Word of God, Speak

So I went to the National Catholic Singles Conference this weekend in Denver. And surprisingly enough, it was NOT the Catholic meat market that I was a bit afraid it was going to be. It was actually a SUPER AWESOME conference with some of the country's foremost speakers on dating, theology of the body, and being a single Catholic.

It totally rocked. I learned a LOT. And God did something really neat to my heart. The weekend was just fabulous overall.

Things that I learned: the 4 qualities that must exist for it to actually be a "DATE", the physiological differences in the male and female brains that make us act the way we do, what 3 qualities a man must possess to be date-worthy, plus a bunch of other stuff.

And as a bonus... I just received my License to Date!

You should go get one, too!

Pure Love

Tonight one of my friends told me why her favorite rose was the pink rose. She said it's because white stands for purity and red stands for love. Therefore, a pink rose symbolizes Pure Love.

And this brings me to the question "What does 'pure love' mean exactly?"

In my limited studies of human sexuality in conjuction with morality, many things have stood out to me, but one thing in particular rocks my face off.

And that is: The opposite of True Love is not Hate. It is USE. Let me say it again:

The opposite of LOVE is USE.

As we approach St. Valentine's Day, many couples will be having romantic evenings filled with wine and flowers and other such things. And many couples (both inside and outside of marriage) will fool themselves into believing that they are experiencing Pure Love.

Pure Love is not a feeling. It's not butterflies in your stomach. It's not a hormonal rush. It's not sweaty palms or shaky nerves. Pure Love is Self giving Love.

Pure Love is not experienced in sex outside of marriage. It is, in fact, a contradiction in terms. Sex is meant to be the truest union of man to woman. It is expresses the soul's statement that "I give myself to you completely without reservation."

Outside of marriage, it is impossible for an unmarried couple to say this, because there are always exceptions. Exceptions like: I give myself to you completely EXCEPT after we break up. I give myself to you completely EXCEPT I don't give you my child-bearing abilities. I give myself to you completely EXCEPT I understand that you may not want me tomorrow and I may not want you tomorrow or ever again.

Inside marriage, it can also be a contradiction in terms if sex is being used for any other reason than its unitive and procreative purposes. It's like saying "I want to give myself to you in everything I have except I won't allow God to work through this act. I won't allow a third soul to be created through this act."

Perhaps the most widely-spread abuse of sex is when people (both married an unmarried) use it for what it can do for them. Then an act that is supposed to be completely self-giving becomes completely selfish. Exp. "This makes me feel good... so we should do it."

And really... I started this blog talking about LOVE not SEX.... And I'm not just talking about PURE LOVE in terms of sex... because it is so much more than that. Pure love means not pushing the line. Pure love means stopping for the sake of the other. Pure love means DIEING to yourself so that you may give all you have to God.

PURE LOVE is amazing. It's wonderful. It's God-given. And He gave it to us so that we may find Him. And so that we may see REAL and LASTING HAPPINESS.

I just want our society and our stupid unformed consciences to stop convincing us that the impure things we do are okay just because they make us feel good. It's so very difficult to overcome these thoughts when you're in a relationship with someone... but if you want to TRULY love them, then you MUST.

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So anyways...

my New Favorite Rose Is the Pink Rose... because It Symbolizes Pure Love.

Happy Valentine's Day.

I hope you may LOVE today as God intended you to LOVE, because that is how He loves you each day.

Fo Shizzle

If Snoop Dogg wrote my website...

Delizzle Delirizzle

Ah.. sweet joyous Hugs!

If you were to ask me what my favorite thing in the WHOLE WORLD was... the first thing to pop into my mind would be "hugs". I love them. They are great.

And let me tell you, over the past week I've seriously need hugs like nobody's business. Work is totally awful right now, and most of my coworkers can tell that I'm not having the greatest of times.. so I've gotten at least 3 hugs at work. Then I come home, and if Lisa is the first one I see then she gives me a big hug... and when I see Kim... she gives me a big hug.

And tonight we had like 30 people over for a Superbowl Party, and I got like 12 or 15 or 30 hugs in the span of 6 hours. It was awesome. I got at least 3 Amy hugs and like 7 Peter hugs and 2 Danny hugs and 2 Marianna hugs and 1 Andrew hug and 1 other-Andrew hug and 2 or 3 Jim hugs and an Arvin hug or two and a Maury hug and a Jason hug and a Raquel hug and a Teri hug and a Jessica hug and a Katie-baby hug and a baby-Xavier hug and Kimmy hugs and Lisa hugs and probably more that I've forgotten to mention and WOW... IT WAS FABULOUS! I LOVE HUGS! (Is anyone else at this point finding it difficult to comprehend the sound "hug" after reading it so much?"

