7 Quick Takes – Vol. 58

seven quick takes friday 2

Hello again, world! In the interest of maintaining some level of presence around here, I’m jumping back on the bandwagon of these short weekly posts. Here goes!

1.

Life lately: classes, work, eating, sleeping (sort of), events, etc. It’s been pretty normal around here! Summer plans are being made, and it already feels like graduation is getting close with only a year left here. But we’re going to make the most of it!

2.

Speaking of school, my favorite class this semester is Great Catholic Thinkers on Fulton Sheen. It’s hard to describe his awesomeness. My term paper is on suffering through his understanding, which I picked because of so many current events on the issue. People are afraid of suffering, but in the 10+ pages the paper will end up being, I am showing how it’s a beautiful part of life. Two of my favorite quotes?

No human being has a choice of whether he will go through life with or without suffering, because this is to a great extent beyond his control. But each one has this choice: Will the suffering open on a Cross and therefore see the joy beyond, or will it be closed to the Cross and therefore be the beginning of hell on earth.

And:

Which will you sacrifice- - Fulton Sheen

Speaking of Sheen, you can find some of my favorite quotes I’ve made into graphics over on Pinterest!

3.

And Happy Easter! This year I went to the vigil Mass for the third time in my life. Like always, it was amazing. My favorite part is when the lights come on as we sing. SO BEAUTIFUL! I dressed up and went with a couple friends.EditedEaster

 

4.

Then Sunday evening we had a potluck with many people who stayed on campus. It was fun! We decorated and got flowers and colored while hanging out before eating. We are so looking forward to being able to have people over to our apartment next year where we’ll have our own kitchen.

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5.

Here are a few interesting things I’ve read lately:

Birth Control May Alter The Structure Of A Woman’s Brain

– A bit surprising to see something like this on Huffington Post! It’s good to see that more people are realizing that while we don’t have hard facts on everything hormonal contraception does, there are many reasons to be hugely wary of using it on a purely biological level.

Gay Woman Who Donated $20 to Christian-Owned Indiana Pizzeria Reveals Why She Took Bold Stand

– Quite interesting . . . how nice if more people took more of her stance on this! I’ve been seeing people point out that those who are making a stink about these situations are not necessarily people with homosexual tendencies themselves. Often it’s those who consider themselves “allies”. If these allies realized what many homosexual people believe, they wouldn’t have as much a reason to create the hubbub. Many of these people understand what discrimination is like, so it makes sense to me that they wouldn’t want that to happen to other people. It’s not true across the board of course, but so nice to see this underrepresented opinion.

The Truth About Communion In The Hand While Standing

– This can be a touchy subject for some, but to me it’s quite simple: if we believe that the Eucharist is Jesus, then we would do what we can to be as reverent as possible. Can’t kneel for health reasons? Okay, hand it is. Have a highly contagious disease? Okay, hand it is. But otherwise, this is supposed to be an exception – not a norm. The widespread disrespect for the Eucharist is disturbing. But thankfully reverence for the sacred is making a comeback in the youth!

6.

Want to see a ridiculously cute video? Check this out.

You’re welcome.

7.

 Time to enjoy a lovely weekend, attend some fun events, and get homework done.  Oh! And today is my saint day because it’s St. Gemma’s Feast Day. Yay! If you’ve read any awesome articles this week, or have some thoughts on what I shared, let’s chat in the comment section below 🙂

See you again soon!

To Life,

 

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P.P.S. Check out more quick takes at This Ain’t the Lyceum!

7 Quick Takes – Vol. 57: Coffee, mentors, and advent

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Hello world! There hasn’t been much going on here lately because finals.

And papers. And coffee.

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But I am slowly coming back! This semester, while it has not been incredibly challenging academically, has been a time of growth for sure. I’ll share more once finals are over! I’ve gotten back to writing for Live Action News with two articles: one about birth control, and an open letter to abortion clinic clients. Would love to hear your thoughts on them!

