Little Blessings

Most nights now, when I am praying and drifting off to sleep, I find myself thanking God for so many little things. I don't really ever mean to spend my whole prayer listing off things for which I am thankful, but my list is so long that before I can get to anything else, I fall asleep. I am quite sure that I will want to write another post on gratefulness in late November when I'm longing for the American Thanksgiving I'm missing over here. But in my humble opinion, there can never be too much said on thankfulness, so a post now can't hurt.

I am a huge supporter of the idea that blessings come in all shapes and sizes. Some are weighty and important; I'm always very thankful for the health and safety of my friends and family, for example. But others are things that are nestled into everyday life like:

• Apple cinnamon oatmeal from scratch (Seriously...try it.  It's like autumn in a bowl.)
• Sweet potato and apple muffins
• Hot showers on cold days
• Soft rain outside my window as I fall asleep at night
• The fact that I finally found the right size lightbulb for my bedside lamp and can now read and journal in bed
• An English lesson that went particularly well today
• The genuine smiles I get from my students as I pass them in the hall
• An unexpected free period and the chance to catch up with a friend
• An orange chocolate tart at lunch
• A surge of motivation and productivity this afternoon
• A visit from a very dear friend
• A funny email from a colleague
• The barking of a dog playing ball with a few young boys in the park outside my window
• The soft, warm glow of the street lamps welcoming me home when I return late from work
• A thought-provoking conversation with my homeroom class on friendship
• October afternoon walks around the park, crisp leaves underfoot
• Crowds of children in uniforms, just out of school and swarming the ice cream truck--their joy is contagious
• Quiet walks to the post office to mail letters back home
• Strolls past neat lines of town houses
• Pauses in front of store windows
• And still moments in the church, thanking God for helping me to teach

When there's so much to be thankful for, is it any wonder I fall asleep mid-list?! 

Hello!

Sometimes...you just have to take the plunge and start.

So many of my favorite things in one picture!

It's incredible what an odyssey this little blog has taken me on already, even before its inaugural post! I first started thinking about creating a blog about a year ago and created this one two months ago, but it has taken me until now to finally work up enough courage to post. It's either the perfectionist in me or all the internet safety lectures I received from my parents growing up, but there was something that terrified me about sharing my life online. (Well...terrifies me.  But I'm working on it.)

I also worried that it might be a little egotistical to assume that strangers would want to read about my everyday life. But then I took a deep breath and remembered all of the blogs that have helped me grow so much over the past two years. They have encouraged me in my faith; they have inspired confidence. They have assured me that there are other young women who hope and dream and pray and love and live the way I do. And then I thought, if I could encourage someone else through my blog the way that these young women have done with theirs, then I ought to write.(Note: I've put links to these blogs--the blogs that mean so much to me and that inspire me to be my best self--on the 'Inspirational Places' page.)

Phew! That was a long introduction. Now a little about me. My name is Libby, and I am a young Catholic woman just trying to live out her faith in this crazy but beautiful world. I passionately love tea, Shakespeare, period drama, dresses, my family, my friends, and God. In May, I graduated from Harvard with a degree in English, and now I'm living and working in London teaching literature at a girls' school.

I don't always promise perfect coherence, but I do promise real posts from the heart. I hope you'll join me as I muse on my cooking triumphs and failures, my new life in London, my relationships, my hobbies and interests, and my faith.

My father's side of the family. (I'm in the orange sweater.)

Some of my best friends in the world!!

My grandfather, mother, sister, (me), and my father

I've never felt as at home in any church as I did in St. Paul's in Cambridge.

My beautiful Boston

New England seaside

And actual England! How exciting!