tadaaaa!

It all worked out...
So, I looked at some other cars. I thought about how much I wanted to spend on a car payment, and then I thought about the car in Dyersburg. This was the car I mentioned in my previous post. I really wasn't crazy about it on Saturday, but the more time I spent looking at other cars, the better its price tag sounded.

So today my dad called the car dealership and talked to the salesman, he made the price shrink even further, and then he called the bank. I had already gotten a loan from my bank, but I had to sign for it. On my lunch break I drove to the bank, got the fastest explanation in the history of loans, and signed for my loan.

As soon as I left work I headed home to meet my best friend Abby. She had agreed to drive me to the dealership in Dyersburg. (They closed at 6, so we had to hustle!)
The drive was fun....
When we got to the dealership, I signed for the car, hopped in and drove away! For an almost 3 week ordeal, this was the easiest part of the process. Here it is, my 2006 Kia Spectra5. It really grew on me. It gets great gas mileage (something like 33-35mpg) and it was a fabulous price! I love love love it! It has a sunroof/moonroof (what's the difference anyway?) It has power windows and locks (a feature missing from my '03 Kia Rio, "Peri," may she rest in peace.) It has keyless entry, and cruise control (another feature missing on my previous car.) I fell in love with the hatchback style. Oh and in case you can't tell from the picture, it's silver. I wanted to document the signing of the title, but I forgot.

Isn't it adorable!!!
I seriously have the best friend in the world! I mean, who would drive all the way to Dyersburg only to drive back alone. We did get to eat at Sweet Peppers for dinner. Abby and I worked at the old Cordova location a couple of summers back, we hated the job but loved the food. We were both terribly sad to see it close. I think Abby only went with me for the Sweet Peppers.
We had such fun.

I'm a much happier camper now. I'm super happy to have my own car (actually in my own name) and I'm even happier to have less debt, the thought of a more expensive car made me feel sick!

Now I have to name her. A couple of options are: Ilver (one of the doccuments in the car has the color listed as "ilver" instead of silver.) Also, Skipper, the car really reminds me of Barbie's kid sister. (I never really identified with Barbie, Skipper was so much more my speed.) Decisions decisions!

OK, new invitation: Add this in addition to the invitation to "do lunch," I would love to take you for a ride in my super cool car!

wow, car shopping isn't fun.

Today, Saturday, my first Saturday free of work in many many months, was a waste of my time!

The plan was to drive to Dyersburg to look at a car. The car wasn't exactly what I wanted and so we looked at other cars. I found the cutest little Nissan hatchback. It was gunmetal gray, fully loaded, it had this smart key thing that made it possible to get into the car without even taking the key out of my purse, and it even had an iPod input. I was in love...

About an hour later we left the dealership, I came so close to driving a brand new car off the lot, but ended up leaving with tears in my eyes. Unfortunately, even an inexpensive hatchback car is out of your price range if you don't make enough money.

Pretty depressing. You see, I wasn't planning on buying a car any time soon. I was about to drive my little Kia debt free. I was $600 dollars away from freedom when I got hit, sitting still at a red light. Meribeth told me "nobody ever wins in a wreck." I didn't quite understand how true that was until today.

I had finally become sensible about my finances, I said to myself: "I will save up enough money to pay cash for my next car, or at least have a substantial down payment." When your down payment consists of a tiny insurance settlement check, substantial is the last word to come to mind. I guess sometimes plans don't exactly equal reality. I didn't factor a wreck into the plan.

If only I made more money, if only I had saved more money, if only I hadn't gotten hit by another car... I really understand the insurance commercials that say "Life comes at you fast." It does.

And much of the time, it just isn't very fair. Now, back to the drawing board.

I made it through my first day, and I've got the blisters to prove it!

Well, the new shoes turned out pretty well... Until around hour 4:00 pm. Honestly they were seriously comfortable, I just got new shoe blisters. I promise I'm not only excited about the job because of the wardrobe implications.

I think this momentous occasion warrants one of my "Day in the Life of Caitlyn" posts. I'm pretty sure that nobody has ever been this excited about an 8-5!

