A Liebster by any other name

Sweet Sarah Therese nominated me for a Liebster award a little while ago, and while I work on the bridal shower post, I figured this would be a good time to get caught up and respond to the award!

So the way it works, I have to answer 11 questions. Here goes...

1. Which do you feel closest to: Father, Son, or Holy Spirit? 

All of the above? I once heard that the Father speaks to us through the events in our lives, the Son through the words of other people, and the Spirit speaks directly in our own hearts. So how can I help but feel equal influence from all three? :)

2. What is your favorite childhood memory? 

Lillian and I used to make up these very complicated historical games that our friends find hilarious (think games like, "Early Christians hiding from Nero in the Catacombs" or "Escaping from Cuba on a raft" or "Revolutionary War: The Redcoats are Coming!"). We were huuuuge nerds. And ya know, they sure sound funny in retrospect, but I miss those crazy games. I'm realizing how lucky we were to have such great imaginations.

3. If you could meet anyone in the world (history or current), who would it be? 

A great woman novelist—Margaret Mitchell, Jane Austen, or Zora Neale Hurston—so I could pick her brain about her writing process and techniques.

4. What 3 questions would you ask him/her? 

I would ask her to tell me her life story and her writing process, I would ask what are her top intellectual preoccupations, and I would ask if she is happy.

5. Who is your favorite saint and why? 

Aw man, I hate picking favorites. For a long time my favorite male saint has been St. Peter, and I've always had a huge soft spot for St. Gianna Molla. But it doesn't feel right not to mention St. Teresa and St. Therese and John Henry Newman too.

6. What is your favorite afternoon snack? 

Cheese and crackers!

7. What is your favorite thing that you did last year? 

Started dating Frank and getting engaged to Frank. :)

8. What are you looking forward to most about this year? 

My wedding in May and my honeymoon in Rome... and meeting the pope while I'm there! Yes friends, Frank and I have officially been approved for the Sposi Novelli program. Party with the pope!

9. What was your favorite song in middle school? 

This question made me laugh. Oh, the memories. I was pretty obsessed with Avril Lavigne at that age (and I even got to see her in concert!) so probably "Things I'll Never Say."

10. Why did you start blogging? 

I started blogging because I wanted to be like my idol at the time, the Pioneer Woman. I kept blogging because my sister Lillian liked to read it, and now I keep blogging because Frank likes to read it. (Like Grace, I'm a little embarrassed of my blog. I always freak out a little bit when I find out someone I know in real life reads it—although it also makes me excited and happy!)

11. What is your favorite quote and why?

Funny story, I'm obsessed with quotes. I devotedly kept a "quote book" in high school and I still make a habit of committing good quotes to memory. So, go figure, when someone asks me for my favorite I'm completely tongue-tied!

My favorite quotes are ones that really pack a punch—quotes you can think about and mull over for a long time. If I had to pick just one, it would simply be "They will know we are Christians by our love." But close seconds are "Happiness in Heaven is reserved for those who know how to be happy on Earth" (St. Josemaria Escriva's wise observation) and "Try to live as you would like to die. We shall die as we have lived" (from the Handbook of Prayers). I'm also very fond of Hilaire Belloc's charming and very true quote, "From quiet homes and first beginnings out to the undiscovered ends, there's nothing worth the wear of winning but laughter and the love of friends." True that.



Well friends, I'm not going to continue tagging people for the Liebster award because I think just about every blogger I know has already been tagged. And I'm going to skip the list of 11 facts about myself because, let's be honest, I'm not that interesting. Besides, a lady's got to keep a little bit of mystery somehow. ;) But thank you for reading, and I hope this delightful list of answers didn't bore you too much!