Life as a Highly Sensitive Catholic

When I was a little girl, my teachers would tell my parents that I was highly sensitive; I would cry easier than other kids. It was looked down upon as a flaw. They thought it was low self-esteem. They thought I was too coddled by my parents. This continued as I got older. Doctors would say I was just a really anxious person who didn't know how to handle too much stress at a time. Then I found out something revolutionary thanks to Anne of Mrs. Modern Darcy: I'm actually considered a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP).

For all of you who don't want to read through all the articles: being a HSP means that I am more sensitive to both emotional and physical stimulation. Loud noises, extreme temperatures, even the effects of medications -- I feel them a lot more intensely than most other people. It wasn't something I picked up growing up; I was just born with this trait.

I'm empathetic to the point of tears when I see someone suffering even in the littlest way, which is why I had to leave social media (for the night) a couple of days ago when all the shooting chaos began. I can't sit through any violent scenes or even listen to intense fighting. I faint easily in hot weather (heat sensitivity) if I'm not cool enough. Medication side effects are stronger than I'd like. (side note: last ER visit when I felt like I was going to faint? Antibiotics were so strong that it caused that feeling and it increased my anxiety about 3-fold for 72 hours after my last dose. Anxiety has been gone after I hit the 72 hour mark though my stomach still feels like I have a brick in it.)

After reading about the 16 Habits of HSP, as well as the 12 Things a HSP Needs, I didn't feel quite so alone or odd. However, it didn't hit some just how much I struggled with this label until I read the article on how a young woman learned to love herself as a HSP. This article hit home because, despite being aware that HSP was a real thing (my childhood doctor even confirmed it a couple of years ago; I do have a very sensitive body that can't handle certain medications nor caffeine), I still struggled with accepting and even loving this part of myself.

I've always felt like it was more of a flaw than an asset, one that I couldn't "fix" and that was looked down upon by most other people (especially doctors). After the past week in which I spent 6 out of 7 days in the hospital, it became even worse; I couldn't pray or feel like I could do much. I've recently began on my own journey in trying to learn to love this side of myself but I know I still have a long, long way to go.

Now, let's talk about being a HSP who is also Catholic. I love, love, love the smell of incense... but when it's too strong (or too close to where I'm sitting), I get lightheaded, nauseous, and a headache will pop up. I don't like clapping at Mass. I don't like Spanish Masses because of the music (usually involving a guitar and drums or Mariachi). I like my Masses solemn. I don't mind babies crying or babbling during Mass because I love babies so that doesn't bother me. Altar wine can be too strong for me at times.

I think being a HSP is why I quickly fell in love with wearing mantillas/chapel veils; it helps me focus solely on the Mass. Because the veil literally blocks my surrounding views and gives me a bit of "tunnel vision" in which my eyes will be focused on the altar or on the missalette, it helps me not get too distracted by what other parishioners are doing during Mass.

Lent? I can't make it through reenactments of the Stations of the Cross. I actually almost fainted the first time I watched The Passion of the Christ in one of my Religious Studies courses as an undergrad. I had to look away, something I knew my other classmates took notice of (there were less than 10 of us in that class; only 3 Religious Studies majors in my class).

The Rosary? I couldn't make it through the Sorrowful Mysteries without being a blubbering mess the first couple of years after my reversion. Though I still occasionally cry, it's nowhere near as bad as it used to be. I also don't like noise while I pray because I can get easily distracted and then overwhelmed. It's not fun. lol.

I felt like sharing this because I don't think it's talked about enough. Being a highly sensitive person isn't bad (and I'm going to keep repeating that to myself); it just means that we can get overstimulated more easily than other people. If 15-20% of the population is considered a HSP, then I know I'm not alone. :) If you're wondering if you're a highly sensitive person, you can take a self-test here.

Alright, I should go do something productive with my day. :)

I hope y'all are having a good weekend thus far. :D

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

Weekend Adventures in Emmy-land

Since D is the Lizzie to my Jane, this gif from The Lizzie Bennet Diaries seemed appropriate. ;)

I know some of y'all are curious about what happened when my bestie (D) was visiting (from last Thursday through yesterday) after my last blog post. Well, let's say that the days flew by way too quickly... and was pleasantly surprised more than once. Here's a recap some of my adventures...:

On Friday we met up with Bobbi from Revolution of Love Blog, Micaela from California to Korea, Kendra from Catholic All Year, and Meaghan from Happily Hoxsey for a viewing of Little Boy at the local movie theater. It was my first time meeting these lovely ladies in person, though I'm positive I've seen Kendra and her family at Mass before. Since these ladies are either fellow locals or were in town for the Catholic Women Blogging Network Conference and I had to pull out of the conference when I found of my D's schedule, I was glad to be able to at least watch this film with them. The movie (which will get its own review later this week) was a great pick to watch with these inspiring women. Lots of tears shed but lots of hugs and smiles all around.

On Saturday morning, D and I picked up Andrea from Modern Catholic Mom from the airport, which was great because I hadn't met Andrea before that day. Though I had pulled out of the conference, I still offered my services picking up anyone who needed a ride to the conference since it was being held very close to where I live. I loved listening to Andrea talking about the Church forefathers on the car ride to the conference and it made me a little sad that I would be missing her (and the rest of the speakers') presentations.

After dropping her off, we headed to Mission San Fernando. I wanted D to experience the Mission (which is a favorite place of mine when I want to get away from the chaos) and she wanted to shoot some new author pictures for me so we killed two birds with one stone. :D We had fun walking around the Mission. She was really soaking it all in and I even pointed out the parts of the Mission that I'd written about in When Two Worlds Collide.

Once we were done with the self-guided tour of the Mission (I could give them in my sleep), D took some professional pictures for future novels and articles. Monsignor Francis Weber walked by as I was fixing my hair near his office. He just smiled and paid me a lovely compliment. I never know what to do when I receive compliments so I'm sure I turned bright red and became a little shy. I wouldn't be surprised if that'll show in the photos. (side note: I'm honestly unsure if I'm going to use them on the blog or social media since I do love the little bit of anonymity that I have.)

