Holy Thursday and Easter

I know this blog has been pretty quiet around her lately and honestly not much is going to change until May 16th, after I graduate and take my Kaplan class down here in Steubenville.  Until then I am just breathing in and experiencing every last ounce college life has to offer.  On Wednesday I finished everything but one class' one final.  That is all that stands between me and a diploma, that one final.  To say I am riding the nostalgia train is an understatement.  I am already grieving the loss of all the random things you only do in college but I also know that the next season of life comes with its own unique joys.  I am in this weird place, about to walk over a bridge and transition into this new phase of life.  So don't expect much out of this here bloggity and I am not apologizing.  

I did want to share a little bit of a day in the life of Holy Thursday and a bit about Easter.  

I know some interest of my blog comes from people who want to know what it is like to go to a passionately Catholic college.  On a whim, I wanted to share with you Holy Thursday, day in the life style.  However, I must confess the pictures decreased as the day continued.

7:15---Household Breakfast.  Typically we have Mass before breakfast but the only Mass of the day for Holy Thuraday was in the evening.  

A verse I started crushing on. (Psalm 90:14)

We have this thing here in town called Minsitry to Moms.  I may have talked about it before but basically we go over mom's house and give them an extra set of hands with dishes, laundry, child care, housework and anything else moms need.  I have been with the same family since my first semester here and they have completely invited me into their family.  In fact, it ended up that I joined her household so we are in fact sisters! I have watched their family go from 4, to 6 (twins!), to 7 and celebrated numerous birthdays, holidays and sacraments with them.  They have become such a blessing in my life.  Anyway on Holy Thursday, I went over their house to babysit and do some laundry and dishes.

First some twin snuggles.

Some Frozen watching (my first time seeing it!) 

I quickly went back and changed for Seder Dinner and Holy Thursday Mass.  The family I went to Florida with hosted Seder Dinner and I went over early to help get ready. 

More dishes.

Through a series of unfortunate events, I along with two friends ended up at the kids table.  It was a comedy of events and only three glasses of sparking grape juice were spilled. If I use the hashtag #lyfeatthekidstable2014, you now know why.  

Finally, Holy Thursday Mass which is the beginning of the Tridium services.  Tridium is a big deal here at Franciscan with many families coming in rather than students going home and an abundance of alumni in town.  Holy Thursday Mass is big and sets the tone for rest of the Tridium. I had to work day turn on Good Friday so after Mass off to bed I was.

It feels weird to jump from Holy Thursday to Easter but bear with me.  I just wanted to take a moment to relish in the absolute majesty of Easter.  Alleluia! Christ is Risen!! Christ is Risen indeed!! Jesus Christ defeated death.  He fulfilled all that he had promised.  Christ was victorious over the grave.  Our faith is so great and we should be shouting.  We are an Easter people and hallelujah is our song! It's just so easy to burst with life and amazement at Jesus' glory.  I hope you all are having a great Easter octave and will be on here again when I am. 

Night shift and Patients' Passing

If any of you follow me here on the bloggity or the 'gram you know this semester I was plagued with 108 hours of night shift.  Ok maybe plagued is a little bit of a strong word considering they weren't nearly as bad as I had expected. Yeah your sleep schedule is more like a series of naps and the hour drive home in the morning can be brutal but night shift is like an alternative universe when everyone else is asleep.  You try to convince your patients to sleep too but then wake them up every few hours for medications and blood draws.  Whatever patients, we try to cluster care as best as possible but you also need these interventions to get better.  Either way I stand on the other side triumphant and say I will never be working another unpaid night shift.  Woohoo!  From here on out if I am up all in the hospital I am getting a paycheck for it.

Last unpaid night turn

Unfortunately this last night turn involved a patient death.  The patient was CMO (comfort measures only) so it wasn't a surprise and no code was run but it still is a patient dying rather than getting better. I pray and hope that it is never normal or easy to lose a patient.  I hope they always shake me up a little and make me pray. Because these patients we take care of and hands we hold aren't just medical record numbers but real people with souls that the Lord is passionately in love with. Souls that in those last moments need everyone praying and guiding their souls to the heavenly gates.  St. Catherine of Sienna, patroness of nurses, intercede for all nurses that we make be exceptional nurses.  St. Joseph, patron of happy deaths, intercede that each and everyone of us with a heart full of faith can rejoice and praise the Creator with all the angels and saints for all of eternity.  

