i'm back! and i've brought videos with me!

Remember when I blogged? That was fun. Remember when I forgot to update for a year? Oops. I genuinely enjoy blogging, but sometimes I stop because I think "What's the point?"

My favorite posts are 10 things posts. I love sharing things with people. If I run across a good video/song/movie/shirt/beard/cat/sandwich/haircut/book I HAVE to share it with someone. I experience physical pain by keeping inspiration inside. (Dramatic, whatever.)

I have been a busy, busy bee lately working full time, plus tons of freelance and working on a shiny new website (eee!). My goal is to start blogging mainly about the things that inspire me (and occasionally all my rockin' talented friends) and the things I am creating. I won't be posting any project for a little while since I have mainly been doing weddings and I like to respect the bride and groom by not posting details of their wedding until after the event has gone down. (I just feel like that makes sense, yeah?) So while I have some invite suites I am pumped to show you...it'll have to wait ;)

So until then, here is a 10 things list!

10 ACOUSTIC VERSIONS THAT ARE THE JAM

I've got a thing for acoustic versions. I am a sucker for clapping and snapping and reduced tempos. I love hearing someone's voice showcased. And occasionally, an acoustic version will make me love a song I generally don't like. There are hundreds of videos I could post in this list, but here are 10 that I currently can't stop listening to. (Note: I purposely didn't post any Tiny Desk sessions...they're too good. It's not fair)

1. Brooke Fraser - Something in the Water

2. Local Natives - Who Knows Who Cares

3. Lykke Li - I'm Good, I'm Gone

4. Kimbra - Settle Down

5. Sam Smith - Lay Me Down

(This is probably the best one on this whole dang list. How do I steal Sam Smith's voice?)

6. Haim - Go Slow

7. Ed Sheeran - Give Me Love

8. Florence + the Machine - Cosmic Love

9. Lisa Hannigan - I Don't Know

10. OneRepublic - Feel Again

Honorable Mention: Ellie Goulding - Anything Could Happen

(I just love her tiny baby riffs.)

And there you go! Enjoy the musical sweetness :)

thanksgiving

I thought it would be fitting to kick this month off with a moment of thankfulness. The picture you see above was taken last night at our weekly Akron Navs dinner.  Now let me tell you a story. 

In January of 2012, I unofficially committed to help a team of people from Oxford, Ohio start a new Navigator ministry in Akron, OH. I didn't know any of them. I didn't know the campus. I didn't know if we would have any students at all. There were too many uncertainties to count, but I also knew that God was undeniably leading me to the University of Akron. By May I was officially committed and in August we kicked off our first year on campus.

Not too long after that we initiated weekly dinners as a way to create a family environment within our ministry. Also, since we were so small we didn't have a large group meeting (still don't) and dinners gave the students a neutral event to bring friends to. Our very first dinners had two students. By second semester we had grown to between 5 and 7 students attending. Last night 11 students came. (And there were some who couldn't make it who are usually there). We have grown to the point that we are sitting on random stools and sharing chairs around the Graham's two dining room tables. Last week there were no leftovers. This week I had to make desert in two 13x9 dishes. It's awesome! And to think that all this has happened primarily through word-of mouth.

Praise the Lord for his faithfulness! Our theme verse for Akron Navs this year is Ephesians 3:20-21. "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." We are praying this over the ministry, over our lives, over our students...and we are watching God provide in truly immeasurable ways. 

I have been challenging myself to pray for big things. I want to always view God as an "immeasurably more" God...not to see what I can get, but because that is just how powerful he is. Because if I really trust him, then why am I afraid to ask for the big stuff? I love that God cares about every little thing and every big thing in our lives. We are of the utmost worth to him...he loves us so much and he wants us to ask him for things in faith. (Matthew 10:29-31, Matthew 21:22)

Today I am thankful for a growing ministry, a bible study filled with young women who desire to know Jesus and make him known, a beautiful home that far exceeds what I deserve or could afford on my own, the return of the gingerbread latte, living in a place where I can openly talk about my faith, the money to buy new tires when I need them, wonderful roommates who want to take screen-printing classes with me and surprise me with treats (food may be the way to my heart...) and are seeking the Lord with their whole lives, and the fact that I live 5 minutes from one of the best thrift stores in the country. 