Later that day mom and I headed to confession with D. I was wondering if I had to explain our beliefs on that since D and her family don't do it but I didn't have to. We did have a conversation about the saint statues and portraits we have around the living room. I admitted to her that I was a bit nervous about it because we've had other non-Catholic friends visit and they look at the statues with disdain. Of course she was great about it and if she didn't understand how we Catholics view saints, our Blessed Mother, or why we have statues, she does now. :D

I was feeling tired on Sunday morning so we slept in and attended a later Mass than usual. Since D gave me two mantillas for my birthday, I wore one to Mass. I was pleasantly surprised to hear D participating in Mass. She used the missal to follow along, singing, responding, and praying along with the rest of us. I had to keep myself from tearing up. It really touched me that she did all of this because she knew it was important to me. :)

If I took anything from this weekend (and the rest of her visit) is how incredibly blessed and grateful I am to have her in my life. We've been friends for nearly a decade (we actually met in the early days of my reversion) and we've always had differing beliefs but that's never been an issue in our friendship. She understood when I had to take some solo time to do my morning and evening prayers (yes, I was able to finish some of the novenas I was doing, pray the Rosary on a daily basis, and go on with my usual prayer schedule) and I understood when she wanted to take some time to do her devotionals and Bible studies.

Everything that happened this weekend (what I've written about and other things I've decided to keep to myself) made me want to get closer to God as well. It made me more excited about starting grad school, to learn even more about the faith, and to eventually share it with others. I actually feel the same joy and excitement that I felt in the early days of my reversion. I'm incredibly grateful for D's friendship, the camaraderie within the Catholic ladies blogging world, and where I am at this point in my life.

Though some unexpected things came up this past weekend that are making me question some things (in a good way; all vocation related), I feel like it's something that is long overdue. I also have an intense desire to spend more time parked in front of the tabernacle and in Adoration, which is not a bad thing. I guess we'll just have to see what new adventures God will have lined up for me in the near future. ;)

Anyway, that's the "in a nutshell" recap of my weekend. I feel like I'm going to need the rest of this week into the weekend just to recharge. lol. What? I'm an introvert; I get drained easily and I put more miles into my car in five days than I probably do in 6 months. lol.

I hope y'all had a great weekend and are having a great week thus far. :D

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

What I Learned Wednesday #34: Millennial "Trad Fad"

I know, I know. It's been a couple of week since I've written one of these WILW posts but most of my Wednesdays have been occupied with studying for exams so I haven't had the chance to write. Since this is my first free Wednesday in weeks (how did that happen?!), I thought I'd spent it writing about something that has irked me lately. I usually break these things up into three parts but I'm only focusing on this one topic this week.

Have you heard of the Millennial "Trad Fad"? You know, the trend in which Millennials immerse themselves in the world of Latin Masses, mantillas/chapel veils, and other pre-Vatican II things. Golly, we Millennials are such hipsters. (side note: don't let the article title fool you; it doesn't actually say that we're hipsters.) I'm kind of hoping that Pope Francis' comments were misunderstood and that he doesn't really think that this is a fad... but I've heard that he's not a big of Latin Masses so I don't know.

I've never shied away from the fact that I really, really miss Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI for several reasons, including the fact that (thanks to him) we've had Summorum Pontificum for 7 years now. Are the alleged quotes from Pope Francis legit? I don't know... but I would be disappointed if they were. For someone who is so welcoming of others and their differences, the quotes made me cringe a little.

I can't speak for others on why they prefer "traditional" Catholicism but I can tell you that many of my fellow Millennials who do have a preference to Latin Masses, chapel veils, incense (aka "smells and bells"), Gregorian chant, etc. don't do it for the fad/trend of it. I've never once heard "ooh, not everyone is into this? I need to do this." A good portion of us were poorly catechized and/or we've reverted/converted to the faith and we've come to these things on our own. Nobody did the thinking for us; we learned to appreciate them on our own. Free will, y'all. I personally looked into some - not all - of the changes that came from the Second Vatican Council while I was at that awful CINO college (because they didn't teach these things; they taught that anything pre-Vatican II was outdated and bordered on evil) so I was able to make my own informed decisions based on my preferences.

When I reverted 8 years ago, no one told me there were different types of Masses... but I still knew that I liked my Masses solemn. When I learned about Latin Masses, I knew I'd found the right fit for me. The clappy-clappy/hand-holding thing has never been for me. Even as a child, I felt obligated to hold people's hands when I didn't want to. I just wanted to focus on what the priest was doing/saying. Part of this was because of my introverted temperament and partly because it just didn't feel right for me. I'm not going to knock it if it works for you but I personally just don't like it. I know I'm going to get a lot of flack for this, but I'd appreciate my Masses without a mariachi band or a jazz ensemble. Yes, I endured one *cringe* "jazz Mass" before... and, though I love jazz, it needs to stay far, far away from my Masses. That's just my preference. I like to feel like I'm there to have my time with God, not to feel about all the cringing or be distracted by other things. That's why I love the first Sunday Mass at my parish; my spiritual director and the lovely nuns praying in Latin (with no outside distractions) is such a wonderful way to start my day.

As for chapel veils, I know some of y'all saw the passionate exchange I had with a good friend a couple of weeks ago on Twitter. I won't get into it because there's no reason to but it did inspire me to write about this topic. I veil because I want to. No one is making me do it; no one told me it would make holier... because it doesn't mean squat whether you veil or not if you're not following God's commandments. I made sure I learned the significance of veiling, the custom origin, and it was enough to make me want to do it. Yes, I know -- nerd alert for all the research I've done! Again, no brainwashing; it was a conclusion I arrived to on my own and that I feel most comfortable doing.

