Our Lady of Einseldeln Archabbey (Einseldeln, Switzerland)

This is Our Lady of Einseldeln Archabbey in Einseldeln, Switzerland. I believe I enjoyed celebrating mass here even more than I did in the Vatican. They don't let you take pictures inside the church, but it is decorated  everywhere. (If you even go to churches in Europe, take some time to look up at the ceiling). I remember it being quite pastel and pink. Mass was wonderful, and it included polyphonic chants by the monks. It was also during mass here that I realized that "Peace be with you" can be understood in the context of mass, even if you don't speak the same language as the people around you. (Mass was in German).

This monastery is famous for it's black Madonna statue (Madonna is code for Virgin Mary... it took me a while to figure that out). The story is that they burned candles around this statue so much that her face turned black. At one point they tried to clean it and paint it back to its original color, but the people had fallen in love with the black Madonna, so it is now painted that way.

So Fr. Matt (who is the priest from the Newman Center here who traveled with us) knows a monk who lives here (who actually grew up on the real Matterhorn) because the monk studied abroad to Fr. Matt's seminary. Anyways, this monk was super cool and took us to different places around the monastery. Here are pictures from the amazing library they had there.

What's that? Square-note notation music? Yes! Yes it is! Isn't that crazy and amazing? At least for you music geeks out there?

This is the second Bible ever translated into German (after Martin Luther's). The monk who showed us around just picked it up off the shelf and read a bit of it to us.

The shield here shows two crows, which is all around the monastery. I believe it has something to do with St. Meinrad, but I couldn't tell you for sure.

Now to set the setting around the monastery. This is literally what Switzerland looks like - I didn't edit these pictures at all. It is by far the most beautiful place I have ever been.

They are also famous for a certain breed of horses, but I'm not too sure what those are either. This is just a fountain outside of the monastery. (On another note, nearby is a restaurant where I got the best meal of my entire life. If you're ever in town, check it out.)

On another Catholic note, the bishop was at the Newman Center today to confirm new members. Congratulations to all of my new brothers and sisters in the faith!

Sippin' Saturday

Here are reviews of ten random drinks that I've tried.

1. Lipton Lemon Tea
This was okay. If you are a big fan of unsweetened tea, this may be for you. For me, it was lacking some flavor (and sugar).

2. Honest Ade Pomegranate Blue
This tasted like nothing more than watered down grape juice. But for some reason I kept drinking it. So although it had no flavor and wasn't unique, it was surprisingly refreshing.

3. Sierra Mist Natural
I love this! This is only a proof that advertising works - since Pepsi sponsors our school, they give us (the marching band) free soda (it's okay because it's clear?). It has such a great taste - perfectly sweet and perfectly lemon-limey, not too much of anything. And also perfectly refreshing for after a half-time performance.

4. Naked Blue Machine
This was so gross - to me it tasted like black licorice. I took maybe two sips and then gave it to someone who actually liked the flavor.

5. Naked Green Machine
Considering what is in this drink (like garlic and algae) it didn't actually taste too bad. The consistency does weird me out though - I guess I'm just not into juice smoothies.

6. Naked Red Machine
This is probably my favorite of the Naked Machines that I've tried. Like I said, the consistency is a bit weird, but the flavor is fine, just a fruity berry mix. However, considering the price, I'm not sure I'd ever buy this again.

7. Naked Gold Machine
This one was okay - I drank it while I had a cold because it had a lot of Vitamin C. It is your typical banana base sort-of-fruity-sort-of-bland smoothie. So, good, but I'm not going to buy it again.

8. Teddy’s Root beer
I really liked this stuff. Someone gave me two liters of it for a secret schlo-mo (because Santa is religiously affiliated?) gift. I drank a whole liter of it in one night. It is more sugary than normal root beers and has less carbonation, which is a plus on my part.

9. Chili’s Mango Iced Tea
Love this stuff! I get it every time I go to Chili's. (Although I usually add three or four packets of sugar). This drink is a great perfectly flavored tea that is light and refreshing.

10. Tazo Plum Pomegranate
I wasn't too much a fan of this one. It was just too... eh.

Well, that's all folks. Tune in next week for another ten or so reviews. And hopefully soon I'll be making drinks of my own to share with you guys, just in time for summer.

Bracelets!

So lately I've gone a little bit crazy making friendship bracelets. Here's what I made.

This is a really easy (and quite pretty) bracelet to make. You can get the tutorial of how to make this one in one of my previous blog posts here.

