TBT: Venice :)

Sorry I have been on a little TBT hiatus! I was at a conference and then last week was Thanksgiving, so naturally I wasn't here on my blog, but stuffing my face!

Anyways, what kind of Italian would I be if I didn't feature more of my travels in beautiful Italia?

Here are some pictures from Venice. It was just as magical and beautiful as I always thought it would be. I was definitely not disappointed :)

All I took on my trips was my trusty backpack. Here we are waiting for our train!

I believe this is Padua, where we stopped on the way over, but it is too beautiful not to share

Yes, this is real life!!

Too cool for words.

Everyone travels by boat!

So, so beautiful 

With gelato of course!

When in Europe.....

I'm embarrassed by the redness of my face haha. I was walking all day and probably just flustered ;) 

We were only in Venice for the night because we were on our way to Rome, but it was SUCH a great city, and we enjoyed some great food AND I got an awesome pair of purple boots that I'm sure will make their photo debut on here next week! Hope everyone has a wonderful Thursday!

Advent rejuvenation

Since it is the beginning of Advent, I have been reflecting on how I want to bring in this liturgical New Year. I stumbled upon this quote by Pope Francis, and it has been my springboard:

"This journey is never finished. Just as in the life of each one of us there is always a need to start again, to get back up, to rediscover the meaning of our existence, so for the great human family it is necessary always to redirect ourselves toward the common horizon that is the goal of our journey. It is the horizon of hope! This is the horizon of a good journey. The season of Advent that today we begin once again, restores the horizon of hope for us, a hope that does not disappoint because it is founded on the Word of God. It is a hope that does not disappoint simply because the Lord never disappoints! He is faithful! He does not disappoint! Let us think about and feel this beauty." -Pope Francis

I have for a while been in a time of great discernment, great purification, and unfortunately great confusion as a result of that. I realized, though that I have become so consumed with "figuring out my life" that I have lost my ability to live out my first vocation, which is to become holy. What more appropriate time to start over then now? I am looking forward to re-opening my heart and preparing it for the Lord of the Universe to lay His head. For the duration of Advent, I am going to try and not plan my future. I am going to try and not "pray about my vocation". This may seem counterproductive, but for now, I need to focus on praying just to pray, just to give God honor. I need to wait on His timing, as I am waiting for Him to be born again in our hearts.

4 Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. 6 He will bring forth your vindication as the light, and your right as the noonday. 7 Be still before the LORD, and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over him who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! 8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. 9 For the wicked shall be cut off; but those who wait for the LORD shall possess the land. - Psalm 37

(Linking up over at Natalie's!)

NAS: Surviving parties

Linking up with the Not Alone Series again! Last one until the holidays are over!

Surviving events/parties as a singleton

The holidays are coming up! Family parties, friend gatherings... and you're single. How do you "cope"? Any tips or tricks?

Oh, this is always a fun topic. I think if you go into the events expecting the questions, it can make it a lot easier to get through. I've read articles that provide you with all sorts of witty, sarcastic comebacks for when this topic comes up, but as much as I would like to use those, I don't think they usually end well!

I find that usually just calmly answering the questions and moving along in the conversation is the best tactic. And even agreeing with them when they say things like "Well, those guys don't know what they're missing!". Instead of moping, if you answer with confidence in who you are, it becomes slightly less annoying!

There are definitely the harder questions though that eat away at your insides: There is the ever classic "Well maybe if you weren't so picky..." or, "Maybe you should smile more!" (yea, I get this one all the time). My usual response (depending on who is asking me) is to either use it as an opportunity to evangelize and explain why I am waiting and what I am looking for in a relationship, or just tell them I'm not in a place to be dating right now and that is why I am not. That is not technically lying, because if we were in a place to be dating, we would be dating because God would see that we and mystery man would each be ready for His plan to unfold.

As far as going to friend parties, I usually try to make sure I have a friend to go with just for moral support and so it is less awkward if people are in pairs.

