{p,h,f,r}:Angel Edition

We went on household retreat this past and we chubbed (moved the intents on to the next level in the formation process) on Tuesday so it has been a very household rich week and I wouldn't have it any other way.
{pretty}

I have a little!!  Ain't she so pretty!!  I couldn't decide whether to put this under pretty or happy because being her big just brings me so much joy!!

{happy}

We console the heart of Christ by offering our thanks to his Sacred Heart.  For all those ministry junkies out there we nailed our weaknesses to the cross at the beginning of the weekend, on the last day we removed those, added a large sacred heart and pinned our gratitude list to His heart.  

{funny}

The nursing angels minus one.  The craziest ones of the bunch.

{real}

These are my sisters.

Liebster Award!!

I was so pumped when I saw that Anima Kinsi gave me a Liebster Award.  Basically it is all about small bloggers recognizing other small bloggers, I love it!!!

So the rules of this Award---
The workings of Liebster:Thank the person who nominated you and link your post to their blog.
List 11 facts about yourself then answer the 11 questions given to you.
Create 11 more questions for your 9 nominees, all of whom have 200 or less followers.
Comment on their blogs to inform them of their Liebster Award nomination 

11 things about myself that you don't know from my "About Me"
1.  I don't like mushrooms.  
2.  I am 100% Polish.
3.  I use a white noise app or a humidifier to sleep at night.
4.  My confirmation name is Angela after St. Angela Meirci.
5.  I have never been able to read music.
6.  Reading or watching stories about adoption nearly always make me cry.  I always find it so beautiful the way these kids come into their parents hearts.  
7.  I used to take my coffee black but when I went to Europe the coffee was so strong that I had to add some cream.  I have kept that preference and now drink coffee with a little bit of cream and no sugar.
8.  My mom has curved toes and my dad has very straight toes, mine are completely half and half--3 straight ones on the right and two on the left and 2 curved ones on the right and 3 on the left.
9.  If I had to decide right now I would name my first daughter Gianna and my first son John Paul.
10. I always, even in the dead of winter, have nail polish on my toe nails.  (Two things about my toes.  Must be because I am giving the rainbow flip flops a wear around the house so that they don't get too stiff.)
11. I have never ridden a horse or skied even though my neighbors have horses and there is a ski resort  down the street from my house.

11 questions given to me


1. What is one thing about your physical appearance that you like?  My collar bone.  I know, weird. 
2. You're going to your favorite restaurant: do you get the same thing as usual, or something different every time?    Always the same thing or always one of two things, it is a rare occasion when I get something different
3. What is a pursuit that you've always wanted to explore, but never made time for?  I wish I could read more, I wish I liked to run, and maybe I wish I could dance.  
4. Let's say you're starting college all over again (or going for the first time ever): what are you going to study?    I think it would still be nursing.  I love it so much. 
5. Who would play you in a movie, and why?  I am going to change this to who would you play.  This is me opening myself up for ridicule but I think I would be Helen's sister in Raising Helen.
6. Name your top 3 time-wasting websites.  Facebook, Youtube, and Google Reader
7. Do you have any pets?  My parents/I have two dogs. 
8. What's more gross: nose-picking, farting, or poop talk?  Farting--my life is poop talk and nose picking doesn't bother me. 
9. You may only eat one kind of fruit for the rest of your days.  What are you going to pick?  Apples, I do eat one almost every day. 
10. Tell me about your favorite church.  My immediate thought is to think of a church I visited in Europe, which there are so many beautiful ones I could list, but I would have to say my home parish.  Not only is it sentimental because of the relationship I have with so many parishioners but I also think it is stunningly gorgeous.  We just built it about 6 years ago, the old church was a converted barn, and I think it was designed perfectly for a church in the country. 
11. Heels or flats?  Defiantly flats.  I don't mind heels but do not wear them often outside of Sunday. 

So my nominees are....

1. Colleen (ok she has 230 but just let it slip by)
2.  Erika
3.  Katie
4.  A household sister of mine, Maggie
5. Britt
6.  And if I could, but she has a password protected blog, one of my best friends, Stacey.
7.  I hope you forgot...
8. ...how to do math....
9. ....because I don't have three more.

My questions for you 6 are...

