2 finals down, 1 to go

Not too much to report:  I spent a relaxing morning appreciating the fact that my paper, and most of my big studying, is done.  Teresa and I did some final review for Music History, then took the final, which was fun, as usual... but you probably shouldn't tell my classmates I said that... ;)  (One of them just realized that I was a Freshman today. :D)

Played some 500 with Katie, Nick, and Nathan this afternoon, then got Davanni's; one more final tomorrow, but I'm definitely entering break mode already!

No picture specific to the day, but I admit that I spend quite a bit of time wondering how this chair got here:

I guess putting your organization's initials on your stuff doesn't ensure that another group won't end up with it in the end....? :)

First Final

That was Theo, this morning, and it was fine. :)  Now just two more to go - Music History tomorrow and Philosophy after that.  I also turned in my Music Media project this afternoon; I'm so close!!

Don't get me wrong, the semester has been great -- but when you start thinking about taking a break, it begins to look very appealing.

My pictures reveal other fun things:

Snow this morning!

Last sisterhood dinner tonight; we had an "Advent Angels" exchange, and here's my ornament for Jessica:

"Paul the Penguin." :)  Isn't he cute?  And he looked just as cute wrapped up:

Study Monday

Thus begins finals week!

I started strong at Coffee Bene:

(Tilt = how I felt about this paper going into the morning...)

I got a lot done, though, before heading over to BEC for a little piano ensembles performance.  Fun to both play and listen to duets!  Then more work on the paper until 5, when: I finished it and turned it in!!!  This evening, I studied Theology, then sang with the choir for a memorial Mass for Erik Nielsen.  Sad, but good.

So let it not be said that no one studies on Study Monday.

Gaudete Sunday

Advent is flying by, as is my preparation for finals.  Pink candle, Jephte draft, Theo ideas...

Last Lit Choir Sunday of the semester, followed by a Campus Ministry brunch.  Changed quickly for skating!  Haven't skated all semester, so it was fun to be back on the ice. :)  Many people haven't skated before, or at least not for some time, which surprised me; I'm not used to being one of the impressive skaters... but I can't say that I minded it. ;)

Then it was back to the house for studying and paper writing -- and a Peer Ministry party (Whitney is in charge of the Peer Ministers), which filled the house with energy. :)

And now it's time for bed.  Tomorrow begins Finals Week with Study Monday!

The End of the Last Week of Classes - Happy Feast of St. Lucy

...of my first semester, and I hear that it goes even more quickly from here!

Highlight of yesterday: it was the Feast of Our Lady of Guadeloupe, and I made the St. Louis de Montfort Marian Consecration (like my chain?)!

Today, I had my first UST piano jury (which went very well), worked on my paper, had lunch and went to the Pulse show (basically a dance recital; anyone can sign up for a dance - or many dances - at the beginning of the semester, and each dance meets to practice once a week; it was mainly hip-hop [cool hip-hop, not just white-suburban-girl hip-hop], but there was also a ballet number [3 people on pointe, in a gym, and no one got hurt!]) w/Katie W.  (We have resolved to join the swing dance club next semester!)

Tonight, I went to an Extraordinary Form Mass at SJV in honor of St. Lucy.  It was amazing!  I am all inspired for Latin now. :D

Now, it's time for some more study (note how late I'm going to bed, brothers -- aren't you proud? ;))!  Only finals left: here we go!

St. Lucy, pray for us.

P.S. A timely pic:

Thursday Before Finals Week

Greetings, everyone:

This morning was my last paired-course Philosophy class w/Dr. Coulter.  It was wonderful, as usual; we talked about marriage the existence of God, and I will miss it next semester. :(

Lit choir party this afternoon -- see my cute Secret Santa owl:

I think she appreciated it, and I certainly enjoyed making it!

Later, Daddy came down, and we had a fun study/work time. :) 

And, for my final big accomplishment of the night, I fixed our curtains that wouldn't close:

I'll save you the technical explanation of how it works (but that can be provided in person upon request :)).

One more day to this crazy study week, then a crazy study weekend and finals week!  Almost there!

Last Wednesday of my first semester

Wed. can get kind of long, so that's a bittersweet subject line.

