Stay Off the Sidewalks

So pretty much I'm currently failing as a blogger and I apologize greatly to my readers.  Life's been busy and unfortunately the blog is usually the first thing to go when I don't have time for everything.  

My warning is now a little late, but you can still take precaution if necessary. For your safety, I highly recommend in the immediate future to stay off all sidewalks within a 20 mile radius of Seventh Heaven because White Tornado is 16.

That aside, I would like a very Happy 16th Birthday to my big little brother.  Once upon a time, I remember when I was taller than you, but as you can see above those days are long gone.  As you continue to grow, as I'm sure you will, I wish you all the happiness.  You're a good guy and despite what you may think I think, I actually think you're a pretty cool kid.  I'm so happy for you and all of your accomplishments so far. Don't worry I won't embarrass you anymore since I already saw you turn enough shades of red when the Srs. decided to serenade you Friday night when I called.  Enjoy being able to drive yourself and be nice to Little Red.  

Happy Birthday buddy. 

Better Late Than Never

Again, my life has become insanely busy and yesterday was quite possibly the busiest day of my hectic week, so I'm a little late.  My deepest apologies to the birthday boy.   I figure it's okay though since he's spreading the celebration out over the next week and a half.  In all fairness, I did try to put something together yesterday, but it just wasn't finished when I ran out of time.

Today is a big day.  The big Red Bus gets to lose a car seat because one of it's frequent flyers is turning 8.  I'd like to wish a very happy birthday to my favorite little nerd.  Wii Man you never fail to bring a smile to my face with your great big welcoming hugs.  You are the only person I know who can talk about the Wii 24 hours a day and although it sometimes gets rather tiresome, it's okay because it makes you, you.  Believe it or not I've missed hearing all of your long drawn out stories and I'm looking forward to next week when I can hear them again.

8 is an exciting age and I hope you are able to embrace every second.  I hope your day yesterday and the upcoming parties are filled with lots of celebration, fun, and lots of Mario.

Convent Q & A

Sorry for the delay in posting, life has been very busy around here.  After returning from Thanksgiving on Saturday we helped decorate the house for Christmas.  It was an all day process that included most of the residents of our house and about 20 of the high school students.  On the plus side the house looks great and very ready for Christmas. Then since we were gone for two and a half days I had homework and stuff to catch up on. 

Our next round of questions again comes from the Mrs.

Question: Do you regret not getting the Jesus Homeboy tattoo? (There's still time, if you do)
Answer: I can't say that I do. I'll keep in mind that there's still time.

Question: Is the food good?
Answer: Yes.  We have a nice Peruvian lady who comes during the week and cooks our food since everyone is so busy, and she does a very nice job.  On weekends we get to taste a little more variety because whoever is cooking generally cooks food from the culture she grew up in.  You can tell that my family doesn't necessarily stick to any particular culture when it comes to food since the two times I've cooked once we had Italian and the other time we had Mexican....

Question: What has been the most outstanding/memorable/fulfilling experience you've had to date?
Answer: This is a hard one. We have been very blessed in the three months we have been here because we've gotten to see the Pope, a Sister from the General Council visited to give a workshop, and the former Rector Major of the Salesians came for the day.  We've also been to Philadelphia, Indianapolis, and New York City.  So I can't pick one.  The top on there are Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular and the National Catholic Youth Conference.  The Spectacular was absolutely spectacular.  I'm pretty sure my mouth was open the entire time. Definitely put me in the Christmas mood.  National Catholic Youth Conference was very reassuring in the need for my vocation.  While there we got to see so many young people absolutely on fire with their faith and then to crown it all, they had adoration one night. 25,000 people dead silent as they adore Jesus.  Absolutely beautiful.  

Counting Your Blessings

Amid the turmoil of today's world I think Thanksgiving is coming at a really good time.   Tonight I listened to the news while some of the Sisters and my companions were watching it.  The entire show seemed to be filled with lots of turmoil and story after story of some other horror that is happening in today's world.   Listening to all the tragedy that people are dealing with makes me look even more at the many blessings I have been given as we celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow.   All week I have been trying not to think about the fact that I am spending the holiday far away from my family, but after listening to the news that should really be the least of my worries.  Am I sad to not be joining them tomorrow? Absolutely.  Am I going to miss them and all the traditions and inside jokes from years past? Without a doubt.   But tomorrow I will wake up in a house that has heat, I will have three square meals, I will spend the day with people who care about me and even if it isn't my blood relatives, I'll be spending the holiday with a group of people, who over that last few months have become some sort of family to me.  There are plenty of people out there who don't know if they will have a meal, if they have shelter from the cold, if they will spend it with people who care about them, or how they are going to spend it.  On this new adventure of my life there are sacrifices and in the scheme of things the things I find to be huge sacrifices are minimal compared to the many issues people face each day.

Today we attended the Thanksgiving prayer service the high school had before they left for break. One of the things I found very striking was when one of the girls read a piece about being thankful for our misfortunes and our struggles because they give us an opportunity to really see how lucky we are in this life.  I'd never thought about it that way and it is definitely giving me something to think about today.  

I'm thankful this year for many things, to name a few, my family without them I would be lost.  They support me always I don't know where I'd be without them.   My friends, watching someone pick up and leave can't be easy and I'm very grateful for those of my friends who make an effort to stay in touch with me.  My companions, I can't say I'm always thinking this, but I really am thankful for them.  Together we are all growing on our journey to become Sisters and they help me over come difficulties and challenges that come with this life.  They also point out things I need to work on to become the best version of myself.  I'm thankful for that pile of homework I have to do because it means I have teachers who want me to excel and become better.  I'm thankful for the tears I shed every time I leave my home because that means I am leaving a place where I am loved and accepted.  It means I always have a place I can go to and be welcomed. I'm thankful for the cold because it reminds me how lucky I am to have a warm house to live in and good clothes to keep me warm.

Big picture I'm very blessed.  I'm thankful each of you.  Thank you for being in my life, whatever capacity that may be.  I hope you all have a very safe and blessed Thanksgiving, that you may enjoy lots of good food and the company of your loved ones.  Happy Thanksgiving all!

On the Road Again

We're taking our show on the road again to help the vocations director at another event.  This time we're heading west to go to the National Catholic Youth Conference.  Three days surrounded by tens of thousands of teenagers hyped up by the Holy Spirit, it's going to be intense and totally awesome all at the same time.  Plus a true test of our relationships as aspirants since the trip begins and ends with driving 11 hours to get there.  

