Lord, I Need You!

I am now back home from an incredible, amazing, and truely awesome week-end. It was a week-end, but in some ways it felt like we were gone for so much longer. I think it is that way on really great retreats... you go away and things change in you and you come back a whole new person. Change that big, as it is happening, feels like it takes a while because a whole lot of energy goes into that transformation.

I must say this group truely inspired me. I have never been on a retreat with such respectful young adults who really gave their all into everything we asked of them. Every activity and challenge we put before them they did with smiles on there faces. I never heard one negative comment from any one of their mouths. They were so positive and put their hearts into this retreat, and the outcome  was just beautiful.

I will write more about this retreat I am sure, but for now I am going to go take a nap because I am completely exhausted from the week-end. I will leave you with the retreat theme song we used. I hope it touches you as it did our group...

I'm gonna be going "In Reverse" This Week-end

That's right. This week-end will officially be our first youth group retreat week-end where us core team members have worked together to lead it. We have had a freshman retreat before, and it was only a day, so this is a pretty big deal. The theme of the retreat is "In Reverse." Why, you ask? Well because we will be going more into depth of the prayer the Our Father, but instead of starting out in the beginning, we will be beginning at the end.

I will be giving the first talk of the week-end... It is called "Rescue" and will focus on the part of the our father that says, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Long story short my talk is basically the confession/forgiveness talk. There is a lot of stress on the first speaker to set the tone of  the week-end so I am a bit nervous, but the topic has become one of the more comfortable topics to talk about.

I am really excited about the retreat because we will be starting out at our parish on Friday night where we begin with letting go of all of our spiritual/emotional baggage there, and then leaving from the parish to the CYO camp where we will continue our spiritual journey free and ready to go even deeper into our faith. I really like leaving everything behind and then going on our journey, rather than waiting till almost the end to have confession.

I know... me helping out with a retreat... no I have not changed much in that area of my life. Once a retreat addict, always a retreat addict, right? Well I think there could be much worse things I could be addicted to. Please keep us in your prayers this week-end as we all face things and learn more about ourselves and grow closer to God. It is in times like this and immediately after that the devil tries his hardest to win us back. The more prayers we have going up the better our chances of defeating him. I will be happy to post more on this retreat later. :) Now I have to finish last minute preparation for the retreat myself. Wish me luck!

"The Less You Reveal The More People Can Wonder"

 I saw this and could not be more impressed with Emma Watson. I know everyone has their insecurities about looks. The media does not help anyone much at all. It is very sad to me when walking through the mall and I see girls under the age of ten walking around in mini-skirts. What happened to the importance of modesty? This culture has become so self drivin and it makes me so frustrated. It is all about fun, about what feels good. About getting attention. Some people think that to find love they need to let loose... but that is not what real love is about. We all search for it, but if only people could see that the only real place they can find love, true love, life changing, mind-blowing love, they must turn to God. The media makes God look so cold and filled with rules that hinder their fun, but those of us who know God, know that the media is so wrong. Once we let God in and trust in Him he will show love to us in so many ways, including those called to marriage, and incredible spouse. The less we reveal the more we can wonder.... As much as that goes along with trying to attract the opposite sex... don't people realize that God is using that same strategy to woo and win us over???? He's a pretty smart guy.

M.I.A.... Back for a visit

Wow!!! My long lost friend. I cannot believe how long it has been since I've logged myself on my own blog. I suppose I needed a break from blogging, and honestly would not have come back on here had I not needed to go back and refresh my own memory for a retreat talk I am going to be giving which I have given in the past.... While looking I felt the need to leave a post and what better post than to reflect on the name of my own blog...

Taking it one step at a time...

This year how have I taken things one step at a time? How has my faith journey been going since I blogged last? Where am I in my life now? It's funny how in day to day life nothing seems to change, sometimes it feels like I am doing the same things day in and day out and life feels the same... In reality though there has been incredible change in this life of mine.

SO what has happened in this crazy wonderful blessed life of mine in this past year?

