7 Quick Takes Friday (vol 2)

Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary

--1--

I'm home again!  It's yet another whirlwind trip home late Tuesday night, back again early Sunday morning.  Leaving early Sunday, that is.  Evelyn is driving back with us, so we should have a fun car ride!  And I'm imagining there will be some homework done, as well.  Nothing like productivity!

--2--

Thanksgiving was a little different this year- My brother and sister-in-law hosted, so it was at their new house, but my sister and brother-in-law were hosting his family at their house.  So we had a mere 12 people for dinner instead of 19 :P  We all pitch in to make parts of the meal, so I made the spinach artichoke dip for the football-watching, as well as the cranberry sauce and pumpkin bars. :)

--3--

One of my favorite parts of breaks is seeing friends... Wednesday morning I met a friend from high school for breakfast, and tonight I saw another high school friend for FroYo ;)  Que delicioso! *

--4--

I didn't brave the stores for Black Friday.  Or gray Thursday.  BUT I did go shopping for a couple things that I needed, both for the remainder of the school year and for Austria.  I purchased some quite awesome boots to replace my old ones that are literally falling apart!  I also think I'm going to try the mall tomorrow for new snow boots for overseas.

--5--

You would think that as a college student, I'd be quite adept at finding sales.  But I am just now getting the hang of it.  I've found quite a few handy websites to help with saving money!  And who doesn't love saving money??  Of course, Amazon is a common go-to.  Hukkster is a new website that helps you track sales.  You just find an item on, say, Macys.com and then "hukk it"- the item is added to your hukkster page and you'll be notified if it goes on sale!  Lastly, Coupons.com has coupons for tons of common items, from sausage to shirts at Target to pens.  This week, there are $671.66 in available savings!

--6--

I could happily spend many hours doing many different things- reading, scrapbooking, watching Once Upon a Time... but when I am in an organizational frame of mind, I love to go to blogs like i Heart Organizing and admire people's beautiful houses.  She has some amazing ideas for organization, and they are (mostly) totally do-able!

--7--

Last week, I gave you a video that I couldn't get enough of.  This week, I share one that you will only want to see once.  But it is worth watching.  Prepare to laugh.

I hope you all had a beautiful day with your families!
xoxo,





*I have no idea what that technically says... hopefully it means something like "How delicious!".  My spanish skills are questionable.

With a Grateful Heart

Thanksgiving Day is a day that most see as a day of family and food.  But, as my pastor reminded us at Mass this morning, it's primarily a day to thank God for what He does in our lives.  That's so important for me to remember, and I definitely don't do it enough.

My "Thankful" List

My Faith- a God who loves me, a Savior who died to save me, and the Spirit who gives me so much grace and inspiration

My Family- Mom, Dad, Aunt Patti, Christine, David, Teresa, Jake, Sarah, Matthew, Joseph, Tobias, Rebekah, Catherine, MaryGrace, Celia, Jacob, Jonah, Rosie, Baby G*: You guys are awesome, I love you, and I thank God for you every day!  Thanks for keeping me “in the loop” while I’m constantly away from home :P

My “Second Family”- John, Josh, Zechariah, Peter, Mario, Stephanie, Grace, Kirstin, and Amanda: Thank you all for the beautiful friendship that we all have.  We’ve all been blessed beyond imagination and God certainly knew what He was doing putting us all together this summer!  I say this with all the sincerity in my heart- you are family, and I love you.

My Friends- Hannah, Robyn, Hannah, Leslie, Abby, Leslie, Gracie, Evelyn, Stasia, Grace and everyone else who has made me who I am over the years: I’m so grateful that you’re in my life.  I’m sorry that I haven’t kept in touch with all of you like I should have, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten you.  Thank you for your friendship.

