Waiting for Patience

  I have been in Brazil for the past 10 days at World Youth Day with a group of 12 pilgrims!  So here are five favorite (quick) moments! 1.  These fabulous pilgrims! 2. The 3 million people we prayed with on Saturday evening during the Vigil. 3. The most delicious caramel dessert I've ever eaten! (needed a pick-me-up one day)   4. Being on the beach - artists there did the coolest sand art! 5. And of course, Papa!  It looks like he's waving right at us! Check out Hallie and friends for more favorites today!

I'm showered, my bags are unpacked, and all of my dirty clothes are in the laundry.  The pilgrimage is over, but the mission has just begun. The Holy Father's final words on Sunday were: 1) Go, 2) Do Not Be Afraid, and 3) Serve.  This is the mission from the theme to the entire week, "Go and Make Disciples of All Nations."  I feel more prepared to do this than any other time in my life.  I also feel more compelled.  There were a few things that happened this week that opened my eyes to the other side , if you will.  On Saturday after we got to the secure line of armed guards at the end of the beach, we saw about 7 to 10 people who were protesting the Church, Brazil, and the Pope.  They are upset about women priests, the perspective on gay marriage, and other things.  What baffles my mind is that they aren't Catholic, and don't want to be - so why the protest?  But anyway - it brought to mind the fact that so many people truly have no idea w...

Well today we saw the Pope! We were at the front of the gate and couldn't believe how blessed we were. After we took the bus we were walking to the avenue near the beach since the bus dropped us at Ipanema. We walked for about 10 or 15 minutes and got a spot near a few women who were seated next to the gate. They let us hang out with them until the pope arrived about 90 minutes later. As the pope crossed our path we were all screaming and shouting Papa Francis with the other 1.5 million people on the beach with us.  It was amazing, all we wanted to do was see the pope today. We were prepared to be disappointed but once we found the place near the gate and we were in the front we knew it would be amazing.  From the beach you can see the naval security detail they have right off the beach to protect the pope. There were many helicopters flying over and we heard on the radio that Pope Francis was circling the beach and going to land at the Copacabana Fort which was j...

Today began with Catechesis about 5 blocks from our host family's home. Bishop Moses Costa from Bangladesh was our teacher. He discussed on the topic of Thirsting for Hope; Thirsting for God to the English speaking pilgrims staying in our area of Rio. Focusing on three points he gave us much food for thought. The state of youth in the present day especially in the areas of communication and our search for high ideals. He spoke of the joys and the sufferings, commenting specifically on the tendency for us to be in tight communication with people from around the world but unable to be united with the person right beside us. He also spoke of our looking for high ideals, but noted the discouragement that many find when the world isn't able to offer goodness. "Deep down we all have dreams of being beautiful!" The solution offered to us is to have an encounter with Christ. Not one time but every day to encounter him. Change each day to grow closer to him.  After we...

Day 1 - Monday The first day has been a whirlwind of airplanes, buses, airports, and pilgrims from all over the world. One of our pilgrims, Michael, has collected signatures from every continent, and that's just at our accommodations site! We arrived in Rio with many other pilgrims from around the world. Making bonds by helping them practice English and them helping us learn Portuguese.  When we arrived at our accommodations site we learned that most of our group would be hosted by individual families in the area. The remaining are at the school where our Daily Catechesis will be. This evening was filled with gathering pilgrim packs from the Church in Santa Cruz and attending the party hosted by our hosting church.  As we traveled to the Santa Cruz for the kit distribution we were able to see Campus Fidei all lit up and ready for the Vigil on Saturday night! While in line we found some pilgrims from San Francisco and another group from here in Brazil who was abl...

WYD Registration, $380 - Camping type supplies, $150 - Delta Flight to RIO, $2000 - meeting Pope Francis when you arrive, priceless . Taking a blogging break next week to hang out with 2 million of my closest Catholic friends - hopefully meeting Fiona from Malaysia to exchange for a t-shirt!  I'll be back with a flurry of pictures on the 30th! Follow along with our group at our Local Diocesan Paper! for more 'simple saturdays' head on over to  iris and friends

  For More Quick Takes, visit  Conversion Diary ! - 1. I printed out Lumen Fidei tonight before leaving work. Looking forward to reading what Benedict and Francis have to say about faith. Hopefully I'll be able to adopt some of these words of wisdom into my daily life. Definitely in need of some inspiration at times.   2. Work this week has been absolutely crazy this week. Yesterday I didn't leave until 6:30 and I even went in an hour early so I could leave early but I never did leave early. Maybe today, but honestly probably not. My day is filled with interviews, fixing the phones, and being ready to leave the country for 10 days.  3. Speaking of leaving the country, I'm leaving for Rio de Janiero on Sunday! I'm so excited. I can't believe we are actually going. A great article was written about us this past week. Check it out here . 4. Roommate and I have been watching Bones  again and it makes me happy to watch the love story of Temperance and...