A few notes:

Dr. S. brought her dog in today in case anyone needed puppy therapy; she's very cute, and she reminded me of my Timmy puppy!  It made me excited to see you all. :)

We had a listening quiz in Music History, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  I'm not sure if there's something wrong with me, or if I should just be majoring in Musicology?

Speaking of Music History, anyone remember Libby Larson from MLC?  Well, here's a picture of her I saw in a hallway:

Also in that hallway was something for you, Mama:

Looks like something you would like, right? :)  (They're doing "Mighty One of Israel" hands and everything!)

Davey, I came across these sitting on a table in the library this afternoon.  Let me know if you want me to check them out and bring them home for you -- a little light reading you could do over break. ;)

I did some knitting tonight, which was great fun!  Here's my creative mess:

 But it's mostly finished now, and I need to get to bed.  (Fully finished pictures to come tomorrow!)

Christmas Concert and Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Happy feast day, residents of the Americas!

Yesterday, I sang in the UST Christmas Concerts, which I'd say were a success.  We were at Orchestra Hall from about 8:15am to 9:15pm, but there were enough breaks that it was a doable day (though I hear that it gets longer each year...).

Being onstage at Orchestra Hall was such a different feeling!  Here's us entering for rehearsal (just like members of the MN Orchestra!):

Here's the view from the back row of Lit Choir:

Why I'm in the back row remains a mystery -- understand that I'm holding my phone up to get this picture!  Seeing the director was a challenge. :P

Concert Choir kicked us out of our original room, a stuffy little place downstairs. We complained all the way up the stairs, where we were given this room:

Amazing how the complaints stop as soon as we entered it. ;)

The concerts went smoothly -- actually, from what I've heard, this was one of the most uneventful (in a good way!) concerts in recent memory.  I played quite a few hands of 500 and, at the end of the final game, stole Mr. Vance's bid (7 no trump; I had two aces, and the rest is history)!  He's super competitive and stomped us every other round, so that and our "world premiere" of "The Light of Christmas Morn" were probably the most satisfying parts of the day. :)

(Wow, that makes me sound like a kind of awful person... If it makes it any better, he had just won at least two games prior to this, and some justice was in order.)

And it's been a singing couple of days, because I made my cantor debut today at 12:10 Mass!  That also went smoothly and uneventfully (not counting that part when Jesus came down and we all got to receive Him -- doesn't get much more eventful than that!).

To end on a terribly sad note, please keep Erik Nielsen and his family in your prayers.  He is a Catholic Studies student here at UST who was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm today and brought to the ICU; they have just decided to take him off life support.  We're all shaken and appreciating our families and friends -- put in perspective, life really isn't that bad.  Again, please pray for him, his family and friends.  Immaculate Mary, pray for us!

Love you all!

Feast of St. Nicholas

Happy Feast of St. Nick!

I began the morning with Mass, then went to a brunch with the Handmaids in the Heart of Jesus -- they're the best!  After that, I worked for most of the rest of the day on my Music History paper, though I don't have nearly as much to show for it as I'd like (I was on a kind-of-successful search for a thesis).  However, I did manage to finish the pink candle for the Advent wreath, so it is now complete:

(Do you like the plate of rose petals in the middle?  They were just too pretty to throw away... :))

Also, at the beginning of the year, Amanda (et al.?) expressed a desire to know if the banners on each side of the sanctuary in the chapel are different colors during the different seasons of the liturgical year, and the answer is "yes":

(They were green before. :))

This evening, Hannah and I made banana bread and talked poetry.  Did you know that she is a poet?  Neither did I, but it turns out that she has some amazing poems (well, at least one amazing one, and I'm willing to bet that the others are good as well)!  She introduced me to Chesterton's poems, too.

Tomorrow is the Christmas concert!  My cold is on its last legs and, I think, should be gone by tomorrow.  It will be a long day, though, with a ton of people to put together on stage, so please keep the whole operation in your prayers.

St. Nicholas, pray for us!