And as much as I don't want to forget that God is an immeasurably more God, I also don't want to forget that my response to his provision is praise. "Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." (Psalm 100) I serve a good, good God who would be worthy of praise for the sole fact that he redeemed me...but he keeps on blessing me and providing for me in ways I would never think of on my own. This deal is just too sweet.

Since it is the month of Thanksgiving, let's challenge ourselves to focus on our thankfulness rather than our frustration, pain, confusion, anger....whatever it is that is keeping us from living in joy and freedom. We serve a good God who has good things in store! (Romans 8:28) I have found that when I thank God for even the hard stuff in my life, it softens my heart and wipes the bitterness away. When we trust that God is always working for good, we can be thankful for our trials knowing that they are producing good fruit and growth in us! This is not to say that pain isn't real, but it has been valuable for me to learn how to thank God through it.

For the month of November I will be making daily lists of all the little things, big things, and hard things that I am thankful for. Try it with me! (It's chessy so obviously it will be fun.)

the things i didn't instagram

This post brought to you by my mangled finger and burnt yam chips.

I am just a few photos away from having posted 1234 Instagrams. I like me some picture taking y'all. I love love love photography and don't get much time for it, so IG is kind of my outlet. I post a lot, and I will not apologize :) (I mean, you have the option to unfollow me so...)

I had a friend compliment my profile the other day and then tell me that she just never has anything Instagram-worthy to post. Which made me giggle in my head. Because really, do any of us? What even makes a moment "Instagram-worthy" in the first place? Also, if I admitted to you the number of times I go out of my way to get a decent Instagram, you would be embarrassed for me.

When I scroll through my personal feed I see sunlit flowers, cups of coffee, cute friends, design that inspires me....but in case I have given you the impression that I wake up every morning (on time) and put on an Anthro-tastic outfit and then stroll down a cobblestone street lined with impossibly perfect flowers to my favorite coffee shop where I design things all day because I have a stream of creativity that just never stops, let me clear that up for you right this moment.

This morning I woke up a half hour later than I intended because after a decade of using them, I still can't seem to figure out alarm clocks. I am a creature of habit so I threw on yet another denim shirt which I found semi-crumpled in the basket in the middle of my floor because my closest doesn't have a rack in it (an issue I am currently working on). Yeah, this dreamy nook I posted last week? It is literally the only tidy spot in my entire house right now. And by tidy I mean not covered in boxes upon boxes of goodness knows what.

Work was good, except I lost track of time finishing things and left 15 minutes later than I should have to beat any sort of traffic which resulted in minor law-breaking and internal cursing. I have low key road-rage issues...mostly of the interior persuasion. I've just got a need for speed, ok?

Fast forward to this evening when I arrived home after a birthday dinner for a couple friends. (Also, may I note that I did not post my Ali Baba Pitza even though it was delicious and had a perfect name? You're welcome.)

Before the dinner I stopped at Target to get a gift bag and on a clearance end-cap I happened to find a can opener which our house was in need of. When I got home I was taking the can opener out of its packaging, and like a heathen, I grabbed a knife. I distinctly remember thinking "This is a bad idea. I should go upstairs and get some scissors," but laziness won and I proceeded to not only open the packaging, but slice the side of my finger wide open as well. I swear I felt bone, but I'm too afraid to look at it.

After bleeding through three band-aids and trying desperately not to pass out –I do not do blood, people– I just sat there on my bed holding a paper towel on the cut willing it to stop bleeding. Insert full-on melt-down over cutting my finger and having no one to fix it for me. I literally turned into a giant baby right there on the spot. And then I rolled my eyes at myself, grabbed my keys and headed to Club Walgreezy* to get something to clean this battle wound with...and also maybe some more intense band-aids. I am referring to my cut as a battle-wound, because in the war against my own laziness and stubborn spirit, I almost lost a finger. Probably a tad dramatic, but I'm still a little woozy from the blood loss.

