England Bound?; Papa Bene and the 'Net; Missing Mass, Faith.

See? I'm keeping my promise of another post today. :D I'm sort of in an extremely giddy mood which I'm trying to contain. No one wants it to spill into the post. lol. I'm just really happy because I got to see both of my Godmothers (my Baptism Godmother and my First Communion Godmother/God sister) as well as my God brother. (ed. note: If you're not familiar with the terminology... God sister is the daughter of your Godmother, God brother is the son of your Godmother). I love them all and it's sad I only get to see them like once a year. But still, the fact that I saw them... and that they support my decision to finish my B.A. degree outside the U.S. made me even happier.

Speaking of studying outside the U.S... A few days ago I received a package from Bath Spa University in Bath, England. I had completely forgotten about that school (which I was originally going to attend almost 3 years ago) until I received the package. I guess they really want to me to attend school out there. It's now a new option for me, and it's making my decision as to where I'll transfer to a little more interesting. I honestly feel more at home out there than I do here but I've got a lot of other things to consider. I have another school (my dream school) I am applying to this coming next month. If I get accepted there... I'll be over the moon. I've been dreaming about attending this university for years now. It's in Canada, so I can always fly back home during breaks without much problem. I won't say what university it is (yet) because I'm weird like that. :D I hope that the next time I mention this school I'll have good news. If you guys can please pray that the Holy Spirit helps me figure out where I'm supposed to finish my degree, that would be awesome. As I said, I have my dream school... but if the Lord doesn't want me there, I won't go. Fingers crossed it's Up North. ;) If not, England or staying here won't be too bad. :D Ah, decisions, decisions...

One easy decision, though, is subscribing to Papa Bene's YouTube account! (P.S. I don't mean to disrespect Pope Benedict XVI by calling him Papa Bene, it's just a term of endearment I have for him... just like "JP2 We Love You"). Before I took my mini-sabbatical from the 'net (well, computer), I subscribed to his/the Vatican's channel. I think it's amazing that he's doing this. :D I kind of makes me giggle (yes, I giggle. lol) a little that this came a couple of days after I wrote my post about Catholicism and Technology. I might have to edit it (when I have time) and add all these news things. I love that Papa Bene understands that the 'net is a great way to proclaim our faith. Yes, it has its fall backs as well, but think of all the good things we can do on here. :D As he said, we can use Facebook, XT3, YouTube, GodTube (which is apparently changing its name soon), our own blogs, websites, etc. to really connect with other Catholics around the world. If you want to read Papa Bene's entire message regarding Catholicism and Technology, please click here. It's a little long but well worth it! I truly hope that he's able to do a lot of good with his new ways of communicating. There are a lot of confusions (*cough*and brainwashing*cough*) that's spread out in the World Wide Web and hopefully more and more young people return to the Church.

And, speaking of returning to the Church, I am about to return myself! I haven't gone to Mass in the past 3 weeks. I haven't even gone to confessions in over a month and a half either. The reasons why, in a nutshell, were anxiety one week, stomach issues another, and cold induced pain the last week. :( I HATE HATE HATE being away from the Church. I absolutely abhor it with every fiber of my being. And I hated that I felt myself being pulled away, as well. It's the most uncomfortable thing in the world to be in that situation -- loving the Church and knowing what is wrong and right, and being tempted to rebel against some things. I won't say that I didn't slip up a little bit, because I did. I'm not perfect but I can try to live my life as faithfully as I can, which is what I try to do. Again, we all make mistakes and I'm happy to say that I didn't (and still don't) feel good about the mistakes I made. At least that means that I didn't stray and like it. Imagine if I did... *shudders* I'm in the process of finishing both books on Blessed Pier Giorgio to hopefully get myself in the right mind frame again. They are. :D

