Pretty Happy Funny Real

~Pretty~

We visited James Madison's Montpelier a couple days after Thanksgiving. The grounds were spectacularly beautiful especially since it was one of the last warm days of 2011. 

 A race...

...to catch...

...her older sister! 

~Happy~

What could be a more fitting epithet? 

~Funny~

In this house, pens have an uncanny habit of walking away. In an effort to forestall this, my mother labeled the pens that she uses (as you can see below).

Upon discovering said pens one day, my sister and I formulated a theory that like an anti-theft device, if anyone besides my mother used the pens they would explode. 

Well, as you can see below, I had the opportunity to test said theory just the other day... 

I think we were right. :)

~

Before exploring the gorgeous grounds of Montpelier, we had the opportunity to take a tour of the mansion...

The little one payed strict attention the whole time and upon spying the statues of James and Dolly Madison after the tour, exclaimed, "Mommy, Daddy, look! Dolly Madison is my mom and James Madison is my dad!"

She then proceeded to sit on her "new dad's" knee and read with him. ;)  

~Real~

What is wrong with this picture? 

I made a batch of orange poppyseed muffins for St. Nicholas' feast day... and then it struck me...

A) It's been nearly two weeks since Thanksgiving and the turkey and gravy recipes are still on the counter... 

B) I am probably the only person in the world using a basket of cosmetics and dental supplies (yes, that is toothpaste) to prop open my baking book. 

hmm. Definitely a reality check. 

(The muffins turned out really well, thanks be to God, and I was able to serve them with dinner. On a side note, if you're interested in a new baking book, I highly recommend Baking: A Commonsense Guide.  I haven't found a bad recipe yet! ) 

Zealous Thieves

In many Catholic households the night of December 5th is particularly exciting because, in anticipation for today, we put out a shoe in hopes that St. Nicholas will visit and leave us a gift (usually in the form of sugary goodness that is candy...). If you are a good child then you receive a gift and if you are naughty then you would get carried away in Sinterklaas' sack. This is a very old tradition that sounds very familiar to us. As Catholics, let us not forget that "Santa Claus" is actually a 4th century bishop and not a mythical, fat, jolly, gift giver.

One of the things that I find fascinating and hilarious about early Christianity is the way in which they treat the saints (i.e. when they are deceased). Let me illustrate my point. St. Nicholas died on December 6, 345 and his body was buried in the cathedral in Myra (modern day Turkey). There his body laid intered for seven hundred and forty two years. That is until some Italian sailors decided to steal the relics of the venerated saint and transfer them to their port city: Bari, Italy. That's a great idea! Only the Italians would think of stealing the body of saint dead for almost a thousand years. That's not the real irony though. St. Nicholas was even made patron of sailors. This is the ultimate example of "good can come out of evil" because after they intered the holy saint in Bari a renewal of devotion to St. Nicholas spread like wildfire (St. Nicholas is also the patron of fire...) in the West! Surely we are recipients of this renewal even today.

So if you think that a Saint of the Church has not been receiving enough veneration lately consider stealing their relics and bring them to your city. Hey, you never know.

Me? Grateful?

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'll be posting some pictures from our Thanksgiving soon, but I'd love to see some of yours!

If you've read The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, you may recall a certain scene in which Corrie's sister expresses gratitude to God for a lice infestation. Corrie could not bring herself to be grateful for the pests until time showed how much of a blessing they were. (For those who have not read The Hiding Place, it is the story of how Corrie and her family were sent to concentration camps due to the fact that they hid Jews. In the above mentioned episode, the presence of lice in the camps allowed the prisoners to pray in their bunks as the guards did not want to get lice.)

Although I read the book almost ten years ago, this incident has always been retained in my memory. It seems appropriate to recall on this Thanksgiving weekend. Sadly, I am often one of those people who "never wants a drink of water until the well runs dry." Oftentimes it takes not having something for me to appreciate its value...or like Corrie: fail to be grateful for something until I have proof of its value.

Gratitude is integral to Catholicism, yet I wonder, is this sort of "Now I see now how good that was. Can I have it back?" mentality true gratitude?

Upon reading St. Paul's query, "What have you that you have not received?" and St. Therese of Lisieux's simple statement, "Everything is grace" it is quite apparent that the aforementioned approach is not correct.