I don't veil only when I attend Masses. I also do it when I pray in front of the tabernacle or when alone in a church. I don't always "veil" either. I do keep my head covered but hats and scarves replace veils from time to time. The point is that I cover my head as a symbol of my love and respect for God. It also helps that I always feel like I'm actually there for God; that all sense of pride, arrogance, vanity, all the distractions, etc. get pushed aside. The moment that veil is placed on my head, it literally blocks all earthly distractions from my peripheral view and all I can focus on is on the Mass and/or the tabernacle. Babies -- my biggest Mass distraction -- disappear from view. I am reminded of why I attend Mass and why I believe what I believe.

I do understand that there are people who might be into these things for the wrong reasons. I've heard of "mantilla selfie queens." I haven't actually seen it myself but I've heard that they exist. I've heard of the "holier than thou" crowd. However, they don't represent everyone. Just like a few misguided clergy members (I'm being charitable with my words here) don't represent the entire church, a few "Catholic hipsters" don't represent the rest of us. Give us some credit.

I don't think I really learned anything new this past week other than apparently Millennials who appreciate pre-Vatican II customs are seen as hipsters. At the very least, now y'all sort of know why I do it. Yes, it was a sort of "in a nutshell" explanation but I'll revisit this topic at some point when I don't have too much occupying my mind (aka yes, I have a week off from exams but I'm still trying to keep the info fresh in my mind). :)

That's it for now. I hope y'all are having a great week thus far! If anyone has any prayer intentions, send them my way. :D

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

#AshTag

I am skipping today's What I Learned Wednesday post to bring you a simple #AshTag picture.

This is a close-up of my ashes. Before you ask, it was done with a stamp by my spiritual director. Apparently Ash Wednesday stamps aren't very common elsewhere but they are in L.A. I've seen at least three parishes use them.

Anyway, I did wear my black mantilla to Mass (didn't seem right to wear my white; my own personal preference) but sadly you can't see it in this picture. Just take my word for it (unless you've seen the less extreme close up of the picture). :D

I hope you all have a fruitful and blessed Lenten season! I'll be blogging every day (or at least that is my goal; I'll explain more tomorrow) so stayed tuned to see how well I do... or how miserably I fail. lol.

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

7 Quick Takes Vol. 12: Blog Anniversary Edition

-- 1 --

As many of you know, Christmas Day is also this blog's anniversary. However, I don't think my blogging anniversary is bigger than the reason for the season (Happy Birthday, Jesus!) so I didn't mention it on the post I wrote that day. Anyway, this year marked the 6th anniversary of this blog (it was created before midnight, on the 25th). Crazy. Even crazier to think about how much I've grown in the past 6 years... and how I've blogged for the majority of my 20s. I wonder how many more years I can keep it up...

-- 2 --

Some of you who read Monday's blog post have been wondering if I went through with wearing a mantilla to Christmas Mass (I have been asked since the day of) and the answer is: YES! It felt so good to not only attend Mass (haven't gone the past years due to illness or transportation issues) but to also wear the mantilla. I felt a bit self-conscious at first (due to previous experience) but, thankfully, the parishioners where I attend Mass are so lovely that I felt at peace. In fact, I saw two other veiling ladies (a mother and her young daughter) and another mother said to her little girls "oh, look! she's veiling!" in a manner that made me feel really nice. Also, who knew mantillas were such guy magnets? I'm talking to you, dude who kept looking at me throughout Mass a few pews in front of me. 'Sup? lol.

-- 3 --

This Christmas marked the 5th one we celebrated without my father (he died in mid 2009). Though it was hard, it was the first time that we weren't sad little pandas. Of course we still feel his death but we can now look back (and talk about him) in a way that celebrates his life instead of mourning his passing. I'm calling it a Christmas Day miracle.

-- 4 --

Is it weird that I was kind of bummed that I couldn't do a What I Learned Wednesday post this week? Yep. I won't be able to next Wednesday either as it's New Year's Day and I try to save those days for other things. I have a lot of awesome things to share but I must wait a couple of days. You'll see the post eventually... and you'll see why I felt like a kid on Christmas when I learned something about the faith (on my own!) that I had confirmed as true. ;)

-- 5 --

I finally got through the novena of this blog's patron saint for 2013, Mary, Undoer of Knots. I finished it (and two others) on Christmas Eve. It was a hard one to get through. I basically had something go wrong on almost every single day that I did the novena. It was like a mini-version of the 54 Day Rosary Novena in which everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. I'm proud of myself for sticking it out though I was tempted to stop a couple of times. Seriously, I almost stopped on the last day as I felt faint, I was sweating cold, and I felt like my anxiety was out of control while I prayed it in front of the tabernacle. Still, I stuck it out and I would do it again... and most likely will.

-- 6 --

Friendly reminder that it's STILL CHRISTMAS. Yes, I had to bold and capitalize it. I know that (in Los Angeles) KOST 103.5 stopped playing music yesterday but it's still Christmas time for us Catholics. Christmas doesn't end (at least not liturgically) until the Octave of the Epiphany (the Baptism of the Lord) but it will continue being Christmastide until Candlemas. Who's up for celebrating until February 2nd? lol.

-- 7 --

And here's one of my favorite works of art of baby Jesus, found of tumblr. I wish I could frame this. If anyone knows who the original artist is, let me know!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Anyway, I'm starting my annual clean-a-thon super late this year (today!) and I have less than 5 days to finish so... I need to go get started like right now. ;)

I hope y'all had a lovely Christmas Day. :D

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

Mantilla Monday

No, this lovely lady is not me. This is Cristina of Filling My Prayer Closet, who was kind enough to let me use one of her pictures for this post. Thank you! :D

I don't know if Mantilla Monday is an actual thing but it totally should!

Those who have been readers of this blog since the beginning know that I am a huge proponent of wearing mantillas (or chapel veils, if you want to use the English word for it). In fact, I've written a couple of posts on the subject throughout the years. Well, I've at least mentioned wearing them over the years. Some of you new readers may not be familiar with those posts so... Mantilla Monday is born. This is probably a one-shot post but I am still keeping the title because I like alliteration. ;)

Some of my most treasured childhood memories are of my paternal grandmother and my paternal Aunt Lola wearing their mantillas and taking me to church with them when we visited them in Mexico. It didn't happen often but the memories of the beautiful church where my father was baptized (as well as our trip to Plateros where the Santo Niño de Atocha is venerated) are forever burned in my mind. It's kind of funny to think about how easily these memories have stuck, especially since neither of my parents were very religious while I was growing up; I didn't get much Catholicism in my life in my formative years.