Before I end this blog, I will now like to clarify a few things. I know some of you guys follow me on Twitter. Though I took a break from the 'net, I did update it through my iPod so that no one worries about how I'm doing. (I have amazing friends who will go nutty if I don't check in with them on an almost daily basis). A couple of updates mentioned Will, either by name or it was implied that it was him. The whole thing about him picking me up, throwing me over his shoulder, and dragging me away from a book was strictly business and for the novel. Any mentions of him from now on (though I believe there will be no more) are purely for the novel. A decision was made that having him in my life is no longer healthy for me and everything that was on twitter was just some loose ends that needed to be tied, as well as some things that needed to be done for the novel. I still love the guy for everything he did for me and I no absolutely NO ill will towards him. I just got to the point where I had to decide what was more important for me: my faith and love of God, or someone who will always be fondly thought of for everything he did for me. This will not affect anything in the novel because, remember, it's not completely autobiographical and the ending was always going to be different from the real one. This also doesn't mean Will and Lina will end up together at the end. You'll just have to wait and read. :D

Alright, I think I should give your poor eyes a break. :D I will hopefully have a busy day tomorrow, like I did today, so I should try to get as much rest as I am able to get. :D

As always, thanks for reading and God Bless. :D

Fasting, Niceness and England.

Well... I did it. I fasted longer than I did last weekend, and it ended in tears. I... am... weak! lol. I tried to hold out as long as I could but about 2 hours ago I just started crying because I was so hungry and hunger apparently makes me emotional. lol. Yeeaah. It's kinda funny. lol. I ate twice earlier today but I just ate to have food in my stomach. I didn't actually eat until I was full. It sucks that all the food in the house either a) makes me sick because I'm allergic to it or b) is meat. Actually, there's a long story there but it's kinda personal so, not going there. :D Anyway, I am going to be SO HAPPY when I get to go vegan/vegetarian shopping tomorrow -- that means I will be grocery shopping at organic stores that specialize in foods for vegans/vegetarians. ABOUT STINKIN' TIME! lol. Okay, I'm going to change topics because I still have like 10 hours before I go shopping and I am still hungry here!

Today was a lovely day and people were being super nice to me for some reason. Not just people I know... but complete strangers. I had the door opened for me by a total stranger, which was nice. What I thought was super nice was the fact that he saw me heading for the door, rushed ahead of me to open it for (he was in another section), and once I was out he went back in the direction he was originally going in. That's never happened to me before. It was very sweet. I also received a pretty out-of-the-blue gift from one of my best friends. I'm surprised it got here so soon because it usually takes a long time for things to get here from England. :D

And, speaking of England... how is it that some of the nicest people I've ever met come from that country or choose to be in that country? I'm serious. Two of my best friends are English and a few of my best American friends are there (or in Scotland) for either school or work. I was chatting with a good friend of mine a few days ago about how we both feel more at home in London, and England as a whole, than we do here in Southern California. I believe he is thinking about living out there sometime in the future. If I ever end up living there, I'd love to live in the English countryside. I'm just in love with Bath and that area. I actually almost attended Bath Spa University (and was very excited about it) but dad got sick, money issues came up and the plans were scrapped. Oh well. I don't regret it because I know I will be out there, even if it's just visiting, the first chance I get.

Just like my love of the Irish culture (which I wrote about 2 entries back), my love of England began at a young age. You can thank the literature for that. :D What I find very funny is that I've dreamt myself in certain parts of England way before I've visited them... or even known about them. In my teens, I had a dream I was vacationing in St. Ives (in Cornwall) years before I saw it on the show Passport to Europe. I remember the first time I watched the episode I went "*jaw drops* I WAS THERE IN MY DREAM!" Just as Samantha Brown was walking around the streets, talking about the town, I saw things I'd seen in my dreams. In another dream a while after my first dream, I saw another thing that was featured in the Cornwall episode of that show... St. Michael's Mount. I still remember the dream and how I was walking on the water, away from the island, and thinking to myself "This is so cool! I hope to come back and do this again someday." I was around 17 years old when I had this year and I didn't see this episode until about a year ago or two. It's very weird but it's the little things like this that make me feel that I'm somehow connected to England. It's comforting too, because I've never felt at home in my hometown so to have a feeling like that with another country is awesome. :D

Alright, well... I am going to go geek out over the music playlist I made on my facebook account. Except for the top 10 songs, I shuffled the rest so it's fun to go through all 70+ songs because I have no idea in what ordered they were shuffled in. :D 'Til next time... thanks for reading and God Bless. :D