Would You Rather - Kathleen

I actually really love games like this.

Heyyy!! How are y'all, I hope you've finally gotten into some sort of routine with your back to school life...

Anyways, I feel like would you rather games really help you get to know a person. They kind of put you into hypothetical situations and then you get to see how the other person reacts.. if that makes sense. I have some Would You Rathers to ask my self thanks to Conversation Starters (Link in my signature) so let's get started!

Would you rather always be 10 minutes late or 20 minutes early?
I think I would always want to be 20 minutes early simply because being early is polite. Plus then I am situated. Especially with my anxiety, it is nice to get a grip on a situation/be prepared early so I don't get caught unexpected by something. Although it might be slightly awkward on dates and such I think it would be easy to explain.

Would you rather lose all your money and valuables or all the pictures you have ever taken?
I would much rather lose all my money/valuables. There is a quote I love, it says, "We take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone." This is so true. Money can't replace that. I always try to remember that when Mom wants to take a picture but I don't feel like it or something.

Would you rather be able to see 10 minutes into your future or 10 minutes into everyone else's future.
I would much rather see 10 minutes into everyone else's future. I just think it would be so much more interesting and less stressful and I would get to know someone better.

Would you rather be famous when you are alive and forgotten when you die, or forgotten while you are alive and famous when you die.
Wowza. I have no idea... Either way I would want to be famous for some good effect I left, not money or popularity or anything like that.

Would you rather live in the wilderness far from civilization or live on the streets of a city as a homeless person.
I would much rather live in the middle of nowhere. Not because being homeless sucks, but because I love quiet, and as much as I love shopping, I would totally love living in Maine or something.

Would you rather be alone for the rest of your life or always be surrounded by annoying people.
Alone. While living with so many annoying people would be great for patience, I really like being alone. Whenever Olivia is at dance, and Mom and Dad are out, it's so quiet, and I can just opera sing or bake or watch a movie or read, or basically do anything without being judged/embarrassed. That's when I take most of my blog post pictures...

Would you rather never use social media again, or never watch another movie/TV show again?
Well considering that I really only blog and use Pinterest, I would definitely choose no social media. Without a doubt. Emma's like, "No way crazy lady!" But yeah I don't really use it now so it wouldn't be that hard.

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you guys are having fun as summer turns into fall! Here in Illinois, it's still 90 degrees on average so appreciate your cool, crisp autumn air! Have an awesome week!

Kathleen

twodorkswithablog.blogspot.com

conversationstarters.com

What's in My Travel Backpack & Steuby Pictures - Kathleen

It's been awhile... yikes...

I can't believe how irresponsible I am with this blog... I know I know, I keep saying that I'm gonna post more and get back too it, but lets face facts: I haven't. I've been taking drivers ed every morning at 8 am, and staying up late at swim meets, and traveling. (More on that later 😛) Now that isn't to say that I couldn't have written a post way before I left or before I got super busy because I could have. So. I'm taking responsibility for that and making up for it. I'm sorry.

So speaking of travel, I have a little list for you! This is what I travel with in my backpack!!

So this is my backpack...

I got this for Christmas in 2016. I don't know where Mom got it from. The one I originally wanted was from PINK but that one was pricey for a backpack. This one looks just like it and I love it!!! It has three little pockets in the front. The two on the side are smaller and perfect for chargers, lotions, or snacks. The bucket pocket is sort of rectangular and not as much of a cube as you might think. It has a small pocket on the inside that is perfect for your wallet.

The buttons are all made like this which, I think, makes it a lot easier to open and close the pockets. The buttons are also nice buttons. It won't be easy for someone to open your bag or pickpocket.

Let's move on to what I bring IN the bag.

Electronics

I can fit my laptop, tablet, and phone in this bag all at once. However, this bag wasn't made to protect a laptop. I also usually don't need to take my laptop with me very often. I usually just pack my tablet and phone here because that's all I will really need. I also make sure to pack my chargers. My phone charger used to work on my tablet, so that made it easier when packing, but I got a new phone and the chargers are just a little bit different. So now I have to pack both... what a first world problem! 😄

Hygiene

I always bring hand lotion, hand sanitizer, tissues, and chap stick in my backpack. If I think that I might have some anxiety wherever I'm going, I will bring a pack of gum as well. If you want a post on this (anxiety hacks/tricks) comment below and I will share my limited knowledge.

If I am going on a longer trip, sometimes I will bring a paper face mask to do or something like that.

Stuff to Do

Being a blogger, I have a notebook for ideas. That usually goes everywhere with me. I also usually bring a book or two for down time.

So this is really what I packed in my backpack for Steubenville, which I have pictures to show you! I'm not going to really explain most of them. You will be able to tell what/when they are based on what Emma told you.

Saturday night by the gym... getting ready for small groups

The sunrise Saturday morning

Waiting for Saturday morning session to start.

