May Wrap-Up

May has been weird in that it felt super long and super short. It straddled the transition between being at college and being at home, where I'm still sort of trying to find my footing for the summer. But overall, it was a really good month--college finished out well, and I'm happy to be home! So, here are some of the things that went down:

-I went to my first ever formal dance! (Okay, technically this was still in April, but it was after my last wrap-up, so it counts.) It was Newman's Formal, and two of my friends talked me into it, and then one of those friends loaned me a dress, and the other friend got her roommate to do my hair and makeup, and I basically felt like I had fairy godmothers for the event. It was a good time. Although honestly, the getting-dressed-up part was one of the most fun parts, since I don't really dance to the kind of music that most people of my generation dance to... But I did dance a couple of times, including learning the Cotton-Eyed Joe, which is, as the kids say, 'a bop', and got to hang out with my fairy godmother friends. Also, towards the end of the dance, one of my guy friends tossed me his fedora, and I put it on and just walked out with it (stole it, in other words), and then took a bunch of selfies that make me look rather like a Jewish gangster, or someone who belongs in the Roaring Twenties. It was absurdly fun.

-This was also in April but after my last wrap-up: one Saturday, I basically dropped everything and took the (early early early) morning train up to Chicago by myself and spent the day wandering around Millenium Park and the Lurie Garden until the Art Institute opened, and then wandered the Art Institute for A Number of Hours. The garden was beautiful, the art was amazing, I got to sketch quite a bit, and then I got a baguette sandwich from a French cafe and slept on the train almost all the way back. 10/10 would definitely recommend. 

-I had a lab final, a final review, a group project due, and a normal final all in one week. It was quite the week. The week after that was quite a bit better--I just had one final at the end of the week, so all I had to do was study for that and pack, which gave me quite a bit of time to spend with friends, as well. 

-One of the nights this month when my friend was working in the front office, she and I and two of our guy friends stayed up super late watching old Disney movies (and Moana), and then there was a HUGE thunder and lightning storm that lasted for probably two hours--we went outside to watch it, and one of us (naming no names, but it wasn't me) went out and danced in the rain. Then we sat on a couch and watched various scenes from Prince of Egypt. It was a strange and beautiful night, made bittersweet by the fact that one of the guy friends was graduating (now has graduated), so we probably won't have many more nights like that. 

-I watched through the War & Peace BBC series with one of my friends--that was a lot of fun, and I would highly recommend the series, with the caveat that there are several inappropriate scenes that would need to be skipped. 

-I proofread a paper for the guy friend that I stole a fedora from, and that turned into a four-hour proofreading saga, two hours of which was us actually in person sitting at his computer wrangling over filler words that I wanted him to delete, figuring out how to rephrase repeated words, bantering, and eating kippered herring and Oreos while his roommate (also one of my good guy friends) tried to pack in the background. 

-I got home to find that our bees had died (we had an unseasonably cold spring, unfortunately) and so Galadriel and I got a new nuc for the hive, and are having a grand old time re-figuring out how to be beekeepers. (Hopefully it all goes well! I am optimistic.) But you haven't lived until you've transported a rather porous box full of rather unhappy bees in your family's minivan.

-Being home has been lovely, albeit a bit busier than I expected. I'm going to be doing work for a mom friend of ours and working on various of my own projects over the summer, as well as working as a wedding coordinator at our parish. The first wedding that was on my docket was a week after I got home! But it went smoothly--I hope that all the other weddings this summer go as well. 

-I got to take a ferry ride within a week of getting back! I love being in the PNW again. :) (This is where the photo for the post graphic came from.)

Fun Quotes

Jay: "Girl, you so ultrafine...like my fountain pen."

Jay: "Misinformation is everywhere on the internet. And I create half of it."

Lewis: [to someone else] "You're invited to my [indistinct] party when I turn 21."
Me: "Your POPE SMACKING party?!"
Lewis: "My pipe smoking party."

Our music director: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, says the LORD."
Sarah: "Bet."