So anyways.. all of this hugging talk has a point. I learned the other day that a healthy human adult needs at least 8 hugs a day have as much affection as we really require. And I think that's a reason why I'm so happy all the time. I get hugged a lot. And it's wonderful!!! So, friends, if you haven't had your hugs today... then go and get em. Hugs rock! And if you need a hug, I'm your girl. I'll hug you til the cows come home if you'll let me.

Kiki...OUT. (sorry too much American Idol for me lately)

My Ideal

So the last comment up to this post that had been put on the PREVIOUS post was "What is your ideal job?" And when I started writing about it, it came out in the freaky little rhyme that follows.

My Ideal Job by Kristine Ann

My Ideal Job is both challenging and fun.
It's good for the World because it follows the Son.
I'll be busy with things like planning events
To raise money for the organization where my time is spent.

Perhaps its Church job of some sort or another
And I'll be able to both work AND be a mother.
I'll do things that help people be holy and happy.
I think it's a job where I get to be sappy.

I'll smile a lot and spread joy to the world,
Well... I guess I won't... God will work through this Girl.
And my apostolate will be one of greatest proportions
Maybe something like working to end all abortions.

I'm not sure EXACTLY what it is that I seek.
But I want it to be altruistic and holy and meek.
Maybe someday there'll be a job like this for me,
But it's all in God's time, so we'll just have to see.

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I hope you all have a great weekend and week!!! Please remember to pray for all mothers and all unborn children this weekend. Jan. 22nd is the anniversary of the Roe v Wade decision that helped legalize abortion. Dr. George Tiller (the Wichita abortionist) gives out free abortions on this day to commemorate the event. Think of how many poor little babies will die and how many mothers will be forever wounded. Please pray for them and for all of the thousands of people who will be travelling to DC to stand up to our government and say we must someday END this TRAGEDY.

In To Our View

Hey all!

Guess what I just remembered?! This is the WINTER OF ANTICIPATION. I sorta forgot the theme for about a month in there when I had no time to do anything but plan for and go to parties/events/concerts/plays/and the like. So that's kinda exciting... because spring is only a few months down the road.

And guess what I'm anticipating right now? No... it's not a date (though that would be exciting and magnificent though quite likely drama-filled.) No... it's not a trip (though I am leaving on one this Friday.) No... it's not a retreat (though actually I am sorta anticipating 3 of those cuz I have one every weekend for about the next month). It's... It's... It's... An interview!

In the immortal words of Miss Piggy, "Yippee Skippee!!!"

I hate to divulge too much about said interview considering my thoughts are on the www for the whole world to see... but it's a great opportunity, with an awesome organization (not my ideal... but pretty wicked cool nevertheless) and I'm just excited that I get to at least get my name out there again. Besides, it always makes me smile when I dream of the day I'll get to resign from current job just because I can. Resignation sounds neat.

In other news... St. Valentine's Day is only like 27 days away! Yeay for LOVE! Yeay for PINK! Yeay for guys and girls and moms and dads and husbands and wives and babies!

This is Kiki Ann, signing off. Wishing you a pleasant 2night and an even pleasanter 2morrow!

Wow... long time no see

Hi EVERYBODY! Hi Doctor Nick!

Um.. okay.. it's late and all I could think of for the opening was a Simpson's line. Whatya gonna do about it?

Life has been crazy lately. Like seriously.. crazy, but crazy in such a way that it's been a peaceful kinda crazy if that's possible. For the last 3 nights there have been more than 10 people in my house for more than 2 hours at a time... and not one of those times has a TV been on. Isn't that cool? It's like chaotic peace. Very weird.

Anyhoo.. the reason I have not blogged is because I've been up this late every night for quite sometime, and I just keep going to bed before I sit down to blog. OR... (like Saturday) I sat down to write a really great blog about why I'm so antifeminism and at the same time am extremely PRO-WOMAN... but once I started writing, nothing was going on to the page how it felt in my head, so I had to stop. Perhaps I'll address that one in a future post.

RQOTN (random question of the night): Do you guys miss me blogging about guys? Cuz I sorta do. I can't really explain it... but I miss thinking so much about why men act the way they do... and why they're not thinking what I think they're thinking most of the time. I don't even think about that stuff anymore really. It's strange.

I'm tired and I feel as though my thoughts are disjointed. I hope you have taken a chance to check out the 3 new links I've added on my blogroll. I met Peter over break, and he's a super cool guy that you should all learn to love him and his blogs. They are entertaining, inspiring and useful! (How's THAT for givin props, Peter?) ;)

And in closing I must just say... Yeay for love! Love is neat! I am SOOOOOOO excited for St. Valentine's Day because it is the most wonderful holiday ever in the whole wide world even when you don't have a Valentine, and it's only like a month away. YEAY!!!!