1.  Who is your favorite saint?
2.  What time, if any, do you have to stop consuming caffeine?
3.  How often do you change your sheets?
4.  Show me a picture of your favorite mug.
5.   How do you like your eggs?
6.  If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?
7.  Do you use pens or pencils?
8.  With five words or less, why do you love the Catholic Church?
9.  Do you prefer shorts or pants to bed?
10.  What three websites are your biggest time wasters?
11.  What is your favorite beverage?

So there you go.  Again, I am so honored to be nominated and I can't wait to see who accepts the nominations and responds to the questioner.

7 Quick Takes (Vol. 9)

--- 1 ---

Haven't been around these parts of the woods for a while.  Last weekend I was on Born of the Spirit  retreat and have been so busy with school.  After Spring Break I will have time again.  I won't be leading a mission trip and I will have a AA meeting in Weirton instead of a Psych clinical in Pittsburgh.

--- 2 ---

Psych clinical.  This week I had a patient that I will forever carry with me.  I pray to my guardian angel that I remember to pray for him every day for the rest of my life.  He was only one month younger then me and I saw in him the ability to get better and beat his addiction.

--- 3 ---

Med/Surg clinical.  It is so easy to see Christ in these patients.  They are so very sick and when you hold their hand, listen to them, and carefully move them you are truly caring for the very body of Christ.

--- 4 ---

Sick. Sick. Sick.  Everyone here is sick.  Wait a second and you will hear a sniffle or cough.  I wasn't able to escape it this time.  Sick two times in a little over a month is so unlike me.  Thankfully it is not full blown, just a raw throat, cough, and under the weather feeling.

--- 5 ---

I might be a little late in this but Valentine's Day was great.  Our household brothers set the bar really high, my roommate and I showered each other in gifts all day and ended the day with a romantic dinner for the two of us and another roommate.   Favorite Valentine's Day yet.

 Our household brothers, the Knights of the Holy Queen, set the bar super high for every other man on campus on Valentine's Day.  They all wore suits to 6:30 Mass, sprinted out at the end of Mass and served us breakfast while serenading us with violin and cello.  Honestly, we do not deserve all the ways they love us but I for one am so very appreciative of it.  

I came back from a bathroom break during psych nursing class and found this on my desk.  My roommate is so good to me.  Not only does she know I love McDonald's coffee but she also knows exactly how I like it. 

Our romantic dinner.  We moved the kitchen table into the living room for something different and ate by the light of votive candles. 

Even Polka Padre got in on the Valentine's Day fun.  I thought this was just so hilarious. 

--- 6 ---

If you are in the Steubenville area or a student at Franciscan let me introduce you to an awesome talk series Regina Angelorum is sponsoring 

Look at those topics and speakers!!  This is really going to rock your socks.  If you are not a student or in the area we are looking into recording them so I will be sure to let you know if that happens.  All I have got to say is, Satan watch out, there is about to be a whole lot of people on fire about fighting the good fight of faith!!

--- 7 ---

This weekend I am going on retreat with household.  Please pray for us!!  Regina Angelorum, Queen of the Angels, pray for us.

                                                    --- 7.5 ---


  If you haven't already, go check out the first part of my God in Austria series about my semester in Austria.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

"God in Austria"---Introduction

I am so excited to start a post series about my semester in Austria.  I lived in Austria for four months as a student at Franciscan in Fall of 2010.  The Austria program at Franciscan is excellent   Unlike most other Universities, the study aboard program doesn't just send their students to another university for a semester but has created something more like a satellite campus two hours outside of Vienna with the kind of administration and teachers we are used to at a passionately Catholic university.

The place the students stay is a 14th century Carthusian monastery.   The story of how the program came to be is completely divine.  Fr. Mike Scanlan, the president of the University at the time, was looking for a place to send students to study abroad looking particularly in Assisi or Rome in order to dig deep roots in the Franciscan and Catholic tradition. Everything kept coming up short.  He was at a wedding, talking with someone and the man started talking about a architect he knew who had just finished restoring a 14th century Carthusian monastery.  He had plans for it to be a hotel in the summer but wanted a good Catholic school to use it during the school year.  Fr. Mike flew over and the rest is history.  For over 10 years about 100 students have been crossing the Atlantic ocean each semester to embark on a semester of adventures.

The monastery, affectionately known as the Kartause is gorgeous.

Yeap I lived there, for four months.  I know blessed.

Austria is known around here as such a time of spiritual growth and, well, alot of beer (when in Austria live as the Austrians do).  If you missed the video the first time, this video says so much about the experience for so many students.

Come back for the next part about my week in Ireland.

Live joy.

