It's a Beautiful Life!

Ok, I wasn't sitting down expecting to do a Quick-Takes post, but there are so many things floating around in my head, that it just makes sense!

--- 1 ---

Today has been a beautiful day - and I don't mean in the "birds are singing, the sun is shining, the grass is green" sort of way, because - let's face it - it's a foggy, grey, melty, yucky sort of January day when you don't want to see your brown, bedraggled lawn poking up through the quickly diminishing snow.
The day started with morning Mass, followed by the first in a series of 6 classes on Dei Verbum.  Sound boring?  Potentially.  But not.  Did you know that Aristotle and Plato, with just their own powers of reasoning, determined the human soul to be immortal??  I didn't!  (And here's one of a bazillion online articles referencing it.)  It's so beautiful - God gives us so many opportunities and starting points to come to know Him!

--- 2 ---

After class I was pondering just how I was going to get the kids home and fed without having to resort to meat-eating at the local Mickey D's (something we try to avoid on Fridays - the meat-eating, not necessarily McD's) when a friend suggesting continuing conversations over a bagel at the cafe nearby.  Bagels, while not the most incredibly ideal nutritional food, work great for Fridays - and even better, my kids will actually eat them! 

(Awesome looking recipe I'd like to try at home - maybe then my little guy wouldn't be constantly begging me to buy more bagels!)

--- 3 ---

We got to talk about the impression that other people "have things together" (whether they do or not) and how each of us have things together in our own special way.  This is something I've been working on lately - with a book that was first introduced to me approximately 7 or 8 years ago, before marriage and children were even on the radar:

 I just wish it hadn't taken me so long to really go through and take this book seriously, working through each chapter - I'm buzzing with excitement about the potential this book has as a tool to take every facet of my life to the next level!  (And I have to say, that whole idea of peacefulness is really attractive with two toddlers around...)

--- 4 ---

After getting the rug-rats into bed for their afternoon nap (fingers crossed and prayers being said that they'll actually stay there and sleep) I jumped onto our new elliptical machine (Merry Christmas!) and survived my 9th workout of the year - and I didn't just survive it!  (Throughout this post you have been witnessing the post-workout adrenaline buzz.)  Now maybe that sounds slightly impressive when you consider it's only the 11th day of the year, but it's really not that incredibly amazing when I admit that each workout lasts all of 15 minutes - but my speed and endurance have substantially improved over these last 11 days, and of that, I am proud.

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I know that part of this improvement is attributable simply to consistency and taking it slowly but surely.  But another part of this I can definitely say is the result of simply changing my mental activity during the workout.  I initially thought, hey, I'll watch a little TV while I exercise, take my mind off it.  But maybe it's better to transform something not incredibly enjoyable into something more, rather just distracting yourself from it until the terrible-ness is over. 

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That transforming force was:

Five Iron Frenzy!

I've long known that jogging to this music is so much more fun than just slogging along in silence or to something with a more relaxed beat.  This stuff really makes you go!  And it's not just the tempo - for me the lyrics are really captivating and thought-provoking, not to mention empowering!  (How's that for big words and feel-good jargon?)

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My two most favorite tracks:

Dandelions:  pretty much sums up for me how God sees us with all our imperfections and loves us anyway.  Don't know who came up with the animation, but it's perfect!

I don't care what others say, One Girl Army is about Mary!

Here are the lyrics: 

Here lies the old myth,
Breaking the mold with,
Truth to take away the trickery.
Twenty centuries of progress,
Suffer slowly as we regress,
Losing headway to ourselves.

Behold the covers, the sisters, the mothers,
The daughters, and spouses, on the magazines.
Truth has been abused.
How could she fill those shoes?
Propaganda meant to fuel their schemes.

She is strong but never silent,
Sure of where her truth comes from.
One day, one girl army will overcome.

Treading the current, issues at hand,
Shifting, we sway, from justice and then back again.
What we once broke, He has made right,
Lifting her up, giving birth to Jesus Christ.

She is strong but never silent,
Sure of where her strength comes from.
One day, one girl army will overcome.

She is strong but never silent,
Sure of where her strength comes from.
One day, one girl army will overcome.

She is strong but never silent,
Sure of where her strength comes from.
One day, one girl army will overcome. 

Not so much "Quick" - but what a beautiful day!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!