Favorite Churches

Out of all the churches you've been to, which is your favorite? A couple of weeks ago, JW asked me this very question. It's a question that, for me, seemed easy enough, yet I couldn't come up with an answer right away. After some careful thought and consideration, I've come up with a list of 3. I've been to plenty of different churches throughout the years, of all different religious backgrounds, of all different places, but these 3 are the ones I kept coming back to. When JW first posed this question to me, I immediately started thinking about what the most beautiful church I've ever seen is. However, it turns out, sentiment beats beauty 2 to 1.

*St Patrick Church - Clinton, IA






Clinton used to have 5 different Catholic parishes, until 1990 when they all joined together to form one parish, Jesus Christ Prince of Peace. From 1983-1990, St Pat's was the church I belonged to. The orange padded pews and the hue of greenish paint was a great nod to the '70's....not the most beautiful church I've ever been in, but this makes the list because of pure nostalgia. My sister and I were baptized in this church and my sister received her First Communion in this church. Although I don't remember a lot about our pastor, Father Lou, I do know that we all thought fondly of him and that we all loved him. I can remember going down to the church basement after mass for donuts, which was the highlight of my Sunday as a little girl. I also remember my best friend and I tagging along with our moms as they helped out with bingo. We'd explore the kitchen and closets, and crawl underneath the head bingo table. Sometimes we even got to pull the numbers out. Unfortunately, this church is no longer standing, nor is the school that stood next to it, where I attended Kindergarten and first grade. But at least I have pictures to look at and memories to reflect on to keep this church alive in my heart.

*St Irenaeus Church - Clinton, IA





Once the 5 parishes merged into 1, for many years before our new church was built, most of the churches remained open for quite some time. St Pat's was the first church to close, and we soon frequented St Irenaeus as a family. I was very fond of this church. Not only was it beautiful, but I have many memories and a few "firsts" that go with this church as well. It was at this location where I served for the first time. And my first time as a Eucharistic Minister was at this church. I also gave my first "parish mass" (as opposed to a school mass) speech at this church (although I'll admit I don't remember what I was speaking about...something for the school I'm sure) I spent many Sunday mornings here - first celebrating the mass, then socializing with friends and family afterward. Unfortunately, like all the other Catholic churches in Clinton, with the exception of Sacred Heart, this church is not used anymore.

*Holy Name Cathedral - Chicago, IL






I don't have any emotional ties to this church, but it is just breathtaking. The architecture and the art is just so beautiful. I was in complete awe upon stepping into this church when JW and I were lucky enough to attend Mass here the night before our Shamrock Shuffle run.

One Soda a Day Campaign

I am a huge fan of soda, and it isn't an uncommon practice for me to drink more than 1 a day. I used to be so good about being mindful of my intake and sticking to a 1 soda per day rule, but over the past few months, I've fallen off the wagon, as the saying goes. It's just so tempting when I get into the office everyday to crack open a soda to get a caffeine fix, especially on those mornings when I feel extra sleepy. And I always seem to find one in my lunch bag, and sometimes when I'm eating dinner, a soda just sounds better than anything else.

However, after some careful thought, I decided it was time to reestablish the one soda a day rule to my diet. For the sake of my teeth (and dentist bill) and my overall health, I know this is a good rule to adhere to. The less I'm dependent upon caffeine, the less sugar and unnatural substances in my body, the better. Making an effort to drink more milk, which I strongly dislike (chocolate milk being the exception) juice, and water will surely have a positive impact. Also, as I begin a more serious running regime to prepare for the half marathon, it is vital I stay hydrated. I've felt like over the past few runs that I can perform better than what I've been doing and I think part of that is my lack of staying well hydrated.

The 1 soda a day campaign started last Monday and I'm happy to report that it's been going better than I anticipated. I was afraid I'd have to suffer through a few nasty caffeine headaches, but I've managed to escape those. I have switched to drinking juice or water in the morning and I've been drinking my 1 soda at lunch, which works out well. I also have tried to have a bottle of water at my desk at work throughout the day, with the idea being, if it's in front of me, I'll drink it.

Here's to hoping for another successful week!

A Fun Read

I came across this today and found it humorous enough to share. #2, 8, 14, and 16 are my personal favs.

"Top" Purchase

Ask me what I'm doing right now...go ahead, ask.

You: "What are you doing right now Nic?"
Me: "Oh, you know, just sitting on my bed blogging."
You: "But Nic, how? Don't you have a desktop computer?"
Me: "Why yes, You, I do. But you know what else I have now? A new laptop computer!!"

Yep, after months of thinking about getting a laptop, I decided tonight was the night to take the plunge and go out and make my purchase. I decided on a Sony Vaio. The experience had its high points and low points:

*Getting overwhelmed by looking at all my choices - Low Point
*Narrowing it down between a Dell and Sony - High Point
*Taking a break to look at headphones (which I desperately needed) and having JW sell me on the Skull Candy ones - High (and comical) Point
*Heading back over to the computers and making a decision on the Sony Vaio - High Point
*Waiting for what seemed like an eternity for an associate to help me - Low Point
*Listening to Miles b.s. his way through the questions we had for him - Low (but entertaining) Point
*Signing on the electronic dotted line, finalizing my purchase - High Point
*Not having to do this alone - High Point (Thanks JW for all your help, patience, and entertainment!!!)