Fast forward several years (and only two or three after my reversion), I discovered the beauty of mantillas. I've unfortunately not worn them as regularly as I would have liked because of some comments and the looks I received. I was often the youngest (by decades) who wore one to Mass and was looked at as if I were an alien. I received some dirty looks at my alma mater when I wore one to the only Red Mass I attended as an undergrad. I didn't like the attention so I stopped wearing them around 2011. I've always been somewhat on the shy side so the attention I was getting used to make me super uncomfortable. (side note: any attention focused on me still gives me nightmares and I honestly hate it but at least I don't have panic attacks over it like I used to.) I do cover my head with berets (my go-to choice for hats) but it's not the same. Because I've missed it dearly, I've decided that starting Christmas Day I am going to go back to veiling. And I know I won't be the only one; I've actually seen a number of young women (especially Millennials) beginning to veil and it makes my "traddie" heart happy.

Actually, scratch that, I'll be veiling not only at Mass but also when I go do my daily silent prayers in front of the tabernacle. I just think it's a beautiful way to show God how much I love Him. Fish Eaters (I can feel some of you cringing, lol) has a lovely explanation as why veiling is awesome here; I'm not even going to attempt to do it because I tend to write based on my personal thoughts and feelings rather than cite legit sources. lol.

I will say that "women are insignificant in the eyes of the Church and thus must not be seen or heard from", or any of those bogus claims "radical feminists" spew out when they're trashing the tradition of wearing mantillas are so off. I feel as I, in my own little way, showing God my love and respect for Him by wearing a mantilla. Also, on a more practical level, it keeps my eyes from wandering and helps me focus on what's important. Remember how I've been easily distracted lately? I have a feeling this will help!

If you're wondering if I will be posting pictures, the answer is: sorry, but no. In recent months I learned that a picture of me in the mantilla my father gifted me right before he passed had been circulating through many "traditional" Catholic sources (such as Regina Magazine - they were kind enough to take it down when I asked - and another uber popular Catholic blog) without my permission. Since the threats I received online were pretty scary (and had to take my photos down as per instructions), I was not happy about this. Sorry, y'all. You'll just have to trust me when I tell y'all I've worn my mantilla to Mass. :)

Anyway, I just wanted to share this with y'all. :D

I know this week will be hectic for most of us so, in case I don't "see" some of you online: I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year filled with love, laughter, and all that good stuff. If you're sticking around throughout the holidays, I have a bunch of new posts planned all this week. Oh yes, I do. lol. ;)

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go try to catch up with my Narnia reading before the month ends. ;)

OH! And please don't forget to vote in the patron saint poll on the right hand side! Only a couple more days left before it ends. ;)

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

What I Learned Wednesday #20: "Traddie" Edition

Before I get any crumbs from anyone:

1) I don't like putting labels on Catholicism (okay, fine, I like using "orthodox" -- small o) but for this post I'll use "traddie" to mean fans of pre-OF Mass/Vatican II (I can feel some of you cringing) Catholicism.

2) Yes, I'm a "traddie" in the sense that I love wearing a mantilla, attending daily Mass, prefer using the Douay-Rheims Bible, think Latin Mass is wonderful (yes, I've attended), and adore Gregorian chant. See how I keep using "traddie" with quotations? Yeah, don't hate.

And now this week's (quick) WILW items.

1) Did y'all know that there is an online bookstore that carries only traditional Catholic books? Oh yeah!! I was very excited to find Baronius Press Ltd. I think I'm even more excited to finally find a good copy of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which I pray daily. I was enrolled in the Brown Scapular last year; I take my commitments seriously and reading the Little Office is amongst the requirements. ;) I can't tell you how many books that I have been wanting (but couldn't find good copies of) have made it onto my Christmas and birthday wishlist. For the record, a gentle reminder that my half-birthday is coming up next month. Just putting it out there in case my brother stumbles onto this post. lol. ;)

2) I found a great tumblr blog named Trad Catholic Problems that has some awesome memes. My top three memes at the moment are:







Okay, I can't relate to the last one (though I would totally do it!!) but definitely the first two. I have gotten comments of thinking myself holier than others (and other not so nice comments; hello, CINO college survivor, err, graduate) for wearing a mantilla. Seriously, I just think it's a beautiful tradition; covering our heads as a sign of respect towards our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. If it was good enough for my paternal grandmother (whom everyone says I take after), it's good enough for me. Also, I fangirl every time I see nuns wearing their habits at Mass, at the grocery store, or even at Disneyland.

3) I didn't learn this but I still haven't figured out why there's such a fuss made when a young Catholic (especially fellow Millennials) say they like "traditional" Catholicism. As I mentioned earlier, I love a lot of "traddie" things. This doesn't mean that I think of myself as holier or superior to others. Some of my fondest childhood memories include attending Mass with my mantilla-wearing paternal grandmother (may God rest her soul) in the small town where my dad was raised in. My prized possession is the mantilla my father bought for me only 4 months before he passed. I wish I could attend Latin Mass more often but the nearest parish that offers it weekly, St. Therese in Alhambra, is a bit of a drive for me and I have yet to get comfortable driving on the freeways. I think Venerable Fulton Sheen is fantastic. I hate clapping in Mass. I like my Masses solemn. These are just my preferences.

There is a rise in numbers that are preferring this "route." Latin Mass attending, "bead rattling", communion via tongue only Catholics, especially amongst those in our 20s and early 30s, are even gaining momentum in Los Angeles from what I've seen in my circle of friends and acquaintances. I don't have a link on hand (the one with the actual stats) but I'll post it when I find it. Anyway, someone please tell me what's so shocking about this. Please. Some of us are just drawn to it; no need to make a stink about it.

