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,

Waiting for Mr. Right...

As we all know finding a good, normal, eligible and attractive man can be difficult. And sometimes it can be disheartening to see so many abnormal, annoying, and abhorrent .... *ahem*.... let's just say ineligible guys around. Ok, well the situation is really not that bad, but I just had to alliterate. 

Anyways, when I begin to become disheartened at the bleak boyfriend situation, :) two things come to mind: Genesis 9 and.... Colbie Caillat? 

What could these to seemingly unrelated items have in common? Rainbows. Genesis 9 deals with Noah and the ark. As we all know, after the flood God promised that he would not flood the entire earth again and gave the rainbow as a sign of that promise. 

"And God said, 'This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth....When the bow is in the clouds, I will look upon and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth." ~ Gen 9:12,16

Right before this, in verse 1, God blessed Noah and his sons saying, "'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth...'" ~ Gen 9:1 Thus, God favored man once more with the command to procreate. In this way, the whole story of the ark, procreation, and God's providence are linked. 


Consequently, whenever I listen to Colbie Caillat's song "Rainbow," Genesis comes to mind. In "Rainbow" Colbie describes her journey towards "Mr. Right. " Her usage of the rainbow is similar to the common image of following a rainbow to get to a pot of gold at the end. 

Personally, I prefer to see the rainbow as God's particular plan for me.  In the same way that the rainbow is a symbol of God's providence in not flooding the earth, it can also be a symbol of God's plan for us. I realize that no matter how bleak the situation may seem, God is in control. No matter how long the road--or rainbow-- is, I'll find my place in life eventually.  As Colbie sings, "I've got no reason to worry, I know I'll find the end." I will get to the end of the rainbow following God's present plan for my life. God knows what he's doing and nothing is a waste of time. 

It often is easy to become anxious when thinking about one's future life and husband--especially when there don't seem to be eligible men around.  But, just as Colbie's song is one of hope and joyful anticipation, so too we have to have optimistic determination. Whoever and wherever our future spouse is, we still have to follow God's "rainbow" for us in order to find him.  Perhaps we are the ones who need the growth beforehand, perhaps he is. Whatever the case may be, following God's providential plan for us is the only thing that will make us happy. 

Any thoughts?

Ok *gulp* here goes...

Hello! This is my first posting for Little Dorrit's Diary! I am pretty excited to be a contributor although I will admit I am not fond of people reading what I write...Yes, I was one of those people in college that never, ever, ever let anyone read my papers before or after they were handed in or graded. So here it goes...My first musing of 2011. Enjoy!

Truth, Conversion, Death, Life

As a melancholic I have decided that it would be appropriate to write my first post on this blog about death. Of course it has nothing to do with the fact that I just attended a beautiful funeral this week (yes, beautiful can describe a funeral). Don’t worry, this post is not going to be a depressing one; on the contrary, death gives way to new life when you spend your entire life in pursuit of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. And this is exactly what Dr. Warren Carroll did. He gave every ounce of his being and every moment of his life in pursuit of Truth. In an age of chaos, confusion, and cultural upheaval (i.e. the 20^th century) this man was as optimistic as they come. Anyone who was privileged to have known him, either in person or through his writings knew exactly why; because “Truth exists. The Incarnation happened!”

Truth and Conversion

Sometimes I wonder whether, if I had not been born into a Catholic family, I would have been brave enough to seek the Truth. Would I have stared it in the face and asked, “Quid est veritas?” or would I have recognized Truth and followed with all my heart? Shortly after his marriage, Dr. Carroll came into the Church because he sought the Truth in its fullness. He saw the face of Christ in the Eucharist and declared with every action of his life that Christ IS Truth. Truth is alive in the world and, as creatures of God, we are made to glorify Him and participate in the Beatific Vision. This is what we are created for. So even though in 1968 when the world was still being torn apart by communism, atheism, and the sexual revolution, Dr. Carroll came home to the Church and to the Truth. The world is indeed a dark place. But there is no darkness that can extinguish the Light of Truth. If we want Truth badly enough we’ll find it no matter how hopeless the world may seem to be.

