What I Learned Wednesday #3

If you're following me on twitter or have "liked" the blog's FB page, then you know why I haven't been blogging and/or online much. Basically, I had computer and internet issues for 9 days. Last week's #WILW post was miraculously posted. lol. I'm actually having battery problems again (ugh, I just got a new AC adapter, c'mon now!) so this will be relatively short compared to the other posts.

 1) I found out that the pre-Vatican II version of The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary is on the iPieta app I installed on my iPod touch a long time ago. I was worried that I would not be able to pray it since I was using a webpage to pray the post-Vatican II version but it took some browsing on my prayer apps (yes, plural) to find it. I've also come to realize that I prefer it to the revised version. Even with the "thee", "thou", and "thy" (which, nerd alert, I don't mind), I think it's better. I find that the language makes the prayers and meditations easier than the modernized version. I appreciate what the Lord has done for me more and I find myself less likely to be distracted. I still want to get myself a book of The Little Office but I am very glad that I have the app in the meantime.

 2) I've been doing a couple of novenas, including one to St. Dymphna and the Christmas novena. I've been using a novena booklet I got at the local Pauline Books and Media for the St. Dymphna novena. It's unlike other novenas I've done. Much like the Little Office, there are morning and evening prayers. The morning prayers have me reflect on my petitions as well as reminding me to place all my trust and anxieties onto God and the evening prayers have me examine my conscience, ask for forgiveness, and give thanks to God for what He has provided for me. Basically, I am more conscious of my actions (what I have done and what I have failed to do) as well as what I usually overlook (i.e. a roof over my head, food in my belly, etc). I've been keeping y'all with anxiety, depression, and other mental afflictions in my novena prayers, whether you asked for them or not. ;) As for the Christmas novena, I have been praying the prayer since St. Andrew's feast day but I'm on day four of the actual novena as posted on EWTN's website. I am in love with the reflections and prayer. They remind me of what my dad used to focus on when he was younger (or, at least, what he told me of his time in Mexico).

3) I saw this picture on tumblr and it got me thinking about how when we pray, we occasionally give God deadlines. I've done it before (though now I just say "if it's your will" and patiently wait) and I know some people still do it. I think we often forget that, when we pray, we are asking God for something which may or may not be the best choice for us. Sometimes our prayers don't get answered in the way we ask because He has something better planned for us. We (our modern society) are so used to getting what we want, when we want, and it's hard for us to slow down. Since Advent is a time for us to slow down and reflect, I think this is appropriate.

I have a meeting via Google Hangout (God bless modern technology) in a couple of hours so I'm going to go try to figure out why the laptop battery isn't charging. Again.

I hope y'all have had a great week thus far. If you'd like to participate, please leave your link below. :D I'm leaving it up until 3 a.m. PST because of some friends in Hawaii. Giving y'all a chance. ;)

As always, thanks for reading and God bless!

A Few of My Nerdy Things

One of my favorite bloggers/people, Clare, was kind enough to tag me with this blog award so now it is my turn to do the same. :D

Since I have been chosen to do this (as per the rules) I must now list 7 random facts about myself and then pass this along to 15 other bloggers. Okay, this may be a little hard but... let's do this. ;)

1) I collect Holy/Prayer Cards. Any Mission, Cathedral, or Catholic bookstore I go in -- the rack of prayer cards is typically the first place I go to. And as I typed this out, I decided to take a picture to prove it. Btw, this is just a small fraction of what I actually own. The far right, bottom one I got at an Irish imports shop (it's of Our Lady of Knock). I acquired the prayer card with a prayer in honor of Our Lady Mother of Divine Providence during today's trip to Pauline Media and Books Store.

2) I spend way too much time on tumblr. A lot. And I will probably get disowned by the tumblr folks for mentioning it (apparently it's like Fight Club; I shouldn't even hint that it exists.) If you want to get to know me and my personality better, it's a good place to start. Warning: most of my pictures are either flowers, landscapes, about Vancouver or reading/books.  

3) I love taking long walks and hiking. I'm not big on running (though I hope to get into it before the year ends) but I still love being outdoors. This is one of the big reasons why I want to go to Ireland; I desperately want to attempt the climb up to Croagh Patrick at some point in my life. For now, I'll just have to make do with the local hiking trails (which are still pretty good).

4) I prefer getting up at 4-5 a.m. and getting everything done early than sleeping in. The only downside to that is that I also like the nighttime, especially when there are concerts or other events going on. The hours of 1 p.m. through 7 p.m. bore me. lol.

