Happy St. Brigid's Feast Day

Happy St. Brigid (of Ireland or of Kildare; however you may call her)'s Feast Day!!! As a Hibernophile (side note: this means I'm someone who is fond of Irish culture, the Irish language, and Ireland in general), I love celebrating Irish saints' feast days. Today is actually the first time I am celebrating St. Brigid of Ireland's feast day because a) I was always preoccupied with something else and I'd forget and b) she's helped bring a little more Faith into my household.

As some of you (the earliest of readers) may know, I've participated in the Irish Fireside's Christmas and St. Patrick's Day gift exchanges for the past 3 Christmases now. This past Christmas I was looking for the perfect gift to give my Secret Santa and at one of the local Irish import shops in L.A. I found St. Brigid's cross. I'd seen the cross before and, me being me, I was immediately drawn to it. I had actually already selected a gift for my Secret Santa but the cross just seemed right so I got it instead. I loved it so much, I actually bought one for myself as well. The store owner (a lovely woman from Ireland) told me that the crosses were actually handmade with rush from the River Shannon... at the exact spot where it is believed that St. Brigid made her own crosses. This is actually a picture I took of the cross we have (which I placed over our picture of The Last Supper and a painting of a Mexican market):

From 2012-02-01

Ever since I bought the cross there's been more a desire to learn about more saints as well as actually following through with certain things (such as going to confession more frequently for my mom and keeping myself in line as long as I can without having the need to go to confession). It's like the cross, which we see more than once a day, reminds us that we want to live better lives and keeps that thought in our minds. It's wonderful. :)

I've actually been trying to go to daily Mass more often but either I haven't because of school/obligations or I am unable to wake up early enough to attend. Trust me, sometimes I'm so exhausted that nothing will wake me up. Today I actually woke up 15 minutes before Mass started and got there 2 minutes before it started (perk of living less than a mile from the parish). I was so happy to be there, to be able to pray the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy (which I started doing recently; every morning and at 3 p.m. if I can), and to be able to pray the Novena of the Miraculous Medal along with the priest and a pretty packed parish. I thought it was great that I was able to attend my first daily Mass of the year on St. Brigid's feast day. It feels appropriate and I feel so peaceful. :)

By the way, if you don't much about St. Brigid, I suggest you click the first link in this post; it'll take you to a brief bio on her. AND if you have kids or are a kid at heart (like me; long live arts and crafts!), the Irish Fireside's own post on St. Brigid's Day includes a youtube video on how to make your own St. Brigid's cross. :D

Alright, I don't want to procrastinate on my schoolwork because I have about 200 pages to read for tomorrow (oh, I wish I was kidding!) and I have to work on my Senior Thesis since my meetings for it are on Thursday mornings. :) I hope y'all are having a great week thus far. Oh, and don't forget that tomorrow is Candlemas. I hope to post something for it but I don't know since a) I'm going to try to find a Mass in the evening and b) I don't know how busy I will be for since I have more HW due on Friday for my online courses. Feel free to keep poking me about posting over often though. ;)

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

Happy St. Patrick's Day

This honorary, "adopted" Irish lass wishes you all a happy St. Patrick's Day. I say I'm adopted being I was officially named an honorary Irish lady (hello repetition) by Corey from the awesome podcast and website, Irish Fireside, two Christmas' ago. I have the note with the Shamrock Christmas ornament he sent me to keep that lovely memory. I have been mentioned on the podcast before but I won't say which one because he says my full name and y'all know I'm a bit wary about that (for now, at least).

I'm sure all the other Catholic blogs have been writing similar things about St. Patrick so I'm not going to. All I will say is that I LOVE this holiday and it surpasses many other holidays (including Valentine's Day, *gasp*). I've always loved the Irish culture and people, and I used to lament not being Irish as far back as junior high, so this particular day makes me very happy. Many of my favorite saints are Irish as well: St. Dymphna, St. Fiacre, St. Brigid of Ireland/Kildare, and (of course) St. Patrick. I hope to one day visit the places where they once lived/preached/breathed. I also have a great wish to go visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Knock at some point in my lifetime. :D

Before I end this post, let me just say a Happy St. Patrick Feast Day to all those named Patrick, including Patrick Madrid and my friend Melissa's infant son whose middle name is Patrick. :D

That's all for today. I'm attempting to get all my homework done early so I can focus on my big Humanities paper which is due on Saturday night. So far, I've finished all the work for my Art class (including the quiz, whoo! :D) and am not too far from finishing my Creative Writing work. :D

Until next time, thanks for reading and God Bless. :D

Summer, Already?; Princess Diaries series; Upcoming Plans.

It's summer! Wait... no, it's not! Well, it certainly feels like summer in Los Angeles. It's currently 81 degrees (Fahrenheit). It will be in the lower 80s, upper 70s for the next couple of days. That means I won't be indoors too much. I love this kind of weather. My ideal temperature is around 74 degrees with a slight breeze. It's a bit windy for it to be my ideal but it's not far off.

Unfortunately, this is also what we call earthquake weather. We actually already had one a few days ago. It wasn't too major (just a 5.0 on the Richter scale) but it was enough to spook people. I personally didn't feel it because I was standing at the time it happened, but I did see the chandelier in the kitchen sway. I'm so glad I didn't feel it, though I tend to feel rather brave during earthquakes. Seriously. I have a "take charge/make sure everything's in order" attitude when there's a crisis or something major going on... but not when there's nothing going on. *shrugs* I'm a weird one.

Anyway, not much going on with me the last couple of days... which is why there hasn't been an update. I've been reading, writing, watching movies, and am about to spend some time with my leading man (the one in the novel) because I only have a few more weeks left of Winter break. I should get everything sorted by the time I start the Spring semester. I don't want to go back to school without not having worked on Will because he's going to be the character that will be the most difficult to write.

