"Come Take a Good Look at the Bottom of My Boot..."

So I've mentioned this song before, but I ran across this video the other day and I thought I'd share!

Seriously, can you even handle this level of cuteness??

Besides the fact that this song pretty much already beats Satan up lyrically, I bet this happy, lovey video makes him even madder. Extra victory!! So, feel free to watch on repeat all afternoon. ;)

A Thirst for the Incarnate

Last week, a lovely article entitled "18 Things Everyone Should Start Making Time For Again" was making the rounds amongst some friends of mine. I read it, thought it was perfect (minus one subtle suggestion that there might be a time and a place for drunkenness - but we will overlook that one minor flaw in a sea of perfection), and therefore shared it on my own Facebook wall.

As a side note (sorry, we're taking a detour already!), can I just say that, not feeling comfortable with using both "perfect" and "perfection" in that last sentence, I Googled the definition of "perfection" and found this?

a person or thing perceived as the embodiment of perfection.

"I am told that she is perfection itself"

synonyms:

the ideal, a paragon, the ne plus ultra, a nonpareil, the crème de la crème, the last word, the ultimate, the best; informalone in a million, the tops, da bomb; dated,the bee's knees, the cat's meow/pajamas/whiskers "for him, she was still perfection"

Huh-larious, no? Next time I shall use "crème de la crème" or "da bomb." By the way... am I the only one who thinks that Google needs to chill with the special days of celebration? I miss the days of the basic Google, in all its blue, red, yellow and green-lettered glory. These days, it's as if we have mandated celebrations, practically daily, of the birthday of every obscure famous person and the anniversary of their obscure, albeit apparently important to their field, work! (I realize that "obscure famous" is sort of an oxymoron, but just go with it. Life is a paradox.) It used to be special to see a nifty little animated Google hompage, decorated for the day's event; now it's simply normal and confusing. Bring back the magic, Google! Celebrate real holidays! Or at least, include some saints! (Sorry about all this... I have had a beef with Google ever since they changed the definition of the word "literally" to mean, literally, "not literally." Check it out here. But despite my pent-up personal issues with the world's most famous search engine, I still probably use it 5,682 times a day. Ah well.)

Back to the wonderful article about eighteen lovely things! After I shared it, I was struck by how several others were sharing it and liking it, and seemingly struck by it as well. And they weren't all Franciscan girls in love with Jane Austen and accustomed to regular coffee dates with household sisters, either. I'm used to talking about such things with that sort of crowd; I identify with handwritten letters, good conversation and cookie-baking. That's kinda my scene, you know? My friends own tea-sets. But this article didn't only pique the interest of those particular friends!

(Update: Google has slightly redeemed itself. The sample sentence for the word "struck," when I was looking for a synonym, is "Lucy was struck by the ethereal beauty of the scene." Very nice, Google dictionary people. You get one point back.)

What is so striking to me is that it's nearly universally acknowledged that we are losing a sense of presence, culture, and humanity. How often do you have a conversation with someone about everyone always being on their phone, over-sharing their personal business on Facebook, constantly taking a picture for Instagram instead of actually enjoying the beauty before our very eyes? At least in my life, the topic comes up all the time! No one gasps when you bring up the thought that we spend too much time online, or that we all feel so super crazy busy and wish we didn't. More or less, everyone agrees!

And everyone continues to thirst.

For presence. For culture. For beauty. For real, incarnate humanity, in all its tangible goodness.

We are all thirsting for reality.

A few weeks ago, I was going through a very stressful, busy period; so was a dear friend of mine. We had both been so on edge, and not particularly present to each other, when something dawned on me. "I don't think God wants us to live this way," I suddenly thought. "I think Jesus wants more for us." And doesn't he? Didn't he make us to be genuinely free, truly human, full of beauty and grace? Ready at all times to love, to really see the other person in front of us.

