the fine print

-I rarely tell people that I was homeschooled. I'm in no way ashamed of it, but I dislike being stereotyped in that particular category...

-then asked if I know what prom is

-and being asked if I did school in my pajamas

-or if I did school at all

-I'm perfectly comfortable with my appearance...most of the time. but I try really hard to not let it get to me.

-my favorite guys are the ones who show me chivalry isn't dead

-I stole a rein from the flying horses

-I've come to find people enjoy talking about me behind my back. I don't like that very much. so as hard as it is, I try to not talk about them

-my stereotype is 'good little youth minister's daughter'. I'll live up to that someday

-favorite band: TRAIN

-my friends will tell you going to movies with me sucks. I point out holes in the plot, analyze the characters' philosophies, and predict what's going to happen next out loud. so I apologies to my friends. I don't mean to ruin your movie, I just can't shut up.

-being such a movie snob is why most of the movies I own are action/dramas with surprise endings or really deep plots and have excellent character development. or they have johnny depp in them

-...because he is my favorite actor of all time

-although hugh jackman is the most beautiful. hands down.

-ok I'll admit there are some mushy chick flicks in there too

-I love my friends here. but I really really miss the ones who aren't here. mostly, Lauren Enk. she's the best thing that's happened to me :)

-I jam out to P!nk and Lady Gaga

-I wear a Tau cross. and I've actually been asked if I have a boyfriend who's name starts with a 'T'...

-I'm WHO DAT by birth and GO STEELERS by connections

-music is my passion.

-summer 2009  I had my first real spiritual awakening. changed my life.

-which brings me to...saying that I'm never ever ever going to be bothered by people asking me about my faith life. it's when they whisper about me is when I get offended. especially when it's other Catholics.

-reading "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" was an eye-opener. go ahead, ask me out. you'll get a fun response ;P

-in case you were wondering, I've only been asked out like 3 times. I blame it on my dad's intimidation on any dude that gets within 10ft of me.

-yet another reason I love my dad <3

-why yes I am a daddy's girl. and you even try to make fun of me I'll punch you.

-I really wish people were more appreciative. also that people didn't expect a 'thank you.' that might not make sense but it does to me.

-most people like me and like spending time with me

-but very few are daring enough to really be my friends.

- I secretly like wearing bandanas

-I've screwed up many times. but I always walk away wiser

-the other day at the store, I thought for sure I saw a girl I knew a long time ago. I saw her from a distance, but I was pretty sure it was her. I haven't seen or spoken to her in two years, and I didn't get to go over and see her. I've been praying for her every single day, and I was overjoyed to see she's still alive. :)

-wow. you're still reading this

-my family is amazing. even if I can't stand some of my siblings sometimes, I love them will all my heart and can't wait to see what we all do when we're older. Jane is going to be the most fun to watch because she is me all over again.

- I'm never opposed to breakfast for dinner 

-the beach is wonderfully amazing. but I would chose hiking in the mountains over lying in the sand any day

-I've made a mess of me. I wanna get back the rest of me. I made mess a mess of me. I wanna reverse this tragedy. I made a mess of me. I wanna spend the rest of my life alive.

-and so I will :)

- I use the little smile emotions too much. oh well

- I'm too cautious about who I say "I love you" to... 

-I get crazy ideas to do things, but normally don't go through with them

-but when I do, it's amazing.

-like dressing up as emo kids and going to a hard rock concert.

- I've been sneezed on by an elephant

- only five guys have ever admitted to me that they like Pride and Prejudice...i hold them in the highest respect

- I was a born at home

- and I can show you the bed I was born on

- I have a very witty form of humor...it may take a little while to get used to, but i promise to make you laugh :)

- I prefer MaryC. it's what I've gone by for as long as I can remember. a few people call me MC, which I don't mind, but I've never really liked Mary (unless you're my mom, which you're not) and I don't like Mary Catherine. don't ask me why, I just don't.

-yes I have a side comment about EVERYTHING. but hey, I'm entitled to my opinion ;)

- I love theater! I've written a few children's plays. When I was 11, I 'wrote' a musical version of the Jungle Book, which me and my siblings performed for some neighbors and once for my grandparents. last summer, I ran an entire theater camp for my homeschool group, which was a huge success! but I've never been in a real play in my entire life...

- I could live on hummus & pita bread :)

- ok, so I'm one of those people who REALLY likes being in charge. and I cannot stand it when someone who has no idea what they're doing is in charge of something!! it just drives me crazy! (yes, I take after my mom...)

- I tend to criticize people for things that I do myself (just ask stephen...)

- I have my 'pretty' days and my 'I don't care' days. they way you can tell is if I took the time to straighten my hair, or it's thrown up in a careless ponytail.

- I love to cook all sorts of crazy things

-My absolute fear is roaches. I will turn into a total gabriella saab and run away screaming

- My favorite thing to do to 'get away' is kayaking. it's so nice just to take a day off and go down the river...

- I have a ton of earrings and necklaces I've gathered but nothing good to match with them

- back in the day, at any gathering of the homeschool group, we'd have 'boys vs. girls' wars. we thought is was the greatest thing ever! we would kidnap each other and throw stuff at the boys...we never had a way to win, just beat the crap out of the opposite sex until someone ran to their mom crying...good times...

- when people ask me what I want to be when I grow up I say a mommy...well, it's true.

- My little brother Peter is also my godson...though many people mistake him for just my son. it's awkward, but you get used to it after a while. either way he's freakin adorable 

- one of my good friends and I have a love for getting together for root beer and pretzels and sitting in her driveway late at night just laughing. we have that certain snack in honor of my dad and a dominican priest friend of his. they used to get together for beer and pretzels all the time....we just continue that tradition :)

- something that I think is funny (in that not so funny way) is that alot of people think that I'm this little angel because I'm a youth minister's daughter...I can be a total bitch, just ask my mommy.

