Weekend Recap...

Thursday: Lively bus ride to D.C. with prayers, songs, hair braiding...all the usual Claire stuff. :)

Friday: Went up 13 floors at the Old Post Office Building in D.C., Marched for Life with 200,000+, interviewed live by EWTN along with my sister, prayed and sang at the Supreme Court steps, enjoyed time with my sister Sarah and my dear friend Malori!

Saturday: Attended Students for Life Conference and had wonderful surprise reunions with friends, went to a packed-full Mass at the crypt church of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, rode the Metro train (first time!) and spread smiles to whomever I could, visited the Servants of the Lord Convent, had precious time with my sister back at Christendom College, and then went to the black-and-white "Oreo" Dance

Sunday: Awesome Christendom Liturgy, afternoon socializing/open house, evening debate society gathering, swing dance practice!

Monday: Sat in on Theology, Astronomy, and Philosophy (where discussion included differing natures of men and woman AND the four temperaments...totally my element), said goodbye to Sarah (love you, sis!), flew to Atlanta for my connecting flight to Chicago, then find out the lovely lady sitting next to me lives a few blocks away (Erika, thanks so much for the ride!)

...just a slightly full and blessed few days. My heart is overflowingly grateful.

Catch-Up!

My poor blog has been rather neglected for a while. One can only keep up with so many things at once! I'll attempt at a bit of catch-up with some photo glimpses at the last two months...

My new profile photo is courtesy of Sis Veronica photography, taken on my birthday back in March. :) She also took the following photo, which I have to share: I woke up on my birthday morning to the dining room table covered with...me! Resourceful Miss V had gone through albums and computer files and found a photo of me from every year of life, most taken on my birthdays. How sweet is that?

The lovely red roses were a surprise delivery sent from my godparents — they lasted a full two weeks plus!

Also in March, my youngest and only brother made his Confirmation:

Then came Easter. I already shared a photo glimpse from that day, but here's one of the four siblings on Easter morning... Claire (21), Veronica (16), David (11), and Sarah (18).

Now for another food photo: the charming Easter "Challah" bread and butter lamb made by Sarah and Veronica. Darling, isn't it?

Our Spring tree bloomed (all too briefly), and Veronica carried out her "traditional" photo-shoot of David amidst the white flowering-pear blossoms:

Our yard is looking lovely, thanks in no small part to the efforts of the same young gentleman...

Since I didn't post anything for Mother's Day, this will fill in...I love you, Mom!

A few weeks ago, we thoroughly enjoyed a visit from friends (three brothers) when they passed through our area on their way home from school. 'Twas a merry time of music-making with piano, guitar, banjo, violins, cello, and voices, not to mention great devotions as a group, and plenty of contra and swing dancing in the living room! (Thank you, gentlemen!)

Last week, Sarah and I had the wonderful opportunity of traveling with our University Schola Cantorum to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, WI. Our family traveled up seperately to visit the Shrine and hear our concert! We were blessed with simply perfect weather. This is Dad and Mom atop one of the lovely bluffs:

The Shrine itself was absolutely spectacular! The main Church was just dedicated last July. It was absolutely thrilling to sing in it...such amazing acoustics! Being so newly-constructed, many of its paintings were recent saints, like St. Gianna Molla.

I cannot encourage you enough to check out the Shrine website, and to visit it if you have a chance! It is nothing less than a heavenly experience.

This past weekend, we were back in WI for Grandpa's 88th Birthday party. Still the farmer, he spent five hours on his birthday driving a tractor for the son who now runs the farm!

Off...yet again

Ah, such is summer! Sarah, Veronica and I are headed to our annual week at the Fair Food Stand, helping with pies, pancakes, registers, and hair-dos! Don't worry, I really do hope/plan to resume somewhat regular posting here, and to continue our "Why Am I Catholic?" series... as soon as I have the chance. Thank you to all the commenters who've asked me questions about Catholicism, and to others who have offered some answers. I appreciate each of your comments and will respond to them when I can!

Blessings to all!

We were in WI

for the weekend (since Thursday evening, actually), enjoying good times with extended family and a few nights with Grandpa and Grandma. For me, it was a much-needed mini "getaway" on their farm in the country... and after the grey skies and dampness we'd had here for at least a week, waking up Friday morning to a brilliant blue sky and a coating of sparkling snow on the ground was a welcome change! We were all spoiled by Grandma's wonderful goodies and meals, and had time for some of what I call "the simple joys"... like traipsing around the farm feeling the snow crunch under our boots, laughing and breathing deeply of crisp, cold air, and with no destination in particular.

I looked at Sarah and remarked, "Being here makes me a child again."

But now, we're home, and there's plenty of grown-up work to do, so... adieu for now! I hope your holiday was a joyous one too!

P.S. Don't forget today's Solemnity of Christ the King! There's a nice article here (don't mind that last year's date is on it–the Solemnity is every year!). And Amanda has a lovely prayer posted here.

Out West in Photos, Part 1: Traveling, The Black Hills, and Mount Rushmore

Our gentlemen, cleaning the windshield midway :)

Sarah looks rather cozy, don't you think?? (It sounds better than "squished"!)

"Can you believe all this stuff?"

Driving the the US "Flatlands"... the little dots are cattle!

Enjoying the Black Hills... though the soil was red! We girls had fun taking photos...

...while the boys climbed, of course! :)

A picturesque mountain stream

We waded down it, enjoying simple pleasures

...And Dad had to gallantly retrieve Veronica's flip-flop before the stream took it away forever (tragedy!)