Cor Jesu/Katie W's Birthday

Happy birthday, Katie!  This evening, we had a little surprise gathering (with cake!) to celebrate.  Later, I went to Cor Jesu (I had hoped to go to Dr. Boyle's in between there, but no one was quite sure of their plans yet and, since I couldn't miss Cor Jesu and didn't want to walk a mile in dark St. Paul by myself, I skipped that...).  This was for the best, though, as I got to work a little more on Music History and to practice the litany.  This went pretty smoothly; I had a new part, but I think I did all right -- being the only person on your part is just a whole different experience!  I feel a little bad in that all my music performance opportunities are a result of knowing the right people rather than being a phenomenal musician...but I think that's just how the music world is, and anyway, it's hard to feel too bad about that for very long. ;)

Today's quote of the day -- Michaela on why a cope is better than a chasuble:  "It's a cape, not a tablecloth with a hole cut in the middle of it!" :D

Finally, today's "picture" is a headline from the Catholic Studies Newsletter worthy of Best of the Web, or at least a Catholic fail blog, though the following paragraph does redeem it:

Thursday...

Hi everyone; welcome to the almost-end-of-the-week!  Christmas concert, finals, and final Music History paper are coming up way too quickly....it's that time of night where I'm not sure how I'm going to fit it all in, so I should probably just go to bed.

Though I'm rather overwhelmed right now, it hasn't always been so -- this is how my day began:

Beautiful, isn't it?  And then we talked about happiness in Philosophy, though not very satisfactorily.  I think we resolved it that you can be happy...maybe?  In Heaven, for sure, and on earth, possibly.  But it was a fun discussion. :)  And this afternoon we had the last Lit choir rehearsal before the concert, which is always nerve-wracking and exciting at the same time.  We're ready!

Please pray for my project of handing out the HLA fliers: there is no soliciting on campus, publications sent to student mailboxes must be advertising a particular club event, and the Student Center is a "paper-free facility."  So I think my last option is to take this off-campus (and maybe leave a few stray ones behind me in the library); I'm hoping that I get enough volunteers to make it doable and don't get the pro-life in trouble in the process!

To close, I must add that the ASC really isn't a paper-free facility -- this commercial came to mind:

P.S.  I forgot to mention today's great quote -- it takes a little background info, so stay with me here.  Dr. Coulter mentioned that upper-level philosophy courses are made mostly of men with a few women (one of his courses had only one girl: his daughter).  He then said how, if he was a student and the positions were reversed, he wouldn't have liked to be the only male in a class of thirty students, and he looked to the guys for agreement: you wouldn't want to be the only boy in a class of all girls, right?  And one of my classmates said, "Why not?  That's, like, 29 numbers!"  General outcry/uproar; it was pretty hilarious. :D

The Catholic Edge: Is There a Masculine Genius?

My day consisted mainly of going to class and playing piano, and this evening attending the Catholic Edge, a monthly event put on by the Catholic Studies Interns.  As you can see, tonight's topic was the "masculine genius" (the counterpart to the "feminine genius" promoted by Pope St. JPII).  Dr. Savage spoke; after years of research, she has developed this theory and will be publishing a paper in the next issue of Logos, if any of you are interested. :)  The main gist: while women are concerned with people, men are focused on things.  That is how society can function and survive -- the fact that men build things and fix problems is the reason that society can progress out of the Stone Age.  She argues that this idea is immensely important right now, when so much attention is given to women (not, of course, a bad thing in and of itself) that the men are falling by the wayside and don't know who they are supposed to be.

On a different note, today was the Christmas tree lighting.  While I'm the Chief of the Advent police and all that, I do have to admit that the lights look beautiful:

This is outside BEC, and there's a big tree in the ASC as well.  I don't know if all the trees have lights, or if it is just these two; I'll have to keep my eyes open. :)

Fourteenth Tommie Tuesday

I enjoy Tuesdays.  Philosophy was especially good -- Dr. Coulter talked about our attitude toward the marginalized in society; lots of food for thought.  In studio class, I played Brahms, smoothly and with hardly a memory slip. :)  (Which is good, because my jury is in less than two weeks...)  And in choir, we rehearsed with the Concert choir!  Dr. Broeker, their director, directed, and took most tempos at 1 1/2 to 2 x faster than we normally do, so that was exciting.  But we mostly kept up, and the basses sounded so great!!

