5 Weekly Graces Vol. 8

Yesterday marked the half-way point in the Advent Season, Gaudete Sunday (one of my favorites). This is a day where we are called to pause for a moment in our Advent waiting and penance and be joyful, remembering the love of God and all that God has done and continues to do for us.

As I wrote this post and reflected on the good in my life last week, I made sure to search for the joy. There is so much negative in the world that could put us in a slump of despair, but there's also so much joy to be found! And though sometimes it is hard to seek out that joy, when it is found it helps create a whole new outlook and positive perspective.

Gaudete Sunday has once again come and gone, but I hope that you all continue to seek joy, friends.

1) Joy

Keeping in theme, the first grace I want to focus on is joy. This week there have been so many moments of laughter with friends and so many memories made. On retreat last weekend I mentioned to my housemates that I am not very good at remembering the specifics of our times together, but I always remember feeling joy and that is such a gift.

2) Spiritual Direction

A few posts back I mentioned that I was searching for a new spiritual director and was able to get an appointment with a women that many in my school rave about. Well, on Tuesday I had my first meeting with her and it was so beautiful. I went in thinking we might focus on a particular prayer experience last month, but instead she drew me deeper into an experience I hadn't even paid much attention to. I left our meeting exhausted in the most beautiful way. After years of searching for a director I work well with, I think I have found one!

3) Hockey

I went to my first hockey game with a great group of friends on Saturday. One of my roommates is a student from Germany and has wanted to see a hockey game for years. The excitement on her face alone made the whole trip worth it. Surprisingly, I didn't mind the game either and am extremely impressed with the players' coordination and ability to skate so well.

4) Immersions Under Way

After months of planning, this weekend we sent off our winter cycle of immersion participants on their trips. It is always a huge relief once they are on their way and leaves our office with a sense of accomplishment. Many prayers for the students and those they encounter on their journeys.

And now we begin preparation for the Spring Break trips...

5) Finals

Ok ok, finals week is not the most exciting and I don't feel completely prepared (yet), however as I was going through my syllabi (which is just a fun word in general) I noticed that two of the papers I have due are significantly easier shorter than I thought. Super exciting and such a stress reliever!

I fly home on Wednesday and hope to take as little home to finish as possible. Time to get stuff done!


What were you graced with this week?

Peace,
Sarah

** Linking up with Ember Grey and Faith and Fellowship

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Product Review: Oz Naturals Matrix 6 Bright Eye-Gel

I naturally have really dark circles under my eyes. I inherited them from my grandfather, and even if I am very well rested, I still look like I'm running on low sleep. Throw in an actual lack of sleep and a bit of aging, and well, it's not a pretty sight.

At first, I thought the solution to my problem would be a good concealer. I only just recently began really wearing makeup and still keep it pretty minimal, so I decided to ask a cosmetologist about the dark circles and what could be done. Her immediate question was if I used an eye cream.

Eye cream?

"My mom wears eye cream..." I thought to myself. Surely I am too young to wear eye cream!

But knowing that I should leave anything beauty product related to the professionals, I made a note that, yes, I needed to start trying an eye cream. Not only to lighten my dark circles, but to protect that sensitive area of skin from all of the damage from the sun and computer screen.

Lucky for me, only days after this realization I was presented with an opportunity to try out the OZ Naturals Matrix 6 Mega Bright Eye Gel in exchange for an honest review of the product. It was perfect timing.

And I have to admit, I was pretty excited to try a new type of beauty product and see how it would work out.

And so, here is my review of the OZ Naturals Matrix 6 Mega Bright Eye Gel:

Pros:

The product was very easy to apply and you didn't need a lot of it which meant the bottle would last a while.

It's under $20. While many other similar products cost upwards of $40, this is much more reasonable for my graduate student budget and lifestyle.

It didn't really have a scent which I loved because I'm particular about smells (especially around my face).

It can be used on more parts of your skin including your forehead and cheeks. Not areas of interest to me yet, but definitely a benefit.

Cons:

There was a bit of effort involved in figuring out how to get the bottle to pump out the gel the first time. Once it was working, it was easy-peasy though.

After application my eyes felt a bit sticky. And as it dried, the skin around my eyes felt a bit tight and uncomfortable. I don't know if the tightness is meant to occur, but I was not a fan.

It also left a weird sort of residue on my skin that almost looked like a thin face-mask you were meant to peal off. Not cute.

All in all, I don't know that I really saw results. If I didn't have such an aversion to the way it makes my skin feel (I have a weird thing with textures...) I would probably continue to use it and look more closely at progressing results.

But for now, I am back to the eye cream drawing board. Does anyone have a good, budget-friendly suggestion of one to try?

Peace,
Sarah

**This post was sponsored by Oz Naturals. All opinions are entirely my own.

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Peace Be With You

Peace I leave you, my peace I give you...

