Quick Update

I'm in a bit of pain (grr!) but just wanted to write a quick hello. If anyone is wondering, Liverpool did NOT go onto the finals to see Manchester United but I am SO incredibly proud of my Red men for fighting 'til the end! A lot of people were expecting me to be angry and depressed but I'm not because I'm just so proud of my team. :D

And, a BIG exciting thing that happened today -- dad had his LAST chemotherapy session, at least for a while. We're going to wait what the results of his tests are but we're optimistic that dad won't have to take chemo anymore. *fingers crossed*

Alright, well, I need to get myself back into my bed, lay down on my stomach and watch the rest of Brief Encounter (which I love -- so beautifully acted!). Thanks for reading and God Bless.
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Another Unpleasant Dream, Boredom, and Quizzes Galore.

Yup, I had ANOTHER dream where I was fighting against evil. It was weird, the dream was intense (not as intense as yesterday's) but I did my fair share of defending myself against this evil. I think I called on Our Blessed Mother to help me out this time but I don't really remember. I am beginning to understand my dreams and why I have particular ones. It's weird... but in a good way. :D Now, if I could just have a dream about like winning the lottery so I can pay off my EXPENSIVE tuition, that would rock. Even if it's only a dream, I'll take it! lol.

So, not much went on today. It was an overall boring day. Well... except when we couldn't find the Emma DVD I had to return to Netflix. That was FUNNY! We searched everywhere except under this one notebook I have with me... and that's EXACTLY where it was. Haha. Oh man, that was hilarious. But, then again, I'm easily amused. :D Mom decided to take a little break and explore the city. New York City, that is. :D So, we spent the evening getting ourselves lost On the Town with one of my favorite men. Oh, I should say one of OUR favorite men (mom, and I believe sis as well, give him the thumbs up as well.) I believe mom wants to go to Paris next, and then make a detour to Scotland to see if I can find the fabled Brigadoon before ending up back in Hollywood. Anchors Aweigh, my boys. ;) We'll have to figure out when we'll have time to do that. I'm hoping this weekend. I desperately need these little wonder-trips to help me unwind and get back my silliness. :D I know sis will be the only one that understand what I'm talking about. HAHA. Sorry but this is the way it has to be. :D

Alright, well, I am tuckered out -- though it was a boring day, it was a LONG boring day. I will hopefully have a better post tomorrow -- if I even have time to write. BUSY day tomorrow. :D So, before I end this blog, a few quizzes I've taken in my time of boredom.

You Belong in Dublin

Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions. You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.

What European City Do You Belong In?

You Are Classical Music

You are a somewhat serious person who enjoys studying subjects deeply. Art of all kinds interests you, and a good piece of art can really effect you emotionally. You are inspired by human achievement, and you appreciate work that takes years to accomplish. For you, the finer things in life are not about snobbery - they're about quality.

What Kind of Music Are You?

Your Personality at 35,000 Says...

Deep down, you prefer spending time alone to spending time with others. You enjoy thinking more than talking. You are good with your place in the world. You are confident and comfortable with who you are. Your gift is relating to other people. You don't hide from your own emotions, and you are good at drawing other people out. You are inspired by what is possible. Real life is often too ordinary for you. It's very easy for you to feel happy. You can find peace with any situation.

The Personality Test at 35,000 Feet

OH and Liverpool play against Chelsea in like 12 hours (11:30 a.m. PST, 2:30 p.m. EST) so please keep your fingers crossed that Liverpool go onto the Champions League finals. Sad that Barcelona were kicked out by Manchester United *gag* but hey, an all English final will be awesome. :D

As usual, thanks for reading and God Bless. :D
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Scary Dream, Catholic Podcasts, and Let the Planning Begin!

Honestly, not much went on today. I had a finance meeting (oh yeah, I'm getting into taking care of business) which went alright. I'm a bit worried about money issues because my family's been living paycheck-to-paycheck lately and I have to take care of some big expenses. Chaotic but it's good for me to start dealing with these things again because it makes me feel like I did before I got sick. YAY!

