9 Days Later

I know I am not a regularly scheduled blogger but I try to at least blog once or twice a week but that just eluded me these past nine days with no real excuses.

So if any of you don't follow me on the 'gram or Facebook the big news in my life is that I got a job!!  Starting in October I will be working as an OB Nurse as part of a Fellowship at Magee Hospital in Pittsburgh.  Pinch me.  I can't believe I actually got my dream job.  I am ready to get scrubs on and get to work.  I plan on keeping a tally of the babies I witness enter this world which will be awesome.

With this job comes a move.  It is bittersweet to move.  I am excited to get settled in my big girl apartment and my new schedule but sad to leave home, my parents, my nannying job, and my friends up here.  Thankfully I am extremely confident that this move is one that the Lord has unmistakably guided me to. It may be bittersweet but it is filled with complete confidence in His will.

If you do follow me on the 'gram you know my mom recently had her other knee replaced.  She is recovering but there has been a few bumps in the road so any prayers for her would be greatly appreciated.

I think there will be alot of exciting blog posts coming up including some RN new grad interview tips, posts about moving and the new apartment and maybe even a few surprises.  For now, the next two weeks will be filled with nannying, packing, a trip down to Pittsburgh for a physical and fingerprinting, and a few appointments up here.  I have loved having all of you readers along for my journey through college and I am excited to continue this journey with you as I move, start my job and continue giving my daily fiat.

NAS:Chivalry

Chivalry should not become a lost art and we, as women, ought to step up to the plate a bit more and encourage men to treat us as women, thereby respecting them as men. Do you have tips, ideas, or stories to encourage men to be... men?! Open doors for us, initiate dates, honor us as women, etc? Let's chat!

So I would be lying if I didn't say I have been completely spoiled by men being gentleman.  At Franciscan, it is the norm and from the day guys step on campus they are positive peer pressured into being chivalrous.  Doors are always held open for women and seats always given up.  I even had a friend who would always open the car door for ladies who got in his car,  he is defiantly a man among men.  

So besides being spoiled I have three points I want to make.

First of all we need to encourage men.  Men take a beating in our society-they are stepped on, weakened, and emasculated.  We as women have no idea how much power we have to encourage them.  Simply just looking a guy in the eye who is holding a door open for you and giving a genuine thank you to telling a guy in your life how much you appreciate him (whether he is your sweetie or not).  If their are men in your life who are striving in holiness and chivalry tell them you notice in whatever way works.  I know guys in my life, mostly my household brothers, I will be quick to tell thank you for caring about me, thank you for praying for me, thanking you for fighting for me and I see the glimmer in their eyes.  (I cannot even tell you how amazing my household brothers are, I know they are always interceding and fighting for my sisters and I.  Just writing this makes my heart explode for them.)      

Secondly, we need to be ladies that encourage manliness by being feminine.  I firmly believe that we can help men become strong men simply by being ladies.  Being a woman of God is powerful stuff that inspires men.  Just ask them.  Ladies, you really don't know how powerful you are.  Men are in awe of us.  They are born with a desire to serve, respect, and protect us that the devil and the world tries to rip away from them.  Be a lady that makes them want to be a man.  Often when I am praying over a guy, I simply ask the Holy Spirit to use my womanly heart to flow grace through and cause him to be on fire for His Church and overflowing with love because I know what a powerful force my womanly heart is.  You are powerful, understand that and embrace it.

Finally, straight up demand chivalry.  Up until now I have been talking about men in your life in general-friends, "potentials", boyfriends, fiances, hubbies, dads, brothers, priests.  Now this one is directed to boyfriends, fiances, and hubbies.  If you want him to open doors for you, you can tell him that and don't walk through another door without him opening it for you.  Decide what is important while you are dating and demand it because you know you deserve it.

Ladies, we are powerful.  Knowing our strength we need to encourage men.  We need to be women that give guys a reason to be a man.  Rest in prayer, ask Our Lady to make your heart more like her Immaculate Heart and meditate on Proverbs 31.      

Update: Looked what popped up on my 'gram today.  Can I get an amen!!

To say blessed or not?

Sometimes I like to think about languages and ponder how incomplete they are.  Sometimes there just isn't a word for what you want to express and you are left having to say mediocre words or just "smamunk".   There are also some words that have an intended meaning but aren't actually understood that way in our culture today.  Have I already lost you?  Well let me give you some examples of words I am very purposeful about what I say.  Because we do not speak Greek, I rarely say the word "love" about inanimate objects.  I will tell my mom I love her but I try not to say "I love pizza" or "I love those shoes" because I really don't love them in the same way I love someone.  Another example would be the words happy and joy.  I think happiness is good, but often emotional and temporary.  I prefer to wish joy to people, because joy is profound.  Joy can be found in sadness.  Joy is rooted in the Lord and faith.  Catch my drift?

