I know some of y'all are curious about what happened when my bestie (D) was visiting (from last Thursday through yesterday) after my last blog post. Well, let's say that the days flew by way too quickly... and was pleasantly surprised more than once. Here's a recap some of my adventures...:
On Friday we met up with Bobbi from Revolution of Love Blog, Micaela from California to Korea, Kendra from Catholic All Year, and Meaghan from Happily Hoxsey for a viewing of Little Boy at the local movie theater. It was my first time meeting these lovely ladies in person, though I'm positive I've seen Kendra and her family at Mass before. Since these ladies are either fellow locals or were in town for the Catholic Women Blogging Network Conference and I had to pull out of the conference when I found of my D's schedule, I was glad to be able to at least watch this film with them. The movie (which will get its own review later this week) was a great pick to watch with these inspiring women. Lots of tears shed but lots of hugs and smiles all around.
On Saturday morning, D and I picked up Andrea from Modern Catholic Mom from the airport, which was great because I hadn't met Andrea before that day. Though I had pulled out of the conference, I still offered my services picking up anyone who needed a ride to the conference since it was being held very close to where I live. I loved listening to Andrea talking about the Church forefathers on the car ride to the conference and it made me a little sad that I would be missing her (and the rest of the speakers') presentations.
After dropping her off, we headed to Mission San Fernando. I wanted D to experience the Mission (which is a favorite place of mine when I want to get away from the chaos) and she wanted to shoot some new author pictures for me so we killed two birds with one stone. :D We had fun walking around the Mission. She was really soaking it all in and I even pointed out the parts of the Mission that I'd written about in When Two Worlds Collide.
Once we were done with the self-guided tour of the Mission (I could give them in my sleep), D took some professional pictures for future novels and articles. Monsignor Francis Weber walked by as I was fixing my hair near his office. He just smiled and paid me a lovely compliment. I never know what to do when I receive compliments so I'm sure I turned bright red and became a little shy. I wouldn't be surprised if that'll show in the photos. (side note: I'm honestly unsure if I'm going to use them on the blog or social media since I do love the little bit of anonymity that I have.)
Later that day mom and I headed to confession with D. I was wondering if I had to explain our beliefs on that since D and her family don't do it but I didn't have to. We did have a conversation about the saint statues and portraits we have around the living room. I admitted to her that I was a bit nervous about it because we've had other non-Catholic friends visit and they look at the statues with disdain. Of course she was great about it and if she didn't understand how we Catholics view saints, our Blessed Mother, or why we have statues, she does now. :D
I was feeling tired on Sunday morning so we slept in and attended a later Mass than usual. Since D gave me two mantillas for my birthday, I wore one to Mass. I was pleasantly surprised to hear D participating in Mass. She used the missal to follow along, singing, responding, and praying along with the rest of us. I had to keep myself from tearing up. It really touched me that she did all of this because she knew it was important to me. :)
If I took anything from this weekend (and the rest of her visit) is how incredibly blessed and grateful I am to have her in my life. We've been friends for nearly a decade (we actually met in the early days of my reversion) and we've always had differing beliefs but that's never been an issue in our friendship. She understood when I had to take some solo time to do my morning and evening prayers (yes, I was able to finish some of the novenas I was doing, pray the Rosary on a daily basis, and go on with my usual prayer schedule) and I understood when she wanted to take some time to do her devotionals and Bible studies.
Everything that happened this weekend (what I've written about and other things I've decided to keep to myself) made me want to get closer to God as well. It made me more excited about starting grad school, to learn even more about the faith, and to eventually share it with others. I actually feel the same joy and excitement that I felt in the early days of my reversion. I'm incredibly grateful for D's friendship, the camaraderie within the Catholic ladies blogging world, and where I am at this point in my life.
Though some unexpected things came up this past weekend that are making me question some things (in a good way; all vocation related), I feel like it's something that is long overdue. I also have an intense desire to spend more time parked in front of the tabernacle and in Adoration, which is not a bad thing. I guess we'll just have to see what new adventures God will have lined up for me in the near future. ;)
Anyway, that's the "in a nutshell" recap of my weekend. I feel like I'm going to need the rest of this week into the weekend just to recharge. lol. What? I'm an introvert; I get drained easily and I put more miles into my car in five days than I probably do in 6 months. lol.
I hope y'all had a great weekend and are having a great week thus far. :D
As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D
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