Flat Tires

Well, it seems that flat tires follow me. I've gotten 3 in the past few months... This is what happened today:

We were driving up to my parent's house to visit my mom for her birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM) when Matt sped up and the car started making a funky noise.

Me: your car needs to shift
Matt: no it doesn't
Me: Look at your RPM's, you almost at 4. It needs to shift.
-- at this point, the car shifts, but funky sound continues --
Matt: something's wrong.

So we pull over, and there's a flat. I say, no big deal, there's a donut in the trunk.

Matt's trunk doesnt open. There's half a key broken off in the lock, and the button to open it from the front doesn't work.

So I squeeze into what has to be a 2x2 whole in the backseat and manage, after a few awkward minutes, to force the latch open from the inside.

And when I say awkward, I mean, I could fit through this whole up to my hips. So my bottom half is stuck in the backseat and my head and arms are in the trunk.

Next is getting the tire off.... One of the nuts is stripped. I really have to use the bathroom. So I leave Matt to wait for help to walk to the hotel about a mile ahead. A lady stopped and offered me a ride, but I refused. It ended up being further than I thought, but I made it in time. The lady at the front desk was SUPER nice and let me use the bathroom and even take some ice back for the cheese that was getting warm awful quick in the car. She offered me coffee and water and said I could stay as long as I liked to wait for help to arrive. But the cheese was getting warm. So I headed back --

And as it turns out the Maine Turnpike has tow trucks that just drive around and look for stranded people! And this guy managed to get the stripped nut off of the car and put the donut on, but the tire is ruined.

So we go to a local VIP to see if we can get a new tire real quick and still manage to make it up to see my mom. This guy says he had NO TIRES that were the right size, and that he would have to special order a nut -- odd for a tire store, to me.

Saco to Summersworth, we finally get 2 new tires (keep the treads even) and a rim to put the tire that wasn't ruined on for the future.

$200 later, we have a fun story, but we missed my mom's birthday and my friend's baby shower ...

Interesting day, to say the least.

Hailey: Let's play puppy dog! I'm the puppy, you're the mommy, and Uncle Matt's the daddy!

Me: Okay.

Hailey: Woof!

Me: Good puppy! *pats on the head*

Hailey: Woof!

Uncle Matt: Puppy, go in your kennel!

Hailey: (sadly) Woof?

Time to introduce my kitties!

This is Cloud. When we first got the kittens, she was so traumatized by everything that she hid under the couch for a week! Now, she has become the more cuddly of the two, such a lap kitty (whenever she winds down enough to cuddle...)If we have guests, she might hide for a little bit, but only for about 20 minutes, and then she gets too curious for her own good.
She seems to be the leader of the two, and I have no doubt because she is a whopping 10 or so ounces heavier than Cathryn (which is alot when you only weigh 3-4lbs!) I catch her grooming and taking care of Cathryn often.
Cloud is a very special kitty... Even though she might be the leader, that also means the leader of the mischevious type! She is ALWAYS getting into trouble! She pees on the carpet, scratches my cork board, and chews on the mini-blinds. She has also done a couple mad dashes to the bedroom (forbidden area) when she knows shes about to be punished because she can hide in there. I had a tub of pepperoni out once, looked away for no longer than 10 seconds and she managed to snatch one right out of the bucket without me noticing.
Cloud is techinically Matt's cat, he named her, and its quite obvious.... Matt prefers dogs, and lo and behold... She might as well be one! She's always begging for our food, chasing her tail for 20+ minutes at a time, and drinking out of the toilet whenever we leave the seat up, even if she has her own water. But we love her.


This is my baby, Cathryn, or Cat for short. I love cats and when I was little wanted my name to be "kitty." I thought it would be cool to name my kid Cathryn (cat for short) but there are two things that made me name my kitten the name I love instead... 1: everyone who has the name Catherine/Kathryn hates it. 2: I do not have the heart to knowingly name my child "Cat Stevens." :(... Anyway, back to the kitty!
This picture does not do her justice! She is completely adorable, the vets assistant could not stop commenting on how adorable and beautiful she was! You cant see in this picture, but she's got patches of color on her white little legs, and the patches of color have stripes just like the upperside of her body! They drive me crazy with cuteness!
While Cloud is more mischevious, Cat has always been the more playful kitty by far! She's always running around finding something to play with and nipping on your fingers and attacking your toes! Never once was she a shy kitty. She likes to be held, but only if you're standing up. She is reluctant to cuddle on top of you, but will happily ball up a few inches away. (Cloud would happily fall asleep in your arms if you held her like a baby... cutest thing ever...)


Yes, Cat has her naughty times.... Which is pretty much daily they both get the squirt bottle! But they've gotten better. They still wait outside the bedroom door, but don't try to hard to get in (at least with me, because I immediately put my foot out and push them away.) They also don't try to get on the table nearly as much.... When I'm looking. They don't try to sneak into the cabinets or fridge, which is a relief! But they do unroll toilet paper, knock over the bathroom trash can whenever they can, move every rug in the apartment that's not stapled to the floor, knock whatever they can off the desk, and try to steal human food whenever they get the chance.


