Our Hearts Are Restless

Fourth of July weekend with my family means camping.  Over the last few years, we've explored several Indiana state parks, where we hike, hang out, and chill for a few days.  2016 brought a new development, as my parents decided to invest in a tent for my sister and I, so as not to cram four people into an RV meant for two.  The first thing Meredith and I figured out how to do is attach a flashlight to the ceiling so that we can read after the parental units have gone to bed.  It's the important things in life. This tent could only be improved by the addition of a green door with a round knocker and a G-rune. Despite a bit of a cloudy chill over the weekend, it was quiet, peaceful, and refreshing for all of us.  For me, I think the change of scenery was the principal attraction, as I've been in a city for the majority of the last year.  Living simply and unplugged under the trees for a few days was a much-needed change of pace.  Although, when w...

So this took me forever to actually write...apologies!  A nasty case of writer's block has set in, so I'm determined to get this post out the door so I can write other things.   Despite being born in Ohio, and moving to Michigan this past year, I remain a Hoosier through and through.  I love breaded pork tenderloins, basketball, fresh sweet corn, 4-H, and the Indiana State Fair.  And as a Hoosier, I know that on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend comes "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing", the Indianapolis 500. I grew up listening to the race annually on the radio, hearing Jim Nabors singing "Back Home Again in Indiana", Mari Hulman-George announce "Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!" and the excitement in the announcers' voices as they communicated lead changes and track incidents.  This year was my first opportunity to actually attend the race in person. Explaining the 500 to out-of-towners can be challenging - what is the thrill o...

Hello y'all! My writing schedule may be sporadic this month. Between friends visiting, new kittens coming home, the Indy 500, my parish choir concert, and finishing a major freelance project, I will be lucky if I get time to go grocery shopping!  It is going to be an awesome few weeks.  Who needs food anyway? My lovely roommate and I are just a few days from bringing home our kittens - her grey tabby Finnegan Patrick and my calico Lady Portia.  So far, Finn is a package of Energizer Bunny-esque entertainment; Portia is a fluffy, only slightly more lady-like snuggler.  Both are equally susceptible to the lure of the laser light. IT'S SO FLUFFY I'M GONNA DIE! Last week, I spent my Friday night going on an adventure.  I'm frequently busy, but I don't often breach my comfort zone, so this was a good change.  Juventutem Michigan, the local chapter of an international young adult group focused on the Extraordinary Form, held their spring Mass and ...

I have an announcement - an announcement! - and I want you all to be the first to know.* *Points to whoever correctly identifies that quote. My roommate and I are getting KITTENS!!!  {insert high-pitched squealing here} Ecce : This is the momma, and attached to her are eight little palm-sized fluffballs with tiny rat tails.  Momma is part Maine Coon, complete with ear tufts and poofy tail.  One of the three little calico babies will be mine!  I'm open to naming suggestions, preferably classical or literary.  At the moment, the two front-runners are "Agent" and "Portia". In other recent news, I had a delightful visit with my ex-roommate, thesis partner, and honorary sister Lindsay, who is expecting a little one this summer.  After eight months of only Skype and texting, we had a few hours of much-needed girl time before her baby shower. Notice the adorable baby bump! Lindsay's family's dog apparently decided over the weekend that I was...

My lifestyle these last few months has been quite different from my gregarious, frenetic college career.  I'm no longer surrounded by a group of like-minded individuals, I don't have a few girlfriends in my room every evening, and distraught post-breakup souls don't knock on my door for a hug.  (Although they still do call for advice sometimes.)  I don't bounce from class, to running a club meeting, to counselling a friend, to editing someone's paper. The status quo of my life is solitude, enforced by distance from family and old friends.  A normal evening is spent between cleaning the apartment, cooking, and working on freelance projects at my desk.  My weekends usually involve grocery shopping, singing in the parish choir, testing new recipes in the kitchen, and curling up on the sofa with a book or movie.  Every now and then, I'll volunteer at my parish or be invited to a get-together at a new friend's house. While I'm still a choleric-sanguine , ...