So, what really constitutes gratitude? 

I am no spiritual scholar, but I would hazard to say that the virtue of gratitude is one that is integrally tied to humility.

A professor of mine once described humility as being the acknowledgement of the truth. How simple this is, yet how hard it is to be truly humble! Through it one can see that everything is given by God our loving Father. Indeed we are nothing by ourselves--in fact, our being itself is a gift.
This humble acknowledgement of our nothingness then leads to the joyful praise of the goodness of God-- gratitude.

While it is often easy to sit and make resolutions,  we all know that growing in virtue involves more than just thinking about growing. (And truly, it involves more than just ourselves... God's grace is a must!)

How, then, can one grow in gratitude?


Let us look Psalm 116. This particular psalm is one that is sometimes said as a preparation for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The whole psalm is beautiful, but two of the verses reveal the "secret" to growing in gratitude:

12     How can I repay the LORD

for all the great good done for me?

13I will raise the cup of salvation

and call on the name of the LORD.

The psalmist was not referring to the Mass when he mentioned "the cup of salvation", but what fits his description more than the re--presentation of Christ's sacrifice on Calvary? Here we encounter the interminable goodness and humility of God in the Eucharist. And how fitting that the word "Eucharist" means "thanksgiving"!

St. Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi demonstrates how we can grow in gratitude (and all virtues) when she writes,

"All graces are contained in you, O Jesus in the Eucharist, our celestial Food! What more can a soul wish when it has within itself the One who contains everything?....What more can I want or desire, if all the virtues, graces, and gifts for which I long, are found in you, O Lord, who are as truly present under the sacramental species as you are in heaven, at the right hand of the Father?..."

Not only can we grow in gratitude through our reception of the Eucharist, but what would be more ungrateful than to avoid God's great gift of himself in the Eucharist?


Do you have any tips on growing in gratitude? 

Silence is a Gift

"Enter into your heart, as the Prophet Isaiah says. And, if you have faith, you will find Christ there. There He speaks to you.

I, the preacher, must raise my voice when I speak to you. But Christ instructs you more effectively in silence."

- Sermon by St. Augustine

I read this part of St. Augustines sermon one morning after mass. All was quiet, and only a few people were left in the chapel. It is amazing what a few moments of silence can do for the soul. A peace enfolds you, a peace you can't feel when surrounded by the distractions of the outside world. A lot of us tend to be constantly plugged in to some sort of media/technology. Todays gadgets have made it so easy to be distracted, which prevents us from putting ourselves in the presence of God even for a few minutes. We have apps for our phones for every little thing, even ones that are supposed to help us pray. Now I have nothing against them per se, but using them distracts us from placing or full attention on God. I have seen people using their apps in church, some of them were prayer related, but some were not. Even in church we are plugged in! For some people it may help them to focus on what they can do to pray, but is it what they should be doing? How can we hear Christ speak to us when we are distracted? We might miss His loving words because we cannot be silent to ourselves and let Him speak.

Being a very active child, I had a terrible time sitting still and concentrating on anything for very long. I had my little books to read in church, but my family would always make sure I was aware of Christ in the tabernacle or present on the altar. I learned to be silent and listen, even if it was only for a minute. Now that I am older, I see the good it does me to just let Christ take hold of me without any exterior items. Advent has begun, and in this time of preparation for the birth of our Savior, I am going to try and be like Mary and just be "silent" with God, to let Him speak to me without my asking for anything or complaining. I'm not looking for a physical voice to start booming at me, but just knowing that He is there with me is so refreshing. God cares for each and every one of us. Let us give Him the time to show us the path he has planned for us, even if it is just 5-minutes everyday, in or out of church. If we have time for gadgets, we certainly should have time for God. =)

Peter Kreeft on Suffering

While perusing the Catholic Education website today I happened upon this wonderful article on Suffering by Peter Kreeft. It is Part 1 of a series he is giving on Suffering, Death and Sin. The second part is also available on the CERC website.

It serves as a great reminder for why we, as Catholics, embrace suffering.

Suffering

Overpopulation is a Myth

I don't know how many people are familiar with overpopulationisamyth.com but it has recently become one of my favorite websites. They have several short, informative videos concerning population issues.

