busy busy

So life has been crazy lately. When I moved into my dorm, it only took one day, but this move has taken a week and the apartment is still not fully set up!

Things have been pretty good for me lately, though. It was my dad's birthday on the 23rd, which was fun. He picked out all of his own presents and even bought some for himself for us to wrap up for him. (He must not like surprizes!) We got him a birthday apple pie...he was concerned that he'd drip wax all over and then catch the house on fire with the candles in this photo:

Christmas was good. My parents were originally going to buy me a bed for Christmas, so they weren't going to buy me very many presents, but then I got a free bed from Jesus, so they gave me money to spend on myself. This, however was spent on gas, groceries, prescriptions, and a haircut. Welcome to the adult world, I guess.

My apartment is starting to feel more like home now. At first it was really weird. I felt like I was moving someone else in, but then I was left alone to realize that this was my new home. Crazy. But I have been cooking some meals there and we've all been sleeping there now that Christmas is over. It's pretty exciting to be at this new stage in life, but also more uncertain and with a lot more responsibilites.

I still also have a lot to get done before I go back to school. We are having an apartment warming party on Sunday, there's a Youth2000 retreat next weekend, I have to get the rest of my school books, and still have to get all of the paperwork filled out to get my LPN license. But at least I have things to do. I'm ususally bored on breaks because I just sit around.

Well, I'd better be off now...those groceries aren't going to put themselves away! ;)

God bless!

even colder

I finally have started moving into my new apartment!

...but the temperature is between 60-68 degrees. We have it set on 90.

Yeah...need to get that fixed.

But now I'm tired...and need some sleep in a nice [semi]warm house.

Oh wait! I also got a free bed, thanks to Jesus and Amy! I didn't have a bed, and I asked Jesus to give me one! And He did!

Jesus, thank you for helping me grow up and get this apartment! And thank You for the bed!

bloody noodles

So this is kinda gross, but today I cut a chunk out of my finger when I was making linguini with vegetable ribbons. The meal was good, but it was kinda hard to get everything made with only one fully functional hand as the other was being wrapped in a towel in an effort to stop the profuse bleeding.

But dinner got made, at it was delicious. Come rain, shine, blood, or guts.

I feel so domestic!

Speaking of domestic, my friends Ruth Ann and Joe are getting married tomorrow! Please pray for their marriage. I know it will be holy and Christ centered, which will be challenging in today's world.

Also I move in two days! We were all approved for the apartment and will be moving in Sunday! It's really exciting.

And I'm thinking about joining a really tough exercise class to help me get in better shape. It's pretty expensive, though. I'm debating between just getting a membership at the YMCA and sigining up for this class.

Hmm...I'll have to think about it.

But for now I have to get going!

Have a wonderful day!

college grad

I now officially have graduated from college! Yes, you are, in fact, reading the blog of someone with a college degree. (Ok...it's just a diploma right now, but it will be a degree in a year!)

I graduated last night, which was fun. It was an informal ceremony (no caps/gowns), the formal one is in May. Here's a photo of me getting my diploma cover from Dr. Robert Denson, the president of DMACC and Senator Doug Shull.

We just got the diploma cover because it's finals week and they have to make sure we all passed our classes first! ;)

Anyways...that's all for now! Have a merry day tomorrow!

life goes on

Yes! I am [almost] done with school for the semester! I only have one more test tomorrow, but it isn't graded - just an indication of how we're going to do on the NCLEX-PN.

And I have managed to maintain my GPA, which I am the most excited about!

Now I just have to concentrate on Christmas [and the inevitable buying of presents] and moving.

Here's a typical "me pose" from the past few weeks.

I'm sitting at my favorite homework spot in my pink hat, my favorite greet slippers, and a blanket. [Remember my house is still sixty-four degrees.]

It is very very good to be [almost] done! I can finally breathe, even if it's only for a few weeks!

Jesus, thank You for the strength and grace to get through this semester! Please help me to do well next term and to do all for You! I love You!

my pyramid says i need to run more

If you are interested in the new food pyramid and a diet/exercise analysis, go to mypyramid.gov! It is really neat! You can register and login, and it will save all of your information on the website. There is a food and exercise diary as well as an analysis of each individually and together. It's really interesting! Try it out and see what the government says about your health regimen!

wipe that winshield!

A couple of exciting windshield stories from this weekend:

1. So for the past couple of weeks my widshield washer fluid has been frozen since it had the summer stuff in there (the kind without anitfreeze). This was really bad because driving around in the snow/melting snow was causing my windshield to be smeared with dirty water so I couldn't see. But I couldn't fix it because it was below freezing. Well, this weekend it got up to 35 degrees or so, barely above freezing. So my dad and I pumped out all of the old fluid, poured warm fluid in, pumped that out, poured more warm in, pumped that out, and poured new fluid in. We figured it would work, but alas! So my dad took the entire tubing thing apart, and it was clogged with dirt and such, so he cleaned it all out and it finally worked! Then he sprayed all of the washer fluid out through the newly-cleaned sprayers and filled it up one last time with antifreeze that can last until 20 below! (Hopefully it doesn't get that cold!) ;) My dad's the best!

...and now story number 2!...

2. I went Christmas shopping with my friend Maria today and we noticed that her windshield wipers were in shreds, so we went to Wal-Mart to get some new ones. We took the old wipers off so we could find the size she needed in the store. We determined that she needed one 22" and one 21". The only problem was that they did not have those two sizes in the same brand. So we went to Target and they had some, but they were about 4 times as expensive. But we got them and we decided to have a little adventure by putting them on ourselves without help or directions. ;) Have done this before, I decided to show here how to do it. I got the first one on after a bit of struggle, but it was worked. After that Maria tired to put the other one on, but couldn't get it. So I tried and got it on, but somehow managed to do it horribly wrong so we couldn't get it off again! Now, mind you, it was very dark and we just had a little flashlight to guide us, plus we didn't really know what we were doing. So we decided that one windshielf wiper would have to suffice and Maria went home to get her dad to fix it. God bless dads!

All in all, it was a wonderful windshield weekend!

generous bonus

So today I needed to make chocolate chip cookies for a potluck for my class tomorrow, but I only had $4. I wasn't sure if it would be enough, so I stopped by the bank to cash my paycheck. I was super excited because it was $114.97, which is the highest it's ever been. (Now this may seem piddly to you, but I only work 6-8 hours a week because I'm at school 4-9 hours a day.)

