--1--

7 posts in 7 days was ... a flop.  That's what I get for committing to something like that one week before spring break and midterms.  Whoops.  Now I know!

--2--

This week I had a cold to end all colds.  I was out of commission for a day, unable to even go to work.  And I'm not one to call in sick for a sniffle.  This was bad.  Unfortunately, the severity of the cold was completely my fault (a walk in wind and snow will do things to you...).  Yeah.  Oh well.  The walk was worth it.

And then I was kind enough to pass my severe cold along to Grace, who is leaving on mission to Honduras today.  Whoops.  Today we figured out, though, that she's basically a day "behind" me in "severity of cold".  So tomorrow, she'll be feeling pretty  good!

--3--

Spring. Break. Today. 3:30 pm. 
It's.
So.
Close.

--4--

I wanted to share my latest post at CatholicMom.com: College Student, Call Home!  It's my response to a question asked in my introduction post.

--5--

In a fun little turn of events, I found out last week that I will be even busier next year than I am currently.  It's a good, exciting, fulfilling, potentially-holiness-enhancing reason, but simultaneously daunting.  Please pray for me as I prepare to take on a new leadership role here at school (and go through lots of training in the meantime)!

--6--

Tuesday is supposed to be 68 degrees at home... please God, and thank you in advance.  
(can you tell I'm ready for spring?!)

--7--

Please keep in your prayers all those who are going on Mission this week, especially my dear friend Grace who's leading the Honduras mission, and Abby who is doing a dance mission in Panama!

--1--

One year ago today, I was standing in St. Peter's Square.  I was 4 feet away from Papa Benedict.  I was hearing him speak.  I was eating pizza and gelato while waiting for a Sede Vacante to begin.  I stood in the Square as Papa boarded a helicopter and left the city.  I heard people calling goodbye, and bells tolling for his departure.  I stood in darkness with some seminarians and 10 friends as the single bell rang to tell us, "We have no Pope."

--2--

--3--

I don't think I'll ever forgot February 2013.  After Pope Benedict announced his resignation, we had a sudden meeting at our campus (I was studying in Gaming, Austria for the semester).  Together, we voted to decide that we wanted to get rid of a 3-day weekend later in the semester in order to have the opportunity to bus down to Rome 2 days earlier than planned.  They had to have a certain number of signatures in order to book the bus, and although it was down to the wire, we did it.  

Two weeks later, about 100 students and professors' families boarded 3 buses and headed 10+ hours south to Rome.  Grace and I had been to Rome earlier in the semester, which I am forever grateful for, because while everyone else was freaking out over "being in Rome", I was like, "POPE BENEDICT AAAHHHHH" and was (slightly less) distracted by everything outside of the Square.

We arrived at 6 am, and waited in line outside the gates for over an hour, where we met some seminarians from the States and prayed morning prayer with them.  And then, we got separated.

--4--

When there's a group of 100 crazily excited college students trying to battle their way into the front row of a massive square, there's bound to be separation.  So when a group of about 15 of us got separated from the group, we weren't surprised, but we were definitely bummed.  That group had front-row seats with our massive Franciscan University sign.  Our group was near the back, next to a blockade, with a puny little sign.  Chances of being near Papa, slim to none.

--5--

Finally, after hours of waiting, the Pope emerged from behind the walls of the Vatican, and he rode around the square, blessing people, stopping every so often.  We didn't know what route he was taking, and we were 80% sure that he wasn't coming near us.  BUT THEN… the guards approached a family across the barricade from us.  They were Americans, living in Rome, and they had a baby.  The pope would bless their baby.

Yes.
Moments later, Pope Benedict rode by, within an arms' length of where I was standing.  First, he stopped and blessed the baby, and then he turned to our side.  He looked at us for a long moment, as literally all of us called to him, reached out, and loved him. He met our eyes with his, and smiling, he gave us a blessing and continued on.

--6--

 In the afternoon, we were back outside St. Peter's, and we watched on large screens as Papa made his way from the Papal apartments to a waiting helicopter.  Though we didn't know each other, we gathered close to each other as if proximity would make it better.  With tears in our eyes, we waved to the Pope as he flew away.

The rest of the day was a blur.  I got interviewed a couple times for European newspapers and TV stations, answering, "What does this mean for me?" and "Why are you here?"  Then, for several hours, we wandered around the city, visiting churches, eating snacks, and talking.  Digesting.  Finally, it was time.  In the darkness, we made our way to the Square.  Once there, we joined a group of American seminarians who were leading a rosary.  Gradually, more people joined in, and soon we were praying an international rosary.  We ended, then stood in silence to wait.

