Peace, Love and Happiness

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."  -Mother Teresa

This has been a fantastic weekend so far, and my heart is "full-up" with joy and peace.  I think it has been so good because I spent it in community with others and I've successfully stepped outside my comfort zone.


On Friday afternoon, I left school right after my last class to babysit four super fun kids.  We planned on making it to the park, and even fit all four bikes into my trunk, but the rain started coming down as soon as we pulled into the parking lot.  Bummer!  At least we had free Wendy's frosty passes and Disney music for the ride.  Once home and frosty-fed, we did several rounds of hide-and-seek, tent/fort-building, Go Fish!, piggy-back riding, jumping/flying time and then settled in for "Toby Tyler" (super sweet old-time Disney movie).  Love it.  Maybe not the most "relaxing" Friday afternoon because it was go-go-go for most of the time, but it was still very peaceful because I got to spend time with such a beautiful family.  Joy!


Saturday (today) I did my grocery shopping, baked cookies, did some law reading, ate dinner with two lovely friends and went to a "Girls' Wine, Cheese and Dessert" night (hence, the cookie baking) hosted by some girls in my class.  It was quite wonderful!  I do not attend too many law school functions because I've either made prior commitments or don't feel comfortable with the expected atmosphere.  This was really nice though -- Good conversation and girl hang-out time.  It is wonderful to be in the same city for law school as I was for undergrad because I have so many undergrad friends here... but I need to branch out some more and get to know my law school classmates better.  This was perfect.  I was so glad to be invited!


Tomorrow will consist of a lot of homework, but that's okay.  I am a student, right?


On a slightly unrelated note I discovered this poem, and I would like to share it with you.  This weekend has been filled with a lot of quiet, little joys that have calmed my heart into a very happy state.  I have, however, known what it is to live with a broken heart, but I think the last lines of the poem are a good reminder for the sorrowful times and the joyful times.  As bad or as good things get here, they will only be perfect once we bid adieu.


"In a Cafe" by Gary Johnson
When Love is lost, the laughter's good and
gone,
The sun sinks down, the heavy fog rolls in,
Nothing is left to say and you know that no
good
Will ever come of this,
Life will never again be miraculous.
Tall dark woman in the café, I see
How the tears glitter in your blue eyes.
You drink black coffee for bravery
And weep onto the front page of the Times.
I had a love once too who now is gone, is
gone, she's gone. The waves roll along
The coast, the sweet summer rain blows in.
      If I knew you, I'd sit by your side and
sing:
      This world is not our home, we're only
passing through.


Now for a book or movie in bed.


"Night, the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive. When the destructive analysis of day is done, and all that is truly important becomes whole and sound again. When man reassembles his fragmentary self and grows with the calm of a tree."  -Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Happy Hearts

"Who, being loved, is poor?"  -Oscar Wilde


Valentine's Day gets a bad rap.  We live in a "love"-centric world, and yet we have such weird ideas about love.  People think love is satisfied by boyfriends, girlfriends, excessive amounts of chocolate and two dozen roses.  If you're single on Valentine's Day, watch out!  You're going to have the worst day of your year!

I'm here to tell you that is just not true.  I am single (and, don't worry, I was single yesterday on the actual holiday too).  I had, however, quite a delightful Valentine's celebration (if you discount going to class).  I spent it in quality time with friends, in conversation with family, and in the receipt of unexpected gifts.  I felt very loved indeed!

Here are some tips to have a fabulous, fail-proof Valentine's Day:

1. Spend time with young children.

Dancing with Max!

On Sunday night, I went to a tiny Tennessee town with three lovely girlfriends to hear our friends, the band L'Angélus, play in a country grocery/restaurant.  We dressed up, ordered chocolate cake and cheesecake, and played with Little L'Angélus (younger siblings).  SO MUCH FUN.  If you ever want a pick-me-up, look at the face, watch the actions and listen to the conversation of children.  They are so beautiful, innocent and will make you laugh.  I didn't have a boyfriend to dance with, but I did have 6-year-old Max. I didn't get a massage from a boyfriend, but I did get to give 4-year-old Mollie a piggy-back ride.  My boyfriend and I didn't have pictures taken to commemorate the day over a romantic, candlelit meal, but I did participate in quite the photoshoot, thanks to the 6-year-old twins and 8-year-old Angelle.  That was quite enough to make my heart sing (literally).