So, I get to the bank and the teller asked "How would you like it?"

"Twenties is fine."

Apparently that seemed like an odd request because the girl looked at me like I was crazy for a minute and then said, "Ok..." and started going through all of the check-cashing steps.

After a while she said "Oh wait! Is this supposed to be $114?"

"Yeah...why?"

She showed me the check, and in little box where you put the numbers, it said "$114. 97," but in the place where you spell the numbers out, it said "fourteen hundred and 97/100!"

I was so shocked! They had to get one of the bank managers to come over and talk to me (luckily he goes to my church and knows I'm not a crook). It just so happens that bankers are only supposed to look at the spelled out numbers, not the ones in the little box. (Now I know why the teller thought I was crazy for wanting $1400.97 in twenties!)

So I had to go back to work and thank my boss for the generous Christmas bonus, but say that I had to decline. ;) She felt really dumb and gave me $20 so I could go shopping for my cookie ingredients until she could make out another check for me.

Very very exciting!

indulge yourself!

So I know it's a bit late now, but Pope Benedict issued at plenary indulgence for everyone who went to Mass and recieved communion today, the feast of the Immaculate Conception!

Here is an article about it.

"The indulgence declared by Pope Benedict may be obtained by those who 'participate in a sacred function in honor of the Virgin, or at least least offer open testimony of Marian devotion before an image of Mary Immaculate exposed for public veneration, adding the recitation of the Our Father and of the Creed, and some invocation to the Virgin.'...The decree issued on November 29 by the Apostolic Penitentiary, announcing the indulgence, also lists the usual conditions: sacramental Confession, Eucharistic Communion, prayer for the intentions of the Pope, and the removal of attachment to sin. "

It's so exciting! I love the Church!

Jesus, thank you so much for loving us and being so forgiving, despite our wretched misery!

rematch

Today has been busy. I was at the hospital from 7am - 2pm, went home to change, got to work at 2:45 pm, worked until 6:45, went out to dinner with Paul, and then went back to my house to play some more DDR.

It was pretty fun. Then we played a video game, but one of us had to use the dancepad and one got to use the hand controls, so there was a real disadvantage. At first I was on the dancepad, but after a while of jumping up and down as fast as I could (I don't know how to play video games at all and specialize in pushing all of the buttons at random hopeing to do a special move) I got really tired and switched with Paul.

Needless to say I won almost every game after that because :
1. I had the hand controls
2. Paul kept telling me all of the things to push to do special moves and so I would win. (It's a lot harder to do special moves on the dancepad.)

God bless Paul!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! May God bless you abundantly!

what i learned

Today after clinicals were over we were asked "What did you learn today."

My first response: "That I am slow at everything."

You see, I only had two patients to take care of, but for some reason I was constantly busy the entire day. I didn't even get their baths done until noon. (They sould be done by 10.)

But then I thought about it again and said:

"I learned that sometimes it's ok to be slow as long as you are giving the best care possible to your patients and they feel better as a resulf of the care you provided."

I remembered that they were very grateful to me and thanked me for caring for them so well.

That is what makes nursing worth it. Not getting baths done by ten, but having patients whose day was less miserable because you took care of them.

Also, please continue to pray for Paul Fidero and his family. Today his mother wrote something really beautiful. I think everyone would benefit to read it.

fun day

Today after Church I went over to Paul's house and we played some DDR. It was pretty fun. (And I only didn't pass two songs!)

Here's a picture of me with Paul's dog, Pepper. She's super super sweet!

Anyways...I'm off to do my homework now! Have to write a nursing careplan for one of my patients by Tuesday. Usually takes about 5-8 hours. :)

Thanks for this great day, Jesus!

poor little guy!

So today as I got home from Confession, I saw that a little squirrel had been killed right outside of my house! It was so sad! I hate to see God's little creatures squished all over the road, but it makes me especially sad when it's right outside my window and I can see it every time I come, go, or eat dinner.

So I asked my dad his opinion on what to do and he said to get a shovel and put it in the trash bag and put it in the trashcan in the back yard.

Well, I was having difficulty scraping him up because I didn't want to squish him (he was freshly killed, no rigor mortis, so he was very floppy) so my dad came out and helped me scoot him on there with a stick.

Poor little guy!

It reminded me of this story about a dog and her baby squirrel.

In conclusion, dead squirrels make me sad.

four eyes

I got new glasses!

What do you think?

Haha! Just kidding. Those are my dad's old reading glasses!

Just click on the picture to see my real new glasses!

God bless!

Kat

please pray

Hello fellow bloggers.

I am asking your prayers for a stranger that I have been asked to pray for. His name is Paul Fidero and he was in a really bad car accident on Sunday.

He is in a coma at the hospital and his family has been praying for him and posting information in thier blog.

Please pray for Paul!

Thank you and God bless.

my poor, cold little nose

Since gas prices are going to be high this year, my dad has decided that we are going to have to heat on just low enough to sustain life.

Ok...so it's not that bad, but he has it set at 64 degrees. I have been wearing a coat all throughout the house for the past few days, but it's still pretty cold in here.

At least when I get my apartment (heat paid) I can keep the thermostat up around 75 degrees...a nice comfortable temperature.

:)

I suppose I'll live.

sifting

So Kim and I finally found an apartment! It is so HUGE! A 2-bedroom is at least 1,000 sq.ft. and a 3-bedroom is at least 1,300 sq.ft. AND if we got the 2-bedroom, our rent would only be about $300/month at most. If our friend Meggan decides to move in with us too and we get the 3-bedroom, our rent would only be about $250/month at most. I am so excited!

And I also got a sifter yesterday! So I decided to bake some loaf cake in celebration of my new sifter/finding a place to live!

I'm really excited to be growing up and becoming more independant!

Now all I need is a bed!

Anyone have an extra laying around?

special birthday

Yesterday was a very special day at my house: Heidi's birthday.

Yes...Heidi is the dog - and quite an adorably spastic one, as you can see from the photo!

I don't know how old she is, but I think she's about eight or nine by now. We got her when she was somewhere between one and three years old from an no-kill shelter. The first time my mom went to look at her, Heidi jumped up on her, knocked her down, peed on the floor, and then went over to lick some kittens. :)

Oh my silly puppy!

We knew then, though I don't know why from our first impression, that Heidi was to be a permanent part of our family!

Yesterday my mom and I were at Target and we got her one of those rope bones for $1 as a birthday prize. She really loves it! It's so funny!

She's so sweet!

