Goal Review: October 2013

~ Laura ~ 1 Comment

Goals . . . huh? Did I set goals? Oh yeah. I did. And surprise, surprise, they did not all happen.

But I figured out why: I was not specific enough. Hence this list:

1. Do not waste time on my computer.

Um, hum. I have to say that most of the time my laptop is on I am working or doing homework. But I’m still on it more than I’d like.

2. Work on my prayer life.

I did make progress here. Yay! I’m doing adoration once a week and 40 Days for Life prayers (with a chaplet of divine mercy) everyday. It’s wonderful. I’m also working on “On Heaven and Earth” by Pope Francis which is beautiful. Praying and focusing on God’s will makes me such a better person.

3. Exercise 3 times a week.

I have been exercising (inconsistently) almost 3 days a week. We did it MWF a couple weeks and then got thrown off with always-changing schedules. But I have a fabulous playlist that we blast, and it’s fun.

4. Eat healthy(ish).

The cafeteria is trying to be healthy this year, but the food is not different. They just serve you teeny portions. This one is not too hard for me, though, because I feel like this when I’m not eating well:

Okay, that is a slight exaggeration.

No I don’t quite feel like an over-sized and creepy slug man sleazebag. But you get the picture. Eating poorly makes me feel gross, and I know that, so I do an okay job of eating fine. *Not counting my Nutella consumption*

5. Publish 5 articles with Live Action.

Fail. I published one. This goal kills me because I have several articles I want to write but just have to make the time.

6. Start a list of potential employers for next summer.

I’m still throwing around ideas about where I want to go with my work next summer: stay home, go to an internship, pro-life, or business experience? I’ve been trying to set up a meeting with the person on campus who does things like this and helps students find jobs, but haven’t heard back about it yet.

7. Think about writing a book.

I certainly thought about it, but no more than that.

8. Figure out a process for keeping track of homework.

I write each homework assignment on a sticky note and put it on the side of my dresser. Then when it’s done I tear it up. The only problem is when I forget to put it up there and it’s only in my notes and I forget to check those….

9. Devote one hour a day to diligent homework.

No comment.

 

We talked about setting S.M.A.R.T. goals in my management class recently, and it makes sense. Obviously. Lots of smart and professional people use this. I’ll definitely keep it in mind more as I continue trying to be a better person through goal setting. Here’s what it stands for:

 

Here are my October 2013 goals:

 

1. Continue going to 40 Days for Life prayers everyday.

2. Go to daily Mass twice a week: Tuesday and Thursday.

3. Go to Latin Mass in Kansas City.

4. Do not dilly-dally on social media when there is homework to be done.

5. Finish “On Heaven and Earth”

6. Exercise 3 times a week. No excuses.

7. Publish 5 articles with Live Action. 

8. Set up that meeting to figure out more of where I want to go with next summer’s work.

9. Devote a solid hour with no breaks to diligent homework each day – more as necessary.

10. Start sidewalk counseling.

11. Get the “Pillar of Inspiration” set up so I can go stare at it when I want to procrastinate or work on a project that is not extremely important.

12. Keep adding to my prayer intention booklet and become a prayer warrior for people. Let me know if you have someone (or something) or a specific intention you’d like me to add.

13. Read Lumen Fidei.

 

Are you setting goals? Want to share some insight on mine? Fire away in the comment section!

7 Quick Takes – Vol. 32

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

— 1 —

Life is busy, and I like it that way. But then I realized recently that I haven’t been working too hard on my September goals. What have I been busy with, then? Well, classes, homework, RRL meetings, writing, eating, sleeping, etc. Life would be so much easier if we didn’t have to sleep for Pete’s sake! Not that I’m actually sleeping much…Coffee helps with that 🙂

— 2 —

Today is Octoberfest! Time for all sorts of yummyness and fun. It’s funny because last year we were bundled in jackets and scarves (which I spilled hot cider or cocoa on) and this year we’re in tank tops. The weather is still not quite 100% fall.

— 3 —

This week our all club RRL meeting topic was how to use social media to spread the pro-life message. It was great. Afterward I went on to Planned Parenthood’s Facebook page (when am I going to learn not to do that anymore?) and had a lovely conversation with people who support abortion.

“Oh no she didn’t!”

The f word was used under 10 times (shocker) in the over 400 comments, and I wasn’t called anything much worse than a stupid cow. Nice, huh? I decided that I probably won’t do this anymore because the abortion supporters who respond are never there with sincere questions or open minds. I did get a lot of insight as to why we think so differently; Namely that many of them view people are “human lice” on mother earth (who would in fact, be much better off if we all died off). I’ll write a follow up post on that soon with more of the beautiful juicy details.

