Courageous

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Caitlyn

I have been thinking a lot lately about my Christian faith. It’s a huge part of who I am, and I feel like I’m constantly learning, growing, and striving to become more of the person God wants me to be. I am not perfect, in fact the being a Christian means you know this all to well, and you know that only through God’s grace can you ever be made whole.

I have been struggling lately with the desire to openly share my faith. For some reason I just feel that I’m called to do this in some way… yet I admit I’m scared. Rationally I know that is the most absurd statement. Why would anyone ever be afraid of sharing the Gospel? The Gospel is the most important thing in a person’s life, and knowing Jesus is the biggest decision you could ever make. The Great Commission of simply telling people what I believe, and defending it with facts and logic isn’t that hard, so why do I freeze up anytime I’m given a opportunity? Is it enough to try and show God’s love through my actions and the way I treat people? Or do I need to learn to speak the Truth with words despite my fears?

Why am I so scared of people’s reactions? Am I scared of rejection? Scared of whether or not it will change their opinion of me? I honestly have no idea, but I’m trying to work though these thoughts and fears…

The other day on the way to work, I was listening to K-Love, and heard the new song by Casting Crowns called Courageous. The lyrics really struck me, and I wanted to share them here as a reminder to myself:

We were warriors on the front lines
Standing, unafraid
But now we’re watchers on the sidelines
While our families slip away

Where are you, men of courage?
You were made for so much more
Let the pounding of our hearts cry
We will serve the Lord

We were made to be courageous
And we’re taking back the fight
We were made to be courageous
And it starts with us tonight

The only way we’ll ever stand
Is on our knees with lifted hands
Make us courageous
Lord, make us courageous

So the journey to courage begins…

Hello World.

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Caitlyn

Sometimes I wonder if the ability to track daily blog traffic is a blessing or a curse. The silly little graph pops up everyday to tell me how many people visited my site, and to be honest when it’s a low number I kind of feel sad. Why? Why do I feel this way??

I think that having a daily reminder of “traffic” is so easy to get sucked into. I forget that I’m writing this blog for me, for my family, my friends, and any new friends I a meet along the way are simply icing on the cake! So, why do I find myself reacting to these silly little stats?

Then something really weird happens, like on Tuesday for example, 70 people viewed the site! Yes you read that right 70!!! I was shocked! Apparently there are a lot of Fall lovers out there who love comfy boots & Starbucks as much as I do But seriously, I don’t get it. I’m honored, and I’m excited to think that people would take time out of their busy lives and spend a few moments reading about mine.

So, I’m trying to remain focused… I need to not let these silly “traffic trackers” get to me. On days where the only person that stops by is me, that’s ok… and on days where lots of people come to hang out, that’s awesome too! I’m just excited to be capturing these days of my life and preserving them in a way that I’ll have to look back on in the future.

That being said, if anyone in the vast world of internet blog space is reading… please say Hi, I love new friends

Top 5 Things I’m Craving This Fall

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Caitlyn

The weather is starting to change, the days are getting shorter, and it is starting to feel like fall! I love this time of year, and for some reason this year I’m really anxious for fall to arrive! I don’t know if it’s the anticipation of the holidays, the cozy boots & sweaters, sipping hot chocolate, or cheering on my favorite football team, but I’m just excited!

(I should point out that I have never been a huge football fan, but living in a football obsessed state like Oklahoma, I can’t help it… it’s rubbing off on me! So, this year, I’m jumping in and cheering for my school, I am a student after all… Go Boomer Sooner!!)

Ok, so here is the list of things I’m craving this Fall:

#1) Boots! I love boots of all shapes & colors. I already own more than I probably need, however I like to add 1 new pair each season. This year I have been looking for some boots with a flatter heel, I am tall already and own lots of heeled boots, so I need something more casual and comfy for every day. I ordered these today & I can’t wait for them to show up on my doorstep!

