Merry Christmas!

“And an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them.  And the angel said to them, ‘Be not afraid; for behold I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.”  – Luke 2:10

my goals for Christmas break:

1. Finish up my Algebra 2/Trigonometry by January 17th....

I decided last month that I am not going to take another semester of biology, but instead I will take engineering, computer science, and Pre-Calc II (EGR 120, CSC 110, and MTH 164 for all of you fellow PVCC-goers). Pre-Calc II is one of the co-rec's for engineering, so even though I haven't done 163, I've got to take 164. I think I'll be ok, though, if I can finish the textbook I'm currently using before the spring semester starts.

2. Finish driver's ed.

I'm sure others of you have done driversed.com, so please...any sympathy would be quite welcome.
For those of you who *haven't*, it's just about the most boring thing in the world; they make you wait on each slide a certain number of seconds before you move on. I'd rather write a 10-page persuasive essay on why they should let me get my license. It'd be faster, at least.

3. Memorize this completely.

I might play it for a competition in January...
Not too worried about this, though, cause I've got most of it memorized already without trying...my teacher is always shocked at how quickly I memorize stuff. :P

4. Confirmation prep

Well....for those of you who don't know, I'm getting confirmed on April 28th!!!! Sooo excited...I've been waiting to get confirmed for (*counting*...2, 3, 4) 5 years, but in our diocese you get confirmed in 10th grade.
Anyway, as part of the confirmation program at our church, we have large groups and small groups once a month throughout the year; we also had a retreat in early November. But....a lady from our church (who also just happens to be my sponsor) suggested some books for us to go through.
Hopefully, I'll do a post on Confirmation soon.

5. Sleep

(self-explanatory, I think)


Aaaaand....that's all! That's enough, dontcha think?

P.S.
Next week there are no early morning swim practices, sooooo I don't have to wake up at 5!! :D

P.P.S.
My bio 106 gave me a 4.0 GPA to start off my "life at college" (well, ya know....life as high schooler at college)! Let's just hope I can keep it that way... :P

P.P.P.S.
There hasn't been a single time in the past three months that I *haven't* gotten sick the week before I've had to cantor (yes, I'm implying that I'm cantoring [I don't think that's a word] tomorrow)... thankfully, God's always taken care of it.

P.P.P.S.
Speaking of singing, dis here soprano is singing for our Christmas Eve Midnight Mass and THEN getting up the next morning to cantor for the 8am mass 'cause there wasn't anyone else. I'm just praying I don't look like a zombie all Christmas day.

P.P.P.P.S.
To all of you who may have watched Cars 2: Am I starting to sound a bit like Mater? (<--that's funny right thar)

Ok, clearly it's time for me to go to bed, soo....

gab--over and out.

because all you need is a little more school in your lives...

I've survived three Sundays of Advent, a bio exam, a technical research paper on how an MRI works (of all things, why did I choose this topic?), the Aztecs, and half of Martin Luther....

....and *today* begins my Christmas break.

la la la la la la! sing a happy song!!!

In celebration I have a little clip from my literature class (ok, maybe it's not quite a celebratory clip. It's a little sad.).

It's from Henry V by William Shakespeare--starting Act III, scene 8. (*Note: this *is* a war; there *will* be blood.)
Henry, King of England, has led the English into a war agains the French. They're outnumbered five to one, but they don't surrender: King Henry presses them on.

"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; / For he today that sheds his blood with me / Shall be my brother [...]." (4. 3. 63-65.)

In the end, England defeats France, with only 29 men who have died.
The English, though, have lost ten thousand men. And so King Henry praises God, giving Him all the glory gained from this war.

Disturbing? yes. How can war glorify God?

However, this clip shows King Henry not as a bloodthirsty tyrant, but as a compassionate king who loves his people and thanks God that no more than 29 men were killed (even though Shakespeare wasn't exactly the holiest guy).

Perhaps he knew that murder never glorifies God, but war almost always glorifies men.
Perhaps he meant that none of this temporal glory should go to men, but that every man's eyes turned to God so that he can marvel at what God did with this small English army.
However, both England and France were mainly Christian nations, so I'm not sure what was going through Shakespeare's head then.

This scene takes place right after the battle has ended when the King learns the number of men who died on both sides. He carries that one poor boy through the battlefield--the whole way.
Don't ask me why a 16-yr.-old girl suddenly got so interested in war and stuff; this scene just gave me goosebumps. :P

Non nobis, non nobis Domine,

sed nomini tuo da gloriam.

Not unto us, not unto us, O Lord,

but only unto Thy name give glory.

Who knew that soldiers could *sing*?

birthday miracles

Happy Feast of Christ the King!!!

I will *never* be able to think of my birthday again without thinking also of Christ the King.

Mom says it's a good problem to have.

It was a wonderful day for a sixteenth birthday.

...I cantored at mass

...and my mom took me and my sis to "go get jeans" at Old Navy, where there were *akshully* friends waiting there to go to lunch with us (sometimes I just feel really gullible)

...and my friend offered a mass for me (he gets the prize for 1st-person-to-give-me-a-mass-as-a-birthday-present)

...and *tons* of people wished me a Happy Birthday throughout the day

...and then I went to a rehearsal for our Christmas Eve Midnight Mass and sang my heart out.

