A Rainy Day Daybook

Another day as a student at Franciscan University...

Around campus...

Cold and rainy. Last night was very windy and very rainy resulting in no desire to come out from under a cozy blanket.

I am thankful for...

Big thick sweaters, tasty peppermint mocha creamer and echinacea tea (NOT used in combination, and warm stick to the bone dinners.

I am thinking about...

How I can be the best version of myself. Matthew Kelly anyone?

My goals for the week....

Relax and make memories.

At school....

Fall break officially begins for everyone tommorow however mine began today. I am staying on campus along with most of my friends so I am super excited to just relax and spend quality time with my friends.

From the kitchen...

In this last week I have made applesauce.

Cabbage and Noodles.

Baked apple creation (topped with walnut vanilla ice cream)

And currently I have a stew in the crock pot. No particular recipe and mostly things we had on hand. I bought beef for stew and greens beans and then emptied out the produce drawers adding carrots, squash, onion, and potatoes.

I am working on...

Reading, an OB mini care plan, and random odds and ends tasks.

Clicking around...

Looking Pittsburgh tourist attractions that we can do during Fall Break. So far I think we will for sure go to this restaurant featured on the Food Network and this chapel that is famous for the amount of relics they have, second only to the Vatican. Other possibilities are this and this. Any other ideas from those that live in the area or visit frequently.

I am praying...

For those recovering from Sandy. For my patients past, present and future. For my household sisters that any and all graces received while on retreat are sealed in their hearts.

A few plans for the rest of the week...

Sleeping in, good food, movies, and quality time.

I am hoping...

for an increase in devotion to the sacraments, life after death, sinners turned into saints because that is what us Christians do, hope in doubt and preserve in persecution.

I am pondering these words....

"Recent decades have seen the advance of a spiritual “desertification”. In the Council’s time it was already possible from a few tragic pages of history to know what a life or a world without God looked like, but now we see it every day around us. This void has spread. But it is in starting from the experience of this desert, from this void, that we can again discover the joy of believing, its vital importance for us, men and women. In the desert we rediscover the value of what is essential for living; thus in today’s world there are innumerable signs, often expressed implicitly or negatively, of the thirst for God, for the ultimate meaning of life. And in the desert people of faith are needed who, with their own lives, point out the way to the Promised Land and keep hope alive. Living faith opens the heart to the grace of God which frees us from pessimism. Today, more than ever, evangelizing means witnessing to the new life, transformed by God, and thus showing the path."

Pope Benedict XVI's Homily Opening the Year of Faith

Live joy.

Indian Summer Daybook

Sorry, no pictures for this post.

Around campus...

Sun, sun, sun. Apparently we are having an Indian summer so the sun is shining, the temps are rising, and the flips are floping. And what happens when the temps rise on the campus of Franciscan, the frisbees and skirts multiply.

I am thankful for...

That it is a requirement for me to spend 7 hours a week in a newborn nursery. I know tough life I live. :)

I am thinking about...

My OB test tomorrow, eeek!

My goals for the week....

Get a 90 or higher on my OB test.

At school....

After I take this test tomorrow morning I have a little bit of a breather just in time for household retreat and fall break. I can't wait!

From the kitchen...

I have got some cabbage so planning some cabbage and noodles and lazy man's stuffed cabbage.

I am creating....

Study tools, study tools, and more study tools.

I am working on...

Well once this test is done, mini care plans.

Clicking around...

I think Christmas shopping is about to begin :)

I am praying...

Prayers of thanksgiving. There is a mom of 9 at our parish who was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer during the 9th pregnancy. They stalled on treating it until the little baby boy could be born this past May. Once born, they began to aggressively treat the cancer with the prognosis of "she needs a miracle" and abundant prayers accordingly prayed. Well, with tears in his eyes this past Sunday, our pastor announced that she went in for scans this week and they were clear. Well our God is no doubt a God of miracles!!


A few plans for the rest of the week...

OB test, chiropractor, Peds clinical, shopping for food for retreat, retreat...

I am hoping...

I can stay focused and rock this test!

