one long ride

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO

i bought my plane ticket today!

$1200 dollars later and i'm set on my way

this just makes all this prep come to life

makes me believe that i actually going on this

journey

that im actually flying{ losing a whole day in time changes}

and going to a foreign place!

it's all so surreal

who am i to actually do something new

who am i to actually take a risk and be brave

who am i to spend loads of money in one spot!?!

i have been revealed to my true self ever slowly

i hear that the journey changes people

that the experiences enlighten people

heck, i say it's the time before you leave that actually shows

you what your capable of!!

deadlines, essays, e-mails=perservance, patience, and confidence

cant wait to see what comes next!

TEC Weekend

three days, two nights

spent with anxious teenagers and tired adults

I awake at home today feeling refreshed and renewed in my faith.

every tec before this, i was still grasping all the concepts of catholicism, still a candidate

but this time around, im a little more experienced and with every talk i learned something

very valuable about my faith each time.

i gave a talk, and i listened to talks.

patrick showed me that, God will never give you more than you can handle.

allison showed me how amazing the eucharist actually is and how one we all are in the church.

mara and marge showed me to be proud of my faith and thus proud of God.

the candidates showed me how far i've come, showed me how little we all start out, especially in our faith journeys.

This weekend i also learned that our relationship with Christ is not a one-man show, that we have to go half-way and God will meet us for the rest.

I told myself to forgive him, whole heartedly.

that with his wheat leatter and his bravery on saturday night he came half-way, now it's my turn. To meet him in the middle and make this work.

it was all so wonderful, the next not till january....

Ever Closer

I got my resident permit in the mail the other day!
It's sticker like quality is forever stamped into a page of my passport.

Ever Closer

I feel this trip is growing ever closer, with a little over a month left!
Went around campus today with my friend
( who is also studying abroad next year)
We gathered signatures and papers for departmental grants.

Have to complete and turn in the WVU packet before i leave.
still have to get:
physical
transient form
= which needs an advisors signature who wont be here till a few days before i leave!
That's all

I never though i'd get to the point where i could say that: that's all that's left to do!

seems daunting, doesnt it? A few months ago, it was a stack of papers; now it's a page here a page there. Fantastic

Went to target, then wal-mart, then best-buy, then back to target to track down the cheapest and less complicated electrical converter and adaptor. This is confusing stuff!
and a laptop case
because when your going through security at airports, you have to take your laptop out of your bags (doesnt help that i just shove mine into my backpack, unprotected). Now it will be protected in a 8 dollar bag from target.

Ever Closer.

Time in Ca

My brother and sister. one turning eighteen. one still figuring it all out. both still kids.

little cousin. tried to teach him how to swim, wasnt very successful. that's ok. he'll get it one day. He lets me know that if one day i dont understand the Lord, in time, I will come to learn more than i can imagine.

an angel in my grandmas garden.

reminding me to find peace and serenity in everything i do.

Home Sweet Home

my family and i spent two weeks

back home

in southern california

.

visiting the family

visiting the beach

.

and thought most vacations are meant

to be stress free, this vacation couldn't have come at

a worst time

As if taking two weeks off of work to earn money

towards finland wasnt bad enough;

Vincent and I started our "break."

.

Going to sleep thinking about him

{often crying to sleep}

and waking up with thoughts of him.

wondering what he was doing, thinking, feeling!

.

.

but now i am home! and i was oddly surprised

to the decision he reached over the two wks.

He said he's willing to do whatever it takes

to make us work.

{ i really felt that things were going to take a turn for the worse}

Needless to say i was happy, yet skeptical.

.

.

Over these two weeks, i got multiple emails about my time i finland

i received a housing offer

{two bedroom apartment in an exchange building, female roomate.}

while in Ca, my cousins thought it would be very necassary to make me watch 'Taken."

Thanks guys! so now, not only am i nervous to go, i'm a little paranoid to top it off.

Still a few pages to send for my resident visa, probably should do that tomorrow!!

.

Vincent: "so what did we learn from all of this?"

Heather: "that love conquers all!"