Here is their latest:

Martyrdom

Lately there has been so much going on to keep me busy, but despite everything, I keep getting new ideas for posts...My only resort is to make a billion drafts so I don’t forget the ideas! I’ve been meaning to post this particular one for several months, and now I finally have the chance! 

(This image is from the NYPL Digital Gallery.

 It is originally from the 1600s.)

Some time ago, when I was praying in front of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, I got to thinking about martyrdom. 

When thinking about martyrdom, I often picture people like St. Charles Lwanga and his companions or some of the members of the early Church who were told, “Renounce your faith or die."

The problem is, looking at martyrdom this way makes it seem distant and almost “unreal” to us on a personal level.  But in reality, the life of the Christian is the life of the martyr. Yet how can this be so since many of us are not called to physically die for the Faith? 

As I sat before Our Lord that day, I imagined myself facing the martyr’s ultimate decision. I prayed that I would have the strength to stay strong if I were ever in that situation. But I was also reminded that faithfulness in small things is what leads to faithfulness in great ones. 

In other words, no one can be a martyr in great things if they are not first a martyr in the small. No one die the ultimate martyr’s death without first having suffered a martyrdom to self on an everyday basis. 

As someone who is often very impulsive, this resonates with me in a very tangible way. It is sad to say, but sometimes it can be hard to motivate myself due to procrastination or just plain laziness. Now, when I do not feel like doing something I ought, I can say, “I will do this because I believe in the Triune God/the True Presence/the Immaculate Conception/etc.” 

To some this may seem protracted, but for me it seems to be quite helpful. (I mean, once you’ve stipulated it in this way, you really cannot not do whatever it is you need to do.) 

While we may not be called to give our life in the ultimate martyr’s death (we may yet!), we are certainly called to die to ourselves in an everyday martyrdom. In this way, it becomes apparent that the life of the Christian is indeed the life of the martyr. 

Have you had any thoughts about martyrdom lately?  Also, what helps motivate you when you feel like procrastinating?

Pre-Writer's Block

I am doing this National Novel Writing Month thing just for fun. FUN. And I am having fun when I write, but I finally decided what the whole she-bang will be about. NOW the framework must come in. I do not like framework. I like free, uninhibited writing, not the planning and outlining.

So I do things a little out of order, ... *shrug*. I wrote some key scenes that were always part of the novel even before I gave the novel the main theme. I want to express that there is natural law. But I don't want to be preachy. It has to be subtle, which means I have to think of a good framing for the thesis. When you think of great novels like Crime and Punishment, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Jane Eyre, you don't think preachy, do you? No, they are epically awesome books that underneath express the importance of morals. So now I have to figure how to form this frame to uphold the theme. What do I write to subtly express this? I really want to get back to the joy of writing, but first the grunt work. It is going to take a VERY long time, I'm afraid. Sigh, back to work I guess!

Until next time, I am your
Cagey frame-builder

Maafa 21

A couple days ago I happened upon a really great article on the EWTN news homepage. I am posting the article below so you can read it in full.

Cain maintains Planned Parenthood has racist roots :: EWTN News

I don't know how much/how far I will go in supporting Cain as a presidential candidate, but he is doing a great work by speaking out about PP's genocidal tendencies. In this day and age only someone like Cain could say it without getting thrown into jail. So, kudos to Herman for taking the chance!

Several years ago, when I was writing my senior thesis about slavery and abortion, I happened upon a very insightful documentary called Maafa 21. Basically, it gives you the history of the modern eugenics movement in America. It includes Margaret Sanger and her cronies' real motives for founding PP. I'm wondering if Mr. Cain has seen it.

The entire show is in 13 parts. Please watch and share:

A Couple of Links

I really do not have much time to post today, but here are a couple interesting links I've encountered recently.

 


For this next one, the music is rather annoying, but the video as a whole is neat to watch.


Well, enjoy! Do you have any interesting links you'd like to share?

 UPDATE: In light of the fact that Bishop Loverde is dedicating the diocese to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, I was looking up articles on the Sacred Heart. Here's an excerpt of a homily by St. Josemaria that I found. I have not had a chance to read the whole thing yet, but it looks amazing!!! 

True devotion to the Sacred Heart
3. Let us realize all the richness hidden in the words "the sacred heart of Jesus." When we speak of a person's heart, we refer not just to his sentiments, but to the whole person in his loving dealings with others. In order to help us understand divine things, Scripture uses the expression "heart" in its full human meaning, as the summary and source, expression and ultimate basis, of one's thoughts, words and actions. A man is worth what his heart is worth...

