Alanna's Thoughts On Things That Are Awesome

It never ceases to amaze me, how the littlest things can make my entire day.

His smile and wink in the hallway could make me beam for the rest of the day, for no particular reason except that it was so awesome to remember that he actually cared.

Song lyrics that make me go "ah HA! That's what I'm feeling!"  and then proceed to play over and over and over and over in my head (its like my iPod stuck on replay, replaaaaay)

When I'm driving along, and then that one silly song comes on the radio and I just want to burst with happiness and I can't help but freak out and dance and "put my hands up, cause they're playin my song, and the butterflies fly away" or declare my status as a single lady and ask why he didn't put a ring on it. (And have random people on the sidewalk wave at me because they think I'm waving at them...)

There are these two little boys who come with their parents to mass every Sunday.  Seriously, cutest things you'll ever see.  Plus, the older one carries a Woody doll (you know, from Toy Story) with him everywhere.  Today, he taught Woody how to pray the Our Father.  Woody dangled in the air, with the boy holding one hand and his mom holding the other.  I had this little dialogue going on in my head, Tom Hanks' voice struggling to recite the prayer, making goofy comments.  Who doesn't get a kick out of that?

Knowing that my twin lives in McFarland and realizing something crazy we have in common everyday.  Getting silly, crazy, creepy texts from her at all hours of the day.  When she says one little thing, and I have one of those DUH moments.  She brings me back to Him, and that's awesome.  She makes me a better person :)

A funny bumper sticker.  

A ridiculous Facebook status.

My daily cup of hot chocolate.

Squirting Reddi Whip directly into my mouth.

Finding a bible verse printed on the bottom of  forever21 bag.  This store prints John 3:16 on the bottom of each of its yellow shopping bags.   "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."  Awesome.

Things that are knit.  Like giant knit hats and mittens.  Especially if they have huge, fluffy pom poms and are made of bright colors.  

Barn cats who don't bother to wait for you to pet them, but instead weave themselves in and out of your legs and rub their own bellies.  Also, cats who try to get into fights with 1500 pound horses.  And cats who jump out at me from between saddle blankets, or stalk me from the rafters and then leap out of nowhere and try to steal my lead rope.

Halloween costumes that don't make sense.

Getting mail.  Lately I've been really popular!  I get some type of mailing from colleges everyday.  But you know what really gets me excited?  Letters.  Good, old fashioned snail mail that has post office stamps from all over the U.S.  I get so excited that someone took the time to write me a letter, and buy a stamp, and scribble out my address, and were even brave enough to lick the envelope glue that tastes worse than death.  It makes me super giddy and I do this little happy dance while I rip the envelope to shreds because I'm not very patient.

Funny words.  Like Vituperation.  Or Bazinga.  Or any of these words, cause they're awesome.

When I know I'm wearing a kickass pair of shoes.  And they click when I walk down the hallway.

Fabulous sunglasses.  Not like these...(cause shutter shades are dumb)

...but when someone can rock a pair of sunglasses like Audrey Hepburn could.  Yeah.  Classy.  I just have one question.  What happened to the floppy hat?  Why can't I wear huge floppy hats?

Praying the rosary in that awkward time before mass, when all the old people are shuffling in.  The looks they give a teenager actually involved in prayer are priceless.

Art.  Painting.  Drawing.  When the flick of my wrist perfectly captures the curve of a neck or the sturdiness of a tree trunk.  Or when I mix the perfect color.  Satisfaction.

The fact that last night sucked but I got through it, because J-Dawg and his padre are awesome listeners.  And that this blog post makes me incredibly happy because before I started typing, and didn't have any idea what I was going to say and all this ridiculous stuff is the result.

Alanna!

Giving Catholics a Bad Rep

I was watching the news on Monday morning, and this segment on New York mayor candidate Carl Paladino put the cherry on the top of a great morning.  (Notice the sarcasm oozing from that statement)

Paladino gave a speech about his anti-gay marriage stance.  In the speech, Paladino expresses his idea of homosexuality-that it is unsuccessful, and those who grow up to marry a member of the opposite sex are much better off.  "I don't want them [children] to be brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option," Paladino said.

The speech begins by him apologizing to homosexuals and saying that his remarks are against gay marriage, not meant to offend anyone who is gay.  Alright buddy.  If you feel the need to apologize before you say something, obviously you know the connotation and effect of your words.  I'm sorry, but if someone told me my way of life was a terrible, unsuccessful thing, I would be extremely offended too. 

The speech, the interview, and Paladino's cold reaction to questions about whether or not he thought his anti-gay marriage statements would fuel discrimination against homosexuals made him look rehearsed, rather ridiculous, and misinformed.  When asked about his views, however, Paladino begins one of his sentences by saying "I'm a Catholic..."