I need peace.

We need peace.

Our world needs peace.

This week's prompt for the #BISSisterhood is, you guessed it, peace.

Normally to prepare for these posts, I look up the prompt about before the post date and spend about a week praying about what to write. There have been prompts where I've know immediately what I will share, and others where I've worried nothing will come in time. But it always does.

Yet on this topic of peace, I remain speechless.

It's not that I have no thoughts about the subject. I've written, reflected, and given talks about it numerous times. I have notes on inspiring workers for peace, marked scriptures illuminating the peace of God, and reflective songs that continue the conversation of creating peace.

But today, as I reflect on our world - a world thirsting so desperately for peace - all I can do is sit and be still.

I cannot formulate the words to adequately express that desire for peace - that deep longing.

So rather than write to you about peace, in this moment I pray - and if you feel called, I invite you, too, to share in a prayer for peace.

Peace in our world.
Peace in our hearts.

Peace,
Sarah

*** Linking up with Blessed Is She and #BISsisterhood

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From That To This: Christmas Cookies

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted a recipe here on the blog! I have still been working on my culinary skills, I promise. I just apparently haven't taken the time to document any of them.

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, last Wednesday I was graced with a bit of free time and decided to bake some cookies to share with my students. I may or may not have watched a cheesy Christmas movie via Netflix while doing so...

When I was growing up, one of my favorite things to do around Christmas time was bake cookies with my grandma. Each year she made trays upon trays of different, delicious cookies ranging from mini pecan tarts to "snowballs". Now that she's a bit older she doesn't bake as much, but she has me to carry on the tradition.

Of the many types of cookies she taught me to make, my favorites have always been the classic peanut butter cookies with a chocolate kiss in the middle. It's not the fanciest, or even the most original, but gee are they good!

And chances are, other than the Hershey kisses, you probably have all of the ingredients in your pantry already!

Ingredients:

Creamy Peanut Butter

Sugar

Brown Sugar

Butter

Egg

Vanilla

Flour

Baking Soda

Salt

Hershey Kisses

Begin by preheating your oven to 350 F.

Blend 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2cup brown sugar, and 1/2 cup butter until creamy. (You may want to make sure your butter is soft, especially if you do all of your mixing by hand.) Once smooth, mix in one egg and 1tsp vanilla.

In a separate bowl, sift together 1 1/3 cup flour, 1 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until smooth.

Roll the cookie dough into about 1 inch balls and place them on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Be sure to leave a few inches of space between each ball because the cookies spread a good amount. You should get about 2 dozen from each batch.

Bake for about 10-13 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye out so your bottoms don't burn!

While the cookies are baking, unwrap enough Hershey kisses for each cookie to have 1 placed in the middle. Once cookies are out of the oven, gently place a Hershey kiss in each center.

What's your favorite Christmas cookie to bake? (Or eat!)

As always, feel free to message me with any questions.

Peace,
Sarah

ps Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception!!!

** I'm linking up with The Great Christmas Cookie Recipe Swap, Tasty Tuesday, #RecipeoftheWeek, Delicious Dish Tuesday, CraftyCurlyMom and the 12 Days of Blogmas. Be sure to check out the other awesome recipes shared!

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5 Weekly Graces Vol. 7

Happy second week of Advent friends! My week was full of joy and friendship. We even had some cool weather that was perfect for sweaters, scarves and boots - my favorite!

I had a few presentations to prep for this week, which is why this post is up a little late. Gotta love grad school, am I right? But one of them is done (I literally just presented) and the other will be done by tomorrow night. So. Close.

Like usual, Monday means a recap of some awesome moments of goodness I've been reflecting on from last week. There's an added bonus (cough* cough *giveaway!) at the end of this post so make sure you read (or at least scroll) to the end.

1.) Good Conversation and Friendship

Staying in contact with friends can be a real challenge, particularly when you live on the other side of the country. Between living in Alaska for my JV year and now in California for school, I've definitely felt the struggle of scheduling catch-ups and phone dates - especially with the time zones. Every now in then, I have weeks where I am able to have genuine conversation with multiple friends from home and it is such a treat! I definitely felt that blessing of friendship this week and found myself super thankful for the wonders of modern technology that allows us to talk, text, and even see each other across the globe.

2.) The Joy of Baking Christmas Cookies

Wednesday morning I found myself with a bit of free time and decided to make my grandma's delicious peanut butter cookies with the Hershey kiss in the center for my student leader group meeting that night. (Ok, so the recipes for these classics probably don't vary much, but I will still stick to grandma's.)

I love to bake and this was a great excuse to do so. I will definitely be sharing this super easy recipe for the Christmas cookies everyone loves, so stay tuned!

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And So, We Hope.

