Nomination Badge; First Communion Story; Dad Update.

This badge pretty much says it all. lol. Again, don't know if I exactly qualify for this but thank you. :D A few of my friends are nominated... I nominated a couple of people... other awesome blogs are nominated. I'd highly recommend checking out the entire list of nominees. I've found some new friends and blogs to follow, and vice versa, thanks to the list. I love how the world of Catholic bloggers is getting smaller and smaller. I'm surprised no one's formed a union yet... even if it's for kicks and giggles.

I don't know if you've heard or not, but First Communion Stories is having a contest. All you have to do is share your real life communion story by May 31st. Even if they weren't having a contest, I would submit my first communion story because I had a beautiful first communion. Without going into a lot of detail (I am saving that for my entry), I had a pretty unique first communion. We had the service inside a large tent because our parish was destroyed during the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. In fact, we had our Masses inside that tent until our parish was rebuilt. We also had to finish our first communion classes at a neighboring parish that wasn't as damaged as ours was. Anyway, despite everything, we had a beautiful Mass that filled us all with love, joy, and every wonderful emotion you can feel during a Mass. I will write the story, in detail and with pictures, and submit it to First Communion Stories soon. I'll let y'all know when so y'all can go read it. :)

Before I go, I want to give y'all a little update on my dad. First off, I want to say a big "THANK YOU" to all of you who have had him in your prayers. I appreciate it, from the bottom of my heart. As some of you know, I'm been trying to get him to go to the doctor's for weeks. I have resumed my role as "caretaker" while he is sick. As a good friend pointed out, this could be my vocation (taking care of the sick) but I'm squeamish and hate the sight of blood and open wounds so it would never work out as a career. lol. I'm only that way with strangers, though. If I need to take care of a family member or friend, I can stomach things easier... I don't know why. Anyway, since I couldn't convince him on my own, mom and I teamed up and finally convinced him last night. Thank you, God! So now I have to make sure he follows through with the visits. I am also praying that his cancer hasn't come back and that it's just liver problems (which could be "fixed" much easier). I have a feeling I won't be able to go to tomorrow's Mass at St. Victor's because I take the "night shift" when my dad's sick and mom has to work the next morning. I've already canceled many plans I had. We'll see though. I'm not going to alter any of my long term plans, though. If, when the time comes, it looks like I'll have to take another semester off to take care of dad, I will. It does bum me out that it's taken me 6 years (on and off) to finish my degree but my dad's more important than a diploma.

Anyway, I'm gonna go. I'm starting to feel a lot of pain, so I'm going to go take two Advils and take a nap before my "shift" begins. :)

As always, thanks for reading and God Bless. :)
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Merging Two Cultures; The Mission Continues; Catholic Blogs.

I interrupt my studying/homework thing for a much needed blog. Okay, so the blog isn't necessarily needed but I need this break for the sake of my sanity. I only have about two more pages to write (or roughly 500 words) and then I am done. So close... so close! lol.

I know it's not Music Monday, but, darn it, I am having music problems... sort of. It's music and cultural problems. First, I have to find a way to merge Mexican folklorico with Spanish flamenco into one dance. How I'm going to do that, I have NO clue. All I know is that if I don't find a way, there's a good chance I will offend either the Mexican or Spanish side of the familia. I've already been advised to just stomp my feet a lot. Haha! Yes, they have that in common but doing too much of that will only make my feet angry at me. I don't even want to think about the music, or even what I'll be wearing. Oy. I'll figure something out.

This is something I have to do quite often, and sometimes it's hard because I think there's still some bad blood between both countries/cultures. If I say I really want to go to Spain (especially for the World Youth Day in two years), but decline an invitation to vacation in Mexico, I get "the look". I want to eat posole but not paella, or vice versa, I get "the look". It doesn't help that when I speak Spanish I don't have an accent... and when I do, the dialect is more Spanish (Castilian) than Mexican. The only safe thing that I can talk about, without offending either, is the religion. Thank goodness both are primarily Catholic (though Spain seems to be more and more secularized than Mexico). I can show my love of St. Teresa of Avila (a Spanish saint) and St. Juan Diego (a Mexican saint) and have everything be fine. I love that there's no religious intolerance between these cultures.

While there are no religious issues between countries, I am still struggling with it in my family. One parent refuses to go to Mass (and even puts up a fight every Saturday I go to confessions and every Sunday I want to go to Mass). The other is a little more willing but I've probably gone to Mass by myself more often than not recently. I even volunteer to go to the Spanish Masses so they can go, but nothing. When I told my mom I was open to a religious vocation, a while back, she was against the idea. I have since then figured out that it is not what the Lord has in store for me, which made her happy. Her reaction, she says, comes from attending a Catholic boarding school and having to deal with "mean nuns" in her childhood. The only people that have had an influence on me have been my mom's Godparents (whom we don't see often), one of my paternal aunts, and my paternal grandmother (may God rest her soul). In fact, I still have a mantilla my grandmother handmade for me before she passed away a few years ago. She used to go to Mass every day with her veil. I remember her wearing them, when she took to take me to Church as little girl. There's something about that that I find absolutely beautiful. I've had a couple of priests ask me how it's possible that I'm so into the faith, while my parents are the opposite. Trust me, I don't know. All I know is that my mission to get my parents back to the Church continues. I've seriously made that my ultimate goal and I won't quit until I get them to come back. And if you know me well enough, you know I'm stubborn enough to get this to happen... eventually. Haha. I only use the "stubborn mode" for good. lol.

I should probably stop writing and get back to my homework. *groan* Just two more pages and I am done for the week. I'll only have one more class to work on (which I can finish in about half an hour) and I will have the weekend free. Whoo! :D Alright, I'm off to watch the Seattle Sounders vs. New York Red Bulls match... while I finish my Speech assignment. Yes, it CAN be done. It's impossible during a Liverpool F.C. match, especially with the amount of screaming, dancing, and celebrating I do (teehee :D), but for all others I can multi-task. :D.

Oh, before I go, I'd like to point out that I have a couple of new Catholic blogs listed. A few were requests and a few were added because I thought they deserved to get more readers; I liked all of them. If you're a St. Jude devotee (like me; he IS my patron saint, after all), St. Jude Novena Blog is a great place to visit. And, Verbum Veritatis (Word Of Truth) is one of my new favorites, as well. If I have yet to add yours, please let me know. I want to help y'all get more readers. :)

I'm stalling, aren't I? Okay, I'll shut up now. lol. :D As always, thanks for reading and God Bless. :D
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