Upon returning and fixing my poor hand, I remembered there were sweet potatoes in the fridge about to go bad. I had intended to use them for yam chips,  so I sliced them up and started frying them. Making chips of any kind is always an interesting experience. I have yet to make a successful apple chip. They are continually too soft and then BAM black and crispy and forever glued to your favorite cookie sheet.

So you can blame it on the fact that I suffered minor trauma tonight, or maybe just chalk it up to being HUMAN, but I burnt my first round of chips. And set the smoke detector off. And then the smoke detector fell off the wall and probably broke.  Except I don't know because my finger started bleeding again. (I have ceased trying to convince my new roommates I am cool in any way.)

So maybe this was a particularly disjointed day in the life of Caitlin Elmore, but what I am saying is that in the midst of my incredibly human life I take pictures of the little things that catch my eye, edit them (usually in the bathroom, in line at Subway, or somewhere equally unglamorous), and post them for your viewing pleasure in hopes that you will do the same. (I have some accounts I seriously LOVE following.)

My life is not perfect and I know that yours is not either. For me, it's all about finding the beauty in the unexpected. Finding a little corner of the world that makes me look to my Creator and whisper "thank you."And occasionally clearing that ridiculous stack of junk mail out of the way and scooching (how on earth do you spell this) my coffee mug just a tad to left to get the perfect sunlit shot of my morning. (Fess up, we ALL have done it.)

I read an article not too long on the envy effect of social media. It was a good article. Because there are issues with it...like the need for "likes" many of us combat at one point or another. I think there is something to be said for checking yourself and your motives and taking time off from social media every once in awhile. But, I am also here to tell you that you do not have to feel guilty or fake for only posting the beauty in your life. Because realistically what are we expecting? Did you want to see a photo of my finger oozing blood with a filter slapped on top? No. You didn't. Because that is disgusting.

It is SO easy to feel envious of someone else's life and I am totally, totally guilty of experiencing this. But let's hold ourselves accountable to remembering that we are probably only seeing the good...and that's ok. I don't know about you guys, but I only show the deep, dark, raw parts of my life to a trusted few. I think that's ok too. It is ridiculous to assume that any one person on this planet is exempt from trial, frustration, pain, worry, financial struggle, identity issues...the list goes on. We live in a broken world. We are broken people. But Christ did not call us to dwell in this.

I am redeemed. Because of Christ I walk about in freedom and in joy. Not a circumstancial happiness type of joy, but an everlasting joy that no one can steal from me.  And in return I give thanks. I hope that the photos you see communicate the gratitude I feel for being loved so completely by a good, good God. He is SO faithful. In all things. And on a really crappy day, I see this message of hope in a flower poking through a crack in sidewalk or a sunset over the city I love. (A-K-R-O-N)

And let's all just remember the things that aren't being Instagrammed.

Like bleeding fingers and burnt yam chips and tomorrow's dentist appointment..............um, pray for me.

I write this as a reminder to myself: You live a good life given to you by a good God. "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

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*We have taken to calling the corner Walgreens "Club Walgreezy" or some variation on this name, mainly because of the amount of people legit chilling outside the store at oh, you know, midnight.

put on my blue suede shoes...

...except I don't own any. But if I did, you can bet I would be wearing them. I would like these ones, please and thank you.

I am currently sitting in the Starbuck's living room drinking an iced soy latte* from...Starbucks. You guys, this week I met people with the last name "Starbuck." Everyone PTL right now that this is not my last name because the puns and wordplay would never stop. If I know anything about myself, it's that I lack the ability to gauge when a joke is no longer funny. I will laugh at the same thing for years and years.

But in seriousness, it's really cool that I'm here. Two days ago I had never even heard of these people, and now I'm in their home and sleeping in their guestroom and eating all this wonderful food they are making for me. This totally beats a hotel. (FYI: hotels are sick nasty.) This is a cool "the church acting like the church" moment. (Sorry, I've been reading Jen Hatmaker and now this is all I think about.) It's humbling that this couple opened their home to total strangers just because they heard there was a need. Yes! This is how it should be!

