Day Six

Day Six: A picture of something that makes you happy

This is Jump Mountain. She isn't exceptionally tall, and the only thing that really distinguishes her from other mountains is the small hump on the side. But I had a lot of happy moments under Jump's watchful eye.

I went to Camp Lachlan for 7 summers, which is in Rockbridge Baths at the base of Jump Mountain. When I moved to Richmond from Lynchburg when I was 10 years old, I had a hard time being away from my best friends. They all went to Camp Lachlan, so I started going when I was 11 to keep in touch with them. It's a 3-week long girls' camp that has only one session all summer so everyone's at camp at the same time. It's a boys' camp during the beginning of the summer, and then the girls go from the end of July to the middle of August.

I don't think I've ever been homesick while there, but I've certainly been campsick while home. It's hard for anyone to not feel perfectly at home there. Maybe because it's only girls there (aside from 5-7 "Buzzards" who are counselors during the boys' camp and then stay to take care of man things like painting fences and fixing leaks), but there's no pressure to be anyone but yourself. There's no point in wearing make up that you're going to sweat off. Everyone bathes in a lake since there aren't showers. There aren't even real toilets, but just a few "johnny houses" as we call them.

Every day is perfectly scheduled. Wake up at 8am for flag raising, go down to breakfast, brush your teeth in a trough (yes... a trough), clean up the cabin for inspection, then make your way down to Devotions. Devotions is the only real time during the day that you remember that Camp Lachlan is actually a Christian camp. At Devotions, Nancy, the owner's wife, teaches life lessons and how to love each other and love yourself. Sometimes she reads something out of the Bible, but most of the time, she taught us the way my mother has taught me lessons, with stories and love. After Devotions, it's time for morning activities like tennis, horseback riding, riflery, archery, drama, etc. The bugle blows (by the way, Leebo the owner blows a bugle to let the camp know when it's time to do something else) around noon for lunch, and then it's up to the cabins for rest hour. I never liked rest hour as a kid, but as I got older I appreciated the time to write letters and nap in peace. Then, we got into groups for team games, like kickball, capture the flag, etc. And then, the best time of the day. Swim call. I loved getting in that disgusting lake and feeling like I was getting clean. Looking back on everything now that I know a lot about microbes, bathing in a lake really shouldn't even be legal, but no one at Camp Lachlan cares. We're too busy having fun. So after swim call, there's a little bit of free time before dinner. Usually people sit around and knit (a very popular activity there) or write letters or chat. After dinner, there's more free time until an evening activity called Camp Gathering. It would start with singing camp songs for about 30 minutes and then the activity would begin. Sometimes Leebo would tell us stories about how Jump Mountain got its name (an essentially Romeo and Juliet story about a couple Native Americans from feuding tribes who fall in love and jump to their deaths to be in peace together) or sometimes we would put on skits or something. Looking back on it, I have to credit camp for my love for performing. Then, we get together in a circle and sang one last song before heading up Cabin Hill for bed. Leebo would blow TAPS on his bugle and we would all scream "GOODNIGHT!" in unison loud enough for everyone at the bottom of the hill to hear us.


I loved the sisterhood and ability to be myself. I loved that I made new friends and kept in contact with old ones. When I turned 16, I became a counselor, and I loved that too. But when girls get older, drama happens, and I felt camp's magic slipping away from me. I was only a counselor for 2 years before I stopped coming back. It was hard being away for such a large chunk of time during the summer when I was trying to work and make money while out of school. I really miss how it used to be when I was a kid though. There are so many memories I have, and I'm sad to say that I don't keep in touch with many camp friends anymore. The ones who stayed for summers when they were in college got extremely close, and almost every Buzzard who was there when I was there is now married to a counselor.

Sometimes I think of going back and visiting, but I'm afraid if I go back, I'll realize how out of place I am now and will lose that magic forever. I'm so thankful that my parents were willing to shell out the money to send me there every summer. It made me appreciate them and I learned valuable lessons.

I hope that someday I will go back. I hope that my daughters will go there and experience the same sisterhood that is usually overlooked. I hope that Camp Lachlan will continue to teach little girls how to love.

Day Five

Day 5: A song to match your mood

Hall & Oates - You Make My Dreams Come True

This song reminds me of that one scene in 500 Days of Summer. You know which one I'm talking about. Oh, you don't? Let me remind you...

I always strive to feel like this guy. We've all felt this way for one way or another. From the cartoon bird on your finger to the marching band in the streets, this is one of my happy songs. I'm not particularly happy, but I'm not particularly unhappy either. So even though I'm technically this song doesn't match my mood, it makes me think of all the reasons why I should feel the way he does and all the things in my life that I should be thankful for.

Day Four

Day Four: Your parents



These are my parents, Steve and Wendee.