What does it say about our culture, that reading a real book, writing a real letter, listening to music instead of making it mere background music to our multi-tasking, making a true commitment, thinking before responding to others, and just taking time to be with people are all seen as unreachable ideals? Beautiful, of course; our grandparents once knew these arts in the past, but sigh, things that no one has time for anymore and that we can never truly recover. Sigh, sigh. Like those little wispy clouds that you wish you could float around in, but that it's probably not possible to reach and experience for yourself (does anyone else wish this, besides me? Also, if you take a hot air balloon ride, can you play in the clouds? Just curious). At any rate, we all seem to be wistfully longing for something past, something better than what we have now. Yes? Do you sense this, too?

So, here's the sitch, as I see it (Kim Possible reference, yes ma'am):

On one hand, we have gotten ourselves into quite a cultural predicament, up in hurrr (this phrase is another example of the degeneration of culture... ha, ha).

On the other hand, this is so extremely hopeful!!! Let me explain.

When we all have a common longing, that is an incredible opportunity! If everyone wants ice cream, for instance, it's a perfect time to bring out the banana splits! If we are all longing for presence, thought, art, and incarnate reality (aka Jesus Christ)... this is the perfect entry point into the human heart! People are actually receptive to this stuff!!

Ergo, I'm pretty excited.

Just like Surprise Party Sue... I'm so freakin' excited!!!

The great thing about all of these things is  that they are tangible, concrete, not out of our reach at all! We can sit down and write a letter to a friend; we can intentionally make time to listen to music, and just appreciate it; we can actually stand outside and look at the sky and marvel at its unique beauty for a while! We can all sit down and actually take time to really, genuinely pray.

I'm not even going to pretend to tackle the whole issue of technology, being overly busy, lack of real art and culture, etc., in our world today; it's way too big for my little brain. But I do know this: it's time! Let's go! If the people we know are thirsting for a reclaimed humanity, let's start making the decisions and commitments it takes to put beauty and presence back into our lives.

I heard a story on the radio yesterday about a restaurant owner who is doing his own small, super creative part! Check it out... he is offering his customers a 50% discount on their meals if they agree to one small thing: to turn off their phones during their dining experience! Isn't that incredible? In one restaurant, in one little corner of the world, this guy is making an effort to reclaim personal relationships, to get people back in touch with humanity. I think he is awesome!

So, in the spirit of all this incarnational awesomeness, I have one last thought. Advent is coming up... the season of preparing for Christ, the fullness of true humanity, the Incarnation Himself! What if, for Advent, we tried to be more present as well? For instance (and I can't take credit for this idea), what if we decided to write a letter each day of Advent? Or really, any of the 18 items on that list... or, make up your own list! Whatever floats your boat. But what if, while we are preparing to celebrate Jesus taking on humanity, we became more human, too?

A Tribute

To all the people in my life who make me laugh:

(No, nothing to do with The Hunger Games! Sorry if the title misled you.)

You keep me moving, alive and persevering: you keep me sane. You generously wield the ability to turn a horrible, mildly bad, or even just bland day around for me, without even knowing it. Making fun of me and/or just spouting off some silly, nonsensical ridiculousness makes me feel happy and very well-loved (kind of similar to keeping a plant well-watered, or a rabbit well-fed). So thanks for contributing to the cause! I appreciate you letting Jesus use you to love me. :)

I know that I may put an inordinate amount of importance on a sense of humor, fun, wit and clever comedic timing. I don't mean to, but thanks for indulging me! I apologize if I've ever made you feel like you have to be funny to be my friend... but it's only partially true! It just so happens that I think God made us all a little weird and quirky and funny, so I simply do my best to bring out the best of it in you! It's a gift (maybe). Oh, and if ever I'm laughing at you, don't be insulted; it's one of my highest compliments, truly. 

I do understand that Christian joy is different than mere fun or a sense of humor... but they can intertwine, yes? It takes humility to laugh at yourself. So you're just helping me grow in holiness! ;) 

Thank you for keeping me from taking myself too seriously! And thank you for helping me to see, when I'm in a funk you may not even know about, that things really aren't that bad. Hopefully, some time or another, I can do the same for you.

"Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!" -Nehemiah 8:10

Mmmmmmmm

I've recently realized how much I like to cook. If you're my friend, you probably already knew that, and are wondering why I didn't see something so obvious about myself! The thing is, I've always known that I liked it... I just didn't realize how much! My aunt and uncle were visiting the other day, and they commented on all of my different kitchen gadgets (and how when I move someday, I probably won't have enough counter space for them all). There's just something so stress-relieving about coming up with a delicious, creative dinner! 

One of my big things is trying to make food unique. While I do eat a lot of the same things over and over, or at least tend to buy the same ingredients, I find a special little joy in putting a twist on a meal to make it something different. Google is my friend - a lot of times I'll have an idea, but not really know the best way to make it. The interwebs helps! ;) We be in the twenty-first century. So let's take advantage of it, right?

I thought I'd share some successes with you, in case you're looking for a new idea! (I'm always looking, so please share your own!) None of these are very hard or take too long, because I'm kind of leery about trying elaborate recipes that take all day, unless I really have an appetite for something. Plus, I'm not good at planning ahead, so I make up a lot of things on the spot, when my tummy is like "HUNGRY! NOW!" A lot of these tips also are specifically for those of you who are cooking for one (or maybe two)... if that's you, you know the struggles, so I don't have to elaborate on that any more. 

Anyway, here they be: 

1. Vodka sauce (and other pasta ideas).

Take your ordinary spaghetti sauce, and make it awesome! You could just buy a vodka sauce pre-made in a jar. But living by myself, it takes multiple meals to eat through one jar, so I might as well use a normal sauce in different ways!

I stumbled upon how to do this by accident. Obviously, you heat up the basic sauce and add vodka. But I knew there was more involved. When I looked up a recipe online, it called for heavy cream, which I didn't have at the time (among other things). I did have a sweet, creamy vidalia onion salad dressing, though! So I experimented with that and voila! Delish. Don't be weirded out; if I hadn't told you, you'd eat it and love it and never know I put salad dressing in your sauce. Anyway, that's what I mean about just experimenting with what you've got! You may come up with a breakthrough. (If you're going to try it, a little dressing goes a long way, just FYI.)

I've been experimenting with tofu a little, too, and this is what I like to do when I'm adding it to pasta with this sauce (or even just straight-up spaghetti sauce): press it for a while to get the water out, then marinate in soy sauce (I know, I know, it sounds like we're mixing Chinese and Italian. Just trust me). "Bread" it in cornstarch and cook in a little olive oil on the stove until browned. Add to already saucy pasta! And if you want to mix it up a little more, add some steamed veggies to the mix (I like to add a broccoli/cauliflower/carrot mix). Maybe that sounds weird to you. But hey, I'm the kid who brought leftover sauerkraut and mashed potatoes to school for lunch, so whatevs. ;)

2. Coconut chicken and mango salsa.

Seriously. 

Defrost chicken. Beat an egg. Dip chicken in egg, then roll in coconut. Cook in oil on the stove until both sides are golden, then bake in the oven until cooked through (like 10 min). 

Take a jar of mango salsa (there are recipes for it online, but hey, I already had it in the fridge because I'm on a specialty salsa kick). Mix it up with some corn, then heat it up.

I made rice and steamed broccoli for sides. Oh! And I took a wheat tortilla, ripped it into strips, and fried it in the leftover oil from the chicken, for homemade soft-ish tortilla chips.

Pull the chicken out of the oven, put it on the rice, and pour the salsa over it. Mmmmmm. Dip your chips in the salsa, too. To finish off the perfection, drink a piña colada with it (I happened to have one in my freezer already; those drinks in a pouch that you can find at Walmart or wherever). 

3. Salads!!!

Salads are the best, because you can do whatever you want to them. No matter what you have in your kitchen, it can probably be made into a salad. One of my favorites is spring mix, craisins and crumbly feta cheese. Whatever dressing you want! And seriously, if you ever get salads at Wendy's, McDonald's, etc, and they give you more than one packet of dressing, save it for later! Or if your friends or coworkers don't want their extras, steal those. Living alone means it takes me for-ev-er to go through a whole bottle of salad dressing. So if I want variety, I gotta be thinking. 

