"Have no Fear"

“Have no fear of moving into the unknown. Simply step out fearlessly knowing that I am with you, therefore no harm can befall you; all is very, very well. Do this in complete faith and confidence.” Pope John Paul II

I feel like this pretty much sums up what I'm supposed to do with my life right now.  I'm starting to take on new roles of leadership lately with Students for Life, my job as a lifeguard, interviewing to be on team for the next Encounter, etc. I feel like I need to be better about not having fear and anxiety about everything. I really need to start trusting that it's all a part of God's plan, therefore I know He's right there guiding me along.  He wouldn't have led me into all this if He knew I would just combust under the pressure and fail. He only gives us what He knows we can handle. Time to gather up some courage and actually be confident in the path my life is taking. "God does not call the equipped, He equips the called." I like the emphasis with the double "very" that things are well.


Watch out for more quotes from JPII as his beatification approaches!!! He's getting beatified on Divine Mercy Sunday, the first day of May the month of Mary, and the Second Sunday of Easter!! Basically Sunday will be a great day!


Two posts in one day...woah. Except technically it's a new day because it's after midnight... but I haven't slept yet, so I consider it the same day!

One of thos Days...

Do you ever just have one of those days? Except I don't mean one of those rough days that never seem to end and everything just goes wrong. I mean one of those days where you wake up and the sky is cloudy, the air is chilly, it's super early in the morning, you have so much to do with not enough time to do it all, but yet everything is just awesome!!! If you've never experienced this kind of day, I'm sorry, but I'll do my best to try and explain the extraordinary feeling of such a day. I woke up this morning to my alarm and pressed snooze for about an hour, never really ready to get out of bed.  The weather isn't exactly happy and sunshiney, and my 8am class on the med campus is not exactly a thrill. For some reason despite all of this I am extremely happy today. I'm basically bursting with energy and feel totally ready to take on the world. I feel totally refreshed after getting back to SLU last night and doing nothing with some friends. I got a good night's sleep and feel refreshed from it. My literature professor informed my class this morning that our final would be take-home! I got delicious coffee before class, and I actually ate some breakfast.  Now I'm just relaxing and listening to some Fall Out Boy before my Psychology presentation. My internet hasn't been working the greatest today, but just good enough to facebook and blog creep.  I know I have a lot of things to do tonight with a Students for Life meeting and Gries mass and some homework and all that jazz.  There's so much to do and so little time, but I feel totally prepared for it. I'm excited to eat dinner with my friends that I haven't hung out with all weekend, and I am just ready for the day.  I usually nap during this time between classes, but today I'm not even tired!! This is seriously a big deal for me! Last night I even fell asleep right on my laptop wearing my slanket... my friend took a picture of it and sent it to all our other friends... thanks Bridget! So ya today shouldn't really be any more special than any other day, but for some reason it is. I'm bursting with joy and energy just thinking about how it's still Easter and I'm totally ready to take on everything I have left to do this semester. I have full confidence that I can get everything done well and totally own my anatomy test, all while still enjoying the end of semester activities that are planned. I hope everyone else is enjoying their day despite all the things that might be a recipe for a rough day. Happy Easter to everyone!!

"we are an Easter people, and Alleluia is our song"