— 3 —

Have you been hearing about the CIA torture report? I haven’t read the source document (525 pages . . .) but have been reading about it a lot. People have differing opinions on it, some of which are disturbing to me, but here’s a great report from the USCCB on the topic. I don’t know enough about it to tell you exactly the points that are important to know, but I do know that if we respect life, we should respect ALL life. Also, why do we call it “enhanced interrogation techniques” now?

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Need a lighter topic? Check out these Christmas picture outtakes!

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Something cool going on this semester? Continuing being part of the Wilberforce Leadership Fellowship! Being mentored by Peggy (President of Heartbeat International) has been such a valuable experience for me, and I’ve learned a lot from her. I’ll have to share more on that! Many of us in the program had a video call last week, which was also lots of fun.

— 6 —

Feeling festive? Here’s a beautiful Christmas video!

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And for my last take, a question: how is your advent going? Do you have traditions for the season? Do share! Here’s a post I wrote on advent the other day. It’s about Jesus as our king, coming as a baby. Enjoy! And let’s chat about your advent!

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly!

7 Quick Takes – Vol. 56: Goals, Giving, and School

— 1 —

Hello new school year! This week I road tripped out to school with my brother who will be a freshman here. It was lots of fun to see our beautiful country and rock out to a custom playlist 🙂

With the new school year starting, I’m jumping back into my goal posts! I’ve been wanting to work constructively on improving parts of my life, so I divided my goals into five different categories. Welcome to my first goal post of the school year – I hope you’ll stick around for more and we can encourage each other!

Each “take” focuses on an aspect of my life. Since it’s nearly the end of August, these will be my goals until the end of September.

— 2 —

Category 1: Prayer

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After reading this article, I was kind of dumbstruck. Duh. Keep yourself focused, self! So my goal is to eventually increase prayer time by establishing routines. Why? Because it will help keep me focused on what is really important.

1. Find a morning offering to say each morning and/or a good devotional to start my day with

2. Find a night time examination of conscience to say before bed.

3. Sign up for adoration twice a week and start going.

4. Do the Stations of the Cross on Fridays.

— 3 —

Category 2: Fitness & Health

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Because let’s face it: Being in shape feels awesome. At this point in my life, I have no excuse to not be in shape and take care of my body. So, let’s do this!

1. Look for a 5k to do before Christmas.

2. Find two new healthy snacks to keep in my dorm room instead of traditional unhealthy ones

3. Work out three times a week, and find a consistent time that works. (Sub-goal? Get a new MP3 player and music!)

4. Since my commitments start at 9am M-F, set a consistent time to wake up.

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Category 3: Academics

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“It’s easy to procrastinate” says the girl who stayed up past 3am to finish a paper due in mere hours. I did it twice. I am not proud of that. But am proud to say I’ve never had to pull an all-nighter! The fact is that I need to be responsible. My classes challenge me enough themselves, so I need to rise to the challenge and take advantage of the opportunities to learn.

1. Write down assignments in my planner when I find out about them.

2. Check planner everyday.

3. Buy a stock of post-it’s to put each assignment on, and write them down. Why? It’s fun to tear it up when it’s done!

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Category 4: Computer Usage

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Being away from technology makes me happy. So why do I compulsively check my email probably 25 times a day? It makes me wonder if people really can become addicted to the internet and social media. My usage has improved quite a bit after cutting back on Facebook time by sorting “friends” into lists. Now I check those instead of my general newsfeed. There’s always room to improve, so here goes!

1. Put my laptop on my desk, and only sit there to be on it (unless I am taking it out of the suite to work on it).

2. Gradually check emails less. By the end of September, be checking them three times a day.

3. Check Facebook only twice a day.

4. Go to my Google Alerts for news instead of social media. Add two new alerts.

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Category 5: Reading & Writing

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We all have a lot to learn. I love reading, and it’s something I want to devote time to. Sharing my life and things I learn through writing my own pieces is a great way to develop my thoughts and connect with people. The goals?

1. Find 15 minutes a day to read a non-school book. Focus on one at a time.

2. Write one non-link-up post a week here or for Live Action News.

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Have you read The Giver? I remember checking it out from the library a couple times, but never ended up reading it. The trailer looks really interesting, so I definitely want to see it!