I worry that I'm becoming jaded.

Okay, I worry about a lot of things, but lately this one has been at the front of my mind.

There's so much injustice in our world. So much violence. So much poverty. So much hatred. There's just so much. And sometimes it feels like it's too much. Too much to handle. Too much to fix. Too much to ever actually change.

Oh how I miss the days when I was bright-eyed,  and overly optimistic - ready and willing to go out into the world and make a difference. But as I grow older and witness more tragedy, more pain, more injustice, I sometimes feel that optimism shrinking...

And yet (thankfully) every time I think I've reached that point of no return, there is always something or someone who shines a light of hope - who inspires me with their optimism, with their care, with their talent - and lets me know that there is still good in the world. And that there is enough of it to make a change.

I work with students to address social justice issues and cultivate a deeper empathy and understanding of how we all fit together in our world. Learning about and witnessing heavy issues of hardship day in and day out certainly takes its toll on positivity and yet my students are constantly filled with a fire to be the change.

I often tease my them that they are the only reason I haven't given up on the world and retreated into a cave somewhere. They're still young. They still have that optimism. They are filled with passion and great ideas.

They give me hope.

And with that hope, I can feel my own optimism and passion begin to rejuvenate.

Hope and the rejuvenation that comes with it are key parts of this season of Advent. As Christians, we wait in hope for the coming of our Savior - in the celebration of his birth on Christmas, but also in anticipation for the coming of his Kingdom - on earth as it is in heaven.

We live in this tension of the already, but not yet. We know Christ has come and we faithfully hope and wait for the next arrival. In that tension, hope inspires action.

Advent is a time of active preparation. Yes, we wait, but we also work. We are called to prepare the way for the Lord. And so, we must ask ourselves: how can I help to bring about the Kingdom of God? How can I prepare our world to enter into Christ's peace? How can I show others the presence of God among us?

During this blessed season of Advent, let us not only prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus, but let us also focus on preparing our world. The troubles may seem endless and overwhelming, but I have hope and faith that with open hearts and the help of our Creator, we can create the way.

We can make a difference.

And so, we prepare and we hope.

Peace,
Sarah

***Linking up with Blessed is She and #BISsisterhood and Faith and Fellowship

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5 Weekly Graces Vol. 6

Happy December!

Normally I post my round-up of blessings on Mondays, but because Fran's budget link-up was on Monday this month, I shifted this to Tuesday. Hooray for not having to adhere to a strict blogging schedule ;)

As I have been writing these weekly posts I am definitely noticing more consciously just how fortunate and blessed I am. Yes, I sometimes have to think a little harder for that 4th or 5th grace, but that forces me to take another few minutes of prayer and contemplation which always reveals more beautiful moments from my week.

Do you have any routines of reflecting on the good in your day?

1. Let's start with the obvious from this week: my mom's visit.

It was such a gift to have a piece of home with me on Thanksgiving this year, especially having it be my mom. I loved showing her my school, introducing her to my friends and roommates, and taking her to some of my favorite spots around town. She didn't really want to do any sight-seeing so we stayed in the East Bay and had a really chill, beautiful visit together.

2. Thanksgiving Day!

Thanksgiving itself was also full of grace. We began our day with mass at my school and a nice reception afterwards. Then we headed home to bake some rolls (a recipe I hope to share later) and relaxed until it was time to go to my friend's home for dinner. It was a small, potluck style meal full of beautiful dishes and colors. There was great conversation, lots of laughter, and lots of gratitude.

3. Rest.

Because I am still in school, I had Wednesday and Friday off as well as most of Tuesday! Not only did this break give me some quality time with my mom, but I was also able to just rest- a gift I used to take for granted. Could I have been working ahead on assignments and other projects? Sure. (And I probably should have.) But sometimes you just need to step back, lounge on the couch and breath.

4.  Babysitting.

With the last few packed weekends and then Thanksgiving week there was a pretty big gap in my babysitting routine. After a few weeks apart, Sunday I was able to reconnect with them for my usual 3 hour gig. Not only is it nice to get aways from campus and earn a little extra cash, but they are the absolute sweetest people and are like a second family to me out here.

5. Flying.

Lastly, I finally booked my flight home for Christmas. I've flown countless times (especially this year) but for whatever reason, as I booked my ticket this time, I felt a strong sense of gratitude for 1) being able to afford a ticket home 2) having access to such quick transportation cross-country and 3) the concept of flying itself. I mean, how cool is it that we (ok the planes) can fly?! It's amazing!

I'm also SUPER jazzed that Advent has begun, but will spare you repetitive rambling as I have already posted on this.

I hope you all have the space to stop, take a moment, and reflect on the many blessings in your days.

Peace,
Sarah

*** Linking up with The Awesome Link-up, A Grateful Heart and #Keeping the Good

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