I was so not in the mood to blog (I want to get back to my book!) but I decided to take one for the team and write this quick post. By the way, I don't know which team. I just wanted to use the idiom. ;)

Alright, it's cold and raining (read: perfect book reading, tea drinking weather) so I'm going to enjoy it while we have it. I am seriously loving learning about all the married saints and blesseds and have been trying to do everything early so I have more time to read. So many saints I didn't know existed but have amazing and inspiring stories. :D

I hope you're all having a good week thus far. :D

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

What I Learned Wednesday (On a Thursday) #13

Been really busy and sick (which explains the lack of posts) but I finally have a chance to write so... here's my list of things learned on Wednesday...

This week I'm tackling myths that many people (especially Hispanics and Filipinos from what I've seen) have regarding Holy Week and especially Good Friday. This post was inspired by my mother's insistence on doing everything today because it's "bad luck" to do things tomorrow. This is also a taste of a bigger series on Catholicism and myths surrounding it that I will be starting after Lent.

1) You can't bathe, wash clothing, or (really) do anything on Good Friday: superstition. As I said, my mom brought this up last night. She said she was doing the laundry today because we're not supposed to wash clothing tomorrow. I Googled it (just to make sure that I wasn't missing some legit custom) but it seems to be as bogus as the Twitter question I tweeted earlier this week (whether it was true that you couldn't cut your hair during Holy Week). I asked about other Good Friday superstitions and she mentioned that we shouldn't bathe tomorrow because it was like bathing in Christ's blood. I have never heard of that and some Google searching came up as more superstitious bunk. I don't think I need to remind y'all that we shouldn't be superstitious (and, in fact, it's one of the items on my iConfess app before I head into the confessional).
which is being written on Holy Thursday.

Growing up with lukewarm Catholic parents (one of whom was very superstitious; seriously, getting dad to break his superstitions at the end of his life took a lot of prayer), I had to break a lot of my superstitious beliefs when I returned to the Church and learnt this. If you're saying that superstitions are harmless, I will remind you (and you should really check out this New Advent article for a more thorough explanation) that to believe in superstition is believing that YOU can control the outcome of something by doing something you believe will bring out your desired outcome instead of trusting God and doing His will. Dangerous territory, y'all. I know it's hard when our (in my case, Hispanic) cultures are saturated with these beliefs but it's worth keep your souls safe to break them.

2) Things that make sense to not do on Good Friday: listen to music, have any type of big celebration, and, of course, eating meat. These are more common sense and out of respect for the day. We're in mourning. I will admit that I did listen to music during our mourning period right after my father died but music is how I express myself when I can't use words... and it's also comforting for me. I didn't do it the day he died or the day after but the following week I did. I didn't even think about how I wasn't supposed to because, like I said, it made me feel less depressed but I definitely won't be doing from tonight until Sunday. Music is/was my first love (St. Cecilia would be proud; there's a reason why I took her name as a middle name) but this is the exception. Jesus suffered and died for our sins and to not honor his sacrifice by giving up these little things is just one little way to pay our respects for what he did for us. Obviously, not eating meat (which, I can now thankfully abstain from since my stomach has been on the mend) is another but I think we all know that tomorrow is a day of fasting and abstinence. I can't fast (genetic hypoglycemic thing I inherited from my mom) but I am abstaining from meat, sweets, and other things. I'll also be wearing my black mantilla (chapel veil) when I attend the Via Crucis (Stations of the Cross) tomorrow.

3) Friendly reminder that the Divine Mercy novena starts tomorrow. As I did 2 years ago, I will post the novena prayer for the day on a daily basis during the 9 days for those who wish to pray along. Either check out this blog directly, check out my Twitter feed (or the FB page feed), or subscribe to get emails of new blog posts so you don't miss a single day. I'm going to schedule them so they post around noon PST (3 p.m. EST) every day. If you're in the middle of another novena (like I am; St. Thomas Aquinas for grad school), you can still begin the Divine Mercy novena, no problem. :D

And that is it for now. So that there isn't any post overload, if I end up writing during the 9 days the novena post will be posted early and whatever I write in addition will be posted late at night. :D

I hope you all have a prayerful and fruitful (you would be surprised how much a person can grow spiritually during these next couple of days) Paschal Triduum.

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

Inquiring Minds Want to Know...

Okay, so this picture has nothing to do with what's going on with me because I don't have writer's block... I simply haven't had the time to do much writing outside what is needed for school and for Envoy Magazine. Still, I love it so I posted it. :-P

I have back posts I started but didn't finish because of time issues and a major change which has thrown my time management/schedule for a loop. Long story short: less hours sleeping, more busy hours during the day, and I dropped my math course for both time issues as well as, well, because my professor was insensitive and I was advised my faculty here to drop it after an incident between him and I. Anyway, since I don't have much time at the moment (I have Lit in about 40 minutes for so) I just thought I'd answer some questions I've been getting through email, on here (via comments) and twitter.

First: Did I do it? Did I end up wearing a mantilla two weeks ago? The answer is: YES! If you're a Facebook buddy you saw the photographic evidence (which a friend/classmate took inside the chapel). I did indeed wear a mantilla. There were dirty looks and a lot of pointing and whispering (and not discreetly) as I had predicted. I won't go into how... *shudders*... the Mass was and how the Eucharist (which wasn't really one) was basically shoved into my hands despite my efforts not to but I will say that I did wear it and I'm happy I did. I already know that some of my classmates think I have a "holier than thou" attitude because I go pray in the chapel whenever I get the chance and because of other things so I wasn't too concerned with what they thought about my wearing my chapel veil. It's kind of funny because if they knew just how hard I am on myself, they'd know it's the complete opposite. I did get a compliment, from the school's president no less, about how "pretty" it was which I did not expect. Overall, I was glad to do it despite what others said/thought.

