*Gasp* There's Life Offline!

I have been Facebook free since Saturday and I honestly don't miss it one bit. I tried opening up Spotify today and it automatically reactivated my Facebook account... against my wishes. I immediately deactivated it again because, really, I've been so happy without that darn thing. I'm sharing this little fact in case any of you have your FB profiles connected to Spotify and want to deactivate your FB accounts later on. I'm going to have to create a separate account (and, sigh, start over on my novel playlists) but I'd rather do that than keep Facebook up.

Well, what do you know? There's life offline! I know. I can't believe it either. ;) I actually made a "to-do" list for this month to make sure I always had something to do at all times. I'm the kind of person who doesn't "do" being lazy (hey, time wasting online was still doing something, lol) so I am glad I gave myself a list of things to do. At last count, there were 48 items on the list and 17 had been crossed off. Of course the list will grow as I cross things off of the list and find new things to add to it.

One thing I learned from my time away from most social networks (I've been spending less time on Twitter, too) and from making my list is that my priorities prior to the change were horribly out of whack. I was spending less time in prayer, less time doing things I really needed to do (I'm playing catch-up on a couple of things right now), and more time procrastinating and, well, fitting the stereotype of the lazy Millennial. While I actually did work and ran the household (errands, budget, care of, etc), I was still not taking advantage of the precious time I currently have. After all, this is the first time I've had time to myself and this won't last forever if my vocation is of wife and mother. Making my list and really spending time offline has put things back into perspective for me.

I've added prayer to my day in the form of praying both the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary AND the Liturgy of the Hours. I was previously only doing the Little Office but I have found that I get the most out of doing both. Once I get my schedule back on track (sleeping hours are currently messed up) and can do the two without scrambling on time, I will add the Rosary and Chaplet of the Divine Mercy back into my routine. With the amount of free time I currently have, I can definitely do it. It's just going to take some getting used to. I've already figured out that I can do the Rosary and Chaplet while driving every day but I won't do it all at once. Baby steps. :)

What else have I achieved in 4 days of no Facebook and little time online?
- Hung up curtain rods and heat blocking curtains
- Written and mailed a couple of snail mail letters
- Paid off bills and student loan either on time or super early
- Really gotten in touch with friends I was "in touch" with on FB
- Done a couple of favors for neighbors
- Helped mom achieve something she's talked about for years
- etc etc.

It doesn't seem like much but it's little victories that remind me that, like cable (which I don't miss either; 5 months cable-free!), Facebook was completely unnecessary. I'm really much happier and stress-free, which was the whole point of the deactivation. I'm not saying that I won't miss it at all but I definitely have things that remind me that I made the right decision.

So that's my little update on how things are going sans Facebook. It's still early but so far so good and, bonus!, I've gotten a chance to use hammers and screwdrivers, which I love. Yes, I not-so-secretly love assembling things and doing home projects. Okay, and maybe I love tinkering around the car as well. I am my father's daughter after all. ;)

That's it for now. I'm trying to stay offline as much as possible, especially with my anxiety not being the best for the past week and a half. I'm going to try to come up with three things for tomorrow's "What I Learned Wednesday" post (yes, I am still doing those; it's on my list) and try to cross at least three more things off of my list before I hit the hay. ;)

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

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

Now You Can Subscribe to the Blog!

Just a quick little post to let y'all know that you can now subscribe to the blog. I know, I know, it took me a long time to "get with it" but better late than never. It's right under the blog's archive on the right hand column.

With my FB profile getting deleted in less than 4 days (scheduled for before Saturday Vigil Mass), I wanted to cover all my bases as far as how I share new blog posts goes.

And now I must go back to subscribing via email (yes, I'm doing it, too) to all the blogs I enjoy. I used to get the updates on Facebook but since I won't have that luxury anymore, I'm doing it the old fashioned way. ;)

Send me any prayer requests you may have... and someone remind me to update this blog again if you see nothing new by Friday. ;)

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

Taking the Plunge and Deleting Facebook

I've decided to take the plunge and delete my personal Facebook profile. If you've read this blog long enough you know that I've taken breaks from it before but I have always gone back. This time, however, I am going to say goodbye to Facebook for good. (For the record, the blog's FB page will stay up with some help.)