So happy 8th or so birthday, sweet puppy!

white wedding

Saturday, November 12, 2005.

For the past two years, I always pictured that this would be the day I was going to get married. But I'm definately not married now, nor am I getting married anytime soon.

Isn't it funny what we think is so certain only to realize later it was not to be at all?

trick-or-treat

Here is a picture of my favorite little family in the world! (Well, two of them are missing, but here are some of them.) The little bunny is my Goddaughter, Cecilia! She is one year old now! How big she had gotten. :) They live about a mile away but drove over so I could see their costumes.

If I ever get married and have a family, I want it to be like theirs. They are all so lovely to each other and they're very Catholic!

Jesus, thank you for this wonderful family! May all families model Your Holy Family as this one does!

important national holiday

In case you haven't heard:

TODAY, yes, TODAY, friends is

NATIONAL EDWARD ALONZO'S 25TH BIRTHDAY DAY!

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Have some cake, Edward!

Post offices all over the country will be closed, schools will be taking holiday, and, no, the garbage men will not be stopping by today.

So take a moment to say hello to our friend! Post a freindly comment on his blog or visit his website or bid on his EBay item! Make his day, because he deserves it! (Also you should go to the ebay item and read it anyway because it is HILLARIOUS!)

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDWARD ALONZO! Our nation loves you and is proud to honor you this day!

May God bless you abundantly on this, your special day!

good friend

Today has been a good day as my friend, Saint Faustina, has helped me to meditate on Jesus all day!

Thanks Faustina!

"After each conversation with the Lord, my soul is extraordinarily strengthened, and a profound tranquility prevails therein and gives me such courage that I do not fear anything in the world, but fear only lest I make Jesus sad." from Divine Mercy in my Soul

best dad ever

So I came home tonight to find this note stuck to a can of green beans:

Isn't my dad sweet? He gets so concerned about me because I do not have time to eat dinner on Wednesdays until 9:00pm. He is at Bible study with my mom, so they can't have dinner waiting for me, which I wouldn't expect, but my dad always makes sure there is something for me to eat.

He even barbequed the chicken in the morning in case I had time to come home for dinner on my way from work to school.

He's such a wonderful man - so good to me!!

Jesus, thank you for my Dad!

really excited!

I am so excited because I have been looking for the Shaded Red cd called Red Revolution for about five years now! They are a Christian band of four brothers and one of them was killed in a car accident, so they stopped being a band and stopped selling their cds. It's really sad.

But they are really great and their cd now costs about $45 if you can even find it. BUT last night I found it for $4.99 in an ebay store, which is "buy it now" so I had no bidding competition! I am so excited!

Jesus, thank you for letting me find this cd. I pray that you would bless the men who used to be in Shaded Red, especially the brother who died. May he rest eternally with You in Heaven!

torn

What is wrong with me?
Why do I play these games with you?

Do you think I enjoy it?
--That I derive pleasure from my own disease?

I don't.

I am torn apart each day.
A vulture and a dove
--constantly shredding my mind, my soul, your heart.

What was it you once said?
--filleting my heart on your fickle mind
You said if of her. You say it of me.

And it's true.
And I hate it.

I wish I didn't remind you of her, the things she did.
I wish I could take it back. All of it.

Maybe if we'd never met you would still be whole.
There must be a purpose in it.
But maybe there's not.

I hate that I hurt you.
But I do it anyway.
Forgive me
--if you still can.

But maybe you shouldn't.
--all I do is hurt you.

What is wrong with me? --

happy birthday to my blog

I would just like to note the momentous occassion of my blog turing one year old today! I would also like to take a moment to express my pleasure at the fact that I still update it!

It's BIRTHDAY-TASTIC!

God is good!

single?

Tonight I was in chemistry doing a lab with my lab group of two other girls when one of the guys from another lab group turned around and asked "Are you single?" I just stared at him for a while and then said "...yeesss..." and he was like "Good! So am I!" Now at this time I'm thinking, This is really weird. Some guy who's fifteen years older than me is asking me if I'm single during chemistry? What's going on here? But my thoughts were soon interrupted by him saying "Can I work with you?" And then I realized that he was asking if I had a lab partner, which I didn't...but what a weird way to ask someone if they had anyone to work with!


It didn't work out, though, as he didn't want to work as a group of four, but rather as two groups of two, which my lab group would not hear of.

Oh well.

; )

it's talk like a pirate day!

Ahoy mateys! Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Today is the day when you get to live out the dreams you've always had of having a good excuse to speak in "pirateese" if you will.

Here are some links to pirate fun (although some of it tends to be a tad ronchy):

"Find yer inner pirate"

"Pirate Name Generator"

"English-to-Pirate Translator"

"Pirate Books, Comics, an' stuff"

"Chanteys for Modern Pirates"

and last but not least...

"Stuff for junior pirates"

Above is a picture I made a few years ago for my friend Laura (aka "Ra"). You see, Ra is a very interesting person and loves to have a good time. Well, one day at a friend's birthday party, we were playing volleyball and Laura ended up poking herself in the eye and got a huge blood blister inside of it. (It was pretty nasty looking.) Obviously, she was really embarrassed about it, so the next day she came to Mass with an eyepatch on. But this was not just any eyepatch, it was one from her 5-year-old brother's pirate halloween costume. We all had a good laugh, especially when we went out for breakfast because Ra started acting like a pirate. She has a fairly loud voice anyways, but she began to shout like she was a pirate (because pirates have loud voices) and caused quite a scene at the local grocery store cafeteria.

For the rest of the summer, we were all pirates. Ra gave everyone a pirate name (she was "Pirate," I was "Smee," and my personal favorite - Ashley was "Poison Breath") and pretened to have an invisible parrot named "Black Death" on her shoulder.

So I drew her a picture of "Pirate" for her to remeber the good times.

Also, here are some pictures of Ra in her pirate garb. (The way she's holding her hand in the second picture is supposed to be her "hook."

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In conclusion, talking like a pirate for a day (or a month) be very fun and I highly encourage ye to participate in this wonderful holiday.

Thank ye.

employed!

So I now officially have a job! Thursday night Christina called me saying that her salon needed a receptionist, so I applied Friday afternoon and on Saturday got a call from Mary, who owns the salon, and she said to come in for training on Monday (today). It was pretty funny because she didn't interview me or anything because she trusts Christina so much. So...I am now an official receptionist! (How exciting!) And I also get discounted haircuts, products, perms, color, etc. and free tanning and waxing. (Though I think I'll probably just be sticking with the haircuts and products.)