So, to clarify, I am in Memphis, Tennessee. My staff director and his wife are involved with a wedding and I am in town to take care of their youngest so they can actually enjoy themselves. There's probably very few people on earth who enjoy hanging out with their bosses as much as I do. But they're not my bosses really, they're family. Eden, their youngest, is the cutest child in the entire world. I met her just days after she was born, she stole my heart, and never gave it back. So obviously I jumped at the chance to get to spend a whole weekend with her. (My best friend is allowed to be 13 months ok?)

After spending a day 1) in Memphis and 2) with a baby, here are some thoughts brewing in my mind:

Babies make really good dates. Probably not to like a movie or fancy restaurant or anywhere else where it would be totally inappropriate to make fart noises with your mouth and suck all the salt off a french fry...but otherwise, I stand by this statement. As long as they have napped, eaten, and are wearing semi-dry pants they are down for anything. Also, they never finish their food so you get at least half of whatever they are eating, and they will also laugh at all your jokes.

Memphis doesn't love Elvis as much as they have led us to believe. Ok maybe this isn't true. I didn't see the whole city, but I did walk around a good chunk of the downtown area. I really prepared myself for Elvis paraphernalia everywhere but this was not the case. Also, besides a few strange tourist items involving hearts and airbrushed Elvis portraits, anything related to the King of Rock 'n' Roll was really tasteful and well designed. I'm so confused.**

Someone should tell babies that staring is so rude. As I mentioned before, Eden is the cutest baby ever. My proof for the this rests in the fact that I was the single most popular person in Memphis today. People were chatting me up everywhere I went. For like two seconds. And then they would start a full on love-fest in Eden's face while she just stared back at them like they had ten eyes. Which only made them try even harder to make her smile. (Is this what mom's with babies go through every day in public?  The horror.) Anyways, Eden was not having it...even though shes really a Chatty Kathy who giggles at even the anticipation of being tickled. What a tease.

Starbucks is like a hug from mom. Ok so here is a mini rant in support of Starbucks. I love traveling. I love cities. I LOVE local coffee shops. BUT...sometimes you are in the middle of a city you have never been in before and it is 80 degrees and you are dripping sweat and your head is revolting against you until you pump some caffeine in it and you are in charge of someone else's kid and you really have to pee and you would like to sit somewhere for a moment and devise a game plan for finding all the perfect shops that aren't swimming with tourists and did I mention you have to pee and then you turn the corner and there it is. The green circle and the weird mermaid lady with the spaghetti hair. And you walk inside and you don't even have to look at the menu or figure out where you pay and where you pick up your drink. You know that no matter where you are in the world it will be exactly the same.  You are in Starbucks and you are safe.

Memphis is serious about food. One day I will come back here and eat my way through this city.

Babies are weirdos. I say this with only love in my heart. Anyone who knows me knows that I adore children. But seriously if I gave you a cracker would you stuff it down your pants? A baby would. A baby would also suck all the salt off their fries, the breading off their chicken nuggets, the sugar off their donut and they would also take giant gulps of water right out of their bath, soap and all.

Targets in different states have different things. This is not a thought. This is a true statement. True enough that I am considering a cross-country Target tour.


Strollers are amazing. If it wasn't totally unacceptable to push a stroller with out even having any children, I would go out and buy one tomorrow. Strollers add so much efficiency to life. That little basket under the seat is deceptive...you can fit SO MUCH down there. You will never carry a purse again. And forget about awkwardly juggling your drink while you try to go through the clearance jewelry rack at target. CUP HOLDERS. Also, pushing a child in one (uphill) is a total workout.

On that note, Men (or women) who do not hold doors open for someone pushing a stroller (or someone just walking) are rude rude rude. I watched door after door slam in my face today. Or better yet. The man who waited for me to struggle through the Barnes and Noble door before going in himself. Are you kidding me? Not cool, man.

Memphis probably looks amazing at night. Walking down Beale Street, there wasn't a single sign that wasn't made of neon-lights. I bet that place looks like my Christmas tree right now.

Baby cuddles are the best. The end. 