It's not going to be easy. I've had a Facebook profile since 2004, when it was called The Facebook and only college students with valid student emails could sign up for it. Elitist noses up in the air in those days. lol. I've deleted FB once before (back in the summer of 2006 during the days of my reversion) but I was struggling keeping in touch with friends so enter FB profile 2.0 which I've had since November 2006. I'm so used to it that it's going to take a lot for me to not cave and change my mind or make a new profile and start over. But when I do feel the little "c'mon, get another profile" temptation, I'll just go read Matt Warner's post on The Real Reason to Quit Facebook to remind me of why it's a good idea to stay FB-free.

Besides the reasons listed on Matt's post (many of which are also my reasons), I have my own (long) list that starts and ends with "need to cut back on the gossip, negativity, and time wasting." Whether or not I engage in gossip, it's still ever-present. I've asked to be kept out of "the loop" and I still get it. Same with rants (which is so easy to do on Facebook and I've been guilty of in the past) and the like. So easy to "catch up" with friends by seeing their statuses, photos, etc. without ever talking to them. It's so easy so find games to waste some time. Trust me, I've spent a lot of time on the Journey of Moses game when I could've done other, more productive, things. Also, I'm way too overstimulated online. I've been feeling somewhat overwhelmed for the past couple of months and I really want to cut back and retrain my brain to not be in constant need of something new to do every couple of minutes.

I have to admit that a big reason why I sort of don't want to (though I still will) delete my profile is because of the FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), which apparently many people experience. Social networks are such a big part of my life since most of my friends are out of state (I am one of the few of my friends who stayed behind in L.A. after the age of 21) but it shouldn't be this way. With freelance writing and working from home, a huge chunk (most of) my socializing was done via FB and Twitter. I've honestly just gotten lazy and I don't like it. While I am not ready to give up on Twitter just yet (I have been using it more and more for networking these days), I am so ready to get out of my little cocoon and out into the "real world". This presents a new problem (I am terribly shy offline) but I really cannot rely on social networks to make/keep friendships.

I've already notified my friends on FB that I'll be shutting it down on the 10th (giving friends who rarely use it to get back to me with updated email and snail mail addresses). It'll give me a good excuse to make plans to actually see (face-to-face) those I haven't seen in weeks / months and to send birthday / Christmas cards via snail mail. I am a huge fan of writing letters by hand so this will actually be an added perk.

For those of you who have done it, any tips on how to brush off the temptation to go back to it? How long was your adjustment period? I know it won't get easy but I know it's also not impossible. If I can get rid of cable (though very difficult to not have it these days, especially with the Premier League and Scottish League seasons beginning this month), I can get do without Facebook after a while.

Anyway, just wanted to jot down my thoughts and explain things a little better so I don't keep repeating myself on FB, Twitter, and email.

Now I'm going to go enjoy Jamie Cullum's newest album and either work on my novel or read a book. ;)

As always, thanks for reading and God bless!

What I Learned Wednesday #16: Nope, Nope, Nope Edition

If I had kept these What I Learned Wednesday (#WILW) posts like I had wanted to, this would've been the 35th installment. Yes, I counted. I will try to get better at these, even after the Year of Faith ends. Oh yes, that's still going on despite what some of you may think. lol. ;)

Anyway, without further ado, here's this week's WILW.

