Well this is it! It is now technically Wednesday of exam week for the S109 semester. I am still awake because I have been spending the past couple hours going through old papers from the semester and beginning to set things up for next semester. I fortunately do not have anything to study this week because I have no scheduled exams so this is my way of preparing to finish the term papers that i have to write. this paper work though has been on my mind for weeks and as i've always said, i need organizaion in order to truly finish anything off. so now that i'm physically and mentally prepared i can focuse on doing my best job with finishing the term papers. tonight was the exam jam, so it was able to set me off in that great mood. i spent time with some good friends just relaxing and having fun. I was able to eat some free food which was served by the teachers, get a free AMAZING back massage, attend a session of 'blessing of the brains' from campus ministry in which you could join in meditation through prayer, and also we were given the opportunity to pie some of the RAs in the face. that was definitely amusing! oh and how can i forget the kareoke. i was able to witness some very interesting performances from some of my friends as they attempted to ...i believe sing... is the word several popular songs from the ages. it was definitely a fun night. and come saturday i will be able to travel home, again through the megabus, for just less than a month. i am hoping to work A LOT at home with my lovely ladies at Hallmark and to build closer relationships with my family! i've realized a lot this year how much i really would like to bond with my family more. i don't want to be cheesey, as some might think. but really, i do love my family. of course we fight and bicker and tease each other and oh my gosh do we get on each others nerves sometimes. but i love them. hey, family is the one thing that will always be there anyway! so whether i like them or not. i'm stuck. but i'm glad i'm stuck with this family. a big irish family in the southside of chicago is one of the greatest things ever known. i'm glad i'm a part of such a community!

 oh and i want an ipod and the twilight series for christmas ;)

 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! It's been a great semester!!!

well its coming down to it! there is less than two weeks left of this semester and i'm ready for it to be finalized! i don't know how i managed it but i have not had one test all semester and I have no schedulded exam to take. I have one final project, 2 final papers, and 2 more concerts, and then i'm done! my last event for campus minisitry was last night. I also had my first concert for college chorale last night. our final concert is tonight in the mater dei chapel at 7:30. we had our concert for mount singers on the wednesday before thanksgiving break and our final show will be next friday after the semester is over when we perform at the festival of lights. my final project is for my flameworking class and oh my goodness i am ready to finish it! i'll have a picture of it on here SOON! My final papers are for Ethics and Religion and they are both on their way to be done! I've got these next two weeks to focus on preparing myself for next semester: i can set time away for work, homework, exercise, sleep if need be, and clubs/organizations. I'm ready to start the next semester. I'm ready to take on new challenges. I'm ready to learn new material. I'm ready to further my education. I'm ready!

This winter break is going to be awesome! when i was home for thanksgiving break i was able to go in to my work at Hallmark from the summer and tell my manager about my availability for the winter break and she told me my name is still in the system! i'm happy! I need that job!

 only two more weeks left - I'm making it work!!!!

So as I am writing this right now, for all of you MSJ blog readers, I am currently on the Mega Bus on my way home to Chicago for Thanksgiving break. We just stopped in Indianapolis to drop off some passengers and pick some up as well. We are now driving through the city briefly to get to the highway again so I can finally be dropped off at Union Station and can see my Mom. Since I’ve been going to school, I haven’t been able to see her, or any of my family for that matter, all that often. I remember my first time going home like it was yesterday. I was taking the Mega Bus for the first time and my dad was the one to pick me up from Union Station. I remember seeing him across the street and just smiling from ear to ear – I was home! I caught up with my dad on the way back to house about everything I was learning in my first semester of college and just kept saying how weird it was to be back home. It had been over a month, the longest I’ve ever spent away from home. We finally got to my house and I ran down the driveway to the back of the house, walked in to the kitchen, and shouted my Mom’s name as she turned around and spread her arms wide open. I think that was the biggest hug we have ever given each other, ever! Neither of us wanted to let go! (It was a mushy mother-daughter moment – the kind I would never trade for anything) I put my luggage in my room and walked around the house and said hi to the rest of my family and my dog and just kept saying how weird it was to be home. I then called all of my friends and told them I was back in town and I met up with each of them to give them the same kind of hug as I did my parents. I was just so excited. Since then, I have been able to go home one other time besides holiday/summer breaks. That was this past September, about 2 years after my first trip home. This current bus ride is my second time home this semester and I am oh so happy to see everyone!