Before we head out though, I thought I'd answer the next couple of questions.  The next two come from the Mrs.

Question 1:  Is there a Sr. Mary Clarence in your convent?

Answer:  No, unfortunately there is not a Sr. Mary Clarence.  We do however have several Sr. Marys, Sr. Mary Ann, Sr. Maryann, Sr. Mary Louise, and Sr. Mary Bertha. (These are from all of our houses, not just the one I live in. I do live with one of the Sr. Marys and Sr. Mary Ann and down the hill are several more Sr. Marys and Sr. Mary Bertha.)

How often have you watched Sister Act (1 or 2) since being in NJ?

We haven't watched either of the Sister Acts at all since we've been here.  One night we watched a movie called Lillies of the Field which is movie about some Sisters who move to the U.S. from Germany.  It was pretty good.  Last weekend we watched The Sound of Music because one of my companions had never seen it.  Sad I know.  No worries she is now culturally in the loop. One of the Sisters found out I hadn't seen Troubles with Angels so that is on our to do list for Thanksgiving weekend.  Needless to say we do watch movies about nuns.  

Line Up

Next up on the line up: Sr. R

First I introduced to you our main teacher. Sr. TK teaches us a lot about the Sisters, discernment, and our faith, but we also are learning a lot of just how things go in the convent. Sr. R doesn't teach us any classes, but we spend a decent amount of time with her being her extra sets of hands.  She's the house economer which means she's in charge of all the money, so she is the one who we have to check with for a vehicle, does all the grocery shopping, and calls the plumber, roofer, etc.  She is also in charge of the grounds we live on and the school.  During the summer, she runs the camp held here. Sr. R teaches us a lot of life skills because while we are working with her we learn all the time.  About running a cafeteria, about running the property, and about a million other things.  She does an excellent job at looking out for all of us and making sure everything in the house is running smoothly.  It's big job and she keeps it all in line.  Although she has her moments where she can be intimidating it's very easy to tell that she's actually softhearted and out of her love for the people she serves she is tough for them.  Sr. R also has a great capability of making people laugh.  Originally she's from the Dominican Republic, so she has an accent and sometimes her pronunciations are a little off which will make all of us, herself included laugh.

A Golden Day

Today I'm taking a brief pause in the Convention Q&A and introductions to recognize a special young lady on her golden birthday.  This girl is full of sweetness and thoughtfulness always trying to make those around her feel loved and welcome.  She is always willing to give out hugs and will jump on any opportunity for someone to let her snuggle.   She has a great creative eye and is always producing different works of art to give out to those people she cares about.  Any occasion is a good occasion for her to craft something for someone special.  She has a big smile that lights up her face and when she smiles you can't help but want to smile along with her.  She lives in her own little world, carefree and loving life and all those in it.  As a disclaimer, I have to say that I haven't always greatly appreciated or understood her sweet, caring ways and I have most definitely had my share of misunderstandings with her as I don't always share her outlook on the world.

Little Miss you are silly, spunky, and sweet and I wish you a very happy golden birthday!  I hope you have a wonderful day filled with lots of wonderful things! Love you!

Convent Q&A

I didn't realize I answered AL's question twice, sorry about that.  On to the next question. This question comes in from Anonymous: "What made you enter the convent."

Answer:  The short answer for this question would be to simply say God.  However it was a much more in depth process to get here.  God has a plan for each one of us and it is our job to discover what that is and then to live it out to the best of our ability.  I hadn't really put a lot of emphasis on allowing God to show me His plan for my life until I was at college.  At college I was surrounded by a lot of very devout young people and I opened myself up to listening to God.  During a retreat I felt God really nudging me towards religious life so I talked to the assistant spiritual director who just happened to be one of the Salesians.  She started accompanying me through the discernment process after that. A few months later, I had a very powerful moment in adoration and felt God calling me at that particular moment to leave college to enter the convent.  Although I was very happy at college and loved my life there, I knew that if I didn't follow what I was being called to I would never have peace.  When we are living the will of God we are filled with an inner peace from the Holy Spirit which helps us to become the best versions of ourselves and work for the glory of God. Entering the convent is me going into deeper discernment of my vocation and trying to find where it is that I may be filled with God's peace and therefore work all for His glory.

Line Up

Mrs. MC made a request for an introduction of the lovely folks who live here in the convent, so I'll try to make an introduction each week.

First up in the line up is our formator, Sr. TK.  Sr. TK is the animator of the community and the aspirants' formator.  This means she is in charge of the community of Sisters, making sure every thing is running smoothly and everyone is doing okay and in charge of the formation process for us aspirants.  This job is very important and takes a lot of time because she besides teaching several of our classes, she also meets with each of the Sisters individually once a month and with the aspirants and temporary professed Sisters every two weeks. She also teaches classes to the novices.

Sr. TK entered when she was very young and has had a variety of positions in her time as a Sister. She has been a teacher, principle, animator and she is one of our former provincials.  Needless to say she's seen pretty much everything and therefore has a lot of wisdom to impart on us newbies.

She's also very anti having her picture on the internet, so I can't post a picture for you all to put a face to a name.

Convent Q & A

Next question on the list comes from AL "What other responsibilities do you have besides classes and prayers?"

Answer:  Our actual assigned tasks are called our "assistance."  These include being in the locker section of the high school in mornings to sell breakfast type snacks and be an adult presence, going to the cafeteria during lunch time to help organize the hot lunches, sell snacks, and wipe down tables, and go the the Provincial House for lunch time to eat with the elderly Sisters and then help with the heavier chores since many of them are no longer able to do things like mop or lift the larger dishes.

We also have chores around the house that are assigned on a weekly basis.  On Saturdays, the six aspirants take turns cleaning our study and classroom, cleaning the front entryway to the convent and helping one of the Sisters clean the chapel.  Each night after supper the whole community pitches in with kitchen clean up and each week we have different chores that range from sweeping and mopping the floor to putting away the leftovers.

The Sister who is in charge of the chapel is also taking one of us a month and teaching us the duties of sacristan.  This means we learn how to set up for Mass, clean the church linens, change out candles, and other general upkeep in the chapel.  The person who is the sacristan in training for the month has to be in chapel in plenty of time to make sure the lights and microphone are turned on and the candles are lit.

