My afternoon with Miss Ole Miss.

Story-time with yours truly, The Diva. 

Let me start by saying that I have the absolute BEST family and friends a girl could ask for. After a not-so-good start to my week (last week), my Best knew just what would cheer me up. LOVEEEEE her. 

Okay, I have planned this blog out in my head, figuring out what I wanted to say about this particular afternoon and I giggle every time I think about it.  

I hope y'all enjoy it as much as I have.  

My afternoon with Miss Ole Miss

I think EVERYONE knows Lauren Patton's love of anything Ole Miss. And when I mean anything, I mean ANYTHING. She lives and breathes Ole Miss. Her kids first words will be "Hotty Toddy". Mark my words. 

So, as a remedy to my broken heart, my Best does what any good friend would do and take me to football game. Logical.

I am so excited.

So, Saturday rolls around and I had work until 2. The game started at 6 so, I had to run home and get "Grove ready". Ha. 

And my precious Best waited for me so we could ride together. She could have gone and Groved all day but she waited until 3:15 just so I wouldn't have to drive to Oxford alone. Love her.

We are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited at this point. 

So, we leave Thaxton, start towards Oxford and then the most magical thing happens.

Lauren looks in the mirror to see that the team is behind us! Oh, y'all. She was
so excited. It went a little like...
"Caitlyn. THE TEAM IS BEHIND US." very dramatic and very excited.
And just like that, 3 HWY Patrol motorcycles, one OM bus, 3 charter buses, 2 more OM vans, 5+ SUV's, and 2 more HWY Patrol motorcycles pass us. 

This was hyping us up something big for the game. Lauren Patton was about to come undone. 

The girl has been to games her whole life and she still has that child-like excitement about it all. I wish I still had that in quite a few aspects in my life. 

Any way, we are getting into Oxford and we pass the ref's.
That was equally a big deal.

From here on out, it's all a little bit of a blur. 

We find a parking spot unusually close to The Grove and we had doubts butttt we parked there anyway. In a cross walk. 

Andddd we are walking to The Grove.
And Lauren Patton morphs into a celebrity. I mean, y'all. 

People formed around her like a mob. It was amazing. I mean, I know she's a big deal BUT I didn't know at this level. It was great. 

It was "LAUREN PATTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" 

or

"Oh, my god is that Lauren Patton?!?"
I had so much fun just watching this. 

My best friend is a celebrity in Oxford. (Maybe she can get me in with Matthew Mcconaughey this weekend. *wink*) 

My words are not doing this experience justice. 

So, we make it INTO The Grove and find more people who are in awe of Lauren's awesomeness. 

We hang around The Grove for a little while and then start making our way to the stadium. I'm convinced Lauren Patton knows everyone. 

We sit with Lauren's friend and old roommate Emily and her friend, Landon and had such a fun time! Gosh, so much fun. I've never had so much fun at a game. 

We are leaving the stadium and all of a sudden, a student started a soul-stirring rendition of "Hotty Toddy" where Lauren Patton is left speechless. It was the epitome of epic. I think I saw a tear in LP's eye. THAT good.

So, we head back to The Grove to do some celebrating and socializing. We ran into sweet friends that we hadn't seen in ages and got to catch up. 

We leave to start making our way to the car and up pops up Ole Miss Quarterback Bo Wallace. You would have thought it was Justin Bieber. 

We begged for pictures and were left speechless by his cool and calm attitude. 

We were starstruck. 

Ah, fun times.

Again, Lauren had to say her good-bye's to all of her fans and we left to find our car.

Ha. 

Couldn't find it. 

Then, we finally did. I mean, now that I think about it, I'm sure one of Lauren's fans would have gave us a ride. Wish we would have thought about that. 

We leave Ox and I get home a little before 1 a.m. 

Y'all, I had such a good time. SOOOOOOOO much fun!

The whole time, I could only form a few short phrases.
Examples:
"He is so drunk."

"Oh, my gosh Lauren he is soooooo drunk."

*first down* "OLEEEEEEEEEEEEE MISS."

"Lauren, I think that girl is trying to get your attention."

"She is so cute."

"I love her Tory ensemble."

"OH MY GOSH her purse is Chanel."

"Did you see that girl's shoes?"

"I wish I would have went to Ole Miss instead of MUHell."

"Lauren, I really wish I would have gone here."

"I mean, this is a game. We don't want to see your make-out sessions."

"What just happened?"

"HOTTY TODDY!!!!" 

Overall,the day was fantastic. I had such a good time. I've never had so much fun at an OM game. 

I learned: My best friend is a celebrity.

Everyone in Oxford loves her.

September nights are the perfect temperature for a football game. 

Quarterbacks are people too. 

Here's some pictures to go along with my story...

 I had such a good time.

Hope y'all enjoyed this as much as I did!

caitlyn.

iPhone dump!