Since so many people decided to start reading my blog this weekend I figure I should give them something to read. Easter break was pretty much awesome.  Holy Thursday was full of some fun adventures.  I went Adoration Hopping with my friend... I had some major strugs along the way with my driving and walking, but no one got hurt, so it's all good! I reunited with my friends and met some pretty cool people.  Then Good Friday was not so good. I was stranded at home by myself because I got pink eye- gross. It turned out to be fun though because I got to watch the entire Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I with commentary with my dad. We're basically huge dorks, but I'm ok with that. Holy Saturday was EPIC!!! Easter Vigil at the Cathedral was totally great! My sister, dad, and I had a great time laughing through the entire mass because of the appearance of Saradactyl.  Sara got her obnoxious hiccups 3 different times.  Two of my good friends and my future brother-in-law all entered the Church! The priest that gave the homily reminded us several times that "We are an Easter people, and Alleluia is our song!" Then we had the largest group we've ever had at Steak-n-Shake afterward. All of that adds up to an epic night.  Easter day was great fun! I just love Easter so much!! It's such an amazing holiday when you think about how Jesus resurrected and completely conquered death and we all now have the opportunity to go to Heaven! It's so great that it can't even be contained into 1 day, it lasts 8 days! My whole family gathered at my aunt's house yesterday to celebrate. We all basically just ate, talked, and napped all day! The little kids had an Easter egg hunt, which was absolutely adorable! I got to hide the Golden Egg filled with $100.  The adults searched for the egg and my future cousin-in-law (i guess that's what he technically is...) found it! We then reverted back to childhood and played with balloon rocket things and bubbles- both meant for the little kids, but the adults got more entertainment from them. Then today I had coffee for the first time since before Lent (besides a small mocha I had at Relay for Life)!! I had a white tuxedo java chip frappucino from Starbucks! It was absolutely delicious! Now I'm back here at SLU!  I'm totally ready to finish up the school year strong and do well on my my last tests and finals.  I had a super productive weekend, so I'm basically done with all my homework for the rest of the semester! Now I can devote my life to studying for anatomy! I really want to finish strong and do well on everything I have left. I especially motivated to study a lot this week so I can go visit friends at Benedictine this weekend!! I can't believe freshman year is almost over, but I'm excited for the end of the year and for summer!

thunder, lightning, tornadoes, oh my!!

I realized it's been a week since I posted, so I figure it's time for another update of my life.  This weekend was kind of epic here at SLU. Friday night my friends and I went to a really fun dance at the Sheraton Hotel.  It was hosted by Alpha Phi Omega which is a service co-fraternity.  It's a really great group here on campus. The dance was so much fun!! Then Saturday night was Relay for Life! Avada Kedavra Cancer won the Residence Hall floor team fundraising competition (we get a pizza party!)!! We were one of the few teams that stayed at the race the ENTIRE night!! We made it through the cold weather and tiredness all the way until the closing ceremony at 5am.  Basically my team is epically awesome, plus we had the greatest name ever! Then I went to a Students for Life barbecue on Sunday.  It was super fun. Finally I ended the weekend with mass at the College Church! Since it was Palm Sunday the service started outside and we all processed into the church together. It was really cool, and there were a ton of juniors in high school there for a visit that night. They stayed with students on campus and went to classes and all Monday.  It was neat that they got to experience such an awesome mass here at SLU- except the Gospel lasted over half an hour... but it was great anyway!

So that all brings me to Monday and Tuesday of Holy Week. Yesterday was a very frustrating day. I had to wake up at 7am on my day off of classes to register for next semester. The system got overloaded and wouldn't let me log-in until 7:24. Thankfully all of my classes next semester are giant lectures so there were still plenty of spaces left by the time I was finally able to register.  Then I tried to pick up a package that I was supposed to have by last week, but they couldn't help me at all.  Our mail services here take SO long.  Then instead of being productive all afternoon, I took a 3 1/2 hour nap.  Then I went to CLC and Upper Room adoration.  My friends won their intramural flag football game!! Unfortunately those games are during my CLC- I want to play so badly!! Oh well, life is full of sacrifices, I'd rather be at CLC, it's just disappointing that they conflict with each other. Yesterday I started getting sick again with sinuses. All of that combined just meant a frustrating day. I woke up today feeling like my head was going to explode, but after my first class I felt much better.  It was a long day because I was so exhausted, but it gradually got better! I went to an Encounter 40 reunion, then an e-board meeting for Students for Life. While we were having the meeting the tornado sirens started going off! I really love bad weather... I know it's weird, but I just can't help it! The tornado watch didn't last very long at all, so I went back to my dorm and went to get ice cream with some friends! Then I went to mass, and now I'm watching the lightning from way up here on the 16th floor! I'm going to miss this view SO much next year! I feel like the lightning is just right there in front of me and I love it! I don't feel sick anymore, and I only have one class, some packing, and a short drive between me and my nice comfy home!! I can't wait to be at home and see my family and friends and my car!! This Easter will be pretty epic and I'm really excited for it! I also can't wait to go to Starbucks and drink a delicious coffee drink after Easter! I hope everyone has a blessed Easter vacation, even if it's short, and hope everyone remembers the true celebration of what this holiday is!

