Our Hearts Are Restless

Greetings, y'all!  At long last *drumroll* remember a long, long time ago, when I posted a review of Erin McCole-Cupp’s book, Don’t You Forget About Me ?  Yeah, kinda thought you wouldn’t.  Go check it out here !  I promised y’all an interview with Erin, courtesy of my connection with her through the Catholic Writers Guild.  I’m happy to say that I finally followed through on that.  Therefore, enjoy the first of what will hopefully be a recurring element! Readers, this is the spectacular author, mother, and third-order Dominican, Erin McCole-Cupp.  Erin blogs over at Will Write for Tomato Pie , and is the author of Don’t You Forget About Me , ebook  Working Mother , and science-fiction-dystopian-Gothic novel Jane-E.   (More about that book in a later post.)  Thank you, Erin, for taking the time to pop over to  Our Hearts Are Restless ! Without further ado: Erin. [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="386"] Photo courtesy of erinmccolecupp.com[/captio...

Hey y'all!  Just to let you know, I've got artwork and a communal intern post over at CatholicMom - stop on by!

So I kind of just found out about this whole " Small Success Thursday " thing over at CatholicMom.  Well, I knew about it from Erin and Sarah , but I only just decided I could graduate to Big Kid Blogging and actually...gasp...interact with other blogs.  Hello, world!  Also, today has most certainly been a day of a small success.  Not a big one, but a justly celebrate-able small one. I've been quietly panicking over my month-long Christmas break.  See, I have this giant project called a thesis that's coming up.  And I was supposed to be working on it over break.  But instead, I was irritatingly sick for the first week, then there was Christmas, and then I started working full-time at the restaurant, which involved a lot of 5 AM shifts.  Therefore...nothing got done.  There was a box of books under my bed, and a stack of books on the coffee table, and they sat there mocking me.  The more I looked at them the less I wanted to deal with them.  At all.  BUT today, I final...

Where do I even start?  I’ve no way of predicting what life will be like this year.  There are so many things to be done in the next four months before graduation, but there is much more to the year after that point.  I’m having a hard time thinking beyond the semester—I’m even having having trouble envisioning myself outside of the college framework.  Not to mention the overarching question of “what are you doing after graduation?” (I’m considering creative answers like “becoming a professional ice cream taster”, “raising sheep in the Australian outback”, and “joining a gospel choir”.) I suppose the problem is this: I am made to be a whole person.  Environment and employment aside, I must continue growing, maturing, and becoming the woman God wants me to be.  Any resolutions I make for the year have to be focused on that one goal, which remains a constant in my life. With this in my mind, I’ve been trying to focus on a few overarching goals for the year.  My first priority is to reboo...

It's so easy to get frustrated at work. The cafe gets crazy busy on most days, and it seems like it doesn't take much to mess someone's order up, or hold up the line, or get mixed up as to who's doing what. The problems are compounded when despite how hard you work, the people around you make mistakes too. It's easy for me to lose respect for fellow employees who don't seem to care about doing a good job, don't take ownership of their mistakes, and don't try to improve. Inevitably, I find myself in a near occasion of the sin of anger very frequently! I finally forced myself to stop and consider whether there is really a difference between my work ethic and others', and why I take my work so seriously. Part of my mentality, I think, is my own high standards. I expect a lot from myself, as evidenced by my insane schedule last semester! I have little patience for my own faults, and even less for others when I hold them to the same standards, often unjus...

Kings, wise men, magi...whether there were three or more, they're a fascinating study.  These probably Persian scholars, astronomers and Zoroastrian priests seem like an anomaly beside the pious Jewish shepherds at the stable.  They're shrouded in mystery, and we know about them as much from Isaiah as from the Gospels.  I've always loved these three men, who followed an astronomical event with so much faith in the workings of the universe.  "Where is he who is born king of the Jews?  We have seen his star in the East, and are come to adore him."  Who knows precisely what motivated these men and brought them all the long way to Judea?  Their original purpose is almost irrelevant in light of the great gift they received that day in Bethlehem: the gift of faith.  They did not hesitate when the light of the star led them to the humble dwelling place of the carpenter and his wife.  They did not stop to reconsider the joy with which they had sought him. When others late...

This little wonder who is my niece makes for a very interesting after-Christmas celebration. We did the second family Christmas on New Year's, when my sister and brother-in-law came to visit for a few days. Little Miss Kathryn is naturally the center of everything, with two doting aunties and attentive grandparents. She smiles at familiar faces, grins and laughs at funny faces, and loves to sing and dance! She even looks at pictures when we read board books to her.  It's such a joy being able to spend time with her in between my crazy work shifts. Baby therapy makes everything better (especially when you can return Baby to her parents for food and diaper changes!) Here are a few pictures of the little bundle of placid cheerfulness! [caption id="attachment_1918" align="aligncenter" width="660"] Reading my Christmas present to her - Llama, Llama, Nighty-Night. A quintessentially Aunt Rebecca sort of gift.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1920...