— 4 —

Chocolate milk is delicious. It is currently part of my favorite college snacks: honey roasted peanuts with chocolate milk, an apple with peanut butter, nutella with a banana, or popcorn with cheese powder. The healthiness of that all is overwhelming, right?

— 5 —

Did you know? If unborn babies continued developing (for 9 months) at the rate they start developing at, they would be over 200 pounds at birth. I’m loving my childhood development class!

— 6 —

Right now I’m working on a “Things Catholic Girls Say” video with some friends, and it’s been hilarious so far. I can’t wait to share it!

— 7 —

Need a laugh? Here’s a hilarious post about the things this lady did to her siblings growing up. I can’t say I did anything like that, but it reminded me how awesome big families are.

Have a happy weekend! For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Pope Francis: “Flaming Liberal”?

~ Laura ~ 4 Comments

According to the media, Pope Francis is a flaming liberal. Do you need to wipe the coffee off your computer? Good. Use a paper towel. I was laughing too when I read that.

Ever since he was elected earlier this year, people have been throwing around articles talking about how he’s going to change the “rules”. He’s progressive after all, didn’t you know? And a Jesuit. Maybe that’s where it came from originally . . . After the initial hoopla of excited people stopped waiting for him to make  a decree that abortion, gay “marriage” and birth control are A-okay, this interview came out earlier this week. He basically said that we need to steer away from hot button issues like the ones I mentioned, and go to the heart of Christianity: hope and healing.

And then the media reported that he was telling the Church to lay off its conservative values.

I find it rather humorous that the media still thinks Pope Francis is some sort of king or president who could sweep in and change what the Church is all about. They only report things that they can misinterpret (ie. “Who am I to judge?”) and take them totally out of context. He thinks mercy and Jesus-lovin’ are super important? Well, hello! Apparently that means abortion, gay “marriage” and birth control are okay! Whoohoo!

Cue the celebration from NARAL (one of the most pro-abortion organizations out there):

Courtesy of their Facebook page

I honestly did start laughing when I read through the comments on that picture. People started talking about pigs flying and hell freezing over because holy cow, look what Pope Francis did! And I’m like:

Pope Francis didn’t just change the Church. This is old, good news.

He made a beautiful point, though. And it challenged me. After all, I talk about abortion a LOT. The pro-life movement is pretty much my life, and people who see that sometimes think I’m crazy. Obsessed perhaps? I prefer the term highly passionate. I had to sit down and think about it:

Of course life is important. We wouldn’t be here if we were all aborted. And we should fight to stop abortion. But if you think about it, the world already knows what the Church teaches. The might think we’re crazy. But they know we’re against abortion, birth control, and gay “marriage”. By urging us to find a new balance, Pope Francis is challenging us to engage the world in a new way. I think it fits well with Benedictine’s theme of the year to “Be the Light”.

We are the light and salt of the earth, after all, and I think many Catholics have lost that. We go to Mass because we’re supposed to, right? Hopefully we learn the basics and receive first communion and so forth. But do we really appreciate how flippin’ awesome our Church is?!?!?!

We educate, feed, and medically treat more people than any other organization. We are responsible for the education system. We have beast saints who have dedicated their lives to God as an example for the rest of us. We are the only ones with the sacrament of reconciliation through which the lost are led back to Christ.

There are so many beautiful things about our faith that we have lost in the battle for hot button issues.

Personally, I’ve grown to appreciate my faith so much more since coming to Benedictine. Students here are on FAYAH (aka fire) for God. It’s beautiful. It’s inspiring. Being here makes we want to become more holy and learn more about Catholicism. The theme last year (Be courageous, be faithful, be strong) and this year (Be the light) remind me that while abortion is important, it is our eternal salvation – and the battle to shine the light on people’s souls – that is most important. You can’t be pro-life without believing that life is sacred. And how do you know life is sacred? By recognizing your own worth and beauty first. That’s what the Church is all about. We’ve got to start somewhere.

It’s time to get back to the foundation of our faith like Pope Francis said. Jesus is the heart of our faith, and it’s time to show the world that we are more than people who are against abortion. We are the Easter people: the light and salt of the earth. We are here for a purpose. We are here to touch lives, inspire conversion, and be a witness to the beauty of God.

7 Quick Takes – Vol. 31

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

— 1 —

I just got back from volunteering with other BC students at the Vitae Foundation benefit dinner! It’s an annual pro-life event in Kansas City, and the largest that I’ve ever been to (excluding the March and Walk for Life). There were about 1,100 people who came. Incredible, huh? The foundation is responsible for lots of billboards, commercials, and other media advertisement for pro-life centers.

Dr. Ben Carson spoke. The name seemed familiar to me, but I couldn’t really remember who he was. Well, he is a neurosurgeon who came from a single-parent home and was teased for being the dummy in school. His mom only had a 3rd grade education. She expected a lot of him, and through that he became the first doctor to successfully separate siamese twins conjoined at the back of the head. I can’t do his story justice here, though, so go look him up!

