Week ONE

I made it through the first week of school. It wasn't a full week, but it sure felt like it!

The noteworthy?

Our daily Mass attendance is growing fast! My favorite is hearing so many voices sing praise to God during the Sanctus...definitely a beautiful experience! Personally, I believe that many people come to Mass because it's at a possible/practical time: 4:30 pm. My friend disagrees with me (she doesn't like the time at all) but if you think about it, the majority of my peers don't have class at 4:30...so, naturally...

Thursday night, St. Monica Hall had a hall meeting. We talked about the 4 pillars of our floor: Prayer, Study, Community, and Service. Our hall Rector (in the middle of Resident Director and Resident Assistant) covered close to everything that we would need to know about living on this floor. She addressed the question everyone had: "Is this a discernment floor?" She stated that, although we are women of discernment (and always should be), this is not a floor for discernment directed towards Religious Life. She advised us to pray for each other, to help each other grow, and to be there to support each other. Overall, I was very happy with how the meeting turned out. On the flip side, I discovered my lack of zeal to embrace the life of community. This is really hard for me to accept because last semester, I was so pro-community that it was ridiculous! I understand now, in hindsight, that I had high expectations of myself, the floor, and the university. So maybe this is my "punishment"...which I can say with a smile because I know all too well of God's sense of humor! Anyway, to elaborate on my social laziness: After our hall meeting, a few girls gathered and talked among themselves and I went straight to my room to do homework. Today, a beautiful Sunday, I have spent the majority of the day with myself. I'm naturally socially-awkward and shy, so I'm guessing the whole process, like everything else in life, will just take time.

It really bites to be impatient. This reminds me how much I want to start my night class! This first week of school started on Tuesday, which means I didn't have to start classes with my 6-9:30 pm night class. I am thankful for that, because I probably would have suffered death by overwhelm. But week number two will also start on Tuesday, thanks to Labor Day (…I mean…Yay! Labor Day!!...), so I have to miss out on my Catholic Studies course, Documents of Vatican II yet again. I hereby present: Opportune moment to grow in patience # 2. I missed out on that due to the fact that I felt the need to express my disappointment to multiple people this week.

Oh, the little things.

I’m trying to rack my brain for anything else that might be noteworthy from this week, but I am very distracted by the beautiful gift of my surroundings:

\Sometimes I think that the view here at University of Real World is the only thing keeping me from running off to University of Dream World...and then I remember that UDW would cost more than I could make in my lifetime...Oh, yeah, and that URW is part of The Plan and to run off would be detrimental to my life.

Anyway, what this whole week boils down to is: Every part of me is going through some kind of transition. I’m keeping a firm grasp on Christ’s Hand.

Oh, Lord, here we go! Lead the way…

Oh My Monday (and a Hairy Story)

It seems that this morning is about procrastination and [worldy] contemplation.

Procrastination: I lack a severe amount of motivation to finish packing for college. So I'm spending my time on facebook and random blogs...But mostly facebook.

Contemplation: Do I really need a haircut/trim? I'm trying to rock the pixie cut, and it's hard to know when is the right time to get it re-maintained.

Which brings me to my hairy story...

When I came home from the convent, my hair was super short. It was a real blow to my self-esteem because I had long hair for years.

 From:  To:

In short (no pun intended), my drastic appearance (among other things) caused my self-confidence to crumble. I have the slightest feeling that, in hindsight, I will see God's hand in all of this. He brought me closer to Himself by showing me that His Love never fails. For example, I felt that everyone was judging me by my hair and I just wanted them to know that I didn't choose to look like this (because the sisters wear the habit, my head was covered by a veil, so my long hair was unnecessary). Of course, it was unfathomable that I would want to tell the world that I just came home from the convent, so there was only one place I knew I could be truly loved and understood. That place was in front of the Tabernacle. 

There was only one problem...God did not miraculously add extensions to my head, so I still had to try to make it look decent. At first, I only used mousse because there wasn't much else I could do. Eventually, my new friends convinced me to buy hair accessories, so I spruced it up with little flowers, bows, clips, etc.

Mousse'd Up

Goofy, but accessorizing!

And when my hair finally grew long enough to get a stylist, I was directed to use a certain taffy to give the top of my head a little volume, which is great! I was never big into hair products, but I'm allowing myself to splurge a little due to the circumstances. 

Anyway, life went on, and when I came home from college for summer break, I decided to do some investigating on the hair atop my head.

A few of my discoveries included:

• It has a name! I found a post called, The Pixie Cut Series that changed my life, in a subtle way. She has great advice, such as: "Avoid The Mullet"...

•  And scarves! I found a great video by a woman who shared her wisdom about pixie cuts and scarves. After watching this, I went on a hunt into the thrift stores in town for the cutest head wraps/scarves I could find. BTW, "thrifting" has become one of my most favorite hobbies...who doesn't love saving money?!

These are my two favorite scarves :)

• ...Curlers? I like the curly-bang look:
  
  
   and I saw this example online, but because my hair is thick and straight, I'm not sure if the foam curlers I bought will do me any good.

There was a lot of helpful information on the web, and I'm thankful that I had the determination to find it. In the end, I decided to embrace the situation God placed me in. I suppose I could have given up and drowned in my misery, allowing my hair to fall where it may...but it feels beautiful using what God has given me to change my perspective.

If anyone is struggling with their appearance as I am, know that there is a way to break free from the struggle and still feel beautiful. Instead of trying to "fix it," work with what you've got!

Lord, help me to accept whatever cross you may place upon my shoulders, and help me to carry the burden...for I cannot do it alone.