Catherine's USF Blog

Dare to be Joyful

silverthred23 — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:40:12 +0000

What do you think of when you picture a joyful person? Do you picture someone who is always smiling? Someone who never lets anything get to them and just seems to have everything going just perfect in their lives?

I consider myself a joyful person. I don’t always have a huge smile on my face, or act like my life is just perfect. There are a lot of circumstances in my life that are not peachy. I am frustrated with school work and home life and sometimes even work life. I find little time for my own activities and I am constantly busy. My life is in an organized mess. Even with the craziness of my life, I can find the joy in my life.

If someone comes up to me and asks me how I am, I usually say that I am doing well. How many times do we ask the same question and the response is, “I’m tired”. Are you really tired or are you just bored with your life? Are you unable to find that peace and joy in a normal day? A friend of mine is constantly telling me to live everyday as if it were my last. What if today was your last day? What would you do or say differently if you knew this was your last day here on earth? What if the last day you spent on earth was full of negative thoughts and negative actions? What if you spent the day being sad, tired or feeling sorry for yourself? There is so much joy, peace and love to see in this world.

Everyday is a simple blessing we should cherish and enjoy.

Live everyday like it was your last, and this time, find the joy.

The Soul in Work

silverthred23 — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:48:42 +0000

Have you ever gone through an entire day full of all kinds of busy activities? At the end of the day do you sit back and think about what a productive day you just had or do you just think “Man I was really busy today!” and not know what it was that kept you so busy?

Most people don’t go home and reflect on their days. Most people would rather forget their entire day and just be where they are. Work stays at work and home time is home time. I am one of those people who enjoys reflecting over my days work. I like to know that I accomplished something and that I wasn’t just wasting my time all day. I think time is very precious, I also think life is very precious and if we don’t find the time to evaluate and prepare to make ourselves better, then what are we doing all of this work for? What is the purpose for my work. I have to work in order to live. You cannot be alive and not do some work. We all have to think about how we are going to feed our bellies as well as how we are going to feed our souls.

Some people feed their souls through faith. Others find to feed their souls by being out in nature enjoying creation. You cannot feed your soul by playing video games or drowning out the voice of your soul with loud music. Listen to the soft whisper of your souls needs and wants and you will be able to feed your souls needs.

You can feed your soul by taking the time to reflect on your work. Reflection is a great way to help feed the soul with insight of the days happenings. It doesn’t need to take very long, only as long as your soul needs in order to sort out and fish through the knots and strings of the day. If you do this then I promise you the next day will come more easily and you won’t feel as busy, rushed, stressed or tired. Take the time to take care of what is important to you, your soul should be on that list.

Happy Soul Searching :)

Almost There!

silverthred23 — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:09:32 +0000

Christmas Break hangs in the distance, we can almost reach it, just not yet. There is still some time left before we can officially say good-bye to the rest of the school semester. Students have papers to finish, exams to study for and not to mention all of the final projects for class, separate service projects, and Christmas shopping for friends and family. There is a lot of stress and plenty of time to waste procrastinating. If you have not watched the Ellen Degeneres “Here and Now” then you have got to watch. It is all about procrastination and it is so funny.

Thanksgiving: Realtives, Food and No School

silverthred23 — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:19:06 +0000

This year for Thanksgiving I want to make the turkey. I usually get stuck making the green bean casserole or something like that, but this year I told my mom I was going to make the Turkey. After all I am an excellent cook. I was going to attend culinary school before I decided on Saint Francis. Anyway, so far my mom seems pretty excited about this idea. Then my older sister, who is married and has a lot more time to experiment with her cooking then I do, decided she would like to help by brine the turkey for the next few days leading up to thanksgiving. I decided to let her take over because she would do a much better job cooking the bird then I would at this point.

See she is a genius. I will let you all know after Thanksgiving if it was awesome.

What You Put in Your Bowl, Part 2

silverthred23 — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:51:26 +0000

To continue with the critique of this poor boy I took to Flat Top Grill for dinner.

