10 Things I've Been Doing Instead of Blogging

It's been quite awhile since I've put a post up... Some of y'all have emailed me or snapchatted me asking where the posts are and if I'm okay because I haven't posted lately. Yes, I'm fine. I make a point to keep my priorities lined up, and blogging, although it is my passion and one of the few things that's holding me together, has to take the backseat sometimes. I also make a point to never say sorry when I don't mean it. So no, I'm not sorry for the lack of posts. My lack of blogging this past month has opened my schedule to some incredible family time and vacations, and time well spent getting my grade up in various classes. So if you're interested in a life update, keep reading, if you're not, ignore this post and more actual content will be up soon.

o n e // Momma Daughter Beach Vacay - My momma and I visited Edisto Beach State Park as a much needed trip away from reality. Even though it was only a long weekend it was very relaxing, and I got to see the beach wheelchair that my family's nonprofit organization was able to donate to the park. We left hours after I finished my AP World History exam, and ate a lot of watermelon, store bought pizza, and ice cream and I swear I was in paradise. I always say my mom is my best friend - and she is so the weekend was incredibly relaxing and not gonna lie, it was wonderful to stay off of blogger and only posting on Instagram.

t w o // Studying - I am officially done with all my Sophomore year finals and I am proud to say I passed all of them with extremely good grades except for Geometry. In which I didn't get an extremely good grade or pass... but hey, you win some, you lose some.

t h r e e // Photography trips with Coach - aka my daddy. He got nicknamed Coach because he's basically my life coach. My dad is where I get most of my creative artsy -ness from. Sure my momma's artsy too, but my dad's eye for photography subjects, ability to draw and paint and whatever else is incredible. ANYWAYS, Isaac participates in races with Ainsley's Angels (as my snapchat friends know) and the races are usually located in either cute downtown small town areas or most recently, Greenville, South Carolina. I bring my camera along to take pictures of Isaac, but perfect architectural shots is what I drool over. Symmetry, interesting patterns or details... I'm all for it. So Isaac's races double as city walks with my Coach snapping photos.

f o u r //  Isaac's Nonprofit Organization - If you haven't seen my pinned tweet, or various other tweets, or if you're one of the few incredible people that follow Isaac on Instagram and/or Twitter then you know about I Can 4 Isaac. Our current project is raising money for beach wheelchairs in an effort to make the South Carolina State Parks more accessible for all guests. I'm on staff as the Social Outreach manager, but attempting to balance school, blogging, and a nonprofit is insane. Here's to the Summer and more time to get myself in focus! But anyways, back to our project... We've raised enough money for 3 beach wheelchairs and are on our way to a fourth. If you care to donate - there's a link on Isaac's site. Donations of any size are always appreciated!

f i v e // Eating... A lot - With May comes exam stress, with exam stress comes stress eating, with stress eating comes a not as healthy Cathleen. Oops. Hopefully I can make myself not eat out of boredom this Summer and keep my diet at least a little healthier than it is now.

s i x // Watercolors - I took a non photography art class this semester (as well as a photography class... I mean I can't abandon it all together) and it opened my eyes to my potential.. I guess you could say.. with other art forms other than photography. For Mother's Day, I purchased watercolors and a canvas for myself and it was actually super relaxing and not a total waste of my time. I was decently successful - says my parents, but it's in the parent handbook that they have to be supportive of your work even if it sucks, right? Anyways, I sure enjoyed it and I could definitely see myself spending some quiet time to paint this Summer.

no this is not cabbage... it's a succulent

s e v e n // Batik - I mentioned my Contemporary Design course in the previous bullet, but I recently became exposed to the art form of Batik because of this class. I was actually pretty successful in this... My teacher is sending mine to our school district office. It was a really interesting process which required a lot of patience and precision but also flexibility so overall I really enjoyed the assignment.

e i g h t // Stress relieving Netflix/coloring - I've spent a lot of time on Netflix lately. I just started The Carrie Diaries and I'm hooked and in love and I want to meet Austin Butler/ have my own Sebastian and get an internship at a magazine. Also can we talk about her outfits? Wow wow wow wow! I've also been binging some 90210 and watching countless movies. I think I need help.

n i n e // Friends - The end of the year can be so stressful that it's difficult to find a balance. You either spend all your time with friends and blow off exams and finals completely, or you totally blow off your friends. When I was blogging and studying, I neglected some pretty important friendships and people that I had those friendships with. It felt terrible. Putting blogging in the backseat allowed for me to focus on some people that matter, as well as help them with studying and other struggles with guys and other friends.



t e n // End of the year gratitude - I'm a firm believer in thank you cards. Always have been. My first year of high school nearly swept me off my feet. The year moved so fast like one of those log rolls where you're stuck running on top or you'll fall off. When the year ended, it was like slamming on the brakes because there's a sudden dead end. I completely forgot to thank my teachers... I actually really felt terrible about it. So this year I had plans a couple weeks in advance to bake macaroons and write thank you notes to all of the wonderful educators that each have played an important role in my life. I wanted to wait until after my last day, the cookies were passed out, and I'm struggling with finding my Summer pace again after this big crazy fast paced year before blogging again.

Wow... I'm really back. Let's see how this goes... I don't plan on making some crazy comeback with a fullblown totally booked editorial calendar so I have no idea what content or anything really is going to look like here on Classy Cathleen. I like surprises and I sure hope you do too...