• 6:05- Wake up! (I only hit my snooze alarm once today!)
• 6:15- Make coffee (in my brand new french press) and pack my lunch.
• 6:20- Get ready for work. It's pretty exciting to wear my hair down for work, I've had to rock the ponytail for the last two years at the SBUX. (My outfit: black pencil skirt, black and white blouse, brand new red shoes, my oh so chic big black leather bag, and red coral earrings)
• 7:15- Hop into my rental car with my coffee and drive....
• 8:00- Begin my very first day!
• 8:30- Monday morning meeting.
• 9:00- Begin new job paperwork, oy!
• 11:00- Finish paperwork, go to staff meeting. (Enough with the meetings already.)
• 12:00- Lunch Break!!!! I ended up ditching my sandwich (it didn't look good to me anymore) and went for a veggie burger at back yard burger.
• 1:00- Meet "file students" they're high school kids who do filing work for the company a few hours each week. This was when I actually worked today! By this point I was ready to do something constructive
• 1:00-5:00- learn all about the file room, and put away files. Not very glamorous, but I had a nice time.
• 5:00- Drive home.
• 6:00- Stop at Target to buy Naan for Mom's celebratory Indian Food Feast she prepared for me.
• 6:30- Now we feast! Brandon came over and we enjoyed the delicious food, THANKS MOM!

Overall, a pretty good day... I probably sound pretty square.

P.S.- Anyone up for a lunch date? I've got an hour long lunch break Monday-Friday with YOUR name on it!

in the morning...

.... I will begin my new job. I will be a full-time "file clerk." This means I get to wear grown up clothes (not black pants and polo shirts with a green apron) and find out how the rest of the world operates on an 8-5 schedule. (Don't worry, I'm not dropping out of school.)

I am so very excited!

My coffee pot is ready and my outfit (with the world's cutest red patent leather shoes) is laid out. Now all I have to do is get to bed. I'll tell you all about my first day tomorrow night!

Like the shoes? I got them at Payless (yay!) they're very 1940's secretary chic, OK, maybe not, but I really like them!

P.S.- My car has officially been "totaled" so I will be looking for a new one at some point this week. :~( Maybe now I can get that Prius I want... probably not, but it doesn't hurt to dream!

Christos Anesti!

Ok, I left off on Holy Saturday....

Afterward, I started cooking for the Paschal feast. I made Curry Devlied Eggs and Cheese Grits. Pascha ends the long period of fasting, so we get pretty excited about making and eating our favorite dishes. After cooking I got a chance to take a nap. Around 10pm Brandon and I headed for church.

Soon after the Paschal service began we turned out the lights and extinguish the candles. Then we lit candles from one large candle that Fr. Troy carries. We made a procession outside with the candles and sang. While we were outside we began singing Christ is Risen!

When we returned all the lights were on and everything was bright and beautiful! Then we sang "Christ is risen from the dead trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!" Then the clergy each repeated "Christ is Risen" three times in various languages. My favorite was Deacon James and his progressively louder "Christos Anesti!!!" (That's greek.) We respond to each with "Indeed He is Risen!" in each language (We had a cheat sheet with all of the languages on it.) I love the sense of connection with so many other countries.

(I stole most of these pictures from Kh. Susan's blog, she's got a knack for taking great pictures.)

I love how we approach Christ's Ressurection. It's a big deal! The entire period of Lent, the bright sadness, leads up to the most glorious of feasts! Holy Week was hard, and for good reason. It made Pascha even more amazing. Easter isn't just another day for us. I don't know any better way to say it, it's a big deal!

After the liturgy, we the feasted by eating all the delicious goodies we craved during Lent. Much of the food is meat-centric but there were plenty of egg and cheese laden dishes for Brandon and I to feast upon, including Elizabeth Cameron's mac and cheese... YUM! Someone brought the Russian Paskah cheese, and I love that person. It's this yummy sweet soft cheese... I really want some right now! My friend Christine and I had a food strategy, we decided to eat very small portions of only a few items and to eat minimal carbs. This way, we were able to eat more cheese and not feel too full too fast. Christine's been Orthodox since she was a little, she's had some practice!

Finally I made it home around 4:00am and then slept until noon! That afternoon we had Agape Vespers followed by a picnic. At the Vespers service we read the Gospels several different languages. I think we had 8 different languages read, including: Norwegian, Greek, German, Spanish, Polish, and French. It's really cool! The picnic was rained out, but the kids were still able to have an indoor egg hunt. Then after the picnic my friend Anne Katherine surprised us by playing her bagpipes, it was so fun!

This past weekend was wonderful... I can't think of any other way to end this post than by saying what we say to fellow Orthodox Christians during this season: Christ is Risen!... Indeed He is Risen!

Arabic: El Messieh kahm!... Hakken kahm!
Russian: Khristos voskrese!... Voistinu voskrese!

Greek: Christos Anesti!... Alithos Anesti!

Romanian: Cristos a inviat!... Adevarat a inviat!

Spanish: Cristo ha resucitado!... En verdad ha resucitado!

Illumined!

The task of writing this post is daunting! There's so much to say.
Holy Week began on Sunday with the celebration of Palm Sunday. That night was the Bridegroom Orthros service. On Wednesday was Holy Unction, anointing with oil, a service of healing.