So there you have it. My super official guide to Memphis and babies.*** I will definitely be back to what seems like a lovely city...next time probably with someone who has the ability to sit at a bar stool and eat loads of BBQ. And as a closing note, how many years of life must I go through before I remember that Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays? Constantly disappointing myself.

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*These are my love language. I like the kind that are giant and never run out. And just save your soy-isn't-good-for-you-in-mass-quantites speech. It tastes like magic.

**I'm sorry if it seems I'm not an Elvis fan, it's just that I'm not an Elvis fan.

***This is definitely not my first time around young children....being the oldest of eight and all.

10 things i am loving right now

1. The Lone Bellow
Get. on. this. bandwagon. So great.

Solid harmonies make me melt so I was in love in basically two seconds. The Lone Bellow is kind of like a spunkier Civil Wars (and I love me some Civil Wars).

All in unison we sing, at times, been redeemed

We are all of the beauty, that has not been seen
We are full of the color, that’s never been dreamed
Well, nothing we need ever dies

2. Crackers and Cheese

Like the snack. About two weeks ago I found myself craving crackers and cheese and it hasn't stopped since. I can't stop eating this perfect snack. I love it so much that it has graduated from snack status to lunch status in my life. Right now I am partial to whole wheat Ritz with sharp cheddar, but the possibilities are endless. 

3. Denim Shirts

People are referring to this trend as "chambray" but honestly, that just sounds like something Paris Hilton would name her dog, so I'm sticking with "denim." Anyways...I have hit a full on obsession I think. BUT they are perfect. You can dress them up or down. They look good tucked in or left open. They match everything. They come in so many different cuts and styles. You can use them as a cardigan. I sound like...not myself...but whatever. I'm in love, I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it! 

4. Hazelnut Coffee

We've made the switch from regular coffee to hazelnut coffee in the office and it has CHANGED OUR LIVES. It smells like heaven...which is fitting since we're located in a church. NOTHING smells more like a cozy hug than hazelnut coffee. And it tastes pretty great too. But really the scent of this liquid gold would be enough. I am a changed woman.

5. Chunky Yarn and size 17 needles

This is the perfect recipe for knitting something super fast. Unless it's a blanket, and then it will still take you forever. This is hands-down the coziest thing I've ever knitted, and since it's not for me, I am already giving myself pep-talks in preparation for having to let it go. (Based on #4 and #5 I feel like it's pretty clear than I have totally abandoned summer and embraced fall.)

6. Citizens - Citizens

 This album is so so good. I really appreciate good Christian music because it was so rare for so long. And now there's a gold-mine of awesome Christian music, but this album is particularly special. I love the message of grace in "In Tenderness." Ah so good!

 In tenderness he sought me, weary and sick with sin
And on His shoulders brought me, back to His fold again
While angels in His presence sang, until the courts of heaven rang.

He died for me while I was sinning, needy and poor and blind
He whispered to assure me: "I've found thee; thou art Mine"
I never heard a sweeter voice, it made my aching heart rejoice.

Upon His grace I'll daily ponder, and sing anew His praise
With all adoring wonder, His blessings I retrace
It seems as if eternal days, are far too short to sing His praise.

7. Dove dark chocolate squares

The women in my office got me hooked on these. I keep them in my desk drawer for those moments when I really need one (always). I don't have much of sweet tooth, but it turns out these little nuggets of perfection are my weakness. Also, all the wrappers come printed with a little message inside. A few weeks ago I had a particularly naughty bag that I'm pretty sure was trying to hit on me, but this current bag is behaving itself. Today it encouraged me to "do what feels right." Eating another chocolate square is what felt right, so I did. 

8. sending gifts

I will maybe never get over the fact that we can mail things to each other. I get how it works, but I also think a little part of me still believes that it is magic. I really, really love sending little packages to people...especially for no particular reason. I just put together a few "back to school" care packages for some special ladies in my life and it was super fun.

9. navy blue

This is the best color ever. Especially if it's a little dusty and has the tiniest hint of green. Don't worry, I haven't turned my back on gold. Nothing goes better with navy blue than a gold glitter accent. My favorite color changes quite a bit and usually revolves around what sort of project I am working on. The largest project I'm working on right now may or may not be mostly navy blue. (It is.)