Finally, I have discovered the secret to staying warm: layers.  So here I am, looking slightly sinister but very warm:

Unfortunately, some of my face is still exposed to wind, but I'm also learning how to get across campus with a minimum of actual outdoor walking -- not to scare you away from college, Amanda, but trying to find the fastest, yet most-indoor route is almost like my search for the "optimal train." ;)  (Thankfully, I personally enjoy that kind of thing!)

Less (or should it be fewer?) than two weeks of classes left before finals; please keep me and all the students in your prayers these last few weeks!  And stay warm. :)

First Monday of Advent

Back to ordinary school life!  I did all the Monday things: morning prayer, Mass, mocha, Theology, piano practice, last Piano Proficiency Exam lesson (we went over choral accompanying, since I passed the exam last week :D), Music History, Circle, MMC meeting.  So, brothers (and whoever else is bothered by the fact that I retire early): one, it's not really that early, and two, even if it was early, I have every excuse to be going to bed early tonight. :)

One of the benefits of being at UST is the amazing amount of purple that is all over campus.  Not only does that make me happy (peaceful? :)), but it also ensures that any Christmas trees that get put up during Advent are at least appropriately decorated:

So, while one probably shouldn't choose a school based entirely on their colors, it's not a bad thing to keep in mind during the college search.

Happy Thanksgiving/First Sunday of Advent

Happy Thanksgiving!  I went home to Ham Lake for the weekend (longest stretch of time spent at home yet this year); it was great to spend time relaxing with family -- we played lots of Mexican train...

...and, of course, ate delicious food!

Some other points of note: Amanda and I took a coffee shop study tour and I saw her dance Clara at the Landmark Center; Marie H. and I played Debussy duets; I got to see other fellow college students also home for the weekend; Katie and I painted our nails. :)

And....happy Advent!  As usual, it was great to be back at COSP for Mass.  This evening I put my VBS tissue-paper candle-covering skills to work on the Advent wreath (who knew that the lessons learned in craft time would turn out to be so practical?).

Come, Lord Jesus!

Intro to SPO

I heard that SPO was having P&W tonight, and, after deliberating, decided to check it out: good choice!  It was an amazing time of prayer, with worship between songs like I've never experienced before.  Invigorating, and a good inspiration to help me keep going strong this last day before break -- see you all soon!

(Not to mention that my phone is currently updating to Lollipop, so it's a good night. ;))

Feast of Christ the King

Happy Feast of Christ the King!  This morning, I sang with Lit choir at a beautiful liturgy (or so it seemed from behind the altar, where the choir sits :)), after which there was a delicious brunch for the choristers: how about that for a wonderful morning?

Then, this afternoon, we had an enthronement of the Sacred Heart here in our house (reminds me of a home shrine)!  So that's very exciting; to celebrate, we had cake, decorated yesterday by Stephanie and I:

(Due to a lack of food coloring, the pink color is from strawberry jam and the brown, from hot chocolate mix. :))

(Also, I spent yesterday doing homework, with a break in the middle for a lunch visit from Amanda and a couple of her dance friends, and then another break at night to decorate the cake.  It was a wonderfully peaceful day!)

Basically, it's been, as Jessica would say, a lovely weekend. :)

Monte Casino Night

Each year, Catholic Studies "Monte Casino Night," a night of poker, karaoke, and general fellowship, food, and fun.  While I didn't participate in either of the first two activities, I had plenty of the latter three; everything from a game of spoons to Catholic Trivia and basses inhaling helium. :D (Crazy night, I know!)

Can't see our cute outfits, but anyways, here are Katie, Emily M. and I:

A couple other highlights from the day: first, our huge icicles!  Don't know if you can tell from the picture, but these two were just hanging by a thread - they were connected to the vines rather than the garage proper:

They didn't make it through the day; one crashed, so Jenna procured the other one to save it from a similar fate:

We're having a Consecration of our house to the Sacred Heart this Sunday, so here are some flowers to add festivity:

Aren't they pretty?  I don't know what it is about me and flowers, but I get so happy every time I see them. :)

Hope you all have a good weekend!