Saturday morning talk #1

Saturday afternoon talk #1

Vocation call (Priests)

Thank you so much for reading this post! I love you guys so much! I hope you enjoyed the pictures! Tell me in the comments if you want the Anxiety Tips/Tricks post! Thank you!

Kathleen

twodorkswithablog.blogspot.com

Steubenville 2017 -Emma

So this weekend was life changing...

Hey awesome readers! It's Emma here, and this past weekend (July 14-16) I attended the Steubenville conferences in Springfield Missouri for the first time.

Kathleen graciously gave me rights to do the Stuebenville blog post since it was my first year going.. so thank you Kathleen!

I also have Kathleen to thank for encouraging me to go. She helped me along the way and I was super thankful for that because this past weekend turned out to be not just one of the greatest faith experiences of my life, but also one of the all time greatest.

This post is going to be pretty long if you couldn't already tell, because I'm excited and want to RANT! Okay? Okay.

So if you have never heard of Steubenville Conferences before you're probably like.. what the heck is this girl on about? You can check out their website here: https://steubenvilleconferences.com/youth/

The conference Kathleen and I went to was at Missouri State University in Springfield Missouri. It was about a 4 hour drive from where we are from, so it was a pretty long car ride (for me at least).

Now I'm gonna get vloggy.


Friday:

I got up bright and early at 5 AM to drop off Sadie at my boyfriends house for the weekend, I'm still very thankful he watched her for me. She can be quite the pain but she's adorable.

We all met at The Shrine at 9:00 AM to carpool. I was in a group with a lot of great people who I got to become close friends with over the weekend which was awesome.

We arrived around 4:00PM on Friday and by then I was exhausted. Or so I thought.

The moment we walked in on Friday night after rushing around from dinner I was already in love. My energy came right back immediately. When we first walked in I had that "Woah, what did I just walk into" moment. Everyone was having so much fun, dancing, singing, the music was amazing, it was like being at an awesome rock concert for Jesus.

After praise and worship and talks from different leader came adoration. Now I'm going to be honest with y'all. I'd never actually been to an adoration where I felt something. I always got distracted and couldn't completely focus. But this was different than any other adoration I had ever been to before.

I don't exactly know how to put it into words, but you could feel Christ's presence in the room, and everything was so quiet and still. Like everything just fell into place, and I just thought in my mind, "Wow, how could anyone not believe in God when you can feel his presence so strongly?"

It was amazing. I wish everyone could experience the feeling.

After that, around 11:30 PM, we had small groups. I wasn't a big fan. Probably because I'm shy, a bit reserved, and I'm not usually open to sharing my feelings with complete strangers.

Saturday:

Bright and early at 6:30, we were ready to start the day. Here's a photo of Kathleen and I getting hype for day 2 at the hotel.

On Saturday we had mass in the morning, which was amazing. They went through all the steps of the mass beforehand just talking about what everything meant for people who weren't Catholic. Even though I am Catholic, I found it interesting and useful to hear a refresher on what everything was for. 

Saturday was filled with workshops, singing, and bonding with friends. It was so much fun. One of my favorite workshops I went to was about Social Media. If you know me, you know I'm extremley addicted to social media and usually spend 40% of my day on my phone (not good, I know).

One of the things I remembered from the social media workshop that I wanted to share with you all is this little tip on making yourself a more positive person:

I challenge you all to unfollow every person who posts negative things from Snapchat/Instagram/Twitter (literally all social media sites you use), and for every person you unfollow, follow someone who will be a positive influence. 

I've already started doing this and it helps a TON! Seriously, please do it! You'll be so happy you did. 

We also went to a workshop just for girls and that was awesome too. Katie, the woman who was leading the talk, was absolutely amazing. She told us all this really amazing story about her writing to her future husband when she was in high school, and later found out that he came to God the same day she wrote the letter. No joke. You can check out her talk here if you'd like. 

Saturday night we had another night of adoration, this time even better than the first. I won't go into a ton of detail, but it was honestly just amazing. I don't really have any other words to describe it. I felt like I became even closer to my friends and Christ. 

You can also watch the whole Saturday night live stream here, including our awesome singing and dancing to Livin' on a Prayer and Let it Go. Yes, I'm serious. 

Sunday:

Sunday was sadly the last day. We started off the day with Sunday morning Mass, and more talks from leaders. Pretty much wrapping everything up.

At the end, they asked everyone to stand who would be interested in someday becoming a priest or nun if God was to call them to do that, and it was pretty moving. So many more people than I thought would stood up. Looking around, it made the Catholic church's future look very bright. 

Then it was time to leave.. and I guess that's all to say...

Overall, I had an AMAZING  weekend. It was moving, life changing, and brought me so much closer to my friends. The things I learned this weekend will help me make big life changes to help me become a better person and a better follower of Christ. I cannot thank everyone enough for the encouragement.

Thanks for reading through all of this! Hopefully there will be another post about 2018 Steubenville from either Kathleen or I next year!

-Emma