#2) Corduroy Leggings - don’t these just sound amazingly comfy?? Yes, I want a pair… they would go so well with my new boots I particularly like these:

#3) Starbucks Pumpkin Spiced Lattes – this is by far my favorite drink at Starbucks! I would order it year round if they had them! So excited for the return of this fall classic. Although I may venture out an actually try the Salted Caramel Mocha sometime as well… yum!

#4) Dinner’s Outside on the Patio – Fall is one of the most beautiful times of year here in Oklahoma. The days are usually in the upper 80′s, cooling down to the mid 50′s at night, and we don’t even have much wind. Heaven! Perfect for a few romantic outdoor dinners by the new fireplace

#5) Baking – For some reason whenever Fall rolls around I have a huge desire to bake stuff! Pumpkin bread, Bran muffins, Halloween cupcakes, and anything I can decorate with candy corn… Since Dwyatt and I don’t need to be eating everything I make, I have feeling my coworkers and friends are going to get spoiled! First recipe I want to try?? This one from Skinny Taste:

Planting Roots

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Caitlyn

This weekend we planted a new tree in our backyard… to replace the one we killed… See, a year ago an odd looking twig sprang up in the middle of our front flower bed, and before we knew it we had a full fledged tree on our hands! This thing grew like a weed, and we were told it was a Cottonwood tree.

I heard somewhere that your only suppose to plant or move trees during months that have an “r” in them. Seeing that this was in July we patiently (ok, maybe not so patiently) waited for September to roll around. A few weeks ago we moved this giant tree, which was now as tall as our garage door, to the back yard. Although we tried to properly dig up the roots, we must have done a poor job because the tree promptly died. Sad day

So, to console ourselves we went in search of a new tree to fill the space in the backyard. After much debate over Elm, Oak, or Maple… Fall color or rapid grower… Fruit Or flowers… We sttled on a London Planetree. It’s tall, green, healthy, & has giant leaves!!! We were told it will grow between 3 & 4 feet per year! I can only hope so!

It’s fun to plant the trees and wonder what there lives will see. How tall will it get while Dwyatt & I still live here? Will it get big enough for our kids to climb in one day? Like all things in life, only the Lord knows, but we are planting roots and looking forward to what the future brings!

Girls Weekend!

Posted on September 25, 2011 by Caitlyn

Last weekend I drove down to Grapevine, TX to meet up with my Pi Phi girls. We had been planning a pledge class reunion, and where better for 8 girls to get together than a wine festival?!?!

We danced, laughed, shared memories, stomped grapes, probably drank too many mimosas, and throughly enjoyed ourselves! These ladies are still some of my very best friends, the women you know would be there for you at a moments notice. I love making time to spend with friends because I always walk away from the weekend refreshed and reminded of just how precious good friends are.

I love you ladies & miss you already!!!

Friday Night

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Caitlyn

Here is a quick glimpse at our Friday night in… Dwyatt writing a Corporate Finance paper on the Mac, me researching Supply Chain Management on the iPad. The goal: be done by 10 pm, then enjoy some wine, snuggling, and a movie!!

Week of Chaos

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Caitlyn

This week has been absolutely chaotic. I was out of town most of last weekend, arrived home to study for a midterm. I’m working on a huge project for work this week… I sit down with my VP to review the first draft on Thursday! I have a midterm tonight, and more projects due next week.

To top it all off I spent about 40 minutes with Dwyatt and our neighbors last night figuring out how to rescue Weston out of a 30′ tree on the edge of our neighborhood. He was scared to death and stuck in a tree, poor thing! Luckily Dwyatt was willing to climb up and get him, not to mention climb back down while getting clawed to death, yet still not dropping him. Not sure if this makes Dwyatt brave or just plain crazy!

Ugh! What a week! On a happy note the pillows for my patio arrived this week & the furniture is starting to arrive too! I can’t wait to pull everything together and throw a fall party! I promise “finished” pictures will be posted soon, but for now here are the pillows I ordered from Sears:

They make me smile

Okay… time to finish this test and push through to the weekend!

