Christmas at Opryland

Last night my friend and I went to see the Christmas decorations at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. Wow! That hotel is ENORMOUS! Apparently it is the biggest hotel outside of Las Vegas. There are three huge lobbies inside, complete with gardens, waterfalls, streams, and even boat rides. Pretty incredible. Here are some photos of the holiday decor. My favorite was the Christmas tree made out of poinsettias.

Holy women for Advent

Saint Clare of Assisi

I just found this awesome article on Faith and Family magazine which highlights Pope Benedict's recent talks on the women saints on the medieval church. Though I have yet to read the Pope's original Audiences, I found these snippets enlightening and inspiring.

Mary, our Model

Happy Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception!

I have been reflecting a lot today on Our Lady's virtues and how she can shed some light on my current challenges and struggles, especially with moving and transitioning.

I had a rough morning today. I was homesick, discouraged, and grumpy. There are so many things one must do amidst a move to a new state...address changing, opening new bank accounts, figuring out the best way to move my furniture, figuring out how I am going to afford the new things I need to furnish a house, etc., etc.,

I really got caught up in this frustration today, thinking to myself "Gee...maybe I shouldn't have even moved. It's just too much trouble!"

Suddenly, the phrase popped into my head: "Give without counting the cost."

Albrecht Durer (1471-1528)

I realized that I have given to God my future and my comfort zone in taking this leap of faith and moving to Tennessee. But, I have gotten very caught up in counting the cost. Sometimes, I am just going through the normal emotions that anyone would feel, missing old friends and family, giving up the old and embracing the new. But I have also been counting the cost begrudgingly at times too.

It dawned on me that Our Lady not only surrendered her will to God's will in perfect faith. But she truly gave without counting the cost.

Although Our Lady probably did wonder when the angel appeared to her at the Annunciation what sacrifices God's plan would require, she surrendered her will completely to the Lord. I don't think that during her pregnancy, or the 33 years of Christ's life that she was resentful of what God was asking her to give. Instead, she gave freely, and to the utmost when she was asked to stand and watch her only Son suffer and die on the cross.

At Mass today, the priest in his homily talked about how theologians have said that the Blessed Mother had to have been without sin, because there was no room for sin in her. She was so filled with God's grace that there was no space for sin. I thought that was a really neat way to understand the Immaculate Conception.

With each letting go, each giving, may more of God's grace fill us, so that soon there is only space enough for grace; so that there is no room for selfishness or fear.

Gingerbread house of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

Chef Froke with his gingerbread creation. Credit Monique Marie DeJong

georgetown.patch.com

I used to go to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for daily Mass when I lived in Washington DC, so it is not only a gorgeous church but also close to my heart.

When a friend showed me the pictures of this holiday concoction I was amazed.

Pretty sweet. (Pun intended)

Check out the article and more photos here!

Words for today

flickr/by yellowcloud

"We are part of this world, tied to the possibilities

and limits of our material condition,

at the same time we are open to an infinite horizon,

able to converse with God and to welcome Him in us.

We operate in earthly realities and through them we can perceive the presence of God and seek Him, truth, goodness and absolute beauty.

We savour fragments of life and happiness and we long for total fulfillment."

~ Pope Benedict XVI (2010 Homily for Unborn Life)

Adventures of house/apartment hunting

There are moments in your young adult life which make you ask suddenly, "Hey, when did I become a grown-up?" Looking for an apartment all by myself has been one of those moments. I know that I am 25, and that shouldn't come as a big surprise for me, but up until this point housing has just fallen into place; I have moved to previous houses because I wanted to live with other Catholic young women, or live with friends I already knew. There was no need to shop around to look at apartments or houses for their structure, location, etc.

But there is a first time for everything, and so for the past two weeks I have been apartment hunting here in Nashville. There have been lots of elements to consider, such as "How far to I want to commute each day?" "Would I rather live in a quiet apartment complex out in the suburbs where you can see the pretty hillsides? Or a neighborhood closer to the city where I could walk each day?" "Or an apartment closer to the universities?" "Could I stand to not have a washer and dryer in my house?" "Do I want to have a porch?" "Do I want to have a yard?" "Do I want something that is new and updated but monotonous, or something older with more character?" Of course, the main criteria being "How much can I afford?"

