Books

It drives me crazy when I see the quotes that say that when you end a book and close the last page how it is like losing a close friend when in actuality you are in fact retaining that friendship, rather, it is as if you are merely saying farewell for a little while. Not ending or burning a bridge but speaking a quiet farewell, to be revisited later.

Projects in the works...

I'm back and in the spirit of the season thought I'd give you a rundown on projects being completed, one of which is an actual Christmas project the others are mostly for fun.

I'll have pictures up later but the Christmas present is a surprise so I can't say anything till afterwards but... bowties are cool. :) There you go, sneak peak.

Secondly, I've got a big, tulle, maxi skirt in the works, details soon to come.

Thirdly, and this is VERY exciting, the closet has been gone through and five trashbags later, five bags to Goodwill, and one floor completely vacuumed we are only half of the way there. It has been a very long Friday but my goal is that if I get everything posted on here I might get them done because you guys will want pictures.

Oh! And fourthly I'm working on a baby tutu, again more details to come...

That's about all, there will more than likely be a big long post about Advent and Christmas tomorrow. Love you all and goodnight! :)

ciao 4 now,
Arwen

I'm home!

This past week was absolutely crazy with the sisters! I had a lot of fun and met some incredible people. And guess what! I am incredibly, deeply in love with Jesus Christ, He is quite the gentleman.
I strained my knee while I was on the retreat and with the injury I was able to spend more time with the sisters there. It ended up being just what needed to happen. (crazy how He always knows just what we need) :)
I hope everyone has been getting the rain that they needed this spring. It is slowly coming together here, the rain totals are slowly adding up to where they need to be. Have a wonderful week and I will remember all of you in Mass tomorrow morning. Peace and goodnight!

ciao 4 now,
Arwen

Almost there

It is a few days before my big trip to Nashville and I am getting the pre trip jitters, checking and double checking the information for it. Making sure that I actually got that flight confirmation number, do I have enough money to get everything that I need for the trip, what if this goes wrong, what if that goes wrong? And I really just need to sit back and let God take the stage. So, to help me and you guys do that, I thought I would post one of my favorite songs.
You can find it here: Steal my show; Toby Mac

Night blogger!

ciao 4 now,
Arwen

Not failing!

So, the one class I mentioned failing in? I got a C, which means I passed it and there is still hope left on this earth for me. I am exciting my trip to Nashville is coming up soon and I cannot wait to get going. I also have about a million other things to finish up before the trip but they can wait. I finally remembered to bring my coworker a DVD, and chocolate, and water bottles. Let's  just say it was a very long and late day yesterday. Getting the store all fixed up and looking pretty. Fun but late.
I am ready for the summer to officially kick off. I want the hot summer temps and I want to go buy a new swimsuit and bask in the hot summer sun. I want to go swimming and to feel the smooth cool water roll across my skin as I am completely immersed in the water. I am just a tad bit of a lover of summer.
Have a wonderful day and a blessed beginning to the weekend.

ciao 4 now,
Arwen

Finals are done!!

Finals are done and the grades that I was unsure about are posted. The other grade is not posted but I am fairly certain I failed it, so ya. And right now I am waiting for Yahoo to load so that I can get on and update my students grades. It has been a crazy couple of weeks and I finally have time to update the grades.

Other than that, I have been working diligently at my new day job and loving it, I get to work with shoes all day so it's all good. Just wanted to say hello, nothing too special or enlightening. Have a great day. I do have a real quick poem for you.

Training
To sword fight
To hit and clank and bang
To feel the thrill of battle
To fell your enemy
Oh,
But to sword fight

To fire a bow and arrows
To feel the sing of the string
To see the target and feel like a king
To breathe and move as one
Oh,
But to fire a bow

To pick up a dagger and go
To hide the weapons
To move quickly and deftly
To feel the quick satisfaction
Like sinking your teeth
Oh,
But to pick up a dagger and go

To feel the thrill of the chase
To defend your honor and race
To protect family, health, and well-being
To train as a prince for a king
To feel the thrill of the chase.

ciao 4 now,
Arwen

The year is almost over and I am feeling it.

I have this nifty app on my phone that helps me study with biology flash cards, only my phone has decided not to let me log into it anymore. So, instead I am writing right before the test so as to refrain from freaking out. It is all good, I have one more test today and then two tomorrow night and then I am done. Completely and totally done with the school year. And boy has it been long. From literally failing Calc 1, I'm a Mathematics education major, to nearly crying because my group of girls from English, we have managed to get the same professor and class both semester, are nearly completely splitting up. One is headed to a different college next semester and I might be headed out of state and some of the other girls are going their separate ways.

I think I've finally stepped out of Neverland and am falling head first into adulthood. It is frightening and I am unsure of myself. I no longer know for sure what is going on, except that God has control. And it might not all be okay but He is there and guiding my every way, so I know that what I am doing, even if I completely mess up, is forgivable and all part of the plan.