Sunday Goodwill Haul

Remember when I talked about going to Goodwill on Sunday?  Well here is my loot.

I love the pattern and colors of this skirt. At only $3.50 it just had to be in my closet.  

This shower curtain was $9.99 and new from Target, perfect for next year.  The colors and pattern are just gorgeous.  The owl one is on the path to being gross by the end of the semester.  

Finally a grandma mug.  I got this for my grand-big in household.  I have been hoping to find one for a while and finally found one I liked.

I restrained myself from many other things.  Simplicity is a virtue.

Live joy. 

Marian Monday---Scapular

I promised a post about scapulars and I want to deliver.

I was possibly going to write all about the scapular, it's promise, history, etc. but then I came across this post and realized I couldn't write it any better.

A few things I want to add.

I started wearing a scapular off and on in high school and in college began to wear it regularly.  I sometimes tuck it into my unmentionable when it is getting tangled up in my miraculous medal chain.  I wear it into the shower and sleep with it on.  Very rarely do I take it off.

So you want to see my scapular?

I am reluctant to let go of this particular scapular even though though it has seen better days.  This was the scapular I wore all throughout my semester in Austria including a pilgrimage to Rome, Assisi, and Medjugorie.  It has touched the waters of Lourdes at Lourdes.  You just can't beat that.  The wood cross is from Assisi and is given to all the students from the Friars.  I know getting a new one will eventually be inevitable so I have started looking at homemade-ish ones like this or this.  If you have any scapular suggestions please let me know!!

Lastly, I want to say if you have never learned about scapular miracles you are missing out.  There are so many stories about the power of the scapular.  Ones about people trying to trick the power of the scapular, priest saying Mass, and soldiers at war.

Live joy.

What I Wore Sunday (Vol. 12)

Today has been such a wonderful Sunday so far.  This morning my roommate and I went to Mass off campus (to change it up a bit) and then enjoyed breakfast at the favorite breakfast place around, Spanky's.

 She didn't like the idea of photographic evidence of her sugar addiction habit.

The toast is homemade bread and grilled.  Is your mouth salivating yet?

 It wasn't around for long.

The "cash only" and "time subject to change" sum up the mom and popness of the place.

. 

We then made a stop at goodwill.  Stop back later this week for a haul post.

Now on to the outfit.  We had a photo shoot session once we got home.  This is not what my roommate wore to Mass, she had already changed.

This one of my roommate is my favorite!!!!

The Details:  All very old except for the scarf

Sweater: Basic Merona Cardigan from Target

Shirt: Gap

Skirt: Old Navy

Boots:  from Vienna

Scarf:  my roommate's from Assisi

Now we are sitting here watching the best movie ever, The Sound of Music.

With the Sound of Music playing and adorned in European clothes I want to announce a blog series I am working on about my life in Austria.  I am doing this in big part because it is a great excuse to go back and look at pictures and reflect on what I was thinking then and how it has made me who I am today.  But I also want to share it with you.  Please come back for it, you won't be sorry!!  And to entice you, the following video is a good summary of all that Austria means to us Franciscan students.  Maybe I can even entice some other Franciscan grads to reflect on their time there.  Any takers?

Live joy.

7 Quick Takes (Vol.8)

--- 1 ---

I think it is cliche to talk about weather, but really what is up with this weather.  Snow, rain, warm, cold, boots, flats.  You would think living in Ohio for 22 years would make me use to this but apparently not.

--- 2 ---

The sophmore nurses had their first clinical this week. Helping them with their care plans and seeing them dazed after having their first early morning clinical makes me remember how far I have come. Now I could probably do care plans with my eyes closed and 7am has become my sleeping in.

--- 3 ---

Speaking of nursing, today my professor went around the room and asked everyone what kind of nurse they wanted to be.  It made me so excited.  Everyone was scoping out their place and I can't wait to see all that everyone does.  Alot of oncology, a few traveling nurses, a handful of nurse practiciners, a missionary nurse, and a pediatrics or two.

--- 4 ---

There are a ton of visiting students today competing for a full ride scholarship for net year.  Noon Mass was packed and the Gospel (the beheading of John) led way for the priest to have part of his homily be about what extraordinary students come out of this university.  He said we can't focus on the darkness of society but on the light of Catholicism, the hope of Franciscan University, and the light that graduates of Franciscan are in the dark of the world.  This school almost didn't happen, it was nearly sold to become offices, but through the vision of Fr. Mike Scanlen it become a world known passionately Catholic university.  The priest noted, think of all the lives that would have never changed, the passionate youth ministers that would never be, the faithful nurses that wouldn't exist, the hearts that might never have come to know the Faith on a deeper level.  It made me excited all over again to be a part of this University.