The water was c-o-l-d, but oh! So pretty.

"Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters..." ;)

A nice big rock-table that Dad and the kids climbed up to (I wasn't with them, but was down near a napping Mom while I kept up with my journaling...)

The hills really do look black from far away

"Somewhere, over the rainbow...

...way up high!"

Mount Rushmore, enveloped in fog! We were there near sunset -- which turned out to be the best time of day to be there. To watch a cloud settle right around the monument was something else.

But we were privileged to catch a glorious sunset, too (that was before the fog came, actually)

Enjoying Dad's treat of ice cream at the Mt.

One big cone: enough for two!

In front of the monument, beautifully lit...

No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth,

I just went "out West" for two weeks with my family!

Together at Glacier National Park!

The days before we left were a whirlwind of packing and preparing, and the few days since we returned home have been a whirlwind of unpacking and tackling the numerous phone messages, emails, and all the things that need attending to after being gone that long!

This week is a packed one for me, but I do hope to share (in increments) about our very memorable trip, as well as some of the many photos we took. Anyone care to guess how many?

In a nutshell, in honor of my parents' 25th Wedding Anniversary -- which was August 14th -- we did a "redux" of their honeymoon... driving 30 hours and 4,000 miles round trip to Montana and back, and enjoying incredible natural and spiritual wonders! I didn't break from my writing, though... in fact, I journaled the whole trip in detail -- something I've always wanted to do for a vacation but never had dedicated myself to yet.

So, except a "re-cap" of the blessings here soon!

Finished!

Yay! I'm finished the Suzuki Violin Book 1 Teacher Training Course. These two weeks have certainly been intense... but I've been able to learn and grow so much. As this time in my life our Lord seems to have called me to serve through my love of children and music by teaching it to them. And I love that with the Suzuki program, it's not just about learning to play the instrument -- it's about developing a beautiful heart. Perhaps at some point I'll share a few of the written assignments that I completed as part of the course here, to help better explain the philosophy and approach of this method.

It's so amazing how the days here seem to have sped by, and yet have at the same time gone so slowly! It seems like yesterday that we arrived, and yet it feels like we've been here forever. And we have done so much each day that by the time late afternoon comes, morning seems like a long, long time ago. There were days when I would exclaim "Was it really this morning when we did such-and-such?". Such is the never-solved paradox of time, I suppose! Thanks be to our good God Who gives each moment to us. May we wisely choose how we spend each of them.

The next big event around the corner for me is speaking (tomorrow morning, no less) at the Illinois State Fair. If you remember to offer a prayer for me sometime around then, that would be so appreciated. I'm going to be doing an Extempore Speech -- meaning I'm handed a topic when I get there and 45 minutes later, have to speak on it. Definitely a practice of The Rebelution's motto "Do Hard Things". :) You see, through all my years of public speaking with 4-H, etc. I always said I would/could never doing an extempore speech. It's now my final year as a 4-H member, and I decided for the county contest in Feb. that I would tackle the thing I "could never do". It ended up being a great experience and... I was selected to go to State Fair. So it's the whole nine yards now. :) I am going to have to speak on a current event (will be handed three from a hat to choose from) -- I just hope it's something I'll know what to say about. :) I'm actually looking forward to it, though...the exercise of pushing yourself "outside your comfort zone" is so freeing -- and so good for learning how to trust Him more. I'll be sure to update here on what happens...

Now, it's off to pack my bags!

A Sunrise Update

I don't have the seconds for anything more than "Buenos Dias" and "Que tenga un buen dia"! Most mornings here the sky has been rather overcast when I wake at 5:30, but this morning I was [pleasantly] startled to see an orange glow across the sky when I opened my eyes...a lovely sunrise. It hasn't lasted long (almost gone already), but oh! What a treat.

May your day be full of the glow of the Master!

Greetings from the Point!

Well, today I finally got an internet connection set up here at Stevens Point! There is so much I could write, but it's 10:30 right now and 5:30 tomorrow morning comes early. Last week was great but intense. It's like we're on a little "musical planet" here!

The absolute best part is that there are some lovely churches nearby, and one that has a daily 6:45am Mass (hence the rising time) which works perfect for us to walk and get back in time for classes. We've been blessed with gorgeous weather, bright, vivid days, and beautiful calm nights. It drizzled a bit today, but that was still beautiful.

Oh, and I have to clarify, since I was informed on the first day...what I'm doing is technically called teacher training and registration (not certification). Apparently, it can't offically be termed that because of the structure of the course. They said that only in Europe is it set up to be legitimately called "certification". Even the faculty here are not "certified" (though many have their Masters or more in Music and they are of course trained and re-trained)... interesting, hmm?

If this week is anything like the last, I can't promise I'll have any time for posting, but whether I do or not...Pax Christi!

The Hills are Alive

with the sound of music. Or at least, UW-Stevens Point will be! In a few hours, I'm off to the American Suzuki Institute and when I come home two weeks from now, Lord-willing, I'll have my Suzuki Violin Book 1 Teacher Certification. I'm very excited... just not quite fully packed yet. :)

"I want to make good citizens.

If a child hears fine music from the day of his birth

and learns to play it himself,

he develops sensitivity,

discipline and endurance.

He gets a beautiful heart."

—Shin'ichi Suzuki

Don't know anything about the Suzuki method? Click here for an introduction!

~ ~ ~

I'll have the laptop with me, but am not sure how much time I'll have in between classes, observations, reports, and concerts... however, I'll do my best to squeeze in an update here or there!

Pax et bonum!