March Madness, my way!

This is always a crazy month in life, between spring's arrival (and biweekly retreat), the many family birthdays, spring fever, spring cleaning, you name it. I always feel like March is a bit crazed, rushed.

This year was particularly exciting, because I got the news of the century: I, CAROLINE JANE, AM NOT ALLERGIC TO SHELLFISH! This is big, ladies and gentlemen. The long story short is I was misdiagnosed as a kid due to a concurrent infection, which was then blamed on sweet, perfect shellies. 14 years later as doubt crept in, I got the name of an amazing immunologist in town who did the testing and confirmed my suspicions...I have been AVOIDING my favorite food for the better part of my life. All my culinary adventures have been cut short, until now. I may just have to become a food critic in celebration.

Some of my first sweet shrimps back on the wagon. I ate an entire cocktail ring from the grocery store for lunch one day. Yes, my need for these little protein packed creatures was this strong.

My mom's birthday is the 6th, and between a finicky car that had to go to the shop (which meant no ride for work...) and wanting to show her a lovely time, I was on my feet in the kitchen from noon to 6:30pm! I always get in over my head with cooking celebrations.

Food prep fun. I made spinach puffs, roasted green beans and shallots, roasted lemon potatoes (who didn't make the photo cut), and a strawberry-peach crumble. Effort well spent!

Blowing out the candles with baby Evelyn in tow.

A close up on the newest Kittrel clan babe, Evelyn Diane. She is a sweet and very content little babe, with big brown eyes that look awfully wise for her three months of life. 

It's pretty hard to get a good shot of all the grand kids together, lots of feelings from seven small children and all. Despite Owen being rather blurry here, I think this is the best we did for the 6th. 

That weekend I had the privilege of spending two nights in a row with a fun group of girls I grew up with who have all settled in San Antonio. Friday night was a SAMA pARTy, making new friends, and dinner at a fun new place called The Luxury...somewhere between food truck and outdoor patio dining on the river, this new trendy spot has wine on tap and a small but mighty menu of sandwiches, salads, and dessert. Definitely headed back!

Saturday night was Luminaria, a fun festival of lights in San Antonio in the Hemisfair Park area. My friend Haley's dog Boone is generally the star of the show in public spaces. He is a beautiful Great Pyrenese with a perfectly sweet temperament, hard NOT to love him.

A large light sculpture in the center of the Luminaria walk...I dubbed it "The Ojo".

Boone dog cuddling on Haley's lap.

I celebrated my 25th birthday just a week after Mom's and it feels like a big milestone somehow. I know the only real difference is I can rent a car- but I've been doing that with Zipcar's help for a few years now. Mom got tickets for "Wicked" for that evening, however we discovered they were actually for 2014... ended up having family dinner again, then out to drinks with a great group of friends at my new favorite San Antonio bar 1919. Daniel was off on spring break so we got to go out as big kid siblings for the first time!

Sweet baby Berkley housing a cupcake from Bird Bakery...she is generally topless for mealtime for this express reason. Love that sweet face!!

Beautiful birthday flowers from a sweet friend. One of the prettiest and fragrant arrangements I've seen in a while.

Big D and me!! I look kind of crazy in this picture, but whatevs. We had so much fun that night!

Bar 1919's housemade infusions...there's a sweet potato/cinammon bourbon, cilantro something, strawberry rum, and lavender whiskey. Tasted all but strawberry and they are beyond fantastic.

As part of my participation at Camp Capers for the Diocese of West Texas, I did a little presentation/spoke at my home church to encourage families to participate in our camping programs. Its funny how nervous I get speaking in public; people assume since I have significant acting training I should be able to pull it off flawlessly. But I am capital T, Terrified of being myself for a big group...all alone. My autonomic nervous system kicks in: hot, sweating, heart rate jumps up. It's bananas! Still went fairly well and I had a few people approach me asking for more information, which was the goal!! Our church does not have many youth who participate in the church culture, so even one recruit for this summer season would be a blessing.

Right after my big speech, I drove up to Austin to spend some time with my two besties Carlyn and Marie Louise. We went Ziplining at Lake Travis Zipline Adventures. So much fun, and what a rush! We made reservations at Clark's Oyster Bar to celebrate my big 2-5, but were rather pressed for time after our big adventure...ended up fine dining in our T-shirts. :) Spent the evening after getting home prepping my taxes for a few hours...oh, joy. Better to get it done early on though.