So he thought noodles were too fatty! I wanted to tell him to keep his opinions to himself, but that wouldn’t be very nice. I decided to be Christian and give this guy the benefit of the doubt. I decided to ignore the fatty noodle comment. However, when we were going down the row of veggies and sauces and meat I asked Joe what he liked. He didn’t seem to like anything except spinach and chicken. I don’t remember which sauce he chose but I do remember he didn’t even try mixing them and he wouldn’t let me pick out a few different concoctions for him. This made me feel like he didn’t trust me. Now men, if you don’t let a woman try to cook for you, aren’t you being a fool for not trying to give it a shot? Yes, she might be an awful cook, but you will never know until you try!

During dinner, I will give Joe points for not talking about himself the entire time. (I was on a date once when I was 16 where the guy knew I didn’t want to date him, and all he did was talk about himself. It was really very unimpressive, which compelled me to first flirt with the waiter, and encourage the boy to tip the waiter heavily.) Joe did ask me some questions about myself, and I guess we did have some interesting conversation, but because I knew there was not going to be a second date, I was not really into the conversation. I guess I am good about acting like I am having a wonderful time when in retrospect I am miserable.

After dinner, Joe suggested we take a walk around Jefferson Pointe. The noodles weighed heavy on my stomach and I knew I should get some exercise to help with digestion, for that reason alone I agreed to walk with the man. The poor boy. He kept trying to hold my hand and I kept trying to avoid him holding my hand. Then I tried to be the worst kind of girl and dragged him through clothing stores acting all ridiculous like I wanted him to buy me everything. Yes, I know, I really shouldn’t have messed with him in this way but it was just so easy. I felt like one of those girls I hate. I think you know the type. The ones who whine and kiss up to whatever guy they are dating. I honestly just wanted to see how far my influence with this guy would go before he snapped.

~End of Part 2

Here is a link to Jefferson Pointe! It is very close to the University of Saint Francis and offers a lot of shopping and entertainment options. http://www.jeffersonshopping.com/

Xanadu Man!

silverthred23 — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:41:11 +0000

Ok! This past weekend I attended the University of Saint Francis production of the musical XANADU! It was a very upbeat and fun musical to watch. The lead role was played by USF’s very own Meghan Flanary, a very talented singer and actress. It was a joy seeing her performance in this USF production. I encourage everyone in the Fort Wayne or USF community to experience this even this weekend November 18, 19 and 20. The showings on Friday and Saturday start at 8 o’clock and then on Sunday the show starts at 2 o’clock. If you are not a USF student you can bring a bag of caned goods for half off of the 10 dollar ticket!

What You Put in Your Bowl Part 1

silverthred23 — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:59:26 +0000

“The sight of lovers feedeth those in love.” Shakespeare (As You Like It, 3.4.54)

This is not a complicated concept. You can tell a million things about your date just by observing what they might put in their bowl. I do not claim to be a dating expert, just a critical thinker. Recently I tested my dating abilities by taking 10 men out on a first date. Each date we would go to the same restaurant and I would observe my dates every move. Everything they did went into my selective memory, selective because I chose what to see and what not to see, which was compiling a list of do’s and don’ts. What follows is a case study of these 10 different dates.

Place: Flat Top Grill

Date #1: Joe

Joe was a nice enough guy but I knew there was something funny about him. I eventually said yes to go out with him. He asked me where I would like to go and I decided immediately I wanted to go to Flat Top. At the time I had no clue I was going to be so critical but he really put this on himself. I had known Joe for several years. We went to the same high school and grade school. The problem was he never had the guts to talk to me until recently when he found me on facebook and decided to start talking. I was not interested but I did feel sorry for him, so yes, it was a pity date.

Joe picked me up and gave me an awkward hug, immediately thoughts of “Oh Dear God!” were swimming through my head. Then he said hello… His voice was so high-pitched I was afraid to say anything back. His voice was higher than my own. (Sorry man who was a strike two against you already).