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Well I got to my house around 10:00 Chicago time and now it is 1:00 in the morning and I am sitting her with two of my best friends, just waaaaaay happy to be home. I've already seen my parents and one of my sisters, Deirre. And as soon as I walked in to the house the first person I saw was my brother, Liam, who wasn't supposed to get in to town until tomorrow; so that was a VERY nice surprise.

So I'm home, I'm safe, I'm happy & I'm thankful to be here with the friends and family that I LOVE so dearly!

Thanks again for reading my blog and stay tuned for next week

This semester has shown be a lot about work ethic. I've learned that no matter where life takes you, no matter what job you enquire, no matter what choices you make, no matter what team/company you work with/for, no matter who it is you are trying to impress - as long as YOU do YOUR best there will be good things to happen. I've said it many times before and i will say it many times again: EvErYtHiNg HaPpEnS fOr A rEaSoN!!!!!! there have been stages in my life where i have done a mediocre job and just got away with getting the work completed. and there have been times where i have done the absolute best i can possibly do and it has most definitely shown. and there are other times where i have done everything i need to do with the best of my ability and have completed additional jobs for other people when they cannot do their own - and it doesn't show at all. but no matter what, i have gained from it. i have learned that as long as i know i did my best that i will be okay.

as a part of homelessness awareness week with campus ministry, there was an event in which the leadership team had to prepare for a 'movie that matters' experience. the team got together, worked on getting the event ready, and made sure it was something to learn from. within the time of preparation, we communicated, researched, advertised, plus more, to make sure it would be best we can make it be. i know i did my best work with my job and i helped the very most that i could with my team members to make sure each job could be completed so that the experience would be very enjoyable. within the discussion part of the event, we had conversed about working for your place in the economic ladder. you must work your way to the top to show yourself what you are capable of. you cannot just do your job and expect everything to fall in to place. you have to work for your place and know that work ethic is crucial in surviving in such a world. things will get hard at times but as long as you work your hardest and keep communication with your team and do your research on your job to make sure you are fulfilling its potential, you will have success.

I have been awake since 6am this morning going through e-mails, papers, binders, folders, books, web-sites, phone conversations, and everything else possible! Lets start off with the first two hours of my day. I spent two hours this morning putting together information for an interview that I would have for Kiss 107 about my involvement through the Mount on www.collegeweeklive.com. I then got ready for the day and went to my 9am class. Afterwards I spoke with Cliff about the semester so far and picked up my the Flip Video Camera to start taking more footage for the video that will ...eventually... be up on this blog page. He also had mentioned some ideas for the phonathon job just so many hours later. I then had just enough time to stop up in my room to check e-mails again before my tutoring for ethics. My tutor helped me pitch some ideas for my last ethics paper for the semester. I finished tutoring and made my way up to the room to yet again CHECK MY E-MAIL for more updates for the day and this week. ((I feel like I get 10 e-mails every hour - I'm too involved.)) I then rushed my lunch in order to once again check my e-mail so I can be ready for another interview for the day. I was able to speak with Shane Fero for an hour today about glass art. He is the president of the Glass Art Society and has created some amazingly beautiful pieces and has been able to present, lecture, demonstrate, and teach the techniques of flameworking. I had this interview with him today because of a research paper that is due on Thursday for my flameworking course. We have to research the technique and history of the glasswork as well as an artist who uses the technique and their thoughts and experience with it. I chose Shane Fero because of his magnificent work but never expected to be given the opportunity to speak with him directly about his fabulous work! The best thing I got from the interview was this direct quote from him. His words are inspirational:

“Coming from a traditional background, you learn by practice. Somebody that is coming from a background doesn’t have to have huge skills to make something beautiful. You don’t have to have incredible flameworking skills to make incredible art.”