Well first of all I have been blessed to have a wonderful youth minister here in my parish. I have been blessed to hang-out with some of the best friends and wonderful support group known as the core team family. I have enjoyed sharing in a more spiritual way my faith with the youth that come to our Thursday meetings. It has been beautiful to watch the small group of maybe ten or eleven (all girls last year) teens who would come and grow deeper in their relationship with God grow to about three times as many teens this year. To see the excitement in their faces as they enjoy their faith and learn more about it is a wonderful feeling. Being on core team has been more time consuming than I ever imagined it would be with planning meetings on Tuesdays and youth group on Thursdays and then the activites over the week-ends. I would not spend my time any other way! God, You are truely amazing! Thank-you for blessing my parish with such energetic young adults. I can't wait to see what your plans are for them.

Secondly, I not only met the wonderful love of my life this past year, but on July 5th, 2012, I was asked to marry this wonderful man, David. There is a quote that says, "Do what you love to do and you will find someone that loves the same things you do. Don't look for love, beg for love, or search for love. Just live." Well this past year I did just that and next thing I know God brought David into my life and I am so grateful for him. David has helped keep me on track in my faith so very well starting with our first date... Praying the rosary, going to confession, and attending Mass together.... We try to go to adoration and pray the rosary and go to Mass together as often as possible. It is harder to do that everyday as he lives in a town two hours away so we spend our week-ends together. So In the midst planning our wedding and mentally preparing myself for leaving my hometown in just a matter of months he reminds me that now we need God more than anything else. As long as we keep God first everything will fall into place. David and I have most certainly had our ups and downs, as most couples do... the biggest one for us happened almost two months ago. We found out that his mother was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer and then just two weeks later she passed away. She was a very wonderful woman and even though I only knew her for eight months she made a huge impact on my life and she will always hold a special place in my heart... I miss her so...

Thirdly, so I mentioned I am now an engaged woman, but I did not mention my wedding date. I will be married on April 6, 2013, which means right now there is four and a half months left until the big day. This means I am very much into, you guessed it, wedding planning. Again I know that if I keep praying to God everything should work out just right, but still it is hard for me to kind of freak-out in my head when I think of all I need to get done. I'm not a huge dressy fancy kinda girl so trying to figure all this decorating stuff out is a bit frustrating. Thank-goodness for my family and friends who have put up with me the past few months as all I seem to have on my mind is wedding wedding wedding. I'm sure secretly they must be thinking, "seriously girl, snap out of it!" but it is kinda hard to do. Praying is a must these days!

Fourthly, work this year has been a mixture of ups and downs as well... I had to remember that the quote "Preach the gospel, use words only when neccessary" daily for awhile there. I don't want to get into everything, but lets just say when you don't want to follow the crowd when you know it is the wrong thing, well it is not always welcomed in an approving way. Needless to say I knew that if I were to eventually win them over than I needed to not try to play their game because it would only feed into their fun... In time things have calmed down, but I still have a hard time trusting some people there. On the other hand I have become closer to some of my other co-workers and have learned a lot from them. I love my job. Working with the kids is still a passion of mine. They teach me so much in their simple childlike way, and I am so blessed to be able to work where I am.

I am still no where near perfect, and I never will be, but right now where I am in my life I am feeling pretty good about... :)

Still A Work In Progress

"I got to thinking about relationships. There are those that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, those that bring you far from where you started, and those that bring you back. But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you you love, well, that's just fabulous."

The above quote struck me when I first ran across it the other day while I was actually trying to find a different quote. I think it holds pretty true, for the most part... Only instead of the most significant relationship being with yourself, it should be your relationship with God. That's where we should be placing our best effort and the most attention too. Of course our relationship with others is important, but those relationships would not happen if it weren't for God placing them in our lives. Sometimes I have periods of time in my life where I have forgotten that and placed other relationships in front of Him and put more time into them than into mine with God. It is a human thing to do, but it is not something that should keep happening. Once I really have realized I've done that I really try to refocus my attention on the relationship that is the most important... My relationship with Him. Everything in my life seems so confusing when I forget to keep him in the middle. It's only when He is kept my focus than I become centered again and everything comes back together and I can make sense of it all... I thank God for the blessing of my family and friends that He gave me for my journey and am excited to meet those he has yet bring my way.

