time out

I know...you were probably expecting a GP update. But unfortunately, I have to put my updating on hold for a bit. Basically, I'm writing this from my bedroom in my parents' house in Minnesota, and the next few days are going to be a little chaotic.

What?! Jessie, did you have a secret trip to Minnesota planned that you didn't tell us about because you were afraid we would stalk you or something? Well, no.

Basically, my Grampa (my dad's dad) passed away on Wednesday, so I'm home for a few days for the funeral and stuff. So for once I'm actually giving you a reason for not updating this blog as often as I should. Please keep my Grampa and family in your thoughts and prayers...and I'll catch you on the flip side, or at least when I get back to the Burgh.

Love you, miss you, blah blah blah...

grid project - week 12

[insert clever/interesting introduction here because I don't want to]

Sunday, August 8: Took myself out on a date to the movies--Inception!
Okay, if you have talked to me at all within the last two months and the subject of movies came up, you already know that Inception is the BEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME. Since I don't quite have a significant other, I decided to take myself on a date. It was great--Sunday nights generally mean near-empty theaters because people have to work on Monday...and I figured, what better time to go to the movies by oneself? So I went to Inception. And it was awesome. And I ended up seeing it three more times after that. But that's really beside the point, I'd say.

Monday, August 9: Met up with Pasutti in a resort town in Maryland.
Pasutti and I hadn't seen each other in a while, so we found a place in the middle and met up for the afternoon/evening. The town was called Grantsville. In and of itself, there's not much to it...at all. We walked around a little artisan village and then had dinner at the restaurant next door, then we drove a few minutes to a coffee shop on a lake, south of a little resort town called Accident. Yes, Accident. It was such a stereotypical lakeside resort town, I could have sworn I was back in Minnesota! But no, it was definitely Maryland. And as always, it was wonderful to spend some time with Pasutti!

Tuesday, August 10: Worked on/revamped the St. T's youth ministry website.
Our website was very outdated, so I took some serious time (a few days, really) to update the information and add a few new pages. And I have to say...it looks pretty great. Of course, much of it was already existing (having been created originally by our website guy), but it was still fun to play around with things a bit and use my creativity in a way I don't usually get to.

Wednesday, August 11: Went to Kennywood and got DRENCHED under the waterfall on the Raging Rapids.
Summer Stretch was amazing...and as our final session, we spent the day at Kennywood. It was fun/exhausting to keep track of fifty or so middle schoolers, especially on such a hot day...but lucky for me (?) I was the one who went under the waterfall on the Raging Rapids and was quite damp for the rest of the day. It was a fantastic end to a fantastic summer program. I can honestly say that I can't wait for next summer!

Thursday, August 12: Saw Inception...again.
This time, I went with one of my former youth group peeps, Molly, who is now off at college. We had our end-of-the-season softball party and then the two of us went down to the Waterfront and had our brains exploded for a couple of hours. It was awesome...I sincerely think that the second time seeing Inception is the best.

Friday, August 13: Went for a walk around the lake at North Park.
Pretty self-explanatory, I'd say. One of my friends called me up and was like, "Hey, you want to go for a walk?" and I was like, "Yeah, dude! Sounds peachy!" or something equally chipper. And then we did. Yup.

Saturday, August 14: Figured out/started seriously planning the youth ministry theme for Fall 2010.
I'll be honest and say that ministerially speaking, I had kind of a rough summer. I was in a bit of a funk, which meant that I was having considerable difficulty coming up with ideas for the fall semester theme and programs and whatnot. So it was already the middle of August and I had no idea what would be happening in slightly over a month...which worried me considerably. So I said to myself, "Self, you need to put your thinking cap on and get crack-a-lackin', homeslice!" And I came up with the theme and mapped out the entire semester and started working on lesson plans, and everything started coming together quite nicely. BAM!

Getting closer! I figure if I do an average of one GP update every two days, I'll be all caught up in no time! Though I might do another one later today, just because it's my day off and I have a crazy week coming up. Go team!

grid project - week 9

What?! Two posts in one day?! That's madness, I tell you, MADNESS!