I'm so excited - like a kid on Christmas morning - to have a laptop! It's hard to sit down at my desk and email, blog, and do random internet searching when I've just gotten home from sitting at a desk, staring at a computer screen for 10 hours. The simple pleasures of sitting in the living on the couch or laying in bed (against L's advice) with my computer have been highly anticipated luxuries. For the 15 minutes that I've been sitting on my bed with my laptop in my lap, I can tell you I find the experience to be glorious. I'm sure the feeling will wear off, but I'm enjoying ever second of it right now. I know I'll enjoy it even more once I get to the daunting task of transferring all my stuff from my desktop to this computer and customizing it to my liking.

I'm happy to say I'm feeling good about this purchase - confident and excited.

Celebrate Good Times, Come On

26 came and went and now it's time to attack year 27. I've been welcoming it with open arms, and in what I lovingly call "Birthday Month", (yup, it's an almost month long affair) here's a lowdown on all the celebratin':

July 31st-Aug 1st: I met my family at the Little Amanas and shared the celebration with Regan, who just turned 2. We ate some good food, did a little outlet shopping, and played at the indoor waterpark.

Aug 8th-9th: I attended the Black Keys concert with L, JW, and LW. Amazing concert and great company. I talked them all into a post concert drink to welcome in my birthday hour, despite it being a Sunday night and our sweaty appearances. Amazingly, I recovered quite well from all the celebratory drinks and met my mom in Iowa City yesterday to do some shopping. It was a fun day and we both walked away with a few purchases. Here are a few of mine:





And I hopped on the Jegging train. I tried on a pair just for fun and decided I liked them enough to buy them.



Aug 14th: Les & Nic's 2nd Annual Birthday Booze Cruise 2010!! Can't wait!

Aug 20th: Les & Nic's 2nd Annual Dress In Your Best B-day Dinner

My birthday wouldn't be nearly as exciting if it weren't for my family and friends making it so special for me - thank you for all the celebrations and well wishes!!

A Step In the Right Direction

I apologize for the vagueness of this posting, but I do not want to go into too much detail until it is more official. Tonight I am feeling pretty great, as I took the first step in filling one of the things I felt was missing in my life - the feeling that I'm making a difference and contributing to the world.
To say that I'm excited about what is hopefully going to be both an enjoyable and rewarding experience is an understatement. I cannot wait to get started - hopefully I don't have to wait too long for my new "big" project to begin.

SOS

4. This number has been harassing me for the past couple of weeks, knocking at my door, and stubbornly waiting for me to answer. I've been cowering under my bed, hoping it would just go away, but I finally broke down this week. 4. It's been 4 years since I've graduated college. I've been living in Des Moines for 4 years. And I've been in the workforce for 4 years.

I've been asking myself one question, constantly trying to come up with a satisfying answer: What do I have to show for it all?

I feel like my life has been pretty stagnant over the past 4 years. I've definitely had ups and downs - new friends, once and for all final break-ups, moving out and surviving all on my own, new additions to my life, and on the flip side, losing loved ones, a little bit of traveling... - I guess I just feel like I should be farther in life than where I'm at. Maybe because when I was back in college, 27 seemed so far away and so grown up. I just pictured it a little differently in my head.

Reality is I'm rounding the corner to 27 and I feel like I'm in the same place I was at 23. Unattached, same job, and still no clue as to what path I need to be heading down. I still don't know what I want to do when I "grow up".

I feel as though I'm treading water in the middle of the ocean. I'm tired and all I want is for a boat sailing across the water to see me and rescue me, taking me to shore. I know that the likelihood of that happening is slim to none. Most people aren't lucky enough to have something just fall into their laps. I'll be more than happy to have a life saver be tossed my way, and to have the opportunity to work my way towards shore. I just wish the life saver was within sight.

I envy those who know what they're supposed to be doing with their lives. Like my sister - from the time I can remember, she always said she was going to grow up and become a teacher. And sure enough, she is. And even better, she absolutely loves what she does and she is so incredibly good at it. A friend - worked his way through his degree to become a lawyer and a fine one at that. I look back at my choice major and I wonder where I came up with it. I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I knew I had to pick something. It was a shot in the dark...I missed. Looking back, I realize that I never really felt passionate about it. I never was overly interested with my classes. Marketing Strategy just never really whipped me into an excited frenzy. I never felt like I was really working towards a specific end goal. I was just going through the motions, doing what I needed to do, but never had that mentality of, "I'm going to be doing ____________ when I graduate."

The good news is, I recognize the problem. The bad news is I'm not sure how exactly I'm supposed to solve it. I think about this a lot and lately it has consumed my thoughts, to the point where I've grown anxious, upset, and pushed people away. I think I've finally hit my breaking point. Unfortunately, after the cry fest I had last night, I still don't have the answers. But I'm determined to keep searching and I continue to pray for some clarity and understanding.

I know I need to be patient, after all, it's not going to happen over night. And I'm willing to do the work. I have started to locate outlets that will hopefully not only help relieve a little bit of the tension, but can lead me to more/different opportunities. They may be small steps, but steps nonetheless, in creating the necessary changes I need in my life.

I may be losing right now, but I'm a fighter, and I refuse to drown.