To the heart belongs joy: "let my heart rejoice in your saving help" (Ps 12:6); repentance: "my heart is like wax, it is melted within my breast" (Ps 21:15); praise of God: "my heart overflows with a goodly theme" (Ps 44:2) the decision to listen to the Lord: "my heart is ready, Lord" (Ps 56:8); loving vigilance: "I slept, but my heart was awake" (Cant 5:2); and also doubt and fear: "let not your hearts be troubled, believe in me." (John 14:1).

The heart not only feels, it knows and understands. God's law is received in the heart (Cf Ps 39:9) and remains written there (Cf Prov 7:3). Scripture also adds: "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matt 12:34)." Our Lord reproaches the scribes: "Why do you think evil in your hearts?" (Matt 9:4) And, summing up all the sins man might commit, he says: "Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander and blasphemy." (Matt 15:19)

When holy Scripture refers to the heart, it does not refer to some fleeting sentiment of joy or tears. By heart it means the personality which directs its whole being, soul and body, to what it considers its good, as Jesus himself indicated: "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matt 6:21)

So when we talk about the heart of Jesus, we stress the certainty of God's love and the truth of his commitment to us. When we recommend devotion to the sacred heart, we are recommending that we should give our whole self to Jesus, to the whole Jesus — our soul, our feelings and thoughts, our words and actions, our joys.

That is what true devotion to the heart of Jesus means. It is knowing God and ourselves. It is looking at Jesus and turning to him, letting him encourage and teach and guide us. The greatest superficiality that can beset this devotion would be a lack of humanity, a failure to understand the reality of an incarnate God."

UPDATE 2:  Oh haha, I just realized I forgot to add the link where you can access the entire homily. Ah well, better late than never! Here's the link: http://www.josemariaescriva.info/article/sacred-heart-of-jesus

Unsung Heroes

When we hear the word "hero", we are most likely to think of person who has done something great in the eyes of the public, such as saving a person from a burning building with the odds against them, and from that point on their life is in the limelight. Our nation has war heroes, heroes from 9/11 who gave so much, even their lives, to save and help others. There are sports heroes, who people admire for their great skills. People have heroes in all walks of life. We have super-heroes (even though fictitious) who use their super powers to combat evil. Most of the superheroes have undisclosed identities; no one knows who they really are. Their heroic deeds are well known, but the man behind the mask remains unknown. I'm all for heroes, they are doing good things. (And I will add it is rather fun to dream up fantastic situations where your hero wins the day... ;-) ) Most of us will never meet any of these heroes: the great, the mighty ones who are extraordinary. If we did get to meet a hero, we would probably be floating on air and feel very privileged. Well, all of us have met a hero one time or another but haven't realized it. Here is one definition for what hero is: "a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal".

Who are these heroes we have met and did not know were heroes? Until recently, I hadn't realized I have a hero in my everyday life. This person has performed heroic acts and has modeled what a good, Christian woman should be. I ha

ve often just taken this person for granted, never thinking how much this person has impacted my life. The love shown me, even in my darkest moments, has filled me with comfort. The behind the scenes acts of this person have made my life much easier, physically and spiritually. This person has suffered my pain with me and suffered their own pains for my sake, saving me from the brunt of worse pain. Often this person goes unnoticed, not only by my self, but by other people. Even though unnoticed, this person still gives their all to make others lives happier and safer. If I did not have this person in my life, who knows who I would be today. I could be out on the streets, in a gang, just throwing my life to the wind. This person is a wall of protection, a pillow of comfort, a listening ear when I need one. My hero is a silent hero, not one seeking glory. King David was only a boy when he became a hero for slaying Goliath. His fame spread, and he grew into a great man with much power. Many responsibilities were given to him. But for all his fame and greatness, he fell into sin, and because of his sin he suffered. Now I'm not saying heroes have to be or are perfect. But they can and should be the best they can be to God and themselves, not the world. Our Blessed Mother Mary is the ultimate silent hero. She gave of herself to be the mother of God, even though she felt unworthy. She raised Jesus into manhood, even with the knowledge he would suffer greatly in the end. I can only imagine the ways she protected Jesus from any suffering she could in his early years. When he left his mother to go out into the world before he died, who wold think of the woman who raised him? Yes, he is God, we know that, but how many believed that when Jesus walked the earth? Did many think of who had educated him at home, who had taught him to be a man?

