Still Kickin' Bum at School

So it's the third day of school...and it's still going well! :) My MW classes will kick bum (in a good way) and my TTh classes will be, well, alright. My favorite thing about classes this semester is my Geography class! Yep...5th year senior...taking general geography. I put it off okay? (Kinda like how I put off getting my chapel credits til this year too...I'll be the 5th year-er in Chapel too...yeah.) But I'm so glad I'm taking Geography it this particular semester! It's nice to get a breath of air that's not about the TEKS or Phonemic Awareness. Not that I don't love my major. But this eye-opening class is going to be so refreshing this semester! Who doesn't love studying other places and cultures? It's like vicariously traveling! There's only so much you can learn in one place. :) 

See ya!

The Best First Day Yet!

Today was my very last "first day of school" EVER! Well...that's kind of a lie...since I'm an education major, I'm sure I'll have a lot more "first days." :) But it was definitely my last first day as a student!! I think that knowledge made me just enjoy today like nothing else! It was such a good day! Knowing this is my last time around just made me let go of all the bad attitudes that come with school starting. And remember that professor I mentioned who I was not excited about having? She didn't seem so bad today either! :) It also rained some today and we've been having the most gorgeous sunsets here. You know what I'm talking about it you're from around here. I was driving home this evening and the entire sky was orangey pink...it was breathtaking!

Anyway, it was a good first day of school. I hope yours was fabulous if you are doing the school thing!

Also, you might want to check out the photog-blog. I had a session Saturday and LOVED the photos from it! Here's a peek!

Summer Sum Up!

Here comes school! Five days and counting! I'm actually not that sad to see summer go like I usually am. I think that's because I'm graduating this year, and I'm just ready! Besides I can't wait for the crisp fall weather! (All seven days of it we get in Texas, sandwiched between summer and winter.)

Anyway, my friend Lilly wrote a summer sum up on her blog and I just liked the idea, so here goes!


1. Joined a gym. (Yesss! Long term goal--done!)

2. Booked several weddings! Yay!

3. Went on lots of road trips, all in Texas, but still a blast!

4. Took a summer school course...

5. Saw dear friends get married: Emily&Josh, Hailey&Adam, Kassie&Chase.

6. Launched my website and got biz cards.

7. Helped lead a Bible study for some girls I know who are about to start college.

8. Got addicted to coffee :)

9. Worked...alot...a whole lot.

10. Got to lead worship all summer for the small group Beth Moore study I was in.

Yay! There's a great summer right there! Even though it was CRAZY busy and I was frustrated at that fact, it was a very good summer. I'm thankful for each of those things.

I want to cultivate a thankful heart as school is starting. I found myself complaining already about a professor I have...no need for that, especially when school hasn't even started! Last night, during our last Beth Moore sesh, she said something that I think will stick with me forever, "If you want to be set apart in this world as we are called to be, just stop complaining! Stop grumbling about your job, your spouse, your dinner, etc. The world will notice VERY quickly that something is different!"

Cool.

Wedding Weekend!

This weekend, my dearest friends Chase and Kassie got married! It was wonderful! I got to shoot their wedding, so head to the photog-blog to see it all! Here are a couple of my favorites.

I really owe a lot to Chase and Kassie. During one of the hardest months of my life, they really shined as friends and helped me keep my joy. When I was first beginning in photography, Chase helped me find opportunities that became the base of my business. Kassie has always been an amazing friend, and my favorite thing about her is her honesty. They are just wonderful and I'm so glad they're married! After something like four years of dating, it's about time! :)

Caroline, why are you driving an orange box?

My dearest darling-est 4runner, Simon, is back in the shop. Something's wrong with the transmission...again.




So since they had to keep him in the shop overnight, my dad took me to pick up my "loaner" car for the next few days from the dealership. Guess what they gave me? Scroll down a bit if you're prepared to see the hideousness.

Are you kidding me!?

So I'm zipping around town in this little piece of work. Yikes! It's like someone at the dealership wanted to pull a joke on me! So if you see me driving around in it (and trust me, it's not that hard to miss) honk or something. :)

P.S. Okay, it is a Scion and it's really fun to drive. But still...hideous!! I can't wait to get my baby 4runner back!

**UPDATE**

Just a few minutes ago, a man walked into the store (where I work) and announced, "That little orange car out front is just about the ugliest looking thing I've ever seen!"

Haha, yes...thank you. I'm aware of that.

My friend, Jamie.

