Holy cow

...do I miss making cards and designing things.
Sometimes I feel I may spontaneously combust if I don't MAKE SOMETHING.

Crazy week

Last week was pretty crazy, but super fun.
Morning of the 13th, I Megasbussed (I know, it's not a word) out to Harrisburg to spend a little over 24 hours with Chuckie, Katie and wee Maria.

Maria - "Ew, Dad, cut it out, I'm trying to use my phone."

This is how Maria feels about her uncle John

She gave me lots of smiles before I left! Yes!!!

That was super fun, and then I Megabussed myself back on over to Pittsburgh super early Friday morning. Couple hours later, and I was on my way with John to Madison. The ride was super fun, but the evening was tiring, due to 3.5 hours of sleep the night before, driving all day, having dinner with a bunch of strangers at a loud German place, and then walking around Madison with a pair of (previously) trusted sandals that decided to be annoying and give me blisters.

D'awww!

However, the next two days were pretty fantastic - we didn't try to do a whole lot, and stayed with smaller groups that already had a couple people I already knew in it (I get tired/bored really fast in big groups). I got to meet some more cool people (including a priest that was super funny and nice) and hung out a lot with Emily. I won't lie and say it wasn't awkward at some points, but spending the extra time with her helped me get to know her better, and she is an awesome person and very holy. Without intending to, she showed me how to offer sacrifices better and how there's pretty much always an opportunity to offer something up. Things I knew before, but couldn't really get a solid picture of in my soul before of how I could do it.

I now understand why Sister Maria liked her so much. ;)

Anyways, I've got a LOT of packing to do. I spent a couple hours doing so today, and I'm still not done. 

Ugh. *cue in previous statement of always having an opportunity to offer something up*

Crazy Summer

I think that this is probably the most crazy/memorable summer ever, mostly due to Maria's entrance, but also probably because I have the memory of a goldfish.

Some crazy things that happened this summer;

1. Maria's entrance, as mentioned above.
2. My first real car accident. Apparently the driver who hit me "didn't think (I) was going to turn." (hmmm, yes, that definitely excuses the blatant running through a red light...) I'm almost excited this happened, because unlike most of my older siblings, who have been in near-death situations, I've been pretty low key till now. I can't help but connect the fact that my guardian angel was doing some serious damage control here (like with my siblings) and the fact that now most of them have a pretty good idea of what their vocation is! Is this a pathetic hope? Yep. 

1. I got my hair cut by a real-life hair cutter person for the first time! Okay, so maybe this isn't really crazy, but the experience was pretty terrifying (hair salons are SCARY) Oh, and I got short bangs, which I haven't had since I was ten (maybe?) and I go in between hating and just being annoyed with them...

1. This hasn't happened yet, but I'm going to live, in a different country, with no relatives, for three. whole. months. 
2. I got invited to join the design team of one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE STAMP COMPANIES. I'm still kinda in shock about this, but maybe by the time December rolls around (I couldn't start right away, studying abroad and all) it will hit me. BUT I'M SO EXCITED. Seriously, as pathetic as this may sound to non-crafters, this has been a dream of mine for about five years now. 

There have been a lot of little exciting things too, but that's all I got for tonight. 

Yikes!

...I just bought a Eurail pass! That basically means this whole Austria thing REALLY IS HAPPENING.

I'm really excited but I'm also pretty intimidated.
Because lists are cool things (whenever they don't have horrible, unfun things you need to do on them)...

Excited for:

• being able to dawdle in Europe! Last time was all rush! rush! rush!, though I guess I shouldn't complain since I accidentally won that trip.
• getting the "full college experience" - i.e. living in a big building with people who aren't blood-related (horror, I know). I didn't really understand at my freshman, but it is hard to be a commuter, especially if you play college athletics. Between driving, helping a bit around the house, volleyball practices, and studying, there isn't a lot of time to be piddling around campus, so it's harder to make new friends and to actually get together with them. Not that I actually want to change this (I LOVE MY HOME) but living in Austria should be a nice little taste of that "experience".
• seeing a friend that I hardly ever get to see and going on adventures with her! 
• European fashion! Haha, I know, right? I'm not the most fashion-savvy person, but since I wear skirts pretty much all the time, I'm hoping that for once, I'll blend in well with the people around me (at least, until I open my big American mouth) and that my fellow students won't seem so judgmental of my fashion choices (or lack thereof)

Not excited for:

• being away from my HOUSE FOR THREE AND A HALF MONTHS! Trips and small "vacations", however enjoyable they were, tire me out pretty quickly, so how I'll handle all that time in Austria should be...interesting.
• getting the "full college experience" - I know what I said above, but this is definitely a mixed emotions thing. Since none of the people are blood-related to me, I can't just do weird things I do (like completely blank out when I'm talking to someone) and expect them to understand/not be offended. I'll actually have to communicate! With people! In real life! Who aren't related to me! Terror! On the flip-side of that, I'm going to have to figure out how other people work too. 
• the campus spirituality. It's funny, Franciscan is pretty "conservative" to most other colleges, but for a Catholic college, they do some things that just...well, weird me out. Like FOP's (Festival of Praise)?? Uh, yeah, I tried understanding that...um, energetic part of Catholicism, but I'm still not comfortable with a lot of it. So many times during campus Mass's, I've wanted to shout "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! EVERYONE PUT YOUR HANDS DOWN. NOW. AND PUT THAT GUITAR AWAY!" I've heard that things are more...levelheaded on the Austria campus, but I'm still worried about possibly going so long without a Latin Mass, or at least a really reverent Novus Ordo Mass.
• getting horribly lost in a creepy country. 

and finally

• not seeing any of my family for a whole three and a half months. :( There will definitely be some Skype attempts (I've heard the wifi there is pretty crummy), but man, no adventures or fights with siblings for that long? REALLY not looking forward to that.