Long time, NO see!
Here's a little overview of what's been happenin'...

Beach! With my fabulous family.

 My Best came to visit me in Columbus a few weeks ago.... Oh, the fun we had! Columbus will never be the same..
We stayed up all night and watched the sun rise. T'was a fun, fun time. Love when she visits me!

I wish these pictures would come out in order.
LOVE  LOVE LOVEEEE my baby brother. Can't believe he's a senior! ahhh!

Love my sibs.

Oh, goodness. So, mama had knee surgery on Tuesday of this week. And take my word for it, it has been a doozie. SOOOOOOO glad she's feeling a little better. :)

Pinterest find. New fav. SNL skit.

Heaven. Oh, sweet heaven. And loaded with about 7,567,891 calories.

I want to be back! I miss the beach.

Just call me Nurse Caitlyn.

My tan has already faded. How sad is this?!

LifeProof case: well worth it's $80(even though I didn't pay 80-whooo hooo ebay).
It was a great thing to have while at the beach. 

iPhone dump!

Okay, okay... No judgement.

I'm terrible at blogging.

I promise I'll get better.

I have a lot to catch you all up on but I just don't feel like drafting that novel right now. :-)

One day, my friends.

Also, I apologize if this blog is formatted odd. I'm on the Blogger app on my iPhone. First time to use this app!

Okay. iPhone dump.

Baby brother went to PROM! T'was a sad, sad day...

This just makes me laugh. Hard.

"I'd Cap That" app... Too funny.

I NEED THIS PURSE MORE THAN OXYGEN. I'm not being dramatic at all.

Precious, precious puppies.

Someone has been busy today.... Mr. World Traveler.

Oh, okay.

BURNED. Ouch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, first iPhone dump! Hope I didn't fail! :)

Goodnight, friends!

ck

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cashmere for the ears.

Hey Blog World!

 

So, this blog is for my own sanity. 

 

It's a Friday night and

I'm in my apartment working on this stupid Articulation notebook, 

 extremely stupid Statistics,

and studying for the overwhelming Speech Science final. 

I kinda teared up as I typed that last sentence.
 

I'm in the last inning!

2 more weeks! 2 more weeks! 2 more weeks!

I can see the finish line!

The semester from HELL is almost over!

 Hip-Hip-Hooray!

Give a little HOO-RAH for me! 

I DID tear up typing this! 

Y'all just don't know.

 

So, if you didn't know this, I'm a HUGE music person.

Like, I love music. ]t

You know, the music you can roll your windows down, turn it all the way up, put ya sun shades on, and just drive. 

Good feelin', easy listening...

 Like cashmere for the ears. 

 Love. Love. Love it. 

And I spend a small fortune in iTunes each week. 

So, I want to do a blog on my favorite music as of RIGHT NOW...

 

So, my Top 10 Favorite songs of all time:

 

 10. Accidentally In Love-Counting Crows

 

9. Best Thing I Never Had- Beyonce

 

8. Thinking of You-Katy Perry

 

7.Please Turn Red- Andy Davis

 

6. The Way I Am- Ingrid Michaelson

 

5. This Is The Stuff-Francesca Battistelli

 

4. You'll Be In My Heart- Phil Collins

 

3. Every Breath You Take- The Police

2. Someone Like You- Adele

1. Until You- Dave Barnes

 All of these links work, so PLEASE check them out! 

AWESOME music!

 

But, here's what's in my CD player in my car right now, and I just can't take it out...

 

1. Brokenhearted- Karmin

 

2. Lights- Ellie Goulding

 

3. Paradise- Coldplay

 

4.Shake it out- Florence+The Machines

 

5.Drive By- Train

 

6. Easy- The Commodores 

 

7.Barton Hollow- The Civil Wars

 

8.  Dancing Away With My Heart- Lady A.

9. I've got this friend- The Civil Wars

10. Falling- The Civil Wars

11-24. Adele

Love her. 

This is my every-day, stress-relieving playlist.

A little pop, a little oldies, ALOTA goodness.

 

 I LIVE for those chill-bumps you get during that perfect two-part harmony.

Oh, heaven. 

And you know that amazing feeling you get after a reallllllly good song?

Am I the only one?

I sure hope not. You're missing out.

The bridge in "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry is a great example.

Or the chorus in "Until You" by Dave Barnes.

HEAVEN. 

Well, I've gotta get back to studying. 

 

Finals are in two weeks.
And when FINALS are OV-ER, be ready for a blog that will blow your socks off. 

No, seriously. I've got a bomb-shell.

Hope you enjoy this music as much as I do!

 

ck.

 

4 a.m. worry-fest.

Yep. It's almost 4 a.m.
I took my good drugs too late today, so no sleep for this college diva.
I so desperately want to lay in my freshly washed sheets and take a snooze but....my mind is racing.