I was infuriated.  This is the type of person people are using to judge all Catholics by.  This politician, whose only reason for speaking out against gay marriage is because his opponent decided to attend a gay pride parade with his daughters, and Paladino was fishing for votes.


Yes, I am fully away that in the eyes of God, a marriage between two men or two women is not a marriage at all.  People who believe in the validity of this institution are simply people who have a different view.  You and I may feel it is wrong, but how does that make a gay couple unsuccessful, invalid, and terrible? I just don't see it.  Homosexuals can do great things too!  They can be happy, adopt children, and raise them to be happy, confident, independent, successful people.  Maybe they won't be Catholic.  Big deal.  I would much rather associate with a solicitous, conscientious person who was raised by gay parents than someone who is Catholic and can't seem to lift a finger for others, or works more hours than they spend with their children.  Good people come from all different kinds of backgrounds, and having an open mind about their roots, sexual preferences, beliefs, etc, is really the key to getting along.



Paladino made himself look like a stereotypical bible thumper, not someone whose actions and thoughts are purely to praise God, his son, and his creation.

And now, I am in need of a segway into a conversation that Taylor and I were having earlier today.  She says I should use "On a completely unrelated note..."  However, the literary genius in me is going to try to make this relate.

Today, Mo-T invited all of us to attend the March for Life trip to Washington D.C.  Though many hours on a bus, a couple days in D.C, praying, praising God, and all other kinds of awesome are things are bound to happen, anything that has to do with pro-life propaganda and abortion protests general makes me uneasy.

Don't get me wrong.  I am 100%, without a doubt, against abortion.  This is not something I endorse, accept, or would ever choose for myself.  In that regard, I am pro-life.  On the other hand, I would not want abortion to be made illegal.  Restrictions, yes.  Required education, yes.  But I don't want my right-a woman's right-to choose to be taken away.  To have an abortion is not a choice I would make, because I don't think I have the right to choose life or death.  However, the fact that I had the option of making a choice would mean everything to me.  I'm not going to choose it, but having the option seems like one more weapon a woman can use to protect herself against the evils in this world.  In this regard, I am pro-choice.  I want to have the opportunity to make a choice.  I want other women to be able to make a choice.  Just because I choose to have a child does not mean that someone else is going to feel the same way about their child.  All we can do is pray for them and hope they can repair their relationship with God.  Its like this-I don't feel that it is my right to take away someone else's right to choose.

I hate those labels: pro-life and pro-choice.  Can't I be somewhere in between?  It makes me feel like, if I'm not pro-life, I'm pro-killing?  So not true.  If I'm pro-choice though, it's as if I can't be pro-life.  Does it make me a terrible person if I don't want to scream the horrors of abortion at the top of my lungs while holding a nearly offensive sign?  I guess I just like to keep to myself.  I want to share God's love, not tell people everything they believe in and do is wrong wrong wrong.

(insert something super clever here, but nothing overused, like Peace or It's Been Real)
Alanna

Super Awesome and Life-Changing Events

My life is usually so boring. My nights often consist of doing homework, stressing over college, or talking to Alanna while I should be doing one of the aforementioned activities. Recently, however, it has been full of completely terrifying yet completely wonderful events that I'll probably never forget. They basically all center around two main things: Jenna Keller and RCIA. Now, I realize that it's going to be a complete ego boost for Jenna that half of my post is about her, but I figure she's worth it. I've kind of grown to like her. And, since Bill has made me realize the joys of chronological and numerical formatting through his most recent posts, I have decided that I will follow suit.

Super Awesome and Life-Changing Location #1: Starbucks on State Street
For those of you who haven't been there, the Starbucks on State Street is wonderful. Instead of having the normal setup with handfuls of tables and chairs scattered about (and two comfortable chairs slightly angled at each other), this Starbucks has an upstairs that is much larger than its downstairs, and it is wonderful. It has comfortable chairs, couches, tables, and even a white-board that people write strange poems on. Since Jenna Keller is a wonderful human being, she introduced me to this wonderland, and we have met up on occasion to talk faith and life and all things awesome. It's not often a good idea, though, since Jenna has a lot to do and I'm just so awesome that she can't concentrate on her work while I'm around. I try to stay out of the way and help her as much as possible, but it doesn't always work out.

Well, one night I received an excited and hurried phone call from Jenna saying that she had a wonderful idea: that Sunday, a few days after her phone call, was a confirmation mini-retreat for her kids in Waunakee, and she wanted me to teach a class on the rosary. You know, the one who's not even Catholic yet. The one who just learned how beautiful and wonderful the Church is this summer. The one whose knowledge only spreads as far as her friends, a few books, and a few blog posts that she has been obsessively following. But hey, what did I have to lose? I mean, the worst that could happen is that I wouldn't go visit Jenna at St. John's ever again out of shame. And plus, I'd be doing it for Jesus. So of course I agreed.