4. Smoothies. 

See salads. Many, many things in your kitchen can be made into smoothies! Just make sure you always have ice in the freezer, some sort of fruit, and either milk, yogurt or juice. Be creative. Go nuts. 

5. Healthy ice cream.

Yeah, you got that right. I'm SO happy I stumbled upon this tip. Just freeze a banana (peeled and in pieces), and blend it up with a little milk. Really, that's it! Apparently food processors work best for this, but I have woeful luck with those (my family destroyed one, my household lost the other). It's basically a smoothie, but I think it really does taste like ice cream! 

You can make this totally not healthy by adding other ingredients. My favorite is "German chocolate." You can probably figure it out yourself, but you add coconut and chocolate in some form (syrup or hot fudge). Also, peanut butter is a good add! 

6. Pizza bread.

Go to Walmart and peruse the discount bakery. Find some kind of bread (freeze whatever you're not going to use right away; it's on the discount shelf for a reason! You don't want it to go bad). Now slice it, butter it, and top with cheese. Toaster oven until brown and bubbly! Dip in warm sauce (for me, it would be that same jar of sauce we started with, haha). 

7. Granola!

Oats, coconut, a little oil, honey, a sprinkle of cinnamon. Put foil on a baking sheet, then spread the mix out on the sheet. Bake at 350 for about 25 min, but MAKE SURE you stir it every 5 min or so, or you'll kill it. As soon as it's very light golden brown, it's done. Add in the dried fruit of your choosing while it's still hot (I'm all about the craisins!). 

Eat with milk like a cereal, or put it in your yogurt! I like to be doubly domestic and eat it with homemade yogurt, which I've strained overnight through coffee filters to make it more of a Greek yogurt style. 

Speaking of yogurt: buy or make it plain, then add different things in! Different jams, honey, fruits, etc. Similar to the "one jar of sauce becomes many" concept. 

8. Grilled veggies.

Again, anything in your fridge you need to get rid of! Chop veggies, put in ziplock bag. Pour in a little oil and any seasonings you like! Mix up well, pour onto cookie sheet covered in foil (no mess). Bake at 400 or so, until veggies are cooked through. Definitely flip them at least once so they don't burn. 

9. Go to Google. Search "what to make with ____" (whatever you have too much of in the fridge that's about to go bad).

I have found many new ideas that way! Like a squash/sausage/egg scramble... random, but great! And I found that banana "ice cream" idea by searching "what to make with old bananas besides bread" - I was in a rut. 

10. Other things I like to have on hand all the time (mental shopping list).

Tortillas - for many different burrito/wrap possibilities! Even for breakfast.

Applesauce - makes a great side for lots of meals. I get it unsweetened and plain, because it's better for you. And you can always add brown sugar or cinnamon for a treat (heat it up on a cold day, mmmm).

Potatoes - mashed, grilled, etc. And then you can take the leftovers and turn them into potato pancakes! Keep them somewhere cool and dark (I put them in the fridge, which maybe is weird) and they'll last a long time.

Cheese - you will want to add it to something. You really just will... Out of nowhere you'll think, "This would be perfect with cheese!" I like to keep one white and one yellow, just to have my bases covered.  

Also:

Milk

A juice of some sort - plus lemon juice, for cooking 

Veggies - something fresh, but also something frozen for when you're in a pinch. Same with fruit.

Lettuce - for those salads

Rice and pasta... So basic, and they just sit there patiently until you want them!

At least one type of meat in the freezer

A can of beans - red or black, usually. Add to burritos, salads, soups, etc.

Bouillon and/or a can of soup - if you're suddenly struck sick and you live by yourself, you may not want to cook, so the premade can is handy (if you're one of those cooking snobs and you always make yours from scratch, don't judge me!) 