2. Spend time with good friends.

Kathryn, Bridget, Jade, Christine

I am very blessed with wonderful friends.  We can have silly conversations and serious heart-to-hearts.  They challenge me to be a better person, and I hope I challenge them.  We have so much fun together that, even though we would be delighted to find awesome young men (just because we are joyfully single does not mean that we're completely uninterested in dating!), we are living our current daily vocations with happy and hopeful hearts -- We are students, daughters, sisters, friends.  We love.  Our "double-date" to see L'Angélus on Sunday was fantastic.  On Monday night a group of girls gathered at a house for wine, cheese, dessert and fun games.  Such beautiful quality time together!

3. Be grateful for unexpected surprises/Send an unexpected surprise to someone!

Lace bookmarks, Reese's (my favorite!), a watch, recipes,
a pretty new box, and Photoshop!

On Monday I brought in the mail and was surprised to find so many treasures!  I had a package from my mom and she had filled it with some of my favorite things!  I also received a "Save the Date" notice for my friends' wedding in May, a postcard from my roommate who is living in Senegal, and my Adobe Photoshop software!  Wow!  So many surprise gifts on Valentine's Day!  Thank you!  If you want to make someone's day... send a surprise to them!


4. Pray and say thank you to God.
If you feel like you have nothing else, you have your life, and so you have an opportunity to feel, to think, to do and to love.  As The Sound of Music reminds us, "Love isn't love until you give it away."  God gave His all away for us.  Say thank you, and give your all for Him and for others.  You might be surprised at how loved you feel when you are the one loving.

"Give a little smile, in a little while you're gonna find love conquers all... It can break down walls, if you give a little bit."  -L'Angélus, "Give a Little Bit"

Re-Freakoutedness

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."  -Albert Einstein


How often we "see" without seeing.  How often we "hear" without hearing.  How often we "do" without doing.  How often we "live" without living.


In our world of instant-everything, we have lost an appreciation for the vastness of the world and the amazing things in it.  When is the last time you marveled at the beauty of a valley or a mountain or even a tree or a flower?  When is the last time you sat on an airplane and realized, "My gosh, I'm flying at 500 miles per hour 30,000 feet up in the air?"


Our world is full of crazy gadgets and breathtaking views, but we are such a privileged generation... We have the means to utilize these gadgets (a computer the size of a deck of cards) and see these wonders (hop on a jet plane and be almost anywhere in the world in less than a day) that we have forgotten what a privilege it truly is to live with a literal universe of opportunity before us.


I am very blessed to have had so many amazing gifts and experiences in my life: From studying in Europe, to attending one of the best universities in the country, to having a beautiful family and the best friends... But there are two experiences in my life that have truly showed me what joy is and have made me pause in amazement -- My trips to Honduras.  


In Honduras, they do not have iPhones but they do have mountains, waterfalls, goats in their backyard and a whole lot of love.  The people lead simple lives and appreciate the smallest things.  They live out awe, wonder and gratitude every day because they know what it is to be patient and hungry and poor.  It is harder for us to be appreciative (but not impossible) because we can "get" so much so fast.  It just means we need to ask for greater grace so that we may be truly grateful, so that we may truly see the gifts we have, no matter how small.  Seeing the Hondurans' grateful hearts and kind smiles, however, made me wonder... It surprised me.  Would I be happy without my Macbook Pro?  Would I be happy without my iPhone?  I am sure I could be, but (honestly) I'd rather not try it out.  But the Hondurans' simplicity made me step back and "take it all in" -- Take in that life is not made up of electronics and fancy books, but love and gratitude for life itself.  I experienced and truly "learned" one of my most profound lessons far from my college/law school campus.


I want to share this video with you.  The little children at the orphanage taught this song and dance to us, and it is probably the most fun I have ever had at a "dance."  So simple, but so incredibly beautiful!  Can we recapture that wonder we had as children?  Not completely, but let's strive for it.

"The world will never starve for want of wonders, but for want of wonder." -G.K. Chesterton

A New Soul and a New Nose

"The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year.  It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes.  Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions.  Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective."  -G.K. Chesterton


This is a belated New Year's post, but here it is nonetheless, as I look forward to my second semester of law school and what 2011 has up its sleeves.


2010 was full of wonderfulness.  Here are some of the highlights...

