Quick Takes (5)

Moved down to CU today.
Exhausted.
But here are some quick Quick Takes before I fall asleep on my comp.

[1]

I MOVED TO CHAMPAIGN-URBANA TODAY!

It's just now starting to sink in that this is my home. Like for good.

It's really insane to think that I have graduated, been offered a job, and moved to a city I've never lived in before in the span of 3 weeks.

INSANE!

[2]

I LOVE THE HOUSE I MOVED INTO!!!

OH. EM. GEE.

Legit.

I'm already super sad that we're not staying in this house (more on that later) because it is so freaking cute!

(stay tuned for pictures - that will come tomorrow)

[3]

I LOVE the girls I'm going to be living with for these next 2 months!

(and hopefully longer...stay tuned...)

They are all super nice and I already love them.

yay!

[4]

this is the only downer of this entire post, I swear.

Unfortunately, we have to move out of this house at the end of July.

noooooooooooooooooooooo....

yes. and I'm sad.

HOPEFULLY...and this isn't for certain yet, but I'm hopeful...I will be able to move with them and continue living with them...which is ideal because not only are they awesome, but...well, they're awesome.

And even moreso than my nonsensical reasoning, I think that keeping something constant is best...if I could continue living with people who (by that time) I have known for a couple months, that will be easier than transitioning again...AND trying to find a place to live...ugh.

[5]

My room is the smallest of this entire house, but I love it.

The house is old...I'm not sure how old, but it's old...and it's just cozy!

Did I mention that I love this house?!

[6]

I went grocery shopping this evening!

...not a big deal to some people, but I effectively found the stores...yay!

[7]

The Catholic world just keeps getting smaller.

Seriously.

This isn't really a "Quick Take", but more like a fact that is getting re-confirmed for me.

For example, one of my roommates knows this guy who is my brother's age from my old high school.

Another roommate is the maid-of-honor in my boss's wedding...and my boss is marrying my friend's old roommate.

Also, my cashier at Wal-Mart was a guy who went to my high school...we graduated the same year.

Ok...in hind-sight, those aren't that great, but it was cool for me. Whatever.

That's it! Check out Jen's blog for more epic takes...as if that were possible! ;)

mania

I have soooo much to do before I move in 2 DAYS. Ahh!

I have to re-pack alllll of my stuff. Ugh.

I have a bunch of re-fashioning to complete.

And I'm going bridesmaid dress shopping this afternoon for my cousin's wedding...I'm the MOH - what what! :)

So it's a lot. But it's all good stuff...minus the packing.
Aren't there people I could hire to do all this for me?
If only I were rich.....

some nights

I like pop music.

Not because of the great family-friendly messages that it brings, but because of the beat.

The beat gets me hooked and even super ridiculous songs like "Call Me Maybe" get stuck in my head for weeks.

But the best thing is when there's a catchy song out there that also has a couple good lines that really make you think.

For example:

Bonnie at Learning to be a Newlywed introduced me (and many others, I'm sure) to one of Fun.'s songs Some Nights. I freaking love this song.

ok, yeah...some of the lyrics aren't so great and/or don't make sense...

Some nights I wish that my lips could build a castle 

Some nights I wish they'd just fall off

......huh???

But then there's the main line:

Oh Lord, I'm still not sure what I stand for oh
What do I stand for? What do I stand for?

And I love that.

I feel that this so perfectly describes our society today, myself included at times.

What do I stand for?

It's a good question to ask.

And I'm not answering it right now...maybe another time.

But think about it.

What do YOU stand for?

7 Quick Takes (4) - abbrev. version

[1]

I'm moving in one week.

ONE week!

gahhhh!!!!!

[2]

my youngest brother Michael graduates from HS tomorrow!

he'll go on to attend UW-Whitewater in the fall...

go warhawks!

[3]

my feet are KILLING me.

more on that another time.

[4]

tomorrow night is also my old roommate K's bachelorette party.

in the city (Chicago).

and my feet hurt :/

[5]

I'm procrastinating hardcore right now.