If this isn't joy, I don't know what is.

Because of all these ponderings I do, I was fascinated when I stumbled upon Simcha Fisher's post about "Why I don't say 'I'm so blessed''.  Please go read it for yourself but in a gist, as I understand it, Simcha doesn't like to say "I'm so blessed" feeling like it comes across synonymous with "God loves me" therefore causing the thought that if you don't have this or that blessing God doesn't love you, which could obviously be farther from the truth.

I think she brings up an interesting point and I defiantly get her gist.  However, I don't plan on stopping saying "I'm so blessed" anytime soon and here's why. Because blessings don't always mean good things.  You can be blessed in the middle of something that to the world looks horrible.  Let's look at Mary who blogs at Passionate Perseverance.  Which by the way if you don't follow her blog yet stop reading mine right now and go read hers.  I don't even know her and she inspires me everyday.  Anywho, her daughter Courtney has special needs and recently they were told that her body is quickly shutting down and she probably won't make it to her next birthday.  She has beat the odds over and over again but her body has taken a beating over the years with seizures.  In the eyes of the world, it seems like a grime situation and God must not love them because of it.  However, I think Mary would be the first to shout how blessed they are.  She will tell you over and over again what a blessing Courtney is in their lives and the lives of all those around them.  From this side of the screen I can see their lives are overflowing with blessings whether the world would call it that or not.

Blessings can be found in any situation because God, His love and His grace are always with us, no matter what we are going through or if we feel and acknowledge it.  Because of this faith I have in my loving Father (I am in no way saying Simcha doesn't have faith she just sees this topic with different glasses), I will continue to tell you and anyone who will hear how blessed I am.  My life is overflowing with blessings.

7QT (Vol. 26)

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Now what would be a first post that would really wow you and wouldn't bore you to death that you would be required to click the "x" out of fear of falling out of your seat asleep.  Yeah I don't know either.

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Laura @ A Drop in the Ocean won my Lavender essential oil giveaway so that is probably exciting to no one else but her.

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Thursday morning I was driving to work and about 5 minutes away from my house there was an accident, it looked like someone going straight hit some in the opposite direction trying to turn left.  I drove past it.  Everyone seemed to be out of the car and someone else was stopped.  My fear/exhilaration of being the most qualified medical professional at a scene is another post for another day.  Anyway about 2 more minutes down the street is the town fire/EMT/police department.  The fire truck, ambulance, and fire SUV began to pull out.  As I moved to the side of the road I started to cry about the whole incident.  The point of this whole story isn't some profound spiritual revelation but merely the realization that I have the potential to be a basket case when I am pregnant.

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I recently wrote a Dave Ramsey post on the bloggity.  I am gearing up to be aggressive with paying my student loan debt.  Currently almost all of the money I am earning is going straight to my loans but especially once I have a RN job I want to hit them like they never saw what was coming.  Because of this, I want to ask you what is your biggest money saving tip-obvious or creative I want to hear it. I have a lot of loans and I am going to need to cut dollar and cents everywhere and want your help to see ways that I haven't thought of before.  Please comment telling me your tips.

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If you haven't heard, CVS pharmacy has decided to stop selling tobacco products and change it's name to CVS Health.  Your thoughts? I am going to tell you mine, naturally.  I think it is great.  There are still more than enough places for people to buy their cigarettes.  I think it was awesome marketing because they have now set themselves apart from other drug stores and done something unique.  Previously I would have gone to CVS and another store such as Walgreens interchangeably.  However with this recent announcement I am much more likely to purposely go to CVS just to support them.

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The gardens around these parts here are overflowing with yummy yummyness.  So naturally I picked up a new hobby.  Canning, like mason jar boiling water like your grandma or my Amish cleaning lady canning.  I thought it was going to be super tiring and alot of work but I have actually been really enjoying it.  Lots of pasta sauce and some tomato soup put up.  I beat I am going to like this hobby even more on a cold February night when I can pop open a jar of summer.

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My mom is having her left knee replaced on Monday. Her right knee went great back in May but that doesn't mean it has to go great this time.  So any spare prayers for her surgery and recovery would be greatly appreciated.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary! 

NAS: We're Back!!

We are back! As we get into the swing of things with NAS, what other ways can we be more involved at church or in our communities? Is there a parish ministry you have been wanting to help with or start up? What about that after school program for homeless kids? Has something been preventing you from getting involved? How do you think this will help you personally, spiritually, and emotionally?

