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-