I'm supposed to be cleaning my room so my grandma doesn't see how much of a slob I am when she comes for Mike's grad party...oops.

[6]

my fav cousin J's daughter is due on June 11th!

I'm hoping for something a little sooner than that! :)

[7]

I am getting really excited to move down to CU (Champaign-Urbana, duh)

my housing is all set up...going to be living with some FOCUS missionaries...baller!

check out Jen at Conversion Diary for better QTs

learning from the smallest among us

You know that baby smell that makes your heart melt?
Or the smell that's left behind on your top after you've been snuggling with a baby?
Or the natural smell of a newborn baby?
and no, I'm not talking about poop!

I love that smell.

this is literally what the twins look like

I spend a couple hours in the baby room at a daycare on Monday and the second I walked in, I was overcome with that sweet, new-to-this-earth baby smell. So good. And on top of it, I got to cuddle with 2 of the cutest little girls ever. E is 10 months old...such a cutie pie and was the oldest in that room while S is 6 weeks old, tiny tiny tiny with the softest hair EVER. And then today, I babysat for my neighbor's twin girls...just shy of 2. So sweet. And hilarious!
And all this time with babies just really re-confirmed for me that the Lord is calling me to motherhood...I'm not gonna go all crazy and stalk some guy into marrying me, but I'm confident that when the time is right, He'll send my Mr. Right into my life. :) And I want babies. Lots of babies.

I know that tiny babes are a lot of work and I know that they're not all smiles and cuddly little angels. But they're perfectly made so that we can realize something so much bigger than ourselves. It is through the smallest and most helpless of our human race that we can understand more fully the love of our Father in Heaven.

If you think about it, at birth, all other species are relatively capable of surviving on their own.
Have you ever seen a giraffe birth? It's super sick, but 2 minutes after that little bugger falls 6 ft to the ground, he's running around just like his mom.
Even puppies, which are born seemingly helpless, can walk/crawl soon after birth.
And the same goes for all other species.
Yes, the newborns of all other animals may need some guidance from their mothers, but after a couple weeks, all species are able to survive on their own.

But God made humans differently, and for good reason.
At birth, human newborns cannot walk, feed themselves, warm themselves, or do anything else to ensure their survival. And for the first 18 or so years of a young human's life, he/she is dependent upon his/her parents to care for him/her. It's a loooong process. And then, even after these young humans are on their own and are able to care for themselves, they still (hopefully) go back to their parents for advice and companionship. The bond between parent and child is one that lasts.

And this is SO like the love and care that our Father gives us! He's there the whole time, nurturing and caring for us, even when we don't realize it (birth-1ish), when we are desperately holding onto Him (1-3), and even when we can't stand Him and don't want Him to tell us what to do (teenage years and on?).
But He's there. And He never leaves us. Just like any good parent.

How beautiful is it that we can learn all of this from such a tiny little being?

this post totally wrote itself and took a completely different turn than I intended, but I suppose maybe that's the Holy Spirit guiding me? 

...yeah...we're gonna go with that...

take a chill pill.

Everything is falling together...and so very quickly!

It's funny because I've said before that I laugh at myself...well, this has become more and more of a normal occurrence. This is probably because I've become increasingly insane as the days go on, especially when I'm under some sort of stress.

For example, I called and accepted the job at SFLI on Monday and then began to go into a crazy panic whilst searching for apartments in Champaign. Sure, it's important that I find a place to live but not only do I have a whole 2 weeks (not a whole lot of time, but enough) to find a place to live and I also have a couple of friends who are willing to let me crash with them for awhile if necessary!

So here I am, Monday (remember: the day that I am officially beginning to look for apts), freaking out about nothing. Literally. I mean, it's something...but it was less than 3 hrs since I accepted the position...so I was flipping....why?

And so I laughed at myself. And I continue to laugh because here I am, 48 hrs later with a place secured from June until August and a couple potentials leads on places to live August on.

So yeah. I'm crazy.
But things are working out...it's like this metaphorical cliff that I've been grasping onto suddenly let down a harness and while I'm still hanging off of the edge, I feel more secure in where I'm going and what I'm doing.

All good stuff.