Dahlia's Customization

So, it's done!

Sorry for the terrible quality of this photo...plus it looks like I'm murdering the poor doll.Opening her head and cutting off the scalp

Replacing orange eyechips and taking out damaged blue eyechip

All taken apart...

Sanded face, new make up, carved lips, new eyelashes

I also boggled her eyes, which means that the eyelid no longer shows at all so they are more opened (her lashes are now longer though and I'm still working on getting them to curl up - so you can't tell her eyes are wider yet). I also gave her 'sleep eyes' which means her eyes can be closed for photos and such, whereas before they only closed when changing the colour.

Before and after -

=D I'm relieved to be done; it was pretty frustrating at times but I love the finished result. You can see more of the photos here. She's coming to the Oasis banquet tomorrow.
I was debating cutting her hair but probably won't, partly because if I ever get the Blythe I really want next (Ichigo Heaven, who has bright pink hair) I would definitely bob her hair because I've seen photos of that and it looks much nicer short...anyway, don't want two dolls with the same hairstyle.
Sorry if this bored you all! Maybe it was a little step toward either showing you I'm insane or showing you they're not silly dolls. heh.
One more week of school and I'll be a senior =)
The Vespers concert is on Tuesday, eek.

I've begun 'piping' the air or whatever is in reach again, and it makes me smile. It's been many months since I've done that - guess I'm practicing more again.

love,
Cait

Video & Shoes

My friend Rachel recently asked me to draw on her shoes, and I greatly enjoyed it.






Unfortunately these are the only videos of the No Talent Show I have as they are the only ones on our camera. No one else has put any up yet.

Pachelbel's Canon

Irish Dance

And The Foggy Dew (ignore the mistakes and don't watch it, just listen =P).
Funny part was that Shehan introduced us as doing "the Braveheart theme."

Hope you enjoy them =)
The banquet is this week and I went with Elaine and Lisa (and Sonja and Susanna) to get decorations at Dragon Mart. The theme, coincidentally, is Chinese, and we're going to have live black fish as centerpieces. Candles will reflect beautifully off the water.

Candace is 7! And got her ears pierced. Nate is now 10, hard to believe. Oh, and the mice had babies.

Doll is currently 'healing from surgery.' I'm about to take the rubber bands off that are holding her drying scalp together. Eek, she's so pretty now.
We watched The Hiding Place, which is powerful/deep/sad. It is a lot to process but a movie well worth watching.
Today was good.

with love,
a pretty happy Cait

No Talent Show & Bubble Tea

Creepy photo but the best tea ever. It's (apparently Chinese) milk tea with tapioca balls in it which come with the tea through a wide straw. It's so different. Our new favourite.
Kyleigh doesn't appreciate my amazing pink retro sunglasses.

So, the No Talent Show was last night and it was pretty fun. Some of the most interesting acts were -

- 'Airplane,' the hilarious skit Lindie and her little brother did.
- Daniel playing the guitar with a violin bow
- Ky and Sarah's beautiful Pachelbel's Canon with oboe and violin
- the Irish dance (Vashti, Hannah, Kyleigh) choreographed that morning with lots of fun
- Mitch and Denis's stunning guitar/drum piece (Wes's drum duet with Denis was cool too)
- the Beaver song...I cannot tell you how glad I was after seeing it that I refused to participate! The chicken dance at DC 2006 was embarrassment enough for these two years. They did wear cute little masks, but Jarod's dancing was...something...

Kyleigh and I played The Foggy Dew. Her guitar was pretty, of course, and the singing went alright I think, though I faltered once. People seemed to really like it which was encouraging. Sonja said it was 'haunting and depressing,' which is perfect, because the purpose of any singing is to tell a story, and in this case it was a haunting (though inspiring) story about the valiant men of Ireland (see lyrics at the end of the post). Having sung this song for the past five years, we learned a new tune for it on Saturday and performed that one.

Dahlia is undergoing surgery and I will report at length about that in time. Also I should have the video of The Foggy Dew at some point.

love,
Cait

As down the glen one Easter morn
To a city fair rode I,
Their armed lines of marching men
In squadrons passed me by.
No pipe did hum, no battle drum
Did sound its loud tattoo
But the Angelus' bells o'er the Liffey swells
Rang out in the foggy dew.

Right proud and high o’er a Dublin sky
Hung they out a flag of war
'Twas better to die 'neath an Irish sky
Than at Suvla or Sud el Bar.
And from the plains of Royal Meath
Strong men came hurrying through;
While Brittania's Huns with their long-range guns
Sailed in through the foggy dew.

And the bayonets flashed and the rifles crashed
As the incoming soldiers win
In a land of rain seven tongues of flame
Did shine o’er the lines of steel
By each shining blade a vow it was made
‘To Ireland we will remain true’
When morning broke still the war flag shook
Out its fold to the foggy dew.

The bravest fell, and the requiem bell
Rang mournfully and clear
For those who died that Easter-tide
In the springing of the year.
While the world did gaze with deep amaze
At those fearless men but few
Who bore the fight for freedom's light
Might shine through the foggy dew.

And back through the glen I rode again
And my heart with grief was sore
For I parted then with valiant men
Whom I never shall see more
But to and fro
In my dreams I go
And I oft-times think of you
For slavery fled
Oh, glorious dead
When you fell in the foggy dew

oh, excitement and cooking.

