So, today is Ash Wednesday. Being fairly new to Catholicism, I'm still catching on to some of the traditions. This year is full of firsts for me. I've never had ashes smeared on my forehead for Ash Wednesday before, I've never given anything up for Lent before, and I've never fasted on Fridays during Lent before. I'm jumpin' in this year, doin' it all.

It took me a good long while to figure out something I could give up for Lent. It's not supposed to be anything that is harmful to you, such as smoking or swearing (both of which I use in excess... ha, not). It's supposed to be something that you give up as a small sacrifice to God, in order to learn to appreciate more deeply the ultimate sacrifice Christ paid for our sins.

Then, it came to me. What do I do late at night every night? Shut up, get your mind OUT of the gutter. Jeez. ... I usually stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning, chatting on Instant Messenger with friends. Often just one friend (whose favorite number is 15). So I thought about giving up AIM altogether but then I decided that was too extreme. So, in the end, I'm giving up the use of AIM after midnight every night. At 12:00 AM every day for 40 days (until Easter), I will sign off of AIM as my lenten discipline.

Being Catholic is so cool.

[SO CUTE!!]