One not so good thing -- I had one of the scariest dreams this morning. I woke up saying "Ave Maria Purisima" which roughly means to "Hail Mary, the Purest" in Spanish. It's something one says, in Mexican culture at least, when you get a sense of something evil. My dream was pretty intense, I was actually fighting with the devil (which isn't the first time I've dreamt it) because he was tempting to into doing something completely immoral but my will was too strong for him. Then I felt this strong wind trying to pull me into darkest. As soon as that happened, I started naming saints to help me. I started calling "St. Teresa of Avila... St. Jude Thaddeus... St. Michael Archangel... St. Raphael Archangel..." as soon as I remembered to call on Our Blessed Mother, I woke up... and said Ave Maria Purisima. It's completely scary. Every time I've had dreams that I'm fighting against evil, I've always won... like that time my house was surrounded by darkness and I took a white stone/light in my hands and make the darkness disappear. I believe I wrote an entry about that a few months back. Still, it's scary to dream and I will definitely talk to a priest about this.

Moving onto something nicer... I've been catching up on this awesome Catholic podcast called The Hands and Feet Show. I love that the show is VERY relatable to young people -- especially us in our late teens and 20s. They aren't afraid to tackle any issues, no matter how taboo or controversial, while keeping everything faith related. I definitely recommend it to anyone who doesn't shy away from any topic. You can check them out here (http://sqpn.com/category/talkshows/hands-and-feet/) They're part of SQPN which has a slew of awesome Catholic Podcasts. Definitely recommend all of 'em -- all of Fr. Roderick's podcasts, Rosary Army, the Saint Cast, etc. And, speaking of Fr. Roderick, he's in Rome this week and he's already done a podcast there. It sounds like Rome would be my kind of place... as soon as I get over my anxiety.

We've got it all planned -- as soon as my therapist gives me the thumbs up for traveling to big, crowded cities (that I haven't been to before), I'm visiting them. :D I already have my list of cities (mostly in Europe)... and, to be honest, it's more of me checking them out because I fully intend on living out there in about a year or so. Well, in France or another country in Europe. The idea of living in France popped into my head a few weeks ago. I already understand and speak a tiny bit of French so I need to really learn the basics but otherwise, I'm intrigued. I also heard that someone that doesn't completely repulse me (which is my way of saying "you rock, you big nerd!" hahahaha!) wanted to go and live there I thought "Dude, then let's go!" We always seem to want to end up in the same place at the same time without telling each other. I'm always surprised and think he's reading my mind. If it's not being in New York at the same time (we're both kinda tired and done with NYC now), it's being somewhere else. So, now I'm going to plan -- for myself -- to move out to one of the cities on my list and I won't tell anyone until I'm there... and we'll see what happens. I'm excited though. The planning aspect is awesome. It does mean I will have to learn about 4 different languages ('cause I haven't decided where I want to go) but I'm excited! The travel bug has bitten me again. YES! lol.

Alright, well, I have pretty exhausted -- don't know why -- so it's about time I call it a day. As usual, thanks for reading and God Bless.
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Mass, A Walk to Remember, The List, and Boxes Galore.

Okay, first with awesome news. I made it through the ENTIRE Mass without leaving. Not even for a split second! YEAH!!!!! Even better... I sat closer to the altar and I sat in the middle of couples so that it would be tricker to leave. OH YEAH!! Thank you, God! I was so happy and the priest who usually hears my confessions (and knows about my anxiety) saw me and he said he was glad to have seen me. :D I am so proud of myself. Per usual, I went by myself (still working on getting my parents back). I didn't take Eucharist, though I really wanted to :(, because I didn't feel right. Though I was told what I'd done (saying the Lord's name in vain) wasn't mortal because I didn't intentionally do it, I still didn't feel right. But I did pray and ask His forgiveness for what I'd done. Either way, it was awesome and the Mass was lovely. :D

I didn't do much today because of the ridiculous weather. It was hotter than yesterday so I didn't bother going out. I did, however, watch a movie that I've loved since I first saw it. "A Walk to Remember" is awesome and I don't know why it took me years to re-watch it! Yes, it's a chick flick but it's a good one. It definitely helped me clean my tear ducts, that's for sure. Haha. This is one of those movies that never fails to make me cry -- but they're mainly happy tears. It definitely brought back some memories and I just felt completely different (in a good way) afterwards. :) It definitely inspired me to be more like the main character, Jamie Sullivan, in not caring what others think and really giving myself fully to the Lord without excuses for doing so. If you've seen the movie, you know that Jamie (who is played by Mandy Moore) has a list with everything she wants to do. She has things like being in 2 places at once, getting a tattoo, and getting married at the church where her mother grew up in and where her parents married. That got me thinking that I wanted to make a list because, really, I want some new goals to work towards. So, without further ado... THE LIST.