What else I’m thankful for: (in no particular order)

Confession

Spiritual Direction

love

the opportunity to go to a Catholic school **

Once Upon a Time

Waking Rose

Principles of Biblical Studies class

Skype and Google chat

laughter at 2 am

photoshop

quotes

Montana

The Milky Way

the founders of Crossroads and all current directors

Andrew and his beautiful witness

tea & scones

conversation with friends who expand my worldview

* surprise!  Come June, I will have a new little niece or nephew!!  Needless to say, I’m fairly excited (read: I’m freaking bouncing off the walls!)

** despite the fact that sometimes it drives me nuts… ;)

What are you grateful for this Thanksgiving Day?  Maybe tonight, before you fall asleep, you can say a quick prayer thanking God for something that you usually take for granted.

xoxo,

7 Quick Takes Friday (vol 1)

"This is the start of something new...."

This Friday (and hopefully every Friday following) I will be joining Jen at Conversion Diary :)

--1--

I am tired of sporadic weather.  Three days ago, it was quite literally 75 degrees outside.  I had a short sleeve shirt on.  Today, I walked out the door to 29 degrees and cold.  Not cool, weather guy, not cool. 

--2--

Getting older is happening to me.  Quickly.  No matter that I'm "only" 19.  When one's niece is applying to the junior/senior high school that you graduated from 2 years ago, one realizes how old one is.  In other words, my super cool niece is applying for 7th grade at my high school!  I'm really excited for her :)

--3--

I am not a fan of this whole 2-breaks-within-one-month thing.  I just got back from All Saints Day Break (also known as Fall Break), and then we have 12 days of classes and "spliies!" ("surprise" for those of you who are not Stephanie.) we have Thanksgiving!  and then oh, look at that, 10 days later we've got finals.  Humph.  In the words of a dear friend, "I'm not a fan". :P

--4--

Last night I room-hosted for the first time... and it went really well!  (room hosting is when someone who is visiting the school stays with me overnight).  I didn't know this girl, so I was worried that it would be super awkward or she wouldn't want to do anything or we'd just stare at each other, but she was really awesome and we had a lot of fun.  I can be an extrovert when I want to be!!

--5--

Austria is becoming more and more of a reality.  Last week we got information about Eurail passes and roommates.  58 days.  1 month and 28 days.  aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......

--6--

Who has international travel tips??  I'm looking for tips on how to pack for 4 months abroad, how to pack for weekend trips abroad, what not to bring, things I absolutely must bring, and anything else you think may come in handy.  One of my challenges is that I will be there in the winter and in the warm(er) weather.

--7--

WATCH THIS VIDEO!!  It's beautiful music, and perfect for getting into the Christmas spirit.  ssshhhh!!  Usually I'm all for waiting for anything semi Christmas-related until after Thanksgiving, but this just can't wait.  it's that good.

Have a good weekend, all!

a heart full of thanks

As Thanksgiving Day comes to a close, I'd like to share some of the things that I'm grateful for this year.

• My Heavenly Father, Who has blessed me in so many wonderful ways during this past year.
• My wonderful family: my parents who give me so much love and support, my brother and sister, brother-in-law and sister-in-law who are always there for me, my loving and energetic nieces and nephews, and my aunt who does so much for me.
• My godson, who is technically included in the nephew category.... he brings me so much joy and I'm so happy I am a part of his life.
• My friends: Hannah and Robyn, Ev, Stasia, Leslie and Leslie and Abby, and Hannah *.  I've known some of you since I was 5, and others for 3 months, but you all mean so much to me and I'm so glad that I know all of you.
• My teachers at college.  I am so lucky to have such amazing instructors, and their wisdom blows my mind every single class.  
• Everyone at Franciscan who makes it what it is.  It is a dream come true to attend school there and I'm grateful for all the work that is put into running it.
• The little things in life that bring me happiness: books, music, laughter, scrapbooking, photography, and cooking.
• And finally, for all of you who read my blog.  You make blogging worthwhile.... thank you for your comments and support!

What are you most thankful for this Thanksgiving?

xoxo,


*Just so you don't think that's a typo, I really do have two friends named Leslie and two friends named Hannah :)