Each of us has a class or is a teacher's aide for CCD in parish programs near our house.  So each Sunday morning is spent teaching and attending mass with our students.  As an aide I don't have to do any planning and just show up each Sunday, but my companions who are the head teacher for a class spend a decent amount of time preparing their lessons for each week.

Beyond our assigned chores, at any given time we can be pulled from our study room to help with tasks around the house.  Our house is the largest in the Province so this means we often are hosting meetings, workshops and other gatherings of the Sisters.  After these are over, we help clean the rooms and get them ready for the next group.  The Sister in charge of the development of the Province has her office out of our house so when needed we help her get ready for different events and fundraisers.

Being involved in all the different types of ministries that are carried out by the Sisters we live with gives us exposure to the work we can be involved with after we take vows. It also keeps us very and active, giving us a sense of what life will be like as a Sister. The Salesians are contemplatives in action meaning we have our required prayer time but much of our life is spent out working with the young people.  This is not to say we aren't prayerful because as part of our formation process we are learning our work is a way to bring us to closer union with God by offering up all of our chores and duties to Him.

Niece of the Bride

Over the last 19 years, I've had the privilege of being niece of the groom three times, today for the first time I get to be the niece of the bride.  This morning due to side effects from early morning convent wake ups and sheer excitement for the day I woke up kind of early and was thinking about this post.  As the post was formulating in my mind, I had scene much like the flashback scene George Banks has, old pictures of Munchkin through the years rolling through my head as I contemplated whether not to get up.

You see I'm very lucky, because eight days after her 10th birthday Munchkin gave up her spot as the youngest member of the family when I entered the world.

From the start, she was the coolest person I ever knew.  She was one of my first playmates and babysitters and as I got older I quickly wanted to be just like Munchkin.

Even before I knew I started copying her fashion statements. (She was a Pepsi box one year before I was.)

Eventually the copying of her fashion statements was on purpose and I had to have a red polo and brown sandals because that's what Munchkin wore.  I had to have my hair pulled up in a bun because that's how Munchkin wore her hair.  I wanted braces because Munchkin had braces and therefore that was cool.  When I got to fourth grade and had to pick an instrument out for beginner band, I wanted to play trumpet because that's what Munchkin played in her band.  When I started playing sports, I wanted number 25 because that was Munchkin's number.  And through it all, she willingly let me follow her around, played countless and endless games, dutifully playing dress up and house and a million other things I'm sure as a teenager she would have rather not, she patiently let me dress just like her, and kindly handled the greeting she got for many years of "I'm almost taller than you." and then having to be inaccurately measured by my younger self. Munchkin was easily the coolest babysitter ever always making frozen pizza (sometimes dropping it in the oven, remember that Munchkin?) and chocolate milk and hands down the she was the funniest person I'd ever met.  

Then one day she graduated high school and she was moving very far away to college. I cried when she moved away because Munchkin was going to be so far away and then I started counting down until she would be home again.  Months before her college graduation she once again was awesome and made a flying trip home to be my Confirmation sponsor.  It was literally a flying trip complete with the state trooper's certification as such. 

Needless to say it was the best day ever when Munchkin decided to move five minutes away from our house.

End walk down memory road.  

Thank you Munchkin for being so cool, funny, patient, and wise.  For going from being my babysitter to one of my very good friends.  Today is such a very exciting day and I couldn't be happier for you.  

Welcome to the family, Jeti.  We're a little crazy, sort of loud, and a whole lot of there for each other at the drop of a hat.  I'm sure you know that though, because you're getting the life of our party and a very special person. 

I wish you both all the happiness in the world on your special day. Please appreciate this well wishes right now, because after being the errand runner and dog sitter/taxi/walker later I may have other thoughts on this day. 

Convent Q & A

Question: What are your responsibilities besides classes and prayers?

Answer:  In writing, our other responsibilities include supervising the girls and selling the breakfast/snacks in the morning before school, handing out the high school lunches, selling snacks at lunch time, wiping down tables at lunch time, and helping clean up at the Provincial House after lunch.  We also have weekly assigned chores for after mealtimes and Saturday. These include things like washing dishes, setting up for breakfast, mopping, cleaning the classroom, cleaning the chapel, etc.  The six of us also teach CCD on Sundays at a couple local parishes. 

To be honest our other responsibilities are whatever the Sisters feel like having us do today.  Since our schedule is considered to be the most flexible in the whole house because we aren't specifically tied to classrooms or other jobs. We do anything from driving around some of the elderly Sisters to becoming moving crews for the Sister in charge of grounds keeping.  Everybody takes turns signing up to cook on Saturday and Sunday, so occasionally that is also something I do.  

Convent Life

Thank you all for your responses.  I'll start with Mrs. MC's question first, a typical day.

That is kind of an ironic question because since we've been here no day has really been typical. One of the things the Sisters have told us is important about being Salesian is the ability to adapt because we have to a lot.  However we do have a schedule with what a day is supposed to be like.

5:40 a. m.:  We start our day in the big chapel with meditation.  My meditation usually includes trying not to fall back asleep, especially since they sit the aspirants in the front two pews.

6:10 a.m.: Mass, followed by morning prayers.

6:45 ish a.m.: Depending on the week I head back to the house for breakfast and then unloading the dishwashers and putting away the breakfast stuff, or I go down to the high school and help supervise the girls and sell them breakfast until school starts.

From the time morning chores are done until 9 is time to study or get other things done that we are working on.

9 - 10 a.m.: Class.  This changes daily.  Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, one of the Sisters teaches us a class at this time.  On Tuesdays we use the time to study and do Italian online.

10:30 a.m.: Most weeks this is the time we head to the high school to help get lunch ready for the girls.  Then we help through lunch, giving them their lunches, selling snacks, and wiping down tables.

If it's my week to help at the high school we usually get back from that around 12 and then we raid the walk in fridge for leftovers and have our own lunch. If it isn't my week to help with high school lunch then I go down to the Provincial House where all the older Sisters live.  Two of us go down each day and eat lunch with them and then help with chores. Chore time at the Provincial House gets interesting because there are a bunch of elderly women who are all set in their ways trying to tell you 50 different ways to dry and put away dishes and mop the kitchen floor.

The afternoons are either study time again or we have class depending on the day, until 4.