Regina Angelorum: 20 years of Sisterhood

This past weekend my household, Regina Angelroum, celebrated 20 years of sisterhood.  If you didn't go to Franciscan University, you just can't understand housholds.  I don't mean to be exclusive but you just can't completely understand them unless you have lived with them.  They aren't really a sorority/fraternity, an accountability group, or a prayer group.  They are so much more.

We are bounded by a covenant that calls us on to greater holiness.  We are sisters for life, long after we have left the hill.  We wear matching sweatshirts like a toddler carries around their blankie.  We have crazy stories of shenanigans that should never be repeated....or we should tell them everyday just so that we can achieve those six pack abs.  Our prayer is powerful.  Our devotion is strong.  Our fasting changes lives.

Celebrating 20 years of this was incredible.  We were reminded that we started in order to give a group of broken woman a home.  We were rebels without a cause.  We may not have been what people expect of the image of holiness, but we were and are holy.  We aren't Mary but we do need to be like Mary.  We have fought for sisterhood and need to continue to fight for sisterhood.  Each line of our covenant is there for a reason and we need to dive deeper into our covenant each and every day.

I am so thankful that I had this weekend to reflect on my sisterhood.  It was an incredible blessing to meet so many sisters who I call my sister but I have never even meet.  I cannot wait for the 25th Reunion. Until then, Regina Angelorum, ora pro nobis....past, present, and future. 

2014 Goals: Update #1

I was already planning on doing a 2014 goals update so it was perfect when Jen and Morgan decided to make it a Not Alone Series link-up.  A lot of goals have to do with post graduation so are not applicable yet as noted below.  I wrote my updates in pink.  Pink for hopes of spring.  Yesterday was sunny and nearly 70 but today is back to dreary.  Spring will come eventually! 

1. Faith
a.  The ever present, increase my prayer life.  I highly doubt this goal will go away until the day that I die.  Constantly seeking to be in a more intimate relationship with Him.  
b. This past year I have gotten better about opening my Bible and diving in.  I want that to increase even more this year. One of my Lenten "add-ins" has been to make sure I am in the Word everyday.  I strive to be succesful at it but fail too often.  
c.  I think this one is the most measurable and important.  With my graduating coming in May and the ease of daily Mass at Franciscan coming to an end I want to make sure I don't lose weekday Masses in my life.  I know they won't be able to be a daily thing but I do want to make sure I do strive to go to a weekday Mass at minimum one day a week. Not yet applicable. 

2. Fitness
a.  Continue running.  Running has been less frequent with the cold snowy weather but I want to make sure it doesn't halt. I have been working out 1-3 days a week but running not so much.  Our new gym was just finished so right now that is a novelty and before that I was doing Insanity.  However with the temps continuing to rise and the the snow being less frequent (though it still snowed this weekend!!) I know I will just want to get out there and run.  
b.  Increase the speed of my running.  Since I began, running has just been about being able to run a few miles.  Now I want to make those miles faster. See a. 
c.  With that I want to train to run 5k races well not just finish them. See a.

3. Nutrition
a. With a time without a meal plan looming in my future I want to make sure that when I begin being on my own for good I create good habits. Not yet applicable. 
b. With that lack of meal plan I also want to budget the amount of money I spend on food and be smart about it. Not yet applicable. 
c.   This is a constant thing in my life but I am always (sometimes more purposefully than other times)  trying to increase the amount of fruits and vegtables I consume.  Trying to work on it!

4. Friends and Family
a.  Love my family and friends selfishly.  Easy to say, hard to do. Constant striving. 
b.  As I graduate and leave the consistent social life I have had for the past 5 years I want to start off my life as a college graduate making new friends. Not yet applicable. 
c. Pray for my family constantly. Everyday.

