Humble Pie

I've been realizing lately (and most noticeably at Mass last night, when I had to go in my work uniform) that I like to let people know that I work at Disney World. I mean yes, sometimes it legitimately comes up in conversation with people at the parks or randomly around town. But other times, I go places in my Disney Parks shirt after work or hold my ID unnecessarily... it's getting to the point where I sometimes think to myself, "why did I just say that?" 

I was coming home from work this morning and I heard the song "Do Everything" by Stephen Curtis Chapman on the radio... if you've never heard it, I'll wait a second while you listen. 


Okay. 
One line in particular stood out to me: "maybe you're that guy with the suit and tie, maybe your shirt says your name; you may be hooking up mergers or cooking up burgers..." 

It hit me particularly because of news I got last week- I'm getting deployed from Blizzard Beach. The other water park is closing for refurbishment, so their full time workers are coming to Blizzard, and all the college programmers are being sent out to other places around Disney. I got assigned to Epcot to work custodial. All of a sudden, I got really quiet about telling people that I work at Disney, or more specifically telling them what I'm going to be doing (that's what I get for praying the litany of humility!) I was embarrassed. I was disappointed. I was hiding the truth. I was VERY upset. But the more I think about it, the more I'm looking forward to it. First, I'm a very neat and organized person; I have no problem picking up trash and making sure everything is in its place. Second, not many people get the chance to work two different jobs on their college programs- I'll get to meet twice as many people and have twice as many new experiences. Third, I will probably learn something that I will use later in life, whether about cleaning or organizing or whatever. 

I know it sounds like I'm trying to talk myself into liking it, and I kind of still am. But in reality, it's still a job, and I'm blessed to have the opportunity to work. I'll get to talk to a lot of guests and help them out. Like the song says, it doesn't matter what I'm doing. God (and many guests) will appreciate the work that I do, because it glorifies Him. As long as I remember that, I'm going to be just fine. 


AND the weather today is beautiful. That in itself is something to be thankful for. 
Don't forget to tell your family and friends you love them! Today is a gift- don't take it for granted. 

Peace & Prayers,
Nemo

Choking

^"When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. ⁷ Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages^[a] to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” ⁸ Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, ⁹ “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” ¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). ¹¹ Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. ¹² When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” ¹³ So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten."  -- Luke 6:5-13

This was the gospel message read at Mass nearly 2 months ago. Since that day, I have had a sticky note on my dresser reading "Andrew was 'always introducing people to Jesus, like the little boy with the fish and bread.' What a great team Andrew & Jesus make; We have that opportunity as well." This was a small excerpt from the homily the priest gave that evening. I read it often, and meant to blog about it and really think about it, but obviously that hadn't happened yet.

I read it again this afternoon, right about the time my roommate was leaving for work. As she was walking out the door and saying bye, I started coughing and she yelled, "Catie, don't choke!" I know she literally meant don't choke on whatever it is making you cough right now. But because I had just read my sticky note about Andrew & Jesus, the comment took on a whole different meaning. 

Every single day, I (and by I, I mean we) have the opportunity, and the responsibility, to be introducing people to Jesus... and I've been choking on that a lot lately. It's hard to live a good, faithful life when you're constantly being surrounded by things that don't build up the Kingdom. I'm not saying I've murdered someone or completely walked away from my beliefs- my struggles have been in the little things- Being late to mass. Drinking too much. Judging people. Judging myself. Not trusting God's plan for my life. 

I'm not suggesting we start carrying around pictures of Jesus and asking random people if they know Him (but that reminds me of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzqTFNfeDnE). It's our job to introduce people to Him through our actions, and through love. Simple things like standing up for a friend or reaching out to someone in need. I know people say it all the time, but the little things really can make a difference in someone's day. I've learned that several times working at Disney- a whole day of frustration can be turned around by one guest's "Thank you" or "You really helped me today." 

I should be going to sleep now, because I work in the morning (I just saw the movie Pitch Perfect AGAIN (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siEHekc-1oE) and will be tired tomorrow. But even in my tiredness, I will strive to be Love to everyone I meet- even the annoying adolescents that don't listen to the rules; even the people who frustrate me because they don't speak English. Long story short, I will try harder to introduce people to Jesus everywhere I go. 

Peace & Prayers,

NEMO

Graduation!