Not only is it racing because it's hopped up on drugs, but my life right now is CRAY-CRAY.

You think I'm kidding.

I have not only 1 major test this week but 2. Oh, and they're back to back.
I've been studying all weekend but there just comes a time when you just can't read another question about acoustics or frequency or inertia in the vocal tract. I mean, I just couldn't do it anymore.

Okay.
I sometimes get into these weird funks where I am so paranoid and I start freaking myself out about things I shouldn't even be worried about?
That sentence didn't make sense.

But, at this very point in time, I am sincerely worried about my family back in Pontotoc.
Like, worried as in I hope they are okay. And I hope they will be okay.
I just...worry. And stress and sometimes I feel like I could cry because I am so worried for them.
I wish I could put my emotions and worries into words.
That way, I could have an exact point of existence.
You know, the whole basis of my worry?
But, I can't.

My mom recently started a new job and she seems to love it.
MUCH better environment than where she was.
I've started associating change with bad(this is fairly recent-I blame MUW) so maybe my worry is my subconscious worry for my mom. With change, there will always be risk.
Simply because something new is unknown. And maybe I'm worried about the unknown.


My brother is a junior this year. And he got this drivers license a month ago. And he started driving. And he's trying to get a job at The Pig. And he's going to prom. With a real-life girl. Whom I've never met.
I am very protective of my baby brother. Admittedly too protective at times. But, that's a lot of change for this big sister.
But, my worry for him is nothing new.
I worry for him constantly.


Gracie Bug is growing up. That worries me a lot.
I know what the children said to me when I was her age and when I was in school.
Kids can be mean. And Gracie has seen that.
It's just that, Gracie will not listen to me.
She refuses to take advice from someone who has been exactly in her shoes.


And with all of this comes a whole slew of worries that happen daily in our house.
Something breaks...
Someone gets mad for something that was said...
Money...
School...
Homework...
Friends...

And then, I remember my own worries here in Columbus...
School, which is the reason I'm medicated and unable to sleep.
Money. Gosh, this one is the worst.
Grades.
My family back home.
My future. Big changes have happened in this department. (I'm gonna blog about it when I'm out of school)
My safety. Columbus can be super scary.
Clinic hours. oh em gee. I don't think I'll ever get out of there!
Projects. Projects. Projects.
My to-do list that seems to be never ending.
Dr.'s appointments. (hate these-huge worries)
And just the typical, everyday little things. They seem to really get to me.


I am thankful for the life I'm living. I really, truly am.
I am just having trouble seeing the "Big Picture".

caitlyn.

*WARNING!* Kony2012 opinion.

Note: This is not my original post that I worked hours on... I have done some research and my views on it all have changed.

KONY 2012

I'm sure we are all WELL aware of the SURGE of #KONY2012 and #MAKEKONYFAMOUS posts all over the internet.
I discovered the video last night around 11:30 and my immediate response was:
"I'VE GOT TO HELP THESE PEOPLE!"

I took NO time to research the very thing that was tugging ever-so tightly on my heartstrings.
The only things I saw and heard were:
"Children. Uganda. Sex trafficking. KONY. Cute little blonde boy. Guns. LRA..."
and many other things.

In reality, I should have sat back, thought about what was just presented to me, process the information, DO RESEARCH, and then make my decision to support or not support the effort.

Nitty-gritty.
The truth of it all is, YES-things are happening in Uganda that are horrible and inhumane. But, the way this video portrays Uganda and Joseph Kony isn't the truth. In researching, I've found that Kony is no longer in Uganda. Some sources say Kony hasn't been in Uganda for 4-7 years now.
The LRA is still out there, but haven't been reported as active in several years in Uganda.
I still firmly believe Joseph Kony should pay for the terrible things he has done. But, the way the video talked about him, I was ready to jump on a plane and go kill him myself!

*In my opinion*, some parts of the video were embellished a tad to help make the facade of KONY2012 explode into what it has. Without the amazing graphics of the video, it would have been just another YouTube video.

But, there is one organization that I will openly and proudly support. And that is..
Amazima Ministries.
After being enlightened by KONY2012, I remembered someone telling me about a ministry group that was in Uganda and it was a girl around my age. She had dropped everything here in the U.S. to live in Uganda and become a mother to 13 daughters. You can read all about how you can help on her site.
I hope you join me in helping her!

Wrap-up
1.Kony should be punished.
2.Caitlyn needs to learn not to trust the internet.
3.Twitter can spread news like WILDFIRE.
4.Facebook isn't much different.
5.I'm not dissin' the KONY movement. I'm just stating what I've found after researching and listening to others who have educated themselves.
6.Educate yourselves. Explore this and see what YOU find and YOUR opinion on this.


A letter to my future self...