I secretly know that part of the wonderfulness of today is because God showered down extra grace since it is the Feast of Christ the King.

But don't tell anyone I said that.

'Cause they'll think of the times I believe that angels light the votive candles in our living room.

Or how I prayed yesterday that God would heal me enough so that I could cantor at mass this morning, and how he DID.

Or how I believe that every time I go up to the altar, God gives me a special grace to be able to sing in front of all those hundreds of people--because normally in a situation like that, I would get so nervous I would start shaking.

Akshully, tell them this: I believe in miracles--*especially* on the Feast of Christ the King.

because my heart is in Rome...

Let's just say I'm a little bit tired of "Ordinary Time"--that is, the time between Easter and Advent/Christmas.

It's been SEVEN MONTHS since Easter! SEVEN! (Well, technically, *almost* seven)
I've watched the seasons go by--spring, summer, fall--and still no Christmas.

Is it quite obvious yet? I have Christmas fever.

And I'm homesick for Easter.

But yesterday was the Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran in Rome (the mother church). I found myself researching it when I *should* have been doing school; this basilica has been around since the Emperor Constantine (I know--I thought I was done with this guy), and it's *gorgeous*!

I'm not sure when this was drawn, but isn't it so cool to think of this basilica standing there through all the ages, for thousands of years? Although I believe it had to be rebuilt around the 1600's, it's the same church.

Time for a field trip? I think yes.

Guess what? My birthday this year (the 20th) falls on the Feast of Christ the King--the feast in which we celebrate Christ's royalty. It's the last Sunday of the liturgical year....which meeeeans....that the Sunday right after is the 1st Sunday of Advent!

I'm hangin' onto that thought right now 'cause I'm practically *starving* for the smell of incense, the Advent candles, the beautiful music, the purple vestments...

I'm counting on the Christmas Midnight Mass to keep me alive until the Easter Vigil next April.
But I have a friend who, of course, has to torture me by sending me videos of songs we'll be singing before the midnight mass.
"Sing lullaby! Lullaby, is the babe awaking?
Sing lullaby! Hush, do not stir the Infant King, dreaming of Easter, gladsome morning; conquering death, its bondage breaking...
sing lullaby."

My school workload is really starting to get heavy, but it's hard to keep my mind on school...

...when my heart is in Rome.

I heard a rumor...

*life of a sophomore in high school* = SCHOOL like never before

Every day of the week, I have more classes (wonder why I haven't been posting?). On Mon./Wed./Fri. I have classes at our local community college; on Tuesdays there's our homeschool co-op; on Thursdays, my online classes; and on Friday (again), I have a looong biology lab at the CC.

Not to mention...our writing teacher just assigned a huge technical research paper....


But I heard a rumor that today's gonna be a great day.

...'cause we just took down my little bro's crib and set up his toddler bed.

...'cause this afternoon we're gonna watch a "feetball" game on TV.

...'cause tomorrow's Sunday. :)

...'cause Christmas is coming.

...and 'cause yesterday I went with a group of college students from our church to pray by Planned Parenthood.

See, September 28 - November 6 is called the "40 days for Life" where Christians literally around the world keep vigil outside of Planned Parenthood--fasting and praying and singing ('cause when you sing, you pray twice, right?).

Yesterday from 5-6pm marked the exact midpoint of the 40 days for life. I got there at 4:30, and half an hour later, there were people lined up all the way down the road. There was hardly room on the sidewalk for all of them--from little boys wearing blue capes to high school teens to old men singing off-key. What a beautiful sight.

Say a quick prayer now, if you would, for babies and for mothers considering abortion and for the souls of those babies who were killed in abortions.
And say a prayer for this one man who had to be led away by the police because he had gotten out of his car and started cursing at us. He said that prayer doesn't work. And he's wrong. Because prayer is our greatest weapon against Satan.

O Death, where is your sting? 

O Hell, where is your victory?

sometimes i write notes to my sweatshirt

Sometimes I think aloud, but it's Saturday--you don't care, do you?

Dear Charlemagne,

You were a great guy; sure, it's impressive that the pope crowned you "Holy Roman Emperor." But don't you think it's going a bit far when we have to know every single person who was related to you and is related to you or is named after you or who admires you--ok, so maybe I'm exaggerating. But still.

Dear Chlorine,

You are my perfume all day long. Somehow I can't escape you (*I wonder why*). But please, please, please...don't dry out my skin till I'm all scaly and wrinkled like, ummmmmm, a dead snake--I know, kind of extreme, but it gets my point across.

Dear Wooly Worms,

Hope you had fun in our lab yesterday. Who ever knew that orange strands of yarn could asexually reproduce? It was fascinating to watch as 6 generations of you came and went, although I do sort of feel sorry that your lives are so short. But look on the bright side! You'll be unpacked again next semester for another bio 106 class!

Dear Coffee,

Thanks for keeping me awake.

Dear Sweatshirt,

You're the best. Thank you for not complaining when you're soaked in chlorine. Thank you for keeping me warm at 5 in the morning when I'm headed to CYAC.

Dear Flute,

Take care of yourself so we don't have to send you to get your cork replaced again. I apologize for not practicing yet today, but I promise that I will.

*****

(...and the start of the school year inevitably finds me talking to my stuff...)