Photo 1: This is when we discovered my camera was not, in fact, broken.
I had turned on a weird setting without knowing it and thought it was broken.
Missed out on a lot of great shots while my camera was being cray cray.
Photo 2: the amazing Chris Smith. Just wow.
Photo 3: Hey wassup, Speaker of the House?
Photo 4: Chelsea & me! Also, heels = always a bad idea.
If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master, If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breath a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch, If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!
When I joined the pro-life movement a few years ago as a high school senior, I thought the task at hand was clear, but daunting: overturn Roe v. Wade. What I didn’t realize is that the movement to end abortion is just that – a movement, a shift, a gradual realignment of our society’s priorities. This shift not only includes our laws, but the culture we live in – a culture that accepts and promotes acts of violence against the most vulnerable and innocent. I quickly learned that overturning the unconstitutional Supreme Court ruling would not instantly create a life-respecting utopia where every child, planned or unplanned, would be seen as a blessing. I realized that conquering the culture of death is not a sprint; it’s a marathon.
Emotional exhaustion is the worst, y'all.
My heart feels like this baby right now, only a lot less cute and cuddly:
The National Right to Life Academy has been such a great experience which I will further explain another day, but the experience is, nonetheless, exhausting. Emotion wise, I have been disadvantaged since conception- females are just more emotional. Added to that, I am just pretty sensitive and it really doesn't take much to make me cry... so spending all day everyday learning about abortion and death and dying and sad things has taken its toll on my heart.
energized spirit
When I'm feeling super energized and motivated and inspired, like maybe I'm at the March for Life or getting a text saying "4 women turned around and chose life today," it's like my heart is a pizza... much like this one that some girls and I ate late Friday night:
tired spirit
Then... there's those days when you hear about the sad cases and kind of don't even have the spirit left in you to move an inch. Those days make me feel like this pizza... greasy (kidding), alone, and cold:
Last week I was definitely feeling like the leftover pizza. On Saturday morning, some of the girls went to pray outside the Planned Parenthood here and I just slept in; I don't think I could've handled that situation very well given my worn out corazon. Also, I just haven't felt like going to pray at PP in DC. I had expected that I'd go at least once, but I just really haven't felt called to that. In Austin it feels like most everyone is so unified thanks to the really wonderful peaceful example that the Austin Coalition for Life has set, but I just don't know what the atmosphere on the sidewalks is like elsewhere.
Anyways, I took the weekend to kind of just unwind and try my best not to feel sad. I think I was successful! I spent some time with myself, I spent some time with the girls, I watched some episodes of "The Office," I bought a new maxi-dress (long dress), and I planned out some activities for my favorite boy in the world who is coming to visit me next weekend. I'm kind of really excited. Trying really hard not to use 1,000 exclamation points while talking about his visit.
I got what I asked for AND he's coming to visit me!
Ironic to post this picture today because the first reading at Mass was about asking God for your heart's desires, or something along those lines, and apparently God wasn't joking when he said "ask and it shall be added unto you" and neither does Santa...
Hopefully a more thought provoking and mature post will be coming this week... there's really nowhere to go but up from here, ha ha.