Obvious things like eggs, butter, oil, flour, seasonings

I'm not sure at what point I turned this into "how to live alone and cook creatively, by someone in her 20's figuring it out as she goes," haha. But hopefully you don't feel too patronized. Just passing along some tips that have kept me alive and cooking happily! :) Please, I want to hear your wisdom, too! 

Things I Really Like

I know, I know, it's been a while.

But, to appease you (like a pagan god or something), here is a hodge-podge of things I've ran across lately that are legit. So, so legit! Readysetgo...

Watch this testimony from Edmund Mitchell, a great guy I went to school with! It's about an hour long, but really worth it:

He also had this great quote in an interview recently:

"It also reminds me how important it is to continue diving deeper into our faith because there are a lot of well intentioned Catholics who, not having a solid enough foundation in Catholic doctrine, philosophy, history, or catechetics, are answering modern man’s hunger for deep, living waters with sprinkles from a red Solo cup."

Snap. I 100% agree!

Along the lines of more catechetical thing-a-ma-jigs, a friend sent me this great address to catechists by Pope Francis! (Who, by the way, showed up in my dream last night! Win.) I love this, especially:

"It builds up the Church!  To 'be' catechists!  Not to 'work' as catechists: this will not do.  I work as a catechist because I like to teach… But unless you 'are' a catechist, it is no good!  You will not be successful … you will not bear fruit!  Catechesis is a vocation:  'being a catechist', this is the vocation, not working as a catechist.  So keep this in mind: I didn’t say to do the 'work' of catechists, but to 'be' catechists, because this is something that embraces our whole life."

Next, another friend shared this with me on Facebook today, and I am just in love. Don't focus on the picture or text quality... just look at it for a minute and picture it in real life:

Do you not love it?!

(By the way, her feast day is tomorrow. Just sayin'.)

Went to see Torri Harris with some friends at the Josephinum this past weekend, which was lovely! Here is one of her songs... soak in the beauty!

Listening to this song on Saturday morning, it dawned on me just how much God uses the beauty of music to open my heart to Him... I'll be pondering that for a while...

Prayer cards from the concert. Beauty, right?

I definitely recommend that you look up more of her music. And if you ever get a chance to see her live, do it! She's very real, authentic, holy and fun... and her testimony blew me out of the water. All about fear vs. trust and God's calling for your life... plus, JPII showed up in her dreams. I mean, come on. JPII!

I've been listening to this a lot lately, too. Lyrics here.

I'm still getting the "Read the Catechism in a Year" emails every day for the Year of Faith... some days I read it, and some days I throw it in a folder that I've entitled "Still need to read for CCC." (Lazy, I know... once an email gets filed away, I don't know if I'll ever look for it again...) They've been using the YouCat, which I find super helpful for my line of work. ;) Yesterday was paragraph 470, "The Prompting to Pray":

"What prompts a person to pray?
"We pray because we are full of an infinite longing and God has created us men for himself: "Our hearts are restless until they rest in you" (St. Augustine). But we pray also because we need to; Mother Teresa says, "Because I cannot rely on myself, I rely on him, twenty-four hours a day." [2566-2567, 2591]
"Often we forget God, run away from him and hide. Whether we avoid thinking about God or deny him he is always there for us. He seeks us before we seek him; he yearns for us, he calls us. You speak with your conscience and suddenly notice that you are speaking with God. You feel lonely, have no one to talk with, and then sense that God is always available to talk. You are in danger and experience that a cry for help is answered by God. Praying is as human as breathing, eating, and loving. Praying purifies. Praying makes it possible to resist temptations. Praying strengthens us in our weakness. Praying removes fear, increases energy, and gives a second wind. Praying makes one happy."

I thought that was a really good, simple, beautiful, understandable explanation!

Okey dokey... watch/listen/ponder all of that, and then get back to me. :)

(That should buy me some time until my next post, right??)

Keep Going

"Sometimes, the hardest part of a workout is getting up off the floor and into the shower afterward," I thought. I was staring up at the ceiling in my living room, wondering if I in fact had to go into work that morning. 