We get to the restaurant and as I try to keep an open mind, even with two strikes against Joe. It wasn’t his fault he has such a high-pitched voice. This date had everything to do with food and not voice. I was simple curious about what items Joe would place in his bowl.

First off, he chose rice instead of noodles. This may seem like a trifle if it were not for the fact that he pointed out how fatty noodles were in comparison to rice. I had selected noodles.

Dare to be Risky

silverthred23 — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:33:48 +0000

Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to free fall through the air. Maybe this isn’t exactly the kind of risky business you would want to encounter in your daily life. For others it is a thrill we cannot wait to experience. The question is why would we subject ourselves to such a thrill? The most simplistic answer I can come up with is because of the adrenaline we get from taking a free-falling adventure on this gorgeous planet. Let’s go skydiving!

Lunch?

silverthred23 — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:47:27 +0000

Today I could not decide where I was going to have lunch. I knew I wanted something fresh and tasty. I also knew I wanted a sweet tea. I know some of you are thinking Subway, but I wanted something with a little more atmosphere. McAlisters and Panera were my only options of course. These are two places close to the University. Panera would have been the perfect stop if it was not for the thought of McAlisters sweet tea. Confusion set in, I was panicked. What should I do? Then it occurred to me, both! Yes, both would be wonderful. I got in line with all of the chatty ladies meeting at Panera for lunch and fantasized about their bread until it was my turn to order. I asked for my normal Panini, which I haven’t had in quite some time. While waiting for my order to be up I could not help thinking I should have gotten myself the Greek Salad, it just sounded really good. Oh well, my decision was made. I grabbed my Panini and walked back to my car. The smell of my delicious sandwich filtered through the entire car and tickled my senses. This is no time for eating. I needed my tea.

I drove the short block over to McAlisters and got in line with a very different crowd of people. These were not chatty women or old couples – this crowd was full of young men! Shocked, yes. The man at the register gave me a huge smile and asked me what I would like. I asked for my tea first so that I wouldn’t forget; but then I was compelled to purchase a salad as well. What a pig! Am I right? Anyway, I make my way through this sea of men (they must have been having an all guys club) and took a seat on the “to go” bench. As I am sitting here several of these men pass me each one of them saying hello but none of them stopping to talk any longer than this simple greeting. I almost felt like I was intruding in their space. After about 3 minutes of this a jovial little man skips up to me and asks me if I would like any dressing with that salad. I felt like the typical woman who purchases a small salad and iced tea for lunch rather than a loaded baked potato and sandwich. Humiliated I asked for the vinaigrette. Why didn’t I ask for the ranch? At least that way these men would think I wasn’t one of those girls who are only concerned for their figure. I am not normally this typical as a woman but apparently today was the exception.

As I turn to leave I felt at least ten pairs of eyes burning the back of my neck. I fall into my car and open the windows trying to get some relief from all stress over lunch and then an ex-boyfriend pulls into McAlisters. The thought instantly hits me that this was a convention of all of my ex-boyfriends and I was the laughing stalk of the place. I drove away as fast I could. I sit here now writing all of this and cannot help but laugh because as many first dates as I have been on there is no way all of them would have known each other and would get together for lunch because I was their connection. Next time, I think I will pack a lunch.

Panera + McAlisters = Terrifying ex-boyfriend reunion!!!

Ode to a little brother

silverthred23 — Wed, 25 May 2011 00:08:43 +0000

Ode to a Little Brother
Twinkle, twinkle little star
Brightly shining down
Upon the earth
Where you lie
So peaceful so sweet

How I wonder what you are
Going to be like when I return
more hair?
more words?
potty trained?

Up above the world so high
so far from you
And you from me
No more spilling my purse
Or waking me up every night

Like a diamond in the sky
I remember you
Sweet kisses, big hugs

Far off vision of you
Blurred by the street lights

Twinkle, twinkle little star
Soon I will be home
To play and laugh with you
Even though I may wish to stay

How I wonder what you are
Be safe
Sleep tight
In your “big boy” bed
I miss you little brother!