My history… blog history!

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Caitlyn

For those of you who don’t know, Blessed is the 2nd blog I have started. In addition to being an Engineer and MBA student, I also have my part-time photography business that I started about two years ago. I have mainly focused on weddings and portraits and it’s my outlet. It’s how I let the creative part of me out and let my mind unwind.

Even though it’s not currently my full-time occupation I enjoy running this small business, and I have kept up a blog for the past few years recounting not only recent photo shoots but personal details as well. I started Blessed because I found that I wanted to talk more about personal things, my thoughts, and dreams for the future… not all of which I felt was appropriate for the photography blog. So, for now, I will continue to keep up both blogs. Sometimes posts may overlap, but the CMP blog will mostly focus on my photography.

Why do I tell you this? Because I was looking back at the archives a little earlier today and even thought it’s only been two years it seems like so much has happened in my life and I like looking back to see what I was thinking and feeling then. I wanted to give you an insight to my history, or blog history at least! I have toyed with the idea of importing some of those posts to this blog to keep them all in one spot… not sure about that yet. Any advice there? What do you think??

Marriage Monday

Quote

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Caitlyn

“One of the nicest things you can say to your partner, ‘If I had it to do over again, I’d choose you. Again.’”
Unknown

I have heard this quote several times before and for some reason it always makes me stop and think. If I could go back 6 years and have the choice to either start dating Dwyatt or continue on down the road of life as a single girl, what would I choose? Better question… what would he choose?

I think it’s easy sometimes to think back on phases of life and think if only I had done that, or made that decision, or traveled there. But honestly, if we had done all those things, we wouldn’t be where we are today. You are where you are today because of a series of choices, good or bad, they are the choices you made. Would you change them?

If you can honestly look back at all the up’s and down’s of your life together and say that you would choose to live through it all again… choose it again just to be where you are now, that is truly a gift. A gift that makes your spouse not only feel loved, but accepted despite their flaws, cherished despite their wrong doings, and worthy of your love each and every day. It’s a statement that exemplifies unconditional love. And after all, unconditional love, that’s the definition of a marriage right? That’s how Christ loves us; completely, fully, unconditionally. Christ’s love is the ideal image of what marriage should be!

So yes, I think that one of the nicest things you can ever say to your spouse is that you “would do it all over again”. I know I would. And Dwyatt? He said he would too. :)

Road Trip!

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Caitlyn

A few weeks ago Dwyatt and I headed to Branson, Missouri for a quick weekend getaway. We wanted to do something fun for our anniversary this year, and one of our goals for 2011 was to visit somewhere in the US that neither one of us had ever been to before. It was a quick 3 day weekend but we had a good time.

We quickly noticed that everyone there was either over the age 65, or was a young family with at least two kids in tow. We went to a show (seems like this is what everyone raves about in Branson!), attended a winery tour & tasting, watched a fire & ice fountain show at the new Branson Landing shopping center, pretended we were little kids again by racing go-carts and winning handfuls of tickets playing skeet-ball, ended up watching a cage fight at an outdoor bar (we though we were headed to a concert!), and generally enjoyed the lights of “mini Vegas”.

We also spent a morning hiking along the trail that surrounds Table Rock lake, just west of Branson. The lake was gorgeous! We laughed and realized that we are definitely more of an outdoor couple who would rather be in the middle of nowhere hiking around a lake than in town watching shows or shopping. We found a swimming beach and spent a few hours swimming on the shore of the lake. It was great! We definitely plan to make a trip back there some day, but it will be with the boat!

Here are a few pics of the trip. I took “the big camera” on this trip hoping that I would take lots of photos. My problem is that it’s so darn big & heavy that we end of leaving it in the car half the time. I guess I need to either get over that and really start taking more photos, or buy a smaller camera… Also, I have noticed that since I got an iPhone late last year that my life is now being captured via small, fun, random iPhone pics much more often than I ever imagined it would be. I guess that’s because its the perfectly small and convenient camera