7 Quick Takes #3

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Yesterday was my dreaded/anticipated doctor's appointment; the first one since my stomach problems started two months ago. Good news: my complete blood work came back to normal. Not completely good news (but not terrible): My doctor said that they're going to do an Upper GI X-ray in 2 months (on Ash Wednesday of all days!) because she can't figure out what's causing my stomach problems. When I asked her what I could eat, she said that she didn't know because we aren't sure what's causing certain foods to make me feel weak/faint/sick. I took that as my being able to return back to a normal diet and if something makes me feel faint/sick (i.e. french fries), not to eat it. That means that I may have a couple of sick days while I figure out what I can and cannot eat. On the bright side, I am no longer restricted to only grilled chicken, oatmeal, and toast anymore. :D

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Well, What I Learned Wednesday (#WILW) is off to a good start. Though there were only two linked posts, I did get some enthusiasm about participating in it from some of the CathSorority gals. I hope that we'll see more of them next week. By the way, if you're wondering what it is (for the tl;dr crowd): You write about your progress in learning about the Faith during the Year of Faith and you document it on Wednesday. It can be a blog post or a tweet; I accept both. :)

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Novel update: my three beta readers have received the first half of it (162 pages; yeah, it's a long one) and so far the feedback has been positive. True, they are some of my best friends but I know that if something is off, they'll let me know. I ask for brutal honesty and I get it. lol. As of now, the title is still Will and Lina though I may change it when I am not preoccupied with freelance work.

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As Mike from Distracted Catholic said on Wednesday, I had a "fangirl" moment when I heard that one of my favorite artists, Hunter Hayes, was nominated for three Grammy awards. I am a big, huge fan of his so... you know, I celebrated. Sue me. He's a good, Catholic guy (yes, he's Catholic - I had my sources confirm it ;D) and he's ridiculously talented. When it comes to him and Pope Benedict XVI, ooh, girl... I fangirl like I was a teenager. lol. I think I picked good people to "fangirl" over so I'm happy with my choices.

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And, speaking of Papa Benedicto, who isn't following his twitter?! I started following him the minute I got home from daily Mass. I'm actually really excited about his presence on twitter. I don't know how often he'll send tweets or how often he'll engage with us, but I think that it'll bring more people to Christ and to the Truth. Yes, there is so much anti-Catholic hatred being spewed from the so-called "tolerant" left but it should ignite a flame in the hearts of some (currently) lukewarm Catholics. Reversions, here we come. ;)

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On Wednesday I found out about the passing of two great people. First, one of my favorite jazz artists, Dave Brubeck, passed. I am not quite sure why but I was surprisingly emotional over it. I ended up listening to his music early in the day because of it. Later in the day, we found out that my mom's Godmother had passed away. She was 94 years old. I had not seen my mom cry like that since my father's death (and never before that) so it broke my heart. My mom, who was adopted, felt that her Godmother and her daughter (who is another one of my mom's Godmothers) were like her second mothers so she's mourning the loss of a mom. Please keep both the Brubeck and Mendoza families (as well as my mama) in your prayers.

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To not end on a downer, here's two of my favorite tumblr pictures of the week.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Hope y'all had a great week and a stellar weekend. :D

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

7 Quick Takes #1

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I've been contemplating doing these since I see a lot of my #CathSorority gals posting it up on their blogs. I think it'll be good as it'll keep me actively blogging without having to worry about some super amazing post that will take me a while to write. I hope to continue this tradition every Friday.

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 I applied for a job (which is based in New York City) that I could've done at home and I was very excited about it until I found out that they would not even look at my application because of some ridiculous laws the state of California has regarding taxes. If I lived elsewhere, I would've had a decent shot at it. Thanks for continually messing things up for me, California. *thumbs up* lol. Seriously, though, job hunt continues.

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I have come to the conclusion that I may forever be a tomboy... and I am surprisingly okay with that. I'm been on a health kick lately, wanting to get into running and being my old athletic self, mostly because I miss being active. I still have my uber girly side (if you've ever seen my wardrobe, you'd understand; lots of pinks and reds) but I'm getting to the point where I'm so comfortable in my skin that even when I'm wearing sweats, sneakers, and my hair in a ponytail I still feel feminine.

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This week I've been more actively conversing with my #CathSorority gals and it's been like a breath of fresh air for me. I know I've mentioned it before but I really don't have many girl friends I hang out with because I loathe cattiness and the drama that goes with so much estrogen in one room. It's great to have the support of gals who feel the same way... and who, through their friendships, are helping me get closer to God.

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I keep having dreams that I'm traveling with both of my parents. So far I've been to Vancouver as well as a couple of places in Europe. I know it's the travel bug starting once again but, being jobless and having no more savings, I know it'll be a while until I can get out of California again.

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Lorna Doone Shortbread Cookies will be the end of me. I just discovered them and my self-control is getting a workout because of how delicious they are. lol. Thankfully they are dairy and egg free.

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I know y'all will probably get sick of hearing about this but can I just say how helpless I felt when I heard about the Aurora, CO shooting? When I learned that a 3 month-old baby was a victim, I had to keep myself from tearing up. Prayers for all those who were affected by this tragedy.

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That's all for this edition.

Everyone have a great weekend and God bless. :D