and work. gah! Abi's party was "Dora" themed... I started looking on Itunes for Dora music... who knew she sings in Chinese :P My Dad went to the Comissary to pick up the necessary supplies... Pizza, Ice Cream, Apples...

5:30 - Ready to Roll. We're all ready for the party, guest start arriving, even though we have an hour till the party really starts. Mrs. Braddock made an AMAZING Dora-shaped cake and cupcakes, Kyhlea, TJ, Abi, and I were dancing to the Dora music I had gotten and were making fools out of ourselves in the living room, and mom was cooking pizza in the oven.

5:45 - Let's Get This Party Started! Everyone already came to the house, so there's no need to wait another 45 minutes to start the party. After Pizza, the kids played LeapFrog Bingo while Kyhlea and I were messin' around on Youtube. Meanwhile, my dad was making tamale's and capaccino's in the kitchen... I suppose he just had the urge to.

6:00 - Unexpected Guest. 'Ding-Dong!" I answer the door. Surprise! Justin is here. That was random. The Tamale's have about 30 more minutes left. Time for little kids to have cake and Ice Cream! (ahh! StAmPeDe!!!)

6:30 - Hot Tamale! The Tamale's were done cooking in the pot. The "Big People" went in to eat some... they were pretty spicey, for me atleast.

7:00 - Party's Over! "Good Night, Everyone! Thanks for Coming!!!" All the little kids (minus Faith) went home, and since TJ's big sister is Kyhlea, Kyhlea had to go home too :( Everyone who was left at our house started conversing... THAT was fun :P

8:00 - Rock it Out. After the chatter died down, the teenagers + Ethan played RockBand2... We were obnoxious, I'm not even kidding. You should've heard Ethan singing to "Livin on a Prayer" (hahahahaha...)

8:30 - Family Time. That's right, we kicked everybody out. It was time for some "Over the Hedge". A movie none of us had seen in awhile. And it was Daddy's last night with us for awhile. This is why Abi's birthday party was tonight instead of on the 13th, when her real birthday is.

11:00 - End of Day. ... Which is what it was.

I can't believe it... She's almost 4. We've had her for 3 years and it feels like it was just yesterday we were in China, holding her, feeding her, teaching her to walk for the first time. She's getting to be so grown up. I can't wait until I have my own children and get to watch them grow the same way I've been watching my sister grow. Sigh.

Happy Birthday Abi!
-Caitlin-

Supercalifragilisticixpialadocious

Why does God give us things we do not ask for? Do we deserve those things? Either way, those things are for the better, right? God has a plan for everything. He will not give us anything we can't handle, even though we may think otherwise. If we already doubt our ability to handle what he has give us, why do we think we can handle more? This does not apply to all of the things God gives us, of course. Lots of times, we like the things He gives us. We are just too focused on all of the negative thing.
I was recently reminded this weekend, specifically Sunday, of this. In the middle of all the stress from all the junk going on, I got a free ride to base as I was rushing to get to Bible study. I didn't ask Him for it, but he knew I needed it. I will never know what would've happened had I taken the train. Bible study was also a relief of stress; we went to Starbucks and talked. It wasn't much of Bible Study, but it was good to just talk to eachother and encourage and support eachother. That night, at church, I really felt that that sermon was made especially for me. My friend I was sitting next to me looked at me to tell me the same thing, only to see me crying, she was silent and understood. The sermon was about faith. We read from Romans 4. It was really cool when the Chaplain asked for people to read out loud. Almost all who read were students. My friend, Sophie and I, were the first to raise our hands, then a few middle schoolers. Reading to the church wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be :)
Later on, we went to Mainstreet (the food court in Yokosuka) and I ate with Kyhlea and Rachel, two good friends of mine. We talked about how everyone who went to Northstar had changed for the better since we last saw them. It was refreshing. We also sang (pretty loudly) songs like "A Whole New World" and "Supercalifragilisticixpialadocious"... It was a fun night. If they don't know already, they brightened up my week :) (Thanks, Guys!)
Wow, that was all yesterday. Today was pretty boring in comparison. I don't have my homeschool curriculum yet, so I worked on PE and Arabic... all day. Ah well, atleast I can be somewhat conditioned before soccer season.
I suppose I'm done... that's all, there isn't anymore.

