Friday, November 22, 2013

7 QT, Volume 17

I'm just popping in to say 7 quick things...about moving!

1. We made an offer on a new house, and it got accepted. The closing is scheduled for right before Christmas, so we'll probably move after Christmas.

2. The pros of this house are as follows: it's in a better parish, it's closer to Papa's work, there's an intellectual Catholic community there, and it's prettier than our current house.

3. The cons are as follows: it's smaller, the yard is smaller, and it requires leaving the house we've owned for fourteen years.

4. The older people think that, on balance, this will be good for our family. The younger people, who can only see what they would lose and not what they would gain, are rather distraught.

5. Prayers for them would be appreciated!

6. Since the house is smaller, we'll have to do some purging. That's definitely not a bad thing. We could use it.

7. Lastly, lest I leave you on a depressing note, here's a little beauty for you.


Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Ooops

So, it turns out Thanksgiving is next week. I thought it was two weeks away. This has thrown a monkey wrench into my planned paper-writing schedule. I have created a whole new schedule, which is rather hardcore, but it doesn't leave me a lot of free time. So expect things to be light on the blogging front! I may pop in from time to time to post a picture or something trivial, but don't expect anything that takes a lot of work until all my papers are turned in (last one is due the evening of Dec 2).

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

I am so organized!

It's not even Advent yet, and I already have all but one Christmas present planned. I don't know who of my family reads my blog, so I won't say what they are, but I am quite pleased with myself anyway. A lot of them are hand made, so they will probably be slow in the making, but my goal is to get all the bought ones bought by the time Advent begins.

However, all is not sunshine and roses over here. I am halfway done a paper due tomorrow, which I had really hoped would be done by now. Also, yesterday I got a paper back. I misspelled my professor's name all the way through. How humiliating. I guess this is God's way of keeping me humble!

Just about four or five more weeks of balancing schoolwork with regular life, and hopefully next semester will be a little bit less crazy. Hopefully.


Friday, November 8, 2013

7QT, Volume 16

Wow, it has been a few months since I participated in this link up! For my seven quick takes, I'll do seven photos.
 Halloween! I am a deviled egg. Kevin is a soul in purgatory.

 Fall is my favorite season. Yesterday I went walking around campus taking pictures.

 Tricolor trees! After taking biology freshman year, I now know how this works.

 I think they have to plant these beautiful bushes across from the school of architecture because it is so ugly.

 These are near the Nursing-Biology building.

 (At CUA, we have a biology building and a nursing building. The building in between them is called Nursing-Bio. Someone was super creative there.)

Here's the one that got away. I only had my phone, and it couldn't focus without any natural light. This could have been such a cool shot, with the Shrine in the background and the green and orange leaves with the CUA banner. I may go back tonight and try to retake this shot.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Nominate your favorite charities

Hi all!

As part of my budgeting kick, I am trying to organize my charitable giving. I would like to organize it by the works of mercy, so I am trying to find a charity for each one. I would like your input! I'm especially looking for your suggestions for charities for places where I have holes, but if you have a really good suggestion for a space I already filled, toss it out anyway! Here's what I've got so far:

Feed the hungry: The local food pantry
Give drink to the thirsty: I have heard of charity:water. Are there other similar organizations?
Clothe the naked: Little Dresses for Africa
Harbor the harborless: Habitat for Humanity
Visit the sick: ?
Ransom the captive: I want this to be some sort of charity that opposes human trafficking. There are a huge amount of them, though, and I am having a hard time evaluating them. Anyone know of a good one?
Bury the dead: The monks who make child coffins for grieving families.

Instruct the ignorant: The Catholic University of America
Counsel the doubtful: The Gabriel Network
Admonish sinners: ?
Bear wrongs patiently: ?
Forgive offences willingly: Retrouvaille
Comfort the afflicted: Project Rachel
Pray for the living and the dead: Nashville Dominicans

Anyone have anything to add or change? It would be greatly appreciated!

(Note: I'm not going to donate money to charities that advocate positions that are contrary to Catholic teaching, even if they do good work in other areas.)