• Ringing in the new year at FOCUS Conference in Orlando
• Disney World with friends
• Living in the Treehouse with five of the most beautiful friends
• Spring break in Honduras
• Beach week in Destin
• College graduation
• Being accepted to my first choice law school
• Lazy summer at home with my family
• Harry Potter World
• Returning to my alma mater and favorite city for law school
• Living with two beautiful roommates
• Hiking and rock climbing in Fall Creek Falls
• Study parties at the Frassati House
• Friends' concerts galore
• Finishing (surviving?) my first semester of law school
• The weddings of wonderful friends
• Celebrating Christmas with my family

Now for 2011.  Some resolutions...

• Read regularly and get through those books on my bookshelf that have been on the "To Read" list forever, including The Kite Runner, All the King's Men, Catch-22, Lord of the Flies, Fahrenheit 451, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Well and the Shadows, and The Count of Monte Cristo
• Get back into my exercise routine
• Go to bed earlier and get up earlier
• Experiment more in the kitchen
• Practice and put my Spanish skills to use
• Study in a library/quiet/non-distracting place
• Drink less coffee
• Learn how to drive stick shift
• Learn how to play the guitar
• Start writing a book, screenplay and song with Jade
• Fall ever more in love with God

So, here is to fondly remembering the past, but leaving it in its place so that the present and the future may take hold.


I'm excited, 2011.  Let's do it.

New Things: Tests and Truffles

"You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives."  -Clay P. Bedford


Tests


I have taken tests before, but never a law school exam.  There were practice exams in two classes, but those didn't count and they weren't as long (only one hour).


Today my final Torts exam was a four-hour marathon, and my brain is exhausted.  For four hours all I heard was rustling papers, typing fingers and that tension-you-can-cut-with-a-knife buzz that filled the room.  And that was with earplugs in and everything.  All I can say is, "Wow."  They tell you it will be hard and unlike other testing experiences, and they (whoever that "they" is... the reasonable person, perhaps?) are right.  It's a lot of pressure knowing that your entire semester grade -- your entire semester's work -- depends on one four-hour period of several multiple choice questions and an essay.


And that's that.  I'm glad it's over.  Just two more to go... and then four more next semester... and then... it never does end, does it?  Nor will it end when I am officially a lawyer because the law changes, and we must learn the changes... it truly is a lifelong-learning profession.  Perfect.  I always said I wanted to be a professional student.


Truffles


I am a shy cook and do not put much stock in my culinary talents.  I can follow a recipe and cook meals that I consider tasty, but... the fewer ingredients, the better is my motto!  I like simple recipes, and prefer to spend my time doing things not in the kitchen.


This year, however (since I actually have to cook on a regular basis), I have found little, hidden joys in cooking and baking.  Sometimes, I actually enjoy it, and I am slowly starting to desire to try new things and actually do new things in the kitchen.  Maybe it's because I like eating so much, but I also think I'm starting to enjoy the process.  It's kind of fun to watch things blend together into something rich and creamy and it's kind of fun to stir it up myself.  It reminds me of my first cooking forays with my mother using my Easy-Bake Oven. There was something just neat about creating a treat.


So... truffles.  Something new, and, frankly, something a little bit scary.  They seem so fancy, don't they?  Luckily, I am modeling my truffles after The Pioneer Woman's recipe which she reassures her readers is quite simple.  I feel like a pioneer woman... let's forge ahead!


Here goes somethin'!

The recipe calls for semi-sweet, bittersweet, and milk chocolate (8 oz. each).  You can use any type of chocolate, but I read on a another website that fancy chocolate (yes, pricier chocolate) is better since it is higher quality. So, Ghiradelli it is is for the dark chocolate and Perugina for the milk!  Yum!

You put the dark chocolate into a double boiler (or, for the poor cooks like me into a class bowl over a pot of simmering water).  The chocolate will start to melt after a few minutes.

Before the chocolate is fully melted and before you even mix it up, poor in one can (14 oz.) of sweetened condensed milk.  Now there is some sweet and yummy goodness if I ever saw some!  As The Pioneer Woman says, nothing can beat the real deal here... go all out!

Then, mix the chocolate and condensed milk together, keeping the bowl over the pot and the water at a gentle simmer!

I just love this swirly goodness... something that looks like that just has to be delicious!