1. Some Catholics will believe anything as long as it's on "the news." It saddened me to see just how many Catholics believed the MSM (mainstream media) this past week. I was expecting more of it from the English-language news outlets than the Spanish-language but I saw it on both. I personally watched Univision this past week (after a seminarian gave me the heads up that they weren't as Catholic-friendly as one would've thought) and I was unpleasantly surprised by the shoddy reporting. First they were talking about the "radical" words of Pope Francis (which have been twisted by almost every non-Catholic news agency) regrading homosexuality. Then, the next day, they reported more clarification (even interviewed a priest), which would've been great except that at the end of the news report they interviewed a gay Catholic man about how the Church needs to "get with the time." They ended the report with an open-ended question about whether Pope Francis and/or the Church would ever change. Way to confuse the audience, Univision. *sarcastic slow clap* Something I learned early on (pre-reversion) in my intro to Journalism course (freshman year of college) was that the MSM will always be biased. Always. It's no secret that it's anti-Catholic 99% of the time so I don't understand why people don't take the time to look into what Pope Francis actually said. I actually saw his response to the question from a reporter, which was in Spanish (thank goodness for being raised bilingual) and I saw how easily someone who doesn't understand Catholicism could twist the words. Instead of relying on media outlets, check out video/audio clips (as unedited as possible). Better yet, go to the USCCB or Vatican websites and check the Church's stance on homosexuality for yourself. It hasn't changed and it won't change, no matter how much people many want it to. Click here to read it straight from the Catechism via the Vatican's website.

2. Moving on from that unpleasantness, I was happy to learn (along with most of you) that the next World Youth Day (2016) will be held in Krakow, Poland. Yay! I only have two big World Youth Days before the cutoff age of 35 (I'll be 34 in 2019; no, I'm not ashamed to say how old I am) so I am determined to either go to this next one or (fingers crossed that it's in Ireland, the U.S. or Canada) in 2019. I know a lot of, ahem, "traditional" Catholics call WYD a "Catholic hippie-fest" but I like them. My first one was WYD 2008 in Sydney (happened two years after my reversion) and I've continually gotten something out of each. They've helped me grow spiritually so I am ignoring all the "hippie-fest" naysayers. Also, a little sad that some of y'all talked so much smack about the Masses and the music. Don't forget that some cultures celebrate their Masses different. I am not a fan of the clapping and dancing in Masses -- I'm a fan of the solemn, Gregorian chant, Latin Masses though not in a snobbish way -- but I do recognize and respect the fact that it's not celebrated the same way everywhere. I think some people missed the great homilies and words that Pope Francis spoke because they were being nitpicking everything.

3. Just when I was done with discernment, nope (nope nope). I have to discern both career vocation and vocation vocation again. My spiritual director thought it would be a good idea to discern what I will study in grad school (Speech-Language Pathology vs. Theology) as well as my "other" vocation (mother & wife vs. consecrated single). It's going to take a while so please keep me in your prayers. I am honestly leaning towards SLP (and I have been prepping myself for the exams and whatnot) but I've had enough people (spiritual director included) bring up an MA in Theology that I have to really discern things. There may be something that everyone is seeing that I'm missing (wouldn't be the first time).

As for the vocation vocation, I am in a state of limbo. I thought I was 100% positive that it was of wife and mother but I've been having my doubts lately. Not that I haven't had a chance to date; opportunities presented themselves but I haven't wanted to. I don't know if it's because I've become used to being single (and have been enjoying it) or because I haven't met/dated the right guy yet. I am currently suffering from the Emma Woodhouse "... I am not only not going to be married at present, but have very little intention of ever marrying at all" syndrome. I feel selfish for thinking this way but I've gotten a taste of independence (first time I haven't had any heavy adult responsibilities since the age of 12) and, while I would be happy to give it up for the right fella, I haven't had the need to give it up yet. Call it the curse of the Millennials or whatever but it's not my time yet. If it happens, it'll happen and I won't fight it. For now it's trips to Disneyland, staying up reading whatever I want, and enjoying going out with friends. Either way, I will be spending a lot of time in prayer. I pray not only for guidance but for my future husband if I am to marry in the future. I'm very grateful that I have a fantastic spiritual director to help me along the way. :)

... and this blog post is officially way longer than I intended. Oops. I really should've saved number 3 for a separate blog post but I didn't have a number 3 so I improvised. lol.

