The most important thing to me in the world:

my relationships.

{photo via a College Retreat I went on this fall}

I think people underestimate how important it is to tell the people you love exactly WHY you love them..

In a group of really great friends, there are strengths and weaknesses for every person. But THIS is what's so beautiful about a group of friends. Your strengths and weaknesses cover each others, and you become the best versions of yourselves, with the help of those who care about you most.

A Sense of Thanks.

the opportunities that have been given to me..

mum&dad: they save me in my darkest times.

my freedom; to sing, to dance, to paint.

Michelle: our relationship makes me feel ad for everyone else... because they don't have what we have, they don't have a true best friend.

RED VINES & ICE CREAM.

this blog: i'll be better i promise...

Today. Tomorrow. Yesterday. I thank God that he loves me so much; and has blessed me with an amazing life... that i often take for granted.

Love Today. Love Tomorrow. Everything will be okay.

death to black beauty

I realized a fear of mine this past week...

For a promo video for our church's high school group [in which I am a leader], we did a parody of the hilarious old spice commercials with the muscle man riding the horse... Our brilliant idea was to actually go a stable and film an actual horse to give that amazing effect. To my surprise... i am deathly afraid of horses. They are huge and unpredictable, and that scares me.

My two [apparently] memorable quotes concerning these little mini dinosaurs:

Number 1: "So, are horses like dogs? Like if I run away will they think we're playing a game and run after me?"

Number 2: "Do horses smell fear?"

It may seem funny that these were actual inquiries of mine... but I was serious. I didn't want any surprises. Now looking back, it is kind of comical... but at the time.. NOT funny.

All in all we made an AWESOME video, and the horse part looked great.

But I wont be doing that again.

beautiful.

Barista-customer conversations are never really anything to be remembered. It's usually conversations about the weather or recent local sport scandals [new basketball coach eh?]. Needless to say, I've never had significant encounters with customers as a barista that were worth blogging about... until today.

Gosh. Today if ANY day would have been an easy one to make weather-related-small-talk. On this day we had rain, storm, sun, and hail. Within 4 hours. Welcome to Oregon i guess. So I had a conversation starter ready for the next person to walk in the door.

It was an older couple [late 40's maybe?], they were both wearing sunglasses and the woman was wearing a wicker backpack like the ones they sell at the saturday market. so e.u.g.

This was how the convo went down:

Kaitlin: "So did you guys get a chance to be outside today? IT's been pretty crazy huh?"

[medium-length [yet still awkward] pause]

Man: What do you wanna be when you grow up? What are your goals?

[surprised pause]

Kaitlin: Oh, umm... well my major is education, because I hope to be a primary teacher, and i'm minoring in spanish because I hope to support native spanish speaking students in the U.S., and maybe go overseas and teach abroad... i don't really have a plan yet i guess. I just know i wanna teach kids.

Man: Hmm... well what do you believe in?

Kaitlin: Uh....... love i guess. I believe in loving and compassion and having belief in people. I believe in salvation and forgiveness. I believe in potential, for everyone and everything.

Man: What's your hardest inner obstacle you have to face in your life?

Kaitlin: Ummm.. [this one took more thought] i guess it would be judgement. i don't think i'd call myself a judgmental person, but i would definitely say i falter and i wish i wouldn't. So.. ya.

Man: So you believe in potential for everyone, but your biggest inner battle is judgement?

Alright... so at this point i think crap, this guys good. I was pretty proud of my response though.

Kaitlin: Well, ya i guess that's the whole point in believing in something isn't it? Something that you strive to achieve every single day... I mean I could say I believe in potential and equality, but if I don't strive to be better at it every single day, would that really be me practicing my faith? [i paused for a second, to rewind in my head and actually see if that made any sense at all]

then i continued...

"I'm not naive in saying that i am what i believe. I think this is

unrealistic, and not really a way to live. I want to believe in a

bigger part of myself. I want to believe in people that might never exist.

That way, i never stop growing. I never stop searching.

I never stop believing."

Man: "You are a beautiful person, Kaitlin."

HOLY CRAP! In no more than 2 minutes, a stranger helped me realize more about myself than anyone I know. I want this for myself. Not just today. But tomorrow, and the next day, and forever.

Let's all try this.

Let's shoot for the moon.

Roadtrip

Took an "awesome" RT with the sister and mama this saturday...

We were on the hunt for a prom dress for my lil sis' senior prom. Being the wannabe fashionista/shopoholic that I am... I was extremely eager for the trip and couldn't wait to get my hands on some Jessica Mcclintock and Nicole Miller which I have missed since my high-school-dance days.

So, we get into portland our first stop is Nordstrom [of course]. And to our surprise... there was absolutely NOTHING there... After visiting about 10 other sudo-expensive clothing stores... we found the perfect little prom dress... for $15... in a second hand store...

One person's tossable treasures, could be another persons beauty personified.

