proud

of course as you know I love Auburn...

I love the town, University, football team, but most of all I love the Auburn family.

I love the people that make up the Auburn family and the great hearts they have.

At any rate I do realize that there are some rude Auburn fans, just as any other team.

I realize I'm an obnoxious Auburn fan, but I'm obnoxious about things I love, so I won't apologize for that.

well here's a sweet story no matter what fan you are:

yesterday at lunch #43 aka Lutz was at the same restaurant as me.

there was a sweet family with a lot of children, at least 6 sons who were all sitting in a booth together.

well the dad got up and asked Lutz if he could introduce him to his sons, of course Lutz said yes.

so Lutz proceeds to shake every one of the little boys hands as their dad is explaining who he is.

the last thing the dad said was "But the most important thing is that he (Lutz) knows who God is."

doesn't that just warm your heart?

makes me proud to say he is a part of our team and family.

peace. and. war eagle. 

I am thankful for...

twenty four things I'm thankful for

decided to do it all now instead of one each day of november

enjoy.

one. our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the amazing love He provides for me.

two. my amazing mom. seriously she's amazing. she does so much for me, don't know what I would do without her.

three. my fantastic dad. he works so hard to provide for me, Ann, and Carter.

four. both of my grandmothers and the role models they are for me.

five. Hunter and the spiritual leader he is in our wonderful relationship. 

six. the rest of my family that are just as awesome as the one's I mentioned.

seven. my roommates Morgan and Jenny because they brighten many of my days.

eight. my kitty cat Gracie, just because she's precious.

nine. my best friend and "big sister" Lindsay. although we've been through thick and thin nothing can break the friendship we have and I am so thankful for that!

ten. Auburn University and the great education I receive and the awesome football team and family that I have for being a part of such a great community.

eleven. my homes that my parents provide for me. 

twelve. my YoungLife team and the amazing children that we get to have an impact on through Christ.

thirteen. every single person with special needs that God created to be uniquely them.

fourteen. my car better known as Carry da Camry.

fifteen. my stepmom, Ann and stepdad, John.

sixteen. every single one of my other friends that I am not going to name individually, but are just as important as the one's I have mentioned above.

seventeen. my computer, because without it I would not be able to share what I'm thankful for.

eighteen. my first graders in Mrs. Toothaker's class that have taught me SO much this semester.

nineteen. Mrs. Fichtner and Mrs. Hand two of the most incredible women of Christ I have ever met.

twenty. my iPhone. Hunter is especially thankful for this because it is how I annoy him the most.

twenty one. music. without music the world would be a very dull place.

twenty two. my lakehouse. it is such a homey place that has so many memories with my family.

twenty three. my blankies. which include the four blankies I sleep with and my tshirt quilt. seriously I can't sleep without them. they're so comforting, I don't care if I'm 20 years old, I'll admit that I still sleep with blankies.

twenty four. camp. although I have grown apart from most of my camp friends, it will always hold a special place in my heart.

well there you have it

the things that I'm most thankful for

or rather the things that came to mind first tonight

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

peace. and. blessings.

great memories

yesterday would have been my Grandpa Doug's 75th Birthday.  Grandpa died in April of 2002 when I was in 5th grade.  The memories that I have with him are amazing.  I believe it's no coincidence that I can remember memories with Grandpa, but can't remember other things from my childhood as well.  So here are some of my memories with Grandpa that I'd like to share:

1. Grandpa and Marilyn lived on a small private lake in Chilton County.  Their house was down a very steep driveway and I remember every time we visited I always thought we weren't going to make it up the hill.  Well Grandpa was a fisherman.  He retired from Frito Lay and built his lake house to be able to do his favorite leisurely activity, fishing.  He would fish for most of the day and I would also fish with him when I visited.  I had a child's fishing pole and life jacket and would sit next to his chair on the dock and fish.  Of course I wasn't quite as patient as he was because I would always end up saying, "Grandpa, I'm bored" or "Grandpa, I'm never going to catch a fish!"  Grandpa was always patient with me and just told me that it was a sport that you had to be patient with.  Well, I'm not very patient now so I surely wasn't patient as a child.  I am sure that Grandpa did teach me the patience that I do have.  I have no doubt that he looks down from Heaven the days when I'm not being patient and tells me, "Caitlin, just be patient."

2. Grandpa worked for Frito Lay for about 40+ years.  He drove a Frito Lay truck and would often let me climb up in it and pick out a bag of chips of my choice.  Every time we visited he would let me do this.  No wonder I like potato chips so much!  And of course, it's a sin to buy Golden Flake potato chips.

3. In the basement of Grandpa's lake house was a room that was kind of like an office/playroom.  He had this computer down there.... this computer was about 20 years old, like I'm pretty sure it was the first computer ever invented. It was so ghetto. anywho, the grandchildren used to always make these little printouts on it.  You could see every little dot that made up each character.  My favorite was making happy birthday cards on it.  It printed on this paper that was all together and had those little edges with the dots in them that you could tear off.  This story makes me laugh and to see the improvement of technology is just amazing.

4. Grandpa was always good at cooking breakfast.  He made homemade biscuits that were to die for!  They weren't flaky or extra buttery, but they were Grandpa's and they were great.  Also, we always ate a slice of tomato with anything we ate at his house!

(these memories are kind of jumbled and really probably have no meaning to anyone, but just some memories I wanted to type out so that in case I forget one day I can look back.)

So, here's to you Grandpa!  Thank you for always watching over me.  I love you and think of you all the time! 

nothing is ever certain

after seeing a very close friend of mine's engagement broken off recently I have realized many things. nothing is ever certain. a ring does not make a promise. whether a promise ring or an engagement ring, although you should have a commitment and promise to one another if you are engaged, it does not mean that the rest of your lives together is certain. however, things happen and people change. God should never be an excuse for something. instead of relying on the "promise" of the ring one should rather rely on the promise of God's perfect plan for us. God has a plan for us, that is perfect for our lives. He doesn't put us through anything we can't handle (something I have definitely learned and learned again). all of this is of course much easier said than done, and hard to say without being in the situation. for some reason I just had this revelation today while sitting in class and decided to blog about it.

well... I guess I contradicted myself, one thing is certain and that is that God has a plan for us and whether we like it or not that is the perfect plan for us, for He knows us way better than we could ever imagine.

go read Jeremiah 29:11

it's some good stuff

peace. and. blessings.