Second: Do I have another article for Envoy Magazine coming up? The answer is: Yes! I've been trying to get it Patrick (and will attempt it again after my Lit class) for a couple of weeks now but my email is acting dumb (or it's going straight to his Spam folder because of that one time my account was hacked). Either way, it's written and it will hopefully be in the next issue. Can't say what it's about (yet) but I have a feeling y'all will relate to it... or at least that's what I'm hoping for.

Third: Why the lack of updates? Well, you guys probably know the answer to this by now. I'm not lazy and I don't have writer's block... I just have to rearrange some things so I can make the most out of my free time (like bringing a laptop to school so I can both work on school essays as well as update this blog). Since I have two very important exams this week (both placement exams - one for my Foreign Language requirement, the other for math), I want to dedicate as much time as I can to studying. I'm praying that I can test out of Intermediate Algebra (which is the last math course I took; they still make you take the test here) so I can knock math out of my life (forever) next semester. Fingers crossed.

Fourth: How's school going? It has its ups and downs. I "played" a game with my Catholic friends on Facebook called "Spot the Heresies." Basically, I posted a note with direct quotes from my professors and asked my friends to spot the heretical teachings. Now they see my pain. lol. The heresies are becoming a bit infrequent in all but one of my courses. I still dread coming to school (and still cry some nights at the thought of having to come the next day) but it's getting somewhat easier. I have a friend who's in the same boat as I am - both are regretting but learning from the decision of attending this school but we are both trying to make the most of our experience here. Today we talked about how we would've rather attending Thomas Aquinas College about an hour north of here but how "it is what it is" and now we must survive until graduation. Thank God (I'm literally thanking Him) that I am finding (or, I should say, that God's putting into my path) people with the same beliefs.

Okay, I have just a few minutes before class started and I still have to walk to the building and then up to the top floor so I am going to end this blog post here. I will try to update again on Thursday... at least the post on St. Therese and how suffering beads have changed my life quite dramatically. I wanted to post it on Friday but couldn't. :D

I hope y'all are having a great start of week. :D

As always, thanks for reading and God bless!

To Mantilla or Not to Mantilla...?

Please excuse the blurriness; my mother took the picture (April 2009) and she simply cannot take one in focus... which is why I love her. lol. This is the mantilla my father brought me from Mexico a week or two before his diagnosis. I've made a vow to not wear this specific one again until my wedding day so I can have a piece of my father with me on that special day. The mantillas I now wear to Mass are a bit smaller but I still love 'em. :D

I have a little dilemma. See, tomorrow my school will be having the Mass of the Holy Spirit (also known as the Red Mass). I've never been to one before but since it's still a Mass, I want to wear my mantilla. There is one little problem: I've already started rubbing people the wrong way with my 'traditional' ways. If I had a quarter for every time I got a dirty look, a cold shoulder (I've had classmates literally turn their backs to me as I was speaking to them), etc. I'd be a rich lady. lol. I also got some interesting looks when I went into the chapel to pray the Rosary last Thursday... but I don't care. As long as I'm good with God, that's all that matters. Anyway, right now I'm trying to decide whether or not to wear one. I will wear red, as per request, but I'm still undecided about the mantilla. On one hand, I would feel more at peace with myself because I LOVE wearing a chapel veil to Mass. Personally, I feel completely disrespectful if I'm not wearing one. On the other hand, I hate when attention's on me, and especially with it's negative attention (who doesn't), and the mantilla might do that. As far as I know, it's never been done before. I often joke that I'm already on the "hit list" for some people at school because of my conservativeness but I think there's quite a bit of truth behind the joke. I'm an easy target for those who don't understand our beautiful religion... or who choose to completely trash it because they don't agree with me. The stories I could tell...

Anyhoo, I have another 15 hours to decide (Mass starts before noon) so if y'all want to give your two cents, please do so. At the moment I'm leaning towards actually wearing it. Holly's already said that I should wear it and take a picture. What do y'all think?

I've got an early morning tomorrow despite both of my morning classes being cancelled. There no rest for the wicked (though I hope I'm not that bad; I'm trying to live a more saintly life). I hope y'all had a great start of week!

As always, thanks for reading and God Bless!

More Traditional Than Expected?

Every time I go to Mass at the parish where I've gone since I was in my mama's womb, I become just a little more disillusioned with them. The fact that they pretty much skip over the Penitential Rites really bugs me. The clapping, and (sometimes) dancing along, I see during the Alleluia/Gospel Acclamation always makes me cringe. I've had priests (one in particular) look at me when they see I'm not partaking in the clapping most of the parishioners are more than happy to do. I refuse to clap along, sorry. I feel like it's disrespectful to the sacredness of the Mass. More things I don't like: not wearing a skirt or dress to Mass... not wearing a mantilla/chapel veil... not receiving communion... not attending Mass, period. I have been known to cry when I am unable to attend Mass. The more I learn and read about the Church pre-Vatican II, the more I feel like the "outdated rituals" would suit me the best. That doesn't mean that I am against the Second Vatican Council... I just prefer the way things used to be way before my time. Am I more traditional than anyone, including myself, expected?

I have never been to a Latin Mass before but, after learning more about it and watching videos on youtube, I feel like it is the perfect Mass for me. Sadly, they're not really offered within the Los Angeles Archdiocese. Not even Pope Benedict XVI's Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum has helped that issue here. The nearest parish where they offer Latin Masses is almost an hour away from where I live (for those who aren't familiar with L.A., the county is large and sprawled out). They don't even offer it at the San Fernando Mission anymore! I could go into the whole issue many of us have with Cardinal Mahony, but I won't. All I will say is that I think it's sad that the archdiocese seems to have something against the TLM. If you want to hear more about what's wrong with this archdiocese, go to Joe's blog, Verbum Veritatis in Mahonyland. He expresses himself better than I do on this subject. (P.S. He can attest that I actually wear a mantilla to Mass; he's seen it for himself.)

