Oh! Hi, 1000th Blog Post!

Hello and welcome to my 1,000th blog post.

"Whaaaat?" That was my reaction when I posted the last blog post and saw that it was the last one in the triple digits. I can't believe I've written a thousand posts in the span of 9 years and (almost) 5 months. Crazy! Honestly, I can't believe I've kept this blog this long. I thought I would keep it for a couple of months or no more than maybe 2 years, tops but, here I am... still writing.

Those who've been reading this blog since the beginning (or, at least, within the first year of its inception), have gone through so much growth with me. When I started this blog, I was involved with someone whom I still in keep in touch with on occasion but is no longer one of the most important people in my life. I haven't really talked about my personal life since and have vowed not to until there's a wedding looming.

You've read about my struggles as an undergraduate, as a graduate student, and now in my academic limbo state. You've read about what I suffered when I was at the CINO college (now university) -- how much the professors made me cry for having an orthodox and "traditional" view of Catholicism. You've read my indecision about what to study; where to study.

You've been with me through my father's final cancer diagnosis... through the last months of his life... through his reversion to the faith (his 24th birthday present to me) two months before his death... through his death and burial... and through that first year in which I was emotionally numb...

You've been with me through illnesses and financial difficulties... through my lowest points... through my car accident... through my bouts of spiritual dryness (which I am currently undergoing again)... the craziness that was most of my 20s (I started this blog when I was 22!) into my early 30s (I turn 32 at the end of this month)...

You've also seen me at my best. You've read the joy it was to graduate from college after years of putting it off to help take care of my father (or myself)... the first time I was published in a Catholic publication... when I started my freelance writing career... when my first (and second) novel was published... when I was accepted to all three of my top graduate program choices...

We're going on 9 and a half years of this adventure together. Some of you have been reading since the beginning. Some of you have joined later on. Some of you are still new to this blog. It doesn't matter when you started following, you're still a part of this journey with me.

I still don't understand why anyone would want to read what I have to write. I'm no one extraordinary. I'm actually quite boring. I'm just your average gal who decided, on Christmas Day 2007, to write about her life and her journey through learning about Catholicism. I'm still learning. I'm actually going through sort of re-reversion period right now. I promise to explain this, and thoroughly, at some point in the future because it's a long story.

I want to thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for your prayers and support throughout the years/months/weeks/days. I've come to close to shutting down this blog but, somehow, someone always seems to message me and encourage me to keep going so I do.

I have a lot of really, really, really exciting things coming up in my life in the near future. I will give y'all clues: London. Writing. Career. Discernment. Vocation/Relationship. Reversion. Travel. Possibly another degree. Rediscovery. Faith. I will write about these things at some point; most likely as I'm about to embark on them or when I'm deep enough into it that I can talk about it.

Stick around because I'm apparently not done writing yet. I'm sorry. lol. Oh, the writer in me. ;)

That's it for now. I have a lot of things to do today but I wanted to take a little break to write this post.  My 1,000th post. Nope, it hasn't sunk in yet. lol.

Oh! Before I go, I was wondering if I could bother y'all for some prayers. As I've shared before, I've had pancytopenia (low red and white blood cells as well as low platelets) on-and-off for years and tomorrow I'll have 18 (!) vials of blood drawn for the most thorough blood work they've ever done on me. They're testing everything -- vitamins, minerals, complete CBC, bone marrow, clotting, lupus, and seemingly any and all tests to rule things out a blood disorder or the presence of antibodies in my system. Thankfully, I won't have to fast but it's still a lot of blood. I've been feeling a little more weak/fatigued than usual lately so I'm a little worried about all the vials that will be taken. I would greatly appreciate any prayers you can spare. I just don't pass out or have any complications from the blood draw. I also hope for good news with the results because I'm tired of always feeling tired because of the anemia. Thank you in advance!

Alright, I gotta go do errands and try to find some good carne asada because I need to really prepare for tomorrow. All the iron-rich foods! lol. ;)

I hope y'all are having a lovely week thus far!

