Why I don't shave my armpits

Because I know some of you are wondering, but don't want to ask. And I am wishfully thinking about spring arriving, which means lots of sleeveless shirts for me.

So here it is. I'm gonna be up front and honest about this. Why don't I shave my armpits?

Because I don't want to. 

What a radical idea.

Because I actually like the way a splash of auburn fuzz in my underarms looks. It looks (and feels) better than a patch of itchy, 3-day-old stubble, or red bumps.

Because it's part of my body. It is not gross, dirty, or unsanitary. 

And ultimately, because why not?

As human beings, created by God, in the image of God, we seriously need to stop being afraid of our bodies. We need to stop criticizing them. The One who thought up the galaxies and arranged our solar system and created the vast amounts of creatures that inhabit this planet also created your body. You can't criticize His handiwork just because it doesn't fit into your impossible ideal created by our incredibly false mass-media culture. He created variety and our current culture is working very hard to reduce that variety to a ridiculously small set of ideals that pretty much no one fits into. 

Our bodies have hair, fat, sweat, smells, cellulite, freckles, wrinkles, bony bits, and flabby bits. Get over it.

I've been studying all night, so Blain sent me cartoons that reminded him of me. =)

I need to make this a weekly thing, at least

I realize I haven't posted in a long time (as usual). Spring break is nearly over and I'm torn right in the middle between anxiety over going back to school (1.5 months to complete 2 research papers and somehow figure out what the smeg is going on Comparative Governments? Yikes!) and excitement over seeing Blain tomorrow. Maybe I'll just drive really fast to Omaha and then drive really sloooooow all the way to school after I get him.

All-in-all I'd say my break was splendid. Watched most of Red Dwarf (as you might have noticed), season 7 of Bones, and this:

I really liked it, you should watch it too. In a nut shell, little girl has a cat who spends the days with her and the nights with a thief! Of course, the little girl and the thief meet and he saves her from, you know, stuff. (I don't want to spoil anything). This is why I don't write reviews. Go watch it. It's on Netflix.

I also slept a lot, ate a lot, sewed a lot, and pretended to clean my room a lot (which honestly just consisted of me moving stuff from the floor to the dresser and the stuff in my dresser to the floor). Mum also spent a lot of money on me too, which was awesome. (I use the word "which" a lot. I learned in editing class that "which" is a word one should avoid like the plague . . . which I obviously suck at.)

It's 1 30am and I have to leave at 7am and drive for 3 hours to pick up Blain. I miss him a lot. I can't sleep. Too excited. Which (there it is again) is the whole reason I'm even here, because, honestly, he's the only one who reads these anyways.

Goodnight tiny audience! I hope I don't crash tomorrow!

First Afghan

I finally finished the afghan I've been working on since October. Yay! First one ever!

Dear Loved Ones,

I have plenty of pictures I want to share, but my card reader is GONE (I suspect it's in Blain's room), so until I get another one, I can't put up any of them. This week has been really awful, with lots of tests, and we started a "responding to the past" game in classical civilizations (and I am an oligarch -_- no one likes them). Plus, Blain has been stricken with illness that causes him to never sleep ever! So give him your prayers. Oh yeah, and Valentine's day! That didn't effect my week at all, other than aiding in my justification of buying Blain a pillow pet because he is sick. And mum sent me a board-book in the mail, which I thought was lovely. I need to keep up with my adventures. . .
     Last month some time I blew a hole in my tire and Johnny (whom my mother lovingly refers to as "the hot one") patched it for me just in time to go home, where we had a lovely February Christmas dinner and Christmas gift-getting!
     Anyways, happy Sabbath and happy weekend everyone!

I have been published!

Ok, people. Last semester I wrote a terrifyingly personal and highly controversial article for Outlook magazine. And it's out!

Click here to read. It's the one with my name under the title . . .

I did not write this article to shame or guilt anyone, as some have supposed. I wrote this article because my addiction to masturbation has caused damage to my relationship with Blain, my relationship with God, and even my relationship with myself. The pain that I have suffered and the damage I've received are not opinion, they are fact. I want people who struggle with this same thing to know that they're not alone, especially girls. And God is a gracious and merciful God who will work wonders in your life as long as you let Him and He will meet you where ever you are.

Date Night

Every tuesday Blain and I have "date night", (yes, I " and punctuated the Canadian and British way, not the messed up American way) which usually consists of us watching a movie or two until I get bored and start being annoying. Tonight we watched Brave! It was fantastic, I wish we had seen it sooner.