Just to commemorate the end of the school year because tomorrow night I will be way too tired to write, here is a clip of my new favorite recording of this song. I heard it first on Cranford and if you have not seen it you need to check it out. Just google or youtube search Cranford. And if it is any motivation, as it was for me, Tom Hiddleston is in the second season. Just throwing that out there, for all the Hiddlesisters. :)

The song itself is called The Parting Glass.









Have a good end to the semester and if your taking them, good luck on your finals! Mama Mary, pray for us!



ciao 4 now,

Arwen

Holy "Maundy" Thursday

        Today is Holy Thursday and I am stuck at school until late tonight and might end up missing Mass. Growing up looked like so much more fun when I was six. Limousines and fancy dresses and big tall heels and fancy hair and make-up. Ya, growing up held much more appeal when I was six then it does today. Today growing up means working and missing important events because I absolutely cannot miss class and T-Shirt, jeans, boots, and messy hair days. It means that money does not grow on a tree and it must be earned because I need gas for my vehicle this week, but I also need food.
       It means that yes, I am going to miss Mass and I am just going to have to spend some time in adoration, that seems to be where God thinks I need to be tonight so I will be there. It means all of the above and then some. It means learning to trust again, to trust completely and totally like a child. To let God have the reigns and like the apostles tonight when they begin to realize that something is going to happen and it is not what they want to happen. And they have to trust that is all going according to plan.
       That tomorrow is going to be harder than anything they have ever had to deal with but it is all apart of the plan. That it is not going to be okay but it is a part of that great big master plan.
       Tonight we kick off the Paschal Triduum and slowly allow ourselves to come into the solemnity and solitude of Good Friday. Here's to Holy Thursday and quiet. Quiet to begin to contemplate the greatest sacrifice in the world.
I pray for everyone especially during the next few days as we enter into the greatest and most awesome (in every sense of both words) time of the year, the Paschal Triduum.


Peace,
Arwen

Tuesday

I'm taking a break from English, I've been writing for a solid hour now and have three whole pages to show for it, I was supposed to have seven done for today. I technically have five right now but I am in the process of revising them so I am counting them as three. It is going to be a very long week but on the plus side I finally obtained a job to work through this summer with. I am currently working three jobs but two of them end at the end of the school year so I looked for one so I could make money during the summer, and I actually got it!
I am a little excited, I get to work with shoes. I kind of love fashion.
Moving on, this week, like a said previously, is going to be very long. It's almost Easter. He is almost here. Yep, Him, the One, the great I Am is almost here. Kind of exciting to think about. To think about Him rising from the dead. There is a great deal of hope in that. He is rising from the dead, we will rise to be with Him. So much unbelievable hope.
Yay! Finally at four pages, now three more for today, ugh.
Okay, it has now been two hours.
And I have a new poem for you guys. I actually have two or three but because you have been incredible and reading through my rambling I'll only give you one so you do not have to read anymore and write up the other one's later.

Here at the end of the road,
There are dragons, and goblins, and ghouls.
And a lone little creature,
With the unlikeliest features,
Who hollers and yowls and sobs.
Here at the end of the road,
There's a maiden who looks like a toad.
Her parents mourn her features,
But the maid just picks up the creature,
And sings him a sad little song.
Here at the end of the road,
The song takes them all back home.
Where the maiden's a princess,
And the creature's a prince,
And together they happily live.
Here at the end of the road,
There are dragons,
And a soft little sob,
For a friend and a creature,
Has lost all their features,
And together they whisper goodnight.
Here at the end of the road,
There is a kiss, a love, a life.
And together they leave,
Singing a song in the eve,
Of a lonely maid and a frog.
Here at the end of the road,
There's a soft farewell and goodbye.
As a new young maiden
Holds a father and mother
and silently watches them die.
There at the end of the road.
A small family stands.
And quietly whispers a prayer,
For their loved ones
And watches them say goodbye.
Generations move forward,
And the group slowly forgets,
Why the end of the road is so loved.
Years later,
As the stars look down,
There will be someone to welcome the sun.
But a lonely small creature
will look up at the sun
Here at the end of the road
And sing it a sad little song.

ciao 4 now,
Arwen

P.S. Yes, this poem was composed in Biology.

Holy Week...

Is one of the hardest weeks of the year for me spiritually. 40 days is hard but that last bit, at the very end. Where you almost have to squint to see the finish line, it is right there and if you just reach hard enough, you could even touch it. Victory is within your grasp, but not until Holy Saturday at midnight. When the Holy Week turns into Easter. That joyful season, not day, where we get to celebrate and rejoice in our Lord.

And it's so close. Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday. This year I feel like a kid again, getting excited and just wanting the day to come faster. I want to be able to celebrate, to sing songs with gusto and joy. Solemnity and seriousness has never come easy to me. Lent, is always a trying part of the liturgical year. That being said perhaps I need to focus more on it but how can anyone when the end is so wonderful?