5. Financial 
a.  Again with this graduation thing, I want to start managing my own real money starting with good habits that include saving and spending wisely Not yet applicable. 
b. I do not want to have any credit card debt.  Student loans I will have and I think I am ok with car loans but credit card debt will not be acceptable. Not yet applicable. 
c.  I want to pay above minimum payment on my loans.  I know this may not be feasible right away but I want to start working towards that. Not yet applicable. 

6.  Home
a.  As I create a home for myself post graduation, I want less clutter. Not yet applicable.  
b.  With that new place I want to make sure I create a purpseful sacred space which will help with number one point a. Not yet applicable. 

7. Fun
a.  Enjoy the last semester of college, I don't think this will be hard. An abundance of fun all the time.    
b.  Travel.  If there is a wedding I wan to be there.  I haven't seen a friend for a while, lets road trip. I went down to Florida for Spring Break which was absolutely perfect but besides that no plans.   

8. Blog
a.  This isn't something that can be forced but I want more good friendships through this blog world.  I have already been blessed with the beginning of so many and I want to cultivate those and accept any others I am blessed with. I met Jen over Spring Break--way more awesome than I had planned when I wrote my goals back in January!!
b.  I want to have more purposeful blogging.  What would I want to read, let me create that here.  I want to make sure what I post here on this bloggity is really reflecting the image that I am and want to be.  I wrote this post here and I have been working on it.  

My word for 2014 was empty.  Oh man,  the Lord has given me so many opportunities to become empty of myself and full of Him and full of service to others.   He has emptied me over and over again.  I pray that each day I am filled more and more with virtue and grace.   

NAS: Deal Breakers and The Feast of Our Lady of the Annunciation

Happy Feast of the Annunciation.  I am so incredible thankful for everyone who wished me a happy feast day.  I wish I would have come up with some sort of blog event since this here blog is obviously named in honor of Our Lady of the Annunciation but next year.  If you want to know a little bit more about why I love Our Lady of the Annunciation so much check out my guest post about her at Sarah's blog, Footprints on my Heart. 

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We have all thought about our list of qualities for our future spouse (and maybe even religious community), but sometimes those can be pretty limiting on who God has planned for you. Instead, maybe think about the few things that are so important to you, that if a guy you were considering dating (or community you were entering) didn't have those things, you would have to move on. Why are those things important to you?

A few years ago I was reading How to Find Your Soulmate Without Losing Your Soul and was inspired to come up with list of what I wanted in my future husband.  The most interesting thing about this little activity was that everything that immediately came to my mind  was about what he would do rather than really pinpointing who he was.  At the heart of the matter it doesn't matter if my husband will be awesome in the early postpartum weeks, take out the trash, or tell me I am beautiful.  What does matter if his actions reflect an authentic sacramental love for me and if who he is as a man will help lead me to heaven.  When it all boils down those are the deal breakers.  The things that I will not compromise because eternity with Christ is a big deal.  I really want to say deal breakers include him being responsible with money, have a daily mass devotion and be ok with my homebirthy/crunchhippy self but I know and have faith that the Lord works through any of our boundaries if it is His will.   So really I just pray that I have eyes to see the man the Lord has for me to marry, to enter into that sacrament of marriage and to journey to heaven with.

This is nothing that I planned for this post to be.  I really did plan on talking about daily mass devotion, breastfeeding and baby wearing, balancing the budget and my ideal master bedroom but what a lesson it is to remember that all these things are just ways that the Lord romances me through my husband's compatibility and understanding.    That my husband will love me for who I am including all my quirks, desires and dreams.  My deal breakers are weak and fluid but my desire for heaven is strong.   

Confessions of a Crunchy Hippy

This is something that has never really come up here on this here bloggity but I confess.....I have crunchy hippy tendencies.  I don't dress like a hippy at all but I do have a really strong desire to get dreads.  I try to accept that my hair isn't the kind of hair that dreads well but I still wish and hope that one day I will have beautiful dreads.

I grew up in a house that recycles.  Each week on garbage day we only have one small trash bag because we recycle paper, plastic, plastic bags, and soda cans and we compost everything from vegetable peelings to coffee grounds. I can't imagine not always being like this.

