Author: Trish

Oh Hey, Friday! 5 RESOLUTIONS FOR 2016

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It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Oh Hey, Friday! link-up from September Farm and 5 on Friday from A. Liz Adventures, but when’s a better time to start than the first of the year?  However, committing to doing one of these every Friday is NOT one of my resolutions.

5 RESOLUTIONS FOR 2016

1|  Say yes to more things that scare me.  

Moving to another country is bound to create more opportunities to step outside of my comfort zone.  I’m not crazy enough to commit to saying yes to everything, all the time.  An introvert needs to reserve the right to say “I’m staying home, thanks!”  But I don’t want to let the chance to expand my comfort zone pass me by, so whether it’s hanging out with new people past midnight, jumping into the ocean, or giving up my weekend for an adventure, I want to say yes.   Continue reading →

Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes

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year-of-yes-9781476777092_hrWhat better way to kick off another year of book reviews than with Rhimes’ empowering, encouraging semi-memoir Year of Yes?  Reading it definitely inspired me to jump more fully into life (aka the things that scare me).

Rhimes is obviously a phenomenal writer (she’s the brains and pen behind TV shows Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away With Murder), and her talent translates to book form very easily.  Because she so often writes dialogue, her prose is intimate, repetitive (in a good way), and conversational.  This book is a long letter from her to each reader, sharing what she’s learned and hoping you, yes you, will join her in a year of YES.   Continue reading →

Letters Between Friends: A CHALLENGE IS EXTENDED

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Man, even when Lindsay is “off” her blogging game, she still comes up with awesome letters.  I’m super excited to print this one off and tape it to my Greek bedroom wall as inspiration to live a little bolder…and weirder.

LettersBtwnFriends

Dear Tricia,

First can we please take a look at this picture today on my Timehop?!

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This was EIGHT years ago!  Like almost TEN, but not!

I had such high hopes for this letter!  It was going to be something awesome, like “5 Things You MUST Pack to Greece.”  But all I could come up with was scotch tape and chapstick.  Then, I was going to do pictures from our last few New Years Parties.  NOPE scratch that…Christmas Breaks…cope.  Not cool enough.

So, now here I am at 4p in the afternoon frantically trying to put this letter together, and I got nothing…Ok…I do best in lists, so let’s make a list of all the things you should do in Greece.   Continue reading →

Looking Back on 2015: Looking Forward to 2016!

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2015, in a lot of ways, felt like one big goodbye.  Goodbye to Texas, and the friends I made there.  Goodbye to DTS, and the nerdy pleasure of reading textbooks and writing essays.  Goodbye to Peoria, and the friends who helped me accomplish my goal of moving to Athens.

It was a year of goodbyes, and I’m definitely still sad about many of them.  But the goodbyes are all in anticipation of one massive HELLO – to Athens, Greece, and the life that awaits me there.

As I look forward to my life in Athens, here are some of the things I’m most excited about:

  • GREEK FOOD
  • riding public transportation (more time to read!)
  • helping organize, plan, and implement a new business
  • working with my HD teammates
  • meeting the women who will come to HD
  • traveling around Greece (and hopefully more of Europe)
  • learning a new city and calling it my own
  • stretching myself beyond what I think I can do

2015 was amazing.  I cannot wait to see what 2016 has in store!

What is coming up for you in 2016 that you’re most excited about?  Leave a comment and let me know!

Being Okay With Being in the Desert

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I’ve been in a spiritual desert lately.  Which isn’t so bad, really, except that I’ve also felt like being in a spiritual desert is something to be ashamed of.  “Why aren’t you reading your Bible?” I imagine people asking with judgmental concern.  “Why aren’t you praying more?”

It seems kind of petulant to just tell the truth:  “Because I don’t want to.”

It seems kind of silly that all it took was eight pages of a book to convince me that I may as well speak up.  Reading Nadia Bolz-Weber’s Accidental Saints: Finding God in all the Wrong People (also the author of the amazing Pastrix) is like simultaneously being calmed and inspired.  I love her for her mess:  she’s a Lutheran pastor, former alcoholic and stand-up comic, current struggler with loving people and caring about God.  I want her to be my pastor so badly.   Continue reading →

Looking Back on 2015: Favorite Posts!

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According to my blog stats, these are the ten most popular posts on ItIsTrish in 2015:

  1. INFJ Personality Type (640 views)
  2. What is the Real Problem with 50 Shades of Grey? (569 views)
  3. I Guess I’m Not Suitable for Marriage (521 views)
  4. No Slut Shaming in Hamilton (317 views)
  5. Why Do Good Girls Like Bad Boys (306 views)
  6. Fundraising Progress – FINISHED (275 views)
  7. About Me (209 views)
  8. The Story of a Friendship: Tricia, Ketan, and Anju (202 views)
  9. Good Friday (186 views)
  10. My Dallas Church Preached a Sermon on Singleness, and I Lost My Mind (161 views)

(Look at that!  A Hamilton post is in the top three posts of the year!!  My love for the world is restored.)

Based on this list, it seems like….there is no real consensus of what people like.  Singleness, personality profiles, Christianity, pop culture, personal stuff  – everything is popular.  Which is awesome, because now I get to keep writing about everything!

