Where Should I Start?; Music Monday

Where should I start? I've had so much going on with me in the past 2 weeks that I haven't had time to sit down and write a proper blog entry. I guess I should start from the beginning and work my way forward.

The good news is that, while I am still recovering from some of the lingering whiplash that one gets in "girl world", I have managed to get myself out of it pretty unscathed. I think the young lady that sucked me into the drama saw that I would not go along with it so she's left me alone. Of course a couple of my friendships have begun to end in the process but I feel like it's for the best. I noticed that these friends, who are self-described 'hardcore Catholics', weren't acting very Catholic and that I was struggling with my faith due to my friendships with them. It wasn't until I stepped back and reflected on this (and on my vocation which I will get into in a minute) that I realized just how bad these friendships were for me -- and especially for my spiritual health. There is no ill will on my part (nor will I argue with them on their ways) and all I will do is pray for them. :)

I also had the realization (while talking to a good friend of mine about vocation discernments) that I really and truly meant to be a married woman and a mommy some day. I'd known for a while but I had an epiphany while talking to my friend about this that really left absolutely no doubt in my mind. Furthermore, I think I'm finally at a place in my life where I'm ready for someone to come whenever God sends him to me. I wasn't before (ready, that is) but I think I finally am and it's incredibly exciting. :D I'm giving credit to St. Therese of Lisieux and Sr. Tracey Dugas for this too.

What else? Oh! I celebrated the one year anniversary of my father's reversion on the 29th and I turned 25 years-old on the 30th! (side note: Thank you, Delaney, for that uber sweet birthday message on your blog.) My birthday was the best birthday I've ever had, surrounded by amazing, loving people. :) I am thankful that my track record of horrible birthdays came to an end.

Two other things I was/am thankful for: 1) I aced my finals and got a 4.0 for the semester and 2( I found out that my tuition and health insurance when I transfer schools next semester will be covered by a huge scholarship and two grants. Last year I asked Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati for his intercession -- to help me find a way to pay for the tuition without going into major debt -- and this year I got my prayers answered. I literally yelled "Thank you, God!!!" in the financial aid office and I nearly cried when I was told. The good thing is that my new college is Catholic so doing such a thing wasn't a problem. lol. Now I am going to keep my end of the promise (yes, I make promises to do something if my prayers get answered) but I don't mind because it'll be for the good of the community. :D Also, I have signed up for my classes and I can tell you that I will almost completely immersed in Catholicism next semester. Only two of my five courses are not Religious Studies related (although in my Western Lit class I will get to read Dante's "Divine Comedy" as well as some Greek Mythology and the Bible so I guess it kind of counts). I don't start until late August but I'm already really stoked. :D

If you're following me on Twitter I know you keep getting World Cup updates. Sorry about that but Futbol soccer is a passion of mine. In honor of the WC, I have an entry that combines the sport with Catholicism. I'd already done one a few years ago (when I started this blog) but I am going to another and expand on it. :D BTW, go U.S., Mexico, Spain, and England! :D

There is more I'd like to write but I'll save them for future entries. :D All I want to say is that I've been incredibly blessed and I don't know what I did to deserve all my luck but I wholeheartedly thank God for everything He's blessed me with... especially considering that I've been struggling with my faith lately (though I now know the source and have made plans to avoid it.)

Oh, before I go... Music Monday! Today's pick is Nikki Yankofsky's version of "God Bless the Child" (originally sung by Billie Holiday). I've known about Nikki for a while but her CD was just released in the States last month (which I highly recommend if you're a jazz/jazz vocal fan like me.) She's amazing... and only 16 years old!


Alright, I am going to go hang out and work on the novel (since I had to take a break during finals.) I hope y'all have a great week. :D

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

St. Teresa of Avila and My Creative Writing Assignment

Because I don't have much to write today, mainly because I'm on a time crunch due to a professor pushing up the due date from next Monday to tonight, I am sharing a homework assignment. Luckily, it is something Catholic related because, as I said, my goal this Lent was to focus on Catholic literature.