Thomas: "I am with you always."
Me: "Even unto the end of the age."
Thomas: "What's that from?"

Lewis: "Father, is America the best country in the world?"
Father H: "Yeah, except Texas."

Kay: "I don't wanna make nuclear weapons!!" *beating feet on floor* "I don't wanna be death, destroyer of worlds!!!"

Father M: "You could sell your souls to academia AND the Catholic Church by becoming a Dominican."

Father M: "People in the Midwest are friendly and helpful. People on the East Coast are helpful but not friendly, and people on the West Coast are friendly but not helpful."

Thomas: "I don't do well with emotional stuff, so I had the robot write that."

Gimli: "If you total my car, I'm going to total you."

Eomer: "A bird has taken up residence in the carport, and we're hoping it'll attract a mate and raise a family."
Mom: "That's what I hope for my children."

Mom: "Snitches get stitches!"
Eomer: "Except for when my siblings snitch on me, in which case you say, 'Thank you, darling, here's a lollypop!'"

Worth Reading If...

...you know priests, or you are any kind of parent

Priestly Fatherhood by Fr. Jacques Philippe
This is a deceptively short, deceptively simple book from Father Jacques Philippe, that talks about priestly fatherhood largely through the lens of the Beatitudes. Because that Beatitudinal examination is rather conceptual, the conclusions he draws are valuable for parents of any kind, whether biological or spiritual, mothers or fathers (at least, according to my mom and my own conjecture). I found some of his observations valuable for my own spiritual life and relationships, even though I am not male, nor a parent of any sort. The thoughts that he shares, both the conceptual ones related to the Beatitudes, and the more practical ones at the end of the book, are all incredibly beautiful, and have so much wisdom to them, and made me appreciate our priests all the more. I wish I could do more justice to this book in this recommendation, but I can't. I did tell you it was deceptively short and simple...

...you are a creator or you love the outdoors (or both)

The God of the Garden by Andrew Peterson
I love Andrew Peterson, and when I heard that he had a new-ish book out, I needed to get my grubby paws on it as soon as possible, and it did not disappoint. It's a memoir of a lot of his life that is themed around trees--the trees of his childhood, the trees of his adulthood, the trees that he has planted, the trees that he has nurtured. And it is so beautiful. It has a lot of themes and discussion of what it means to be stewards of the earth (even if he doesn't say so it so many words), and what it means to love the land, both in the city and the country, and so much of it resonated really strongly with me! It also includes the backstory for some of my favorites of his songs, including "The Rain Keeps Falling", and "The Silence of God", as well as the ones that mention his childhood in Illinois (I love those, because they were some of the first things that helped me to love Illinois, as well). As if all of that wasn't enough, there are also so many beautiful spiritual insights that he shares with the reader from his own life. Overall, I came out of the book feeling like he was a personal friend (even though he isn't...yet. ;)) and with a renewed resolve that a) I need to get to one of his concerts someday, and b) I need to go to England someday! 

...you like classics, especially things like Jane Eyre

Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
I listened to this one on audio, which I would highly recommend. I went into it knowing nothing about it except that one of my friends from home had recommended it, and my initial evaluation halfway through the book was "this is like Pride & Prejudice, except that Lizzie marries Wickham when she is enamored with him". Which, yes, is a bit depressing, at least during the middle. But it's much more than its rather depressing middle. It's an examination of what friendship, devotion, and love actually are and should look like. It follows a bunch of very human humans and has one of my new favorite male characters--Gabriel Oak. (He's a shepherd, and a Very Good Man, but not in an irritating way. He kind of reminds me of Aragorn, in certain ways.) It's dramatic and pathetic by turns and has a very satisfying ending. Also, its observations on strong-minded women made me chuckle. I think I need to think about it more before I come to more conclusions about it, and I feel like I've done a very bad job of recommending it here, but please believe me when I say that it is a classic very much worth reading. 

So...how was your May? Which was your favorite quote? Are you familiar with Andrew Peterson, and if so, what is your favorite of his songs?