I missed last week's Quick Takes because I was SOTIRED from the midnight premiere of HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART II!!!!! I absolutely loved the movie and thought it was a great end to my childhood the series. My sisters, my sister's friend, and I had a great time camping out in line, playing cards after being seated 3 hours early, and cheering on all the great parts of the movie! It was great to see some of my favorite parts of the entire book series come alive on screen, similar to how I imagined them in my head. I then promptly saw the movie again on Sunday evening, and it was just as good! For those of you who saw the movie, what did you think?
2.
Unintentionally keeping up with the Harry Potter theme, I saw this posted the other day:
She says:
I find the whole concept of being 'sexy' embarrassing and confusing. If I do an interview with photographs people desperately want to change me - dye my hair blonder, pluck my eyebrows, give me a fringe. Then there's the choice of clothes. I know everyone wants a picture of me in a mini-skirt. But that's not me. I feel uncomfortable. I'd never go out in a mini-skirt. It's nothing to do with protecting the Hermione image. I wouldn't do that. Personally, I don't actually think it's even that sexy. What's sexy about saying, 'I'm here with my boobs out and a short skirt, have a look at everything I've got?' My idea of sexy is that less is more. The less you reveal the more people can wonder.
I always knew that Hermione was smart. (If anyone knows what interview she said this in, please let me know!)
3.
Speaking of being so tired after the movie, this is how I spent my Friday after the midnight showing:
Creamsicle and a baby: typical Friday afternoon.
I enjoy visiting with our family friends whenever I'm home, and I also happen to be the favorite naptime buddy of this sweet baby. About 15 minutes after this was taken, I promptly fell asleep too! Why is it so fun to snuggle with babies? Oh, because they are warm and love you because you feed them unconditionally and are perfect partners for squeezing in an afternoon nap. I miss my snuggle baby!
4.
When did it become Friday? One of the many downsides of not having found a real job yet is that my days get all mixed together. The weekdays are just like my weekends, and so I no longer look forward to Saturday and Sunday like I used to. I know I will be kicking myself for saying this someday, but I really crave a schedule in my life - the typical 40 hour a week job, with Saturday and Sunday to rejuvenate! With everyday being the weekend, weekends just aren't as much fun!
5.
... Unless you are on vacation. Then every day being a weekend is fun. My family and I are headed off to vacation this weekend. We rented a house somewhere in Amish country in PA. Not really sure how this will all play out, but we'll see! We have some fun day trips planned to Philadelphia, a Hershey tour, and the outlet mall. Look for a picture of me with the Liberty Bell in a couple of weeks. Maybe I will run around like I'm in National Treasure while I'm there...
I could run through this graveyard in Philadelphia too...
6.
I downloaded Evernote a few weeks back after reading about it in Leila's blog, and then Jen suggested putting recipes you find online in a special notebook. Since I have lots of time on my hands, I surfed the interwebs for some fun recipes this week and tried one out! This chicken bake was delicious and it makes A TON of food. For those of you with larger families especially, this would be a great meal. It made two big casserole dishes - I even put over half of it in the freezer for later! I substituted stewed tomatoes for the sun dried tomatoes because I am on a limited budget... did you know that a little jar of sun dried tomatoes is $6! Crazy! It still tasted great to me!
7.
I interviewed for a job a couple of weeks ago and should be hearing about it soon! The interview went really well, and it sounds like a job I might be really interested in (unlike many of the other jobs I've interviewed for). Please continue to keep my job search in your prayers!
Trista tagged me in the "Three Favorite Scripture Verses" meme that has been floating around the Catholic blog world lately. Since I've been eagerly awaiting a tag for weeks, I was very excited (and then took about a month to get this post up, but who's keeping track of time?), so thank you Trista!
After my initial excitement, I then jumped to a feeling of "How on earth can I ever pick just three Scripture passages?"... I might have to do some more reflections on Scripture in the future because the Bible is SO GOOD.
1.
The Bread of Life Discourse - John 6:35-68
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst...
The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven." They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" Jesus answered them, "Do not murmur among yourselves... I am the bread of life. Your fathers at the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."
TheJews then disputed among themselves saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will love for ever." This he said in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.
Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at it, said to them, "Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before? It is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you that do not believe." For Jesus knew from the first who those were that did not believe, and who it was that would betray him. And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."