Sunday, July 18: Rode to Boone County, West Virginia for a mission trip.
What I didn't include in the last post was that the Saturday night I got back from Minnesota was also the night of the softball lock-in...so I was up until about 2am for that, and then woke up at 5am to pack for a week-long mission trip with an organization called Appalachia Service Project. I took a couple of kids from my parish, but we were with a larger group from St. Alexis up the road. I really wanted to see what it was like (without the pressure of bringing a ton of kids) so I can grow the group next year. So after 8am Mass at St. Alexis, we were off! That said, everything for Week 9 of the Grid Project has to do with learning skills and having fun on the mission trip. WOO!

Monday, July 19: Caulked the seams on the foundation of a house.
Yep. I think several of these things will be pretty self-explanatory.

Tuesday, July 20: Learned how to play Euchre.
Euchre is one of those old people card games that folks get really intense about in nursing homes. And apparently, so do the folks from St. Alexis Life Teen. So I learned how to play! It's kind of like Hearts, but not. I don't know how to explain it, really. Either way, it was pretty fun--maybe I can go volunteer at a nursing home and play Euchre with the residents or something...though I'm not sure who would want to be my partner. There's a distinct difference between knowing how to do something and being good at it.

Wednesday, July 21: Installed soffit on a house.
Soffit is cool stuff. Click here for a picture of how soffit, fascia (read "FAY-sha"), and gutters are supposed to work together on a house. Unfortunately, the soffit, fascia, and gutters for the house we were working on was absolutely terrible. So what did we do? We replaced it, of course...or at least started to. It was pretty intense. We got about half of the front side of the house done (about 30 feet of it) by the time we were done on Friday.

Thursday, July 22: Learned how to use a pop rivet gun.
Pop rivets are sweet, but I still haven't quite figured out how they work. For the sake of our argument, let's just assume it's magic. However pop rivets work, I got to do it. I felt really cool too. It was interesting how the roles of our crew members sort of decided themselves almost immediately when we started work on Monday...and how much they were determined by gender. You know, the girls doing things like painting and cleaning, and the guys doing...manly stuff, with power tools and the like. Of course, I'm not one to just accept gender stereotypes, so I was up on the ladder as much as possible--or using a drill, or a pop rivet gun, or a table saw.

Friday, July 23: Went to prom!
This one's going to take a lot of explaining, in two parts. First--the prom itself. ASP does fundraising within each week of service to help pay for the materials used at the work sites. The main way they do this is through something called Penny Wars, which is a competition between all the work crews. As an incentive to raise lots of money, the staff sets various benchmarks for dollar amounts. One of those benchmarks happened to be...a PROM. So naturally, we got a prom on Friday night. Now on to the second factor--chores. At the beginning of the week, we were separated into work crews. In addition to working together at our job sites throughout the week, we were also responsible for doing chores together every day. There was a giant chart in the hallway with various chores next to each crew's name. One unique chore is called "staff love," which involves showing the five staff members that you love them and appreciate all the hard work they do, and which we were assigned on Friday. It could be something simple like making them cards or buying their favorite snacks at the store...but our work crew is not the simple kind of crew. We staged an elaborate ceremony at the prom involving a scavenger hunt, each of the staff members' favorite Dairy Queen Blizzard, and all of it culminating in the staff members walking into a pitch black gymnasium, the lights flicking on, and the staff members being crowned the kings and queens of the prom. It went so well...I couldn't imagine it going any more perfectly than it did. And after that, we went back to dancing the night away. It was SO AWESOME! And I think the staff felt loved!

Saturday, June 24: Took a really nice shower and slept in a bed.
After a full week of sleeping on the floor and being in a constant state of dirtiness, it was absolutely heavenly to be able to sleep in my own bed and take a decent shower. It also made me think about all the blessings I have, and about how much I take them for granted sometimes. All in all, it was a very powerful and life-changing week, and one that I can't WAIT to be a part of next year!

And now, I'm going to sleep. It's way past my bedtime, and I've got a dreadful cold. Love you, miss you, blah blah blahhhhh...ahhh...ahhhhhhhh...ACHOO!

grid project - week 8

Ohhhhhh man. I am behind on this stuff. Well! Let's dive right in then, shall we? Last I recall, I was still in Minnesota...*cue dream sequence*

Sunday, July 11: Had dinner with the parents and some family friends in Dorset, MN.
Dorset is a funny little town that my family has visited every couple of years since I was little. It's full of restaurants and shops that span the length of about two blocks or so...they print an Onion-like newspaper every year and elect a "mayor" by having the people who visit Dorset pay a dollar to put their name in the running. Their website has an article about last year's mayor that had me giggling a few times, which you can find here (scroll down to the heading "Dorset Mayor Race"). Again, as you read it, keep in mind that Dorset is super small and, in fact, unincorporated. Gotta love rural Minnesota. Anyway, a bunch of us piled in a few cars and drove to Dorset to eat at the best Mexican restaurant ever (Compañeros) before heading over to Dorset House for the most delicious ice cream cones in all the world. It was a blast!