I have embraced the fact that I have become a traditional Catholic (and I fall in the first group of traditional Catholics according to Fish Eaters). When I started this blog, on Christmas night 2007, I had NO CLUE that my journey returning to the Church would lead me here. For those very few that have read this blog since the beginning, I ask you: did y'all see it coming? I am actually very proud that! While I no longer wear the mantilla my father brought me from Mexico earlier this year (I have decided to not use it until my wedding day), I still wear one. I am proud to wear my mantilla to Mass... even if I'm the only woman under 50 that wears one. I REFUSE to receive communion by the hand. I'm usually one of the very few people in my parish who receives the Eucharist directly in the mouth. I wouldn't mind seeing altar rails brought back to the parish, though I won't hold my breath on that one. I'm not even going into the music played during Mass because I will never stop writing (St. Cecilia would be proud. :D)

I've read recent articles (which I cannot find at the moment, I need to organize my bookmarks) that say that statistics and surveys have shown that my generation (those in their late 20s and younger) seem to be more traditional than previous generations. Yes! Most, if not all, my Catholic friends are traditional, so I believe the articles. So will I be one of several that, with the help of Pope Benedict XVI, get their wish fulfilled and see parishes allow more Latin Masses to be said? Will we slowly see beautiful mantillas return? Only time will tell... but I am certainly hoping it happens.

Though I want to write more, I will stop for now and pick it up sometime in the future. Maybe next time I'll have the links ready. lol. ;) I am off to prepare myself for tomorrow's Philosophy course. Another round of "Oh no you di'nt" discussions with my professor? We'll see. :D I hope y'all are having a great start of week. :D

As always, thanks for reading and God Bless!

The 7 Things I Love

I was tagged by both Kelly of Gratiae Ut Deus and Joe of Verbum Veritatis to do this so I will. Also, it serves as a "filler" post since I haven't finished reading "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" yet. And, yes, the blog (which I started last week) is on that particular topic. I have my reasons which you will soon read about... Anyway, without further ado -- the 7 Things I Love

1. Going to Mass and wearing a mantilla to the Mass. Anything having to do with the Mass makes me happy. Liturgical abuses make me one sad nerd. P.S. I refuse to clap along when singing hymns.

2. Saints. Reading saints books and having saint dreams. I'm also in the process of making myself a bracelet made out of saint medals.

3. Tea. All kinds of tea. I even drink it during the super hot summer. I guess you can call me a tea addict. Maybe I should've been born British. lol.

4. Flowers. I don't know why but I'm not happy unless there's a couple of flowers in each room. I also like falling asleep in a friend's garden. My favorites are different kinds of lilies and pink roses. If I ever have a home with a big backyard, I'll have a huge garden and put a statue of St. Fiacre in the middle of it. Wouldn't mind getting one of St. Therese of Lisieux's roses either. ;)

5. Things from the late 1930s to early 50s. Fashion, movies, music... love it all from that era. In fact, if I had the money, I would change my entire room to reflect this. Audrey Hepburn would be proud. :)

6. Music in general. Dancing to music, singing along to music, playing an instrument, etc. I have an "addiction" to iTunes. I've been trained (vocals and guitar) by the best, too. I've been very lucky. I still say St. Cecilia chose me, not the other way around, and am very happy she's my confirmation saint. :D

7. Ireland and the Irish culture. I don't know why but ever since I was a little girl, I've had a thing about Ireland. I wear a claddagh ring (and want to eventually get one with an emerald - my birthstone - on it)... one of my patron saints is Irish (St. Dymphna)... I look forward to St. Patrick's Day more than I do Valentine's Day and/or other holidays... in middle school I use to mumble something about wishing I was Irish on St. Patrick's Day to anyone who would listen... the men of Celtic Thunder and The Script make me swoon like a school girl (lol), etc.

See? That was short and painless and now you know a little more about the nerdette that writes this blog. lol. Okay, now I'm going back to my reading. :D I hope to have the new post tomorrow but no promises. :) Hope everyone had a good week. Thanks for reading and God Bless. :D

More Mantillas, Please!; Good Dad Update

If I see more young women wearing mantillas at my parish, I will be one happy camper! :D I've seen a couple more women wear them today... and be a couple I mean about 3 more. But, hey, it's a step up from being the only one in the English Mass that wore one. lol. Yes, I'm still the only one under 50 to wear one, but perhaps for not much longer. :D How do I know? Well, it started out like this: I went to see if they had other mantillas for sale at the little office next to the parish because I want to have one to wear on a daily basis (as in whenever I go to church). I still adore the one dad brought me from Mexico a few months ago, but don't want to wear it too much out of fear that it'll get ruined somehow. I decided to get at least two more. All they had were black mantillas so I waited for a bit to ask if they would get more, in white, any time soon. This is all while I was still wearing mine (which I wore for two straight Masses :D). A women in her late 30s came in with her little boy while I was talking to the woman. She saw my mantilla, as well as the black one I was being shown, and remarked how beautiful she thought they were and how it was a shame that the tradition had died. "How I wish it would come back," she said. I told her I agreed. The sales woman said she made them by hand, and she would custom make mine however I liked -- triangular, rectangular (like mine is), etc -- and that she would only charge me $5 for each. I told her I wanted two in a triangular shape, like this one but a little longer in the back, and that I wanted them in white. She took the length and all, too. The woman in her 30s then said that she'd also like half a dozen; she'd gotten inspired to start wearing them herself. Yes! :D One down... a lot more to go. lol. :D I will write more about mantillas (yes, I prefer calling them that over chapel veils) and the significance of them in a future blog... hopefully around the time I get my new ones in two weeks. :D