I am pondering these words....

"Be Not Afraid."

I figured appropriate on JP2's feast day.

Live joy.

Another daybook....

Around campus...

Another beautiful fall day. The sun is shining, the leaves are crunching, and a crisp breeze is blowing through.

I am thankful for...
Roomie piercing adventures. Last night my roommate and I went to get her doubles done and my cartilage. Ahh I can't believe I finally worked up the courage to get it done.

My goals....

To study for my tests at the end of this week and the beginning of the next. I.can.do.this.

At school....

Midterms are making everyone crazy.

From the kitchen...

Mel is at the moment making us skinny pancakes. Mmmm how good they will taste with some homemade applesauce spread on them.

I am wearing....
A jersey navy maxi dress borrowed from a friend with a green cardigan also borrowed from a friend.

I am working on...
blogs, duh.

Clicking around...

Uploading lots and lots of pictures to facebook.

I am reading...

Nothing but the textbook and notes.

I am praying for...

A dear friend's sister who is on the fence for needing inpatient treatment for an eating disorder and for a beloved priest who is on his way to Lourdes with the North American Lourdes Volunteers.

I am thinking about...

My own blessed 24 hours spent in Lourdes.

A few plans for the rest of the week...

My clinicals have switched. OB Monday morning and Peds Wednesday evening. And alos, going home next weekend, maybe.

I am hoping...

I can stay focused this week, make Mass a priority throughout the week, and continue to soak up the many great things about autumn.

I am pondering these words....

From a homily on Thursday...

On the Miraculous Medal rays shoot out from Mary's hands, which Our Lady told Catherine, "... symbolize the graces I shed upon those who ask for them." However the rays that don't touch the earth signify the graces that Our Lady has for us that we don't ask for. So each day ask Our Lady to give you all the graces she desires for us that day.

Live joy.

Daybook...

Around campus...

This weekend is homecoming/parents weekend/St. Francis festival. Being a hardcore Franciscan school we do St. Francis' feast day big. I have actually never celebrated it on main campus (I was at Xavier freshman year, in Austria sophomore year and went home for a wedding last year). In Austria it was celebrated with a pig roast and kegs. Here they have a household life Mass on Friday and a festival and FOP on Saturday. Super excited for the festivities.

I am thankful for...

College students who make it a priority to coordinate a surprise Star Wars birthday party for a special 12 year old boy. A boy who only wanted to have his dad visit for his birthday but instead has a dad who flakes out. Thankful that I can call these people who coordinated it my sisters.

I am thinking about...

My future. Being on OB clinical confirms how much I want to work in some form of maternity health.

My goals....

Getting my diet back to where I want it to be. I have been slipping into bad eating habits and not following my ideal "fruit and vegetable strong" diet.

At school....

GI and genitourinary alterations in pediatrics and birth for OB. Careplans are due next week so that has taken priority on the "To do" list.

From the kitchen...

Lazy man stuffed cabbage. I would link the recipe but it is more an on the fly creation.

I am creating....
Memories. YOLO.

I am working on...
Making prayer, especially Rosary and Adoration, a purposeful priority in my routine.

Clicking around...

I am in one of my best friend's wedding next summer. The bride recently decided she wants all of us to wear different coral colored dresses. I now see it as my mission to find an awesome dress for myself.  I will know it when I see it.

I am reading...

Textbook, textbook, textbook. Also trying to find moments to continue listening to the audio of Kisses from Katie.

I am praying for...

It looks like leading a mission trip to Haiti during spring break is a go. Therefore I am praying partially because I am freaking out but mainly that the people who are meant to go will come together. Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.

A few plans for the rest of the week...

St. Francis Festival, FOP, possible apple picking on Sunday, careplans, visiting with roommate's family,

I am going...

To costco to get water and candy with some household sisters so that we can sell them at the festival as a fundraiser

I am hoping...

That it doesn't rain all weekend. That will just be a huge bummer.

I am pondering these words....

Pope John Paul II. These words never get old.

“It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your heart your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, makng the world more human and more fraternal.”

Live joy.