A couple of weeks ago I saw this amazing pin about a layered crepe cake on Pinterest .  So, I decided I would make it for our ladies book club  night which was last night.  However, when I went on find the recipe or plan for how to make this happen it was a defective pin.  So I figured this wasn't going to be rocket science so I ventured to make it anyway.  And now I'm cataloguing my rocket science for you to copy my deliciousness and learn from my presentation mistakes! This is the recipe I found for crepes when I first learned about a year ago so it has become my 'go-to' recipe from Little Yellow Barn . 4 eggs                 1/4 c water 1/2 c butter, melted       1 tsp. vanilla 1/3 c sugar           dash of salt 1 c milk        ...

joining iris' theme of rainbows, I will simply give you a view of the amazing rainbow we saw at garden of the gods in manitu springs, Colorado last Saturday!  it was absolutely amazing!           for more 'simple saturdays' head on over to  iris and friends

For More Quick Takes, visit  Conversion Diary ! - 1 -  I just returned from visiting Elisabeth in Denver.  The Rocky Mountains are amazing!  I had never seen them up close, well as close as you can get to a giant range of mountains.  But anyway, they are amazing! More Pics Here - 2 - I've begun my packing for World Youth Day, we leave next Sunday!  I'm getting a little nervous - but, I purchased a rain coat and a super  absorbent  towel for showering - now just all o the things with a brown dot on my list need to be purchased, a map needs to be located, and it all needs to be packed! why doesn't internet explorer rotate that pic? whatever! My concern is how all that is going to fit into that?! But as I told our pilgrims, 'Light as a Feather makes everything better!'!!! - 3 - And I wrote a little paragraph for our Catholic Newspaper yesterday, thought I'd share it here, because it probably won't be printed in its...

  I spent the past weekend in Denver, Colorado, and am still recovering from sleep (or a lack of it on the way home).  So, this week's favorites are my 5 favorite pics from the trip! 1. At Garden of the gods we took a TON of pictures that I'm sure I will post more of in the coming weeks because they were so amazing! 2.  We got there with the sun in just the right place - really showcases the beauty of the Lord! 3. Elisabeth and I at the top of Cabrini Shrine.  This was my first real view of the mountains.  We climbed the 373 steps up and enjoyed the amazing view at the top! 4. This is at the top of Pike's Peak, America's Mountain , with a view of the rain on the far right.  What a gorgeous view! 5. We climbed that winding road all the way to the top of the mountain and it was so amazing!!! Head on over to Hallie's to see everyone else's favorites too!

I try not be decisive or political on this blog.  Just because I would like to keep it as a catholic girl's journey through life - the ups and downs on the roller coaster that is the single life.  I don't want to become a place where comments can become uncharitable or, quite frankly, ridiculous.  I have a bad habit of getting all hot over those situations and it drives me nuts. However, I cannot ignore or not write about things that shouldn't even be controversial.  If we (both sides of the pro-life movement) are claiming to be 'pro-woman' and 'pro-family' and 'pro-health' then we really need to decide what that means.  We already have different definitions of words: fetus, for instance.  Some of us think that is actually a baby that is growing and developing - then there are others who believe it is a clump of cells that is actually harmful to a woman's body. So I bring you the most ridiculous part of the pro-choice, or whatever...

  In the  past couple of weeks I've been watching some great things on Netflix and Hulu - here are my Five Favorite TV shows for summer! 1. This has long been an obsession of mine - still number 1!  Netflix 2.  I also extremely enjoy cooking competition shows like Next Food Network Star! Hulu 3.  And Master Chef! Hulu 4. Royal Pains is always a guilty summer pleasure!  It doesn't hurt that Henry is so beautiful to look at!  Great Job Lord! Hulu 5.  Melissa and Joey - I loved these two when I was a kid and I eagerly await the day when they figure out that they are in LOVE!!! Hulu and a bonus - gearing up for the sequel show, roommate and I have been devouring Boy Meets World . There's no online version, but roommate got the entire series for $35 on Amazon!   Check out Hallie and the gang for some more favorite things!