There's a reason I haven't written on here much over the past month.  I knew that I had to write about Granny - not just an abstract post like In the Shadow of Death - and I wasn't ready yet.  I can't write on this blog until I talk about her death, because it's a bit like falling off the horse.  She always read my blogging, even when she complained she didn't understand the words I was using.  When I was in Rome, she'd see my pictures and ask me questions about where I'd been and what I was doing.  For a while, my excuse was that I needed time to recover from the emotional drainage of the funeral.  In reality, it's hard for me to write knowing that my dedicated audience of one is gone.  Yet the last thing she'd want is for me to stop writing because of her. So for better or worse, this post is being written, because it's time for me to cry.  Please forgive the many writing errors I know will crop up. Sometimes, my brain tries to trick m...

You're probably familiar with Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd".  It's one of the most commonly quoted psalms for Catholic and Protestants alike - I probably know the King James version as well as my preferred Douay-Rheims translation.  One of my favorite hymns, and the one I plan to walk down the aisle to whenever I am married, is "The King of Love", which paraphrases the words of Psalm 23. There is one phrase that never quite rang true to me, until this week: For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me. In the King James translation, that's  even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. And in "The King of Love", the verse runs In death’s dark vale I fear no ill  With thee, dear Lord, beside me, Thy rod and staff my comfort still, Thy cross before to guide me. The shadow of death...what on earth does that mea...

Time for another round of "What's going on in Rebecca's life and why hasn't she posted for so darned long?" otherwise known as Intelligent News Gathering, November Edition. Hosting: At the beginning of the month, Iris and I hosted a belated housewarming party!  It was such fun - parts of both families, some of my friends, and lots of hers, who I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know.  When the conversation gets deep and philosophical around 10 PM and the last guests don't leave until midnight, that's a good party! Working: Fortunately, I have multiple projects that have all managed to pile up on me, all needing to be done by Christmas.  Happily, I'm getting paid for all of them, but sadly, I'm basically streamlining my schedule so that I can come home from work and make the most out of my evening hours.  It's going to be a crazy few weeks, so I'm afraid you won't be seeing much of me on this blog until Christmas time! P...

…even though I ignored them until I moved out and THEN discovered just how much sense they made. 1   Turn around and look at the kitchen before you leave it! Any dishes you missed?  Stray spoons?  A hotpad you could put away?  It makes life easier in the long run.  Thanks, Daddy. 2 Shake the crumbs out of the toaster when you’re done. Yes, it does get nasty when you don’t do that for a week…or two months.  Sorry about all the complaining, Mommy! 3 Open your windowshades and make your bed in the morning. Okay, I haven’t thoroughly gotten into the habit of this yet, but I’m definitely starting to see the value of coming home to a lit, neat-looking room. 4 Saturdays are for cleaning. Oh, how I hated this custom as a child…now, I’m so happy for Saturdays because I can catch up on all the chores that just can’t get done during the week.  And then I can start off the new week with a clean, neat apartment, which som...

Hi y'all!  Sorry I haven't posted much for a while.  I've had a few writing gigs - my new monthly post at CatholicMom, a guest post for Erin, and I just finished up a meditation for next year's Daily Gospel Reflections at CM.  These have absorbed most of my recent creativity!  But now that those are done, I have one more major project, and then my brain is free to write whatever I want on this little blog! This post is a special one, dedicated to the one person who probably reads my blog more often than I do, the best grandmother I could ask for.  (And not just because she spoiled me when I was little!)  Also, it's dedicated to my parents, who are quite enjoying their new gig as grandparents to a little blonde troublemaker. While watching and reading the Pope's words during his visit to the Americas last week, there was one theme that struck me repeatedly: his emphasis on memory.  This came out in his address to Congress, where he focused on histor...

We're not Vulcans but we bleed green.  I'm a fourth-generation, 10 year 4-H member, and only by one generation did I escape going to the state fair at 6:30 AM to take care of show cattle.  Minus cows, besides the ones we eat for lunch, the Indiana State Fair is an annual summer tradition for my family. I'm convinced Indiana has the best state fair ever.  There's always so much going on, but it's still got the old-fashioned down-home feel of a real 4-H-based fair.  We usually go during the week, to avoid the weekend crowds, and this year we landed a double-header of half-off tickets plus absolutely perfect weather.  It was cheerfully sunny and not too hot, with just enough of a cool breeze to keep us from sweating like the proverbial hogs, whose barn we skipped anyway.   We were supposed to be taking a nice starting-off picture, but then the state fair jingle started playing, and yeah, I started dancing. As a thank you to my dad for all the sw...