4 p.m. starts our free time.  I generally use this time to take a decently long rosary walk with some of my companions and/or any Sisters who are around, or I go for a half hour run around the soccer field. On days when the girls have home volleyball, soccer, or tennis, we try to go to the games during free time to be moral support.

5:30 p.m. Spiritual reading and evening prayer in the big chapel again with the whole community.

6 p.m. Supper and chore time.  This is one of my favorite parts of the day because the whole community comes together and sometimes it's the only time some of the Sisters are around because their ministries keep them busy all the rest of the time.

7 - 8 p.m. Recreation time.  Recreation consists of anything from board games to a three on three basketball game, not cards though.  No one here really knows how to play cards and it makes me sad.

8 - 9:30 p.m. More free time, but it is generally quiet time.  I use this time to chat with friends on Facebook and send e-mails.

9:30 p.m. We have to be in our rooms by this time.  I usually try to get there before then.

10:00 p.m. Lights out.

Repeat.  The weekends are only slightly different because instead of class time we have chore time and more free time on Sunday afternoons.  So that pretty much sums up what a typical day is like.  It sounds pretty monotaneous, but since we rarely actually completely go by the schedule, life stays pretty interesting.

Reader Poll

Alright for all five of you out there who are reading this, I need ideas.  What do you want to hear about?  To me the daily in and outs of life at the convent are pretty much a rhythm at this point so it doesn't really seem like a lot of bloggable moments.  Granted when I say rhythm there really isn't one.  Our formator gave us a schedule when we got here six weeks ago and I can honestly say I don't think we've followed it the whole week through once.  There is a lot of last minute changes and spur of the moment things that come up, not necessarily interesting ones.  It's more like we're supposed to having class with Sr. So and So at this time but she can't make it so Sr. So and So is taking her place, or we're praying at here at 5:30 tonight.... ten minutes later scratch that we're praying in the other chapel.

So leave your idea in the comment section.  Feel free to make it questions about convent life too.  If I get enough of those I could start doing a weekly post answering one or two of your questions.

A Unique Experience

Sorry for the lateness in posting about Philly, but we came home and had to get right back to class and help get ready for a very large fundraiser for the high school.

Turns out we had tickets for the Papal mass all along, but when the vocation directors switched at the end of the summer that wasn't communicated.  So Monday we had the van loaded up and off we headed to Philly for a week at the World Meeting of Families.   The WMOF was a very cool experience.  There were people from literally all over the world.  My only speaking English status was a bit of a hindrance in communicating with some of the foreigners, luckily some of my companions and the sisters with us were able to talk to those people.  In order to make up for missing a week of classes we were encouraged to go take in some of the talks taking place throughout the week.  I sat in on the talks from Bishop Robert Barron and Dr. Scott Hahn.  Both men had some really great points to make that although directed at the family could also be applied to people in religious life.

Friday is when the real fun began.  After tearing down our booth and sending all the stuff back to the convent, we headed out to explore historic Philly.  Being the Revolutionary War history nut I am, I thoroughly enjoyed touring Betsy Ross's house, attending church at the oldest Catholic parish in the U.S., and seeing other places our Founding Fathers frequented while in Philly.

Saturday we got up super early in order to be present for all the activities the Pope would be participating in upon his arrival to Philly. We somehow managed to be standing right next to the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul when he arrived to say mass.  Unfortunately, due to the large number of people we couldn't see him.  After listening to the mass on the jumbotron we headed to find good places for the parade and in doing so I met up with a group of students form U of I.  Pretty much made my day getting to see the folks from home.  Then along with one of the sisters, the priest who spent the week with us and a friend from U of I we went and stood along the railing for something along the lines of 4 hours waiting for the parade.  The parade finally came and although it was very exciting to see Pope Francis in person, it was a bit of a let down because they drove him by really fast and we literally only saw him for 6 seconds.

Sunday was the big day.  We got to the Parkway super early so we could have good seats. One of the Sisters grabbed a nice section of a hill and we parked it until the Mass. It was amazing the number of people who were crowding into the area to attend the mass and in hopes of seeing Pope Francis. Shortly before the parade started, the same sister who found our sitting area suggested to Companion B and I that we go try to get a closer look for the parade.  I'm so glad we took her advice.  We found a spot next to a family that wasn't super crowded.  The great part, the family had a two month old baby.  When Pope Francis drove by, the dad held out the baby and the pope stopped for the Secret Service to bring the baby to him so he could bless her. It was amazing! For a solid two minutes the Pope Mobile was parked all of about 20 feet away from me.  Seeing him that close was a very moving experience.  I had to chuckle because when he stopped he looked down at his watch to check how much time there was before mass started, showing his punctuality and humanity.  Mass was also pretty cool.  The only downside was he did the homily in Spanish so I have to find it online and listen to the translation.

All I can say from the whole experience is that God works in wonderful and mysterious ways in providing us with such a unique and monumental experience in our formation.

Taking this Show on the Road

With the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia this next week comes a major vocation fair.  The Salesians are taking us aspirants along as part of their booth.  So for the next week we'll be hanging out at the World Meeting of Families encouraging other young women to discern their vocation.

Perks:  We get to go to some of the sessions and hear some really great speakers.

Downside: Pope Francis doesn't hit Philly until we're gone.  Guess the closest I'm getting is watching him on T.V.

A Very Special Day

Today I'm wishing a very happy birthday to several important people in my life. 

First wishing my Great-Grandma on BOTD's side a happy 96th birthday! 

Next to Madam Treasurer.  For the last 18 years you have been the Buzz to my Woody, the Dory to my Marlin, the Mike Wazowski to my Sully.  To have a friend willing to drive 2 hours to come to my convent send off party for a few hours only to turn around and drive back those 2 hours, drive to my house at 4:30 in the morning to wish me one last goodbye, then a week later to show up at my house with half of her closet so I (and Elizabeth Taylor) have something to wear, that is a very true friend and an absolute blessing to my life. I wish to you the happiest year yet as you begin your next decade of life!  Goodbye to the teen years!

Third to a little girl who kept us impatiently waiting for her arrival five years ago.  Then on this day I arrived home from Madam Treasurer's 15th birthday slumber party to have AL tell me she was going to the hospital and I needed to stay awake at least long enough for Grammy and Poppa to arrive at our house.  Ever since then you have kept us entertained with your spunk and sass and ability to state the obvious when no one else will.  It's been an honor to be able to watch you as you grow up into a big girl getting ready to take on the school world next year.  Happy birthday Star!  I hope you have an awesome 5th birthday, may it be filled with lots of celebrating!  I can't wait to Skype you later!