So hopefully this job will help me prioritize me freetime better, as I'm not so good at that. I already have the initiative to start my homework due Thursday just to make sure I get it done.

Also my dad is on vacation in Virginia right now, and sent me this picture...


Gotta love dads! (especially mine!)

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week!

God bless you!

unfortunate timing

I thought this comic was cute today from Non Sequitur. Enjoy!

baptism by fire

Today I had clinical on an OB floor and it was so wonderful! As soon as I got there my teacher said "Kathleen, can I see you for a minute?" But when I followed her I found out that "a minute" meant "the mom you will be with today is delivering! Here, put on these gloves, this face shield, and hold this leg!"

It was so amazing! I had never seen a baby being born before and this was definately a neat way to experience delivery for the first time! Then I got to stay with mom and baby all day and take care of them. I had no idea what was going on half of the time, though. It was such a learning experience for me!

Rock For Life

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I have always wanted to work labor and delivery and now that I've been there I really love it, but I know that that is a lot of contraception and sterilization involved in OB. It makes me really sad, because my textbook (as well as my whole class) is so "contraception happy." One day we had an hour and a half long discussion about why "abstinence is the dumbest thing in the world" and "why can't they just not teach them about abstinence in schools and just give them the contraception like they want."

w

I know that the "abstinence" that is taught in school is just taught as the most effective method of birth control. I can see how it would not be appealing to teenagers when it is presented as that and then after they talk about abstinence they talk about all of the other forms of contraception and how effective they are and how fun sex is. Presented in that way, I suppose it would not be very effective.

w

And everyone seems to want to have sex before marriage anyways. When my class was having this discussion, I was trying to think of how I would teach my children that abstinence is the best way and I realized that in order to help teens to see this, you have to get to them before the world does. From the time they are little, a love for Jesus, a respect for their bodies, knowledge of the value of purity, and understanding why what the world tells us is a lie would have to be instilled into their minds, hearts, and souls.

w

What grace it must take to be a parent!

w

Jesus, if it is Your will that I become a mother someday, please give me the graces I need - both when I am raising my children, but also now as I prepare for the future and learn about Your truths.

w

Jesus I trust in You.

w

my favorite textbook

So I am now in my second week of classes and things are not going as horribly as I would have expected them to. I was able to get into a chemistry class, which will really help me when I transfer as chemistry is apparently a major pre-requ for most nursing programs. (I always knew DMACC was an odd duck!)

Speaking of odd ducks...attached below is a picture of me wearing my favorite "textbook" (...or at least my favorite thing I had to buy from the school bookstore for class. When I got my chemistry books, the sign that tells you how many textbooks you need for the class said three, but one of them was the goggles). I am also holding a little "prize" my mom brought back for me from her school.


So I am in chemistry and I was also signed up for an online logic class, but my prof seemed a bit forgetful about that class (as in never posted assignments) and when he did write something, it was extremely unspecific, even after being asked for clarification. So I dropped logic last night as I still have 15 credit hours without it. (I only need 12 to be full-time.)

Now that I am only taking three classes at a time, I am going to see about the possiblility of getting a job. There is a knitting shop by my house that seems fun (it's a big pink house), so maybe I'll apply there. But don't expect too much out of this job search. I mostly just want discounted yarn to feed my knitting addiction and Wal-Mart can always supply that for me.

Anyways, I should get back to my homework. I had my first day of clinical today and need to write up a mini report about my day. It was pretty fun. I was nervous at first as I was going to be the only one there from my class (my teacher was only going to show up for a few minutes at the end of the day) and I felt like I had no idea what was going on/what I was supposed to be doing. It was all good, though. I ended up "rooming" patients, which basically means taking them to the back, getting their vitals/height/weight/etc, taking them to their rooms, and asking them about the purpose of their visit/any concerns they had. I felt pretty confident with that by the end of the day.

So tomorrow I'll be ready for OB! (Hopefully I'll get to see a delivery!) I get to do newborn assessments and a postpartum assessment of the mamas.

I feel a lot better about this having had one day.

I hope you all are having a wonderful day!

God bless you!

transfer?

So it's been a while, but let me update you a bit on what's been going on...

From August 10 - August 23, I had been working at the Iowa State Fair at Stockman's Inn. It was pretty fun, although the last few days got really hectic as most of the waitresses went back to college. We started out with about 6 or 7 waitresses for each shift, and the last day we had 3. It was pretty hectic and I ended up breaking down and sobbing in front of my boss for 20 minutes after I forgot about 2 tables and one of them let me know of their displeasure.

Lots of pigs at the fair

But that's over now and I think I'll work there next year again. I just won't work any 11am - 1am shifts anymore. (I worked three of them in a row right before the end of the fair.) My usual shift was 9am - 5pm, which I much preferred.

After the fair was over, I started trying to find a roommate up in Ames so I could feel like I was having somewhat of a typical college life (minus the binge drinking/whatever else people think of automatically when someone says "typical college life"). Then my friend Kim called and said she needed a roommate too, so we started looking for apartments in Des Moines (not Ames at all), but this search has turned out to be fruitless and frustrating. Apparently, there is such a thing called "Section 42" which means "low-income." And if you are a full-time student you are not allowed to live in this type of housing. (Even though being full-time and jobless makes me have a negative income.) But maybe this is for the best...

...Because I have been thinking more and more about transferring to another school. I have over the past year been realizing how much I really don't like DMACC and how much I wish that I had never gone there. So I decided to look into transferring to a university (preferably Catholic) with a nursing program. So far I've found Marquette in Milwaukee, WI and Catholic University of America in Washington, DC and Regis in Denver, CO. I requested more information from all of them and am still looking. If anyone has any suggestions, that would be lovely.

And I do feel a lot better now...there's just the issue of letting Kim know that I probably won't be getting an apartment with her because of the possibility of transferring. Hopefully that goes well and I don't loose the few friends that I have now.

But all will come in God's beautiful will, and I just have to be patient. He will reveal the right path to me, so I have nothing to fear!

Jesus, thank You for Your plans for my life. Help me to hear Your call and to follow You wherever you go!

