A few vacation highlights

Best. Vacation. Ever.

This is the first vacation where I actually feel rested physically, spiritually, and mentally. I can’t speak for Greg, but I know I’m much more invigorated for my daily tasks as Wife and Mother. We did see and do a lot of things, considering we weren’t in Los Angeles that long.

In St. George, Utah; I attended my first Spanish Mass. Being an anthropologist I was definitely interested in seeing the differences between a Spanish Mass and an English Mass, culturally speaking. Greg translated for me, and it was a wonderful experience. Even though I was the only non-Hispanic person there, I didn’t really feel like an outsider or anything like that. It was really awesome. I love my big Catholic family.

In Los Angeles we paid a visit to the Carmelites there, where Greg’s Aunt is a Sister there. We received a small tour of the various chapels there and a bag of holy cards and other neat items from Sister Aunt. Elise woo’d the other Sisters there, and they promised to keep a spot open in the choir for her.

On the way home, we stayed overnight at the Benedictine Monastery that I’m attached to as an Oblate. Greg and I treated it as an unguided retreat, and it was quite beneficial. And Benedictine, heh. We got some kinks worked out in our spiritual lives. I love going to the Monastery, it is so peaceful and holy and just … you can literally touch God’s presence there. Words do it no justice, it’s just something to experience. I’m sure some of you out there have spent time in a Monastery or a Convent and know exactly what I’m talking about. The Monks did not fail to shower us with the hospitality Benedictines are noted for, and Elise earned plenty of smiles from the Monks. We attended a (very packed) Sunday Mass with them before heading home.

We also did the touristy things, like go to the Walk of Fame in Hollywood and check out the La Brea Tar Pits. Honestly, I could have spent my entire vacation at the Tar Pits. Thanks to my geology and anthropology education, the Tar Pits were about a million percent more interesting and enthralling than they would have been had I not had that kind of a background. I was able to pick up on the smaller details easier and not have to be constantly reading signs on the exhibits in the Page Museum or out by the tar pits themselves. I’m really surprised how much I remember, considering it’s been about a year and a half since graduation, and anywhere from 5-2 years since some of the stuff was originally learned. I’m fighting the temptation to email a couple of my professors and thank them for drilling various things into my head.

We did plenty more than that, but those are the big highlights in my mind. Now it’s time to pay bills, get caught up on the laundry, clean out the van, and get back to ‘the grind’. I don’t think I’ll be as ragged as I was before the vacation. I have several new outlooks on ‘the grind’ and just am overall much more equipped to deal with life and it’s Crosses. Thank you, God!