My major strugs of the day:

So today my hair tie broke during class. I tied it together and carried on like nothing was wrong.  Then later after I showered I threw away the broken hair tie with the intention of getting a new one. Well I forgot to grab a new one before I left my room, but I really needed to pull my hair up. My Livestrong bracelet is now holding my hair in a ponytail... Not the greatest hair tie ever, but I make it work. As my friend said, my hair is just "living strong." Today I was exiting Au Bon Pon with a bagel in my hand. I miss-judged where the doorway was and ran straight into the wall. The girl near me witnessed the whole thing so we both started laughing and I just tried to brush it off- I run into things all the time, so whatever. Then I was walking up the stairs carrying the same bagel and I stumbled a little as I often do on stairs. Unfortunately my bagel slipped out of my hand and fell on the stairs. I thought I could just pick it up and continue on my way, but I looked up and saw a guy staring straight at me laughing.  Woops...

And my fail the other day also involved running into something.  We have sliding doors to get into one of our buildings on the med campus. Well i misjudged how much the door was going to slide open, so I ran into it. Not only did I run into the door, but I knocked it off it's sliding track. I pushed it back in place, but it didn't slide anymore... another big woops... Today it was back to sliding though, so I guess it all worked out fine! I'll try not to run into things too much anymore... but I've been trying to do that my whole life and it obviously hasn't worked out for me yet...

What a Weekend!

This weekend was probably the best weekend I've had here at SLU.  I went on Encounter 40 this weekend.  The entire retreat was all about Encountering, not just Christ, but yourself, Christ, and others.  It was truly amazing for me to actually acknowledge myself and my own personal faith, rather than just reconnecting with the simple faith I had before.  I can't even begin to describe how this weekend truly changed the outlook I have on my own life and faith in God.  I met some amazing people who taught me what the word "encounter" really means.  I am so thankful for teh opportunity I had to experience this retreat. 


When I got back from the retreat I walked toward my dorm and saw mobs of people out on the quad. I was so confused, but my friends quickly found me and filled me in.  There was "fire drill" so everyone was outside waiting to go back in.  So while waiting a large group of us played Ninja in the quad for a couple hours! Then finally a guy came out and announced that there had been an electrical fire on teh 6th floor and no one was allowed to stay in teh building for teh night. So chaos began to try and find a place to stay in teh other dorms and apartments! They let every floor go up one by one to grab essentials for the night from their rooms. Thankfully I already had everything I needed because of the retreat! No walking up 16 flights of stairs in the dark stairwell for me!! I really lucked out with that. Three other friends and I crashed with a friend in another dorm.  Unfortunately their air hasn't been turned on in that building and her window did open. It was definitely a roast-toasty night on the floor!! but it was still a lot of fun!

Then today I woke up and went back to my dorm early, but fell asleep again until about 11:45.  Then I went to mass and lunch with some friends. Our dorm turned off our power for a couple hours during the afternoon, so after lunch we had nothing to do since we couldn't go into our building.  Instead we played ninja in the quad and layed in a hammock!! Then I had an interview to be lifeguard at the rec center.  The woman interviewing me had basically already hired me before the interview even started. I was offered a position as a lifeguard instructor, which is a higher position than just a lifeguard.  I will start as soon as I can get my paperwork filled out! I have to get Red Cross Instructor certified over the summer, but that's totally fine with me.  She also basically guaranteed me a job for the rest of my college career here at SLU.  It was a surprise to me that the interview went so incredibly well, but I'm definitely excited about it!!