Before I end this blog I wanted to keep y'all updated on dad's progress. He's been "walking" around in his wheelchair for the past two days, which is a HUGE step up from a week ago. His blood pressure is also normal, which is a massive sigh of relief for us. He's been able to eat, little by little, and increases the amount every day. Good thing, too, because dad's lost A LOT of weight and was almost as thin as I am (and I weigh about 123 lbs. and am a couple of inches shorter). He's drinking a lot of water, too, which is fantastic. He was getting dehydrated. He says he feels better every day, and you can really tell that he's being honest. He didn't have his oxygen cannula on today, which is also a first since we admitted him to the hospital a couple of weeks ago. That has to be good, right? :D The only thing is that he's getting very demanding. Two forehead or cheek kisses, one to say "hello" and one to say "see you tomorrow", are simply not enough for him anymore. lol. Geez, daddy-o. :D Overall dad's looking good. I haven't talked to the doctor in a couple of days but I'm going to call him tomorrow and get his updated prognosis. I'm still staying optimistic and still praying for Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati's intercession. :D

Oh, and before I forget... thank you to those who came to the Spanish Mass which was offered up for dad's health. :D There's going to be another one, this time in English so some of you can actually participate (lol), next Sunday at 9 a.m. It's still at the same parish where I've grown up. :D

Okay, that's about it for today. I am going to try to write more often, especially with a lot of great news coming out of the Vatican lately. And, yes, I include the whole "investigating the American nuns" thing in that category. :)

I hope everyone had a great weekend. :D As always, thanks for reading and God Bless.

Modesty at Mass and in Everyday Life.

Yes, that's the chapel veil (or mantilla) that my father brought from Mexico. I will have to look for the one my beloved, late grandmother sent me when I was still in my teens so I can post a picture of it as well. I LOVE it. I'm going to have to get used to wearing them... which is proving somewhat difficult with my usually straight hair. Maybe I'll have to stop blow drying it so it stays naturally wavy, then maybe it won't keep sliding off. lol. Mom suggested I use bobby pins, like she did when she was younger and wore them to Mass (granddad was very Catholic), but I still haven't figured out how to do it. Suggestions are welcomed! :D Either way, I AM going to wear them... even if no one else around my age does. (The only women at my parish, and during the morning English Mass, that I've seen wear them are over 40.)

During Mass last Sunday I had two thoughts come to mind. First: Yes! Other women dress appropriately to Mass and/or wear mantillas. Second: Wow, so many women comes dressed like they were going out to a club... or hanging out at the mall with their friends. As my friend Monique from Catholic Chicks (who beat me with a post similar to this, lol) pointed out, we can't judge someone by what they wear to Mass because we don't know if the reason they're not more dressed up is because they can't afford to be. Trust me, I've told my father many times that it doesn't matter what he looks like as long as he attends Mass (though he does this because doesn't want to get dressed up and/or is finding excuses to not attend Mass). I completely understand that some people just can't for one reason or another, but that they wish they could. For those who can afford to look nice, and do dress up outside of Mass, I have to wonder why they don't make the effort to look nice when being in the house of God.

I've found some really surprising, and sad, excuses young women make for not dressing up for Mass. This is from my own research and questioning, I'm not saying these are the reasons for everyone. There are two reasons that make me cringe the most. First: "Why should I bother dressing up if there is no one to impress; there are no cute boys that attend Mass." Uh, seriously? I didn't know Mass was for trying to land yourself a boyfriend/husband. Oh wait... it's NOT! This brings me to the second reason: "It's just Mass. I showed up, isn't that enough? What's the big deal anyway?" *palmface* Oy.

Maybe the way I feel about this whole thing is because I was raised to always try to look nice when going to church, showing my respect for God. My dad (yes, you read that right) made sure I was always in a little dress, or at the very least a skirt, and dress shoes. If you've ever seen how Ali Landry dresses her daughter Estela, that's just how my parents had me dressed up until my tomboy side took over when dress pants became my thing. (I'm happy to report that I have since returned to wearing skirts to Mass, when it's not freezing cold.) Wearing these tube tops that young women have to constantly be pulling up so that they don't flash other parishioners... I mean, come on! Are you serious? If you can wear it to a club to draw attention to yourself, than it's more than likely not appropriate for Mass. That goes for mini-skirts, see-through blouses/shirts, extremely tight clothes, etc. Oh, and talking about things like bras during Mass, when you should be listening to the Homily, is also not appropriate. (Yes, last Sunday a young girl was talking about see-through shirts and bras during the Homily. She proceeded to also say that the Eucharist "tastes like nothing, like cardboard", among other things).

And while I'm on the topic of modest clothing and what modesty means, I'd like you to check out Modestia, A Maiden's Wreath, Maidens of Modesty (this one is not Catholic, but is Christian and run by one of my best friends). btw, A Maiden's Wreath had a book review on the fashion and modesty book "It's So You!" that I highly recommend.

For the record, and because I get asked this quite often, my definition of modesty varies from other people's. Some women say it's immodest to wear jeans and sleeveless shirt, and I don't. My motto is: If you can't wear something in front of a priest, or if you can't imagine yourself wearing in front of the Virgin Mary or Jesus Christ, then it shouldn't be worn. I don't think wearing jeans and sleeveless shirts (as long as they don't reveal too much skin) is inappropriate for every day life. As a self proclaimed girly tomboy, I fall somewhere between the Gap and Ann Taylor Loft. I love dressing up in dresses and skirts, and have a soft spot for vintage clothing from the 40s, but I'm also a big fan of jeans and tees when I'm just hanging out with my friends. I don't always wear heels (at 5'7" I'm good with flats) but I always try to look nice no matter what I wear. As for wearing spaghetti strap shirts, I do wear them but always paired with cardigan like this. I never wear anything too low cut, tight, or revealing. The last thing I want is to get attention from pervs. It's all about mixing and matching and doing it in a manner that's modest and cute. Definitely look at Modestia for more on that because Rebecca always finds some really good stuff and will always share with us girls.

Alright, I've rambled on as usual. lol. Sorry. All I can do is blame the writer in me. I have weeks worth of material that I want to write, and hope to eventually publish/post, but I can't say when just yet because school still has be busy as usual. That's what happens when you load yourself up with two Philosophy classes, a Speech argumentation course, and an English class. I do an exorbitant amount of reading per week. Anyway, before this gets any longer... I hope everyone has a great weekend! Thanks for reading, and for your emails. God Bless! :D

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
.