The person who has most influenced my life and who is my hero is my mother. I can never thank her the way she needs to be thanked for all she has done for me. I am a good Catholic woman because she has taught me the truths of my faith, she has taught me kindness, to be giving of myself. There is so much more she has to offer me and I only hope I take advantage of what she has to offer. It will be the only way I can thank her properly for her hard work: to be the best person I can be, in any situation. I hope I make her proud of me, because in her pride for me she is seeing the her fruits of a job well done. Many people if you ask them who is the hero in their life will tell you of someone who has done something physically fantastic, has such-and-such a job, has achieved such-and-such a standing/accomplishments, or has done something great in their life. Sometimes it isn't what you can see that counts. It's what you can take away from someone and become a better person with what you have discovered that counts.

Thank God for our Unsung Heroes: they count!

My Mother's Daughter

This morning, after frantically rushing around the house in order to get myself ready for a long day, I finally plopped myself down in "Jarvis." (Don't ask why, but in my family we nickname our cars. The car I frequently drive is affectionately nicknamed Jarvis.)

I started the car and was immediately greeted with the crackling static of 1160 AM -- the station for EWTN. Not wanting to attempt to decipher the indistinguishable words, I quickly switched the radio to its cd setting. Sounds of the delightfully beautiful chant of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles filled the car providing a sharp contrast to my prior frenzied rush. (I've included several of my favorite hymns below.)

As I drove along, I attempted to sing along to the songs I knew and reflected on the words of the songs I didn't know. Very soon the stress associated with the work of the day began to melt away, and I drove along with a joyful heart. (The words of St. Josemaria now come to mind: "The way to cut short all the evils we suffer is to pray." How true, yet how easy it is to forget this!) 

While listening to the words of "The Blessed Heart," I was struck with a particular thought.

In ordinary life, we often call people who have the same mannerisms as their mother "their mother's child." Similarly, though not with such  a positive connotation, we refer to a man who, despite his age, is completely dependent on his mother as "a mamma's boy." 

It struck me that we should have such a deep relationship with our Heavenly Mother, that people ought to be able to pick out that we are her children. Our hearts should mirror her Immaculate Heart in such a way that we can be distinguished as "our Mother's children." 

Children as we strive to be in our spiritual life, we should always remember to depend on our Mother for everything no matter our age. While in ordinary life someone who cannot let go of his attachment to his mother is looked down upon, in the spiritual life we should be proud to be called "a Mamma's boy or girl." 

As I parked the car and headed into Organic Chemistry, I was left asking myself, "Am I my heavenly Mother's daughter? Can people recognize my relationship with her by the way I live?" 

Let us challenge ourselves this week by imitating our Blessed Mother in such a way that people can say, "You know, she really is her Mother's daughter!" 

Mary, Mother Immaculate, make our hearts like unto thine. Amen.

So I woke up this morning...

I am an avid people watcher. Call me "guilty" because it's true. There is something so entertaining about sitting in a coffee shop, airport, (I won't mention church) or standing at the gas station and watching to see what people do. And, of course, it's fun to try and determine what kind of person they are. Every "grouping" I come up with usually has the radicals (or extremos as my Mom calls them), the so-so's, and the I-don't-care people.

Being a selfish creature I usually go 'round and 'round analyzing people until I end up right back at myself. Uh-oh. Yeah, that is what happened recently. It's so easy to get wrapped up in other people's lives and forget where YOU are! So the Holy Spirit has sent some "gentle" reminders to me.

First, I happened upon Pope Benedict's homily from Sept. 25th the other day. He certainly does not mince his words. Here is what he has to say about Mt. 21:29 (the two sons who responded to the Father's bidding):

The message of the parable is clear: it is not words that matter, but deeds, deeds of conversion and faith. As we heard, Jesus directs this message to the chief priests and elders of the people of Israel, that is, to the religious experts of his people. At first they say "yes" to God's will, but their piety becomes routine and God no longer matters to them.