 

What do you think? If you’ve read the book, would you recommend reading it before seeing the movie?

And to end these quick takes . . .

I know there’s a lot going on in the world right now, so please remember to pray for peace. Pray for strength for those who are being persecuted. Pray for everyone who is starting their school year too! And don’t forget: We are the Easter people, and alleluia is STILL our song.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

To Life,

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P.P.S. Did you read about my new approach? Head over and tell me what you think!

7 Quick Takes – Vol. 55

Well hello folks! It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these! I was working on redesigning this space 🙂 Do you like it? Danielle and Mary were wonderful help getting it all together. Take a look around and welcome!

— 1 —

Summer is lovely. It’s my favorite time of year! I’ve been enjoying listening to the local Catholic radio station and country music on the way to/from work. It’s so fun to just jam on the way home with my hair down after a day of work. Bare feet, sunshine, ice cream, and so much more make summer so joyful 🙂

— 2 —

It’s been so nice to have time to sleep enough and read. It’s really weird not being tired because I got used to it at school, but I’m definitely liking this! Recently I finished Something Other Than God: How I Passionately Sought Happiness and Accidentally Found It. It was so good that I finished it in 2 days. I highly recommend it for your summer list!

— 3 —

This. is. happening.

Chick-Fil-A Sauce - come to momma

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I would also like to make this happen:

Hahahaha - who knows where to get giant googly eyes?

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Looking for some cool Catholic stuff? Check out this site I found to get free holy cards!

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I’ve been reading a lot about leadership, inspiring people, etc. lately and though this was rather poignant. It makes such a difference to just learn from people and not worry about getting your two cents in all the time.

Listen

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With more time lately, I’m planning to write more! There are all sorts of ideas brewing about hippie projects to try, open letters to people I disagree with, book reviews, an interview with Bek, and all sorts of stuff coming up! Let me know if you have any ideas too 🙂

P.S. Did you see my recent response post? Share away! Have a happy weekend and for more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes – Vol. 54

Good Friday was the last time I did this? Whoa! Life has certainly been busy lately, and I’ve been at a loss for what to write. But enough with that! Like Nike says: Just Do It.

— 1 —

Life Updates!

Internship week one is over! Thank you again to everyone who contributed to my fundraiser to make it possible. I’m learning a lot about how businesses work and am so thankful to have the opportunity to be involved with so many organizations. It’s also given me some clarity on what I want to do in the future.

Also on the radar: trip to D.C.!! I was chosen as one of SFLA’s 12 Wilberforce Leadership Fellowship members and am pumped to go out there for a training weekend in July! In a few days I’m traveling to a pro-life leadership summit outside of Sacramento I was invited to. Lots of traveling! So many doors have been opened for this summer and I’m so excited to be involved with everything I have the opportunity to be part of.

— 2 —

Something I realized recently: I have COMPLETELY failed on writing monthly goal posts for the last several months. But I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do with this blog. And I’ll be changing that a bit soon, so keep your eyes open! And if you are feeling awesome, could you please tell me what your favorite posts have been? My modesty and gay marriage posts by far have the most views.

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Books! They are definitely a favorite part of summer for me. There were summers when I was much younger where I’d try to read 100 books. Ever have those competitions at your library where you can win a free book? Oh yeah! Nowadays I read very little fiction (see the titles?) and learn a lot through reading. Have any suggestions? Want any from me?

— 4 —

Did you see that Sister Christina won Italy’s The Voice? How awesome if that?!?!

— 5 —

Bored? Need things to do? Check out this list I wrote last year!

conquer summer boredom

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Ladies, want silky soft legs without dead skin? Here’s a leg scrub! I would suggest NOT doing it right after shaving since it has lemon and it could irritate nicks.

2 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup oil (coconut is awesome, but you can do vegetable or olive or something else)

5 TBSP Lemon juice (can substitute other citrus)

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And now, a little motivation for your summer:

Amen

Be awesome!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!