Find the beauty in recycled things.

Things that have been borrowed and ruined and stained and tainted...

you might see a second layer of perfection, saved just for you :]

Eavesdropper to the MAX

i forgot my book today, so what else is there to do in a coffee shop but eavesdrop on other coffee addicts conversations?

[i mean come on, we all know that coffee house convo's are the best to eavesdrop on... that's when the juiciest secrets about someone's life are revealed! People ALWAYS choose coffee outings to vent or argue or confess love... and this situation was no different]

{img. 'the road less traveled'}

Although the convo was about 6 feet away, the blonde was talking extremely loud making it easy for almost everyone in the cafe to eavesdrop on her "poor me" story... I managed to figure out that she recently broke up with her boyfriend and doesn't know how to go on... [puh-leaseee]. it's not that i don't have sympathy for people in this situation... but this girl was going toooooo far.

Now THIS is the reason for this posting, her friends response to her whining and sobbing over her long lost boyfriend [who was sort of a douche-bag from the little information i got from the convo] was absolutely AMAZING! Probably one of the best responses i've heard in a very long time.

I knew I liked her friend too, which was initially why I was choose them to spy on [other than the fact the blonde was practically yelling]... Blondie's friend was a rich brunette with a boho-chic sort of out fit on. She nailed this style to a T, and with what looked like little to no effort, which is the point all along right?

and p.s. she was drinking a caramel macchiatto... this was already enough of a reason for me to like her.

So, this is what the boho chic wearing-caramel macchiatto drinking- brunette friend responded with:

"Jane, a women without a man is like a fish without a bicycle. Do you get it?! Ya.. fish don't need bicycles!! So stop acting like Todd was your air and water! You've got the rest of your life to deal with men...enjoy your freedom!" Gosh you're an embarrassment to women..."

oh. my. GOSH! This is what a true friend says to someone like this. [or a true enemy, i guess it could go either way] I might have actually gave brunette a little 'YOU GO GIRL!' head nod after she made this comment, forgetting that I wasn't actually invited to join this conversation. I was immediately embarrassed and hid my face behind my computer.... and now.. here i am... and they're still talking... blondie lowered her voice... i think she realized that she's being a big sissy, not what i would call a feminine activist, which is the vibe that brunette gave off.

ok, i think it's time for me to leave... they keep looking over here... do they know i'm writing about them? [well i guess it'd make sense.. since i hardcore type for a few minutes and then look up at them with a big smile on my face] gosh now I'M the weird one in the coffee house...

ya, it's definitely time to go... what a great start the morning...

Thanks to the whiny-blonde-single lady & the strong-feminist-boho-brunette :)

Top 3 Values

Precursor: For a FHS project this past term, I had to investigate my top 3 values that I cherish in my life... This took a lot of thought, but I ended up choosing the following [in no order]: Integrity. Equality. Service.

INTEGRITY [an excerpt from my paper]

For me, integrity has to do with perceived consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations and outcome. Integrity means you stick to your personal code of conduct. You stick to what you decide is right and wrong. When you live with integrity, you succeed. You are open and honest. Your life is uncomplicated and less stressful. When you have good integrity you have no reason to lie. You can look at yourself in the mirror. You have nothing to hide. This is what integrity has meant to me in my life.

P.S. I have an amazing Dad. He's probably one of the coolest people I know, because he chooses random times to be all deep and say exactly when I need to hear them. He's an undercover psychologist I think sometimes...

He said this to me when I decided to become a leader at my church's youth group:

“You will never know who’s looking up to you,

it could be a silent follower who admires from afar.

This happens a lot within youth groups. You just might be

someone’s hero without knowing it. This is why it’s so important

to be who you are and to act how you know you should act 100%

of the time; because when an admirer sees their hero falter in

life, they will lose hope, and may falter themselves.

Be that strong rock, Kaitlin. Be the constant in someone’s life.”

I have dedicated my life to being that constant, not for the view of others, but for my own integrity and myself.

I will be a constant in someone's life.

[i'll blog about the other two values later.. since I haven't finished them yet :P]

Start of Something...

This is my first blog.

I had never really thought of doing a blog before. The whole concept was quite foreign to me. I didn't even know it was something that people did, just those who had too much free time and lived with 4 cats named after characters from the "Brady Bunch".

But I stumbled upon a distant friend's blog, and became completely entranced in the inspiring and hilarious moments of her life that she broadcasted. I felt like I knew her, and I found myself revisiting her website more and more...

Then I thought "Heck! I could do this!" So I did.

I might not be as fashion savvy or as philosophical as many other bloggers are. But I would like to believe that my life is worth seeing too, maybe even laughed at once in a while. I would like to believe that I am worth listening too, and that I have enticing thoughts; maybe ones that could one day provoke another to create their own love story to their life, just as my blogging admirer did for me.

“Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.”