Death and Life

Several months ago I was teaching my Fourth Grade class about Original Sin and its consequences. Man, I told them, was not originally supposed to die. In fact, death is a very unnatural thing. I was chuckling to myself as I looked out at the 24 pair of eyes staring at me in complete disbelief. “Wait a second”, they say, “Everybody says that death is natural, a part of life, everyone has to go through it.” Yes, that’s true in a certain sense but God didn’t intend for our lives to end. The Baltimore Catechism tells us that, “He created us to know, love and serve Him and to happy with Him in Heaven.” I don’t see the words, “And die and go to heaven.” Nope. Death is a result of sin. It is something that signifies decay and an end of life. Thank you Adam and Eve. However, there is twist in the story. Enter Christ and His redemptive mission. God’s love is so strong that there is nothing that can keep it from giving life. Even our sinful behavior and our unfaithfulness to our Creator does not stop God from loving us and giving us another chance at Heaven. Christ sanctified death by submitting Himself willingly to it for our sake. So death instead gives way to a new, eternal life.

Dr. Carroll, as I said already, proved in a myriad of ways, his absolute dedication to the Truth. Wherever he saw problem in the world he found a remedy. American education in the 70s? Yeah, not too many institutions of higher education were paying attention to the truth. Dr. Carroll’s solution: found a Catholic college with a mission to “restore all things in Christ.” Modern history? Hmm, pretty sure “they” are trying to erase redemptive history from the books. Ask any public school kid today what A.D. means and they will stare at you blankly. According to history books today it’s called CE or the Common Era. Dr. Carroll’s solution: write a 5 volume history of Christendom (ahh, yes, Christ is back in the center of history). Of course we are not all called to found a college or write a massive series of books, but imagine what we are capable of if one man can do so much for Christ in a lifetime.

Pope Benedict XVI said in January of 2006 that, “Man’s unique grandeur is ultimately based on his capacity to know the truth…[And truth] cannot be attained without profound consequences for the way we live our lives.” It is often difficult to live a Christian life because the culture around us is so anti-God and anti-Truth. If we want the Truth we are going to have to suffer for it. But even though the world is crumbling around us and things look a tad bleak, God blesses us with heroic men like Dr. Carroll who show us how to concretely live a truly radical Catholic life.

Blue and Grey Ball

My sister and her boyfriend

In celebration of  the sesquicentennial of the First Battle of Manassas a "Blue and Grey Ball"  was held tonight in Old Towne Manassas. It was a spectacular sight! I will post more about it tomorrow.

Line dancing!

Ahh, Poetry... (part 2)

Sonnet 75
(Edmund Spencer)

One day I wrote her name upon the strand, 

But came the waves and washed it away:

Again I wrote it with a second hand,

But came the tide, and made my pains his prey. 

Vain man, said she, that doest in vain assay 

A mortal thing so to immortalize,

For I myself shall like to this decay,

And eek my name be wiped out likewise. 

Not so (quoth I), let baser things devise 

To die in dust, but you shall live by fame:

My verse your virtues rare shall eternize,

And in the heavens write your glorious name.

 Where whenas Death shall all the world subdue, 

Out love shall live, and later life renew. 

So, basically, this poem is about a lover who out of affection for his wife/girlfriend, writes her name in the sand. But then, as is wont to happen to anything made out of sand, the tide comes in, and it is washed away. The lover writes his loved one's name again, and the same thing happens. At this point, the loved one points out that it is silly for the lover to try to keep writing her name over and over. She then directs the conversation to a more somber theme when she points out that just as her name is washed away, so too will her mortal body grow old and die. The lover responds by saying that he will write a poem about her which will eternize their love (which of course he does, although ironically enough we still don't know the woman's name). 


For several years now, I have enjoyed this poem, but it wasn't until recently that it became more dear to me.  It happened that I had (miraculously) arrived early for mass and was preparing in the chapel when this poem came to mind. It struck me then that it is a reflection of Christ's love for us (albeit an insufficient one). 