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

See? I'm Alive. :D

Hey guys! Sorry, it's taken me so long to update. I won't have a full update until (hopefully) tomorrow evening. I've had such a crazy hectic week, I haven't gotten on the computer in a week... and I haven't even been eating properly. Thankfully, since it's a little over a week before I have to go back to school, things will slow down for me now. :D

To give y'all a sneak peak at what I'll be writing about in the next post:
- Pope Benedict XVI and YouTube/Social Networks/technology
- Novel Update
- Someone coming into my room, throwing me over their shoulder (so you know he's strong because I'm 5'7" and at a healthy weight, lol), and dragging me away from something...
- Missed Masses and Confessions
- London calling / Possible England move this Fall?

It seems like a lot but I will try to condense that information as much as I can.

In the near future, I'll also give my review of the Twilight saga/book series. Yes, I caved and read the books. And, I read all 4 books in about a total of 4-5 days which is impressive (even for me) considering how long the books were (anywhere between 500+ and 750+ pages each). I won't even mention the day after I finished the last book which I spent completely emotionally wrecked. It'll all make sense in my review, I promise. :D I have A LOT to say about them.

Also, I went to the doctor's today (as I do every year for blood work) and everything came back normal. I'm healthy and that's just making everything that much better.

Okay, so, now you know. I will HOPEFULLY have a post tomorrow night... before 8 p.m. (PST) if I can since I might have something to do later.

Hope everyone's had a wonderful week. :D As always, thanks for reading and God Bless.

P.S. No one's even close to winning the contest... and I might be changing it a bit so hang on tight. :D

I Can Finally Breathe!; Patron Saints; Bon Voyage... But Where To?

I finally feel like I can breathe after weeks of being swamped with so much homework. Whoo!! :D The heaviest parts were finished yesterday. I have to write myself a note not to overload myself like this again. I haven't had time to go get my hair cut. I haven't gone out with my friends in ages. I'm very much a homebody. I mean, I was a homebody before but now I can't even go out if I wanted to. Well, no, I CAN go out but I choose not to because that will only lead to more stress and who wants that? I'm perfectly content staying at home, studying, because I know I will get killer grades at the end of the semester if I keep it up. :) One of my courses, the dreaded Oceanography class, ends in 3 weeks (wow, so fast!) and then I have 3 classes for the remainder of the semester. Say it with me... WHOOOOOO!!! lol. I truly hope that those of you in school are doing well so far. :D

Of course, I owe a lot of my calm nerves to the patron saints of students (St. Joseph of Cupertino and St. Thomas Aquinas) and of course, St. Dymphna (patroness of anxiety). I'm happy to say that the anxiety has been practically gone in the past couple of weeks, perhaps last 2 months. I asked a friend of mine if it was possible to have too many patron saints, and he didn't know so... hmm. I'm still wondering. No one's been able to give me a straight answer yet. I can't pick a patron saint. I have three main saints: St. Jude Thaddeus, St. Dymphna, and Our Blessed Mother. How can I pick when they've done so much for me? I should probably ask one of the priests -- the priest I get -- when I go sometime soon. I still have to go and talk to one of them. I have a lot on my mind. I have so many questions and am in dire need of the kind of advice I think a priest would answer the best. Is it weird that I love having conversations with priests? Seriously, if I could on a daily basis, I would!

Oh... A few months ago, my mother surprised me by saying that as soon as my anxiety had simmered down and as soon as I could prove that I can handle traveling, she'd be willing to pay for a vacation anywhere I'd like to go. I've already gone out of the country but not too far away from home. Everyone's pretty much banking (slang word for: betting on a sure deal) on me going to England. Two years ago, England felt more like my home than my actual home here in California. I have so many wonderful memories from that time in my life. I became addicted to tea during that time; an addiction I still have. lol. I have friends in London and up in Manchester so I wouldn't be by myself while in England. Maybe I'll skip the trip and save up the money for something else in the future. With the way the economy is going, it might be wiser to just save up. We'll see.

Alright, I am going to go shut my eyes for a little while because my eyes hurt and they've gotten worse on a daily basis. I think I need new prescription for my glasses/contacts because I feel better without them on... even though I'm pretty much as blind as a bat without them. lol. I think a prayer to St. Lucy is in order.

Oh, and before I go... I still have plans on writing about St. Therese of Lisieux AND about the golden crucifix dream but I am going to wait until (hopefully) tomorrow because I want to add more to it. :D

I'm going to leave y'all with a video I came across youtube of my favorite scene of "The Bells of St. Mary's". Enjoy! As always, thanks for reading and God Bless. :D


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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