I've been in a great mood ever since! But still tired because there has been more to add on to the day. After the interview I had voice lessons and then had to rush up to the theatre lobby for the campus ministry leadership team bingo event. I was unaboule to stay for the whole thing however because of choir. Of course after choir, I went up to my room again to CHECK E-MAIL AGAIN before dinner in which i rush in order to get to work on time. Working the phonathon was of course slow tonight because its the last week of calling and we were calling some of the more difficult customers. We made it through though and ended up making it over our goal for the semester. So it overall was a big success. Well after work I had another meeting with campus ministry to talk about the bingo event earlier in the day, as well as the trick or treat for canned goods event. They were BOTH BIG SUCCESSES! We are really excited about it. We also began talking in to more details about upcoming events for the semester. This includes shanty town in which any of the mount students/faculty/staff etc. can build a place to stay for the night of november 19th out of cardboard boxes and sleep outside. it is a big part of our homelessness awareness week! we talked about more details within the week about movie events, speakers, and more. i'm really excited about it! we have more events coming up as well, including a night hike on december 2nd that is welcome to all. after the meeting i was finally able to come back to my room FOR THE NIGHT and get ready for bed. and so now i'm here. writing this blog, tired as can be, and still having to work on more homework, including that ten-page paper that my interview was for. thankfully i have more than enough information to feed off of. its just a matter of whether my brain is too fried to work on it much tonight before i sleep.

well either way, thanks for reading my blog again!

The past month has been a bit of a roller coaster for me - emotinally, mentally, physically, academically, all in more than one way. The big thing about this adventure though, is that I am learning something from every bump and curve and turn around because I've been trying my best to look at it from a higher perspective. For being 20 years old, I have been in plenty of the average life situations, including relationships. I do not regret any choice I have ever made about the relationships I have been in because I have been able to gain something from each guy I have been with and would not trade any relationship for anything. It is because of these guys in my life that I am able to understand myself better in what kind of family I would like to have once I am ready. In addition to my emotional life choices, I am trying my absolute hardest in my classes to get the best grades I can possibly get so I can raise my GPA and of course there are road blocks that are difficult to overcome but I am making my way through it. I have been meeting with my teachers outside of scheduled time to make sure I am caught up with everything, and am making sure every day to not over-schedule myself with my activities while classes are my first priority. The phrase, 'when it rains it poors', definitely comes in to play with these aspects of my life right now. While the heavy load is causing head aches here and there, I try my best to not look at it all as stress but as a sign that I am finally working at what I am meant to be doing. Unfortunately with the heavy homework load and such, I am unable to work out as much as I would prefer but I AM working on at least keeping a healthy diet: no pop, less deserts, more fruits and vegetables and of course more water! To add on to the physical, it is getting closer and closer to winter. I am not a person who likes to be cold so you can guess that I love to bundle up in the sheets and hoodies when possible. But I hate shoes. So try to picture me as wearing jeans and long sleeve shirts and a hoodie and a coat with a scarf and flip flops - walking in the snow. I don't like shoes . But anyway.

For the past month, I have been working on a drawing that seems to fit everything in my life right now:

I recently received something from a close friend that was titled 'The Ten Commandments of Friendship'. I have it posted at my desk for a little reminder every day of what friendship truly is and what kind of role my friends play in my life. My friends have always been the most important thing to me in my life, especially within the last few years.

1. Respect yourself and be yourself.

I have learned about life that I must make sure I am happy and healthy before I can focus on others. What is so interestin

g about this is that I tend to do everything to make so many others happy, in order to make myself happy. I love to care for my friends and be there for them in the most important of times. And I know they love me for it.

2. Do not kill time with your friends but make each hour an adventure in living together.

I've definitely learned that hanging out with my friends is more than a load of fun. It is a relaxing time to get away from classes when stress is overwhelming. However, my friends will always understand that, when I'm here at school, my studies must always come first. And therefore I can not use the time to avoid hard work but to take advantage of the time I do have with them by learning about each other and building a stronger relationship.

3. Honor your friend as the shadow of Him after whose image he or she is fashioned.

I look up to each of my friends as people I can count on in any time of need. I know that they will always accept me for every thing that I am and will be there for me forever and always. I cherish my relationship with each and everyone of them because they play a big key in who I am today.

4. Let your friends add the finer touches to the Better Self in you.

Like I have already stated, my friends make me who I am. Each and every one of them has affected me in a way that my life has changed for the better and I would not have learned such amazing life lessons witout them. I make each decision day by day because of their faith in me to being the absolute best I can be. They accept me for everything that I am, and for that I am able to see the best of me.