I use cloth ziplock bags for most snacks, sandwiches and stuff.  You can buy them all over etsy.  They are simply cloth sacks with PUL on the inside and a zipper closer.  They don't keep snacks from getting stale so you can't pack them very far in advance. And when they get dirty or every few uses just throw them in the wash, hang them to dry and they are as good as new. Bonus you can pick so many cute prints!  My favorites are my squirrels running up a tree sandwich bag and chevron snack bag. I love the ones from this etsy shop.

Cloth napkins.  Awesome.  Obviously living in the dorms with coin laundry and eating in the caf for most of my meals I don't use them yet.  However, I have already been collecting cloth napkins from thrift stores for when I am living on my own.  I like cloth napkins because I am a messy eater who likes to keep my fingers and face clean but also because I just like the reusable aspect of them.  And with that also kitchen towels.  I had a roommate who flew through paper towels and it drove me nuts.

I could go on and on about the things I do.  Some are obvious like water bottles rather than plastic, travel coffee mugs.  One thing I don't do is reusable K-cups for my Keruig coffee maker.  I know, I know it wastes so much but I am also a huge coffee snob.  You see the K-cups you buy are so good because they are vacuumed sealed, sealing in yummy flavor and thus produce a better cup of coffee. So sorry earth but I like my coffee.

And then there is essential oils which is an entire post of its own.  Thieves on my feet, peppermint for indigestion and nausea, lavender to help me take my pre night turn naps and for inflammation, stress relief for tension headaches, and breathe easy for a cold.  Whenever I use them and walk around wing one of my household sisters always comments, "You smell like a hippy." The oils are awesome and you have to hold me to an entire post about them.  Anyone else using them?

NAS: Single Life Bucket List

Single Life Bucket List

What are those things that you want to do before you get married (or enter the religious life)? Is there anything that you are excited to do, accomplish, etc before engagement, marriage and babies come along? Even if you feel that you've done everything you wanted to do pre-marriage, dig deeper and see if there isn't anything you'd like to do!

If you didn't read about it yet I got to meet Jen who blogs @ Jumping in Puddles and obviously co-hosts the Not Alone Series during my time in Florida this past week.  What an awesome surprise blessing!

I really like the topic this week about things we want to accomplish through this single season of our lives.  Of course this life is not my own so however long the Lord wants me single I will do what I can and praise Him for it.  Before I become a wife and mom their are a handful of simple not so simple things I want to accomplish....

1. Sleep....and lots of it. When you get married little bundles of babies inevitably follow and for the next 20 years you are waking up with babies and toddlers who don't know the art of sleeping in.  As a single lady I try to sleep in and take naps sometimes.  When I roll back over I punch my fist into the air and say "for the moms." 
2. My career.  I know that I am not a nurse by accident or coincidence.  It has been a long difficult journey to be almost down with nursing school.  I am confident the Lord has big plans for my career and I want to achieve His will before and/or during my vocation as a wife and mommy.   
3. Take good care of my body.  We are both body and spirit and marriage and motherhood will require both.  I want to form good habits now that include eating well, exercising and generally taking care of my body so that it can be a gift to my husband and children.   
4. Be completely and utterly in love with the Lord.  The foundation of any marriage requires both the husband and wife to know the Father's love.  Being loved and loving the Lord is a continual process that will never stop however as a single lady I am in a unique position to devout undivided time and attention to my prayer life and relationship with the Lord.   
5. Travel. I pray and hope that the Lord has more travel plans in store for me.  I have already been blessed to travel all over Europe, Haiti, and Central America but I hope I am able to travel moe-back to Haiti, back to Europe, and hopefully hike the Camino, that doesn't even mention trips I want to make in the States. 
6. More wine nights with girls.  You are only young and single once so why not have more wine nights with the girls filled with good conversation and soul sharing. 

This is in no ways an exhaustive list, I am sure I have forgotten things and it does assume that somewhere along the line of being married babies will come (as the nursey rhyme goes, first comes love....) but these are some of the things that I want to accomplish before (and in same ways through) the wedding bells ringing.