Oh. My. Goodness.

It's going to take a couple posts to catch up on what I've been doing for the past month...

First thing's first- graduation:
The weekend before I actually walked, I went home specifically for dinner with these amazing people-

They are the best friends a girl could ask for. I've known them since junior high, and they've all been there for me through high school and college. It's been a long, winding road but we've stuck to each other. I can't wait to see what awesome things we all do in the future!


The actual ceremony:
The whole family was able to make it in for the event!

Jake flew in Wednesday night, and the others drove over from Houston on Thursday. We had a great dinner at Mike Anderson's and ate (and drank) way too much. After dinner, Clare talked me into decorating my cap...

everyone loved it! We had breakfast before the ceremony at IHOP (where else?) with some of my close friends. Such a blessing to get to see everyone one last time.

After the ceremony, we went back and packed up my entire apartment into 2 CR-Vs and a trailer... I'm still kind of surprised that everything fit. We headed to New Orleans for the night and had a great time there as well. Jake & Grandma flew back to Chicago Saturday, and I said goodbye to Baton Rouge as the rest of us drove home. Such a bittersweet moment! We were home all week and had my graduation party the following Saturday. It was nice to see some family and friends before I leave the state for several months! Clare decorated cupcakes with graduation caps and a cake with the eye of the tiger... pretty sweet!

Sunday, after cleaning up from the party, Clare, Mom & I got in the car and started our drive to Chicago. One of Mom's best friend's sons, Spc. Sam Watts, US Army, died from wounds sustained in an explosion in Afghanistan back in April. He was such a brave soldier, and spent his life the way he always wanted to- serving others. He went to work over there so we could all do our working and playing and living over here the way we please. His sacrifice will never be forgotten. 

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends"

John 15:13

The ceremony was, as Mom said, "beautifully awful". The circumstances of course couldn't have been worse- Sam was only 20 years old.  But the Army did everything they possibly could to make the ceremony as beautiful as possible. It was amazing to see how many people- servicemen and women, family, friends, and strangers- came to pay their respects to Sue & Tom and the family. The Patriot Guard stood outside the entire time with their flags and it made me cry just looking at them. The procession from the funeral home was amazing. 40 or 50 motorcycles led the casket, followed by the limo with the family and then Sam's brother Andy driving Sam's car. As we turned the corner from the church, all the kids in the elementary school were lining the street with their hands over their hearts. As we continued, we passed 2 more schools with kids outside, as well as random people stopping on their lawn or getting out of their cars. I cried the entire way. 

The day was emotionally rough on everyone. Following the wake, the funeral, and the next two days, we hung out with the Watts and friends as much as possible. These are families I grew up with, and hadn't spent much time with in the past 14 years. It was so great to be with them at this time. We even went bowling, which was a lot more fun than I thought it would be... even though most of us weren't that great :)

The week came and went very quickly. On Saturday, we dropped Clare at the airport to head out to Aunt Meg's in North Carolina to spend the summer watching our cousins Liam & Eddie. Mom & I started our drive home, which was long but not too bad... lots of time to talk about anything, everything, and nothing. 

When we finally got home, we had 3 1/2 days before we started another super long drive to Orlando... which is going to have to be another post for another day, because it's time for work :)

I promise I will update again SOON!

I hope everyone is having a marvelous summer, and staying out of the heat! 

Peace & Prayers,

Nemo 

Hey, stranger!

378 days.

That's how long it's been since I last blogged.

Pathetic.

I have so many things going through my mind all the time, this would have been a perfect outlet for everything. Clearly that didn't happen. To recap the past year, here's a quick list:

* Jamaica mission trip ended up being AMAZING... Once we got there, after being stuck in Miami for 4 days.

This is a picture of the Terrific 25 in Miami, with our legs dangling over the ocean!

* Just a few days after I got back from mission trip, Todd left for Catholic Heart Work Camp. He was gone all summer, travelling to different cities to serve in whatever way necessary.

* I spent the month of July in North Carolina with my aunt & uncle and their three boys. There was lots of swimming, Wii, race cars, Legos, and zoo & museum trips!

*Fall semester came and went by super fast! Filled with lots of fun things like my 21st birthday, 1 year anniversary, FOOTBALL SEASON!, and a 3.8 GPA! Of course there were lots of little blessings, muuuuuuch to many to name.