Monday, July 12: Visited Grampa in International Falls.
My Grampa is one old dude. I'm pretty sure he'll be something like 94 next month, so as you can imagine, things are starting to wind down for him. His memory is slipping a bit, he's losing motivation, that kind of thing. Every time I'm in Minnesota I make sure to take a day and drive up to the Falls to see him, which usually involves Bingo, a game of cribbage, and a cookie or two from my Gramma's super special cookie jar. Grampa brought it with him when he moved out of the house and into the assisted living place, and now has it in his room at the nursing home. My Gramma died when I was a sophomore in high school, but Grampa always keeps a good assortment of cookies in the jar...which we grandkids just love! I also like hearing his stories about the different jobs he had growing up--working in the logging camps when he was seventeen, or climbing towers to change lightbulbs as an electrician...my Grampa is quite possibly the most hardcore person ever. I'm glad that I get to hear about his life, even if he doesn't quite remember who I am.


Tuesday, July 13: Spent the day in the hospital.
This was the big day of my mom's surgery. For those who might not be aware, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2009 and has been dealing with the aftermath ever since: a right-side mastectomy followed by months of chemotherapy and radiation, and a few other preventative procedures...but all with a smile on her face, which is astounding. Anyway, the purpose of this surgery was to do a left-side mastectomy and to begin the reconstructive process. Sooo we piled in the car at 7:00am and arrived at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in the Cities a little before noon, checked Mom in, waited for a couple of hours until her surgery started, and then sat around for about ten hours while Mom had her surgery and spent time in recovery. Dad and I finished a puzzle in the waiting room and watched a couple of documentaries on PBS (one about two jumbo jets that crashed into each other, and one about two ships that crashed into each other...I'm sensing a theme here). And around midnight, we got to a family friend's house and spent the night there. Mom did great, and so did her surgeons!


Wednesday, July 14: Had lunch with an old friend.
I spent Wednesday visiting my college...ahhhhh nostalgia! I hung around my orchestra director's office for a bit and heard about all of his adventures, and then I headed over to the other campus to visit with my academic advisor and to see how things are going at my former place of employment (the School of Theology, where I was an office assistant). While I was at the SOT, one of my college friends (who is now doing grad school work there) stopped by unexpectedly and we went over to the fancy new Refectory to have some lunch. All in all, it was a wonderful conversation. We were on quite opposite ends of the theological spectrum in college, but lots of things have changed for both of us these last few years, and it was great to have a civil, meaningful discussion about theology and whatnot. I also had dinner with another college friend in St. Cloud, which is about fifteen minutes from campus. So much good conversation that day!


Thursday, July 15: Went to a Bastille Day party.
One thing that you can bet on when my close group of friends and I get together is that the making and eating of food will be involved. So since Bastille Day was on Wednesday, we decided to celebrate with a party at Robert's house! Lots of good food, good friends, and late night conversation was to be had, since many of us have been spread across the globe this year and hadn't seen each other since last summer. So we had quiche, Niçoise salad, yummy bread, and some super amazing chocolate mousse, and just enjoyed each other's company while we could! I spent the night at Robert's house and then woke up bright and early on Friday to go visit a fellow youth minister/college friend at her parish in Monticello.


Friday, July 16: Had dinner with friends at Pizza Luce in Minneapolis.
After returning form Monticello, I went to Minneapolis with Christa where my friends Jo, Karen, and Laura live. (Well, Laura got a place closer to campus with Madeline since then, so technically it's just Jo and Karen now, but WHO CARES?! You get the idea!) Anyway, we went to dinner and had a grand old time. Pizza Luce is a really cool place, but GOODNESS ME, THE HIPSTERS! All we could do was laugh...I mean, look at them--trying so hard to look like they aren't trying hard to be the coolest thing since the refrigerator. Slouchy hats, flannel, ironic t-shirts, skinny jeans, choppy haircuts, scarves galore, thick-rimmed glasses, obscure musical taste...need I go on?! There's a reason that Pizza Luce was voted "Best Place to People Watch" in 2008.