I won't make this any longer so I will say: thanks for making it to the end of this blog post. If I could give you all cookies and milk for getting this far, I would. lol.

I should go do something productive (currently on a mini vacation but still). Maybe I'll go finish one of the 5-6 books I have going on at least. I really should do something about that. lol.

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

Proud to Not Fit in Any Catholic Blogger Niche

It has come to my attention that I don't fit in any "Catholic blogger niche." I don't blog about being a wife and mother (for obvious reasons) or about single life. I don't blog about Church news like other blogs. I rarely touch politics because a) I hate the comments that come with it and b) I am not very savvy on the topic and don't want to make a fool of myself. I don't focus on girly or fashion oriented things (though I love all things feminine). I am not trying to sell you anything. I am not trying to be a popular blogger. I am still surprised when I hear people outside my group of friends read the ramblings I post. Sure, this blog is written in a personal, journal style but even then I put some limits in what I share. Remember the ongoing joke that I will marry and no one will find out until way after it happens? Yes, it'll still most likely end up happening. lol. I have no other excuse for this except that it's just not my style... and I'm proud of it.

I sort of feel like an old woman (silence from the "you're in your late 20s; you're old!" peanut gallery) amongst the rest of my Gen-Y/Millennial Catholic bloggers, especially the more popular bloggers. I tend to be more old fashioned in many things. The next couple of things I will say will tick off some of my fellow bloggers but I need to say this for myself. As I said, I feel like I'm old fashioned in many ways. I don't feel the need to use cuss and carefully choose my words when I post them, whether they be on the blog or on Twitter/FB (they're the same for me at this point). I feel like some things should be kept to oneself, especially if these things involve another person. I don't see the point in bashing other bloggers for controversy or higher blog stats. I love hearing about courtship (and dating) stories such as Clare's on The Catholic Young Woman because, by golly, I love the idea of courtship and dating with purpose (i.e. not ruled by hormones or infatuation). I keep up with blogs like The Catholic Young Woman and The Careless Catholic because they remind me of how much I love being a young woman (femininity FTW!) and also that, though they themselves aren't amongst the most popular Catholic blogs, it's all about substance and being genuine. If I were to pick a niche, I would love to be counted with these two as well as others like these... but I'm not quite in the same group as these lovely bloggers.

I write about vocation stuff, sure, but I don't whine about being single. Okay, that's mostly because I am honestly in no rush and because I am enjoying being single. It's a good time to get to know and better myself. If/when the time comes when I meet an awesome fella, I'm not going write much about that. If/when I do, I'm going to ask him if it's alright, just like I ask any of my friends -- guys and girls; because, really, who wants to be written about without their consent, especially about something as private as a relationship? When I get married and have my children, I'm not going to write much about that either. I may write about what I've personally learned and how it's shaped my relationship with the Lord but the rest will be left out because that's who I am; I'm a surprisingly private person (which my closest friends will confirm) despite what goes on Twitter (which is mostly fun and somewhat pointless).

As the blog indicates, I'm Catholic, I write, and I'm a self-proclaimed nerd. This is my journey. I won't let the comments that I should "fit into the Catholic blogger mold" affect what I write. I don't fit in. Story of my life. But I'm okay with it. More than that, I'm proud of it. Not the "whoo! I'm different! BOOYAH!" proud but I'm content with the decisions I've made regarding this blog.

Anyway, just needed to say this and hope that I won't get any more comments (though I may; some poor souls love to criticize and/or "have an opinion" about things that don't concern them) about why my blog is "so different" and why I don't "change things to get a bigger 'fan' base." If no one ever reads this blog again, oh well. I'm going to keep writing for me. And now I'm just repeating myself. lol.

I should go try to finish Saints in Love for a blog review (soon) and enjoy the rest of my day off.

If you have any prayer requests, send them my way. I am surprisingly low on these. ;)

As always, thanks for reading and God bless!