- I have a box of my 'special stuff' so if you've sent me any sort of letter within the last five years it very well may be in there

- I try hard to treat others the way I want to be treated

- my best of the best friends live in Florida, Virginia, and Louisiana...which makes it difficult to get together on weekends

- the only time I ever truly punched someone was when I was 8. some kid at mcdonalds was being mean to my little brother

- I used to have a terrible fear of tornadoes because my parents 'accidentally' let me watch 'Twister' when I was 5. thankfully, my stuffed bunny, Slippers, kept me safe at night

-I don't like milk, fish, or bananas

-my comfort food tater tots with creole mustard. nothing weird about that at all.

-I've found out the fun way that if you leave a potato in the oven for too long, it explodes

-my girls and I are convinced that the best guys out there are in the seminary

-feel free to prove me wrong

-but if you hurt me I have a good dozen guys behind me ready to destroy your ass ;)

-I used to collect beanie babies. I had around 300 at one point. most of them have become birthday/christmas presents for kids I babysit

-I'm a closet trekkie....

-one of my greatest pet peeves is when people use 'retarded' as a synonym for 'stupid' it upsets me because even if you're not meaning to, you're saying retarded people are stupid. and I know darn well they're not.

-I've never been camping

-I love my mommy! if you recorded the way we communicate on a daily basis you'd think we hate each other, but we really are best of friends. I'm proof that you can easily become your mother.

-I've screwed up BIG TIME. I look back and think "oh God, why the heck did I do that?!?!" but I learned from it and now I know better.

-my 'favorite' scar is on my right elbow. I ran head on into a chain link fence while playing ultimate. (BUT I CAUGHT THE DISC)

-I have a strange passion for collecting movies. not particularity watching them, but for some strange reason I like owning them. 

-I used to have about 30 bracelets on my left arm. every single one had a significant meaning. I took them all off recently (revealing an awesome awkward tan line) and if you asked me why I took them off I would say "I'm not quite sure..."

-still haven't kissed a guy :)

-I'm thankful for every person who has influenced me in this life. especially the ones who have helped me stay the straight and narrow. y'all are amazing.

-I live this life to the fullest. with mistakes, but no regrets.

No Surprise

I've practiced this for hours gone 'round and 'round....


and now I'm happily content. 
Life comes at you fast. There's no way we could possibly prepare for every single possibly situation that will take place in our lives. 
My favorite quote concerning life's journey is "you have zero control over what happens to you in life, but complete control over how you react." 
SO TRUE. I had no control over my family moving to Fairhope. I could have taken a poor attitude towards up and moving away from the friends and life I had formed over my many years in my old house. Instead, I straightened up and smiled, then God took care of me. 
I had no control over my best friend traveling thousands of miles and an ocean away for a semester. But God allowed me to develop wonderfully amazing new relationships while he's gone. 
So things happen. They will be good, bad, and ugly. But our attitude in life is what defines us. We can chose immaturity and complain about the situations we receive or we can be optimistic and always search for that (sometimes incredibly thin) silver lining. Sometimes the lining shows up right from the get go. Other times, we have to wait and look back years later to see how God had been right there working the entire time...


my constant silver lining: praise God for such incredible friends to get me through :)

What's the best way to make God laugh?

...tell him your plans. God has a terribly teasing sense of humor. I have come to the conclusion He simply enjoys seeing my at a "everything is going super smooth the way I planned" and tossing some sort of complete craziness into my life. It's entertaining in retrospect, but right now it's slowly eroding my sanity...
 As much as I am absolutely alright with allowing God to take the wheel in my life, I (in my humanity) wonder. I wonder what I am called to do in five years, in six months, in a week, even tomorrow. I wonder what my family will be doing this summer. I wonder where my friends and I will be relationship-wise by next year. I wonder if I will eventually end up working in youth ministry. I wonder when I will be able to plan my wedding. I wonder which friendships will last throughout my life. 

as excited as I am to find out, I'm nervous. Completely trusting in God's plan is tough stuff!! Unfortunately for my impatience, the only way to figure out the answers to all these questions is to simply wait and see. I pray for the grace to trust in my mind as well as I do on cyber-paper. :)

alas! you have been foiled!

something I strive to remember to do is "let loose"


because we forget so often to laugh at ourselves, to be playful, to revert to our childhood and just be goofy. we suppress innocent play that was instilled in us as kids. I try to let my "inner child" out as often as possible. and yes, I can and will be serious when I need to be, but life is meant to be lived to the fullest. God calls us to this. I simply cannot understand how it is possible for anyone to sulk around and take everything extremely seriously. lighten up people! 
Life is good.
and it can be such an extraordinarily experience if you make it. 
no I'm not saying let's go out and party our faces off, spend all our money, and not have a care in the world. but we need to take some time out of our everyday routine to do crazy awesome  (and legal!) things! because by being playful we spread joy. and by spreading joy we spread Christ's love.


so...do something goofy. be creative. have fun! 

In case you're looking for inspiration ;)

you've got a little something on your forehead...

HAPPY LENT!!!! As strange as it sounds, this is absolutely one of my favorite times of the year! When else do you basically get a chance for holiness smashed in your face?! (mk, that sounds odd but its the truth) since I'm giving up the wonderful world of Facebook I figured it would give me some time to actually keep up with this blog nonsense :)

this year for Lent - I'm giving up Facebook, sweets, and going out to eat. its going to be an awesome 40 days!