On Thursday we had a Liturgy followed by a meal followed by the Passion Gospels service. During this service twelve passages from the Gospels are read about Christ's Passion, as they are read a candle is lit, it's a little bit lengthy, but worth it. During this service the priest hangs a figure of Christ upon a Cross. Since we observe the coming days as beginning at sundown, we observe Christ's Crucifixion on Thursday evening.

On Holy Friday we spent almost the entire day at church. The Royal Hours service began at nine, then at three were the Taking Down From the Cross Vespers. At this service the icon of Christ is removed from the Cross, and it is wrapped and placed in the funeral bier, representative of the tomb.

That evening is the Lamentations Orthros service. This is a very somber but beautiful service. It is a lot like a funeral. We process outside with candles and enter back into the church after walking under the funeral bier. It represents baptism.

That afternoon the Vigil began. This means that someone was at the church constantly until Pascha, reading the Gospels and other scripture, keeping vigil until we celebrated Christ's Resurrection. Brandon signed up to read between 4:30-5:30 am. I decided to go with him, and it was one of the more beautiful things I have ever been a part of.

The Church was dark save for a few candles and only about 5 people were there at any given time, and the only sounds were the words of the Gospel being read. Recounting Christ's Passion until we would celebrate His Resurrection.

After going home and grabbing an hour long nap it was time for the Holy Saturday service. This was the service I've been waiting for since July of last year. It was my formal reception into The Church through anointing with oil. It was also the first time I was able to take communion. It was an incredibly emotional day. I can't really describe how amazing it was. Until I can think of something adequate to say, here are some pictures of the service.

The Chrismation Service began in the back of the Nave, ending up on the Solea. There were 12 people being Chrismated this year, including our friend Chase, it was very joyous




After the liturgy everyone sang "God grant you many years" for those of us who were newly illumined, it was so wonderful!

These are mine and Brandon's patron Saints, St. John Maximovitch and St. Catherine the Great Martyr. Although they aren't in the picture, my sweet friend Hannah (whose Patron Saint is also St. Catherine) had placed a vase of daisies underneath her icon in honor of my Chrismation. She also gave me an icon card of St. Catherine that had been blessed on her relics in Greece. I'm incredibly lucky to have friends like Hannah!

Here we are, the newly illumined.Me with the best sponsor ever, Meribeth. I love her very much! I figured it would be too daunting to tackle Holy Week, Chrismation and Pascha all in one post, so I'll wait until later to post about Pascha, but until then.... Christ is Risen!

here's what happened:

Yesterday afternoon I called my Godmother to see if I could take her son Pavel to The Zoo. Sadly thunderstorms cancelled our plans. We ended up at the Pink Palace. We hung out for a little while then decided to get Pavel some ice cream.

While we were sitting still in the left turn lane (behind the other two cars in the painting) waiting to turn onto Highland I heard a loud bang, and felt something smack my face. I was incredibly confused and then realized we had been hit. Before I could fully process anything, two people were standing at my window asking if the little boy was OK. Pavel was as cool as a cucumber! He is the bravest 6 year old EVER!

The man who hit us was turning left from Highland onto Central (he is represented by the green orb mine is the periwinkle colored orb) he says his steering wheel got stuck and so he just kept turning and ended by hitting us. He hit my car on the driver's side front (my door won't open.) Then his car turned and also hit the back driver's side door.

The sweetest lady who was on her way to PDS let us sit in her car while we waited. She also let Pavel watch a DVD until Meribeth came. We waited for close to 40 minutes for the police, needless to say this makes me a little bit angry.

Pavel and I are both fine. I'm a tiny bit sore and I have a bruise on my arm. The other guy's car was drivable and he was fine. My car is pretty badly damaged. I'm very lucky though. I wish it had happened any other time, by that I mean a time when I was driving solo.

Pavel assumed the role of "comforter of Caitlyn." Minutes after the wreck he looked at me and said: "Miss Caitlyn, is this the first time you've been in a wreck?" I said yes and he proceeded to pat me on the arm. We're bonded for life now.

I feel terribly lucky. Everyone has been so helpful. My parents are out of town and Meribeth helped me out so much, she even fed me dinner and got me sorbet. (We had to make it up to Pavel for not getting ice cream.) Reem, a friend from church,saw us and stopped to see if we were OK. Also our priest Fr. John was also helpful in telling us what to do. I've been inundated with "are you OK?" phone calls since last night. My sweet boyfriend also helped me out so much, he gave me a ride home and brought me "I'm sorry you had a wreck" flowers, chocolate, and a DVD.

Now we wait. I haven't heard from anyone about the state of my car yet. I'm going to miss my "Peri" (that's her name, since she's periwinkle) if she's totaled. Plus I was just about to pay her off, I figured I'd drive her for at least the next 5 years! I'll keep you posted.