Florida Or Bust!

As I have mentioned before, I just got back from my trip around Florida. It is kind of an interesting crazy ride. What started out as a trip with just my sisters and my baby nephew ended up, literally the last minute, to be a vacation with my mother and younger sister. I had been in charge of our Florida half of the trip, which included reserving our hotel, and when my older sister backed out I realized I was going to make this trip happen no matter what, and so I asked my mother to come along. They say everything happens for a reason, which I am a complete believer of... Especially with this trip, because as we were pulling out to leave in my mom's van, my dad was trying to start my car (which is what my sisters and I were initially going to drive in), and it wouldn't start... It turned out something got loose under the hood and my dad had to put it back in, but he didn't figure that out till we had left.

I must say this Florida trip was exactly what us three women needed. I know my sister and I hadn't taken a decent vacation trip in years and my mom loves the beach so she was a happy camper. I miss waking up to the sound of the waves already, but I was also ready to get back to the normalcy of my life and daily routine... It's funny what being on vacation does to a person. After a few days I kept getting the days mixed up and since I did not have to be anywhere at any specific time, I didn't worry about what time it was either. It was nice relaxing and playing in the water in Daytona Beach, site seeing around St. Augustine, and watching the sun go down while watching the ocean in Destin. On the way back we also made a quick stop in Memphis for a night with my mom's friend and had some great b-b-q and for breakfast I had the best pancake concoction ever made... Banana pancakes with crunchy peanut butter syrup... Now I am not normally one to like crunchy peanut butter, but it was so good that it didn't matter to me. I can't wait to make that here at home now... :)

While in Florida my sister and I climbed two lighthouses... the second and third tallest lighthouses in the country... which after climbing the tallest on in North Carolina when I was eight or so, means that I have now climbed the three tallest lighthouses in the country. I can honestly say the lighthouse keepers did not need to work-out much as climbing up and down those stairs so many times a day must have been a work-out in itself. Each one had over 200 stairs to climb. My mom tried to climb one of them, but could not make it up very high and had to go back down. As tiring as it was climbing up, the view from the top of each was spectacular! :)

St. Maria Goretti Moment.

As I mentioned in my quick little post I was on vacation last week. While gone, my confirmation saint's, Maria, feast day happened. I was having such a great time while on my vacation and site seeing in St. Augustine that I totally forgot it was her feast day... until I was walking through the gift shop for the Our Lade de la Leche pilgrimage site. As I was walking around I stumbled upon this little display and as I looked at it I realized that it was her feast day. It was her way of saying "Hey there, Teresa, don't forget about me. It's my day today." It made my day!

For those of you who have never heard of St. Maria Goretti, let me tell you a little bit about her....

Early life

Goretti was born Maria Teresa Goretti on October 16, 1890 in Corinaldo, to Luigi Goretti and Assunta Carlini. She was the third out of six children.

Before the age of seven, her family had become so poor that they were forced to give up their farm, move, and work for other farmers. They ended up sharing a house with another family which included Giovanni Serenelli and his son Alessandro. Soon, Maria's father Luigi became very sick with malaria, and died when Maria was just nine years old.

Maria's martyrdom

On July 5, 1902, finding eleven-year old Maria alone sewing, Alessandro Serenelli came in and threatened her with death if she did not do as he said; he was intending to rape her. She would not submit, however, protesting that what he wanted to do was a mortal sin and warning Alessandro that he would go to Hell. She desperately fought to stop Alessandro from abusing her. She kept screaming, "No! It is a sin! God does not want it!" Alessandro at first choked Maria, but when she insisted she would rather die than submit to him, he stabbed her eleven times. The injured Maria tried to reach for the door, but Alessandro stopped her by stabbing her three more times before running away.

