Week of Style, Day 2

MONDAY
Shirt: from Goodwill. Tank Top: from Target. Pants: from Goodwill. Hmmm, I'm seeing a pattern here! ;) I really love that shirt...I've had it for a few years and it's just so pretty!

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My dad showed us an extremely awesome video today! Here it is:


I just love astronomy and science. I've always loved astronomy, but loving science is fairly new. It's like a whole new world has opened up...it's absolutely fascinating. Who needs science fiction when the real world is so incredible? The thought of the utter vastness of the universe is so mind-blowing...

A wonderful weekend!

I just had an absolutely wonderful weekend! My church went on a pilgrimage to Holy Hill, which is an absolutely beautiful shrine on top of a hill...you can see it in the pictures. The pilgrimage was by the Midwestern apostolates of the Institute of Christ the King, and the Prior General Msgr. Gilles Wach and Vicar General Msgr. Michael Schmitz were there.

We took a bus, which was of course lots of fun! I talked with Evangeline a bit, read, listened to music, rehearsed the skit with Kathryn, and let my thoughts wander as I looked out the window. About an hour away from the shrine, Fr. F. put in a DVD of Archbishop Fulton Sheen's last Good Friday sermon. It was about pain and suffering, and now (as usual!) I can't remember much about it, but I do know it was very good and I got a lot out of it!

We got to the shrine at 11 am, the choir was dropped off at the church, and then the bus continued down to the lower level. The choir members headed up the many stairs to the church, but when we got there it was discovered that a Mass was being said. So we stood outside (in the hot sun! With no sunscreen! My fair Irish skin protesteth muchly!) and practiced "Christus Vincit" and Hessler's "Missa Secunda"with a few choir members of another apostolate. In about 20 minutes the Mass had ended, so we were able to go up into the choir loft.

Our choir loft stairs have only one flight, but the shrine has three, and there are the most amazing views through all the windows! We practiced in the beautiful, spacious choir loft until 12:15 pm, and then started the trek back down to the lower level parking lot so we could meet up with the procession, which would begin at 12:30 pm. Well, since the shrine is so HUGE and we got separated from the people we were walking with, Evangeline and I ended up down in the completely empty parking lot! The procession had most likely just left, but no matter how hard we listened all we could hear was picnickers talking and laughing. So finally we decided to just head back up to the church, and on our way down another of the myriad paths we spotted the procession right in front of us! So we quickly shrank back against the trees and joined up in the middle.
The Mass was absolutely beautiful. All of the apostolates' choirs sang various parts of the Mass, and I was so impressed by all of them! The very best part was when all the choirs sang "Christus Vincit" together. I need to email our choir director and see if she can send me a recording of it...you must hear it! It was truly awesome, and perfectly sums up the happiness of that day. The church is SO beautiful, and there was a prevailing feeling of happiness, and peace, and God's presence, and deep, abiding joy that has always been in your heart but only shows itself to you at certain moments. It was so, so wonderful. I just felt safe, and full of joy.

After Mass, we went to the gift shop, where I bought some holy cards and medals and my mom bought a book about St. Teresa of the Andes and one about St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. Then Evangeline and I rushed back to the lower level parking lot (again!) after a glance at my watch had sent me into a state of near panic...we hadn't eaten yet and were supposed to be at one of the chapels for Benediction in 15 minutes! As it turned out, however, Benediction didn't start until 4:20 pm instead of the scheduled 4:00 pm, so it was all for nothing. *shakes head*

After Benediction, I talked to some friends, and was able to say hello to Fr. M., who used to be the priest at our church until he was transferred two years ago. He's known me since I was 10 years old and has seen me through so much, so it was wonderful to see him again! Then it was back to the bus, where much silliness and laughter ensued. Good times!

Today, we practiced the skit outside after Mass. I must admit, I am nervous! I just know that I'm going to completely blank out when I get on stage. :/ Mustn't think like that! It will be fine! It will be great! There's absolutely no audience! *insert fake cheery smile* But the skit is coming together very nicely. Then Kathryn and I, as she said (probably fairly accurately!) walked about 2 miles around and around the church, talking about anything and everything! That was so much fun! :D

So that was my absolutely wonderful weekend. I'm so happy! God has allowed to just accept myself as I am...quiet, not much of a social butterfly...and I'm so grateful! For the longest time, I felt like I had to be one of those talkative, always-the-center-of-attention people, but that's just not who I am. I love those people, but I'm not one of them, and at long last, I'm realizing that this is who God created me to be and therefore it's perfectly fine. It's also just so much easier to enjoy myself at social functions, because I'm not always feeling like I'm a total loser for not flitting here and there and talking to everyone. So thank you, God:)

And now I'll start my Week of Style! Today there are two outfits, because I wanted to post yesterday's too.