Re-read that last line. Even for those of us who make prayer a part of daily routine can forget about God. But wait the real hard-hitting part comes next. In the Gospel Jesus tells his disciples that harlots will enter the kingdom before the chief priests and the elders.

Translated into the language of the present day, this statement might sound something like this: agnostics, who are constantly exercised by the question of God, those who long for a pure heart but suffer on account of their sin, are closer to the Kingdom of God than believers whose life of faith is "routine" and who regard the Church merely as an institution, without letting it touch their hearts, or letting the faith touch their hearts.

If that isn't a wake up call I don't know what is (maybe the second reminder is a close tie). Just being Catholic isn't enough. Just being a daily communicant isn't enough. Just saying the rosary daily isn't enough. Every day we need to wake up and consciously choose to live that day like Christ would, like Mary would, like the Saints would. We must choose to love one another and live radically.

The second reminder came today. This morning I was driving down Sudley Rd. past the abortion clinic and there was one older lady pacing up and down the sidewalk with a rosary in her hand. She was all alone. Then... I watched this:




If this guy was Catholic it would be spot-on perfect. Incredible things are happening in our country and each of us should be doing our part to bring about the Culture of Life. Am I being radical enough or am I allowing evil to triumph because I of laziness?

Tomorrow that older lady will not be alone.

For Pope Benedict's complete homily go to ewtn.com.

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real

Hosted at Like Mother, Like Daughter Blog!

{Pretty}

Peppers are so pretty, wouldn't you agree? (Especially the ones from your garden! [the jalapeños])

{Happy}

I more-or-less invented a recipe for plum cake the other day, which thankfully turned out very well! I had been full of apprehensions when I put the cake in the oven, so you can imagine my happiness and relief when I pulled the beautiful cake out.  (I still have to tweak it a bit, but I hope to post the recipe soon!)

{Funny}

We went to a rodeo the other day, and before the main events there was a kid's sheep-riding contest. Here's a shot of the contestants minutes before the ride.... I just love the variety of expressions! Also, see the encouraging Mommy towards the right of the photo. So cute! (If you would like to see the photo bigger, just click on it.)

Here's a shot of the actual competition! What a funny sight! 

{Real}

Here's some pictures from the Bronco event  later that night (sorry for the blur--my camera was low on batteries).
Whether it's really gutsy, foolish or just amazing, the pictures say it all. 

Thanks for viewing!

Please go check out the other lovely posts at Like Mother, Like Daughter. 

Of granola and... ludicrous fun?

Last week (has it really only been one week?), Miss Sarah and I got together to make some granola bars. We had made them before, and they were so delicious that Sarah's boss asked us to make more. We promptly purchased the ingredients, but we let time pass... and keep passing (as it is wont to do). Then Sarah's boss started asking where the granola bars were.

Whereupon, we finally scheduled the time to throw them together last Tuesday morning. Sarah arrived and we immediately began to gather the ingredients together for the recipe. 

This is when we arrived at a problem; that is, we purchased most of the ingredients in bulk so the amounts we had were not exact. To solve this, we measured what we had and scaled our recipe from that. 

For instance, the recipe called for 2/3 c of peanuts, so upon finding that we had 9 1/3c of peanuts, we scaled the recipe by 14. Instead of only using 2 c of cheerios... we had to add 2 x 14 c.... you see where this is going... ahem 24c of cheerios.

 Oh yeah. Did I mention that we also used 14 cups of sugar? 

By the time we measured everything out, it was too late to scale the recipe down. It was so ridiculous (-ly funny) and so full of poor judgement, we were unsure of whether to laugh or stand back in amazement. (We did both, by the way.)

Unfortunately, Sarah had to leave before we finished, but I snapped this picture before she left. 

I had to leave shortly as well but not before getting a snapshot of the finished granola bars (I still had to cut them up but all the actual cooking was done). 

 (The granola filled 4 rimmed baking sheets [one in the background] and 2 extra large cake pans.)

To borrow an expression from Tangled: "That's a lot o' hair granola."

In the end we probably made more than 100 granola bars. There were definitely more than enough for Sarah, her boss, and I to divide. 

Had we known how many we would make, Sarah and I probably would not have scaled it as much, but all-in-all, it was quite an adventure!

 Have you had any cooking (mis)adventures lately? 