Saturday, July 17: Navigated the flight home with EASE!
I'd say that's pretty self-explanatory. No bad weather, no near misses, no screaming babies, nothing. It was great. I actually really like flying alone. Don't know why...I just do.


Phew! One more week down, and...so many more to go. AHHHHH! Stay tuned!


Love you, miss you, blah blah blahhhhh...

grid project - week 7

Woooooo, GP Week 7 update as promised!

Sunday, July 4: Went to the Regatta/fireworks.
I spent the Fourth with one of my friends here in the Burgh. We started the afternoon with a little party up on Mount Washington--one of Fr. Bob's priest friends was having a potluck at his church/rectory, and somehow I got invited along. (For what it's worth, the taco dip was DELICIOUS!) Anyway, we rode the incline to the downtown area and went to this thing called the Regatta...it's basically a big shindig where the rivers meet--there are boat races, musical performances, kids' games, fireworks, and (my personal favorite) freestyle motocross shows. I tried really hard not to freak out with all the people--thousands and thousands of them, all crowded in a relatively small space. Luckily, I didn't have a panic attack and DIE. Anyway, we went back up to Mount Washington and watched the fireworks from the church up there before heading back to the North Hills for some well-deserved sleep. All in all, a very busy, very fun day.

Monday, July 5: Ate some raspberry sherbet with white chocolate chips.
Simple pleasures, right? It made me happy, and that's what matters in the Grid Project!

Tuesday, July 6: Went to Kennywood Park for the first time EVER!
Kennywood is a Pittsburgh tradition. For all you Minnesota peeps, it's the Pittsburgh equivalent to Valleyfair. It's strange, though--Kennywood has special days throughout the summer for different groups of people to come to the park and represent (what whaaaat), based mostly on where people live or what ethnicity they are. For example, there's Canonsburg Day, and Polish Day, and Italian Day, and Jewish Day, and more. Well, every summer there is a big event called "Catholic Youth Day" at Kennywood, and I brought a carload of youth. It was a fun day for the most part--except for the part when I almost fainted. But really, other than that it was fantastic!

Wednesday, July 7: Reminded myself why I LOVE middle schoolers.
This marked the first day of a summer program I'm coordinating with a bunch of North Hills area youth ministers called Summer Stretch. Basically, it's a six-week service/social program for kids in grades 6-8 that happens each Wednesday. It travels around to a different parish in the North Hills each week so that each youth minister only has to do one day of planning for six solid days of programming. All in all, it's a great program that I'm excited to be a part of. So when forty middle schoolers swarmed the auditorium at St. Teresa's for Summer Stretch's inaugural session, I instantly remembered why I love middle schoolers so much. They're HILARIOUS! They're open to anything, they always tell it like it is, and they have so much energy! I love middle schoolers. I LOVE MIDDLE SCHOOLERS! I can't wait for this fall when I start up a program for them! YAY YAY YAY YAY YAYYYYY!

Thursday, July 8: Had s'mores at a friend's house...in MINNESOTA.
Yes, in the midst of all the ministerial chaos, I was also getting ready to head back to the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes for a little "vacation." So after navigating my flight (scratch that, flights--three, to be exact!) to Bemidji, which involved SPRINTING through the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and uttering a few..."choice phrases"...I finally made it home. It was wonderful to see my mom and dad waiting for me at the little airport in B-Town, and after a yummy dinner with them, I went to my friend Erika's house and had some quality campfire/s'mores time AND some quality puppy time too!!! She saved a pregnant dog from certain death a while back (long story), and it had some kids, so we got to hang out with them for a little bit. The puppies were each about the size of a Chipotle burrito. SO CUTE! I need to get a puppy.


Friday, July 9: Traveled to North Dakota to see my grandma and other relatives.
Pretty self-explanatory, I'd say. It's so weird...my oldest cousin on that side of the family is going to be a senior in high school this year. When did that happen?! I guess I don't see them a whole lot, so my images of my cousins are stuck on a few years ago--no matter how many times I see them or get pictures of them or whatever, they're just...frozen in about the year 2005. So in my head, my cousin Joey (the senior) is in about seventh grade or so. It's wacky. Either way, it was a lovely (albeit SHORT) trip out to the No Dak.