— 2 —

The weather this week was crazy. It cooled down a bit, then was sticky-hot, then poured rain and stormed. Midwest storms are SO beautiful! Today it was gorgeous and sunny without being overly humid.

DSCN5294
The sky…right before turning pitch black

— 3 —

Classes are plugging along. Macroeconomics is still killing me (especially after getting the first test back). I had my first quantitative analysis test this morning, and it was easy. Hooray! Management is interesting along with developmental psych. Did you know that if unborn babies continued growing at the rate they do early in development, they would be over 200 pounds by birth? Ouch. Good thing they slow down the growing. I love how my psych professor uses video clips and interactive things to make it interesting and applicable to real life. I think if I worked really hard at it, I could be very good at accounting. It is rather logical and straightforward. And concert chorale? Epic. I’m going to have to arrange for someone to record it so I can share.

— 4 —

Babies are awesome.

"A baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on" <3

— 5 —

You keep on saying these things. I do not think you know what they mean.

Have you been hearing the big fuss over Pope Francis recently? I find it rather amusing that the media continues to report him as some progressive ruler who is changing “policies”. I have much more to say about his recent interviews, and will get that published soon. I’m interested to hear your thoughts.

— 6 —

Does any technologically savvy person out there know how to add gifs to blog posts? Or do you know of a good instructional website or article? This would be most appreciated!

— 7 —

Random thoughts: Goals are really hard to stick to. 40 Days for Life starts on Wednesday. College rocks.

Have a happy weekend. For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Why I’m not at my desk (and my eyeballs are still intact)

~ Laura ~ 2 Comments

I was homeschooled all the way through my pre-college education. But not the pj’s all day OR denim jumpers with ankle length hair kind. We were in the middle – I think with a happy balance. I had the opportunity to take classes (language, science, writing, and math tutoring) outside the house during high school, so getting to college wasn’t a complete shock.

Not True.

The kind of studying college requires is much different than what I had experienced. In the last year, I’ve found that classes challenge me in a way that causes me to thrive (when I put in the effort) and that I enjoy (sometimes). But getting to that point can be really annoying.

Being more of a kinesthetic learner, reading assignments are a drag. I do not enjoy them. And quite honestly, I rarely sit down and read an entire assignment word for word without skimming some and reading the highlights. My brain just sees the page and is like “Really? I have to read all this? Time to get sleepy!” Of course, being tired doesn’t help. But reading just makes me tired (not to mention the fact that I don’t necessarily remember the majority of what my eyes read).

Working out problems, be it math, economics, or psychology, is much more interesting to me.

Writing is better. I can be a little more creative. Just PLEASE don’t give me a super long paper assignment. (Hmm, yeah. I looked at my class syllabuses, and know I have a couple coming).

Something I simply do not understand is when teachers give you a ginormous amount of homework that is not realistic to complete. Whether it is during the week or over the weekend, I seriously do not have 2 hours a day to devote to each of my classes. Is that ridiculous of me? Am I just not a super academically-inclined person?

Well, let’s think about the math: I’m taking 6 classes. Most of my professors say that I should devote 2 hours to homework for every hour in class.

Hours in class each week: 17

Hours expected to do homework each week: 34

Total time expected to devote solely to academics each week: 51

It all makes sense now…

“HAHA!” You might say. “That’s just like having a job.” And it’s true. Some people work over 60 hours a week. And you know what? I think they are crazy.

When God made humans, he didn’t say “Here are these fabulous people I have made to sit at desks and study until they gorge their eyes out when they can’t take it anymore.”

He made us to be with each other. Not to sit alone and study.

I don’t know about you, but I cannot sit and study for long periods of time. I get tired. It bores me. It surely depends on the subject, but much of the time I’d rather be working on an article, or arranging things for Ravens Respect Life, or reading a good book, or talking with friends. Some of my most favorite memories from college so far have been the nights where I stay up until 3am talking with friends. Or when we recently made “The Catholic Game of Life”. The funny thing? I don’t remember the nights where I stayed up to write a paper. Those are not what I’m going to remember about my college experience years from now.

Right now I’m trying to find a balance between making memories and still making college worth the money. Don’t worry. I do my homework, and I’ve never failed a class. My education is not going to be flushed down the loo. I’m not planning on it. That might freak you out. Maybe you’re the kind of person who blows a gasket if you don’t get an “A”. But me?

I’ve met wonderful people, I have learned a lot, I’ve made memories I will never forget, I’m finding the joy in random adventures, and I am becoming a better person. In 50 years, will I look back and wish I did 5 points better on a test? Probably not. Would I regret not meeting people and making the most of this time in my life? Yes, I think so.

And that is the long explanation for why you won’t find me studying all the time.