Before reading: This is a seriously personal account that might only be significant to me, but I still wanted to write it. Sorry if I bore you or if this seems like too much information :)

This summer, I found such joy in being a part of a Beth Moore Bible study with some old and new friends. My friend Jamie, who led it, has been my friend since my Freshman year of college. I totally remember the night at Sonic when she introduced me to Brian Regan and his "Carolyn/Caroline" joke. I laughed so hard :) Anyway, Jamie and I had a rough time when we tried living in the same house our Junior year with 4 other friends (so that's six girls total in one house...yikes!!). After only lasting 6 months in that situation, I moved out, things calmed down, and we kinda went our separate ways. Then our Senior year, Jamie bravely announced she felt the Lord was calling her to leave and finish school at Wheaton and I didn't see her for a year. But she's been back this summer! And it's amazing how the Lord has restored our relationship and she's the biggest blessing to me! I don't know another person who has the ability to make things happen like Jamie does. She's the type of person who is bold and passionate enough to actually jump right into an intimidating problem to help fix it. The most exciting thing is that her boldness and passions are all for the Lord!

Anyway, I've been blessed, and I marvel when I look back and see how the Lord has refined us and brought us to the place where we are now as friends. Pretty cool.

On a funny note, last night our Bible study group got together to watch the weekly Beth Moore DVD, but we couldn't find the remote to the DVD player. Without it, you pretty much can't get the player to work...so after a time of worship and discussion, we gave up on finding the remote and watched the Women's Gymnastics on the Olympics! :) It was funny...I suppose you would've had to been there. :)

How do I write the rest of this? It's hard to communicate this without sounding trite or self-centered.

I'm so encouraged in my spiritual gifts though, after this Bible study. I've always loved to lead worship for small girls Bible studies that I've been a part of. The last time I got to do that was probably about a year ago. But people here recently have just been affirming that fact that I am gifted in that area, and that I should be using that gift to honor the Lord. It's exciting...

It's also unbelievably evident to my own eyes that this is a GIFT from the Lord. The fact that the Lord uses me and that people are encouraged is ONLY because of the Lord. I know this because the Lord has used me, to spur people to His heart, when my own heart has been struggling with sincerity in my faith. I am overjoyed to serve a God who raises up people who are not perfect, people who struggle with things, people who mess up...He specifically uses us to advance His kingdom. What an undeserved honor! It humbles me!

Swift Joy.

Olympics, Photography, Yoga, and Grandpa's Birthday (All rolled into one post!)

Who's in love with the Olympics?! I AM!! I'm watching them every chance I get! If you ever want to come over some night and watch with me, I'll cook for you!! :) When I watch the Olympics, I'm always reminded of the '96 Olympics when Kerri Strug took the U S of A to gold! Man, good times! I was so freaking out when that happened.

Anyway, it's always been a big dream of mine to go to the Olympics...just to watch, you know. :) Now that I have my cameras, I REALLY wish I could go. Just look at some of the cool photos (remember, I did NOT take these):

And also, on the note of photography, you might want to zip over to my photography blog. I posted a few sessions that I'm proud of :)

Next, you might wonder how my yoga class is going since I made such a big to-do about it...it's going GREAT! I adore it while I'm there and miss it when I don't get to go! I've been going three times a week which has been incredible. I can already tell a difference in my overall health and feel-good-ness. If you ever wanna come with me, I can bring guests. ALSO, I just bought a new yoga mat while my mom and I were in San Antonio. Isn't that fun?! I got a little too excited about it :) It's purple with a sweet damask design on it.

Important Side Note: I've always wanted to know the name for this design, because it's so popular, and I found out: it's called damask. I know you've seen it before. Just type "damask" into Google Images, and you'll soon be saying, "Ohhh, THAT'S what that is called!" (Unless of course you already knew it...then you would just be cool).

Finally, my grandpa's birthday was this past weekend! The whole family got together to celebrate, and it was wonderful. Here's a photo of him opening his birthday present from all of us...an Ice Cream Maker. He loved it! My grandparents are so inspiring...they are just as active, spry, God-loving, and sharp as can be...at 80+ years! I want to be like that!

Home!