The next day (after seeing Alanna AND MC in the same day!) I met up with Jenna at Starbucks. Like always, I was distracting and caused her to get very little work done. The problem this time, however, was that I was the one that needed help. After reading a few things and stealing yet another one of Jenna's books, I decided it was time to put it off until later and enjoy my time with our lovely supervisor. I won't tell the entire story, because it was long and slightly embarrassing, but I finally asked Jenna to be my sponsor. I had been planning it forever, but I thought at first that I should wait until class started, then I was afraid it would just add more stress to her life, but it all worked out in the end. I didn't prepare for the mini-retreat at all until Saturday night, but I got my sponsor, and that was all that mattered.

Sunday night rolled around, and I was beyond nervous. Jenna wasn't going to be with me, and it is totally out of my element to just speak to 40 people at a time about Catholic traditions (obvi), so if I hadn't kept reminding myself that I was doing it for Jesus, I probably would have chickened out. There were three groups of 40 that rotated stations. I had 30 minutes to talk about something that I had just really learned three months prior to the session. It was terrifying. I am such an awkward person, as you know, and sitting alone at the beginning didn't help. It also didn't help that I messed up saying the rosary. The way it worked was that I would talk about how the rosary came to be, why we say it, what it means, etc. for about 10 minutes, then we would pray the rosary together for the remainder of the time. The explanation went fine all three times, but I messed up saying the rosary... twice. Once I completely forgot the Our Father, and another time I randomly added in the Our Father at the end of one of the decades. Basically, I stink, and I don't know why. I always say the rosary, and I say it right. I could recite the Hail Mary to a bunch of campers this summer, but I couldn't do this simple task. I was bummed, but I got over it. I did pretty well in the end, and if none of their parents/sponsors were willing to teach this, then they would have to accept my mediocre job. It did strengthen my faith life, though, and it really made me realize that even though this was awful and terrifying, Jesus appreciated it, and that's all that should really matter.

I've bene finding recently that I can relate my absolute favorite St. Josemaria Escriva quote to just about every problem I have in life. "Why stoop to drink from the puddles of worldy consolations when you can satisfy your thirst with waters that spring up into life everlasting?" I guess in this case, it didn't really matter that I was completely overcome with fear because, in the end, I was honoring the Blessed Mother. I was leading prayer that she interceded in. Now, I don't know about y'all, but that's just about the coolest realization I've had all month.

Super Awesome and Life-Changing Location #2: St Paul's University Catholic Center
After months of waiting and many masses attended, RCIA has finally begun. Despite the should-be-apparent awesomeness, I was a wreck on Sunday afternoon. I think I was talking to Michelle and Alanna, though I could be wrong, and they helped. Again, though, it's totally out of my element. If I had had just ONE person there with me that I knew (Danny...), I would have been fine. Instead, though, I was alone. In a group specifically targeted for adults, I would forever be looked upon as the one who couldn't vote or buy cigarettes. Almost grudgingly, I left for Mass, dreading the class that would follow.

Sometimes, I feel like God is giving me a giant slap in the back of the head. Mass was wonderful, like mass always is. I don't know why I possibly forget that. It makes everything better--stress disappears and I become calm again (and I don't even receive the Eucharist yet! I can't even imagine how perfect it will all feel once that time comes). I seriously wish I lived on campus, because I would go to daily mass. I've lived my whole life without knowing this perfect feeling, and now I can't get enough. The downside, however, is that I am still dependent on it, and I get incredibly stressed if a week goes by and I don't get my mass in. This week, though, it was wonderful. After mass ended and I offered up a quick prayer asking God to not let me vomit in front of all these hip college kids, I went to the library where the class was held.

Immediately I was greeted by someone named Lindsey, and she was very nice, very outgoing, very willing to keep a conversation going. And plus, she didn't judge me for being young, she thought it was cool. So hey! I didn't get horribly judged like I expected. The rest of the class went well. Unfortunately, we did more discussing what the class structure will look like and what we'll need than learning, so that was a bummer. The highlight of the class? Father Sternberg. He is such a strange and goofy man, and he can talk for hours. He talks about random but awesome things (a nerf gun battle was included in this week's homily), but he also cares a lot about people and their relationships with God. It's going to be awesome letting him help me get closer to God, and hopefully if I go to Madison next year he can continue to do that for many years to come!


Basically, my life is going very well right now. I have many people praying for me, and I'm returning the favor. But LITs, my math homework won't finish itself, so I must go. Love you all, praying for you all.

It's been real.
Taylor