Anyways, my advice is to just keep your chin up and don't let anyone steal your joy! You know in your heart who you are and what is going on between you and the Lord. Remain confident in His plan and say a little prayer if you're having a rough time. Maybe we can offer up these little annoyances for perseverance and patience in our future vocations.

I look forward to reading what everyone else has to say on this topic and I hope everyone has a blessed holiday season!

TBT: Cinque Terre

This Thursday, we are taking a trip back to Cinque Terre, Italy. This was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. The name means "5 Lands" and is significant because it is made up of 5 separate villages. It is seated right on the coast of the Italian Riviera. There is a path along the cliffs that overlook the sea if you wish to walk through each of the villages. We walked through them all, but took a train back to where we were staying. It takes about 5 hours to walk the path. There will probably be quite a few pictures because I foresee having trouble choosing which ones I like best ;)

Classic Italy

The river sparkled in the sunlight!

A portion of the path. You can see another town in the distance.

Some of the lovely ladies I traveled with.

Never before or since have I had pizza that tasted as good as this.

Italia

real Italian wine of course! 

Seafood pasta from the Mediterranean :)

Relaxing and enjoying gelato!

And one my friend took...she had a much better camera ;)

TBT: That one time in Gimmelwald

At the beginning of November 2009, during my study abroad program, we took a little weekend trip to Gimmelwald, Switzerland. This was probably one of my favorite trips! (Who am I kidding, I loved them all!)

We stayed at a little mountain hostel, which was adorable and seated right in the alps, and had to take a little cable car to get to the top. We spent the weekend hiking, getting to know other travelers at our hostel, drinking hot chocolate (may or may not have been spiked...) and just breathing in the fresh mountain air. There wasn't much snow where we were, but that made for perfect hiking!

My friend Caitlin and I on the train ride over

The school always gave us these sandwiches to take with us. We were so sick of them by the end of the semester!

My friend Emily and I prepared for the elements 

The view as we were going up the mountain

Our hostel!

So lovely 

On our hike

Just breathtaking.

Look what was hiding behind the fog!

Glory! 

NAS: Fave single blogs

Linking up again over at Morgan's!

Share other single-person blogs or websites that you love! 

(or include posts/articles that you've enjoyed that pertain to the single life!)

One of my favorite blogs is Made in His Image. While it isn't specifically about being single, it has a lot about building up and healing women and helping us to realize our dignity! They do have posts here and there that are more about relationships, so if you have some time, I recommend looking through them. They recently started a men's portion which has been really interesting to read things from a guys point of view as well. They just posted this, which is  geared to men, but has a lot of good points about relationships: 

"From time to time, God allows us to be single. Being single isn’t being lonely or afraid, it is growing in holiness and learning to fall in love with God. "

Love that. 

I can't really think of many other posts off the top of my head. The ones I usually read are ones that I run into on Facebook that my friends have shared. Or ones that I find through all of you ladies in this series :) So thanks for spreading the love!

And for some single-ness humor, you can always count on buzzfeed.

Edit: I just found this post and thought it was great :) It is from http://spirituallysingle1.blogspot.com and about when God makes you wait. We all know how that can be!

TBT: Halloween!

This Thursday of course is Halloween, so I thought it would be appropriate to reminisce about one of my favorite Halloweens!

This one took place in the Kartause in Gaming, Austria, where we had a Halloween dance!


My friends and I decided to be the Spice Girls! We even learned the dance to one of their songs... but no one knows what happened to that video... hmm..

Anyways, below it what happens when I brush my hair. Needless to say, I don't do that often. Also, my hair was abnormally long. The other two Spice Girls are not present in this picture.

Baby, sporty, and scary spice

These 2 have become some of my best friends! I think they were Hansel and Gretel. And sorry about the bad picture...

My friend Dave and I were having a contest to see who's hair was bigger... mine for sure:)

Anyways, this was definitely a memorable night. Tons of fun, and tons of hilarious costumes! People were very creative. And everything just seems more fun when you're in Europe :)