After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer walked with him. Jesus said to the Twelve, "Will you also go away?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
Growing up, I think I always knew that I was supposed to believe in the Real Presence of the Eucharist, but it didn't really click with me for many years. When I moved to DC and started hearing the words "Real Presence" in pretty much every homily, I was just completely overwhelmed by the whole concept... until I encountered John 6.
There have been countless scholars and theologians and average everyday people who have spent endless hours analyzing this passage - the word choice, the sentence structure, the translation, the meaning behind the words, etc. - and have picked it apart word for word. Protestants will rebuke all Real Presence arguments with the fact that Jesus then claims that only the spirit matters, after he talks extensively about his flesh. Many people just grumble, "Why can't Jesus just come out and say what he means?!"
But if you put all of this aside, and place yourself in the scene, it is obvious that Jesus means exactly what he says. The Jews mumbled and grumbled not once, but twice about this teaching, but Jesus didn't say, "Oh, I'm sorry, you misunderstood what I was saying, I really mean..." Instead, he reiterated what he had already said. Even his own disciples questioned his words, and many of them actually left! Did Jesus shout out to call them back, "Hey, I didn't really mean that whole thing about eating my flesh and drinking my blood! You can come back now!" No. When Jesus said that we must eat his flesh and drink his blood to have life within us, he meant it.
Reading and reflecting on this passage over and over again made me realize that I couldn't ignore the Real Presence, and this passage led me on my way to believing that the most perfect gift given to us is right in front of us in the Eucharist.
2.
Psalm 139
O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely.
...
For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed.
...
Psalm 139 is one of the many passages given to me for spiritual reading on my silent retreat. When I first read it, I realized that I'd heard it before - in Audrey Assad's song "Known" - and I got really excited.
This passage has really consoled me at times to know that God knows everything about me. Even when I can't feel His presence, He has searched my heart and knows my desires. He knows my thoughts before I even think them. He even seeks me on whatever path I choose to follow. There's nothing that God doesn't know about me, and I can't hide anything from Him. This can be a very scary thought, but also very freeing to be known and understood better than we know and understand ourselves. Audrey Assad eloquently describes this feeling by singing that God knows us "as a lover knows his beloved's heart, all the shapes and curves of her even in the dark."
3.
Mark 9:12-29 (vs. 23-24)
Jesus said to him, "If you are able! - All things can be done for the one who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out, "I believe; help my unbelief!"
So I had about two or three other passages I was thinking about for my third choice, but I couldn't make a decision (typical me!). I was then listening to Catholic Answer Live on podcast as I tried to fall asleep one night, and one of the callers asked about this passage from the Gospel of Mark, specifically verse 24. It was one of those times, I think, where God answers some of your prayers in a way where you least expect it, and so I quickly looked up this passage while listening.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
Just as Jesus prays to the Father and gives thanks before receiving his gifts, so he teaches us filial boldness: "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you will receive it, and you will." (Mk 11:24) Such is the power of prayer and of faith that does not doubt: "all things are possible to him who believes." (CCC 2610)
I think that one of the areas I've been struggling with in my prayer life recently has been that I don't have complete faith that God will take care of me. I have doubts about trusting God enough to give Him complete control in my job search. I realized that this has been one of my stumbling blocks when I heard the caller ask about this passage. Now, my new prayer has become one of asking for complete faith, so that when I pray, I won't doubt in the fact that I will receive in abundance.
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I won't tag three other people, because I am not really sure who all has tackled this already... but if you haven't posted about this yet, then let's just say that I tagged you! You can even leave a comment and I will add a tag to this post so it's official!
Do you know what is happening 1 week from today? If you guessed the official end of my childhood, then you would be correct. The final installment of the HARRY POTTER movies comes out at midnight next Friday. I'll be at the theater.... will you?
Actually, I will be at a theater in Ohio with my sisters... we've been to some of the midnight shows together before and I thought for the last movie, I would rather be at home with them to see it! We'll be wearing the "I've been Pottered" t-shirts I made in the summer of 2007...
Apparently we liked to pretend that we didn't like each other back then.
Can we just speak about how this is the end of my childhood for a moment? I first discovered the books in some random bookstore before they were popular here in the U.S. I can't remember what year I started reading them, but I must have been in middle school, so it would've been about 12 years ago. I was hooked, and began patiently awaiting the release of each book after that. Even though I continued to anxiously await the new books and movies through college and beyond, I really have grown up with this series!
Yes, I would have been almost 21 years old in this picture... but the heart of a child, for sure!