Jesus, I trust in You!

home

Hey everyone! So I'm home now from my summer adventures! Yesterday my mom and sister and I drove up to Minneapolis, MN to go to the Mall of America for a fun "end of the summer girl's night out." It was pretty fun (except everyone got cranky at times - which I have come to expect). Because NET is based out of St. Paul, MN, I know my way around there fairly well, as I lived around there for part of my life. So last night around 10pm or so my mom wanted to go out for ice cream and champagne. I only knew where the grocery stores were by the NET center, though, so I drove over there and we went to Cub Foods and got three pints of ice cream. We tried to find champagne, but apparently Minnesota can only sell stuff like that in special liquor stores. So we got pina colada wine coolers instead, which weren't very good. After that we spent the night wacthing "Addams Family Values" at the hotel with our mini feast. All in all is was a pretty good little vacation.
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And I got this lovely tshirt at Urban Outfitters [shown above] to show off my Catholic pride! Woo woo!

Other than that, I start working at the Iowa State Fair tomorrow!

I hope you all have a lovely day!

God bless you!

finally!

So it's been a while since I've written anything on here...

Today is my last full day here in Virginia before I head back home to Iowa. It has been a good summer - difficult at times - but I have had a good time.

Each morning after my aunt's school got out, we went waterskiing at 7am and then I got to go to Mass at 9am! Such a great way to start the morning! I learned to ski on two skis, then I learned to ski with another person at the same time, and this week (after trying for three days) I was able to get up on one ski! (see photo below!) I think I've found my favorite sport of all time! ;)

Last weekend I also got to drive up to Long Island to visit one of my NET teammates, Annie. That was a really good time! We went to a beach by her house on the Long Island Sound and collected a lot of beach glass, which was nice. We also took a ferry up to Connecticut on Sunday so that we could get there (where she lives now - her parents live in Long Island) in time for church and youth group. (She's the youth minister/DRE at her church.) I also made tortillas for her! That was great as it has never been successful for me before.

Then a couple of days later, my aunt and I drove out to Fenwick Island, DE to visit my second cousins at their beach houses. We only stayed one night, but it was long enough for us to go to the boardwalk in Ocean City, MD. It brought back many fun childhood memories as this is where my family went each summer when I was growing up and these were the cousins I spent my time with.

Hmmm... what else? Oh yes! I had my 21st birthday and my family flew out to celebrate with me! That was really wonderful. When they were here we also took a daytrip down to Virginia Beach. It was fun because they had these "no profanity" signs that were like the "no parking" red circle with "@#%$&*" inside of it. I thought it was cute. They had them all over.

Well, with that I am going to get going. I hope that you have a wonderful day! God bless you all!

Jesus, thank you for this wonderful summer, full of its joys and trials. I pray that you would help me to take from it what You want me to learn and help me to follow You more faithfully each day. You're the best ever!

cleansing - ma - fire!

So today I got to go to CONFESSION for the first time since I left Des Moines! It was so so so so wonderful! The priest at the church here is so wonderfully holy and he just encouraged me so much. Confessing to him helped me to realize how much Jesus loves me, even in my sin and wretchedness. I was so happy to be able to go!

Thank you, Jesus for the precious gift of Reconciliation and holy priests! YOU are faithful, my beautiful Savior!

almost done

So my aunt is almost done with school now, which is really nice. I cannot believe how long they had to be here this year! I've already had two months of summer and theirs is just beginning. It seems surreal that the 4th of July is just a week away and the last day of school was Friday.
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Other than that, I've been working on sewing and knitting projects. I made Lara (my cousin's wife) a knitting needle holder. I really like it a lot! The idea for it came to me in a knitting book that she lent to me while I was learning to do cable knit. They have a lot of patterns to make things in there that I thought were really fun, and I saw two different knitting needle holder patterns. One of them I really liked was not very functional as it was a rolling case and the other was very functional as it hangs on a hanger, but it was rather ugly. So I incorporated the two ideas and made my own! It is really quite super!
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I am excited because Lara really loves it, it can hold several different types and sizes of needles, and I made it without a pattern. (I haven't done that before except from when I made purses, pillows, dolls, or doll dresses as a small child.)
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So everything has been going well. This Thursday I go back to Des Moines for a week to go to Margaret's wedding! (She was my youth minister/hero back in high school - and hero still today!) I am so excited for her and for Charles.
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And now I'm off to help my aunt with more paperwork!
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Have a lovely day!
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God bless you!
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reading again

Hey everyone! I'm not dead! I've just been very busy with helping my Aunt at her school!

So things have been going pretty well. I got to see some people who were on NET with me, Anne, Chris Hirniak, and Brianna Duffy, on Monday night as they drove up the east coast from Georgia. (Two of their teammates got married to each other this past weekend.) It was so wonderful to be able to serve them and see them! I am very pleased that they were able to make it up.

And Annie was even able to spend the night, so we spent Tuesday morning boating and swimming and skiing and water tubing on the creek. It was so much fun! She is such a wonderful woman and I was so happy to spend time with her!

Life Giving Love by Kimberly Hahn

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So I finished reading Love and Responsibility yesterday and today have started Life Giving Love again. I just felt like I needed a little renewal of the beauty of the procreative aspect of love, now that I am renewed on what love is and is not, thanks to our friend, Karol Wojtyla.

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Tonight I am going to "Operafest" at the University of Mary Washington with my aunt and uncle. They are performing several different songs from several different operas. It will be a lot of fun!

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bargain hunter

So I am coming back to Des Moines for the first week in July for my friend Margaret's wedding! My aunt is so grateful for my help that she bought me a plane ticket! It is so lovely of her!

Today I went to an outlet mall to get a dress for Margaret's wedding. I ended up finding a really lovely little red dress as well as this green coat. (Don't worry, I won't wear them together.)

Other than that today was pretty good. I taught a ninth grader some math, which was fun. He is such a sweet person! He just moved here from Somalia and had never been to school before. He is learning everything so quickly! I love it when he gets excited after figuring something out!

That's about all! Have a great day!

head up the nose

So let me update you on how everything has been going. My Aunt, Uncle and Cousins had a good time at the wedding in Santa Fe, NM. Below is a picture of my cousin Dave entertaining his sister Ellen's daughter Jessie.

And I had a good time with my grandma last weekend. We just relaxed the rest of the weekend as she was pretty worn out from all of the shopping we did on Saturday and Sunday. She had a good time showing off her "namesake" (that would be me) to all of her friends.

This past week I went into my Aunt's school with her and helped her get a lot of paperwork done. It was nice to be useful and to help her.