At 8:00 pm exactly, a single bell began ringing.  It rang through the darkness and made the whole city stop, it seemed.  We stood, not knowing what to do, and finally, someone begin singing the Salve.  The small groups scattered around the square joined in, and after it ended, there was silence again.  I remember not knowing what to do.  We had no pope.  We were (temporarily) leader-less.  It was a feeling of loss and sadness and yet incredible Hope and Trust.

My second trip to Rome was powerful, difficult, and rewarding.  I honestly don't think I'l ever forget the feeling of standing with so many people, all for the same reason; or singing praise and worship at the North American College seminary; or praying in the language of the Church, led by the Holy Father himself.  It taught me the universality of our Faith.

--7--

After that little trip down memory lane, I'll be back tomorrow for another post… I may have missed the last two days, but I'll finish the week out strong!

Today I woke up to discover that it had snowed overnight.  It was a horrible moment and realization… Unexpected snow should usually be an exciting time, but instead, I just realized how anxious I was for spring.

Speaking of Spring… my spring break is coming up in under two weeks!  I'm going home, and I'm looking forward to being productive.  I'm forcing myself to be productive.  (Yes, sleeping counts as being productive… at least while on break.)

Something I was planning on accomplishing over Christmas break that just didn't get done was refinishing a set of drawers that I'd like to put in my room.  

My room is decorated in blues and yellows, so I'm thinking a gradient blue.  But maybe this will be the one non-matching piece in the room.  I really don't know!  I'm just excited to complete a project that I'll be able to use and enjoy for a long time.

You see, this is the problem with Pinterest.  Literally everything looks like a great idea.  I have over 100 projects pinned to my "To Do" board, and I've maybe done one or two small ones.  So now I will actually use Pinterest as a resource and complete something.  Go me.

Today I’m starting what will hopefully be the first of 7 days of straight blogging.  Jen at Conversion Diary is hosting, and although I’m not in love with the thought of blogging without leaving time to edit, I think it will ultimately be good for me.

My last couple days have been quite busy.  Friday after class, I attended Mass with my household and then spent some time just talking with a household sister.  Grace was gone on retreat this weekend.  Since I basically spend all my time with her (and that’s not an exaggeration), and her roommate was going through Grace-withdrawals, we commiserated over our mutual sadness together.  Saturday was relaxing, thank goodness, and I was able to go on a cleaning spree in my room.  The weather was bee-YOU-ti-ful so we opened all the windows and got our first taste of spring.  Of course, today we’re back to 30-degree weather but we’re all in denial… the heavy winter coats haven’t come back out yet. 
Sunday evening we held household inductions, and I was on “inductions team” so I had a bit of preparation to do for that.  It was a beautiful ceremony, as usual, and now there are 5 new sisters in Mary’s rose garden!!  Grace was back from retreat so we spent a couple hours talking wayyy too late.  Oh well.  It’s all relative and worth it.

I've been missing my Irish dance lately… my pinterest boards are covered in Irish jewelry and Irish dresses and Irish everything else.  I've been watching everything Riverdance on youtube and listening to the Riverdance soundtrack.  Just let me dance again!

Time and Place… 3:28, my dorm room

What I can hear...  “Skyfall”, covered by Sam Tsui

This past week... was busy.  Hard.  Heart-wrenching.  I have learned for the gazillioneth time how much it hurts to give of oneself in love.  It’s beautiful and hard.

I've been reading... this post which was written by my friend.  He made me want to go pray right after reading it, so I think you all should read it too.  And then go pray.

Recent realization...  My sisters and brothers in Christ are some of the greatest gifts I have been given.  

I'm oh-so-grateful for... Time in the kitchen.  My job in the chapel.  Long talks with friends both on and off campus.  Letter writing.

Next week... Who knows?!  I have decided to resign myself to the fact that every day is a complete surprise, and no matter how much I “prepare” for something, there’s always going to be a little factor that is unexpected.

I'm looking forward to... hopefully spending time in the gorgeous weather this week!  Praise God for a little bit of warmth!

Today I wanted to do one of my writing prompts.  This one is Rapunzel: "5 things from your bucket list".  On my previous blog, I had my "dream list" posted, but I haven't added it on here

Go through my dresser and closet and give away everything that I don't wear, twice: I have a problem with giving things away.  I don’t understand why.  This semester I’ve committed to giving away everything that doesn’t fit (seems obvious but it’s hard!!).  Perhaps starting this summer, I will give away things that may fit, but that I just don’t wear.  What’s the point?  Detachment.  It’s stupid for me to own things that I haven’t and probably won’t wear when others can use it.