The opinion of the masses is fine and all, but I have some posts that are personal favorites.  Here are ten of my favorite things that I’ve written this year:

  1. I Can Die in Peace, Because I Saw Broadway on Hamilton  (Honestly, I love every single thing I’ve written about Hamilton – easily viewed in my Hamilton tag)
  2. #44HoursInATrain: DAY THREE
  3. Living in a Muslim Country
  4. To be Grateful, I Have to Stop Worrying
  5. I Still Have a Hole in my Heart
  6. Is God Male?
  7. Tricia Goes on a Float Trip from Hell
  8. Mad Max: Fury Road
  9. Selfie Culture: I’m a Fan
  10. A Fully Realized Christian Hope Counteracts the Cynicism of Postmodernism and Legalism (yes, this is lifted from a paper I wrote for seminary)

Was there any particular post on ItIsTrish that you loved?  Leave a comment and let me know what it was!

 

The Diamond Caper by Peter Mayle

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414C6HpwNgL._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_I have no idea how this book wound up in my library queue; it’s unlike everything I read, but I thought it was so much fun!  It’s supposed to be a diamond heist mystery, and that definitely happens, but that is the least important part of the story.

What matters is a bunch of rich people drinking their way through house parties while describing incredible views and delicious food with a dry wit.  I didn’t know I could be so entertained by 200 pages of privilege, but I totally was!  I want to buy a house in Nice, make friends who send me cases of champagne, and solve diamond heists in my downtime.

I would be interested to read more of Mayle’s books, because…I cannot stress enough how inconsequential the mystery of this story was.  I wonder if the rest of his mysteries are more socialites mingling than mysteries solved.  If so….I want to read them!

Book Jacket

Bon vivant and expert sleuth Sam Levitt and his partner in love and intrigue, Elena Morales, return in the latest installment of the delightfully sun-splashed Provencal Caper series.

When a Riviera socialite’s diamonds are stolen-the latest in a string of seemingly unconnected but ever-more-audacious jewelry heists across France-Elena flies in to investigate the insurance claim.  It’s a trip she’s more than happy to make, as it gives her a chance to meet up with old friends in Marseille-and, particularly, with Sam.

Once reunited, Sam isn’t particularly distracted by domestic matters.  In the pattern of these “perfect crimes” he’s beginning to see a master at work, and he’s quickly determined to connect and solve the cases.  But as he and Elena dig deeper, they begin to realize just how much is connected and how dangerous it may be to pursue the whole truth.

Meanwhile, there’s a house to renovate, a rose to share, and feasts of Provencal summer bounty to enjoy.  Full of Peter Mayle’s inimitable wit and style, The Diamond Caper is sure to charm faithful fans and new readers alike.

Release Date:  October 2015

Looking Back on 2015: Travel!

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The highlight of 2015 was definitely all the traveling I did.

  • I went to Athens, Greece in March
  • I explored New Orleans and kayaked through a swamp in May
  • I went to Disney World with my family and danced with the Beast in July
  • I spent the entire month of October roadtripping around the United States, staying with friends and seeing new sights in my self-named #32DaysInMyCar
  •  I took a three-day-long train to Seattle to spend Thanksgiving with my brother
  • I bonded with my mom in New York City (and saw Hamilton!) in December

You can read more about each of those trips in my Recent Trips page.

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The states I visited in 2015.

All told, I went to 26 states in 2015.  Half the country!  Just this year!

I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to beat that number again.

Hmmm…challenge accepted.

Did you go anywhere awesome this year?  Leave a comment and tell me about your favorite trip of 2015!

Looking Back on 2015: Books!

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In the midst of the stress of moving and fundraising, I fell back on my comfort standby:  books!

I read and reviewed 85 books this year (I read a few more than that, but I decided they were a bit more academic and too boring for a review).  You can check them out on my review page called Title Archive.

I also updated my Recommended page with better lists of books and some new categories!

Favorite Books of 2015
(I read them in 2015, they were not necessarily published in 2015)  Continue reading →

Ten Years Ago…2005 HIGHLIGHTS

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TEN YEARS AGO

Saturday, December 31, 2005

2005 Highlights

  1. I started my second semester of my junior year, which included some of my favorite classes:  0 hour PE, with lots of slacker friends, (!) psychology (!), AP US History with Holmes, AP English with Kahn (and dropping gum with Jill), and band in between Liz and Hope.
  2. Dare2Share was amazing as always, only this time I shared the wonderful experience with Michelle and Lacie.
  3. I rocked the AP tests and the ACT.
  4. I actually enjoyed VBS.
  5. I made a whole new set of friends on the New York trip in the form of the younger youth group.  As a part of that, I sang, rang, and HOPEd by way through IN, OH, and PA to end up in NY painting and learning how to play (!) euchre (!)
  6. I went to World Changers for the first time against my will and had an AMAZING time.  I met wonderful new people, climbed a ladder (and scaffold), learned Marvelous Light, and wrote and received lovely Encouragrams.
  7. I started my senior year and found it delightful in the nearly absolute nothing I had to do.  Photography became a fast favorite, and I actually found myself enjoying English with crazy Mrs. Wood and making new (or better) friends with Mercedes and Allison during Resource.
  8. I got accepted to Union University and then got some scholarship stuff that I have yet to fill out…oops.
  9. I met Carrie, Roy’s girlfriend, and loved and hated her equally.  Nothing’s really changed there.
  10. I lost some close friends and gained some new friends, sometimes at the cost of many tearful nights.  But in the end (of the year) I’m rather pleased.

TODAY

Yeah, 2005 was a pretty good year.

I do want to clarify, however, that I never really hated Carrie.  I just didn’t know that what I was feeling was jealousy.