Saturday, July 10: Went to an ordination.
You may remember from one of my Rome vacation videos that we visited a friend, Craig Vasek, who is studying at the Pontifical North American College (a seminary for guys from the United States who are preparing for the diocesan priesthood). Well, he was a deacon then, and on July 10 he was ordained a priest at the Cathedral in Crookston, MN. It was a beautiful thing, and I felt so blessed to be a part of it!

Okie dokie, one step closer! I'll try for another update tomorrow, but we'll see. For now...

Love you, miss you, blah blah blahhhhhh!

grapefruit is delicious!

I uploaded a quick video on the 'Tube a little bit ago, so I just wanted to let you know! It's kind of random, but I want to do a few random videos every once in a while just so you know I'm still alive and that I LOVE YOU! So...yeah! You can check out my YouTube channel or watch it below.

I'm heading off to Virginia to see Miss Pasutti today...should be a good little weekend trip! Springtime in this area is gorgeous, so I'm looking forward to the drive as well.

Okay, well...have a wonderful weekend! Love you, miss you, blah blah blahhhhh...

hey...this coffee table wasn't here before!

I know I said that I would try and get the video of the focaccia bread up when I got back, but SCREW THAT because I got frustrated and I'm a loser who gives up at the first sign of a challenge. And by that I mean I tried for a couple of HOURS to get it to work and it just didn't. So. No focaccia bread video for you! But for what it's worth...it was absolutely lovely.

So you may recall that I was away on retreat from Tuesday to Friday. I went up to Erie and spent some time with the Benedictine Sisters there, and it was exactly what I needed. The Sisters are wonderful and gracious, and they're so good at the whole Benedictine hospitality thing (which makes sense, I suppose). I stayed in a hermitage out in the woods, which has a nice little living room, a full kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom, and is about a five minute walk from the main building. "The Mount," as they call it, houses their chapel, library, and dining room, in addition to their living space, offices, and guest rooms. It was an awesome four days that I will surely look back on with fondness...especially on those days when I want to throw in the towel and give up my ministry forever (because everyone has those days every once in a while)! I was able to read a couple of really good books, color a picture with some crayons, and do a lot of journaling.

I wanted to share a bit of what I wrote on Wednesday:

Back in January, I heard this quote by St. Francis when I was on the youth ministers' retreat, and it really stuck with me: "Who we are before God is all we are, and nothing more." I think I've grown from that so much--just the fact that I could acknowledge my brokenness before God was (and continues to be) an important part of experiencing God's boundless love. Because that's just it: God's love doesn't stop when I'm angry with God, or when I don't pray, or when I sin, or when my trust in the Church is shattered. The love of God is always true, always present, always boundless.

Of course, this isn't an excuse for me to slack off spiritually or turn my back on the Church altogether. That's where the whole faith thing comes in. But it's good to be reminded that God's love is bigger than all the drama and the flaws...and that's the biggest thing that I got out of my retreat. It seems so simple, doesn't it?

And I definitely learned a lot of other things about myself and God and all that jazz...but I'm sure you'll understand if I don't write out all my ultra-personal journal entries here. :)

For what it's worth, the books I read were The Holy Longing by Ronald Rolheiser and The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen. They're both excellent books that I would highly recommend!

I'm so drawn to the Benedictine Sisters of Erie. Their community has so much life, and you can just feel the Holy Spirit running around the place like crazy! So...I've decided that I'm going to start the process to become an oblate with them. Basically, an oblate is a layperson (not a nun, Mom--DON'T WORRY, haha) who has a job and a family and all that, but who makes a formal commitment to the Benedictine way of life, especially to prayer (Liturgy of the Hours and the Eucharist) and the Benedictine values. Oblates commit to a particular religious community--in my case, to the Benedictine Sisters in Erie--to their ministries and to financial support of the community if able.

So that's what I'm doing! And now, I'm going to bed. My system is still a little off...I went to prayers with the Sisters at 6:30 each morning, so I had to be in bed pretty early. Also, last night I went to bed at 7:45 because I had a killer headache...and I woke up this morning at 9:00. Dang.

