...you've probably decided that I'm no longer here. You would be right about that. Life happened and I forgot about my blog. I didn't forget how much I love writing though, and I've started a new project. 

Come on over!

http://pureonebygrace.weebly.com/blog/chasing-butterflies

It's a new blog, it's a new day, it's a new life for me and I'm feeling good. ;)

Smiles,
​Kaitlyn

Somehow, we never got around to decorating the gingerbread house kits our Great-Aunt gave us for Christmas until today! In fact, we decided to make a party out of it and invited over all the neighbor girls for an icing and decorating session. :-) When one of our neighbors handed a piece of the finished house to her brother, Mark, he quickly said, "Yay! Cardboard with icing!". They didn't taste so great........
Allyson and I really enjoyed supervising the teams and helping when the "cardboard" wouldn't stick together in the right way. Hooray for neighbors and Christmas any time of the year!
-Kaitlyn

I really apologize for the title of this post. But "stuff" was truly the only title that came to my mind, and the need to blog overcame the lack of inspiration. :-)
We're almost a month into 2015, and I could not begin to tell of the smiles, the memories, the confusion, the tears, and the victories that this year has already brought.  
Last week Allyson and I attended our first speech competition of the year (Hooray!!!!!!) and like every tournament, it was a unique experience. Some things that made this National Open special: blisters, unexpected friendships, chocolate, sleet, and God's overwhelming grace in the midst of every emotion. 

I was blessed to qualify to the Regional Invitational in all four speeches that I competed with, and I also made finals in Impromptu and Apologetics, which was a fantastic experience. I will say that giving an impromptu speech to 15+ people was perhaps the most nerve-wracking thing I have ever done, but thankfully my mind was clear and I was able to deliver one of my best Impromptu rounds. Allyson competed for the first time ever, and she broke to semi finals in Apologetics! I was so proud of her, and can't wait to see how her speaking skills will blossom and grow. 

Our family is doing well, staying busy as usual with activities nearly every day of the week. 

Some of the overarching goals I made for 2015 included practicing the piano more, and so far I've been able to achieve that with 2 hours of serious practice per day. I'm still teaching two little boys from our church every Tuesday afternoon, and its incredibly exciting to see them grasp new concepts. Courtney started informal piano lessons about two months ago, and has already flown through the primer level of "Piano Adventures" and is well into Level 1! It's pretty amazing. :-)

I've recently become rather addicted to "Madagascar Vanilla" herbal tea, Pilates/HIIT workouts - literally the best way to die -, and practicing my cursive handwriting (yikes). I'm hoping to get back into the swing of blogging more regularly as well, but to be honest I haven't been sure what to post. 
For those of you who still faithfully check up on me (I know you're out there, my stats tell me such interesting tidbits), what would you be most interested in seeing? 
A weekly quote and thought regarding it? 
A simple picture and tagline that captures the week? 
A song or verse that's impacting me? 
A funny, awkward, or awesome situation I found myself in?
Or even a cool accessory idea.....haha.
I'm open to suggestions, and definitely want this to be a place that you enjoy checking up on. :-) Feel free to comment or shoot me an email.

Until I receive advice on such matters I remain your friend,
Kait


 

This Christmas season has been one of the busiest I have ever known. And it crept up so quickly, I cannot even believe that it is Christmas Eve. I've spent the better part of the last five days with a virus, which leaves me with some time tonight while the rest of the family is at the Christmas Eve church service. I thought the post I would most enjoy creating would be the one sharing a few snapshots of what we've been doing since Thanksgiving! 

Hopefully Christmas celebration snapshots and the Christmas letter will be arriving on my blog soon! :-) 
Until then, Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Much love, Kaitlyn

Well now.....good intentions met procrastination this week, and I proved to be a rather ungrateful person, at least according to my blog series. Ha-ha. I have been thinking about a few things though, and tonight I want to write up some brief thoughts and gratitude concerning them.

I know that not all teenagers are expected to clean the kitchen at least once, normally twice a day, complete a few assigned chores, and help with cooking and other cleaning regularly. I'm thankful for the unique position of responsibility I'm placed in as the oldest kid in a large family. I've been tempted recently to complain about the "load" that I think I carry, and the few things that I do to help run our house and keep my own stuff tidy. But it's not drudgery. The little list is completely acceptable and appropriate. Responsibilities are something I'm grateful for, because they teach long term lessons, and allow me to make wise or lazy decisions about how I deal with them. 

Now, what about the other header to this post, 'choices'? This past Saturday was an event that I'd been looking forward to for many weeks. The first tournament of the year in NCFCA! While it was a one day practice event, I was so happy to get to deliver some impromptu and apologetics speeches and visit with some friends I hadn't seen in months. One of the impromptu topics I drew was the following quote: "To say you have no choice is to relieve yourself of responsibility." - Patrick Ness. As I prepared the topic and delivered on it, I continued to think about the truth within it. We do have choices, and when we make them, good or bad, we are responsible for the  results. If I get out of a situation the easy way by begging that I had no choice in the matter, it simply shows that I lack the courage and determination to do the right thing and take responsibility. 

This week I have been trying to view my responsibilities and choices in a different light. A thankful light. A careful light. And a determined light. I want to fulfill what is required of me joyfully, and also own up to whatever the consequences of my actions may be. 

I hope that made a little bit of sense. :-)

Smiles,
Kaitlyn