--- 5 ---

If you made it to #5 you deserve some pictures.

 I set out on Thursday to finish an assignment for my New Testament scripture class.  Five hours and many many reference books later I came out victorious.  As a nursing major, this last class to finish my theology  minor is blowing me away.  I look at the bible in a whole new way.

--- 6 ---

My roommate and I have gotten in the habit of watching half of a movie in bed at night.  I am going to miss this so much when she graduates in May.  I suppose I am going to miss her too.

--- 7 ---

Ok shameless plug.  If you haven't already check out my Marian Monday post on Mary crushing the head of Satan, my first clinical in the psych unit or my Gospel reflection on Wednesday's Gospel.  While I am at, a shameful plug--subscribe on the right to come back for more!! 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Live joy.

Wordless Wednesday--Kitchen Counter

See my other post of the day here.

Live Joy.

Today's Gospel--2/6

"Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. " Mark 6:1-6


How often I hear my friends, sisters, and classmates praying for conversion among their families, I too constantly pray for deeper conversion especially for my brother. So often we feel as though we live a faithful life and are able to help everyone but our family deepen their faith. This Gospel is just that, a prophet is with honor everywhere except among his family and because of that is unable to perform mighty deeds among them. I pray this day that you have perseverance despite what seems like an unchangeable bleak situation in your family. Continue to live the life of faith.


Live joy.

Psych Clinical

Wow, I liked it way more than I thought I would.  I found the psych ward, the people who work their, the patients,  and the groups so fascinating.  Will I ever work on a Psych ward?  Probably not.  Although I really enjoyed the experience, I realized I was being more sympathetic rather than empathetic.  I wanted to fix all the problems the patients have but it just isn't that easy.  I imagine that if I would ever work on a psych ward it would be emotional exhausting and I would burn out in a matter of weeks.  Because of that, with these 5 clinicals, I want to absorb as much as possible since I probably will never step foot on a Psych ward again.  One down, four more to go.

Live joy.

Marian Monday--Crushing the Head of the Satan

The Virgin Mary is a beautiful loving lady.  However in no way does this make her weak.  In fact Our Lady is strong, commonly depicted crushing the head of Satan.  She has spiritual strength and is a powerful intercessor.  Our Lady has power, in her femininity and as the mother of Christ, to fight the good fight against the evil one.  When we pray to Our Lady she intercedes for us, bringing our intentions to the Lord.  The Lord cannot deny His mother and listens to the intentions prevented before her.  We must as woman and as faithful look to Our Lady's strength and entrust our lives and needs into her hands.  

"We have taken Mary as our model of womanhood through her life of humility and purity.  At the same time, we turn to her as an example of spiritual strength and powerful intercession.  It is virtue of this that God has given her commission over the heavenly legions." -Regina Angelorum Covenant 

Live joy.

What I Wore Sunday (Vol. 11)

Life is down right crazy.  You may ask then why I am taking the time to even think about blogging?  I am in no way trying to criticize or judge anyone but I, over the years, have come to embrace the commandment of "keep holy the Sabbath day".  Taking time on Sunday to really relax and rejuvenate can be life saving.  However, right now as I am completely overwhelmed with the amount of work that has to be done I realize how much keeping this commandment can be a great lesson in trust.  Keeping this commandment when your to do list can't all fit on one post-it note requires trusting the Lord that He will allow everything that needs to be done get done.  So here I am trusting.  Breathing. Giving God the glory.

Now on with show.

On a day full of snow down here in the 'ville I wanted a cozy outfit and I think I succeeded.

The Deets from the bottom up:

Boots:  Macy's (you have seen them before)

Tights:  Grey Sweater Tights

Skirt:  Old Navy Jersey Skirt, or around here known as missionary skirts

Shirt:  Ruffled brown patterened from something like freshman year

Cardigan:  Liz Lange Maternity (hey I really liked it)

Belt:  Found at my parent's house, heaven only knows where it is from

Remember that one time I said I would try to not wear brown and grey together, yeah well I really can't help myself so don't expect to see any new color combo any time soon.

Come back tomorrow for Marian Monday and stories of my first Psych clinical, eek!!

Live Joy.