On Thursdays at my Grandma's place they have Mass for the residents, and so my aunt suggested that I go out there to surprize my Grandma. I did and was so happy that I could! The residents were all every excited to see a young person there, and my grandma was pretty surprized. One man told me that there is a tradition that the youngest person does the readings and asked how old I was. I told him that I was 107 and everyone thought that was the funniest thing it the world.

I am super happy because I have been able to go to Mass a lot lately! And last night a church was having adoration too! Oh! I was so wonderful to go. And I realized how spoiled I had been with perpetual adoration at my church in Des Moines.

Well, I should go help my family with yardwork now. I hope you all have a very nice day!

Congratualtions on graduation today, Emily!

God bless you!

orange shoes

Hey all!

I am at my Grandma's house for the weekend, and we are having a good time together. Yesterday we went shopping for most of the day. First of all, we went to Wal Mart where I purchased six balls of yarn to make a baby blanket for my Goddaughter, Cecilia. Hopefully it will be done by or before her first birthday.

Then, my grandma wanted to buy me some "boating shoes," so we went to Payless and I got some tennis shoes. BUT... it was their BOGO (buy one get one half off) sale, so she also bought me some orange sandals that I love and have been wearing ever since. They were only $5! Super deal. :)

Today we went to 9am Mass and then we had brunch, which is a big deal where she lives. It was very fancy and everyone was dressed in their Sunday Best. Good food, too.

When I was at Mass, the song sheet said that Thomas Aquinas wrote Mass music for the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. I was super excited because I thought that we were going to use that music, which is beautiful, but we didn't. We used some music that someone wrote in 1993. I was a bit dissappointed. But Jesus was still there, so it was ok.

Well, I'd better get back to my knitting! ;)

I'll send a picture of my shoes and the blanket along when I get a chance.

God bless you all! Have a wonderful Memorial day!

hammock

Today I dropped my Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins off at the airport and then went to my Grandma's house for the weekend. I am teaching her how to make address labels on the computer, and she is doing a really good job. I also want to teach her how to open attachments on emails so she can see the pictures we send her. So I was going to save a picture onto her computer so I could send it in an email when I found this picture of my Grandfather who died in 2002...

I just thought it was a really neat picture so I decided to show you all.

Tomorrow I get to go to Mass in the morning and then I get to go shopping with my Grandma. (She wants to buy me boating shoes.)

:)

Happy 21st birthday to John Rigsby tomorrow!

God bless you!

midnight gardening

Two days ago I went to spend the night at my cousin Dave and his wife Lara's house. We went to see "Kung Fu Hustle." I thought it was a fairly good movie, aside from all of the violence. But it had a pretty good message. Lara and I were covering our eyes at the same times, though, which I thought was pretty funny!

Today when I woke up my uncle took me out in the sailboat and taught me how to sail! It was a lot of fun! At first I was kind of afraid when gusts of wind tried to tip the boat, but my uncle told me that it wouldn't tip over, so I became less afraid. It was very fun!

After lunch, I called a bunch of restaurants in the area to see if they were hiring waitresses for summer only and then went out to get some applications. I was going to try to work as a CNA, but apparently I have to get my Iowa license transfered over to Virginia. It is not that hard, but I am not sure if I want to be a CNA badly enough to go through all of that.

After dinner, my aunt and I planted some flowers in the backyard! (see above) It was fun to plant in the dark! I am excited to see all fo the flowers grow, but I am most excited about the cucumber and yellow squash that I planted! :) Yay for veggies!

Tomorrow I'll drop my aunt, uncle, and cousins off at the airport because they're going to a wedding in Santa Fe, NM, so I'll spend the weekend with my Grandma.

Have a lovely day! God bless you!

boating jobs

So the past few days have been a bit slower here in Virginia. I spent most of the weekend boating and hanging out with my family. I also went to Wal Mart with my aunt and got some flowers for her garden. I am pretty excited to help her plant them! We also got cucumber and yellow squash plants! I love those vegetables so much! I'm pretty excited about it all!

Yesterday my cousin David came over and we all went boating. Below is a picture of my aunt's dog, Bailey, sitting on my Grandma's lap. It was cute because after we left Baliey got shooed off of Grandma's lap, so she sat on me the whole ride. :)

After boating Dave, Chris, and I played ultimate frisbee. I wasn't super good at throwing the frisbee, so they were trying to teach me. I got a bit better, but not too much. Then we made ham and cheese crepes for dinner. It was pretty fun to help them cook! My Grandma, aunt and I also made a chocolate creme pie, but we left it on the stove when the crepes were in the oven, so the pie was very melty. I had mine drizzled over ice cream. :)

Today I woke up and called the hospital in Fredericksburg whereI had applied, but they said that they were not going to hirepeople just for the summer. So I looked in the paper andsaw a want-ad for CNAs at a long-term care facility. I calledover there and they told me to come over and fill out an application, so I did. The receptionist told me that she wouldgive it to the hiring people and they would call me "very soon,"so we'll have to see what that means.

Then I went to my Grandma's house for dinner to celebratemy Grandpa's birthday. Now I am spending the night at myGrandma's and am going to my aunt's school tomorrow.

AND I GET TO GO TO MASS TOMORROW!!!! I'm so happy about that! ;)

Well, dear and faithful readers, I am going to go talk to Jesus and "hit the hay!" I hope you all sleep well!

God bless you!

un-lethal mowing

So I am having a great time in Virginia. Yesterday I went fishing and sailing with my family, which was a lot of fun. My Grandma kept telling me to put on sunscreen also. At first she told me to put some on my hands and face, then my feet, then my shoulders. So I did, but I got burned on my forearms because I didn't put any sunscreen on there. :)

Then last night we had a memorial dinner for my Grandpa who died August 12, 2002 (the day I left for NET). We made foods that he would have liked to eat, told fun Grandpa stories, and read about his life out of the family geneology. It was very nice. My Aunt said that they do something like this every year around his birthday to celebrate his life. I think my Grandma really appreciates it.

Today I woke up early to go fishing wiht my dad and uncle right off of the dock. When I first got there, my dad caught a 14"-16" large mouth bass named Jake. The above is a picture of my dad pretending that I caught it. I caught three little (3"-6" or so) fish, but nothing this morning. Oh well! But don't worry, we threw Jake back.

For lunch we went to a crab shack called Tim's II. It was really fun. We took the motor boat out there across the river.

Then my dad and Grandma left, starting my summer off with just me and my Aunt (Molly), Uncle (John), and Cousin (Chris).