So it's been a great weekend for me away from reality.  Now it's right back into the depths of work with a test tomorrow and two big projects to work on this week.  I had an anatomy test last week, so I at least don't have that to stress about this week.  I just pray I will be really productive during the week so I can enjoy a Students for Life barbecue and Relay for Life this weekend!! Speaking of, there's still a little time to donate to my fund!! It should be another amazing weekend for me as long as my productivity level is very high between now and then!

And all my friends did housing this week and ended up with great apartments!! A couple of them got the very last apartment in the building they wanted!! I know we all got extremely lucky, because so many other freshman were basically screwed with their housing for next year because the best options filled up so quickly. I'm so thankful we're all either in the same building or the next closest building to each other!! Just what we wanted! It'll be a great year next year!

Strange Days at Saint Louis U

I woke up this morning thinking it'd be a regular day... I was wrong. It quickly became a series of awkward events.  As I was finishing up showering, another person came in to shower. She took about a two minute shower then left and turned the lights off on me. I'm not sure why anyone would turn the lights off while someone else was in the shower, it was really weird.  Then I participated in a psych study about how personal traits effect performance in a task.  On my way to the study one of my flip-flops broke. I had to sit through the two hour long study and then walk all the way back to my dorm without a shoe... very awkward.  Then I arrived back in my room and the door was unlocked.  I figured my roommate was in the room. She wasn't but there was a male sleeping on my futon.  I couldn't tell who he was and I didn't know if he was supposed to be in our room or something.  I left my room and went to a friend's room, finally checking my phone and realizing my roommate had sent a text explaining her boyfriend would be in our room when I got back. It's too bad I hadn't checked that before going into my room and being very surprised.  After a while I went back into my room to see if he was still there. The futon was empty, so I assumed he was gone. I was wrong. I sat down on the futon and watched some tv then heard someone in the bed above me. He had moved up into my roommates bed and I wasn't able to see him. I quietly exited the room again because I felt super awkward being in there while my roommate's boyfriend napped right above me and my roommate wasn't even going to be back from classes anytime soon. Later I received a phone call from an unknown number and they didn't leave a message- not really unusual, but it rarely happens, and it happened to happen today. That was my awkward random day. None of it was horrible or made my day bad in any way, it actually was quite humorous thinking back on all of it. Everything was just so random and weird, and it all happened on the same day! This all basically just explains the chaos and randomness that is going on in my life right now. I'm hoping things will calm down a little, but let's face it, my life is pretty hectic for the next few weeks. I hope everyone everyone had a great Monday!

Christmas to Fourth of July in 7 days

A week ago it snowed four inches in a few hours and the temperature was obviously below freezing.  Today is a nice 85 degrees and sunny! I don't think I will ever be able to understand how the weather here in the Midwest can change so drastically in such a little amount of time. 

Last weekend I was praying outside in front of Planned Parenthood as the snow began.  After that my parents came and visited me in St.Louis!! We made a trip to Target and then went to Cunnetto's on The Hill for dinner. I LOVE ITALIAN FOOD!! Cunnetto's was absolutely delicious.  Then I learned what a real mall is like by walking around the Galleria.  We went in a few baby clothing stores- baby clothes are so freaking cute! The next morning we got to go to the Basilica Cathedral of St. Louis. It was so beautiful and awesome.  I showed my parents Central West End which is an adorable area of town right between SLU and Forest Park. We ate at Pi Pizzeria- delicious deep dish and garlic bread! then after a driving tour of Forest Park we all headed home.  I went back to BloNo with my parents to go to a concert with my sister. the concert was absolutely awesome, and I totally appreciate my dad driving me back to St. Louis at 4am on Tuesday so I could go to all my classes.  Basically last weekend was epic and so much fun! I'm so glad my parents were able to come visit me at St. Louis and see a little of what I've been experiencing since I came to school here in August.  This week has been pretty low-key and relaxing. Nothing huge for me to worry about.  This next week will be more stressful- I have an anatomy test on Thursday.  At the end of the week though I'm going on Encounter, which is a retreat here at SLU similar to Koinonia and TEC.  I'm really excited to have a weekend away and meet/ get to know people better.  It should be an awesome experience. 
Anyway that's all I've got for now!