Dear Caitlyn,
Never repost a viral video unless you have researched it and you approve.
It makes you look dumb.
Love, Caitlyn

What are your thoughts?

The many "firsts" of Caitlyn: 2011 Wrap UP!

Well, this year is almost over! CRAZY how time flies!

I wanted to do my wrap up blog BEFORE January 1st and this is the only time I could.

Close enough, eh?

Well, 2011 has been one for the books. It has had its fair share of events and one one hand, I'm glad to see it go, and on another, I'm sad to see it go.

So, lets start this trip, shall we!

January: I started the MEGA semester with 24 hours of classes and 3 jobs. Whew. It also snowed several times. School was cancelled for the entire week and we were all stranded in Fulton; gosh, I made some memories that week.

Almost breaking my neck sliding down the hill next to the Fine Arts building with Lyndsey and Erin and learning the Jai-Ho with Kelsie, Amber, and Leanna.

Gosh, I miss my ICC days! Life was SO much easier.

February: Nothing too significant to report. Ha.

March: Again, nothing too significant.

April: And the fun begins. The semester was almost over and things were wrapping up. April 27th was a really bad day for alot of people in North Mississippi. This is the day that the tornado hit Smithville, causing extensive damage to the town.
April 27th also just so happened to be the day I was diagnosed with Pseudo Tumor Cerebri. T'was a bad, bad day...

On April 28th, I was rolled into the operating room for the spinal tap from HELL. It was so bad, I remember telling my mama good-bye and begging sweet Jesus to bring me home. Truth.

But, I survived. It took me 10 days to recover to where I could function again.

Thankful doesn't even begin to describe.

May: I was so thankful the 24 hr semester was over. OOH! Words can't describe.

Lauren graduated from Ole Miss and I graduated from ICC on the same day!
I surprised her by coming to her graduation and she surprised me by coming to mine! It was a sweet day.

Summer was here and I was BEYOND ready!

And my good friend Ashley McGee(now Hendrix) got engaged! I will never forget that phone call!

Commence the weekly Dr.'s appointments...

June: VACATION TIME! Our annual family vacation to Gulf Shores was here and it was a blessing; something my whole family needed-especially Mama Noni.
Yes, I was the one that was the pin-cushion and all, but she had to be the support. Seeing that I don't have children of my own, I don't know the feeling but the way she describes it, it's a type of love only a mama can have for her children.
The kind of love that would do ANYTHING for her babies. I pray I'm that kind of mom when my time comes.

July: Oh, goodness. This time in my life was full of newness and learning. Lauren, the best, was applying for jobs and being the good friend I am, I went to interviews with her.
We had a fun time making memories while burning up the highway between Jackson, Pontotoc, Oxford and Horn Lake...

I am so thankful for that time.

I also signed my lease in Columbus thinking this I was doing the right thing by going to MUW.

Boy, was I wrong. Ha. I learned my lesson!

August: Out of the 12 months of this year, this month had the most change.
In August, I went on my very first date. Yes, I know what you're thinking. You're 20 and you're just now going on your first date? Yes. And it was great! I'm thankful my "first date" wasn't wasted on just some random Joe while I was in high school. Call me a loser. I'll own it.

I also started my first semester at MUW. NOTHING could have prepared for what I was about to encounter. Oh goodness. It was rough. It was the biggest slap in the face-EVER.

I also turned 21 this year! WHOOOO-HOOOOOO!
Im officially an adult. I can drink now. Yay.

September: I was still getting a beating from the SLP department. Haha. From attempting to wrap my brain around Phonetics to literally having no words to describe the hatred we were receiving from our teachers, I was seriously questioning my ability to do this. I left school crying every single day.

Let me just go off on a tanget for a second, but this semster I have heard NOTHING but negativity from my teachers. I have been told I needed to change my major because I wasn't smart enough. And that just pissed me off so, I worked my tail off just to prove to them I could do it. And I did.

October: Still taking a beating from school but by this point, I've made friends with a few girls in my class. I am SO thankful for these girls. They are the only reason I survived my first semester. TRUTH.

November: The semster from hell is almost over and school is about to kill us, literally. My life this semseter has been school and school alone. So, there's not really much to say.

December: Oh, yes. The time finally came for Christmas break . And words can't describe how ready I was to see it! Finals week consisted of literally NO sleep, LOTS of studying, and memories made with sweet friends. One of which moved away to Texas. Gonna miss her. :(

I went from finals straight home to prepare for the week ahead of me. I had surgery and then Christmas was here! What a break I've had! Nevertheless, I'm thankful.

Looking back on the year I've had, it has been one of life-lessons. And lots of them!

But, I'm thankful for another year and I'm looking forward to 2012!
Can't wait to see what it has in store!

I hope your year has been as much of a blessing as mine has!

Happy New Year!

peace and blessings.

caitlyn.