Looking good in helmets and harnesses. Carlyn is left and Marie Louise is right. 

My scaredy-cat little butt taking off on the line. 

What most of the afternoon consisted of: being silly and generally disturbing the rest of our rather quiet group. Gotta love a motley crew!

My first oysters at Clarks...so good we ordered a second round of appetizers!

One amazing lobster roll, the most generous meat to bread ratio... I'm NOT complaining!

After finalizing the summer staff on Tuesday, the staff retreat was Friday night out at Camp. SO wonderful to finally have my staff together in one place with minimal missing attendance. Got some paperwork done, played fun games, and did a general meet and greet/let's get excited about camp. Just a little overnight action, then back to San Antonio for one more night in town...

And now, after much ado, I'm finally off to Arkansas to begin rehearsals for Next to Normal. I feel like this has been such a long time coming, having known about the show since early November. The show is so incredible, moving, funny, smart, with great music and a star studded cast to boot...I can't believe how lucky I am to be a part of this production.

Josiah's 1st birthday!! So glad we got to stay in town the extra half day before the big drive to Arkansas to help celebrate with the fam.

My first Birchbox! Check out the website to learn more, such a fun concept! Glad it came in before my departure.

I'll be sure to write about Fayetteville once I get my feet wet! Lots of love and spring sunshine to you all!

It Might as well be Spring!

Big events in the life of Caroline! I've managed to stir up a lot of attention requesting a sublet on Facebook- "Where are you going??" and "What show did you book?!" I realized my mistake in not announcing all the fun and THEN asking who might be able to help me transition out of New York, so I am backtracking a bit here.

So, as an introduction to the excitement and a pre-req in understanding it all, this fall in NYC was really difficult. Auditions were few and far between, as were my babysitting hours, leaving me feeling artistically and financially lacking. I did manage to book a show (we'll get to that in a second...) but it still left me with months and months to fill in the mean time. After being on tour and surrounded by people, work, and travels, the lull of the actor's 'in between' was terrifying. I had been so ready to get back to the city, but not much was going my way.

I prayed a lot for guidance, and found myself anticipating something huge coming. I wasn't sure what area of my life it involved, what sort of opportunities would be coming, but it felt important and impending. Patience isn't my first virtue so I really struggled with not knowing what was next. I spent a few weeks at home over the holidays, hoping to be revived and ready to pound the pavement again, but upon my return a few days ago I was only filled with dread at facing more of the same from the fall.

After a few prayers, phone calls, and emails, the spring was set into motion in a HUGE way and I'm so excited to announce what is coming up. Here are the Travel Plans, which reveal all!!

New York to Texas: January 9th
Heading home to intern for the Diocese of West Texas, in preparation to serve as the Staff Director at Camp Capers. I grew up going to this amazing camp every summer and was a counselor for a week I was 16, but it is truly a dream come true to be on summer staff. I have lots of duties essentially boiling down to keeping the camp running smoothly- staff cheerleader, conflict mediator, and general communicator on programs staff. The spring will be spent preparing for my role, helping with hiring the staff, and general service at the diocese. It's right in my field of experience, yet way out of my box at the same time.

Texas to Arkansas: around March 25th
The acting portion of the spring: playing Natalie in Next to Normal at Theatre Squared in Fayetteville, Arkansas!! I've known about this one for a while, and am still in disbelief at my fortune to be in such a beautiful musical with what looks like an incredible cast!! My dear friend Jason Burrow is slated to music direct as well, so I'll get to work with his musical genius again in his home state- hooray!! For more details on the production, click here.

Arkansas to Texas: May 13th
Back home to really begin Camp Capers duties. Staff training and bonding, then right into camp. I'll be a busy bee in Waring, Texas from June 1st-August 17th. For more information on Camp Capers, click here.


I can hardly believe all the answered prayers- when it rains, it POURS! I'm overwhelmed with excitement and anticipation of the wonderful fun and growth that is coming for me. My sweet friend Gracie said to me, as I struggled through the thick of it, "Choose where to put your confidence and the rest will follow." I'm putting my confidence in my heart, which is overflowing as I look at what 2013 has in store for me so far.

Thanks for checking in! Love love love!!