The LIST (In no particular order):
- Attend Mass at the Vatican.
- Make it to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
- Move to a certain Northern European country.
- Visit the places that are connected to my favorite saints.
- Be in 4 places at once (which is very possible).
- Get at least 5 books published -- in different genres.
- Learn at least 2 more languages, and speak them fluently.
- Learn how to drive -- on both the right and left sides of the road.
- Backpack through Europe before I have children.
- Buy my parents a big house in a certain city.

There's more but those are the only ones I can share that aren't too detailed. I won't say what my top 3 are (hint: they're not written on this blog. :D) so don't even try to get them out of me.

So, while I had fun making my list (and plotting how to get future husband to go along with my plans... that Nerd... lol), my dad had the task of going through all the boxes that were packed up during the move. Since we're FINALLY all settled in now, it's time to go through the boxes. Well, dad and mom do 'cause I'm solid. I didn't really pack 'cause I didn't have much stuff to put into boxes. :D Since we're starting new, they (moreso my dad than mom) have to go through everything and say what they do and don't want in the house. It'll probably take them a while but it'll be nice to have things that aren't needed out of the house. :D The only reason I can't help is because I'd tell them to throw everything out (I'm a minimalist) and that wouldn't sit well with dad. lol. Oh well. :D

Alright, so... I'm so sorry to make this entry short but I've got a busy day tomorrow and it started very early. I'm not complaining though, I'm going to enjoy what it planned (I hope ;D). 'Til next time... thanks for reading and God Bless.
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Go Galaxy!, Hot Weather, and Mortal Sin?!

I just watched one of the best L.A. Galaxy games I've seen. It was SO thrilling up until the last second. Thank goodness Galaxy won! They beat Chivas USA 5-2 after being neck-in-neck for about 3/4 of the game. Landon Donovan scores a hat trick and my man Alan Gordon (LOVE him) scored two when he came on as a sub... and almost scored a third. GREAT game! Since both teams are from L.A. they rivalry was intense but in a good way. I'm a Galaxy girl and was before Becks was signed so I didn't jump on the bandwagon. I've been rooting for them since they began, mainly because it's the home team but later on because I became a fan of the players. Needless to say, dad and I (who are fans of Becks and Donovan) are happy campers. AND since Gordon scored two goals, I'm even happier! :D

One thing that didn't make me happy today... the weather. My goodness! It was 94 degrees at around 3 p.m. I was glad that by the time confessions rolled around, it was cooling down. Granted, I live about 2-3 minutes (by car) from the parish but still the weather is horrid. When we were watching the Galaxy v Chivas USA match, the commentators mentioned that it was still very warm in that part of the city... and you could tell by all the water breaks the players had. Oh, and the game started at 7:30 p.m. so you can just imagine. It's currently 10:25 p.m. and we still have the air conditioning on. Oy! I am definitely going to Mass as early as I can tomorrow because it's supposed to get even hotter tomorrow. It'll be close to 100 degrees. Ugh. I cannot wait 'til future husband and I move away from this hot weather... if I can persuade him. lol.

Okay, so I wrote the title (as I usually do) before I wrote the entry so the last part doesn't quite fit... but I am keeping it for future reference. I was unsure if something I'd done was considered a mortal sin. See, I said something along the lines of "My Holy God... these guys..." (actually I said it in Spanish, "Dios Mio Santo con estos muchachos...") without thinking. It happened during the Galaxy game. I got so wrapped up in it that I didn't realize I'd said His name in vain until after I'd said it. I was really good about not saying His name but I just got caught up in the game and it happened. Since I didn't intentionally say it, I was told that it wasn't a mortal sin... especially since I'm sorry I said it. Trust me, I'm ALWAYS sorry when I say His name in vain... and 99.9% of the time I say it without thinking and it takes me a second or two to realize what I'd just said. *palmface* Well, since I was told that it isn't a mortal sin (because I didn't say it intentionally), I guess I can receive communion tomorrow. Thank goodness! If anyone who reads this knows otherwise, please let me know. I don't like committing mortal sins. No, I take that back. I don't like committing sins, period! Not even venial ones!

Alright, well, super early day tomorrow so I should get to bed like now. lol. As always, thanks for reading and God Bless. :D
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