Last football season for all of us SENIORS!

Even if I tried, I couldn't think of everything that's happened in the past year. I feel like I've grown so much in my faith, my personal relationship, new friendships, my work experience, and even made a little progress on my future...

I hope to be able to blog more often. Even though I'm super busy now (I've calculated all my hours between 2 jobs, internship & class- 38 hours per week. Add in about 4 hours driving to and from all these places, and it's no wonder I'm always tired!), I want to spend more time reflecting on my college career as it comes to an end. All of my experiences here have been so wonderful; though some of them may not have seemed that way at the time, every little thing that happened has made me the person I am today.

HOPEFULLY I'll be back soon!

Peace & Prayers,

Nemo

God WILL provide

"If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?' All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself" -Matthew 6:30-34

One of my dear brothers has inspired me to dive into the Gospels, reminding me that God speaks gently and softly, often in passages we've read a thousand times.

I've been using the phrase "God will provide" quite frequently the past few weeks. It's something I believe with all my heart, along with the fact that everything happens for a reason. Would you like to hear my most recent story of how God's been providing for me?

Christ the King is going on a foreign mission trip to Kingston, Jamaica this May. Since last summer, my heart has been burning to love and serve; that's it. That's all I want to do. So naturally, when I heard about the mission trip, I wanted desperately to go. After talking it over with my parents, they said that as long as I could pay for it, I could go. The only problem is that my bank account looks like this:

I know, sad story.

So I began my fervent job hunt (which I am currently still on). I have filled out countless applications- I'm past the point of being picky about not wanting to do certain things. At this point, I really just need the money! Anyways, I decided to go home a couple weeks ago to spend time with my wonderful parents (hi, mom!) and to get some things done. While I was there, I got a check from my grandmother. She had gotten me a very nice watch for Christmas that didn't work correctly, so I returned the watch and she just sent me the money to buy one I would like. When I learned how much a passport was going to cost me, I weighed the options and decided that a passport would be more worthwhile to me than an expensive new watch (not to mention that I still wear my watch from camp last summer, paintwar stains and all). Without that check, I would've already been in the whole before I even started paying for the trip. So needless to say, I got the passport. Step one: complete.

Now, there are a limited number of spots for this trip, as set by our priest and Missionaries of the Poor. That number is 25. As the spots were filling up, I was being notified so that I could make a decision about going on the trip before one was made for me. Since I got my passport the first weekend of February, I have still been looking for a job (Craigslist has almost as many visits as facebook...), and have still been unsuccessful as of yet. There was a meeting last night for all those wanting to go on the trip, and I couldn't attend because I had a night class (and test). When I came to Christ the King today, I was informed that there were only 6 spots left. As I was talking to Father Paul, 2 girls came in and turned in deposits; 4 spots. A few minutes later, another girl came in; 3. Then a male friend of mine came in and turned in his forms; 2 spots left. I had a decision to make.

I was nervous about the very real possibility of not being able to get a job to pay for the rest of the trip (an additional $250 after the $200 deposit). But I was confident that I had the money in my account to make the down payment. Why was I so confident? Because just this past weekend, God provided for me yet again. Friday night I celebrated Valentine's Day (for the first time!) at Texas de Brazil with my sweet boyfriend:

It was super awesome! And, if that weren't enough, we got to go to Arkansas that same night! LSU student government sponsors a bus trip to many of our away sporting events, and this year's men's basketball bus trip was to Fayetteville, Arkansas. Now normally I wouldn't have even bothered, as our team isn't doing so hot this year, buuuuut I have a wonderful sister who happens to be a Razorback!



It was SUCH a blessing to get to see Anne, even for a short while. The snow, Chick-fil-A, and sister time were much needed. I could've done without the 18+ hour round trip bus ride, but hey, it was bonding time for Todd and I, right...?..



Anyways, back to the point. When I got home Sunday night, I had lots of mail waiting for me. I opened up the first letter, and it was from "cousin Lavina" (in Grandma's handwriting). When I talked to my mom, she informed me that she was some distant relative of mine who used to send all her college nieces/nephews $100 for Valentine's Day. Apparently my great grandmother decided to continue this tradition, and I'm now reaping the benefits. But it gets better. I opened 3 more cards and accumulated fifty more dollars. What did that mean? I had 3/4 of my deposit for Jamaica, without even getting a job. Thank you, Jesus.