I'm Official

As of last night, I am officially an aspirant with the Salesian sisters. We got our uniforms, went to evening prayers and received our medals.

They weren't joking when they sad they like to party.  After the ceremony we had an awesome supper and then as you can see they got us a cake.  They even let us stay up let and watch a movie and by late I mean the movie got over at like 10:30....  Amazing the difference of the meaning of the word late between college and the convent.

She's Legen, Wait for it..... Dary

It's not everyone who gets to go to McDonald's with their great-grandma and explain to her how you order a plain burger because she doesn't understand why asking for no cheese still means they put onions, ketchup, and pickles on it.
It's not everyone who at seven years old spends the weekend at their great grandma's house and gets to rent The Wedding Planner. (AL didn't know that until yesterday.)
It's not everyone who can share in the confusion of trying to wrap their head around why someone who dislikes cheese so strongly she won't eat pizza enjoys chowing down on a bag of Cheetos.
It isn't everyone who's goal in life until they are 9 to pass up their great-grandma because it's a right of passage in the family.
Not everybody gets to go hang out with their great-grandma and watch Hallmark Channel Christmas Movies when they come home from college on Christmas break.

I remember one time when you babysat me and we were going to get McDonalds for lunch and you told me how much you disliked backing out of our driveway because you were sure you were going to hit the telephone pole.  I remember going to your house and having supper with you and we knew when you said we could have Pepsi if mother said it was alright that we were going to get to drink Pepsi because Mom wasn't going to say no to G.G.  I remember searching at grocery stores for the little cans of Pepsi because you just couldn't finish a whole can.  We didn't find them very often so I also remember frequently splitting a can of Pepsi with you at family functions. I remember watching I Love Lucy dvds at your house when we visited sometimes.  I remember when Dad Skyped in for somebody's birthday and you were absolutely amazed he could see and hear you from half way around the world.  I remember turning red in the face at Fourth of July while Mrs. MC and Munckin doubled over in laughter when you told AL my date was a pretty good looking guy and he was sitting three feet away from you. I remember when you kicked me out of your room at Evenglow twice in one week, because "I should go home and help Mother."  I could go on forever with my I remembers, but that would turn into a novel and not a blog post.

G.G. you are legendary and you left behind a legend that I'm sure will live on just as long as you lived with us because how can you spend almost a century on this earth and not leave behind a legacy that will live on for much longer.  I've spent some time trying to wrap around my head what it would be like to have a life that spans from major communication moving from the telegraph to text messaging, that spanned both world wars and the Great Depression, and to see the evolution of computers. You inspired us all to live life to the fullest, to take advantage of every moment in our lives and to above all place our trust in the Lord above to carry us through even the darkest of times.  You share so many things with us, your love of chocolate, movies, dancing, family, and learning.  Although I seem to have not inherited all of your enthusiasm for chocolate and shopping, I do believe you are probably part of the reason I enjoyed my Monday night swing dance at Newman so much last year.  I'm so grateful that I got to spend the last 19 years with you and witness you in action. You are so loved and you will be missed so much.

What I've Learned So Far in the Convent

No one here plays any card games.  At all and teaching them to play Euchre is a for real struggle.
After three consecutive days of getting up before 6, sleeping in until 6:45 this morning was a struggle.
Meeting little old sisters can be overwhelming because they swarm on you and next thing you know they're all hugging you and telling you how much you remind them of their great-niece so-and-so.

Life in the Convent Day 1

Nothing exciting happened.

I managed to incorrectly set my alarm clock so that the Sister in charge had to wake me up to say by to AL and BOTD, supervised a pool party, and went along to the airport to pick up one of my companions.

What I Learned Yesterday

I have every right to be Munchkin's favorite niece.

Because filling in for AL for the day while she's at Munchkin's bachelorette party is no easy feat.  For starters, AL has everyone's schedule memorized so she wouldn't have been surprised when White Tornado waltzed over an hour after his cross country practice was over because "Saturday's are ice bath days." Duh Relish why didn't you know his schedule?   Then AL has the patience of a bunch of saints because dealing with hormonal, misunderstood preteen Little Miss would take all of it.  Almost ten must have been a pretty rough age if being told that you need to redo the bathroom sink you were in charge of cleaning causes you to break in to a traumatic fit of "No one understands me." and " Nobody likes me." Cue phone call to BOTD.   Bless Grammy for taking Star and Charmer for the day.  Next up figure out a movie for the parish Block Party.  No problem.  That had to be on the simpler side of the tasks I was left with I do believe.  The next item I thought was going to be simple turned out to be the most complicated and stressful process of my day: Scotcheroos for White Tornado to take to the FFA picnic today.  No problem right?  I bake all the time, consider it a hobby really.  Wrong.  Two trips to Walmart and Aldi's, a biking trip to County Market by Elizabeth Taylor and two pans of Scotcheroos later White Tornado had his dessert for his picnic.   Great now I get to go to a parish function right after it comes out in the bulletin that I'm moving to New Jersey in a week to enter the convent.  Super awkward interactions with church people here I come.  Let me tell you they were super awkward and I got hugs from people that I've maybe only talked to once or twice in my entire life.  A well timed text from White Tornado requesting to be picked up from Grammy's pretty much wrapped up uncomfortable church people interactions.  I took the youth minister for the parish a long with me so the city girl could get an up close interaction with horses which was all fine and dandy and I think she enjoyed it, but then a tired White Tornado put a kibosh on our fun.  He then  suckered me into giving both of the little two baths because when given the option they picked me.  Thanks guys.  Charmer in being his ever flirtatious self wanted the youth minister to give him his bath and put him to bed.  She ended up doing story time and helping with prayers which Charmer drew out to be a show off.  After making sure both kids were in bed, we left White Tornado in charge and took off back to the party.  We helped clean up for a while and then I told BOTD I was going to go home with Liz Taylor, Little Miss, and WiiMan.  Since AL had taken Little Red to go the bachelorette party, it was my lucky day to drive the Red Bus, which had been fine all day minus potentially a few sketchy park jobs at the grocery stores.  All was well until I had to park in the garage last night.  Munchkin you remember that Sunday when I had my permit and you let me drive home from church and I was going to back into the garage?  Yeah, that got repeated last night except for this time the rubber flap thing got broken and there's a scratch on the Red Bus that BOTD is going to have to get filler for.  I quickly learned the fastest way to get BOTD to come home when I called him and in a voice trying not to start crying asked him to come home please.   Luckily he wasn't mad, I think he might've actually laughed when he saw me tearfully sitting in the garage behind the Red Bus.  And so pretty much wrapped up my day in the life of AL.  