Maria's little sister Teresa awoke with the noise and started crying, and when Serenelli's father and Maria's mother came to check on the little girl, they found the bleeding Maria and took her to the nearest hospital in Nettuno. She underwent surgery without anesthesia, but her injuries were beyond the doctors' help. Halfway throughout the surgery, Maria woke up. She insisted that it stay that way. The pharmacist of the hospital in which she died said to her, "Maria, think of me in Paradise." She looked to the old man: "Well, who knows, which of us is going to be there first?" "You, Maria," he replied. "Then I will gladly think of you," said Maria. The following day, twenty hours after the attack, having expressed forgiveness for her murderer and stating that she wanted to have him in Heaven with her, Maria died of her injuries, while looking at a very beautiful picture of the Blessed Mother.

Serenelli's imprisonment and repentance

Alessandro Serenelli was captured shortly after Maria's death. Originally, he was going to be sentenced to life, but since he was a minor at that time the sentence was commuted to 30 years in prison. He remained unrepentant and uncommunicative from the world for three years, until a local bishop, Monsignor Giovanni Blandini visited him in jail. Serenelli wrote a thank you note to the Bishop asking for his prayers and telling him about a dream, "in which Maria Goretti gave him lilies, which burned immediately in his hands."

After his release, Alessandro Serenelli visited Maria's still-living mother, Assunta, and begged her forgiveness. She forgave him, saying that if Maria had forgiven him on her deathbed then she couldn't do less, and they attended Mass together the next day, receiving Holy Communion side by side. Alessandro reportedly prayed every day to Maria Goretti and referred to her as "my little saint." He attended her canonization in 1950.

Serenelli later became a lay brother living in a monastery and working as its receptionist and gardener until dying peacefully in 1970.

Maria's Cannonization

On June 24, 1950, Pius XII canonized Goretti as a saint, the "Saint Agnes" of the 20th century." Owing to the huge crowd present, the ceremonies associated with the canonization were held outside of Saint Peter's Basilica. Pius XII spoke, not as before in Latin, but in Italian. "We order and declare, that the blessed Maria Goretti can be venerated as a Saint and We introduce her into the Canon of Saints". Some 500,000 people, among them a majority of youth, had come from around the world. Pius asked them: "Young people, pleasure of the eyes of Jesus, are you determined to resist any attack on your chastity with the help of grace of God?" A resounding "yes" was the answer.

Wow! It's Been Awhile

Man, I feel like I have been in a bit of a funk for the past month or so... Not really a funk as in my life stinks, but more of a "I have nothing to exciting to write about so I just won't write at all kind of feeling." In reality I am sure if I sat down to write something I would have been able to get some great stuff out, but I just didn't have the urge to bother with it. That happens to me every few years. I get addicted to writing, and then I feel as though I have said all I want to say for awhile, so I take a bit of a break.

This past week I wanted to blog a lot, but I was not able to really do it justice as I was away on vacation all week. I went down to Florida where I hung-out on Daytona and Destin Beaches along with spending some time in St. Augustine site seeing.

While in St. Augustine I had so much fun learning about all the Catholic history that is there.... Where the first Catholic missionary nuns were buried, the place where the first Mass was said on American soil, the first Catholic parish in America, , and the place where the first cross was erected, the burial grounds of the first christian native Americans were all just a few of the interesting things I learned about. There is so much history in that town and I only was able to get only a little bit of it.

"Kid's Say The Darndest Things" #14

during nap time one of my kids decided he would try to pull the books off the book shelf, so I went over to sit by him. I looked over at another one of my kids and noticed he kicked off his blanket....

Me: Hey, do you want me to put the blanket back on you, Josh?

Josh N (in a very dramatic way while his chin is propped up on his hands): No... I... Just... want you to...love me, Miss Teresa.

(And then my heart melted....)

Me: But I DO love you, Josh!!!!!

Josh N.: Well then maybe you can rub my back????