Rest in Peace

Pie Jesu, Pie Jesu 

Pie Jesu, Pie Jesu 

Qui tolis peccata mundi

Dona eis requiem 

Dona eis requiem 

 Angus Dei, Angus Dei

 Angus Dei, Angus Dei 

Qui tolis peccata mundi 

Dona Eis requiem 

Dona eis requiem 

Sempiternam

Sempiternam

 Requiem

Dancing with God

An interesting thought came to me the other day as I was listening to some dance music and thinking about some of the good dancers I know.

When you are dancing with a partner, you both have to be in sync with each other. Sometimes when you first dance with someone you have never danced with before, you have some trouble finding the togetherness two people should have while dancing. Finding the perfect pull against each other and the synchronization takes practice. Though you may dance well with multiple people, there is always one person who you can dance almost perfectly with (at least most of the time ;-)). You know each their strengths and weaknesses in certain dance moves, how the other person moves around the room, how big of steps they take, and so on. If you cannot become one unit as dancers, but remain two individuals, the beautiful gracefulness and flow of the dance cannot be enjoyed by an audience or the dancers themselves. Another point of good dancing is to have complete trust in your partner. If you don't trust your partner, your dancing will only be mediocre. Of course, every dancer falls out of sync or flubs a move every now and again, even the best of the best. But they can recover and go on as if nothing had happened, because they trust their partner to lift them up again.

Dancing can be related to our relationship with God. When we start developing our relationship with God, we find that we don't know all that we should about Him. We aren't in "sync" with God. Even though we don't realize it, He is leading us and trying to tell us how we should move through the dance of life. As someone progresses in the spiritual life, they hopefully learn how to "dance" with God. It can be shaky at first, but how can you be good at anything without practice? It takes hard work to perfect something, and it is especially hard to perfect our relationship with God. God has so much hope in us, yet we forget to trust Him, the most perfect of partners. He knows all the moves and it is up to us to humble ourselves and let Him lead us. As in dancing, one partner must lead, while the other follows. If two wills fight against each other, the outcome will be disaster. God is the leader, we must be the follower. Sometimes the music changes and throws us off the beat. We misstep, stumble and fall, and sometimes make horrible mistakes. But if we have a good partner, they will encourage us to keep going. In life we make mistakes, forget that someone greater than us is there, and rely entirely on ourselves. This forgetfulness of God can lead us into self pity and sometimes despair. We lose touch with God. Everyone goes through dry spells in the spiritual life. God doesn't seem to be there for us, everything seems to be going horribly wrong, and we don't know what to do. Our prayers don't seem to make a but of difference. But there is someone who is listening and constantly there for us: God is there, our ever faithful partner. Like in dancing, we have pick ourselves up, and with the help our partner, keep going until the end. The ultimate prize? Heaven. If we can find a way do dance perfectly with God, how can we fail to win the prize? St. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 9: 24-27 “ Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize? Run so as to win. Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing. No, I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified”.

Dancing is a race, a race of gracefulness and telling a story through music and body. If our dance with God is helping us toward our final goal, let us share this joy and love of dancing with God with others, so that they too can enjoy a dance with the most wonderful, perfect dance partner.

(Please forgive me if this post is all a ramble. Sometimes my thoughts do not get organized and end up being muddled. If you have any thoughts, please share! I'd like to hear your opinion on the post. =) )

Oh Wow.

I just had a revelation...  So, I decided I would share it with you. In fact it is so mind-blowing, I still find it hard to believe! (Actually, it involves "extremely complex" math, so you will have to make sure I did it correctly ;) )... 

Here goes:

There are 24 hours in a day, right? Therefore two days are comprised of forty eight hours (24 + 24 = 48).

Ok, so, here is my work schedule for today and yesterday:

Thursday--6:30 AM until 4:30 PM

Friday--6:00 AM until 8:44 PM

That means I worked 10 hours on Thursday and 14.73 hours today. 

   10

+ 14.73

24.73 

Subsequently,

  48

- 24.73

23.27 

And

24.73 > 24 > 23.27

Therefore, over the past two days, I realize I have spent more time at Chic-fil-a than anywhere else. In fact, this means that in two days I have spent more than one of those days on my feet selling chicken.
Crazy, huh?
Umm, yeah. I really need to go to bed. This is too much for me to handle right now.


Goodnight.

 Love,