But I love the little beasties.

So many endings, so many beginnings.

I can't even begin to explain the emotions that I am feeling. I'm officially no longer living with my parents. It's kind of scary. I suppose every older teenager looks forward to this day, as I have, and now that it's here, I don't know how to feel about it.

I'm kind of a quitter. There are a lot of things I started, but I quit because I got too scared. There were three or four times when I started looking for jobs and/or apartments around the area I'm living in now, but I chickened out. This time, I wasn't scared. I finally felt like it was the right time to move. (kinda don't really have a choice at this point, but I still had peace about moving/marriage/all that jazz)

So, consider this a toast to all the lasts:
The last day at my first job;
my last day at augusta walmart;
my last day living with my parents;
etc.

And a toast to all the firsts and firsts to come:
the first time I'm living on my own;
The first time I'm responsible for my own bills;
The first time I'm living less than 95 miles from Matt;
And soon enough, the first time I will cleave to someone other than my parents.

I graduated high school, and didn't feel any older.
I started college and working non-stop, and didn't feel any older.
I turned 18, and was immediately responsible by law for any actions I were to take, felt the same.
I got a college degree, and still felt the same.
But the day I got engaged, I felt like I was becoming an adult.
And that's what I am. It's a weird feeling, with emotions I can't begin to explain.

This is me as of recently.

Chelsea (11:21:52 PM): you seem to over think.

Chelsea(11:21:53 PM): Life

Updates

After a longer-than-normal feeling week, I had an exciting Saturday. My Davids Bridal appointment went from three bridesmaids and a flowergirl, to five bridesmaids and a flower girl. We got a dress picked out (of course, we find the most expensive one...)

Easter was typical. Church, dinner, sleep, bloody nose... Okay, maybe the last one wasn't so typical, but whatever ;).

That night Matt and I watched "Seven Pounds" with my parents. I liked the movie, Matt did not. It wasn't a perfect analogy, but it definitely had some parallels to the Easter story. It's funny how that was the netflix movie that was sent to us, and we watched it that Easter. I won't tell you how it relates for spoiler reasons.

Matt and I just basically had an awesome time Sunday night after the movie and Monday morning before I had to go to work. After being so busy almost every weekend this year, I forgot how fun it can be to just hang out and talk and laugh.

Refreshing :)

Long, yet busy, weekend.

So last weekend started on Wednesday. A long weekend is always nice, but it also usually means I'm not working much, as is the case. Anyway, to start, we had a birthday party, a funeral, and an ordination to go to this weekend, not to mention a list of other things!

Which we only completed about half the stuff on our list.

We managed to go shopping! We haven't done that in a while, but it needed to be done. Also, Matt and his parents moved last weekend, so there was quite a bit of stuff still left in Matt's old apartment. A lot of which wasn't his. So we went through everything, packed up everything we needed, and will hopefully be moving the stuff into storage.... In May? (Every weekend in April is booked solid!)

Here's the only interesting picture I took: Tim's birthday cake!


Props to PA for the whipped cream "smokestack."

Dress

CHECK!

I'm making cake right now, because I wanted cake... And I wanted to try out a frosting recipe. I don't have enough butter, so there's going to be some margarine in it... (I would use shortening, but the shortening we have is old and tastes funny. It's ruined any other frosting I've tried to make with it)

And then VN this weekend! I'm so unprepared!

Test tonight! I'm so unprepared (but I'm working on that tonight)

And the weekend after next I'm making a cake for Tim's birthday party! I'm confident about it and nervous at the same time. Luckily, it's vacation week so I'll have lots of time to make it properly while Matt's at work (which is when I usually catch up on homework)

I love using (parenthesis) ...

I am so blessed.



If I'm complaining about anything, I'm just being stupid.

My Favorite Story

Let me try and actually write this in story form, and not the ramble on type of writing that I tend to use in the blog...

I love staying out late during the early summer; even though the sun is gone, it's warmth still remains. If I could chose the weather, I would make every night like that night. I would always sleep under the stars.

That's just what I did that summer night. I slept under the stars with my two best friends. Now, I could lie to you. I could tell you that this was the perfect summer night: clear as Crystal with every star plainly shining back at us. But that would be a lie.

The only weather related perfection about that night was the temperature. Just maybe it was those pesky clouds blocking our view that was incubating Central Maine, keeping it at that perfect 68 degree weather all night long. However, that was not our focus that night. We talked of God, creation, and just how small we felt next to the distant stars that we could not see. If only the clouds would part, if just for a minute, so that we could see their magnificent beauty, we said.

We talked of some other things as well. Nothing I can remember, I suppose we talked of boys and church and school (and all the drama that comes with being a teenager). But the conversation was not what makes this my favorite story. We whispered and giggled, every so often hearing my brother talk to his computer in the house some 3 dozen feet away. During these mundane moments, a miracle happened.