Visit 6 Continents:  (Yeah, for some reason, Antarctica just doesn’t do it for me…)  I am fascinated by culture and the way that other people live, and I think that the only good way to learn this is to experience it for myself.  The little traveling that I have done has only made me want to see more, and while I’d be a lot more uncomfortable in Asia, South America, or Asia than I was in Europe, I think it’d be really good for me to be pushed outside of this comfort zone.

Live in a city for (at least 6 months): I’ve always considered myself a “city person”, which is funny because I am most definitely introverted, and I usually think of cities as full of extroverts.  But there’s something about the lights, places, architecture, and diversity of people that draws me in.  I would love to live in the middle of a large city for at least a short period of time so that I can “test it out” and see how much I would love it for everyday life.

Ask my closest friends what is one thing about me that most bothers them, and work to change that: I think that, at least at this point in my life, my friends are the ones who know me best.  They see me at my best and my worst, and hopefully have an honest view of me.  Sometime soon, when I can actually devote time to it, I would love to find out maybe 5-8 things about myself that bothers, annoys, or frustrates my closest friends and change those things.  (This is something that I did casually with a fellow Crossroads walker while on the walk, and it was so helpful in “group dynamics”!)

Go on a week-long silent retreat:  I’m terrified of silence.  I think most Americans are.  I would love to escape into this silence for a week, allowing the Lord to really reach into my life and change whatever He wants to, without the distractions of the outside world.

The marriage class had the potential of being the bane of our existence.  A class full of mostly single students.  16 weeks talking about marriage.  Oh, yes, it would be interesting.

One of the biggest things that struck me in my marriage class last year was from the middle of the semester.  We discussed consecrated life, and how it’s intrinsically higher than married life.  And in that, we read St. Paul’s words to those in the single and married lives.  St. Paul speaks of how the single have more freedom than those married: “The single are concerned with the affairs of the Lord”.

Hold up.  Hello.  That’s all well and good, but I am here to tell you that most single people are not running around saying, “I’m doing the things of the Lord!”  Nope.  They’re partying and drinking, or at least searching for “the one”.  I haven’t taken a poll, but I would venture to say that the majority of unmarried people between 16 and 30 are “looking”.

What is wrong with our world?  Is there a problem with being single?  Are we secretly looked down on for not finding our soulmate yet, or at least for not being in a relationship?

I would submit to you that the answer is yes, many are looked down on for not being in relationship.  Do I think it’s a good thing?  Not in the least bit (remember, I’m in that group, too!)

There’s absolutely no problem with being single.  The key is to live single-hood fully, practically, and prayerfully.  If I sat around being sad for myself, moping and watching sappy romantic movies, I’d be wasting my time as a young single woman.  If I ignored God because He hasn’t brought “the one” into my life yet, I’d be hurting my spiritual life.

During my time at the Edith Stein Conference, I heard a couple talks on being single.  The importance of having good friendships with holy men of God was drilled into my head.  (I could go into this for hours, so I’ll leave it at that… maybe I’ll write an epistle on male-female friendships another time.)  It was also stressed that I need to go do fun things and just live a normal life while I’m not in a time of relationship.  

I’ve never had a boyfriend.  It would seem, though, from what I’ve seen both with friends and random people I see around campus, that once I enter a relationship, my time will not completely be my own.  That’s not bad.  But now, I am free to watch a movie with my friends at midnight on a Friday night; I have the time to make an impromptu trip to Walmart to do late-night crafting; I am able to go to a weekend conference in another state, all without feeling bad for neglecting my signifiant other.

So today, I’m not having a romantic dinner for two.  Instead, I’ll have a lovely casual dinner with my household sisters and later go out for shakes with friends.  I’ll say a prayer for my future husband and pray that he’s enjoying his day as much as I am.

And I’ll rejoice in my single-hood, because through this state in life, I can more fully be present to both my sisters and brothers in Christ.

What a beautiful weekend I’ve just had.

Friday morning, I got in a car with 6 other Franciscan students and drove 6 hours to Notre Dame, IN.  We attended a “pizza dinner” and a talk entitled “The Legacy of Muliaris Dignitatum”.  I spent the rest of the evening talking in a dorm with three guy friends about theology, philosophy, and biblical epistemology.  At 1 am, we decided it’d probably be beneficial to get some sleep, so I headed to the dorm where I was staying and met the girl who was hosting me.  She and her roommates were so sweet, and we finally got to sleep about 3 am.

The morning dawned bright and early and I walked around the semi-frozen lake to the seminary to meet up with my friend.  We ate a quick breakfast then drove over to the conference center.  (Praise God for Josh’s car…. it saved us from walking across campus while dodging knee-high snow in near-zero temperatures.)  