-Caitlin-

Prayer Request:

• Soccer Tryouts go well


• The transition from Public to Home school won't be that difficult

I'm not afraid to admit that I love Blues Clues

Oh Yeah! Mid-Terms are OVER! :D Today was a good day. No, Scratch that. Today was a GREAT day! This morning, I took my Biology exam... even though I feel good about the grade I will receive on it, I'm still uber nervous. Every time I feel good about something in Biology, my dreams are crushed. But anywho, that was the last mid-term for this year because the exam after that, I didn't need to take because my algebra teacher is awesome and awards the students who received A's in both quarters before the exam by allowing them to not take it. So, I left with my good friend, Megan (she's in the sticky-picture to the left) and went to Moore City to take sticky pictures! After that, we were hungry, so we went to PepperLunch with Olivia. It's been a good day. Not to mention, it was a half-day. I'm about to veg-out and play RockBand2, maybe watch EagleEye (I love that movie!!!), catch up with some friends on Skype :)

I got a ride home from Yokosuka with Sophie, we were talking about Blues Clues and how I've heard the rumor that Steve committed Suicide. IT'S NOT TRUE!!! I've looked it up tons of times. Steve started a band. And, yes, his real name is Steve. ...I know these things. After that topic was over, we were talking more about kids shows... that I happen to watch... not because I have a little sister, but because I want to... :] Shows like:

1. BluesClues (as mentioned earlier)


2. VeggieTales (Yes, I am their Number One Fan!)


3. Rollie Pollie Ollie


4. PB&J - Oh yes, do the noodle dance!


5. Out of the Box


6. etc...

Good Times. Good Times. Now-a-days, you've got these weird shows like... Boobah, HipHopHarry, BluesClues(with Joe), etc... What is wrong with the world today??? Don't get me wrong, they have some good ones out there : WonderPets, Little Einsteins, Kai Lan, Backyardigans... that's about it... but the little-kid-show-making-people have lost their touch. *sigh*...*gasp*....*sob*... So I want everyone to pray...*sob*... for the children of the world today...*sob*... so that they will have better shows to watch on TV... *sob*... Or, just go outside and play so they don't get big and fat like the rest of us :)

SO!!! Prayer Requests:

• For the Children of the world... (you know what I'm talking about)


• For me to adjust to Homeschooling again (that's right, today was my last day of Kinnick-ness)

Praise Reports:

• Mid-Terms are OVER!!!


• I did extremely well on all exams... still waiting to hear the word on her biology exam.


• Youth Group has a good message last night


• Today was a good day


• This weekend is going to be awesome


• My Dr. Pepper is Good


• Steve (from BluesClues) is NOT dead!


• Some people are actually reading my blog :)

So... yeah! That's my blog for today! Bye for now!

-Caitlin-

Mid-terms week.... ugg.

Hey Everyone!
So, It's the week of mid-terms, wild and crazyness going on everywhere. What's even crazier is that this is my last week of Kinnick. That's right, Come Thursday, I'm back to being homeschooled. It was a really hard decision, though. Whether to be a Kinnick Red-Devil or a Homechooler... that doesn't have a mascot... Anyway, it was hard because there are an equal amount of plus(s) and minus(s) to each way of schooling. I figure, the 'bigger' advantages are toward homeschooling... Here, I'll show you a list.
Homeschooling advantages:

• school will take a shorter amount of time each day, I can accomplish more at once.
• I'll have more time to do other things, like practicing soccer, cooking, or working out.
• I can go places while other people are in school
• I can make money for shorebreak more easily than if I were in school.
• more sleep
• more sleep
• more sleep

Advantages to Public schooling:

• I'm around my friends more
• If I don't understand something, a teacher is right there.
• I get credit for my work
• I'm more involved than I am in homeschool
• I can be influenced by others
• I can influence others.

Do you see my dilema? I'm very confused too. Through all this, I'm wondering what God's plan is for me. I thought I knew what was going on, but he said 'No, Caitlin, you cannot possibly know what my plans are for you'. You're probably wondering what the ham sandwhich I'm talking about...

Okay, about 3 weeks ago (wow, it doesn't seem like that much time has passed) we got word that we were moving in February. It was official. We were 100 % sure that we were moving. We already started to sell our cars, plan our pack-out date, decide which clothes we want with us, which to pack, transferring out of school...(etc) THEN, we got word that it was all a mistake, we're really moving in June. I never decided whether it was good or bad news... it was bittersweet... one of those "gray areas"... But, I'm trying to be excited about it :) I can go to ShOrE bReAk now, I can play soccer now. It's just... all good. I trust that God knows what He's doing.

Things to pray for:

• Mid-terms...especially the Biology Exam
• Reduction of STRESS
• Homeschool
• Guidance :)

Well, It's 10:07.... ONEWAY IS TOMORROW (that's youthgroup, for those of you who were wondering :]) ... I'm headed to bed.

Hasta La Pasta, mi Amigos!

-Caitlin-