5. Believe in your friend so that the best and noblest in him or her will serve you.

Every one of my friends know that I will forever and always be there for them in every time of need. We have respect for each other that we can care for each other at any time and will love each other for a lifetime.

6. Discover that unique quality in each person which endears them to God.

Each of my friends has a different aspect about them that makes them unique. They each have a different passion in life that helps to guide me in being the best I can be and helping me to make the right decisions. Through this, I am able to see God in each of their lives.

7. Do not steal the golden thread of trust which may bind your friend to God.

In any situation that I may hurt a friend, I am hurting my relationship with God because of that trust that I am breaking. It is this reason that I will always give my friends reason to trust me and have faith that I will forever keep their hearts in my prayers. I would never want to break the trust of friendship with them, for I would lose my true connection to God.

8. Remember the true friends expect you to be truthful even though truth may cut and burn.

My friends and I are here for each other for better or for worse. Even in the worst time, we have full honesty and trust in each other because that is what makes us the best friends we can be. I look to my friends for guidance because I know they will answer me with the right words even if they are not what I want to hear, because of that honesty and faith we have in each other.

9. Remember that he who falls in love with himself has no rivals.

I must remember that while my friends and I love each other, I must remember to love myself for who I am. In any time of struggle, if I love myself there will be no challenge to be better than any other person other than me. As long as I love myself, I will be the best that I can be in not only my eyes but also the eyes of my friends. And within that, I will be the best in the eyes of God.

10. Choose now the friendship you wish to continue in eternity.

It is the friends that I have now that make me the person that I am today. Who I want to be for the rest of my life will be highly determined by who my friends are. I am who I want to be and I have no intention on changing. I am happy with who I am and this is because of my friends. My friends are my life. And I will never change.

they say pictures are worth a thousand words. well even that isn't enough to say how much my friends mean to me in my life. i love each and every one of you with all my heart!!!

Well this weekend is the Mount's homecoming football game! We are playing the Franklin Grizzlies at 1:30 on Saturday. In celebration of the game, the school has several activities going on around the campus. The dorm wars began last night with a presentation of the flags. This past Monday I helped to decorate our floor's flag. We were given a dark green for our color so we decided our team's name would be the Ninja Frogs. A lot of creativity was put in to the flag and because of how much fabric we were given we were able to make headbands and wrist bands for every girl on the floor. I wasn't able to go to the flag presentation, but according to the pictures I'm pretty sure we had the best ! There were a couple other different activities last night to begin the dorm wars. They had a checker/chess tournement, talent show, puzzle making, and more!

There was another big activity on campus today, the Push-Cart Parade. Some of the clubs/organizations at the Mount were given an opportunity to decorate a push-cart to make it look like a float from a parade to represent their club with the Homecoming theme in mind - Monster Mash. As being on the Campus Ministry Leadership Team, I was able to help out with decorating our cart. We were able to find the perfect passage to use for our cart, Revelations 13:1-2: 

"Then I stood on the sand of the sea. I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads. On his horns were ten crowns, and on his heads, blasphemous names. The beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. "

How perfect is it that we the Mount Lions are playing the Franklin Grizzlies for our Monster Mash Homecoming? So our team ended up creating a seven headed lion with a MSJ jersey pouncing over a cowering grizzly bear. The parade today gave us the opportunity to see what kind of creatitivy the clubs have on campus. It was really exciting to see .

Tonight the games will include sand volleyball, knock-out, and cornhole. I unfortunatley won't be able to attend those activities due to my night class but I'm sure it will be a lot of fun! Everyone in the dorms seems to be really excited about the activities! I'm anxious for tomorrow's games because I will actually be able to participate. My roomie and I will be our floor's team for the 3-legged race so it will definitely be interesting! After the activities, we will be having our homecoming dance in which everyone is invited to dress up in Halloween costumes, and for anyone who doesn't already know me, I like pirates! And therefore I will be dressing up as a Pirate Wench !

Then the perfect way to end the week is with the game on Saturday. I'm more than anxious to see the Lions beat the Grizzlies in the best game yet! 

One big aspect about my life as being a student at MSJ is the fact that I am from Chicago, born and raised. Many people ask me ?WHY? Cincinnati, why the Mount, why Delhi, why Ohio??