This is a trio of fun bracelets that I made for Easter. One is just braided (with six strands) one is a simple friendship bracelet (tutorial here) and one is the same friendship bracelet as above. And since it was for Easter, I added a cross charm.

Sorry the picture is so blurry! I made this bracelet during class (sometimes my teachers are just not that interesting) and I love it. It is a standard V-Pattern Friendship Bracelet in rainbow colors. (Tutorial here).

This is a classy version of the V-Bracelet - every four rows I added a small bead before completing the center stitches. And instead of adding a bead for the middle occurrence, I added a cross charm.

I love this bracelet! It is braided with four colors. To braid this way, take the outer strand and pull it over two strands. Then pull it back towards the way it started underneath a strand. Alternate outer edges. I added a fun bead to the end for a clasp.

Heat pattern! I found this pattern on Pinterest, which links to here.

This bracelet is made with two "ropes" of four-braided strands. Also, I have discovered the wonder that is fiber crimps and pretty clasps. They add a whole new dimension to the bracelet.

I saw this pattern online and I just had to figure out how to make it. It took me a couple of tries (and even some sketching) to figure it out, but I did. Unfortunately, it's something I can do but can't quite explain yet - maybe I'll get a tutorial up someday.

This is the same as the previous bracelet, but made with 24 strands instead of 12 - like there are two bracelets next to each other.

This is your traditional diagonal bracelet made with ribbon with beads added every six rows.

This is another traditional diagonal bracelet, just with three beads in the middle and the great fiber crimps and clasp at the end.

As you can see - I've gone a bit (okay, a lot) crazy making friendship bracelets. But I've learned lots of cool new things, and I really enjoy making them. All of these are in my etsy shop right now. =)

Linked up at

Mini Garlic Monkey Breads

I got the recipe for this from Eat Cake For Dinner. (Because what's the point of Pinterest if you never actually try anything you pin?) Anyways, I absolutely loved these - they were easy to make and very delicious. My roommate and a friend I had over both loved them as well. I would add more garlic next time - or maybe some garlic salt. Otherwise, it was perfect!

Ingredients
2 (7.5 oz) cans buttermilk biscuits
6 Tablespoons butter, melted
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons dried parsley flakes
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Tear biscuits into approximately 6 pieces and place in a bowl. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over biscuit pieces. Gently toss to evenly coat. Use a greased 12-cup muffin tin and place 6-7 pieces in each cup. If desired, sprinkle cheese on top. (I omitted this step). Bake at 400 degrees for 12-14 minutes. Serve warm. Makes 12. (But if you want to reheat them, just add a bit of cheese on top and pop them in the microwave. And if they go stale, you can eat them with soup.)

Yum

Sippin' Saturday

So I recently tried a drink that I thought was amazing, and although I have plenty of other drinks to review, this one gets to be featured today. The Georgia Peach is offered at Wildflower Bakery - I hope one day to be able to make this on my own! The drink is comprised of peach, yogurt, honey and lavender. It is like an upscale Jamba Juice- the perfect peaches and cream flavor with the added flavor of lavender. It was amazing.

Love Finds You in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts by Melody Carlson

This was a cute, refreshing book. It's no secret that Melody Carlson is my favorite author... and she writes so many books that I never run out of stuff to read! This is a great Christian chick-lit book that would be a nice summer romance. The book follows the story of a girl who moves to Martha's Vineyard to own her own art gallery - only to discover a surprise.

Picture from melodycarlson.com

On another note, if you need a good book, check out www.azbooknook.com. =)

Cookie Dough Truffles

Sorry there hasn't been a Tasty Tuesday for a while! My sister and I made these over spring break and absolutely loved them! The recipe is originally from Chef In Training, which is a pretty awesome blog - you should go check it out!

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
14 oz can sweetened, condensed milk
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
To coat: 1 1/2 lbs chocolate disks or chocolate chips (We used 1 package of chocolate chips, plus what was left from the mini chocolate chips)

Directions:
In a large bowl cream butter and brown sugar until creamy. Add vanilla. Gradually beat in flour and add milk. Add mini chocolate chips, mixing well. Shape into 1-inch balls. Place on waxed paper; chill 2 hours.

Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler (or make your own like we did... see below!). Using 2 forks, dip cookie balls into chocolate to cover. Place on waxed paper and chill to set. Store in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Our cheater double boiler (The bottom pan has boiling water in it)

The finished product! Yum!