The next 8 hours were spent in some of the most amazing talks I have ever heard.  They were so thought-provoking and gave me lots to chew on in the coming weeks (and months, and probably years).  I will probably type up a summary so that you can maybe glean a thing or two from my plethora of notes.  In the middle of the talks, I got to go to confession in the crypt of the Basilica, and at the end of the day they had a vigil Mass for Sunday.

Of course, it started snowing hard that afternoon, so the roads were getting slushy and yucky.  My friend and I braved the snow and went to dinner, and spent the next 3 ½ hours sitting in Panda Express, solving all the problems of college life.  And by that I mean we talked about our semesters and told random, funny, and heart-wrenching stories.  That conversation also gave me lots to think about, and I think I will be pondering that one for just as long as the “official” talks from earlier in the day.

Sunday morning we left campus at 8 am and headed back to Steubenville.  About 2 hours from Franciscan, we stopped at our friend’s house for lunch.  Their family was beautiful and such a witness of a Catholic family.

It’s amazing what giving your time to learn about the Faith does … it seems as though my time remaining on Sunday multiplied and I didn’t fall behind in anything.

What a blessing it is to experience talks and events like this one.  Our faith is truly an active one, and inspires us to constantly delve deeper and deeper into its Truths.

--1--

In case you don't follow Faint Hue of Grace on Facebook (which you should totally do, and which you can find at this location), I have some exciting news…

I am SO excited to share that I am an intern at CatholicMom.com, and my introductory post went live on Wednesday!  You can check it out here.

--2--

My entire life, I have hated bananas.  Hated them with a passion.  But two weeks ago, I had the strongest desire to eat a banana with peanut butter.  Thankfully, Grace and I were going to the store that evening so I was able to buy bananas, and I've had 10 since.  I guess my childhood / adolescent hatred is gone.

--3--

I don't think I've ever linked to one of my very favorite blogs before.  I still remember the day that I discovered Tiny Green Elephants.  Amy writes openly about their family's adoption of two Russian children, and the night that I first began reading, I read her posts for literally 5 hours.  Go check it out.

--4--

I've also been obsessing over Camp Patton.  Grace is a super honest blogger and doesn't hide the difficult parts of motherhood from her readers.  And she throws hilarity in there as well.  
(Why do I enjoy mom-blogs so much?  I guess I've been unknowingly preparing for this CatholicMom.com internship for a long time now!)

--5--

I've been on a fun reading kick, probably because life has been so hectic and crazy lately.  Yes, when life gets more hectic, I do more fun reading.  My latest reads have been Kiss by Ted Dekker and Blink, also by Ted Dekker.

--6--

Tomorrow I'm headed to Notre Dame again, this time for the Identity Project's Edith Stein Conference.  I'm really looking forward to challenging the way that I think and to learn a lot!

--7--

On Wednesday, Franciscan had a snow day.
A snow day.
I haven't had a snow day in 3 years.  It was beautiful.  And much needed.

___________
Well, I'm off to fake my way through HTML coding and get a couple things done for CatholicMom before I leave tomorrow morning.  
And I promise that CatholicMom.com won't appear 4 times in every single post from now on ;)
Pax!

My last 28 hours have been a weird bizarre comedy of errors.  

Yesterday morning, I was awakened at the lovely hour of 5:56 am to my phone ringing.  It was an automated call telling me that classes were delayed for two hours.  Praise God, I thought, and turned over to go back to sleep.  At 8:06 I was awakened by another phone call, this time from a co-worker in the chapel asking about opening the tabernacle for adoration.  Then he called back and he went to open the tabernacle.  I had just fallen asleep when my phone rang yet again, this time another automated call telling me that classes were all canceled and employees did not need to come to school.
Whew.
I had just rolled over to go back to sleep again when I began receiving texts about not going in to work.  Then I realized that adoration wasn't starting until the next day because of the snow and that I shouldn't have told my co-worker to open adoration.  So I jumped out of bed and get ready quickly to go close adoration.

I arrived and my responsible co-worker had closed it already.
Allrighty.  Change of plans.

I met with Grace for breakfast and buckled down to do homework.
But throughout the day, I kept seeing people who just really needed to talk, so I ended up not getting done half the homework I wanted to.  I stayed up until 2 am this morning because I have a little presentation at my night class tonight.
And so I woke up this morning to get ready for an 8 o'clock meeting, and found out that night class is canceled and my presentation isn't due til' next week.  And that meeting I woke up for today?  The leader is sick so that was canceled as well. 

So now I have 2 free hours this morning and 3 free hours this evening.  Whatever will I do with all that free time?
Oh yeah.  The homework I didn't finish yesterday.