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. :))

All Saint's/All Soul's Weekend

The first event of the weekend was the Borromeo Weekend procession -- a huge Eucharistic procession with more seminarians than I realized were here, traveling from the St. Thomas Aquinas chapel to the SPS chapel.  I tried to get a picture, and, while it didn't capture the idea of the event in the least, the lights made a kind of cool effect:

One of the best parts had to be the group of seminarians brass players that would run between songs from what had become the end to the front of the procession to keep up with it and keep us together in tune and tempo.  It was a great strategy (and the sight of them running with trombones in hand, cassocks flying, is one I'll not soon forget)!

After that, I attended a Clue party at Burgundy.  I don't have pictures (yet ;)), but here are a few of the signs:

(Each room in the house was a room from the game, and two girls were butlers and brought the board and dice from player to player.)

(Bonus points to anyone who can name the dance step diagramed above!)

(Oh, and Michaela and I won. :D)

And after that, we watched Arsenic and Old Lace -- creepy and hilarious at the same time. :)

I spent Saturday morning studying (after a beautiful All Saints' Mass), and went to Ham Lake-home for the afternoon!  We celebrated my birthday (slightly in advance), and it was great to see everyone (though, of course, I don't have any pictures....).

And this morning I came back in time to sing for Mass -- thank you, Daddy, for driving me back!  We sang parts of a Requiem Mass: very cool.  Finally, after studying this afternoon, I attended Vespers tonight; it was a special service for All Souls', with the Schola Cantorum singing (they do lots of old -- as in Josquin and chant -- music).  So much beauty in one weekend!

So there's my weekend in a nutshell detail. :)  (I'm trying to write more concisely, but, as you can see, that's not going to well...)  Goodnight, everyone (this is the last time you'll hear that from me as an 18-yr-old ;)).