I hope you guys had a great time because I don't think I can be mentally prepared to be AL again for a long time.

Happy Bachelorette party Munchkin.

She's Related to Munchkin

While feeding eating lunch today the following conversation took place between Charmer, Star, and I.

I was explaining to Charmer why it's necessary for him to take a nap every afternoon so he can grow big and strong like the White Tornado.

Charmer: "I just want to be in the crib again."
Me: "That's not the way it works.  You're a big boy so you sleep in a big boy bed now."
Star: "Yeah you have to have a big boy bed. I didn't get a big bed until I was 4 1/2."

And history repeats itself, next thing you know she'll be telling people she was in a crib till she went to college.

The Final Chapter

After eight days together and a very enjoyable experience on the beach, we were all ready to head home from North Carolina.  The first day of the trip home had minimal highlights other than I beat BOTD at the backwards alphabet game.  Oh and we stopped in a Tennessee Walmart and Elizabeth Taylor decided to use a her "Southern" accent as we walked in...  Sunday morning led to some confusion when trying to find the church. We got there just in time for the opening hymn.  It was nice to be back in an enclosed church after doing the pavilion mass in NC.  The Charmer was really missing our home priest and tried to make friends with the priest in KY.

Our lunch stop for the day included Little Miss trying to walk home from the rest area in Frankfort, KY.  No worries I got her to come back.   After lunch, BOTD decided he would share the driver's seat for the last leg and AL drove the rest of the way.  This put AL, Wii Man, and me across the front seat of the Red Bus.  What we learned, Wii Man is paranoid about the gas gauge.  We had a quarter tank when we left the rest area and the plan was to drive until we got closer to home.  Wii Man didn't like that plan very much and so spent the next three hours informing AL every time we passed an exit with a gas station and then freaking out every time we passed the exit, to the point he was almost in tears.   He even got told that it had to be a BP and we weren't stopping at any other type of gas station but that didn't help.  Needless to say,  he turned into a much happier fellow when AL finally pulled into a BP.  He really had no need for worry considering the light wasn't even on and we stopped more because we needed ice for the coolers than anything, but hey whatever floats his boat.  AL has voted him least likely to ever run out of gas.   I'm most likely.   At least if I run out of gas I'll know where I'm at, since I consider myself a fairly proficient reader of maps.  Wii Man on the other hand not so much and he didn't appreciate AL and I trying to make map reading a game.

That concludes our Seventh Heaven Vacation Saga 2015.  All in all it was a fantastic vacation and BOTD did an awesome job picking out the vacation spot.

She Added a Few New Words to Her Vocab

Besides hanging out on the beach and enjoying the awesome weather for the week we also spent a lot of time playing various board and card games.  Elizabeth Taylor makes a really interesting fellow player.  Turns out she's a really risky Euchre player, to the point that BOTD was regretting saying he would be her partner on multiple occasions.  She is also quite the character when playing Bananagrams.  For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a word game that basically involves each player creating their own Scrabble board out of little tiles.  Liz Taylor decided to ditch the general convention of trying to get rid of all your tiles by spelling whatever words possible that weren't proper knows or abbreviations and waited for just the right letters to spell the words she wanted.  One particular game she wished to spell numbskull, failing to draw all the letters she needed she spelled out numbscuttle.  After that White Tornado did something to tick her off so she spelled out his name and then added is a cottenheadedninnymuggins.  Thank you Elf.

One of our favorite car ride games is the alphabet game and on ride Elizabeth Taylor was really struggling to find a particular letter (I can't remember what) and was getting irritated with me and BOTD as we were breezing through the alphabet.  After passing several Bojangles restaurants she coined it as her new catch phrase and every time she didn't agree with something she declared that it was "Bojangles."  It stuck and she's still declaring Bojangles on people, we'll see how long this lasts and if she can make it a thing.

Carolina Baby! Day 2 and some....

Day 2 at the beach house started out with mass, in an outdoor church. It was an interesting experience to say the least.  Apparently the experience was a little much for the Charmer because in the 10 minutes it took to get back to the house he fell asleep.

This is actually how the Charmer spent a fair amount of his time in the car.  Vacation was just too much for the little guy. 

After refueling and sunscreening it was off to the beach for the afternoon to play in the ocean.  The fact that we were in the ocean had to continuously be reinforced to Star and Charmer since they kept calling it the pool.   By the end of the week we seemed to have gotten it down with at least Star that we were in the ocean. 

Monday brought the first full day we spent on the beach.  It was absolutely wonderful.  What I learned that day was the humidity right off the coast is intense when you're going for a run and after a stifling run Monday morning, I gave up on the whole idea of working out on vacation and chalked swimming in the ocean up as good enough.  Elizabeth Taylor learned on Monday the value of frequently reapplying sunscreen.  By the end of the day she was stop light red and in a decent amount of pain.  Little Miss, although not as red, also fell to the pain and agony that comes from sunburn.  

Liz's day after pain drove us to find different forms of entertainment on Tuesday.  AL found the Cape Fear museum and we departed for it.  The guy working the museum informed us the museum is not the biggest in the state, but it is best in the state.  I'll give it to him, it was a pretty cool place.  It covered American history starting with the Native Americans and went up until the late 20th century. Through out were interactive things for people of all ages to partake in and really there was something for everybody to see.  By the end however, the Seventh Heaven crew was ready to move on to something different.  We did a little bit of a driving tour of historic Wilmington, which is gorgeous and I would love to go back and tour someday.  To spark the interests mostly of White Tornado, but some of the other older people as well, we drove to see the USS North Carolina.  AL read up that the self-guided tour was three hours and a lot of stairs so for the present time we opted out.   

A delicious stop at a Red Robin wrapped up our day off the beach. 

Sidenote: I learned something about Star on vacation, for such a tiny person she has an amazing capability to take up an entire full sized bed. 

I ended up moving her back to her side every night and every morning she was right back to being right next to me.  She will admittedly tell you that she likes to snuggle while she's sleeping. 