I used to re-read the books right before a new movie came out, but I decided not to this time. When the first Deathly Hallows movie came out, I read the book again a few months before instead of right before, and I found I enjoyed the movie so much more. I think for past movies, I would sometimes finish the book again the day that the movie came out, and so it would be fresh in my mind, and then I would be disappointed that they cut a certain part or portrayed a scene differently than I always imagined it. So I've opted to enjoy this final movie to the best of my ability!
Is this cruel? I've always thought that to give my future kids the excitement that I had growing up with Harry Potter, I would get them hooked on the first few books, then make them wait a year or two before reading the next... you know, to build up the excitement!
I'm not obsessed with Harry Potter in the least... are there any other Harry Potter fans out there? What is your favorite Harry memory? I think mine would be cracking open the books for the first time, or crying at the ending of the 7th book (while my roommate told me to go away for 3 days until he finished the book!), or being able to enjoy all the hype with my friends and family. No, wait, it might be finally seeing Daniel Radcliffe learn how to express emotion... it only took him five movies to learn how to laugh and cry (my sisters' and my favorite from Prisoner of Azkaban - "He was their friend!" *heavy breathy grunt and clench teeth*).
Me, totally not excited at all to get my copy of the 7th book from the library.
I didn't intend to devote this whole Quick Takes to Harry Potter... but then again, I do have a blog tag for it. Just to shake things up, 4th of July was great - I avoided the metro, but will have to tell you what I discovered about driving... but that will have to wait until another post!
I got a new design for my blog! I've been wanting to change it for awhile, but I was having trouble getting everything the way I wanted it. I still don't like how the header isn't centered, but maybe blogspot will fix that soon... maybe?! Anyway, credit of the photo goes to Jen at Conversion Diary... she posted the photo in her blog months ago and I fell in love with it - it's been my desktop background pretty much ever since! What do you think of the new look? - be honest!
Last week, Leila sent me Abby Johnson's book Unplanned, and I finished it a couple of days ago. It really is a powerful story, and it provided a lot of insight into the pro-choice mindset and how Planned Parenthood works. I think we can use information like this to find common ground with many pro-choice supporters - like the fact that we all want to help women - and discuss how to further that - by caring for the whole person, not just by providing immediate but temporary and sometimes harmful solutions to the "problems" of women. I think Abby also has a powerful point, that we are going to win more converts by fighting them with love, prayers, and kindness - if the Coalition for Life hadn't been so kind and friendly to Abby for the 8 years she was at Planned Parenthood, would she have run to them when she realized she needed to leave? Probably not. Anyway, if you haven't read the book, go pick up a copy. Try your local library if you can't afford to buy a copy right now (like me!) or share it with friends! Thanks Leila for lending me your copy for the week!
I finally posted about my silent retreat. It's a long post, so ye be warned!
One of my favorite things about DC is July 4th! Despite all the politicians and politics that tear this city apart, or so it seems, July 4th really is very patriotic here. There's something about seeing the fireworks over the monuments that really gets me. I also hope to catch the concert this year too! If you were with me last year, you will also be glad to know that I have made a request of my friends that we NOT take the metro this year!
In my ample free time this past week, I finished off the BBC series Robin Hood, which I mentioned last week that I was watching. For those of you who like good TV shows, I would definitely pick up this one... except just skip the last season. It started out fine, but then just got weird and awful. Just pretend that the series ended after Season 2. Now, I have to find a new show to watch to help fill some time. Any suggestions?
I have a couple more interviews on my plate for "real" jobs, but it you know anyone who works in the chemical industry, would you mind hooking me up? I really just want to get my name out there to see what I can find! So far I haven't had that post-interview "I really want this job" feeling.
I've been debating whether or not to join the Bright Maidens for their post this Tuesday on tattoos... I don't really have a polarizing opinion either way, although I look forward on reading other people's insights. However, while watching The Voice earlier this week, I realized that my post would probably just have a bunch of pictures of Adam Levine, who has tattoos all over his arms. I have been a huge fan of Maroon 5 since before they were superstars, and I just think Adam Levine is really pretty, tattoos and all! So I will probably not post on this topic just because I don't think you all are really that interested in looking at a post of pictures... but hopefully I can join up again soon!
I missed last week's Quick Takes because I was SO TIRED from the midnight premiere of HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART II!!!!! I absolutely loved the movie and thought it was a great end to 