My mom is my rock. She is the woman that I hope I grow up to be. She's the most giving, selfless woman I've ever met. I can't imagine living in a world without her, and I hate thinking that someday I'll probably have to.

She knows the answer to everything and has told me since I was a child that it's all in the "Mommy Handbook" that will someday be passed down to me as well. She used to tell my sister and I stories about a fictional character named Harold-Zach (we kept fighting over the name) and his sister Julie. Strangely, the stories about him usually mirrored conflicts that my sister and I had experienced throughout the day, and they always came out with a moral.

When it was a hot spring day and my mom would pick us up from school, we would beg her to take us to Lickety Split, a local ice cream parlor. She would usually protest with "No we have errands to run," or a simple "Not today," but sometimes she would over-dramatically pretend to be fighting off the car's ability to auto-pilot itself to the ice cream shop. "I couldn't stop the car from pulling in the parking lot, so we might as well get some ice cream," she would say breathlessly as if she put all of her effort into fighting our Volvo station wagon's will to get ice cream.

Every year on my birthday she would wake me up by quietly singing the Happy Birthday song in my ear, and she went through great lengths to come up with creative and fun birthday parties. Whether it was inside out and backwards (everyone dressed accordingly, we ate cake before lunch, and we had to walk backwards into the house) or Lamb Chop (we made lamb puppets out of socks), I always felt as if everyone must be jealous of my mom's excellent ability to throw a party.

As I've gotten older, my relationship with my mom has changed, of course. She's still the woman I look up to the most, but I have a more casual and honest relationship with her. While I know she'll always do everything she can for me, I know that my demands are probably more complicated than ice cream after school. I can't wait for her to be a grandmother so I can re-watch her parenting skills all over again.

My dad is the most dependable person I know. He has always put his family first, and I know he would sacrifice anything for us. He is free with his money when it comes to family, and is extremely generous with any charity that reaches out to him. He believes in karma, but he's often cynical. When he believes something, he believes it with his whole heart, and I really respect that.

It's because of my father that I love Vietnamese food. We used to go to Mekong almost every weekend for years. Daddy/daughter dates were always important when I was growing up. Since I don't have any brothers, my dad thought it was important to show us how we should be treated on dates. He would put on a tie and blazer and open the door for me. Since he was out of town on business a lot of the time, those were some of my favorite times with him.

I remember when he bought a basketball hoop for our house. We would play HORSE after dinner for hours.

My parents have truly made me into the person I am. I'm thankful for their sacrifices, their struggles, and their efforts that they have put forth for me. I hope that I can someday show my children as much love as they have shown me.

Day Three

Day Three: Your first love



I don't even know how to begin this post. I wrote out our entire story and then deleted it all since it's just so long.

Here's the deal. John is the only person I've ever loved.

We were in french class together in 7th grade, and became friends in high school after I became friends with Alli, who was (and still is) dating his identical twin. I fell for him the summer before my senior year and expressed my feelings for him, which he promptly shot down. You see, he had just found out that he was going to UVA for college, and I knew that's not where I was going. He didn't believe in long distance relationships and, frankly, wasn't quite sure how he felt about me. So I tried to get over him, but it's hard to get over someone who is one of your best friends.

So by the end of senior year, I had accepted that we were both moving on to different schools for new and exciting experiences. He wrote me a letter telling me his fears that we would never be as close as we were at that time and that we would grow apart like all high school friends do. We both tried to move on and make the most of our college experiences. And we did move on. He dated other people, I became a bit of a party girl (849 forever). I could never fully get past my feelings for him though.

He kissed me that Christmas night. It was confusing, and it gave me hope for us. While it was a spontaneous action for him, it made me think he changed his mind. It led to me being shot down by him again. The rest of that school year was like a roller coaster for us. Trying to battle our feelings for each other vs. our longing for independence. I felt like I had been hurt by him too much to give it another go, and I tried swearing him off as a romantic interest and focusing on only being friends.

It's silly that I thought that would work.

That summer he lived in Blacksburg, and I went to visit him a couple times. Our feelings for each other had never been stronger, and we stopped trying to fight all of the other factors. The distance, the future. It didn't matter. We were 19 years old and wanted to try to figure it all out together.

Around July we went to New York with our friends for a few days. We all went to the Met and somehow John and I got separated from everyone else. We wandered around the museum for an hour or so, soaking in the art and enjoying the alone time. He tells me that's when he fell in love with me. I think I'd have to agree that I fell in love with him then, too.

On the night before I went back to Longwood for my sophomore year, we decided to give it a real go. If it didn't work, at least we could say we tried, and we would never have regrets. For the next three years, we saw each other on some weekends and breaks. We were able to have our cake and eat it too. Some weekends I hung out with my friends, and some weekends I saw him.