Okie dokie, that's all! Love you, miss you, blah blah blah...

crayola kid

Yesterday, I made some delicious focaccia bread from scratch. I had hoped to have a new video of that adventure up today...but I'm experimenting with Windows Movie Maker and I will spare you the gory details of file conversions gone horribly, horribly wrong to tell you that it just didn't happen. Whatever I do, it'll have to wait until Saturday, because...

I'm going on a four day silent retreat! In fact, I'm leaving in about an hour and won't be back until Friday! I'll be staying with the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, going to Mass and prayers with them and all that, but I'm generally just trying to spend some silent time alone, away from the ministry--and the Burgh--for the first time in a ridiculously LONG time. (Other than Rome, the last time I was out of the city was...Christmas.)

So please pray for me over these next few days. Or if you're not the praying type, I would appreciate it if you'd send some good thoughts my way! Thanks everyone...and I'll catch you on the flip side!

Love you, miss you, blah blah blahhhhhhhhhh...

i made it myself!

Last night, there was freezing rain in the Burgh. Just thought I'd mention that because, well, it's some nasty stuff and doesn't happen too often here in my estimation. Then again, snow doesn't usually happen on fourteen of the first eighteen days of February in Pittsburgh either, but would you look at that--the snowiest month on record!

So I don't know if I've mentioned this yet, but I'm going on vacation to Rome with my parents...in eleven days. I am beyond stoked at this point, and I just can't believe that it's already here! We've got some exciting stuff planned, including a day trip to Assisi, a Scavi tour, and a Wednesday general audience with none other than B16 himself!

That's right...THE POPE.

Back in my bedroom at my mom and dad's house, I have a list pinned to my wall: Ten Things To Do Before I Die. I made it several years ago, and I still think about it often. But what is first on the list, you might ask yourself? Why, See the Pope, of course! And as of two Wednesdays from now, I will officially be able to check that one off my list. And THAT is exciting!

But this trip is more than just a check-off for me. I've been thinking about Lent a lot lately (say that five times fast: Lent a lot lately, Lent a lot lately...), and how I can really enter into this beautiful season of preparation for the death and resurrection of Jesus. So the more I think about this trip and the closer it gets, the more I see it as a sort of Lenten pilgrimage. It's hard to explain. I just feel like...I don't know...I guess if I'm going to be in a place that holds so much history and heritage and significance for my faith, I can't pass up the opportunity to give the trip some deeper meaning other than simply "vacation." I'll definitely keep a journal, and maybe I'll even post some of it here when I get back (or each night if I can find me some WiFi action).

In other Lenten news, I finally discerned last night what I'm "giving up" this year. I didn't want to pick something like chocolate or sweets. That works for some people, but it seems that every time I've done it in the past, I've started it with good intentions but always ended up doing it for me, not for God (and throwing daily pity parties as well). So this year, I'm doing something different. I've decided that I am going to wake up each morning no later than 7:15 (that's where the sacrifice comes in--I'm giving up my sleep...and I am not a morning person!), and start my day with a solid half hour of prayer. You might think, "Well gosh, Jessie, I just assumed that you already did that." And I'm embarrassed to say that when it comes to keeping a regular prayer schedule, I am the worst. It's not that I never pray, it's that I don't devote a chunk of time to structured prayer throughout my day--so I think this will be helpful in giving me structure for my personal prayer practice. And on top of that, it will be beneficial to my ministry, because it's impossible to have a good ministry if one's personal spirituality is lacking. As the saying goes, you can't give what you don't have!

For no good reason at all, I would like to tell you a funny story. Apparently, back in the day, the pope (JPII at the time, not that it matters, even in all his coolness) visited a Latin American country. Can't remember which, but for the purposes of this story, it isn't really relevant. Just know that wherever he went, the people there spoke Spanish. Well, there was this guy from the U.S. who thought to himself, "I'm going to make a profit out of the pope's visit! I shall make a thousand T-shirts to commemorate the occasion, and a thousand people will buy them, and I shall be rich! Brilliant!" So the guy printed off a thousand shirts that said "I saw the Pope" in Spanish. However, when the day came, he was standing on the side of the street selling the shirts...and no one was buying them. He was like, "Well this sucks...I thought people would be buying these things like crazy! I just lost a ton of money! What's the deal?!" Well, he later found out the importance of using correct articles when speaking (or in this case, printing shirts) in Spanish. For he discovered that there is a distinct difference between saying "Vi el Papa" (I saw the Pope) and "Vi la papa" (...I saw the potato).