I am so excited the NAS weekly link-up has begun again.  So excited in fact that I am going to link-up even though my answer to the topic is a little unconventional. Let me explain. 

As almost everyone reading knows, I am currently in a transition phase of my life.  I am job searching and hoping to be moving to another city but am at the moment living at my parents house.  Because of this, I am not involved in really anything besides some lingering involvement from the things I participated in during high school.  

However, once I move I do want to get involved I am just not sure yet what that will look like.  Being a nurse I know my schedule is likely to not be regular which puts a wrench in it.  I am hopeful that I will be able to find opportunities to be involved and serve in a parish.  Being passionately Catholic, I desire a community around me that shares the same convictions and passion.  I am also an extreme extrovert so being involved is very much needed in my life.  Some things I will probably check into once I am a little settled is youth group programs, Eucharistic ministry, and any young adult programs.  But who knows where I will actually land! 

I am excited to wait and see the places The Lord will take me in the very near future! I can't wait to read what everyone else has to say about this topic.  

I have Dave Ramsey on the Brain and a Giveaway

So who has read Total Money Makeover or attended Financial Peace Univeristy?  These, debt free, budget and cash systems are common words floating around Franciscan's campus if you are listening but what exactly is it all about? I knew about the debt snowball and six baby steps but I was ready to find out more.

In a very small nut shell Dave Ramsey proposes to follow these seven baby steps, live like no one else so that you can live and give like no one else , debt is dumb and cash is king, and that paid off home mortgage is the status symbol of America.  Reading his book I was invigorated and a friend suggested I also listen to his podcasts.  I had Dave Ramsey on the brain.  I would drive down the street and wonder how many of these cars caused their owner to be enslaved by car payments.  

I have a lot of student loans so I tend to feel bogged down when I think Dave Ramsey but I stop and think about how good I am doing.  I already have $1000 for an emergency fund, I don't have any credit card debt or a mortgage and I am reading this book and getting with the program before I have even started getting a big kid paycheck.  Praise the Lord that I started on Dave's plan before I dug myself into a bigger hole but I am still aware that I have a lot of work to do.  

Now onto the giveaway.  I want you to stop being a slave to debt too.  It may be the American norm but it doesn't have to be your norm.  So I want to giveaway a Total Money Makeover book.  That saves you money but I also need to save my money (did you hear I have student loans) so the giveaway is located at your local brick and mortar or online library.  Log on or step inside and read the book today.  It is a surprisingly quick and easy read.  The podcasts are free and easy to download or watch. Hopefully one day we can both call into Dave Ramsey's show and have our debt free scream.  And if life has already provided you with no debt than you can build wealth the smart way.  So please let me know in the comments who wants in on the giveaway.  I am excited to share this journey with you.

Let's Talk Oils: Giveaway and Doterra

Guys I made the plunge.  But really it wasn't that big of a plunge.  I signed up as a Doterra wellness advocate and bought their Physicians Kit.

So why did I finally make the plunge into one of the big name oil companies? Well their is a number of reasons.  First of all their was enough unique to Doterra blends that I was buying or wanted to buy that it was time to get the discounts that come with being a wellness advocate.  Also I felt more comfortable using Doterra because of the transparency of their plant to bottle process.  If they were going to tell me all the details along the way then you know they are good.  Because of this and their food safe stance I feel a little bit safer ingesting their oils.  Now to be honest some or the more expensive oils, like Frankinscense, that I don't ingest I will probably still look for cheaper brands because I just cannot spend that much money on an oil.

If you are interested in learning more about essential oils and/or want to become a Doterra wellness advocate yourself please let me know in the comments below and we can get in contact.  This includes if you just want to try out an oil or two.  I would be thrilled to help you start your oil journey whether you want to become a wellness advocate yourself or just give oils a try please let me know.

  

Now I want to pass some of this on to you with a giveaway.  I am giving away a 5ml bottle of Lavender. This oils has so many uses from acne and burns to helping you relax and sleep at night.  If you want to be entered into the giveaway leave a comment below to let me know.  You will get another entry if you already follow me on bloglovin' or begin to follow me on bloglovin'--just mention it in the comment.  I will be choosing a winner the old fashioned way-picking a slip of paper from a bowl.  If you win and have a blog please (pretty please) write a post about your experience with the oil.  The giveaway ends at noon EST on Thursday August 28, 2014 and I will contact the winner pronto.  I am excited for the winner!

Disclaimer:  This giveaway is not sponsored by Doterra.