Out For My Birthday

One Advent Candle

Blessed Advent to all! I made an Advent "wreath" today and was excited for the Fast to begin.





The first candle is green to represent faith. The faith we have in God that He will keep his promise to send His Son.


One Advent candle now we light
to show the coming gift of love.
Now hasten to our darkened sight
the Light that's given from above.

Prayer: Holy Trinity, as the world that sat in darkness looked forward to your coming, so we on this first week of Advent light the candle of anticipation. We eagerly desire Your coming to our souls to dispel darkness of sin and pride, to ignite in us the flame of love and service to others. All glory be yours, now and forever. Amen.

Night With The Cousins

Today I got to babysit my three cousins, William, Christopher and Emma. We played a game of Sorry and had a blast with little to no arguments or sibling rivalry whatsoever. I ordered pizza as a treat for the boys and Emma. I asked the younger boy, who is 7, to pray for the food.

Christopher began to pray, "Heavenly Father, thank You so much for giving us this time together. Bless our food and thank Erica for the pizza. Lord, give us so more time to play board games,in Your Name, Amen!"


Needless to say, I was smiling.

I'm A Sucker

From Yumi:

1. What is your occupation? Babysitter

2. What color are your socks right now? I'm not wearing socks

3. What are you listening to right now: The cars drive by on the damp ground plus a quiet plane flying over.

4. What was the last thing that you ate? Tootsie Roll Pop

5. Can you drive a stick shift? No

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Forest Green

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Sean

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yes!

9. How old are you today? 18 (my last few days of being 18)

10. Favorite drink? Guava Juice and Shirley Temples

11. What is your favorite sport to watch? Football

12. Have you ever colored your hair: Yes. Lowlights compliments of Grace Henslin who talked me into it. (I actually liked how it came out)

13. Pets? Yes

14. Favorite food? I really like steak and potatoes together.

15. What was the last movie you watched? Catch Me If You Can

16. What was the last book you read? Victory in the Unseen Warfare by Fr. Jack Sparks

17. What do you do to vent anger? Pray or go on the computer

18. What was your favorite toy as a child? Lite-Brights

19. What is your favorite fall or spring? Fall

20. Hugs or kisses? I really love both.

21. Cherries or blueberries? Blueberries

22. Do you want your friends to do this? Sure

23. Who is most likely to respond? Sara :)

24. Who is least likely to respond? Aaron

25. Living arrangements? In my parents house

26. When was the last time you cried? Yesterday.

27. What is on the floor of your closet? My shoes and my purses.

28. Who is the friend you have had the longest that are going to read this? Either Sean or Fr. Mike

29. What did you do last night? Went to the Reagans and hung out.

30. Favorite smells? smell of the heater went its on in the house

31. What inspires you? People living quiet yet amazingly Christian lives, also talking about spiritual struggles with my buddies

32. What are you afraid of? Sean's death

33. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? spicy hamburgers sound good, now that you mention them.

34. Favorite dog breed? ugh, I don't know.

35. Number of keys on your key ring? 3

36. How many years at your current job? 7

37. Favorite day of the week? Friday or Sunday

38. How many states have you lived in? 1

39. Favorite holiday? Christmas

40. Ever driven a Motorcycle or heavy machinery? No. But are cars heavy machinery?

I Thought I'd Share

Are you a Right Brain or Left Brain Thinker?

You are a Right-Brain Thinker

Right-brain thinkers tend to be better at tasks such as conceptualizing and creating. Left-brain thinkers tend to shine in the realms of mathematics, technology, and science. If you are a right-brain thinker, you may be more inclined to take in situations or people as a whole instead of a combination of parts with various details. People who prefer the outdoors and physical activity are often right-brain thinkers, as sports tend to emphasize intuition over verbal communication.

My Life's Soundtrack

Opening Credits: Canon of St. Andrew, Hymns from Holy Week (Boy, what a start)

Waking Up: Random Arrival, Mest

First Day At School: P.S. I Love You, Bing Crosby

Falling In Love: Misplaced, Sonata Arctica

Fight Song: Homeward Bound, Simon and Garfunkel (Oh, yeah...those are fighting words)

Breaking Up: Ain't Got Enough of Your Love Baby, Barry White (HAHA)

Prom: A Complicated Song, Weird Al Yankovich (My kinda prom)

Life: What I've Been Looking For, High School Musical

Career: Come Home, Peter Jon Gillquist

Mental Breakdown: The Grace of Truth, St. Seraphim Orthodox Choir

Driving: Full Moon, Sonata Arctica

Flashback: Chasing the Wind, Peter Jon Gillquist

Getting back together: Butterfly Kisses, Bob Carlisle (Right)

Wedding: Endangered Love, VeggieTales

Birth of Child: Tallulah, Sonata Arctica

Midlife Crisis: Your Song, Elton John

Final Battle: Turn Not Thy Countenance, St. Seraphim Orthodox Choir

Death Scene: Jolly Holiday, Mary Poppins

Funeral Song: Thunder Road, Bruce Springsteen

End Credits: Sigh No More Ladies, Much Ado About Nothing and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Amy Grant

What do you do on days when Morning Prayers don't mean anything to you and you find yourself just going through the motions? How do you keep praying when you just want to get on with your morning/evening? I bet everyone knows the feeling.




"Behold the Bridegroom cometh in the middle of the night and blessed be the servant whom He shall find awake. But he whom He shall find neglectful is verily unworthy. Behold, therefore, O my soul, beware lest thou fallest into deep slumber and the door of the Kingdom be closed against thee and thou be delivered unto death. But be wakeful crying 'Holy, holy, holy art Thou O God.'"