To quote Samwise Gamgee:

 Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.

Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.

Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?

Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for. (imdb.com)

There's a new understanding every year as I mature of just what Holy Week is, and this year during the passion I cried a little. I cried listening to the passion of our Lord, I've never cried before. Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday are going to be a little different, in growing up I have a job now where I will need to work. So, I will have to find a way to remember these days in the quiet of my workplace. To remember what happened and who was there and best I can by myself and the Lord in prayer. And then Easter will come when it does and we can all celebrate it. It will be a great occasion and I will get to spend some time with the family. But until then, Good Holy Week. Because it is a good week, and a blessed day.

ciao 4 now,

Arwen

Today, and tomorrow, and everyday, ordinary, things.

In the Biology classroom there is a dark periwinkle on the walls.

It's the kind that reminds me of a dark, stormy day or an old Englishman's sweater. It is only on one wall, the other three walls are a tanish color. Right around the chalkboard, that is on the blue wall, there are spots where the blue has not completely covered the wall.

It looks like someone took the chalkboard eraser and went over the wall a few to many times with chalk.

ciao 4 now,

Arwen

Today, and tomorrow, and always...

Today’s quiet moment, to be alive.

Just watch this, and while you do take a few moments to yourself. Pray, contemplate, think. Just take a few moments to be.Listen to the Piano Guys for a few moments. They have become one of my favorite bands and trust me, this will not be the last you see of them on this blog. But seriously take a few moments and breathe.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” – Jer. 29:11

I love and pray for all of you.

Peace.







ciao 4 now,

Arwen

Retreat

Good afternoon,

        So, the retreat was absolutely wonderful. I was a little bit nervous about the plane trip but overall it was fun and the people were accommodating and helpful in figuring out where I needed to be and how I needed to get there. I had so much fun visiting the sisters.

        The Dominicans of St. Cecilia are some of the most joyful people that anyone will ever meet. They are very hospitable and welcoming, and they were willing to sit down and talk. And their grounds are beautiful. They have a walk that you can take that has been dubbed the rosary walk. And a little vegetable garden as well as a beautiful chapel area. It was wonderful to get to say prayers with the sisters and participate in Mass every morning.

         That being said, it was nice to return home and reflect from the comforts of my home on the weekend. It is always a joy to see my family and laugh and talk with my siblings and parents and friends. I have English but I wish and pray that everyone has a nice week. Peace.

ciao 4 now,

Arwen

Boarding...

Good morning,

It is currently around 3 a.m. in the morning where I am at and my cat is up with me this morning.

I am going to be headed out on my first plane trip by myself today and I am trying to not get the nervous jitters. I'll  be headed to visit the Nashville Dominicans of St. Cecelia (a Roman Catholic religious order of sisters) during their Jesu Caritas weekend. I am nervous because it is something that I have never done but at the same time, I am very excited. I am getting to visit another religious order, see how they work, and hopefully ask some questions...

This morning, especially as a Friday during Lent, I am trying to remember that God has everything in the palms of His hands and that the trip will be fine. That I will come back excited and fired up for the faith, and that the plane trip will go smoothly. I would love your prayers as I head out this weekend.

Have a safe and blessed weekend.

ciao 4 now,

Arwen

Today

    Being in college, and working, there is rarely time for thinking. Even now I am shirking one of my English assignments in favor of some relaxing thinking and writing time. If nothing more than to get the creative writing juices flowing.
    Here, where I live, it is finally above freezing and people have traded the heavy coats for jackets. Keep in mind it's a whole 10 degrees above freeezing but it is above and that is what counts. I only have 2 hours until my next class and during this time I am enjoying the sounds of one of several of my favorite Marvel movies, Thor. I find this soundtrack to be the easiest to focus while it is playing in the background.
    This semester I am enjoying a heavier coursework and upper level maths. I want to be a math teacher so, I am slowly working my way up there. What with school and life ( I have finally found it!) I have the time to sit and think, about schoolwork and life, but think. I'm thoroughly enjoying college, getting to do more studying of what I want to verses what needs to be done. A tip for those just starting, when you walk into the academic advisors office for the first time, have all of your paperwork and a semblance of a plan, and make sure they understand that what you plan to do is what you want to do in the end. They can help but only so much.
    Has anyone seen snow out there? Here we had some snow and then the sun came out and now it's cold and brown and grey, no white fluffy matter to be seen or heard of anywhere. And to top off this long and rambling post I wanted to write out a poem that I completed while in math class. Yes, I write poetry when I'm bored and I wrote it in Caluculus. I don't have a name for it so, if there any ideas...

Always fading,
Forever expanding,
Living, Loving, Laughing.

Running, Dancing,
Forgetting, Shouting,
Living, Loving, Laughing.

He folds his palms
Over her hands,
Loving, Living, Laughing.

She smiles at him
Through her pain and age.
Laughing, Loving, Living.

ciao 4 now,

Arwen