After that my uncle taught me how to use a riding lawn mower. It was quite possibly one of the funnest things I've ever done in my entire life! :) Now, I've never mowed a lawn in my entire life because my dad was always afraid that I'd run my foot over or kill myself, but neither happened. *Praise God!*

So now I'm off to call the hospital to see if I can get myself a job as a CNA for the summer!

Have a wonderful day!

God bless you all!

how not to get drunk

So today I went to my aunt's school and helped her teach her ESL class. It was so amazing because as soon as I walked into the room all of the students just loved me. (I even had one proposal! But don't expect to get a wedding invitation anytime soon!) The only other time I've walked into a group of young people and felt so loved and accepted was the last time I came to her class four or five years ago. It was amazing and I think it has a great deal to do with their teacher. ;)

We discussed prejudice and went over some essays they had written on the subject. One of the girls wrote something about how prejudice is not just in America but is all over the world. That made me really think so I asked them if they could think about the prejudice in their home countries, even remembering times they discriminated and pre-judged other people. Then I had them reflect upon how they are discriminated against now and how prejudice is so situational and hurtful. It was a good day.

Now I am sitting in my Grandma's living room with my dad, aunt, and Grandma drinking a vodka and tonic with lemon (or cure for malaria, scurvy, and bacterial infections as my dad puts it). I am super greatful that Manuel told me that when you drink alcohol you should sip it so you don't get drunk. (Because if I didn't know that I probably would resort to to chugging like I do with every other kind of drink - e.g. milk, etc.) THAT would not be the best way to start my summer-long visit to Virginia.

Tonight we are all eating dinner in the cafeteria at my Grandma's home and tomorrow I'm going fishing with my dad, uncle, and cousin. Then we're going to have a memorial dinner for my late Grandfather on Wednesday night with all of his favorite foods and his favorite desert!

Have a great day!

in virginia: not dying

So I called the doctor today and he told me that the thyroid, liver, kidney, blood glucose, and blood count tests came out normal as well as the CT scan. So I'm not dying. I just have migranes.

Also I got to Virginia today. But...I am super tired now and will write more tomorrow.

God bless you!

Kat :)

let's hope this cathches on

You have to love is when politicians speak the truth (although he is more than a politician). Read this very interesting article from Renew America and EWTN.

Keyes on abortion and same-sex marriage

In an interview that was broadcast April 26 on the Global Catholic Network (EWTN), Alan Keyes said that abortion and same-sex marriage are natural extensions of society’s widespread acceptance of contraception.

By divorcing marital relations from the possibility of having children, Keyes said, society has spawned an ethic that not only sanctions abortion (because producing children is deemed undesirable and irrelevant to sexual relations), but supports same-sex marriage--which centers in sexual activity without the possibility of procreation.

The more that sexual activity has become deliberately separated from procreation, Keyes observed, “Homosexuals will step forward and say, ‘Well, if marriage is just about pleasure and personal fulfillment and the relationship of the persons involved, we can do that.’”

Same premise, same logic.

Keyes noted that the real cause of such absurdity is that God’s plan for marriage--which, according to scripture, centers in procreation--has been too-often removed from the sexual relationship.

Take the divine purpose from the relationship, he said, and you end up with a rationale that favors same-sex marriage:

“Once we start to turn our backs on the real meaning of sexual relations, we gut the real meaning of marriage. As a result, the institution is destroyed in its very concept, because we have turned our back on God’s plan.”

fire of God, undying flame

Today at Mass, the following was our offeratory hymn. I especially like verse three. If you click on the link, you can hear the music as well.

Fire of God, undying Flame

--1.Fire of God, undying Flame, Spirit who in splendor came,
----let your heat my soul refine, till it glows with love divine.

--2.Breath of God, that swept in power in the Pentecostal hour,
----holy Breath, be now in me source of vital energy.

--3.Strength of God, your might within conquers sorrow, pain and sin.
----Fortify from evil's art all the gateways of my heart.

--4.Truth of God, your piercing rays penetrate my secret ways.
----May the light that shames my sin guide me holier paths to win.

--5.Love of God, your grace profound knows not either age or bound.
----Come, my heart's own guest to be; dwell forevermore in me.

no cape

When I was on NET, we went to the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, and I kept seeing billboards like this one:

Be A Superhero!

I thought they were super funny. If you click on the link above you'll see three more of them.

Today the vocations director for my diocese (Diocese of Des Moines) spoke at Mass and told us about his discernment journey and encouraged us to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, both for ourselves and for others. He also handed out cards similar to the ones above that say "Good guys wear black." It reminded me of these bumper stickers, so I decided to show you all.

Have a wonderful day and pray for vocations to serve God's holy Church!

redirected

Today at Mass when I was in line for Communion, there were two 3-year-old twin girls holding hands next to me. They kept looking all around the church and getting distracted and talking to each other and their father. Their dad kept having to redirect their attention to walking straight ahead in the Communion line.

I feel like those little girls. I am so often distracted by the unimportant things in life, and God has to continually redirect my attention to walking towards Him. Seeing the father's gentleness, however, reassured me of the Father's tender compassion for me. I know I shall never be abandoned to wander off on my own, but He will keep pointing me back to the true goal.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. Hebrews 12: 1-2

have to get me one of these

So I just went to the grocery store to fill my prescription and I was definately shocked. The pharmacist handed me a really fat prescription bottle and I was thinking Great! I get migranes almost every day, or at least once a week, so there should be a lot of pills in there since they're super little.

Yeah...so it definately had SIX individually wrapped pills in it. And the best part? It cost $100.72! :-/ Hence my need for this little guy:

Large Funny Money Bank

Actually, it isn't that bad, and God bless our health insurance, because I only had to pay $15 for it and the insurance covered the rest. But Jesus help whoever doesn't have health insurance and suffers from chronic migranes.

God bless America! Oye!

now that's love

My mom and dad just left in my dad's 1953 XK120 Jaguar to go on a garage tour with their British car club. When my mom went to get in the car I saw that she was carrying a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with her. (Let's just think for a moment about how messy those kinds of sandwiches can be.) I saw an apprehensive look on my dad's face, but he didn't say anything. He loves her more than he loves the car! :)

The above is a picture of my neighbor's father in my dad's car.

When I saw that, I thought, Now that's love.

beautiful morning

I went to Confession this morning at St. Theresa's and went into their little Eucharistic chapel behind the altar to do my penanace. I had never actually been back there since they remodeled it, and it was so beautiful! It was very simple and peaceful. Then I was outside and saw a little grotto with a statue of the Holy Family and realized that there are so many beautiful little corners in churches, we just seem to be too busy to appreciate them most of the time.