(And that was where the Josh I know came out...hahaha!)

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While Shane was concentrating really hard on his art project...he was silent for the longest time and then he burst out

Shane: HOLY MACARONI!!!!!!! This picture is going to be SO big!!!!!!!!!!

And then he was silent again till he was done with his picture.

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After my break I went back into the classroom where I noticed some of the kids were beginning to wake-up....

Me: Hey, Shane, do you need to go potty?

Shane:No.... Hey, Miss Amanda! You're supposed to tell me when to go potty!

Amanda: You already told me you had to go potty, Shane.

Shane: But, it's YOUR responsibility to make sure I go potty!

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I pulled out some random fun books to read to the kids. I pulled out the Noah's Ark book without thinking much of it when I heard Shane...

Shane: Miss Teresa, God does not like wicked people very much does he?

Me (a little confused where that question came from then I realized he was watching me as I pulled out Noah's Ark): You are right. God does not like wicked people.

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we were playing good old Disney music and dancing to it when The Beauty And The Beast came on. Shane asked me to dance with him. I obviously could not turn him down so we danced. I started to spin him around when he looked at me and said:

Shane: That's what men do for girls!

Me: What do men do for girls?

Shane: (while attempting to twirl me around) This is what men do for girls!

Favorite Nicholas Sparks Quotes Part II

I am a quote collector. I collect quotes from famous people, from television shows, movies, books, etc.. One of my all time favorite people to collect quotes from is Nicholas Sparks. The romantic in me loves the cheesy factor of the quotes, but at the same time there is a very great message that comes from them as well. I know I have made a post before about some of my favorite quotes of his, but recently I have stumbled upon a few more that should be added to that list... :)

"Sometimes you have to be apart from people you love, but that doesn't make you love them any less. Sometimes you love them more.
~The Last Song~

"Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. Remember that."
~Message In A Bottle~

"I have faith that God will show you the answer, but you have to understand that sometimes it takes awhile to be able to recognize what God wants you to do. That's how it often is. God's voice is usually nothing more than a whisper, and you have to listen very carefully to hear it. But other times, in those rarest of moments, the answer is obvious and rings as loud as a church bell."
~The Last Song~

"Passion and satisfaction go hand in hand, and without them, any happiness is only temporary, because there's nothing to make it last."
~Dear John~

"The emotion that can break the heart is sometimes the very one that can heal it."
~At First Sight~

"Love wasn't possible in just a couple of days. Love could be set in motion quickly, but true love needed time to grow into something strong and enduring. Love was, above all, about commitment and dedication and a belief that spending years with a certain person would create something greater than the sum of what the two can accomplish separately."
~True Believer~

"He finally understood that God's presence was everywhere, at all times, and was experienced by everyone at one time or another."
~The Last Song~

"Never forget that God is your friend. And like all friends, He longs to hear what's been happening in your life. Good or bad, whether it's been full of sorrow or anger, or even when you are questioning why terrible things have to happen."
~The Last Song~

"But I'm different now than I was then. Just like I was different at the end of the trip than I'd been at the beginning. And I'll be different tomorrow than I am today. And what that means is that I can never replicate that trip. Even if I went to the same places and met the same people, it wouldn't be the same. To me that's what traveling should be about. Meeting people, learning to not only appreciate a different culture, but really enjoying it like a local, following whatever impulse strikes you. So how could I recommend a trip to someone else, if I don't even know what to expect? My advice would be to make a list of places on some index cards, shuffle them, and pick any five at random. Then just go and see what happens. If you have the right mind-set, it doesn't matter where you end up or how much money you brought. It'll be something you'll remember forever."
~The Guardian~

"I don't think we're meant to understand it all the time. I think that sometimes we just have to have faith."
~A Walk To Remember~

"Why Do We Take It All For Granted Until It's Gone?.."