Hi friends! I just returned from another wonderful weekend in San Antonio...this time with my mom! We had a girl trip, and it was so fun! First of all, we stayed in Boerne, this sweet little town just a few miles out of San Antonio, at this lovely mix between a Bed&Breakfast and a hotel. It was so authentic and WAY better than staying in a hotel. It was almost like staying with a relative in their home. Definitely a nice place to come back to at the end of a long day at Sea World or shopping! Yes, my mom and I went to Sea World! :) But first, have a look at the "Ye Kendall Inn" where we stayed.Some of the old school artwork found in our room...This is a picture of the lady whom our hotel room was named after, Laverne McQuinn (the hotel rooms didn't have numbers, just names).They had a "Texas sized" hot tub! We hung out there after the day at Sea World and it was glorious!Seeing this sign made me very happy :)The first night we ate at Papasitos--I'd never been there before and I give it an A+! The salsa was the best part!! This photo represents us getting our "gangsta" on in SA! We are ridiculous. :)And here we are at Sea World!Here I am petting a Clydesdale at Sea World!! It was GIGANTIC and BEAUTIFUL!We also got Baskin-Robbins ice cream! I haven't been to a Baskin-Robbins in probably something like 10 years!
What a great trip!

Shamu!

Here's a quick video I took of Shamu while we were at Sea World! I seriously marvel at how they train those animals! I can't imagine how amazing it would be to work with a giant whale like that on a daily basis.

See ya!

I'm jettin' out of town for the rest of the week to spend a fun few days with my mom on a girl trip! See ya next week!

One last time around...

Summer is going to be over before I know it! I'm planning on making the most of the "lazy" days that are left by swimming plenty, taking a little road trip, and eating at least three sno-cones (I haven't even had one this summer yet!). Secretly though, I've been really excited about the coming of Autumn! The cooler nights, the crisp air, the fashions, the change in everyone's attitude...I'm in love with it! Autumn also brings me back to my college campus. I'm looking forward to the normalcy that school brings to my schedule and life...but this is going to be the last time I experience a Back-to-College Autumn since I'll be graduating in May. I got a little nostalgic last night realizing that next August, I won't be heading back to the dear old college campus.

But even still, I've been nothing but excited about graduating and moving forward in life, especially since most of my friends graduated a couple months ago, and are moving away, getting jobs, and starting families. I'm so excited about what the future holds! I don't really know what I'll be doing yet, or where I'll be living, but I'm not too worried about it yet. Things will fall into place.

I do know one thing though. Whatever happens, I desire to live with the deep purpose of serving my Father in heaven. (Get ready for a big run-on sentence!) Daily life is good, and I do a lot of things on a daily basis, but I've been realizing, the older I get, that I do things just to get them done...which is good...but I want to get things done with my eyes on the hand of my Father. Watching for Him to move. Listening for Him to speak. Knowing that this world is not my home-- I have a heavenly home which I will soon see! That is what gives even the most mundane, daily tasks deep "purpose." I LOVE that the Lord didn't just put us on the earth to get things done. I love that we have gifts and callings and a joyous reason for living, found ONLY in seeking Him.

Nothing Brings People Together Like A Wedding!

Another one of my dear friends got married-- what a special time I'm living in! :) Hailey and Adam's wedding was last night and I have to say, the word to describe this wedding was precious. It just filled me with so much happiness. They were both so radiant and overwhelmed with the other all night! It was beautiful and I'm so glad I got to be a part of it. I've known both Hailey and Adam since Middle School! I'm so thankful for their friendship. They are both the most loyal friends and just have such a spirit of peace and contentment about them. I love it!

Hailey's eyes were just shining all night!
Hanging out with all my married/engaged friends...crazy!!
My favorite thing about their wedding was that it was like a reunion of all my dearest high school friends! I hadn't seen most of these people in years, so it was great! Most people want to forget high school, but I was totally blessed by my friends in HS. We were all in choir together and loved it! :) This is a group picture of all of us...4 years later! I have so many memories with these special people. 

Shhhhh...Secret Preview of My Biz Card!

Okay, I'm so super stoked out of my mind because of this sweet little biz card design that Scott did for me. He KILLED on this design!! I couldn't be a single bit happier with it! I ordered them yesterday and I was going to try really, REALLY hard to wait to show you until I had the actual card...but I can't! So scroll down to the bottom of the post to see a preview!! It's perfect! I just smile every time I see it.

And you may be thinking, "What, no picture on a photographer's business card?" But it's a pretty daunting task to try and choose ONE photo to represent your entire photography career to the general public. So instead, I opted to go with a fresh, fun, and funky design that will hopefully convey my enthusiastic love for life and photography, AND make people stop and stare at it! :) ALSO, this is only the front side. The back (which is also yummy delicious) has all my info artfully stated on it. Cool!


P.S. It may be about to rain right now! I sure hope so! :)

P.S.S. Happy August!