And speaking of characters and books, I have FINALLY read the last book in the Princess Diaries series. Go ahead and laugh if you must. Yes, I've read (and collected) every book in the series. I started reading them when I was still a teenager and it's taken me nearly a decade to be done with them (only because the final book was just released). I started reading them when I was a teenager and finished at nearly 24 years-old. Scary! The books started off pretty tame but this last one... wow. NOT something I'd recommend my little sister to read (so please don't, Delaney!), or, really, anyone under 18. I don't even want my other younger sister, DJ, who's 19, to read them. The books got more and more adult as the series progressed. I'm sure it's no big deal to those who are liberal but to those who are conservative, or even moderate-conservative (as I am), will have issues with certain things that are brought up in the books. Catholics will DEFINITELY dislike these books for the casual mention of different types of birth control, premarital sex (and quite a bit of that), and other things. The only reasons why I continued reading the books, 'til the end, was because I'd already invested so much money and time into the books that I wanted to see how it ended. Also, I owe Meg Cabot (the author) a lot. I met her a few years ago and she was very nice. She sent me a letter a day (or two) after I met her, which really changed my confidence and outlook -- for the better. Doesn't mean I agree with what happened with the characters and with certain scenes. It's definitely not pro-abstinence, that's for sure. It also makes me sad... if it's an actual representation of how teenagers are, and what they think now-a-days. I also know what NOT to write in my novel. Not that I ever would, but now I have a better, clearer vision when it comes to what I'm writing.

Anyway, I won't keep boring you guys any longer so I have a few things to say. If things come up -- either with me or with something important that needs to be written about concerning Catholicism -- I will definitely write often. If not, the posts will be a bit irregular for the next couple of weeks. Not only am I going to working on my novel, I will also be making travel plans. Corey and Liam from the Irish Fireside are coming to Los Angeles and I've already made sure I will be able to meet up with them (by securing a ride since I don't have my license). I will also (hopefully) meet up with Rebecca from Modestia and Catholic in Film School in the next couple of weeks for a few Catholic events. Fingers crossed for that. After that, I start school... but not before I make some serious plans for traveling abroad during Spring Break. I won't say where I'm going BUT I will say that quite a number of readers are from that country. :D So, now y'all know just in case I go long periods without an update. :D

Oh, btw, a BIG thank you to God Fanboy for the sweet shout out he left me on his blog. Seriously, THANK YOU! It makes me happy to know that others actually enjoy this blog. :D

Okay, well, I guess that's it. :D I am going to enjoy the rest of the summer-like day with my British leading gentleman. What I can I say, I'm a sucker for accents. Haha! As always, thanks for reading and God Bless. :D
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Happy New Year!; Resolutions.

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope everyone had an amazing time ringing in the new year, and that no one partied too hard. I was in my pajama pants, actually. lol. We stayed in (as did quite a number of my friends, surprisingly). The highlight of my night was when my parents decided to make a Miss C.N.W. sandwich out of me. First, my mom hugged... and then dad hugged me while my mom was hugging me, putting me in the middle. I don't think they've ever done that, so it was a lovely way to start the year. :D Oh, and it's been established that I'm the only one in the family who can actually wear the color yellow without looking sick or washed out. lol.

I went to sleep fairly early because I wanted to go to Mass this morning. I stayed up long enough to watch the beginning of the live Mass from the Vatican. How sweet was Pope Benedict XVI walking towards the altar? He would stop every time he saw a child to touch their little heads. Awww. It was so darling. :D I didn't watch the entire Mass because I didn't want to fall asleep at Mass. Unfortunately, I didn't end up making it. I woke up at 4:30 a.m. (only 3 hours of sleep) in pain, which was no picnic. Luckily, since I'd eaten before I went to bed, my stomach wasn't too empty and I was able to take medication (hooray for Advil) within a half hour and thus fall asleep an hour later. I still feel a little bit of pain but it's so much more tolerable than this morning. Don't worry about it, though. It's expected pain and I'm in a very happy, optimistic mood which isn't being spoiled. :D

Oh, and before I continue: I'd like to thank Corey and Liam from the Irish Fireside for the lovely shamrock Christmas ornament they sent me as a "thank you" for a contribution I made to their podcast. It's lovely. I got the package today, along with a note that I've officially been adopted by the Irish. Haha. Rock on! I highly recommend their podcast if you're a fan of Ireland or would like to one day visit Éire. I'm looking forward to meeting them in the very near future. :D

Anyway, since it is the New Year, I have some resolutions. Very simple resolutions. First, to learn to be more patient. I will admit I am not always the most patient person, especially when I have anxiety. I think that once I learn how to control my occasional impatience, it'll make a lot of difference in how I handle things like panic attacks. Second, I will try to exercise as often as I can. I HATE exercising. I am blessed enough to not have to exercise because of weight issues but I definitely think I need some serious exercising so that I will hopefully stop feeling so fatigued and lethargic. That and it will be good for my heart as well. :D Third, I will do my homework or work first and play (get online/watch tv/go out) later. I like to joke with my friend Dave that we're part of a Procrastination club which we will create... tomorrow. I'm a hardcore procrastinator and it's caused some stress this past semester. I wasn't always like this so, I'll have to work on getting back into my old habits of doing homework first and then treating myself to free time. That's about it. Like I said, real simple solutions.

Alright, well, I am going to rest a bit. I'm feeling a little warm and whatnot. To be fair, I'm all covered up and it's been in the 70s today in L.A. (awesome weather!) so... yeah. lol. Hope everyone had a great start to the year. And I REALLY hope that those of you who could go to Mass, actually went. It was a day of obligation!

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