We're going on a trip

In our favorite rocket ship....

9 people, 9 days, 1 red "rocket" suburban.

T minus 16 hours till Seventh Heaven takes on the show on the road for vacation.  We're hot and heavy in the middle of packing anything and everything we could possibly need for week on the beach.  Stuff is getting real.

Due to various reasons the blog got ignored over Seventh Heaven's vacation.  No worries though there were plenty of bloggable moments that will be coming to you now that we have returned.

First of all I'm happy to report that all members of Seventh Heaven returned home alive and mostly unscathed minus some sunburns and maybe the trauma of getting knocked over by a few waves and some scraped knees.

In order to do the trip justice and not bore any readers to death I'm going to break the trip up into a few parts.  So we'll start at the beginning.  After a later start than BOTD would have liked, we hit the road on Friday morning.  Within two hours of leaving home, Star was asking from the back seat "Are we there yet?" and "When are we going to get to the beach house?" The playing of "Shut Up and Dance" appeased her for a while and didn't ask again for quite a while.

Star had a real fascination with the neck pillow.

White Tornado's appearance for most of the time spent in the car. 

The rest of the first day of travel passed rather uneventfully, mostly filled with napping, movie watching, and snacking.  Star again provided some entertainment by declaring "I am smelling the burnt stuff!" after AL opened up some homemade beef jerky for BOTD.  Turns out Star is not a big fan.

We stopped for the evening and the younger kids enjoyed the opportunity to unwind with the hotel's swimming pool.  It was outside and cold.  I jumped at the first chance to bring somebody inside.  Charmer's quote of the day came at bed time when the pizza we had for supper was affecting White Tornado.  "White Tornado's butt stinks!"

We finished our trek to the beach house Saturday and we learned a few things before making it to our final destination.

First, BOTD learned he's number one from several other drivers in the mountains.
Second, the mountains are not a good place for Charmer to decide he has to go to the bathroom "really bad!"
Third, it's not a fun when a state trooper slams on his brakes in the middle of traffic to pull a u-turn.  Especially if at that particular moment you are fishing snacks out of the back of the car for people.

We were all really glad to be out of the car at the beach house and after unloading we all got to go over to the beach which was awesome, but more on that on another day.

They Concern Me

This morning I was working in the kitchen and Elizabeth Taylor walks in carrying Star wrapped in one of Charmer's blankets.  She sets the "sleeping" Star in my arms.  Charmer then informs me that Star is "dead" and they are having her funeral.  Liz Taylor was going to burying her in the garbage can but first Charmer needed to bless her.

The kid is three.  How many three year olds know people get blessed before they are buried? Or come up with the idea of pretending to have a funeral for that matter?

Star miraculously came back to life right before being dropped in the can.  Two minutes later Charmer was dead and being buried.  At this point,  I told Liz Taylor to start having baptisms or weddings, the idea of burying each other in the garbage can and playing dead was a touch too much to handle.  I mean seriously when I was that age I definitely was not playing funeral maybe we have a future mortician on our hands.

What I Learned Today

I am not meant to be a bike mechanic. Neither is Elizabeth Taylor.

Quote of the Day

Photographer to Elizabeth Taylor and me: "Are you twins?"

Aunts and rest of Big Bad's Allstars: laughter

Me: "There's a five year difference..."

It Felt Like I Was Experiencing Deja Vu

This summer no different from any of the last eleven of my life has been spent at the pool with the swim team.  However unlike 10 of the previous summers, I am no longer one of the swimmers.  I'm a coach.  AL and I have had multiple conversations regarding "did you ever think when you started you would become a coach?" and similar lines.  To be honest with you, no I didn't ever see myself as a coach.  Honestly I don't know that ever saw myself swimming much past those first couple summers and I certainly didn't see myself teaching other people how to swim as well.  Eleven years and a lot of swimming later however, I am a coach and I am spending my third summer in a row giving swim lessons.  The other day while giving a lesson to a little girl one of the pool rats asked me if the girl was my daughter.  My reply "Um, no I'm teaching her how to swim." In my mind I was immediately taken back to a time that seems like forever ago, when I was the little girl and Amy was me and another child had asked if I was her daughter.  It was a little scary how similar the situation was and frightening to find myself in the position of the teacher.  Oh how the times have changed, and oh how I certainly didn't expect to find myself in this position.

Minnesota Eh!

This is a little late, but last Friday the Engineer and I took off for a suburb of the twin cities of Minnesota to visit our friend the Musician for the weekend.  Some things the Engineer and I learned this weekend,
There are many different versions of the alphabet game, we completed none of them,
When a tire blows on a semi it sounds like a gunshot going off and will awaken all sleeping passengers in a vehicle
It's really easy to mess with the Musician as to when you are going to appear on her doorstep, Minnesotans don't appreciate when you show up in Blackhawks shirts,
Old people from Minnesota will attempt to make any connection to foreign youth -- "One time I drove through Illinois on my way to Florida...",
It's the land of 10,000 lakes and no Minnesotan will let you forget it,

As is evidenced by most of my pictures from the weekend.

Going three days without rain is absolutely glorious,
The Cathedral of St. Paul is gorgeous,

I really want to go back and do more touristy things in the twin cities because two and half days were not enough,
It is possible for either the Engineer or I to fall asleep every single time we get in a car, thankfully there is no photographic evidence of that,
Knowing where you're going is especially helpful when taking friends from out of state on a tour,
It's fun to match your friends,

What you can't see is our matching black shorts and over the shoulder purses...

Also on Engineer's list were they don't sell liquor in MN grocery stores and you should always wear tight swim suit bottoms when boating. 

All in all I'd say the Musician did a pretty good job at convincing us that Minnesota is pretty cool place. 

A Reintroduction

She came and she conquered. After a stressful 72 hours and a nerve wrecking 4.  Madam President became Madam Treasurer, for the state of Illinois.  No big deal, I mean my best friend just became one of the biggest names in the FFA world in the state of Illinois.  So basically I'm best friends with a famous person.