5) I love listening Perry Como and Jimmy Durante songs. I know people can call them (more so Perry) corny and old fashioned but I really, really love the music. Also, the album As Time Goes By: The Best of Jimmy Durante is a staple on my Spotify account.

6) I can do a lot of voice and singing imitations... but you have better luck at winning the lottery than hearing me do them. lol. Because of this ability, I briefly considered doing voice over work. In the end, I didn't want anything to do with the entertainment business.

7) There is a soundtrack for every major moment in my life as well as for every season (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter). I can still tell you what I used to listen to when I started Kindergarten or graduated from Elementary School. Would you expect anything less from this self-proclaimed music nerd... whose Confirmation saint was St. Cecilia? ;)

Okay, that took me at least an hour to do. It wasn't as easy as I thought.

I won't do the 15 bloggers because I don't know 15 bloggers that would do this BUT I invite anyone from the #CathSorority to give it a shot. ;)

And since it's currently 3:35 p.m., I'm going to go pray the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy and catch up with my prayer requests. ;)

That is it for now. As always, thanks for reading and God Bless. :D

Catholic Bookstores

As a literature nerd, I can spend hours in a Borders without getting bored. Just ask my little adopted sister Delaney, I completely geek out at a bookstore. I also get a bit mischievous and I hide anti-Catholicism books in back of Catholics ones. I'll also put good saint or G.K. Chesterton books in plain view. Again, just ask Delaney as she was an accomplice last time I did that at a Borders bookstore. lol. Anyway, while I do spend a good amount of time in secular bookstores, I've made a conscience effort to go to more Catholic bookstores.

Just today I went to Pauline Books and Media in Culver City (which is only a hop, skip and jump away from my school). Can someone fall in love with a bookstore? If not, I might be the first one. I was like a kid in a candy store. I wasn't the only one either; my mother was in literary heaven. She usually has a hard time finding books since she sticks to Spanish language books and the pickings are usually slim. Not at Pauline though. We both spent a good hour or so just browsing. I found a lot of books I'd been looking for (but hadn't found), including the last copy they had of Christian Courtship in an Oversexed World: a Guide for Catholics by T.G. Morrow which I'd been looking for for months. Sadly, I did not find anything on St. Gemma Galgani. The only thing they had was a holy/prayer card, which I ended up getting. Apparently, it's really hard to get any sort of biography of her here in the U.S. so I will wait until I go to Italy to try to find a copy.

I can't rave enough about this bookstore. I loved both the Daughters of St. Paul and the lay women that worked there. All were very sweet. One of them in particular helped my mom out with books in Spanish which I hadn't even heard of. There is a small chapel inside the bookstore where you can go for the Eucharistic Adoration they have at 2 p.m. (which we stayed for). We left on a first name basis with the lady that helped my mother, but not before we got hugs and smiles to last us until the next time we go... which will most likely be very soon.

I'd never come out of a bookstore feeling as elated and at peace as I did out of Pauline Books. I mean, I'd gone to one other Catholic bookstore before (St. Peter's Pier in Canoga Park; one block west of Pierce College) but it was tiny compared to Pauline Books. I think that it helped that I had been doing research on the Daughters of St. Paul before I went -- not for my vocation as I know I am not called to be a religious sister. (btw, if I were called to be a religious sister, I would've loved to have been a Daughter of St. Paul. They do exactly what I want to do.) Anyway, I was so glad I went and that I was able to find a couple of books to help me through this Lenten season. I made quite a dent in one of them already so look for a book review on it very soon (as soon as I can catch up on my homework and whatnot).

Now, I have a question for you Catholics... do you tend to buy your books from a secular bookstore or do you try to get them at Catholic bookstores? I've often gotten some of mine via Aquinas and More but I've gotten others through either Amazon or Borders. After really thinking about it, I've made it a goal to get my books at Pauline or Aquinas and More. I would feel better knowing that my money is going to a bookstore that won't stock up on books about things that are against Catholic beliefs that are morally wrong (i.e. books on abortion.) (P.S. You fellow Jane Austen fanatics, I saw both books AND DVDs of Jane Austen novels in Pauline Books. I had to keep myself from buying the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. lol)

Alright, I actually have to go because it's really late and I need to catch up on homework. Procrastination is my constant companion this semester and I'm trying to change that. :)

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