On my way home I drove by my friend Angel's house and saw her and her boyfriend Greg carrying Angel's college stuff inside. So I parked on the street and ran up and sat in the back of the van to surprize them when they came back outside. It was fun. :)

I also got to meet Lampshade, Angel's rat who can do tricks. :)

And last night I went to the Mahler's house with Dana and we hung out with Paul and his family until we were all too tired to stay up anymore.

Now I'm off to the store to get my prescription filled!

Have a lovely day!

God bless you all!

extremely uneventful

Today I had to get a CT scan because I've been experiencing chronic migranes for several years now. I went to the doctor thinking that I may have allergies or something as the headaches are much worse/frequent in the summer, but instead I got a prescription to Maxalt, some blood work, and an appointment for a CT scan.

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CT Scan

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So I went down to the hospital for my appointment. I was kind of really excited to get the dye injected into me (I've never had an IV before) and then to see all of the equiptment that was going to be used for the proceedure as I really had no idea what a CT scan was like. But when I got there, the CT technition told me that she would not be injecting the dye, even though my doctor ordered it, and the entire proceedure took less than five minutes with no explaination of anything.

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Needless to say, I was dissappointed.

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I was actually pretty upset by it, but then Jesus helped calm me down in Adoration (as usual), so I am alright now.

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Oh yes, by the way...there is probably no need to worry about the fact that I had a CT scan as it was just done to rule out the possibility of brain cancer. (Just like the blood work was done to rule out the possibility of other things like fatigue, anemia, diabetes, etc.)

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So once again, I'm probably not going to die. :)

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martyrdom

Wednesday night I had a dream that I was in a dark building with some people and that if I stood in front of a window I was going to be shot. Somehow in my dream I knew that I was supposed to be a martyr and that this was how God wanted me to go. Yet I was so afraid of the pain of being shot that I refused to let it happen to me.

Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence

It made me sad to realize that I wanted more to avoid pain than to become a martyr for God. I want to be able to love God so much that I would gladly die for him. After all, this is what Jesus did for us. He loved us more than He wanted to avoid pain. And love is painful - if we look at the Cross - sometimes we have to sacrifice ourselves, our will, our desires for those we love.

Yet there still seems to be so much to loose.

But there is so much to gain.

smart women

I saw this picture and it made me super happy. It makes me so sad when women (as well as men) gripe and complain about how they want women's ordination and how they are dissapointed in the election of Pope Benedict XVI because he will not even consider "options" like this.

Very Smart Women

God bless America and all defenders of the Truth!

constructive criticism

Today during his homily, Fr. Emmanuel was talking about how Paul, in today's first reading, was being persecuted for doing what was right and how the world is full of darkness. This darkness is also in each one of us because of our tendancy to sin, and when someone shines light into the darkness, we often feel exposed and humiliated, so we may try to stop the light.

He spoke of how we are so bad at taking constructive criticism, even though we know the other is right and that we do need to change.

Change, after all, can be very frightening. It seems much more comfortable to sit in sin, participating in the defliement of our souls than to come into the light and be cleansed.

Well, this spoke to my heart, because Manuel and I were having a conversation very similar to this yesterday. And I know that I really stink at admiting when I am wrong. Blaming others - anyone but myself - seems much easier than admiting that I am wrong and imperfect.

It's funny how God works.

Lord, please humble be to be able to accept that I am not always right. Help me to realize that the criticism of others touches me so strongly because I need to change. Give me the grace to follow You to perfection more and more every day.

Accept whatever befalls you, in crushing misfortune be patient; For in fire gold is tested, and worthy men in the crucible of humiliation. Sirach 2: 4-5

locks of love

So Manuel and I look a bit different now. We both just got our hair cut for locks of love on Tuesday...see below....

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Manuel cut 13" off and I cut off 12"! It was super funny to see Manuel looking so horrified the whole time that they were cutting my hair only to realize that it was not terrible at the end. :) And he especially looked frightened when they cut his hair!

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God bless whoever gets our hair! Help him/her to get better soon!

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short and skinny

Today I was checking my email and a couple of links to articles caught my attention. One was called Am I too short to date women? and the other was called Is my guy too skinny? Of course I wanted to read them as I seem to have a trend for dating skinny, sometimes short guys. (See photo below of one of my best friends Paul and I when we were dating in high school. Just ignore the fact that we're matching. It was not intentional.)

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So I read the articles and they kinda made me laugh. The first one actually was kind of sad because this 5'4" guy said, "I’m a great catch: I’m thirtysomething, I make a six-figure income, I’m well-educated, outgoing, and have a wide range of interests." I love how after his age he put his income. And while all of this has to do with him, it doesn't really tell us too much about who he is. But this is what the world thinks is important.

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In the second article, a woman was saying that her friend who wants to date her is too short (when she has heels on) and too skinny for her.

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Basically, both of the people who replied to them said "looks aren't everything," although the woman from the second article basically yelled at the girl and told her she was being selfish, superficial, and stupid not to date a guy just because he's skinny.

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So while it is important to find the person you are dating attractive, it is not the most important part by any means. Take a look at the above photo again...if I had not wanted to date Paul because he was skinnier than me or shorter than me (at least the same height, but probably shorter), I would not have gotten to know him as well as I did and we would not be good friends now. He's a really great guy and I'm grateful for the time I spent getting to know him in high school. Again, looks aren't everything. But don't take my word for it...

Let's see what our good friend Karol Wojtyla has to say about this in Love and Responsibility.

In the section called "Love as Attraction," Wojtyla writes mostly of attraction to the person's soul, not to qualities about them. But he also mentions physical attraction...

"The appreciation of beauty goes together with the appreciation of values, as though there was in each of them a 'supplementary' aesthetic value... Beauty finds its prober place in the context of attraction... We should, however, recall here that a human being is a person, a being whose nature is determined by his or her 'inwardness'. It is therefore necessary to discover and to be attracted by the inner as well as the outer beauty, and perhaps indeed to be more attracted by the former than by the latter... This attraction on which this love is based must originate not just in a reaction to visible and physical beauty, but also in a full and deep appreciation of the beauty of the person." (pp. 79-80, emphasis added.)

So there you have it, straight from the mouth of our beloved Pope John Paul II (when he was still Auxiliary Bishop of Cracow)...looks aren't everything.