Christ, Coffee, and Cornfields

  It’s really hard to quantify the feelings running through my body at this moment in time. Every death hits you differently, and this is no exception. Many of you know that my maternal grandpa unexpectedly passed away yesterday. He had terminal cancer originating from his lungs (PLEASE don’t smoke, people), but what killed him was a blood clot. I won’t go into detail into which hospital or the exact care he received, but let’s just say as his granddaughter and a nurse, I’m currently not a happy camper. There are so many things that I had planned to do and say, but I never got the chance to do any of them. Those are the regrets I have. So many regrets.   Many relationships go through ups and downs, and ours was no different. Unfortunately, we were in the in the middle of a slump where we’d get somewhere and then slide back down to the bottom of the dip. I know that I’ll go through the stages of grief in my own time, but as this moment I’m a total wreck. Praise Jesus for my wonderful

  I am still in shock that Jordan and I have been married for a year already. It feels like 3 months, if that. As cliche as it sounds, marriage is everything I had ever imagined and more. It helps that I have the most amazing husband and we have an awesome support system surrounding us. We've gone through a lot in the past 12 months, both good and bad. Whenever I sum up our experiences to people, I'm usually met with wide eyes and a "wow." Not every marriage has multiple moves, new jobs, a death of a friend, a fixer upper house project, a serious accident of a sibling, many new health diagnoses, and cross country trips (among lots of other things) within the first 365 days. It has been a whirlwind, for sure! As crazy as it has been, I wouldn't have it any other way. As I write this in bed next to my love, I feel compelled to share what wisdom we have gained from this past year. 1. Marriage is worth waiting for. Every single minute. This is in regards to both sex

  The holidays are quickly approaching! I'm not quite sure what happened to 2018, but it has definitely been a fast paced year. Thanksgiving is just a couple weeks away and Christmas is hot on its heels. It is so easy to get caught up in the to dos of the season. There are people to see, gifts to buy, decorations to put up, places to go, yards and houses to prep for winter, and all of that is on top of the busyness that consumes our day to day lives! Sometimes, though, it seems like the buildup to this time of year overshadows what we're actually supposed to celebrate.   I count myself among the guilty when it comes to piling my plate too full, both when it comes to the holiday foods and my schedule. Sometimes I look back on my week and feel that I accomplished nothing of value even though I was busy every single day. If I'm being honest with myself, though, my time is often consumed with social media and needless stresses. I feel this now more than ever as my schedule fi

 I have always had a really hard time with capital punishment. For many years, I thought that it was perfectly acceptable to have the death penalty to end a terrible person's life. A life for a life mathematically makes sense; it's a price to pay. But then South Dakota executed a prison inmate yesterday. When this situation arises so close to home, it makes you think more in depth about it.  It took quite a while for me to change my viewpoint on the death penalty. I am no stranger to politics or law, so looking at capital punishment from a justice viewpoint makes sense to me. The judicial system doesn't have feelings; it relies on facts and on what is "fair". Now, as a Catholic I have the Church's (and so the Lord's) view on the death penalty to take into consideration. The CCC says this: (2267) "Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude rec

"It'll happen." That is currently by far my most despised saying (followed closely by "get wrecked," but that's a story for another day). I can't tell you how many people have told Jordan and me that. Now, I know that everyone who says it to us means well, but when you're experiencing infertility it isn't something that brings much comfort. Not for me. I'm not writing this to hurt anybody's feelings or to lash out at anyone who has offered consolation to us, at least I don't think so. I don't know, it's really difficult to describe my feelings. One minute I'll be ready to curl up in bed and cry myself to sleep, another I'll rationalize myself into being okay with not being pregnant, and the next I'll be so confused and upset that my prayer up to God becomes more of a shouting match which gets drowned out by the continual questions in my mind. Why us? Why is my body so confusing? Why can't I get a grip? Wi

Every day, every few hours it seems like, another story about the evil stirring amongst the people of the Church marches its way into my newsfeed. I’m still trying to catch up and slow my spinning head. There are so many stories, so many sides, so much confusion and hurt. How can this possibly be the Church that God became man to create? This is not what we are made for. We are made for greatness. I don’t want to write about who did what and who is to blame. I don’t have that information. What I do know is that the Church Christ started is perfect. The people who make up His Church are not. Unfortunately, we are in a very tumultuous time. But! The Catholic Church has faced seemingly insurmountable crises before, and we are still here. During the scariest times in our history, we have seen the greatest saints rise up from the ashes. The most precious gems come from being under the most suffocating pressure. We’ve had abuse before. We’ve had blackmail, anti-popes, heresy, fi

We saw "Incredibles 2" last week at the drive-in, and let me just say that it was totally worth waiting over a decade for. It was definitely geared more toward those of us who were kids when the first movie came out, but it was still enjoyable for my younger siblings. As much of a void-filling movie as it is, there were many themes and messages throughout the film that were thought-provoking and refreshing coming from the entertainment industry.   From a critic standpoint, there was at least one major plot hole that is still wide open, and the animation is slightly different. However, that was to be expected since animation styles have changed drastically in recent years and I didn't really notice it as the movie progressed. One thing I thought was absolutely hysterical as a nurse and someone with IBS was the superhero by the name of Reflux. You can about imagine his superpower! Overall, I thought that it was a very worthy sequel to a next to perfect original movie.  

  Somehow, Jordan and I have already reached our 6th month of marriage. What a wonderful 6 months it has been! I haven't written a post in a while because we've been so busy and, to be honest, I wasn't sure what to write about. But now with this milestone upon us, I feel that I can credibly speak into what marriage is like.   Being a rather young married couple, we're definitely in the minority both among our peers as well as fellow wedded adults. We have different priorities compared to our unmarried friends, but many veteran couples see us as rookies and that we don't have a whole lot to contribute to married person conversations. Ah, well. That's okay. We'll stay in our little "honeymoon phase" cocoon forever and be blissfully unaware of the challenges of married life. Oh wait....   Actually, we've already dealt with many challenges both big and small. All of the things we've gone through have grown us as people and especially as a