Chill Thursday

Was able to take a breath after what may have been the craziest MTW of the semester...!  Tested into my desired math class, without even having to use my lovely units circle:

Also, I had a fun paired course study session tonight -- it was not a time of excessive productivity, but a nice evening all the same. :)

And lastly: do you think this is a misprint (the very bottom line), or is someone trying to bring back a long-lost Renaissance instrument?

I can't say that I've actually seen any lute players around campus, but who knows - maybe I will soon, and if I do I'll be sure to let you know!

Hump Daaaay!

Hi, all!

Well, I made it through another busy day, alive and well. :)  Tonight, the Philosophy club held a "symposium" -- two professors each gave a little talk on themes of speech, truth, and political correctness, after which there was time for question and answer.  It was quite interesting, and went by so fast - I was shocked when time was called so soon! - so I'd say it was a successful event.  Interestingly, I got the feeling that the professors (both Catholic Studies, one Theology and one Philosophy - and yes, they tried to have a more liberally-leaning professor as well, but he backed out and they couldn't find anyone at the last minute) gave  more middle-of-the-road answers to some of these questions than I suspect some of the students would have given. :)  (But the happy medium usually seems to be the way to go, so I think they're probably onto something.)

Goodnight!

Tommie Tuesday #12

Another ridiculously full day!  I'm not sure what has happened to this week to make me so busy, and, while my activities and studies are good, I do hope that this schedule will not be the norm for the rest of semester.

Speaking of weeks, this is my 12th week here.  I can't decide whether that's a long time or a short time; so much has happened, but it has all happened so quickly.  Sorry to be simply restating the cliches that everyone who has been to college can tell you, but they are just so true! :)

Loooooooong Monday

It started with morning prayer at 6:30, and I only got back to my tiny house for good an hour ago...!  Thankfully, the coffee shop in the student center has "Mocha Mondays," where they give out free mochas to the first however-many people who come up there on Monday morning, so that helped me get in the mood for going strong all day. :)  Now, though, I am ready to be done.  Goodnight!

Sibling Performance Weekend

...but before going to see their shows, I learned to play 500; here's Katie, displaying our wonderful first hand (we won every trick!):

That night, Amanda slept over.  We had a great chat, but let this be a reminder to everyone of the risks involved in taking pictures on other people's phones:

(Love you, sis! [even if the feeling isn't currently reciprocated...] :))

Next morning, I attended a talk on art and environment in the liturgy at the Basilica, where they were also having an icon display:

(The miter [is that what it's called?] above is actually very sparkly!  The icon in the middle has Mary and the Burning Bush: two things that I never put together, and I'm still not sure exactly how they fit, but I'm sure there's some cool symbolism or something there.)

This one is from UST!

On Saturday night, Amanda, Daddy, and I went to Dinner Theatre.  This is the first time that I have just been in the audience, and after three (four?) years of performing in it, the sensation was rather strange!  However, Davey and Nathan were both in it and did a great job -- way to go, boys!

Today's performance was by the AR choirs, with Amanda singing in them.  They sounded great, especially on Bernstein's Chichester Psalms: a monster to learn, but they pulled it off spectacularly.  Great singing, Amanda -- way to be a well-rounded ballerina! :)

Sunny Thursday

There's something oppressive about a completely cloudy sky that I almost forget about until the sun comes out and I realize how much I had missed it!  (I feel like that sentence needs a comma or two, but I'm not sure where to place them... hopefully you can interpret it without them. :))

Latin scholars: one of our choir songs is in Latin, and the title is on the board below.  The ending is covered up; can you tell what it is? :)

I also had dinner with Daddy tonight; great to catch up with him and hear the news from the home front! :)

Time for night prayer; hope your week is going well!

Another Snowy Day

Though it comes with so much cold, there is something so beautiful about snow; it struck me every time I walked out of a building (ha, pun unintended but happily accepted ;)).  However, it can be hard to make the transition from fall to winter.  Take, for example, putting away one's bike for the winter: you want to ride it as long as possible, but how do you know when it's time to finally hang it up?  At risk of being considered overly conservative, I suggest that, when you reach the situation pictured below, the time to put your bike away has come:

But to each their own!