For my Creative Writing class, we had to take a poem, song, short story, play, etc. and change its genre; the theme for this week was genres. I took the opportunity to infuse my faith with my assignment. Yes, I am shameless but I don't care. lol. Anyway, I am sharing what I wrote, and it's word for word what I submitted.

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I took an excerpt from the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila (Catholic nun and writer), which can be considered as a non-fictional autobiography. I turned it into a fictionalized drama.

Original:

“I went to great extremes in my vain anxiety about this, though I took not the slightest trouble about what I must do to live a truly honourable life. All that I was seriously concerned about was that I should not be lost altogether. My father and sister were very sorry about this friendship of mine and often reproved me for it. But, as they could not prevent my friend from coming over to the house, their efforts were of no avail, for when it came to doing anything wrong I was very clever. I am sometimes astonished at the harm which can be caused by bad company; if I had not experienced it I could not believe it. This is especially so when one is young, for it is then that the evil done is greatest. I wish parents would be warned by me and consider this very carefully. The result of my intercourse with this woman was to change me so much that I lost nearly all my soul‘s natural inclination to virtue, and was greatly influenced by her, and by another person who indulged in the same pastimes.” (The Life of Teresa of Jesus by Teresa of Avila)

My Version:

“I went to great extremes in my vain anxiety about this, though I took not the slightest trouble about what I must do to live a truly honorable life,” she explained to me as she took the seat next to mine.

There was a sadness in her eyes that had not faded over the years. I did not say anything, for fear of being disrespectful. I mean, how many times do you get to talk to a real life saint? Instead I kept listening.

“All that I was seriously concerned about was that I should not be lost altogether.“ She looked intently at me to see if I was still listening to her. I nodded, encouraging her to go on.

“My father and sister were very sorry about this friendship of mine and often reproved me for it. But, as they could not prevent my friend from coming over to the house, their efforts were of no avail, for when it came to doing anything wrong I was very clever.”

As she took a break to drink from the glass of water I had placed in front of her, my mind wandered off to a distant memory. Did she know that I had had a similar experience? Was this a lesson God was teach me through St. Teresa?

“I am sometimes astonished at the harm which can be caused by bad company; if I had not experienced it I could not believe it,” she continued as I snapped out of my own thoughts.

“This is especially so when one is young, for it is then that the evil done is greatest. I wish parents would be warned by me and consider this very carefully. The result of my intercourse with this woman was to change me so much that I lost nearly all my soul‘s natural inclination to virtue, and was greatly influenced by her, and by another person who indulged in the same pastimes.”

“Is that what’s happening to me?” I asked more afraid of the answer than anything else at that moment. “The friendship I have are keeping me from being good?”

She did not answer me. The classical music station that was set to turn on when my alarm went off did just that.

My eyes flew open, taking in the bright sunlight that was flooding into my room. It had just been a dream, though it was more real and relative than anything I could ever imagine myself.
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And there you have it. The professor said she wasn't going to criticize what we wrote so... yeah. If she does, I don't care. I will not back down from my beliefs... or my want of sharing those beliefs. Hey, when I say I'm sticking to something (like no Twitter - ugh, so hard!) then I do it. :D

Anyway, I am off to take a break (I've been sitting at the kitchen table for hours now) before I have to focus on my other classes.

Oh, by the way, I finished in time to go see Fr. Stan Fortuna perform at Catholic Underground but, unfortunately, my Humanities professor thought it would be fun to make us miss our Saturday night plans by making us attend an online class discussion. I will have to talk to him about that, and about how it's unfair that I could lose points on Saturday evenings/nights because he decides to hold "class discussions" on these days. I am NOT missing Sr. Tracey Dugas (and the rest of the Daughters of St. Paul)'s Discernment 101 session (second session) next Saturday because of this. I have Masses and important things to do than to sit home and discuss what I've already done and understood that week. /semi-rant. lol.

Okay, now I'm off to take a tea and cookies break before my online meeting in half an hour. :D

As always, thanks for reading and God Bless!



P.S./Edit: nevermind, the discussions on Saturdays are optional for extra credit. Great... I find this out too late. Oh well. :(