I am sure most have you have probably seen on the news or heard the story about Lauren Spierer, the 20 year old Indiana University student that went missing. It has been a week since Lauren Spierer was last seen. I never knew Lauren, but the fact that she went missing in my home town hits very close to my heart. It's interesting to me how people seem to think things like this will never happen to them until it actually does happen to you. Either you end up being the one missing and you're in the middle of something you wish was a nightmare, but it's not, or you wake-up one day and find someone you dearly loved has vanished and your world gets turned upside down trying to put clues together to figure out what might have happened to that person. My heart and prayers go out to this girl and her family and friends, but after a week of not being able to find her I know the outcome will probably not be pretty.

When something like this happens it makes me want to spend time with those who are the most important to me and remind everyone I love how much I love them and how much they mean to me. I know I try to do that every now and then. I will randomly send them a note or text or card to let them know how special they are to me, but every now and then may not be enough. It's sad that something like a missing person can remind us all that we need to not take family and friends for granted....

Disturbing Commercial

I was really taken back by the above commercial. It rubbed me the wrong way. I understand they wanted something different to catch a person's attention, but they could have done something a little less controversial to do that. I just found the way they portrayed the priest in it was totally inappropriate. We should always remember to pray for our priests to stay strong in their vocation because I am sure there is a lot of temptation out there for them...

Hey There Stranger...

I have been a complete failure in the blogosphere. I really just haven't had much of an urge to write lately. That is what usually drives me to sit down and blog, the urge for me to sit down and free my mind of whatever thoughts are stuck there. I warn you before you read this post that I have no clue where it will go as my mind likes to go on it's own after I have not written in awhile.

Life for me these days is going pretty good. No classes, work is great, and aside from the usual drama of the McConnell family not much to complain about in that part of my life either. My town is kinda quiet as the majority of college students are all gone for the Summer which includes a large portion of my own friends and so my social life has quieted down compared to what it was before the spring semester ended.

Hustle and bustle can be a good thing sometimes, but I prefer the easy pace of the Summer. Everyone seems less grumpier during the Summer when there is less traffic and it is easier to get from one place to another. I feel like it is just easier to breath and relax.

Breath and relax. The best place to breath and relax for me is easily during Eucharistic Adoration. There are times when I forget how amazing sitting with Jesus really is. I sometimes forget how much I have needed that time with Jesus until I am sitting there with Him in the silence of the church. I feel like that is the only place I can really put my life in the right focus, and that is really how it should be, keeping Jesus at the center of my life. It's not that I don't try, but I am human, and life happens and before I know it I am lost and am very lucky to have my faith life to help me become centered again. I lay it all out there and leave it with Him while Adoring Him in the Blessed Sacrament and I feel so much lighter after because I know that He has it all covered. He knows what is best for me and I will be ok.

"How sweet, the presence of Jesus to the longing harassed soul! It is instant peace, and balm to every wound." ~St. Elizabeth Seton~

Hooray For Field-Trips!

Yesterday at work we took a field trip up to the Children's Museum up in Indy. The kids has a ball looking at the Dinosaurs, hanging-out with Dora the Explorer, learning about life for families in Egypt, and going on a train ride, and just exploring. They were able to get up-close and personal with fossils, and were even allowed to touch a real t-rex leg bone fossil. The staff was very nice and added to the fun the children had. Everything in this museum was hands-on, even more so than when I was a kid from what I can remember. It was a great day for them. I know I had a ball until towards the end of the day.

I had a very frustrating encounter with a random parent while playing in the pre-school area of the museum. This woman's daughter had been getting pushed around by some older kids, and since I was the closest adult near-by her she took her frustration out on me. I don't really need to go into detail about how rude she was with me, but I must say I have never wanted to call someone out as much as I wanted to let her have it. Instead, I held my tongue and I was very polite with her. I guess that must have annoyed her more as she became even more angrier with me. The thing is I really don't know anything about this woman. Maybe she was having a hard day, or week, or maybe she had something not quite right going on with her mind. I don't know. So even though she kind of ended my day on a sour note I do not wish anything bad on her. Even though that did happen, at the end of the day when I thought back on that encounter I said a prayer for that woman because I know people have bad days and sometimes react in random strange ways. I am no saint and make mistakes just like the next person. It's part of being human.

