As a 23-year-old I...
1. Moved to England. Homeless. Not our best planning situation ever.
2. Reverted to my 15-year-old, car-less self after said move to England and had to re-learn how to ride a bike. So far the current standing is Bike-17, Caitlin-12. I'm workin' on it.
3. Traveled to Mallorca, Spain.
4. Wrote my first will-and-testament in preparation for number 3. Something along the lines of "if you are reading this, we have been eaten by sharks, captured by pirates, or succumbed to food poisoning..." Oh, and Laura gets my engagement ring.
5. Started this blog. :)
6. Started running. So far, so good.
7. Attended the biggest wedding of the century.
8. Celebrated my own 2 year wedding anniversary with Willis.
9. Toured Edinburgh, Scotland, with new Oxford friends.
10. Became famous. For example, this situation JUST HAPPENED at church last Sunday. Will introduces himself to one of the pastors: "Hi, I'm Will." "Ohhhh like Will&Caitlin Will?" That's right--we are legendary.
11. Saw these guys in London. They sound amazing live.
12. Spent Christmas away from the clan for the first time. Just me and the husband.
13. Had my own "Home Alone" moment in London TWICE in the same day. First, I got off a bus while Will was still in the bus bathroom. Second, I jumped onto the Underground and Will didn't quite make it in time. I arrived at the next station only to discover that my phone had just died. We held hands for the rest of that trip.
14. FINALLY found use for all of my extensive Sound of Music knowledge. The children I nanny are obsessed with this movie and I am frequently called upon to 1) pretend to be Maria, 2) recite the children's names, 3) explain for the 500th time why the Nazis (or the "Naughties", as they call them) are chasing the children, 4) retell the entire story--start to finish, 5) build puppets so that they can re-enact the puppet show.
15. Pulled my second all-nighter. The first was my senior prom night 6 years ago, and the second was in Gatwick waiting for a flight. That's right--I graduated from college all-nighter free! And after all-nighter number 2 I remembered why I was always the one of my friends that went to bed instead of studying.
16. Finally began to make good on my offer to learn Greek for Will. I haven't made it past the alphabet yet, but it's better than nothing... right? Maybe by year 5 of marriage I will have some basic vocabulary down. Maybe.
17. Became "Aunt Caitlin" to our neighbors' kids. I love that.
18. Became more like my mother. This is a yearly occurrence. Last year it was deep cleaning the house before going on a trip. This year I noticed it when I started making our bed in the mornings. What? Yes. I know. I fought her on this for years and, now that I'm on my own, she's winning.
19. Discovered my inner chef. I've always been able to cook but this year I've been forced to try new recipes with new ingredients as the British supermarket is no HEB. So far, we've had mostly wins... there was this one soup that Will ate "just so that we wouldn't be throwing money down the drain" but I say that it's just part of the discovery process.
20. Discovered my inner nature girl. Between the biking and the running and the hiking and the walking everywhere I've had no choice but to give up my lazy American habits and get outside. And I like it.
21. Discovered Dark Chocolate Digestives. They sort of undo all of the nature girl effect on my thighs.
22. Witnessed the Lord's provision first hand. Over and over and over again.
23. Made friends that we hope to know for the rest of our lives.
23, you've been an adventure. 24, let's see what you got.
You've had more than your share of adventure this past year. Happy Birthday Sweet Caitlin! We love you and miss you! xox
ReplyDeleteSo happy there's hope for Laura's bed making skills! (Hey Laura!)
Love it! Especially number 22... and 23... and 18 (!).
ReplyDeleteYou are aware, however, that you're setting a standard for yourself that will become increasingly difficult: I don't think I could have remembered 53 things that happened this past year...