I looked at several different apartment complexes in a suburb outside of Nashville which were fine, but much too impersonal for my liking. My next option was to look at apartments that were part of larger houses (like a floor of a house or a duplex) that were in neighborhoods closer to where I work. All of these places that I looked definitely had character, but some of them were rather run down and old though.

I have to admit that the whole process of looking at houses and apartments, though stressful at times because of the time and money crunch, was kind of fun. It was a novelty since shopping for an apartment because it was something I hadn't done before. It made me think of watching HGTV shows like "Househunters"...except I was living my own episode. I even had some comical moments along the way, like when the one woman at an apartment complex forgot that they had shut the electricity off in the model apartment and couldn't figure out how to get it back on. She asked if I could still see the place (in the dark), and then after frantically looking around for the breaker box, opened the refrigerator so that the light from the refrigerator would light up the place, "There. Can you see it now?" It was amusing, because besides the layout of the apartment, I really couldn't see anything at all.

It was fun to imagine how the various places could be decorated, updated, and made into a home.

Thankfully, a few days ago I found a place that seems to be a really good fit. It's a duplex in a neighborhood very close to where I work. The neighborhood is really beautiful, with lovely architecture and landscaping; a great place for walking and jogging. I can actually walk to work, which will be really nice, and I will only be a few miles from downtown Nashville, so I can take advantage of all the cultural activities of the city. It has two bedrooms, so if I find a roommate over the next few months, I will be able to share the place, and the price of rent. It has a living room and dining room, with nice hardwood floors; the kitchen has a lot of character, with whitewashed cabinets and a scalloped accents over the kitchen window. It also has a nice little backyard, where I am hoping I can grow some plants in the spring and also use for entertaining.

I am already thinking about the ways I want to decorate, and how I can find inexpensive antique furniture to decorate my abode.

Move in will be next Sunday and Monday. And so continues the settling in!

Grande coffee, with a shot of chipperness

Anyone who I have ever lived with, be it my family or roommates, can tell you that I am not a morning person. If you can get a softspoken "good morning" out of me as I stumble to get some cereal out of the cupboard, we're doing great. It just takes me a while to wake up. Greet me again at noon and I will likely have a much more enthusiastic "hello" and even a smile.

One thing that I have learned very quickly in Nashville is that a barista encounter in Nashville is 360 degrees different than a barista encounter in Washington D.C. In Washington D.C., everyone in the coffee line was on a mission to get somewhere, with the "importance" of their clicking heels and shiny briefcases to excuse for their hurried and mumbled greetings. The baristas, in turn, were just trying to take orders as quickly as they could to get the lines moving. Forget "good morning" and heaven forbid "how are you?"; there was no time for small talk.

Call me antisocial, but I was pretty okay with this type of encounter at 8am. It was 8am, and I was ordering my coffee, not drinking it yet. For goodness sake, one time I ordered an "Iced soy latte, extra hot please." This goes to show you my capabilities of conversation that early.

Here is Nashville, the Starbucks experience couldn't be more different. The stereotypes about people moving slower in the South are on a whole, absolutely true. And the rumors that they are kind, hospitable, and friendly is absolutely true too. For this I am so grateful. The friendliness of Nashvillians have brought me so much joy, encouragement, and support over the past few weeks.

Except in the mornings when I am getting my coffee. The people ordering in front of me are having long chatty conversations with the cashier that last about 5 minutes. Apparently one must account for this sort of thing when getting coffee before work, because unlike in DC, you can't just pop in and grab a coffee quickly.

Then when you reach the register, the cashier is incredibly chipper as she/he takes your order. When you are waiting for your drink to be made, as you are yawning and waiting for the caffeine you need to help you wake up, the barista decides that this is a good time to start making small talk. "So how are you today?" They ask as they make your drink. "Um, good." You say, grumbling in your head "would be better if you would just leave me in peace. humph." And then with their cheerful, peppy voice they respond "Oh, that's good." Then you guiltily feel like you should make conversation back, but just in time they call your name, "Maria, Soy Latte!"

Relief. You manage a smile, and a courteous thank you. Then rush out the door to sip your coffee in solitude.

At least that's what I thought this week during my trips to Starbucks. The Nashville customer service ethic is so much more gracious than the customer service I have received in many other places. For this, I am very grateful. I guess that mustering up enough early morning chipperness to respond to their heartfelt greetings is just one more way that I am being stretched here.