Anyways, after the movie Blain walked me back to my dorm and it was snowing! The First real snow of the year! It was amazing! Until Blain leaned in to kiss me and slipped. And then his face and my face painfully collided, and THEN I laughed so hard that I started to pee. I had been holding it for hours, don't judge me. My teeth hurt now. 

I am happy with my life.

Back Again!

I realize it has been over a month since my last post. But, you know, Christmas is insane and I am just now beginning to settle into the new semester.

For those wondering, Christmas was wonderful, albeit extremely busy. Between Legoland, the aquarium, the beach, Busch Gardens, Universal Studios, Christmas, Christmas Eve, New Year, illness, and all the things I'm forgetting at the moment, Blain and I were kept very busy for three weeks! We were SO busy, in fact, that I dared not take my camera with me anywhere we went. Except one place the day before we left. So I have no pictures. But there are pictures somewhere that I will try to get a hold of and post in the future. Eventually. Maybe. (Probably not...)

We are back in Lincoln once again, doing college stuff and generally just spending our time being cold, doing homework, and pretending to do homework.

Sarah and I moved last week, and then I got a head cold that I thought was going to kill me.

I thoroughly enjoy my new major, as the classes are infinitely more interesting, and the just the right amount of challenging. And instead of grading for one person and sometimes another, I have been hired by four people this semester. But I like my job, and I'm not going to complain about more hours, so this is good news.

With love,
Caitlin

Why are there so many phalic food products?

There are hot dogs, corn dogs, candy canes, bananas, lolly pops, push pops, and those rocket popsicles that are mortifying to eat, but are too delicious not to.
My friend gave me one of those giant peppermint sticks big enough to bludgeon someone to death with. I decided to start working on it in the middle of the night, in the middle of finals, and I am trying to be mature about it, but it isn't happening. So I finally put it down during a fit of laughter and told my roommate I just can't do this right now. She replied with "it is too late and to falate a candy cane."

We are both quite sure that this is what going mad feels like.

Switched Major

I have switched from Communication with a journalism emphasis to History, because I have realized this semester that I hate journalism . . . I don't like my classes, or my classmates (generally speaking) and I am rarely allowed to say what I actually want to say. I still plan on writing. I am just going through a different channel to do it, because History is far more interesting and exciting than journalism, which is boring and tedious. And isn't the point of all this to find something I love doing and then eventually (theoretically) make money doing it?

Christmas in the dorm

Sarah and I decorated for Christmas! (The wreath is a real tree branch.)

Happy Sabbath family and other loved ones!

Here is a live stream of kittens.

Sarah and I want a kitten very badly, but since we live in the dorm [insert lengthy and pointless rant about dorm life] we cannot have one. So we have adopted these ones.

The black and white one is called Icecream Sandwich, but we call her Charcoal. The ginger ones are Ginger and Ginger light (a.k.a. the Weasley twins). The sand coloured one is Sandy and the big one us Mummy.

I hope you all have a lovely Sabbath afternoon and enjoy the warm weather and sunshine, as we will be doing in the park. Unless you have snow, in which case I say, "neener neener. Neener neener."

with love,
                 Caitlin

Disappointed

This morning my class had a phone conference with the editors of Guide magazine to discuss the articles we wrote. We were all rather disappointed by their lack of interest and enthusiasm. Not only were we spoken to like second graders, but they want us to speak to actual second graders like they just learned how to read last week. Criticism is not a bad thing. It is a useful learning tool. But unprofessional disregard of work done that took almost a month is not okay. My article was rejected, which is fine, I understand it needs work. But no one's on my team was bought, either.

On a happier note, Insight was absolutely delighted to speak with us. They also were excited to read our articles and bought all of them! Their editors gave good feedback and constructive criticism. So the whole class period wasn't a complete waste. I am worried about what direction Guide magazine is headed for the next few years, though . . .

Sean the Kitty

Yesterday Blain and I took Megan to the pet store to hold a snake. In her Public Speaking class she was given an assignment that asked her to do something outside of her comfort zone. So I took pictures of her holding and petting a ball python.

 The visit to Petsmart swiftly led to a "necessary" and heartbreaking trip to the animal shelter where Blain and I met Sean, a long-haired, cinnamon coloured cat. Another family was looking for cats and asked to see hi,. When he was brought out the woman tried to hold him on her lap, but she was promptly (and gently) rejected. He jumped into my lap and plopped himself down, happy and purring, between Blain and I. The little boy with the woman declared that Sean would be a good cat for us. If only we had a home to bring Sean back to.

I was hoping to include a picture of Sean, but we didn't think to take any while we were there, and the shelter doesn't have his picture on their website yet.