The whole premise of the poem starts out with a lover showing affection for his loved one. He is there figuring out a way to show his love for her that will stand the test of time and eternity. Christ is that Lover proving his boundless love for the Church. He, the Word, writes his eternal love for us through his death on the cross. This verse, written by the Word of God, will live on throughout all time and eternity for all generations to see ( My verse your virtues rare shall eternize And in the heavens write your glorious name. Where whenas Death shall all the world subdue, Out love shall live, and later life renew). Whereas the sonnet became the monument of  a lover's affection for his wife; the cross, formerly a symbol of death, now becomes a monument and reminder of the Lover's affection for his bride the Church.

Ahh, Poetry... ( Part I )

I have never been one for poetry. 

Do not get me wrong, I do enjoy it, but I am not one of those people who takes up a book of poems in his or her free time just for the sake relishing some poet's use (or misuse☺) of poetic license. That said, I have thoroughly enjoyed that which I have taken the time to study in a classroom setting. Basically, I have enjoyed nearly all of the poetry I have read (which is not much), but I still have not taken the time to study it outside of the classroom.

 Several years ago, though, I studied the following poem in an British Literature course. Its imagery struck me and since then it has become one of my favorite poems. (You can probably tell from the premise of this post that the lists of  "poems that I've read" and "my favorite poems" are almost identical, so "favorite" probably does not mean much!)  Anyhow, tell me what you think!

This was taken last year early one morning at Onslow Beach, NC. It's rather an appropriate backdrop for the poem, don't you agree?

 Sonnet 75 by Edmund Spencer

One day I wrote her name upon the strand,

But came the waves and washed it away:

Again I wrote it with a second hand,

But came the tide, and made my pains his prey.

Vain man, said she, that doest in vain assay

A mortal thing so to immortalize,

For I myself shall like to this decay,

And eek my name be wiped out likewise.

Not so (quoth I), let baser things devise

To die in dust, but you shall live by fame:

My verse your virtues rare shall eternize,

And in the heavens write your glorious name.

Where whenas Death shall all the world subdue,

Out love shall live, and later life renew.

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real

(Check out Like Mother, Like Daughter for other amazing posts!)

~Pretty~

Fishing along Fear River in Fort Fisher, NC 

(That's quite a mouthful!)

 ~Happy~

  

For the Fourth, a friend and I made this "red, green?!, and blue" watermelon salad. We got the original idea from watermelon.org, but adapted it ourselves adding fruit necklaces and bracelets. It was such a joy to make and was a big hit at the party.

(note the key!)

~Funny~

I am part of a Catholic young adult frisbee group which meets several times a week. This Tuesday I brought along my camera and was rewarded with some awesome shots. These photos were not taken during a game, but jump-dives like it are not uncommon.

 (As a side note, from Saturday through Tuesday, the group played at least 11 games of ultimate--which, I must say, is a bit much. What is neat, though, is that although we play in the Manassas/Centerville area we get players all the way from Front Royal and Arlington, VA. The group has really been a blessing!)

~Real~

Yesterday was my sister's 26th birthday, and she requested that we have a nice family dinner to celebrate. Her boyfriend (who is an amazing cook) volunteered to make steak while my other sister offered to make all the side dishes. Thus, I was left in charge of the cake. 

As my sister is partial to ice cream cakes, I decided to make the cake with two layers of ice cream sandwiched between three layers of deep dark chocolate cake. The bottom layer of ice cream was Wegmans' cappuccino chip and the top layer was homemade chocolate sherbet (probably the easiest and healthiest ice cream that I've ever made!). I frosted the cake with whipped cream folded into ganache. Here are a few photos:

 
The dinner was really amazing. 

Pre-frosting

Hello! I will be out of town much of this week, so there will be a bit of an interim before I can get back to the computer (which is probably a good thing!). Hopefully I will be able to post again by Friday or Saturday. At any rate, have a wonderful week!

A Hop, Skip, and a Jump Away

The following pictures as a whole seem to be pretty, happy, funny and real. Enjoy! (Then head over to Like Mother, Like Daughter for more {P, H, F, R}!)

(If you would like to see the pictures enlarged, just click on them!)

A baby robin was hopping around our backyard this morning...

It heard the beep of my camera and came towards me...

...Leaping...

...and bounding...

...until it was close enough for comfort.

Then momma called.