In which my amount of homework keeps me from long digressions

Happy Wednesday! Since I'm battling a bad cold/mild sickness--and consequently, have much homework that I'm far behind on--I'm going to hit a few points to update y'all about the epicness I've been experiencing. Have a blessed, epic, beautiful day!

Me and my birthday cake! 

 I've officially been 22 years old for a week! Last Wednesday, I was blessed to turn 22 on the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, which is awesome (it was also the birthday of Elijah Wood, who played Frodo in The Lord of the Rings. Which is awesome as well). I spent my day reading, eating cookie cake from a household sister, eating a birthday dinner (turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes), playing Dutch Blitz, eating Coca Cola cake, reading, and dancing to T-Swift. It was epic! 

Modern holiness epicness--Oscar Romero was officially declared a martyr. Jean Heimann has a pretty cool post about it, which is worth checking out. 

The Awakening of Miss  Prim. Read it. Just read it. This book has a timeless quality and is such a cute, fun, story! A modern woman takes a job in a small village where people escape the rush and craziness of life and many children have a Classical homeschool education. She learns about beauty and the joy and peace in small, everyday occurrences. This book is really hard to pin down; I guess I can say it's a partial story of a woman seeking purpose and beauty in the world.

The hymns of St. Ephrem are awesome! Amazingly beautiful! I especially love his Hymns on the Nativity. So much Eastern Catholic epicness :)

Yesterday, I took down our Nativity set.  Now, you may be wondering, "What, you still had your Nativity set up?" Yes, we did. It's an older tradition, and I think it is very fitting. Having our nativity scene up until Candlemas helped me to remember and contemplate the early childhood of Christ that led up to His presentation in the Temple. Plus, should we be in any hurry to take down our Christmas decorations??? (Because for some reason, most people rush to take down their Nativity sets. It's weird.)

The other day, Jacob moved the Holy Family
away from the shepherds and wise men.
Me: "Jacob, why did you do that?"
Jacob: "It's the exile to Egypt!" 

May the joy, peace, and love of Christ fill your heart!