AAAAAHHHHHH.....

.....aaahhhhhhh!!!!!!

Guys, it's officially official.

I'm going to Austria in January.

Do you realize how exciting/terrifying/mind-blowing/crazy this is?  In 2 months and 14 days, I'll be in Austria.  For 4 months.  Europe: France.  Germany.  Belgium.  Ireland. Spain?  Portugal?  England? It's all possible.  Probable, actually.

The plane-ticket-buying procedure was a bit frustrating.  Since I'll be making a domestic flight to meet up with some friends (shout out to Stasia and Grace!), I had to book that separately from the flight overseas, so there was a bit of time coordination to do.  It's done.

This will really be the adventure of a lifetime.  I'll be in a foreign country, studying, traveling, seeing things I've never seen, going places I've only read about, eating foods that I can't pronounce the names of, and meeting new friends.

I've chosen my classes.
I've booked my flight.
Now, I just have to wait.
xoxo,

The Beauty of Faith

Being a Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion (EM) is truly a blessing.  It never gets "old", and there isn't a single Mass that I minister where I'm not blown away by what I am doing and Who I am holding.  Sometimes, though, there are Masses that make me three times as excited to minister in this way.

Yesterday, I distributed the Precious Body at Saturday morning Mass.  It brings me so much joy to see people receive the God of the universe.  I am always especially struck by the people who are obviously excited to receive Jesus.  I'll be honest, usually these people are women.  But yesterday, a guy approached; he was really tall and I had to reach up as I went to place the Host on his tongue.  And as I did so, his face lit up.  He smiled and said what was possibly the most reverent "Amen" I've ever heard.  He received Our Lord with such a simple joy that it made me tremendously joyful.  I don't know who he was, but he made me think about the Eucharist a lot after Mass.

How often does receiving Jesus become just "part of the Mass"?  Do we always understand Who is coming into our very beings?  He's not just a Man who was raised from the dead; He's our God!  This guy's beautiful faith reminded me how incredible Mass truly is!

xoxo,

Saturday's Silly Saying

Conversation from the dorm last night:

Girl in the hallway: *yells* DOES ANYONE ON GROUND FLOOR OWN P.S. I LOVE YOU????
Girl in my room: *yells through closed door* NO WE DON'T!!!!
Girl in the hallway: THANKS SO MUCH FOR ANSWERING!!
Girl in my room: NOT A PROBLEM!!
Girl in the hallway: HAVE A GREAT NIGHT!!
Girl in my room: YOU TOO!!

Oh, the adventures of a college student in a dorm :P

Anchor my Heart to Your Cross

Faith, Hope, and Love.  Three little words that we flippantly say so often, but how often do we truly think about them?  

Lately, I've been absolutely loving the symbol of the anchor.  We all need to be anchored to something.  SomeONE, actually.  Our Lord is the only One who never moves, is always constant, and it is He who we can always trust in.  An anchor indicates strength, and I think it's appropriate that it's the traditional Christian symbol for hope.  When a ship is anchored to the shore, it can bob up and down, it rocks from side to side, and it can even drift a little bit, but it really can't go too far.  What a comforting thought!  If we are anchored to Christ as our rock, we aren't guaranteed that we're never going to go through troubling times.  Actually, we're pretty much assured that life is going to be difficult.  But as long as we keep our anchor of faith tied to our Rock, we can have hope that we can make it back to His side.  His strength can pull us through, so long as we keep our eyes on Him.

I'm going to be honest with you all: in the last couple weeks, I've really been struggling with these three virtues.  They all go together, and I think that when one suffers, the others do as well.  I have come to the understanding that I don't receive God's love as well as I should, that shakes my faith in Him, and then I find myself drifting further and further away from His perfect life-giving Presence.

Sometimes, I need visual reminders of what I'm working on in my spiritual life.  I guess this is one reason that I have so many inspirational quotes around my room, because I forget those fundamental things too often.  When I realized how much I really need to push myself to work on these three areas, I knew I needed something concrete.  I started with a sticky note, but that didn't stay with me all the time.  Then I started looking for a bracelet, but they were all too clunky.  I also realized that it doesn't necessarily need to be visual to everyone.  OK, I thought, I will go a different route.  So later that afternoon, I bought an anklet, and three charms (on amazon, of course...)- a cross, an anchor, and a heart.  The chain is really thin, and the charms are super tiny, just as I wanted.

I was actually afraid that I was going to regret this purchase (I am going to Austria, after all, and journeying in Europe costs a wee bit o' money), but the more I've thought about it, the more I've realized that this will help me a lot.  Visual, tangible reminders like this one will hopefully keep me on course and help me grow in my faith!

Have you come across anything in your own life that you find you need a visual to remind you of?  Share in the comments!
xoxo,

ps- last week, I celebrated 10,000 views, and today I'm celebrating 100 posts!  Let's make a deal- you help me reach 20,000, and I'll give you another 100, ok? ;)

recent thoughts

Date: October 22, 2012
Time: 10:31 p.m.
What I'm listening to: The Fighter (Gym Class Heroes)
What's been going on: A heck of a lot!  This weekend was Fall Fun Day with Liturgy Committee; we went to a farm and did the petting zoo, a hay ride, and other fun fall-ish things.  Sunday I went into the city with a bunch of other people from school to see Mary Poppins!  It was really, really good; if it comes to your area, I highly recommend it!  And oh-by-the-way I also have 3 tests, a paper, and a project due within the next 6 days.

corn maze at Fall Fun day!!

Recent realization: Evelyn and I have a lack of  pictures of the two of us.  Which, considering that we've been rooming for a year and a half, is fairly pathetic.  So we've decided to remedy this situation by taking more pictures of ourselves!!

What's the weather: The beauty that can only occur in fall...the colors are gorgeous and the temperatures are heavenly.  Although this coming week, we're (supposedly) going from 70s one day to 30s and snowing the next.  Figures.  Typical Steubenville.

What I'm excited about: This book!  I saw it last spring on vacation while Stasia was home with me.... and I just bought it.  On Amazon, of course, because that's where all college students shop for everything!!!!  Ok, maybe that's an exaggeration.  Still.

What I'm reading: the Bible.  No, I'm not being tricky.  Or "holy".  I mean, hopefully I am being holy, but that's beside the point that I'm reading the Bible.  I have to journal my way through the Bible for my Biblical studies class.... so for Wendesday, I have to read and journal on every chapter of Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Judges (Joshua is "read-only").... it takes quite a while!!!!

What I'm passionate about this week: Verily Magazine!!!!  It's an awesome magazine for older teens and women.  They write on relationships, fashion, and other topics relatable to women living in today's world who want to be modest, respectable, and fashionable.

I've actually teamed up with Verily to get the word out... I ask you all to take a look at their website (you can find it here).  There's a complete teaser issue so you can get an idea of what it's like!  If you like what you see, you can order the magazine for $10 off the cover price with a special code (enter CAWOLF30 at checkout).  It's only $3 per issue (to put it in perspective, that's one Starbucks Frap per issue).  Check it out and let me know if you've got any questions!!

What's coming up this week: women's ministry meeting, lunch with Stephanie (from Crossroads), Liturgy Committee (as per usual), and hopefully looking at trains in Austria and Germany!

xoxo,