SATURDAY

Skirt: from Bethesda, a thrift store. Shirt: from Nice as New, another thrift store! I bought them on Friday, and I'm so happy to have a nice new outfit that really matches!

SUNDAY

Skirt: from Goodwill. Shirt: from Goodwill. It's actually a cardigan, but I just wear it like a shirt sometimes. Scarf: from Fr. F., who gave a scarf to each of the ladies of the Altar and Rosary society after he came back from his visit to Ecuador. It's SO pretty!

As you can see, I don't do much with my hair. ;) I kinda like it down...that makes it easy to swoosh over your face if need be! :P

Northerness

Have you ever read something in a book and thought, "Wow. I have experienced that exact same thing!" That happened to me recently while I was reading a book called The Everything Guide to C.S Lewis and Narnia.

It says that one day Lewis, who at the time was in his mid-teens and drifting into atheism, had an experience while looking at a drawing by Arthur Rackham (who happens to be one of my favorite illustrators!) that illustrated a scene from Siegfried and the Twilight of the Gods, in a magazine. I read his account of it and was astounded.

"Pure 'Northerness' engulfed me: a vision of huge, clear spaces hanging above the Atlantic in the endless twilight of Northern summer, remoteness, severity." The book continues to say, "He immediately recognized this as something, some place he had been before, and the memory of Joy, "almost like heartbreak", flooded back."

I was so amazed, because I have experienced the exact same thing! Not from seeing that picture, but from other things...books, paintings, the way the sunlight touches a wall in the late afternoon. It's a feeling of deja vu...that you are seeing something that you've experienced before, long, long ago. It almost makes me think that some people really are spirited away to fairyland in their childhood, and that these feelings are those distant memories... Well, that theory is rather doubtful, but whatever it is, it's wonderful and inspiring. And what really surprised me is that he, too, described it as 'Northerness', which has always been one of the only ways I could describe it to myself.

Happy Birthday Evangeline!

Evangeline had a birthday yesterday, and I told her I'd have to write one of those cheesy posts about what a great person she is. ;)

But of course, she is.

She has one of THE most wicked senses of humor ever! That's one of the best things about her...she's just terribly funny in a very dry, British way.

She also is very down-to-earth, and certainly helps keep me grounded and humble, which I really do appreciate!

She's very artistic...I can't believe how well she draws, and she's a wonderful dancer.


She's quite deep and can understand the marvelous and mysterious things of life.

But on the other hand, she also appreciates the lighter things, like good food and good grammar and cute guys...haha.

She has an awesome sense of style.

And of course she's gorgeous, and I am JEALOUS of her hair!

Love ya! Even though you ARE 4 inches taller than me. *glares* heeheehee

Of sickness, SOTB, and LOTR.

I have been sick since Saturday morning. *hacks* *blows nose* And yes, I really just did! haha It started with a killer sore throat, proceeded to a sinus infection, and has now settled in my chest, as usual. So now I'm coughing and have a fantastic croaky voice (which I actually find sort of fun, I must admit. ;) You can do an alarming sounding hollow groan!).

But the exciting thing is that we did not go to the doctor! Every other time I've had a sinus infection (and it happens every fall and spring, thanks to allergies), we've just gone to the walk-in and gotten antibiotics. But this time, my mom asked one of the "Dr. Mom"s at church, and she advised me to take goldenseal, which is a strange tasting, slightly bitter substance that you add to water or juice with a dropper. I opted for juice, to avoid the afore-mentioned bitter taste. Not that I could taste it, really...that must be one of the worst things about getting sick - losing your sense of taste! It drives me crazy, at least!

But it WORKED! I started feeling better the very next day! I do love natural remedies. :) Oh, and my sickness is obviously the reason I haven't started the grand Week of Clothes yet. ;)

I'm veryveryvery excited about something, but I'll have to wait and see if I can mention it on here. *smiles mysteriously*

Most likely most of you know about Regina Doman's Fairy Tale Novels (and if you don't, do follow the link and check them out!). I'm not sure if you all know about the independent film being made of the first book, The Shadow of the Bear, however! Click the link above the picture below to read more about this very exciting project. I also put the ad in my side-bar at the right.