10. "40 Days of Dating"

A friend told me about this a week or two ago, but honestly I have no idea how I hadn't heard of this sooner since so many of my design favorites are involved and it is totally up my alley. Basically two designers in New York have decided to date each other for 40 days using a strict set of rules. They are good friends with opposite relationship issues and they were both at a point when they were exhausted of dating. I love experiments (particularly of the social persuasion) and I am fascinated by the way people relate to one another. I'm also a design nerd. So really this is perfect. (Small warning: some of the content could be deemed inappropriate. I don't want anyone to start reading and be offended that I recommended this to them :))

I also sometimes feel like I am reading about myself when I read Jessie's stuff. We are SO SIMILAR in so many ways...and in others not so much. Also, she currently has the bangs I have been talking about getting for a year and half now.

They've involved a bunch of designer friends along the way to create illustrations for the site which is super fun. Also, from time to time they make little videos and they are so quirky and great. This one is my favorite: http://vimeo.com/72207777

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Now that summer is ending, I am excited to start getting some more guest posts on here, so stay tuned! This week the students move back, and next week starts the campus madness. I can't wait!

falling in love: a testimony of my rocky relationship with design

In 1994 I became obsessed with a show called "Pappyland." At this point in my life, I am convinced that I am the only child who ever knew this show existed. If you're too afraid to click the link, let me explain...it was a show about art. Pappy would draw something and you would draw along with him. My dad's office is still wallpapered with my Pappyland creations. Fast forward, I am a senior in high school and I'm pretty much obsessed with art. I was a good student in general, but this was the turning point where I dropped Statistics so I could have extra studio time. I created some stereotypical "high school" things and won a few awards and got a scholarship and got into art school...and then I went to Kent State. (Which I was initially bummed about, but it turned out to be the absolute best thing.) Between painting still-lifes and sketching nude models, I somehow stumbled upon Visual Communication Design (VCD). My childhood dream (besides being an all out R&B diva) was to illustrate books and VCD had illustration classes. So despite my lack of interest in graphic design, I made the switch.

VCD was (mostly) wonderful and I spent the next few years being completely sucked into the world of typefaces and color swatches and compositions. I had stumbled into one of the best design schools in the country and they were teaching me well. I learned that I would present approximately 300 terrible ideas before I landed on the good one and that even then it would take hours of tweaking to finally land on something worth using. You should never be so married to an idea that you can't let it go and Comic Sans is the equivalent of he-who-shall-not-be-named. It was fun, it was hard, I made a few friends, and I cried a lot (I'm chalking this up to too much caffeine, not enough sleep, and countless dollars wasted spent at Kinkos).

My senior year rolled around and the last thing I wanted to do was look for a design job. Or even put together a website. Looking back I believe I felt this way for a few reasons.

1. I was sucked up in other things that I thought were meaningful, but weren't, and I wasn't "all there" while I was creating. I wasted a lot of time and a lot of potential. (Don't worry, it bit me in the butt hard and I learned my lesson.)
2. Comparing myself to others + a disappointing set back led to a lack of confidence in my abilities.
3. I worked for a company that was world's away from what I wanted to be as a designer. It was a temporary position and when I left I was completely drained. (It was not a bad company in any way, and I am grateful for the opportunities I had while working there. I learned alot about an area of the industry I knew very little about...and so much about myself! It was definitely not time wasted.)

May 2012 I was completely burnt out on design. It felt like a chore and I remember thinking often, "If this is what being a designer is going to feel like, then I want nothing to do with it."

It is now a little over a year later, I have a design job that I love, freelance projects that excite me, and a brand new, shiny website in the works. What happened?

I fell in love.

Taking a year off allowed me to stop trying to push creativity out of myself just to please others.  I worked on very few projects bigger than doodling verses and quotes in my journal. And the more I did projects just for me, the more I started to develop a real style. I found designers and illustrators who are real and creating meaningful work today. And I didn't love them just because my design history book told me I should. (Saul Bass, you are still the man.) I collected inspiration and made note of work that I loved. I pored through issues of Communications Arts realizing that everyone featured was once a brand-new designer lacking direction like me...and then they got their crap majorly together. I read articles and books on design thinking (just for fun!) and was reminded that design isn't just about making someone's stuff look pretty. Designers are the ultimate storytellers (I could be biased...)