Veterans Day

No picture, but two points:

First, the stretch of sidewalk with the American flag on it was blocked off with two military people (sorry, there must be a correct term but this is as close as I can come -- I'm guessing they are ROTC) patrolling it, walking up and down (again, not the correct term; this would have been a great opportunity to let a picture speak for itself).  But it was a great reminder to stop complaining about the snow and cold and be grateful for all the sacrifices that have been made for me and my freedom.  Thank you, veterans!

Second (and switching gears slightly), I cooked for house dinner tonight, and it turned out great!  I made chicken (Mama, there wasn't as much topping as I would have liked, since, even though the tenderloins were smaller, the surface area was greater -- they were very flavorful and tender, though), corn muffins and glazed carrots -- the latter on a whim, but they were delicious. :)  I am feeling quite proud and accomplished, but am also suddenly very appreciative of all the work that goes into making a meal for more than one person.  So thank you, Mama; you're amazing! :D

...and it's winter!

It amazes me how the seasons can change just like that: fall one day, winter the next.  How can that happen so quickly?

I digress for a moment to discuss the importance we place on appearance in our culture.  Take a look at these two photos -- the first is doctored up by Google, the second is my picture as taken:

Granted, things typically look better in real life than in a plain photo, so the early morning wasn't quite as gray as it seemed in the second photo... but no, I take that back; it was pretty gray, just exciting in spite of the gray, because there's snow for the first time this year!  Even if the real thing was a little better, it wasn't as cool as it looks in the first photo.  And that's fine; the first one is much more enjoyable to look at, which is what pictures are for.  However, it's fake, and what bugs me is that we tend to forget that.  So much of life -- all of social media -- is this front that we put up to make our lives look better and more exciting than they really are, better than other people's false fronts.  This constant comparison with others and ensuing search for greater excitement can only lead to discontent.  We spend more time trying to look good and appear happy on FB than we do simply appreciating the good that is already in our lives: no wonder we're unhappy!

Social media isn't evil, but I think that the times that we truly use it for good are the exception.  So instead of pinning that recipe, bake it; instead of taking that picture, appreciate the real live moment.  Get off your computer, turn off your phone:  life actually lived to the full is better than a million quotes (in cute, colorful fonts, of course!) encouraging you to do so.
--
Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now. :)  This is just something that I've been thinking about this semester, and those pictures are the perfect example.

And now, in the spirit of practicing what I preach, I will turn off my computer and turn all of my attention to sleep. :)  Hope you have a good, bright, snowy night!

Not-particularly-productive Sunday

But I did some epic researching, trying to find an article for Music History.  I didn't find the lights until the end, and without the lights on the periodical stacks would be a good setting for a horror movie:

When you first walk in and have no idea how many rows are behind this one:

And then there are not too many. :)

Anyways, that's probably enough pictures of bookshelves for now.

I also attended an organ recital by Nathan Laube; he's very good -- to give you an idea: Kevin, our phenomenal organist, turned pages for him (if only I can squeeze in a comma, I think that this sentence will include nearly every type of punctuation except a question mark!).  We also had a Schoenstatt Skype meeting; it was great to touch base with them. :)

And now it is time for some sleep.  Goodnight everyone; stay warm this week!

"Pray, Breakfast, Sing, Lunch, Color... on Saturday!"

Thus Michaela aptly summarized our day, which began with Mass and morning prayer, then a delicious breakfast (not overwhelmingly attended, but a good enough number :)) and talk by Dr. Klein.  Micaela and I stayed at Michaela's for lunch, as well as to study, make cookies, and practice for an upcoming audition for a soprano solo in choir.  Next we had the soprano social, which made the breakfast attendance seem enormous, for only one other girl showed up!  She didn't stay the whole time, and so it turned into a Lit Music major social.  We had a fun time coloring pictures, and I'll post the results soon; they're quite exciting. ;)

Needless to say, I came back to Kastell Cologne in a sort of social daze.  We did some house cleaning for the next hour or so, though, which perked me up (it was one of the few situations in which cleaning the house will do that), and had dinner together for the first Saturday since school started.  Since then, we've been studying and listening to Danielle Rose -- okay, one of us was singing (you'll never guess who...). :)  So a good, exhausting day; I'm ready to get some sleep!