Well my reasoning is this: I wanted to find a small school, far from home, in somewhat of a big city, with an interior design program, marching band, and learning disability. Also my mother had thought I should look in to a Catholic college. Well this is one of few schools I found on google that was applied to each of those entries.

I grew up in a very big family -> just on my mom's side i have 1 aunt and 4 uncles, I am youngest of five, one of 14 grand kids, plus there are 6 grand kids. so I am used to big numbers, also having gone to a grade school with 75 students in my graduating class. i had gone to a small high school and realized, i like small numbers, so I decided i REALLY wanted to go to a small college. I wanted to travel far away because I knew I would go home every weekend otherwise and i didn't want to do that because then i would not truly get the best dorming experience. my brother, conor, had traveled 5 hours away from home as well and it seemed like he got a great experience traveling far from home. i also knew i really wanted to stay in a city! i had looked in to other great colleges that were in smaller towns but they didn't grab me the way city life does. i needed a busy town atmosphere. i love to walk fast (coming from a chicago girl as my friends would know) and so that definitely came in to key! ever since i was a kid i've always loved decorating and organizing and arranging furniture and i was a biiiiiig fan of the interior design shows on TLC so i built up this amazing dream of being an interior designer. unfortunately it didn't work out the way i had planned when i came out here to school but then an even better dream came up as an art therapist. which you will have to check back for another blog about how that is going . for the past 4 years of my life i have fallen in love with colorguard. for any of you who have been to the football games in the last two years you have seen 2 or more girls performing with the band at half time or prepping any tailgaitors. well that was the colorguard. when i first chose the school i knew that even though they were only a marching band that i would somehow get a colorguard in that picture! one year in to my career at the Mount me and my co-captain were able to re-create the colorguard and just one year later were able to duble in size! this again is another focus area that will be blogged about later so keep reading . another big part of my life is the improvement in my ability to work around my learning disability. I have a slight form of dyslexia, reading comprehension issues, as well as a form of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). this improvement is all thanks to Project Excel, which is one of the BIGGEST reasons that i chose this school. each tutor that i have worked with has been more than amazing in helping me with my classes, time management, and well EVERYTHING! its truly been incredible!

 But why would i leave Chicago for that? because while Chicago really is the best city for me, it doesn't have the Mount!!!

 thanks again for reading and keep checking out my page for updates

SOME OF MY PHOTOGRAPHY OF MY TWO FAVORITE CITIES:

Buckingham Fountain - my favorite place in the entire world!

Lake Michigan - The best summer feeling is riding my bike along this lake!

Millenium Park - This is one of the several parts of Millenium Park. I love the architecture!

A couple views of the Ohio River from Eden Park

The most beautiful thing I have ever seen in Cincinnati - Eden Park.

This past weekend was beyond words. I attended the Metanoia Retreat (Change of Heart) for the third time of my college career. My first year here at the school I had attended it because my friends said that it would be a fun weekend to get away for a while. This is when those friends became some of my best friends. My sophomore year at the school, I was on the team to lead the retreat, that was a great experience all in itself not only for the inner-faith aspect but for learning aspects of leadership. This year I chose to attend the retreat again due to the changes that have been made in it - each change was definitely for the better and was very impressive. I learned so much more about myself and about living life in general because each person had such an open heart. I had gone to Kairos in high school and loved it but didn't gain from it like the way I have in these retreats in college. Each person that I have had a chance to talk to through the retreats held by the Mount has become a new friend. This past Retreat Weekend, I have been able to make some new best friends. My heart has been opened up in to taking more chances and making my choices not only for my own sake of well-being but for every person around me. Every person in my life has had some kind of effect, whether it be for betther or worse, in the end. Every thing that happens is another life lesson, and therefore a good experience. My entire life I have been a firm believer in that everything happens for a reason. This retreat has made that belief even stronger. I have been able to open my heart to change and for believing every day is a new lesson in my life. This retreat has helped me to become a stronger, more relaxed, more faithful, and open to change kind of person. And last but certainly not least a much bigger fan of HUGS!!!

Thanks again for reading!!!

 THESE ARE SOME OF THE GREATEST PEOPLE YOU COULD EVER MEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!