The Shadow of the Bear Official Movie Blog

We've also started re-watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy for the seventh...eighth...ninth?...time. I'm beginning to lose track! I've also been reading more of Tolkien's writing, as a friend of mine has lent me The Children of Hurin and the first Book of Lost Tales. I LOVE Tolkien's writing! It's incredible how he so completely invented another world, with its own history and mythology and language. I love his style of writing...his descriptions, in my opinion, are unparalleled. An example: Soon after, it chanced that as the gray light of a day of rain was failing Turin and his men were sheltering in a holly-thicket; and beyond it was a treeless space, in which were many great stones, leaning or tumbled together. All was still, save for the drip of rain from the branches. (From The Children of Hurin)

For some reason, that passage really struck me...I could feel myself there, and hear the drip of rain, feel the cool, damp air.

I'm also appreciating his poetry much, much more - the first time I read LOTR, I must admit I pretty much skipped most of the poetry. *looks shamefaced* But it's so beautiful! My favorite of what I've read so far is "The Lay of Tinuviel".

The leaves were long, the grass was green,
The hemlock-umbels tall and fair,
And in the glade a light was seen
Of stars in shadow shimmering.
Tinuviel was dancing there
To music of a pipe unseen,
And light of stars was in her hair,
And in her raiment glimmering.
(first stanza of "The Lay of Tinuviel", "A Knife in the Dark", The Fellowship of the Ring)

Reading his work is just wonderful...it gives you a sense of all the stories there are in the world, told and untold. As Tolkien himself said in a letter to his son Christopher, "A story must be told or there'll be no story, yet it is the untold stories that are most moving. I think you are moved by Celebrimor because it conveys a sudden sense of endless untold stories: mountains seen far away, never to be climbed, distant trees (like Niggle's) never to be approached - or if so only to become 'near trees'..." (from the forward of the The Book of Lost Tales I)

That just gives me this indescribable...thrill! It's so exciting to be alive in this world that is so full of stories, so exciting to have an imagination that can lead you to such amazing places, so exciting to be a writer and have been given the task of recording these stories, both told and untold.

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I keep forgetting to mention this, but the essay I wrote for the Knights of Columbus essay contest won 1st place for 11th grade at the regional, diocesan, and state levels!

The girls' group has started working on the skit we'll be performing when the Prior General of the Institute of Christ the King visits our church next month. We're performing Hans Christian Andersen's short story "The World's Most Beautiful Rose", which I adapted into a skit. I was given the part of the Doctor, which requires rather a lot of memorization! In fact, when I was writing it up, "Wow, the poor person who gets the part of the Doctor..." crossed my mind. Figures I'd get it! :P haha I think it will be fun, though.

I have two intentions I'd really appreciate your prayers for. One is for my knee...I have tendinitis in it and it is horribly painful! I wouldn't mind so much, except that we have two ballet recitals coming up in the next few weeks. It'll be pretty bad if it's not better by then. :/ So if you could pray that the physical therapy helps, that would be absolutely wonderful! :)

The other intention is for some things going on at our church. Could you please pray that everyone concerned will be given the guidance we need to work out all the issues that have come up? Thanks so much!

May-ness

I've been thinking a lot lately, but it's nothing I really want to share with the world at large at the moment (not to sound like a jerk or anything, of course ;)), which is why I haven't been blogging much. I think that I'm coming to the time when I'm transitioning from an adolescent into an adult...and it's quite funny, because the last time I went through major mental changes (from child to adolescent) was during May as well! May has always been a rather eventful month for me.

So things are changing, but in a good and interesting way. I'm feeling almost inundated with new thoughts, new feelings, new emotions...all I can do is give my heart to God and ask Him to guide me through this confusion. But the oddest thing is that I'm no longer afraid to grow up. Ask any of my friends...I've always basically been Peter Pan. When I was 8, I wished I was 5. When I was 12, I would have loved to still be 8. When I was 15, I would have given an arm and a leg to be 5...or 8...or 12...and to stay that way forever! But now I'm fine with the thought of growing up (even though it still freaks me out that I'll be a legal adult in a month and a year! Eeep!). It's so odd. Now the thought of being an adult, getting married, having a house, having kids, having responsibilities, getting my books published, which all used to strike terror into my heart, sounds absolutely awesome.

I just realized that I haven't been posting links to Ink and Fairydust! I must amend that...it keeps getting better and better!

I don't remember what the last issue I posted was, so I'll just start with January. I write under the pen name of Lady Blanche Rose.

January 2010
February 2010
March 2010
April 2010
May 2010

Lady Rose invited me to the 31-Day Dress Dare on Facebook, which should be pretty easy since I wear skirts all the time anyway, but I joined to swell the numbers. ;) And since they invite people to blog about their experience, I thought this would be a perfect time to do a Week in Feminine Dress, which I've been wanting to do for a while now! So I'll start that on Sunday.