After a rather uneasy and down week, Friday was a welcome surprise. Someone came up to my mom and I and said she'd heard about a culinary school that had been open in Dubai of all places, for two years. It's run by believers and they have students from all over the world. They're looking for students to come in to interact with the others as well as study, because as the teachers they can't say much (make sense?). It's very pricey but if you're coming for both reasons or just can't afford it then they will help you. It's a 5 month course, and they've had several very successful graduating classes - so much so that restaurants have in fact asked for their future graduating students. Imagine graduating and not having to even apprentice afterwards like you usually have to as a chef!
Needless to say I'm very excited and it's all I can think about. Now there are so many things I would like to do (this, Yemen/India, l'Abri, helping with Oasis...) after graduating that it's beginning to get to the point where I'm motivated to try and figure how it will all fit together, if at all.
It's amazing how it all falls into place though - the lady who told us didn't even previously know I was interested in culinary arts, it's in Dubai, it's for ministry as well as cooking, it's something I can always use.
I never thought I would actually have the chance to be a chef - God is so amazing.

One catch - I've just looked it up and the site mentioned a minimum age of 21, since that's how old you have to be for a Dubai work permit. Hopefully it's not official or we can get around it - because of knowing people or the fact that I'm not actually looking to work after graduating! Part time if anything - I don't want a career and even if I did, being a top head chef is a completely life-consuming job. No life, no ministry, no family, no nothing. Mm, no.

I hope all you dears are doing well.
Hoping this week looks up - God is faithful and I need to stop being paranoid about everything I don't know.

Love,
Cait

P.S. Listen to this.

oh, brilliance

the mask Dad bought for me in Venice.

Heh, really old photos

Before Candace -After Candace (but still before donating 20'' of hair) -
2005-ish

And from right before the move; two photos that never fail to make me laugh.
My Aunt Kathryn's family (though obviously not the most flattering photo of anyone, I'd have to say she's the prettiest lady I know and someone who's character I greatly look up to). Take care to look at each face!

Nothing of consequence to say; good night.

Love, Cait

SAT

I took the SAT this morning and it went pretty well as far as I know; we'll see.

Yesterday I finished my half of the second Joi-Opaque project. The original photo by Krystal is called Mystery.
Terrible picture of the drawing but here's the idea -

By the way, I bought the black sporran (actually was outbid on it but found it even cheaper).

Lorraine lent me Comatose, by Skillet, and I love it.

At Oasis this week we met in the basement instead of our usual hall. The game was similar to something we did last year, where different teams do an "extreme makeover" on two people. Ours didn't win - the winners had stuff all over their hair and face whereas Rachel and Jamaila actually looked stunning - Rachel had outlandish swirls around her eyes and an interesting hair style, and we drew Indian jewelry on Jamaila's face and did retro hair and all kinds of random stuff. Obviously 'extreme' doesn't mean pretty! Our team was too girly, heh.
There's a contest for dressing Blythe like a hero of any kind and I have a really good idea, especially as Dahlia has red hair. However, she doesn't have freckles and I don't know if I have any old fashioned enough outfits or anything (guess who?).

Love,
Cait

Hello,

It's been a weird couple of days, confusing and trying to think. Thankfully a few things resolved themselves so I didn't have to continue worrying about them for now. And I'm so thankful for friends like Hannah =)
I've been on a search for a good sporran, belt, and buckle for this summer. There are two cheap but nice ones on ebay (cheap is good so I have left over for the belt and buckle and maybe some reeds...everything related to piping is so expensive!) but I'm not sure...one is grey rabbit fur with a silver cantle and one has an unusual pin clasp and is black leather. Or maybe I don't like either.



I've been really challenged lately about how I use my time. Both priorities and just doing different things. Hopefully it will actually change.

Love, Cait

This song has been stuck in my head. By Sara Groves.

It's going to be alright
It's going to be alright

I can tell by your eyes that you're not getting any sleep
And you try to rise above it, but feel you're sinking in too deep
Oh, oh I believe, I believe that

It's going to be alright
It's going to be alright

I believe you'll outlive this pain in your heart
And you'll gain such a strength from what is tearing you apart
Oh, oh I believe I believe that

It's going to be alright
It's going to be alright

When some time has past us, and the story is retold
It will mirror the strength and the courage in your soul
Oh, oh, I believe I believe,

I believe
I believe

I did not come here to offer you cliches
I will not pretend to know of all your pain
Just when you cannot, then I will hold out faith, for you

It's going to be alright
It's going to be alright

Juno

This movie is so good it deserves its own post.


Granted, I've only seen it (twice) on the airplane, where it was edited, which is probably a good thing. Christian reviews on it were very mixed, some saying the bad outweighed the good, some saying it was very refreshing. The latter is definitely the impression it left me with.

Basic plotline is Juno, 16, gets pregnant and after going to an abortion clinic (that scene is really cool; before going in a protester says "your baby has fingernails!" which surprises her and then inside, noises of fingernails (tapping, filing, scratching, etc) are heightened and she runs out) decides to have the baby and adopt it out. She wants the family to be perfect but eventually the husband tells her he's divorcing his wife and Juno is devastated but decides to give her the baby anyway (how much the wife wants it is one of the best parts of the movie). It's also the story of her and Paulie (her best friend/the baby's dad/later her boyfriend; kind of backwards...).

I'm not sure what I liked about it so much. Partly what she has to go through and deal with, which is obviously really hard (there's more to it too). Both times I was teary when she actually had the baby; it's just like...wow. I don't know. Anyway, really depends on the person; you could hate it or love it, but I loved it.

Cait

P.S. If you want to see all the Venice photos, they're on facebook.