Last thing: if you have any intentions/petitions/prayers that you would like me to offer up while I'm on my pilgrimage to the Vatican, I would be more than happy to do so. Leave a comment below, e-mail me, send me a message on Facebook, or send me a letter, and I will be sure to offer up your intentions!

Love you, miss you, blah blah blah!

copper

Well, after a wonderfully exhausting week in Minnesota, I'm back home in the Burgh. While I did have a lovely time, it's kind of a relief to be back. I've gotten used to the quiet of living alone, so it was really intense to spend so much time with so many people. And the night I got back was the first time in about a week that I was able to sleep through the night--which tells me that my subconscious brain is starting to recognize this as "home"...and also that I have a really freakin' sweet bed! Oh Vera, how I love you! Best purchase I've made in my LIFE!

On the whole, Christmas involved a lot of traveling through dangerous snowdrifts and other such nonsense, as well as food and family and more food. And then more family!

I got some really awesome presents this year, but at the top of my list is a brand new set of knives! The ones I've got now are horribly irritating, because they're ALL serrated--all freaking SIX of them, plus six steak knives. So THANK YOU MOM AND DAD for making my culinary dreams come true with the fabulous set of non-serrated cutting utensils! (But then I forgot them in the living room at Mom and Dad's house...way to go, self! Thank God for the United States Postal Service!)

I had a great experience on the flight home on Monday. When I did my online check-in, I wasn't assigned a seat (which I assume is because I bought my ticket on Priceline) so I was instructed to go to the counter to get a seat when I arrived at the gate. Long story short, I was upgraded to first class for FRIZZLE because there weren't enough coach seats on the plane! It was a magical experience...I had a HUGE seat and a pillow and a blanket and I drank my apple juice from a real glass and got to have as many snacks as I wanted without having to pay for them and I was the first on the plane AND the first off the plane too! It was truly a Christmas miracle! Though, to be honest, I would NEVER pay that much for a first class seat. It's totally not worth it. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was super sweet and I enjoyed every moment of it...but I just don't think I could ever spend that much money for something so...short-lived, I guess. The fact that I'm in the air, flying thousands of feet above the earth, is quite enough for me!

Sidenote: Another great present was teaching my Grandma how to use her new cell phone. She called me on it last night and was simply AMAZED that we were communicating with one another. The wonders of technology! So way to go, G-ma! Now if only I could somehow convince her to get a computer and start a blog...

how the johnsons do christmas

I'm back in Minnesota! WHAAAAT?!

Yesterday, I spent some high quality time on airplanes and the like. I was greeted at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport by my friend S. Trish from St. Ben's. She was kind enough to bring me to the St. Cloud area, which was about an hour and a half that my mom didn't have to drive. After a bit of shopping (wahoo...), Mom and I drove the three hours up to B-Town. I spent a bit of time with some high school friends and two kittens, and then I went to bed because I was super tired from being awake for about...18 hours. Yesterday morning, I slept in until 10:30, then I had lunch with another one of my high school friends (SUP, MATT?!), got a haircut (yayyyyy), bought some books, mailed the rental car key back to Pgh, had dinner with some of my parents' friends, and watched It's A Wonderful Life with Tibby. I had never seen it before, so that was fun. I guess it's one of those things everyone is supposed to do...so I'm just catching up.

Okay, I don't understand children. The couple we had over for dinner last night have a two-year-old GENIUS of a daughter, and she actually asked who I was because she didn't recognize me. And after that, I basically had a leech clinging to me all night. She was super cute, but it was weird. Like, she was with me ALL THE TIME for a couple of hours. We played with some giant blocks and named the three wisemen in the nativity set (Pete, Sammy, and Charlie) and played the "What's that?" game with the objects on my Mika shirt and annoyed the cat. I don't know what her deal was...I thought children could smell fear?! Hmm.

I know I've been kind of big on the videos lately, but I don't care...and if you have a problem with it, you can just go chew on a stick!


Love you...hope you have a wonderful, joy-filled Christmas! Enjoy your time with family and friends--I know I am! And right now, I have to make a last-minute grocery store run...gotta love the Christmas Eve insanity.

Be well, folks! Baby Jesus loves you! :D