Flexibility: A Christmas Tradition

Merry Christmas! 

Shortly before Christmas began, someone in a Facebook group posed the question: What are your special Christmas Eve traditions? I paused, looked at the screen blankly, and then it hit me: 

Flexibility. 

I love traditions-I love the comfort they bring, the way they can warm my heart, and the security that traditions provide. Many times in my life, I've felt a bit like Tevye, from Fiddler on the Roof. 

When I first got married almost 2 1/1 years ago, I had this idea that we would need  to start a bunch of traditions at the beginning of our marriage, that would continue to be practiced and built upon for the duration of our lives. After all, I occasionally meet couples or families who do certain things around the holidays that they have always done-so why shouldn't we? 

Are There Only 12 Days of Christmas?

Who wouldn't want to
eat oatmeal with daleks and a
Christmas tree? ;)

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope that you all are having a glorious celebration of Christ's birth, and an awesome celebration of the feast of St. Thomas Becket. It's been pretty awesome over here-the roads were clear enough for me to drive to morning Mass at my epic parish, I prayed Liturgy of the Hours, and now I'm eating and blogging by the light of the Christmas tree. It's so heavenly! In the spirit of festive things, today, I'm linking up with Tuesday Talk to discuss Christmas. I love Christmas, and I really, really, really love how it isn't just one day. While stores are putting out their "after Christmas sales," Catholics keep the party going-and it's awesome. Yet, in all of this awesomeness, there is something that makes me a bit sad: many people miss out on a whole week of Christmas!

Mercy Monday: Christmas is Almost Here!

Happy Monday, everyone! Like the rest of you, I'm sure, I have a very long "To Do" list, and combined with pregnancy fatigue, I am so not motivated to get things done. In all honesty, I would love to sit around, eat guacamole, drink Abuelita hot chocolate, and watch movies. But, I need to get that list of things done anyway-so, I need to get off the computer and get working. Before I do that, though, I want to dive into St. Maria Faustina's Diary, since 1. It is the Year of Mercy, and 2. As we prepare for the Solemnity of Christmas, it is so fitting that we meditate on God's tremendous mercy and love! As you continue in these last days of Advent, I hope that you can find time in the midst of travels and decorating to embrace silence and peace. Maybe by taking a 10-minute break to spend in silence, perhaps by visiting Christ in a church, or by turning off the radio in the car. Have a blessed, final Monday of Advent! 

DIY Rey Costume On a Budget (Spoiler-Free)

I feel so pregnant in this picture :)
Not only was the movie awesome,
but it was Baby's first time going
to the movies! 

Doesn't she look cool? Not pictured
are the brown boots that also she wears.
 (image from hitfix.com)

Happy Friday, everyone!!! As many of you are probably aware, Star Wars: The Force Awakens premiered in the U.S.A. last night! My husband was super awesome and snagged us tickets to the 7 p.m. showing in IMAX (first showing in our area!), so yesterday, I bounced around the entire day in excitement and anticipation. Months ago, I knew that I wanted to dress in costume. After all, I had never really dressed in costume for a movie premiere before, and I figured that Star Wars would be a good place to start! I realized, though, that I had few options for a costume. If you haven't noticed, the female lead characters in Star Wars are few and far between, and some of the costumes are ridiculously complicated. I knew that I wanted a costume that would be like many of my normal clothes (so I could wear it around town whenever I felt like it), and that I didn't want to spend money. Initially, I planned to dress in Padme's Tatooine peasant outfit from Episode I, because it looked doable. And then I saw Rey in a Star Wars trailer. A scavenger on a desert planet, she not only looked like a very interesting character, but her outfit was awesome. I knew that I had to dress like her for the premiere. 

Can We Please Stop Surrounding Pregnancy With Anxiety?

Hello, everyone! As many of you know by now, I have a baby in my belly!! And while I don't want this blog to turn into "all things Baby," (because there are plenty of other interesting things to talk about) I do want to occasionally share my thoughts on various things I've been learning about pregnancy and parenting. These topics get to be sticky and controversial, and I always like to hear other viewpoints; if you do disagree with me and want to make a comment, I ask that you please be charitable and respectful. Though people should always be charitable and respectful when they comment :) Anyways, in honor of 14 weeks gestation today-Baby is approximately 12 weeks old-I want to talk about how we treat pregnancy. 

Don't mind my blue lips; I had just finished
eating cake when this picture was taken last night :)  

"Oh, your Baby Jesus has bubble wrap!" What's Bambinelli Sunday?

Happy third week of Advent, everyone! I hope that you all are having a blessed week! Today, as I try to reign in my excitement for the new Star Wars movie and catch up on projects around the apartment, I'm going to briefly share an awesome Advent tradition with y'all. So, I'm linking up with the lovely ladies of Tuesday Talk to share my experience of Bambinelli Sunday! 

7QT: A Magical Ramen House, Star Wars, and the Irony of Poker

Happy Friday, everybody!!! Today I'm linking up with Annabelle for some 7 Quick Takes. I figured that it'd be a fun way to share a piece of life in Oklahoma with y'all today.

The Closet Challenge & Why I Feel Like a TARDIS

Happy Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and beginning of the Year of Mercy! I honestly can't handle the epicness. Today, I'm linking up with the lovely ladies of Tuesday Talk to discuss something that has been on the backburner of this blog. Some of you might remember how myself-along with a few friends-spent the whole month of October on only 7 items of clothing (excluding underwear, pajamas, and workout clothes). I meant to do a end-of-month post about it, and I had planned to take loads of pictures...but, well, I only took a few photos and I never wrote a post. So today, I'm going to briefly discuss my thoughts on The Closet Challenge-and then I'm going to tie this into how I became like a TARDIS. Don't worry, non-Doctor Who people-I won't make this a geek-heavy post. ;)  

4 Ways to Start Off the Year of Mercy

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope that you all had a blessed weekend and beginning to this second week of Advent! Tomorrow is quite awesome for many reasons. Not only is tomorrow the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (it's also a Holy Day of Obligation, so get yourself to Mass tonight or tomorrow!), and not only is tomorrow the DVD release date for Ant-Man, but tomorrow also begins the Year of Mercy!!! I know that Catholic blogs abound with lists of ways to celebrate the Year of Mercy, so I'm not going to give you any lengthy lists or tangents. Instead, I'm going to provide a few ways that I will be using to kick off this special Jubilee, with a couple links to other great resources! 

Can We Talk About Adulting?

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope that you are all doing well. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm very excited that it's Friday. There have been a lot of great blessings this week, but yesterday was one of those days that I just wanted to be over (between random catastrophes, horrible traffic/thoughtless drivers, and a nearly day-long headache, I was so ready to curl up in bed and do nothing haha). But yes, we made it to Friday, it's the feast of St. John Damascene, and this weekend I get to see one of my very dearest friends perform Handel's Messiah!  In the midst of the craziness this week, I've been thinking about adulting. A year or two ago, I noticed that people were using the word "adult" as a verb, and regularly talking about "adulting." Every time I scroll through Facebook, it seems that there are articles, posts, and memes about adulting (or about trying to run away from adulting). As I muddle through this whole business of life myself, I want to briefly reflect on the "adulting" phenomenon that has gripped so many young adults.