No one was raised from the dead, no fatal illnesses were cured. No one trekked across the surface of the pool, and no one slayed a giant with a single stone. But God gave us an everyday sized miracle, just for us. The rest of the world probably did not notice, and the rest of the world probably did not care. The rest of the world was not looking, but we were. We watched as the clouds parted. They did not part completely; but a perfect circle had formed directly above where we lay. God exposed to us His glory, along with the moon and the stars that we so longed to look at that warm summer night. And then it was over.

As quickly as the clouds parted, they swept back together revealing only a dim glow where the moon reflected the sun's light behind the clouds. It was okay though; It was enough. The brief glimpse, the perfect circle... I suppose that if the clouds completely dissipated, this would not be my favorite story. That night the Red Sea parted for us; typical teenage girls living a life that seemed so mundane. What I know now is that there is no such thing as a mundane life.

My faith is the reason I know there was a miracle that night, and it is the miracle that night that keeps my faith alive. That's why this is my favorite story.

Festivities is RIGHT

Family resemblance?

we nuts.

No, wait... Karen's nuts!

Two cameras. Both flashed at the same time.

Matt the model

There she is with that tongue!

Chelsea played "princesses" with Hailey, and was therefore: her best friend.

Happy 2009!

Pumpkin Carving: Part 2

On to Sunday afternoon! On this day, we had a visitor: The Meesh. Unfortunately, she is in none of the pictures because she took 90% of them.

Matt's pattern was too large for the pumpkin, but since it was a fairly simple design I just drew the symbol onto his pumpkin and he traced the marker line. I proceeded to use the more tedious pinhole method. He finished carving his entire pumpkin before I even finished punching out the pattern!

Let me create a visual: Matt. With a seraded knife, much like a two sided saw. If you don't know Matt... Just imagine a 7 year old boy... Excited, but impatient. He was sawing it so fast that he accidently pulled the knife out of the pumpkin while sawing and jabbed it in a totally different place 3 times.

20 minutes later, Matt's masterpiece is finished. Rough, but finished. Meesh cleaned it up a little bit after that.

2 hours later, my masterpiece is finished. My hands are cramping, but my masterpiece is finished!



P.S. I wasn't really sure how to go about roasting pumpkin seeds until after I had already left them in the oven at 425degrees for about 25 minutes. (The recipe said 300degrees) About 5 seeds were eaten, but the spices weren't all that great that I chose anyway, so they're now going to become part of a landfill. Yay me!

P.P.S. ITS A ROSE! Not a cabbage, not a snail, not a one eyed pig. ITS A ROSE!

Parmesan

Mom: *labeling her chicken Parmesan* How do you spell Parmesan? Is it "parmesean?"

Me: I think it's "Parmasean" Hold on, lemme check.... *checks packaging* it's "Parmesan"

Mom: Haha, I win! I was only one letter off, you were two!

Me: Oh, no Mom, because you didn't even use Parmesan cheese, you used Romano!


Oh yes, I win.

Friend Weekend

This wasn't posed, I swear!

This one really wasn't posed, lol.

Margaritas! The picture came like that, unedited.

So once again, I had Chelsea, Karen, Michelle and Matt all over at my house for the weekend. I worked Saturday night, but only for a few hours. We swam, painted, watched movies, and ate. A lot. Oh, and as you can see, we went a little camera crazy!

Love me? Buy me!

Africa Sandals

Alright, it's time for another Soulfest story!!

The sandals pictured above are from Soulfest. WorldVision was giving them out to the crowd in exchange for prayer; everytime you wear these sandals, you are to pray for the children in Africa, particularly for those affected by the AIDS virus which is rampant there. If you wear the sandals and don't pray, your feet will break out in boils. Somehow, throughout the course of the weekend, all 5 of us managed to get a pair that was thrown out into the crowd. (All during the last day actually I think...)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAILEY!!!

I almost forgot...
HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY HAILEY!



P.S. Go here for a real live "Notebook" story!

"Girls" Weekend!

Alright, I must admit... I have always wanted my friends to come visit me for once instead of me driving to see all of them, so Karen, Meesh, and Matt all came to my house this weekend, along with Chelsea! We had a great time. We must have spent 50% of the time in the pool, but we also watched Michael J. Foxx movies, explored Augusta, and pretended to be Matt's groupies ; ).... I didn't take any pictures though! I know, I'm a bad person! We're already planning another adventure in August sometime maybe!

School is back in session full swing! I thought it would be easier in the summer than when I take another full course load in the fall because I'm only taking 3 this summer, but because it's 3 classes in half the time it's about the same. Stress time is back! Haha, I love being a student though. I think.

Well, it's late and I'm tired, but this blog needed updating!! Maybe I will post more weekend stories later on! : )

Congrats, Grad!!

CONGRATULATIONS MICHELLE!!


Note: All pictures were taken by Mrs. Henderson, because they came out 110% better than the ones I took.

Matt, Matt, Matt...












I think that just as funny as Matt and Meesh's faces, is my response. (Click for larger view)