Meat and cheese platter for the breakfast -- I panicked at first when I realized that I had to set this out in a nice-looking way without Amanda's help!  But then I gathered my wits and came up with this:

It was a triumphal moment of independence as well as one of appreciation for you and your particular gifts, artistic sister. :)

Also, we're fighting a losing battle with the wind over our lawn furniture:

Perhaps it is time to stack them for the winter?

(I'm sorry; I keep intending to just give you the highlights of my day, but then I go off and write a play-by-play of each hour... :P  I promise I'll try harder to be concise in the future!)

Baking and Cor Jesu

Just got back from Cor Jesu, a night (as you may recall from a couple months ago) of praise and adoration at SPS; it was very nice.  I got to sing the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with three other girls (2nd soprano; I pretty much just sang F# and an occasional G).  I hadn't seen the music before today and was so thankful for my simple part -- Mama, I kept thinking, "E-pi-pha-ny!" :)  (But lest that give you the wrong impression, this went very smoothly. ;))

Tomorrow is the second of the montly Women's House Breakfasts, so Hannah and I went shopping for ingredients and, with Whitney's help, whipped up two batches of bread and a batch of muffins.  We really have no idea how many people will come, but we figure that, worst case scenario, if no one else shows up, we'll have leftover bread. :)

(Not that I don't want people to come; I do!  But that would be you get lemons, you make lemonade.)

Finally, I'll leave you with today's picture.  I considered taking one of the cassock and surplice hanging with all the coats on the seminary coat rack, but you get a pun instead.  

The front:

...and the back:

Get it?  It took me a little while, but once I did, I laughed way too hard. XD

Another Thursday

As usual, I find myself breathing a sort of internal sigh of relief (however that works) for having made it all the way to Thursday.  I love the other days, but there's something about going-going-going that makes the change to Thursdays nice.

However, that mindset also means that I don't get everything done that it seems like I should... but oh well; what can you do?

Anyways, there's my little productivity rant. :)  Tonight, for your viewing pleasure, I have Hannah's very philosophical and official-looking stack of books:

She's working on papers for both Edith Stein and Metaphysics, thus the stack. :)  (How about that Commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics?  Apparently it's more for reference, but still, I think it's rather impressive!)  Also, now we can all appreciate why we squint into the sun for pictures instead of standing with it conveniently behind us, as in this picture. ;)

I hope you all are doing well; you are in my thoughts and prayers. :)

Goodnight!

Brain-work Wednesday

I initially wanted to call this "Knowledge Wednesday," since we learned about Gnosticism in Theo (and it was also Bagel Wednesday which I, ironically, didn't know about until too late).  However, the day contained enough piano practice to merit the name "Brain-work," and I went to Philosophy club this evening, which stimulated thought instead of simply providing knowledge.

But I did learn some cool things from Hannah tonight: first, St. Thomas Aquinas' theory of the individuation of persons (it's really cool; ask me sometime, and I'll try my best to explain it :)); second, some stars emit radio waves which we can pick up on a radio and hear!  To make up for today's lack of photos today, here is a link to the best one (sounds like tap dancing!).

And now I'm trying to catch up on sleep... so goodnight!

First Tuesday as a 19-yr-old

It felt pretty much the same as Tuesdays as an 18-yr-old, but, you know, it's the principle of the thing. :)  While not a very eventful day, it was nice -- rather tiring, though, as I'm feeling the late night and early morning.  So no picture and no long post; I'm off to bed!

...and I'm 19!

Greetings, faithful followers;

Yes, today was my 19th birthday; thank you all for the prayers and fond wishes!  I spent it eating good food, from Shredded Wheat and grapefruit to Caribou to pizza and cookies to barbecue pork and, finally, key lime pie from my awesome housemates. :D  They had presents and everything; I was completely surprised!  Combine this with a "party in a box" from my family, and voila:

(Isn't that rose on the wrapping cute?)

Other than that, I had my usual Monday schedule (though everything was made more exciting by the fact that I'm wearing a new outfit). We also had a great housemate discernment talk just now: a wonderful end to the day.

I hope you all had a good day as well and have a restful night; goodnight!

(P.S.  From my cozy study session yesterday:

The cup is clearly cute, but in case you're wondering about the Dots: it was a box with so many good flavors that it merited inclusion on the blog. :))