We've had some rough times since we both graduated from college. We had to get used to be in a relationship in the same city. We broke up, we got back together, we broke up again, and then after a few months of making sure we were doing it for the right reasons, we got back together again. We aren't perfect, and we never have been, but we have faith in each other. Even though we've both grown up and changed in the last 5 years, he's still the guy I kissed on Christmas and walked around the Met with on a hot summer day.

He's genuine to his core, the most intelligent person I know, and the man I can truly be myself around. He can read me like a book, and makes me laugh any chance he can get. He's the love of my life, and I wouldn't change anything about us.

Day Two

Day Two: The meaning behind your blog name

Well, you see, I'm not very creative. When it comes to art stuff, I don't really get it. I appreciate good writing, good paintings, good sculptures, good poetry, etc. but I just can't create my own. I get music, but I can't create my own song. So I just kind of pulled my blog name out of my ass.

I will tell you that I have a running joke with all of my closest friends where I fit my name into songs and sayings whenever I can. For example, instead of "we built this city on rock and roll," it would become "we built this city on Caroline." (Try singing it. It's surprisingly catchy.) So I definitely wanted to incorporate my name. And I also think that sometimes I'm a little odd in a hopefully endearing way. I sometimes see things in a way different way from most people, so I wanted to put that in the name to explain that this isn't just a person's take on the world, but a specific Caroline's view.

That's about all. If I blogged more, then maybe I would change the name, but for right now this will do.

Day One

Day 1: Introduce, recent picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts

Hi! I'm Caroline. This is a picture that was taken of me by my boyfriend's parents at my first race. It was only a 10K, but it's something that I'm still very proud of myself for completing. This picture tells a lot about me. First of all, it is actually a very candid picture. I wasn't expecting to see anyone I knew until over a mile into the race where The Stray Dog Band was set up. I suddenly heard my name, turned, and instinctively waved. The look on my face is the exact moment of recognition of who it was. I like that this picture captures who I am to my core.

So... onto the facts.

1. I've never dyed my hair.

2. I watch an episode of The Wonder Years every night before I go to bed. The more I watch it, the more annoyed I get at Winnie Cooper. She's such a cock tease.

3. My family stole my cat from our abusive neighbors. They never put up a fight about it.

4. There are so many places that I want to travel to and travel back to. I'm so afraid I'll never find the time to do it all.

5. Butterflies are a symbol in my family for love, safety, and peace. I got a butterfly tattoo on my hip when I was 18. It's the only tattoo I'll ever get, and I'm so glad I had the courage to go through with it.

6. I almost always cry when I watch a wedding or birth on TV.

7. I didn't get the "accessory gene," so I don't have a very good appreciation for shoes, purses, jewelry, etc. I've been trying really hard to grasp the concept of it all recently though.

8. I generally get along with girls way better than guys. When I hear a girl say "I get along with guys way better than girls," I automatically think she's a slut.

9. ET scares the shit out of me. I used to think he lived in the woods behind my house and at night he would sneak into my bedroom and try to touch me with his long ass fingers.

10. My biggest pet peeve is being let down by someone I depend on.

11. I'm getting a beagle puppy as soon as humanly possible. His name will be Crouton. I've had this name in mind for 3 years.

12. I've broken my right arm 4 times, but no other bones in my body.

13. I believe in karma to my core. I believe in holding doors and elevators, saying "thank you," and asking people how they are. I believe in treating people like individuals.

14. If I forget to floss one morning, my entire day feels off.

15. I wish my piano teacher had told me, and not just my mother, that I had a gift. Then maybe I would have kept playing.

Challenges

I've been slacking on my blogging for quite some time now. I don't have as much time for blogging these days, but it's something that I'd like to try to keep up with. So, like many of my blogging friends have done, I'm doing a 30 day blog challenge. I'm warning you right now, I won't be blogging every day. I simply run out of time in the day. However, I will be trying to finish this challenge speedily.

Day 1: Introduce, recent picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts
Day 2: Meaning behind your blog name
Day 3: Your first love
Day 4: Your parents
Day 5: A song to match your mood
Day 6: A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 7: Favorite movies
Day 8: A place you've traveled to
Day 9: A favorite picture of your best friend
Day 10: Something you're afraid of
Day 11: Favorite tv shows
Day 12: Something you don't leave the house without
Day 13: Goals
Day 14: A picture of you last year - how have you changed?
Day 15: Bible verse
Day 16: Dream house
Day 17: Something you're looking forward to
Day 18: Favorite Place to Eat
Day 19: Something you miss
Day 20: Nicknames
Day 21: Favorite Picture of yourself ALL TIME Why?
Day 22: What's in your purse?
Day 23: Favorite Movie
Day 24: Something you've learned
Day 25: Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs
Day 26: Your Dream Wedding
Day 27: Original Photo of the city you live in
Day 28: Something that stresses you out
Day 29: 3 Wishes
Day 30: a picture of yourself this day and 5 good things that happened since you started the challenge