Keeping folding the chocolate into the condensed milk and do not worry about the texture... it turns out just fine!

Once all of the chocolate is folded into the milk, turn off the heat and remove the bowl from the pot.  Add 1 tablespoon of vanilla.  It will make the chocolate a little extra shiny.  Pretty!

Next, cover the glass bowl and stick it in the fridge for a couple hours to let the chocolate become "firm and workable."  Once it is, take it out of the fridge and get rollin'!

Rollin' some chocolate into balls that is!  Place the balls on wax paper on a cookie sheet and then stick them in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes until they are firm.  You can leave the truffles like this and add a topping if you please... or...

You can give them an outer coating!  I followed The Pioneer Woman's advice and dipped the truffles into melted milk chocolate.  Make sure the truffle is fully coated and use a fork to lift them out to allow the excess chocolate to drip away.  The milk chocolate will begin to harden quite quickly, forming a nice shell.  You can leave them plain and pretty like this... or...

You can add a topping!  I chose nuts (crushed pecans to be specific) because I like a nutty-chocolate flavor, but you can choose whatever your heart desires.  The Pioneer Woman used sea salt, but I don't think I'm that brave of a baker yet!

There you have it!  Dark chocolate truffles with a milk chocolate shell and pecans on top!  I tried one tonight, and I must say they are quite tasty... don't worry my roommate tried one as well and approved!  I am proud of myself!  A new culinary adventure -- Success!




"I am learning all the time.  The tombstone will be my diploma."  -Eartha Kitt

The (First) Homestretch

Time continues to amaze me.  Life moves from one day to the next, and (still to my surprise) those days add up to weeks, to months, to years... and I ask, "Where has life gone?  What have I been doing?"

I remember meeting my first best friend in second grade.  Her name was Emily, and she asked me a simple question: "Do you want a gerbil?"  I do not think I knew what a gerbil was at that moment, but I soon learned, and I named him "Squeak."

With memories from when I was seven years old so vivid, life seems short... yet those memories also seem like a lifetime ago and like they belong to a different person.  I admit I am not old.  Twenty-two can hardly be called ancient, but the experiences I have had since meeting Emily have helped me grow into someone very different from that little, curly-haired girl.

I now spend my days staring at podiums that say "Law School" and think, "Gosh, am I really here?  How did I get this far?"  Law school is something I have been thinking about since I was in high school, and now it is real, and that reality makes me feel older than my actual age.  Maybe because it was always something that was part of the ambiguous thing called "the future" and now the future is the present.

I have finished classes for my first semester at law school, and three exams stand between me and three weeks of vacation.  It's the homestretch at the end of the year...

 These are the books that have been my friends through this semester, and they will be through the next 12 days...







These are some of the orange and pink highlighters that have graced the pages of those books.  I only have a few because the suggestion to save them was made to me quite late into the semester... I probably went through one orange and one pink highlighter per week (much more quickly than the other colors) and had to order boxes of orange and pink highlighters from Amazon.  Maybe I will create a masterpiece with them at the end of this first year.

 These are the chocolates that are now my friends as I study.  A study party cannot be a party without some chocolate... Dove Dark Chocolate makes life very sweet... or semi-sweet, if you want to be technical.

These are the things that are carrying me through life outside of school.  There's only so much law school and law reading one can take.  Life is empty without poetry, adventure and prayer.






Besides these things, there are beautiful people who make life truly worthwhile and help to keep me sane, or -- rather -- quite silly and quite myself...

I am blessed with wonderful friends, including my lovely roommates with whom there are many fun conversations... especially if they take place late at night...

I avoid the law library at all costs because it stresses me out and often study in more relaxing places with my dear friend and nursing-student study buddy... with whom there are probably too many laughs and not enough productivity...

And, of course, my wacky and amazing family that shows their support through letters, emails and phone calls... though they are a thousand miles away (literally), they are truly very close to me, and I look forward to another crazy photo shoot this Christmas...






These people and things have shaped my life in significant ways over the last twenty-two years and brought much joy into it.  I am thankful that I have such great support as I tackle law school and especially this first of six exam homestretches...

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do / With your one wild and precious life?" -Mary Oliver

Sunflowers

I bought sunflowers.  They bring a little bit of joy and sunshine to my day.  I hope they do to yours as well.

"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead."  -Louisa May Alcott