Looking Back at 2013- what happened, who’s awesome, and what I want out of next year!

Wow, this past year just flew by! Really, it’s like I blinked and it was suddenly almost 2014. It seems like I was just a little kid a few weeks, and now, I’m seven months away from being 18! Let’s break down the year, and make some lists. I do love lists.

What Happened:

• This year, I really stepped up my prayer life and got closer to God than I would have ever dreamed possible a year ago. I can honestly say I’m a better person now than I was a year ago.
• I went on LEAD, and made my first real friends in years. I had amazing experiences with God there, learned how to fight for purity, and threw M&Ms at my nemesis Michael. Best week of my ENTIRE LIFE!
• I flew on a plane. I was terrified, but I loved it! 10/10, will do again!
• I learned how to make toffee. Yum!
• Regina Doman shared my blog. I kid thee not.
• I drew a lot of designs.
• I rediscovered the joys of nail polish.
• I had a baby niece born, and she’s PERFECT.
• Still didn’t get kissed yet.
• Discovered Doctor Who. Love it.
• Started public school- finished semester with 4.0 GPA and I’m on the high honors roll. Woohoo!

Who’s awesome:

• Evelyn Anne. She is awesome.
• Mariam. She is awesome, too.
• My family- sisters, brothers, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles are awesome.
• Mike. Much awesomeness.
• LEAD friends, specifically Austin, Octavia, Erika, Jenny, Jesse, Michael, Michael, Victor, Nikki, Cassie, Teresa, Patricia, Juliauna, Carla, Danielle, Samuel, Cisito, Paola, Hannah, Carmen, and Alexis. Oh wait, that’s all of them. Never mind, they’re all awesome.
• Pope Francis. More awesomeness than is technically legal.
• Nate. He’s an awesome dude.
• Josh “Jaws” is pretty darned awesome.
• Marisa and Rachel really are awesome, guys.
• McKenzie, my unofficial Godmother, is the epitome of awesome, as is her boyfriend Joseph.
• Sara D. is beautifully awesome.
• Maria, Tori, Kyle, Greg, Jared, Scoot, Andrew, Angelo, JF (not even gonna try to spell his name,) Amy, Ashton, Coleen, Cera, Meara, and all my internet apologist friends are all on the most awesome people ever list.
• My readers are awesome. You hear that? YOU’RE AWESOME!
• And Jesus is the most AWESOME OF ALL.

What to expect next year-

• So busy. Much work. Such school. College WOW.
• Might start dating, if I can find a worthwhile guy. In Tucson, Arizona. Yeah, I’m not gonna find anyone. Check back in 2015 or, if I’m really realistic, 2020.
• Less writing. My hands are slowly getting more and more painful, and it’s getting harder to type. But I’ll be around, folks!
• I’ll probably get at least one haircut.
• I’ll learn how to make macaroons. And maybe even creme brûlée!
• I’ll change the blog theme.
• I’ll learn how to braid my hair.
• I’ll find a cowboy hat that isn’t cheezy.

Love to all! Thanks for a great year!!

-Tani

It’s that time of year again- 2013 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,600 times in 2013. If it were a cable car, it would take about 43 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

A Simple Question

From adam4D.com

Love to all!

-Tani

Healing from afar- Mt. 8:5-11and faith. Also, bodybuilders.

Hello! I’m writing another post- my second in two days! Maybe I was inspired by my friend Mike writing an awesome post about why we call God a “He.” Maybe I just wanted to stretch my writing muscles so that I can become a writing bobybuilder.

Think this, except with a laptop.

Anyway, today I was re-reading the gospel reading from yesterday, which was about the Centurion’s servant. It’s a great story, even upon first glance.

“When Jesus entered Capernaum,
a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying,
“Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.”
He said to him, “I will come and cure him.”
The centurion said in reply,
“Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed.
For I too am a man subject to authority,
with soldiers subject to me.
And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes;
and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes;
and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him,
“Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.
I say to you, many will come from the east and the west,
and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven.” (Mt. 8: 5-11)

Honestly, wow. I love this verse. Let’s break it down.

• Starting at the top, the centurion was pretty brave to go looking for a known rebel, whom the authorities didn’t like, to ask for help, especially when that rebel was of a religion that wanted nothing more than to throw the centurion and his countrymen out on their heads.
• Secondly, this centurion was concerned about a servant, a hired worker, probably not even Roman. This centurion would have had dozens, if not hundreds more where he came from. But he cared enough about this unimportant individual to go looking for a Jew whom his country disliked.
• This guy knew enough about Jewish law and custom to know that, were Jesus to enter his house, Jesus would be considered unclean.
• And then this centurion has enough faith to know, not just believe, but know, that Jesus has the power to heal his servant from afar, to merely order the sickness to leave, and the sickness will obey.
• Jesus heals the servant from afar- He didn’t have to touch him in order to change him! Imagine what Jesus can do for you, who receive Him in mass!
• Lastly, Jesus commends this man’s huge faith, and then totally blows the minds of His Jewish listeners by saying that people from the East and West (i.e not Jews) will be sitting with Jews in heaven, eating and drinking and having a grand ol’ time. That’s pretty revolutionary, right there.

As further proof of how darn important this verse is, we quote every day in Mass. Just before Communion, we say “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof. But if you say the word, my soul shall be healed.” A small word change, from “my servant” to “my soul,” but the sentiment is the same. Jesus can heal, we just need to ask in faith.

Love to all!

-Tani

 

Anticipation Time!

Oh look, it’s December (as evidenced by the cheery Christmas theme and flying snow of the blog!) How did that happen? It seems only a month ago that Christmas trees were appearing in Costco and “Holiday” themed treats were trending on Pinterest…

Oh wait, they were. Heh.

Why does it seem like Christmas is being celebrated earlier every year? At 12:01 the day after Halloween, the first happy elves are put onto shelves, the first stockings are sold in the department store, and the chocolate Santas begin appearing in the shop windows. I love Christmas, a lot, but it’s a bit silly. Haven’t these people ever heard of Advent?

I was reading a fantastic blog post by favorite blogger Jackie Francois called “No Room for Advent.” Go check it out, it’s awesome. In it, Jackie’s husband Bobby writes about how the quiet preparation of advent is being forgotten in favor of the joy and celebration of Christmas. Advent exists for a reason- we are cleaning house for Christ’s coming! It’s the long walk to Bethlehem, days of preparing and getting ready for the Savior to come and the angels to sing. Like Lent, the season before Easter, we should spend Advent cleaning our souls, doing reparation for sin, trying to give up selfish things.

So take some time to enjoy Advent. It makes Christmas so much sweeter to know that you’ve been anticipating, patiently waiting, joyfully preparing.

Have a blessed Advent, everyone.

Love to all!

-Tani