Before she got elected though we had to go through the stress of the elections.  The candidates are allowed to have a runner who tells them what they should do for their next speech or how they are doing since all the candidates are only allowed to be on stage to give speeches for the position currently up and then they are put in a locker room in the basement of the conference center.  As Madam Treasurer's faithful sidekick I was asked to be her runner which turns out is a rather stressful job.  I impatiently awaited the few seconds I was allowed to go see her between positions to encourage her and give her bits of advice from our advisors.  When we got to the position of treasurer we were down to the wire and really wanting to pull this out.  The last three times I had seen her I had been able to get her to laugh or break a smile and I was getting told to help her relax.  Not an easy job when a person is incredibly nervous, but on this last time I was finally able to break her tension and got her to crack a smile.  She went out there and rocked it and landed the position of treasurer.

What a blessing it was to be the first person to see her after she came off the stage.  To see her start crying with excitement and relief on her success.  I am so proud of her and wish her the best of luck on her adventure for the next 365 days.  Bless the other four who are going to spend the year with her.   I hope for her sake that since she has to travel all over the state she takes Siri with her so she doesn't get lost.

I Made Them Just for You

This week is Illinois State FFA Convention. I'm attending for the first time as a non FFA member and as a runner for a state officer candidate. In honor of Madam President's impending election, I made her some brownies, hot mess brownies.

I told her they were for her because they're a hot mess and so is she. Unfortunately, due to unplanned circumstances events she's not staying in my hotel room like she was supposed to so she hasn't tried them. We'll see how they are liked. 

Oh and send up some prayers for her during elections on Thursday morning.

I Guess She's Okay

Fourteen years ago today I was given a late birthday "present."  My dreams of having a little sister were fulfilled.

I've told her since then she's the best and worst birthday present I ever got.

For about a year she went through a stage of being the best, but then she went through a really long phase of being the worst because for a long time she went through a phase of being a mean, quick tempered, angry little child who drove me absolutely crazy.  She got on my nerves and got into my stuff.  I couldn't stand her and no longer understood why people thought little sisters were so great.  Recently, I ran into my 5th grade teacher at the Rec Center and when talking to her she asked me if I remembered how I couldn't stand Elizabeth Taylor back when I was in her class.  I laughed because all of a sudden that annoying, pain in the neck started growing up.  Her main goal in life no longer seemed to be to push all my buttons and it turned out my obnoxious little sister was actually kind of cool to hang around.

Looking back at pictures today it turns out she's been my partner in crime longer than I am willing to admit.

In the last year or so she's really started becoming my friend rather than my frenemy, a person who makes me laugh, who will swing dance in the kitchen with me, and who wants to talk drama about school and swimming and anything else in life.  

Thank you for knowing just how to make me laugh, for sending me those random obnoxious texts and for dealing with the current chaos that is me moving back into our room.  I wish for the next year to be your best one yet as you enter the next saga of your life, but never forget to be my crazy little sister who probably should have been blonde and who is confused as a chameleon in a bag of skittles. 

Happy Birthday kid!

They're the Best

God blessed me with two amazing best friends who are willing to go to great lengths for my birthday.  I mean it's not just anyone who after getting their car backed into still wants to go out and celebrate someone else's birthday, or just anyone who wants to make sure they have perfect spot because they want to have a picnic while watching the sunset and then watch the stars, and it definitely isn't just anyone who will drive all over for an hour try to find an open place to get ice cream. 

Needless to say, last night I had quite the adventure with Madam President and J making it a birthday I won't soon forget.  They had planned to pick me up after I got done coaching swim practice at 6 and then we would head to supper.  Unfortunately, J's car got backed into and the adventure was postponed about an hour. Finally we got on the road and headed to B-N to start the evening with some Potbelly's.  Then I was simply allowed to know we were going to picnic with our sandwiches. I guess we were supposed to watch the sunset from a park but that didn't really pan out because the first park we were supposed to go to had geese and J is petrified so we headed elsewhere.  After 15 minutes of driving around Bloomington, we arrived at our new destination, geese free.  Unfortunately, (again) the whole sunset thing didn't pan out because it was cloudy, but we did get to enjoy a lovely pond with a fountain and a lot of super nice houses.  

Next on their plan was to go get frozen yogurt so we loaded back up into Madam President's car and got to Orange Leaf, five minutes after they closed.  Siri told us Cherry Berry was open until 10 so off we went to find our frozen yogurt. Fifteen minutes and a real struggle for J giving Madam President directions and we discovered Cherry Berry was also closed.  Next try Carl's.  According to Google, they close at 10.  We arrived at 9:33, the sign on the door said they closed at 9:30.   A Google search informed us that Cold Stone was also already closed, but Baskin Robins was open until 10.  Madam President stepped on it and with help from J to get back to Veteran's we made it to Baskin Robins with 8 minutes to spare.  I jumped out and grabbed the door to pull it open, locked, ran around to the other door, locked.  Solution to our  situation drive thru.  Thank goodness they were still taking drive thru orders because after an hour of trying to find a place that was open we were starting to get desperate, like to the point of potentially just running into the nearest Walmart, getting a tub of ice cream and three spoons and eating that. 

She Made It

Tonight I was excited to sit in the pew and watch as my little sister graduated from eighth grade and became a high school student.  I realize that it's just eighth grade and she's only moving to the high school across town, just the same I was happy for her and her accomplishments.

You did it kid! You survived the first nine years of your education.  So in light of the next four years, I have some advice for you to survive the craziness of high school.

First of all don't be afraid to try new things.  High school opens up a lot of new opportunities for you, take advantage of them.

Second, there isn't an elevator so don't buy a pass.

Third, even though I tell you pretty much everyday that you're a weirdo or a dork, you're a pretty cool kid and don't let anybody tell you any different.

The next four years are going to go fast and they are going to be fun, make the most of every moment before you have to go out into the real world.

Oh and by the way, I'm still taller and you're wearing heels.

What I Learned Today

Dairyland Seed paring knives can be used for more than cutting food.  For example, taking down whiteboards hung with 3M strips off the walls.

Thanks Big Bad.

I Have Really Unconventional Ways to Make 15 Bucks

Or a really good way to procrastinate studying for my last final and revising my Rhet 105 argument essay.  This afternoon the RAs put on an event to give residents a study break. The event jousting. The prize $100 Visa gift card to the winner of each the men's and women's brackets. Unfortunately, the guys took quite a while and we only got part way through the women's side and had to stop because of rain, so they split the money based on how many wins you had.

Congrats Wiiman

On making your First Communion today. You did great bringing up the gifts.

Don't he and G.G. look nice?

Side note: I appreciate Mrs. S took some candids of us trying to get organized for a picture.