Maybe most importantly, I let go of being perfect...not every idea is great, but sometimes the most important thing is not how perfect the work is but just that you got it done. This is a job after all and I can guarantee that few people are judging your work as harshly as you are. I had been crippled by my own need for perfection.

It has been easy for me to look back with disappointment on how I treated some of my years in design school, but now that I am working everyday as a designer I can see so clearly how much I actually learned during my years at Kent. It turns out that no time was wasted...I just took a crazy roundabout way of getting here. Wherever "here" is.

I am now in a place where I am completely head-over-heels in love with design and I am really excited to find out what that means for my future. I do not want to limit myself to titles such as "designer" or "illustrator" ... I am those things, but when the ultimate Creator formed me, he made me to be a creator, a maker...I want to fully embrace that. I am often happiest and most myself when I have ideas stirring around my head and crazy projects I am working on.

Right now I am pretty much working the two best jobs ever (for me, right now, where I am) and I know this, because rarely does it feel like work. Just another cheesy idea that turned out to be totally true. I actually had that thought in the car the other day...Life is cheesy and we just need to deal with it. 

And as a final thought, after all these years, I am still not sure if the plural of still-life is "still-lifes" or "still-lives."

Coming soon: a new 10 things post! It's been awhile.

ALSO...I just signed the lease for a house that has an EVEN BETTER porch than the one I have now. Oh yeah baby.

things I love: real front porches

I am currently sitting on the front porch of my home for the month of August. (I would fill you in on my housing adventures, but I think I'll just wait until the TBD conclusion.) It is a real front porch with stairs and wood slats and pillars and room for chairs. I LOVE having a real front porch.

You could say it's always been a dream of mine to have a porch to hang out on. The house I lived in for the first 15 years of my life only had steps leading up to the door. And then we moved. And that house only had steps leading up to the door. And let's not even talk about my first apartment which didn't even have steps.

When I was really young I was so obsessed with porches that I would create Sims houses that were basically only porches. Like I'm talking wraparound decks on every single story. I was also 100% sure that i was going to live in a large house near the Target in Stow solely because it had a wraparound porch. It is now a fairly successful winery/restaurant and I doubt they are willing to sell. (Prime location though...they just built a Taco Bell next door.)

There are a few reasons for this life-long porch obsession.

1. I like nature, but I don't always want to be all up in its business. Sitting on a porch seems like a happy medium between never leaving your home and full on jungle exploration.

2. I am a bookworm and prime reading locations are vital to my existence. A prime reading location must be three things:

1. adorable

2. comfortable

3. within walking distance of a kitchen/coffee pot. And by "walking distance" I mean it should take me no more than 30 seconds to get there.

3. I'm nosy and what better way to spy on your neighbors than to sit in the front yard all day? Kidding (kind of)...but seriously, I like to know my neighbors and I sometimes I have romantic dreams about the "old days" when everyone just lived on their porches drinking lemonade and being best friends.

Also, porch swings. Sign me up.

I am pleased to say that having a front porch is living up to everything I ever dreamed it to be. Prior to this I was reading some Tim Keller that I can tell you very little about because my retention ability is nonexistent. But I do remember he said very wise things (typical) and I was enjoying it. And as I was reading, I was able to spy on approximately 7.5 new neighbors.

I am also being realistic though...I know that the future is uncertain and that this may be the only real front porch I ever get in my whole life. Which is why I plan to live on it for the next 25 days. Address your letters to me Harry Potter style. Caitlin Elmore, The Front Porch, 439 ....etc.

And to those of you who tell me  should blog more often...do you see now why I don't? My life is fairly uneventful and I have very few profound thoughts.Example: I just rambled about porches for a half hour. But, your wish is my command :)

Also, how many more times can I say "front porch?" Front porch. Front porch. Front porch.  

Up next week: an essay on how I feel about Anthropologie mugs. 

Not really. But I wouldn't be too surprised.