I understand that I still need to be employed somewhere so that I can 1. pay for the rest of the trip and 2. have money for next semester, but this is one of those things where you just have to say "clearly, for whatever reason, God wants me on this trip." I feel extremely blessed for this to be working out in my favor. My prayer now is that I will come across the right job, and soon, so that I can fulfill whatever this mission is that I'm being called to in Jamaica. Prayers from anyone/everyone else would be much appreciated!





Ok, I feel like this is just sliiiiightly longer than in probably needed to be, but that's okay. I'm currently sitting in Christ the King's office working for my lovely old roommate Elizabeth, and I have nothing better to do than pour out what's been occupying my mind- the wonder of God! Well, I probably could've been studying for my finance test on Tuesday, but honestly, do you really think I'll study for that before Monday night? How well do you know me....





Peace & Prayers,

Nemo

I'm a spaz...

It's been 5 months, almost to the day, since I've last blogged.. that's kind of ridiculous. I would apologize, but I don't think I've offended or upset anyone by not writing.


The reason I started this blog in the first place was to keep people updated on my experiences while I was at camp this past summer. When I only blogged once during those 6 weeks, I decided that I would keep up with posts about whatever was going on in my life. It would seem, since I haven't posted in so long, that nothing has been going on.


That is definitely not the case.



It is quite the opposite, in fact. The reason I have not posted is because I have been so busy with things like school, awakening, family, awakening, intramurals, home, awakening, awakening retreat weekend, boyfriend, finals, more family and friends, christmas, ohana reunion, new years, cotton bowl, classes starting, LCCS, and now awakening again.



Regardless, this is my vow to continue to update more regularly. There's lots of things that go on in my mind that I would love to share and hear your thoughts on (the thoughts of whoever actually reads this, how ever many people that may be).


Anyways, I should've gone to sleep about an hour and a half ago.

And with that, I'm leaving.
Goodnight!
Peace & Prayers,
Nemo




p.s. I just love this picture. I kind of want to live somewhere it snows when I get older. Or if not, at least visit pretty regularly. It's beautiful :)

Are You Ready...

... to go? for classes to start? for this conversation? to go to work? to eat? to graduate? for Christmas break to get here? to grow up? to see a movie? to fall in love? to get your heart broken? for something amazing to happen?

Unfortunately, my answers to these questions don't matter.

Well let me rephrase that. In most cases, regardless of whether I'm "ready" or not, these things are going to happen anyway. In other words, I always need to be "ready". But what does that mean? As I'm laying here writing this, I really have no idea what the answer to that question is. And I don't exactly know where this post is going..

I used to hear the words ready and willing together a lot. Are they interchangable? I'm beginning to think that they are. Or, at least, they should be, considering that me being ready isn't going to stop many things from happening. Me being willing, that's another story. Am I willing to go to work? Am I willing to get a job, to grow up, to fall in love? My answer should be YES. Attitude is a very big part of success (at least in my opinion). If I am more willing to accept the things that are coming my way, I will probably be happier when they do come. (I don't even know if this is making any sense. I'm kind of... venting right now.)

This summer while at camp, I really learned to do things I didn't want to/wasn't used to doing. The phrase I began to use, and my prayer, was that I "become comfortable outside of my comfort zone." I began to enjoy getting to know adults and holding conversations with them. I also started getting used to walking up to complete strangers, introducing myself, and building a relationship with them out of nothing. It became very enjoyable for me. In the past week being back at Christ the King, I have been presented with many more opportunities to do just that, meet people and start getting to know them. Instead of being afraid or dreading this responsibility, I have embraced it, become more willing to do it. Willing to meet people, willing to get to learn about them, willing to step out of my comfort zone.
And that has made all the difference.
So I do believe that I am ready to do lots of things that are being thrown my way. And if I'm not completely ready, as long as I'm willing, I will be able to do great things.



ps- sorry this is so scatterbrained.. it's the first week of school; there's been LOTS going on.
pps- I apologize for it being a ridiculously long time since I've updated. Camp was AMAZING, and I'm sure there will be lots of future posts about that :)