So in the end, I'm trying not to get too excited in case I get horribly disappointed too easily, and I'm also trying not to be too much of scaredy cat so that I chicken out on any fun adventures. In any case, this should be an interesting three and a half months!

Yet again

...I fail to pull out an A in a theology class.

Aside from Latin and one absurd Comm. Arts class, my theology classes are the ONLY classes I have not gotten an A in. One B+ (granted, that first teacher was awful), and now two A-.

UGHHHHHHH!!!!!

Seven Tips on How to Have an Awesome Catholic Relationship

...relationship posts with lists on how to find and have that perfect Catholic relationship seem to be quite popular (particularly with the ladies) so in lieu of my attempt to have a fabulously famous blog post, here is my fail proof list on how to have that perfect, Catholic relationship.*

1. Make sure he's rich. If he's not rich, he's not going to be able to support you, kids, mall sprees, cardmaking expenses or the occasional excursion to Europe. 
2. Speaking of Europe, he has to be European, preferably Austrian or British, because we all know that while American guys are jerks and idiots, European men are inestimably better mannered and smarter. They also tend to be richer, which works well as a package deal with tip number one. 
3. If you're going to go with a Brit, his last name must be Darcy. No exceptions here, ladies - the perfect storybook ending is at stake and we are accepting no compromises 
4. Super ultra catholic - if you're super into Franciscan University praise and worship style, or if you're really into the Latin mass where even the sermon is in Latin, make sure your companion is into the exact same thing you are into. There must be absolutely no discrepancy.
5. Obviously, the man MUST be universally attractive. So basically, he needs to look like a younger Colin firth. 
6. If he's gonna be carrying you around the house all day, your guy better be pretty fit!
7. Also, if you two are gonna be the envy of all who look upon your gorgeous selves, your dude better know how to accessorize. 

These seven points (which are comparable in number to so many Catholic things, making my argument even stronger) are guaranteed to help you find your Prince Charming.
Or Mr. Darcy.
Your pick.


*which I would of course know about, myself having been in very many relationships with men that fit the above list. 

I'm feeling really angsty

This has been a day long issue.

Why.

Ite ad Joseph

I've been reading a bunch of various books/pamphlets for my theology class this semester, and one of the readings (Pope St. Clement's first letter to the Corinthians) focused a lot on the priesthood. One of the things that St. Clement mentioned reminded me about a tradition/legend I had heard about St. Joseph.

St. Clement's passage - part of chapter 43 (italics are my own emphasis);

      "For, when rivalry arose concerning the priesthood, and the tribes were contending among themselves as to which of them should be adorned with that glorious title, he commanded the twelve princes of the tribes to bring him their rods, each one being inscribed with the name of the tribe. And he took them and bound them, and sealed them with the rings of the princes of the tribes, and laid them up in the tabernacle of witness on the table of God. And having shut the doors of the tabernacle, he sealed the keys, as he had done the rods, and said to them, Men and brethren, the tribe whose rod shall blossom has God chosen to fulfill the office of the priesthood, and to minister unto Him. And when the morning had come, he assembled all Israel, six hundred thousand men, and showed the seals to the princes of the tribes, and opened the tabernacle of witness, and brought forth the rods. And the rod of Aaron was found not only to have blossomed, but to bear fruit upon it."

I know this could connect with St. Joseph in a lot of different ways, but as I'm not a learned theologian or biblical scholar (obviously), I'll just get right to the legend, and the connection I found between the two.
Instead of bothering with linking up to an article on a site, and then later finding the site as faulty, I'll just give you my shortened (probably historically, factually, etc. wrong) version, though I'm sure you could probably find a better written, less faulty version somewhere;

      The legend goes that there were quite a few men that wanted Mary's hand in marriage, and, as Mary was in the care of the Temple, the caretakers/priests weren't exactly sure how to choose which one should be Mary's husband. What those caretakers/priests ending up doing was having each suitor place his rod in the temple, basically repeating what Moses did with the tribes staffs. Although St. Joseph, in his humility, put his staff at the very bottom of the pile, the next morning, his staff had flowered!

Just so you know I'm not pulling this out of thin air, this legend is apparently one of the reasons St. Joseph is often depicted with a flowering staff (his purity being another reason)

lovely staff, eh?

Anyways, long story short, to get to my main point, I thought it was neat comparison; as the Levite's were chosen to take care of the Old Testament Temple, so St. Joseph was chosen to take care of Mary, the new Temple.
Hundreds of men were tasked with caring for a shadow of what was to come, and boom! One pure man is tasked with taking care of Mary Immaculate and God Incarnate.
Pretty bangin', if I do say so myself.

Hum dee dum

Because I don't want to be nit-picky and want to have this as pretty much a free-for-all blog, I'm not worried about my pathetic title.
Or the fact that this post isn't going to explain my 'absence'.
Because I don't care, though I'm sure the unannounced absence for everyone else has been similar to that which Sherlock fans experienced between the airing of season two and season three. ;)

Mostly I just wanted to post these dresses...

I'm not quite sure how I feel about this one, but I do like navy and pink.

This has some pretty stitching, and the chambray that comes from this site is actually pretty nice.

I don't care for the collar much, and the pattern isn't my favorite, but man, I just love two part dresses - why are they so dang hard to find?!

This one is the most simple, but I think I like this one best out of the lot - too bad it's also the most expensive of these dresses!
Heck, they're all too expensive, because...

....I've been accepted into the Fall 2014 Austria Study Abroad program! Maybe Europe will have some nicer dresses (though likely as not, more expensive) ;)