I've realized that it can actually be really hard to do stuff you like to do (like take a nice shower) because the stuff you have to do (exercise) drains you. Which is really weird. But think about it: after a hard day of work, it's super easy to veg on the couch. It's much harder to get off that couch and work on a home improvement project you're really excited about, try a new recipe, or even call a friend. Because hey, I'm really tired, and why should I have to do anything else today? Didn't I already do a lot of stuff?

And then, on the flip side, the opposite is also hard: buckling down to do boring things after you just finished some awesome, incredible things! After a youth ministry night where it was really evident that God was working, who wants to go into the office in the morning and do paperwork or go to a staff meeting? (Insert a snarky "said no one ever" comment here.) 

Basically, I conclude that life is just really hard sometimes, no matter what. But there's gotta be a life lesson in here somewhere...

I've pondered it a bit, and I think it's the "after" people who rock at life. "Stick-to-it-ive-ness," perseverance, follow-through, whatever you want to call it. It's the people who decide that yesterday's hard work doesn't count for today; that whatever happened in the previous moment doesn't give them excuses for the present; that the world doesn't owe them anything for living life to the full. 

I'll stop going all motivational speaker on you now. Basically - and I'm saying this to myself more than anyone - just get up off the floor. No more excuses. 

What Goes In...

"Garbage in, garbage out," Mom said. Over... and over... and over, throughout my childhood. (Kind of like Dad's favorite phrase: "Repetition is the mother of learning... repetition is the mother of learning... repetition is the mother of learning." Definitely related to the whole "Pete and Re-Pete were on a boat" joke; all eliciting equal amounts of groaning and eye rolling from us kids.)

But, despite the cheese, Mom was right! #youwinmom

I've been realizing something more and more lately: stories form us. They mold the way we think, the way we respond to the situations we face, and the kind of people we want to be. They shape our expectations about life, and our ideas of where true happiness lies. Heck, they even influence our dreams! I've found that, if I can even remember my dream from the night before, I can trace the ideas/situations/people in the dream back to a movie or TV show I watched, a book I read, or a conversation I had. It's actually kind of creepy... but it really is true. And, even though I know we're not responsible for the things we do (or say or think) in our dreams, I've still found that they reveal something about myself (for good or ill).

For instance, I have a friend who regularly has dreams about the saints. That doesn't just randomly happen! What actually happens is that she reads a lot about the saints, thinks about them, and has relationships with them. Their lives are the stories that shape her imagination and capture her heart; she measures her own life - and her ideas about what it means to be truly happy and fulfilled - against theirs.

Personally, I've noticed that the more chick flicks I watch, the less satisfied I am with life. For girls, I think this is probably pretty common! We see a super cute, romantic couple having so much fun together... and then we compare this "perfect" life to our own situations (another trap my mom always warned me about!). 

(Side note: my weakness is Jim and Pam on "The Office." Seriously, so cute. Can't even handle it. But then I remember that they both had mind-numbingly boring jobs, their boss was a freak, and it took about three agonizing years for them to get together, and I feel better.)

Anywhoozles. Basically, I've realized that there's that... and then there's the incredible talks I listen to online by people like Chris Stefanick, Mark Hart, Jackie Francois and Fr. Mike Schmitz (just type any of their names into YouTube and enjoy). There's stuff that I do to "pass the time" and distract myself from reality... and then there are the books, music, movies, etc. that I use to run toward reality, to plunge into it head-on. (I guess you don't plunge with your head; but you get the point.)

I'm not saying, by the way, that fiction is only a distraction. The right stories, whether or not they are "real," can shape us for greatness. Just look at little kids who play make-believe! They want an adventure, to be courageous and amazing, beautiful and kind. The boys want to be knights and the girls want to be Cinderella; no one wants to be the wicked stepsisters!

So, this is my friendly reminder (mostly to myself!) to be aware of what you watch, what you read, who you hang out with, etc. Again, kind of sounds like something that my mom would say to me as a teenager. But if you're a grown-up, no one is going to make you, anymore!