It's "My Kinda Party"

Sorry for my lack of posting this past week. It was my birthday on Saturday and I went like an energizer bunny all week-end long. One of my VERY favorite parts of my birthday was attending the Jason Aldean concert up in Indy. I happen to be a huge fan of his music and the fact that I was able to see him on my birthday was a very exciting way to spend my birthday. One of the people that opened for him, Eric Church, is also someone I enjoy listening to and it was a nice surprise to be able to hear him as well. :) It was an insane crazy concert as it was completely sold-out. There were 25,000 Jason Aldean fans which is a whole lot of people for a concert. It was a party.... :) The two girls below are very good friends of mine who went along with me to see this concert. I have known these girls since I was ten years old and it was a lot of fun to hang-out with them for the week-end... :)

Pro-Life Victory!

It was a wonderful day yesterday in the pro-life world. This is a HUGE victory!!! Many thanks to Mike for posting this, as I stole it from him.

Check this is out:
Indiana Right to Life is applauding Governor Mitch Daniels for signing into law today the most sweeping pro-life initiatives in Indiana since the Supreme Court legalized abortion on demand with the Roe vs. Wade and Doe vs. Bolton decisions in 1973.

HEA 1210 contains provisions to end all state-directed funding for businesses that do abortions, to establish Indiana's compelling interest in protecting pain-capable unborn children beginning at 20 weeks, to opt-out of abortion coverage in any state health exchanges required under the new federal health law, to require that women considering abortion be given full, factual information in writing, and to require doctors who do abortions, or their designees, to maintain local hospital admitting privileges in order to streamline access to emergency care for women injured by abortion.

"This legislation places Indiana on the vanguard of efforts to protect the unborn, to deny public funds to businesses that profit from abortion, and to ensure that women considering abortion have full and factual information about such issues as fetal development and alternatives to abortion," states Indiana Right to Life President and CEO Mike Fichter. "Governor Daniels has now established Indiana as one of the leading pro-life states in the nation."

Fichter also called Planned Parenthood of Indiana's move to secure an injunction against the defunding provision a delay tactic to keep public funding flowing as long as possible. "We are confident that Indiana will successfully defend this new law and that abortion businesses will be denied access to all state-directed public funds."

Life Is Good, My Friends. Yes, Life Is Good.

Today has been a bitter-sweet day for me. It was bitter because today was the last confirmation class with my small group. It is crazy that two years have already gone by since the first class when we all started our journey. I must say I felt like a proud mamma hen today as my whole group, without me even prompting them, were excited to share with me about the saint they chose and why they chose that specific saint. It made me happy to know that they really did their own research and did not just choose a saint because their name sounded cool. I have become pretty close with these kids and am proud of how they grew in these past two years and I cannot wait to be able to watch them as they are confirmed next week-end. St. Michael the Arch Angel, St. Sebastian, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Catherine of Sienna, and St. Francis of Assisi please pray for these kids and watch over them as they journey through the rest of their life! :)

It was a sweet day as today is Mother's Day and who could have asked for better weather than what we had in my hometown? It was gorgeous and even more appreciated as in the majority of the past few weeks all we have seen are thunderstorms and rain. My whole family gathered together for a wonderful Mother's Day meal of grilled-out steak, baked potatoes, salad, and stuffed eggs. I must say it was all delicious, but I could not finish my plate. I felt so stuffed. My stomach really must have shrunk over the past few months because before I would have been able to eat it all. I was also blessed to see two of my three god-children today, which was a pleasant surprise.

Part of me is very surprised at how fast my week-end has flown by, but the other part is actually very excited to know that in six days it will be my birthday. I am even more excited about it this year as I will be spending part of my birthday at a Jason Aldean concert with two of my friends. I happen to be a HUGE Jason Aldean fan and own all of his albums except his newest one (which is the next cd I will be adding to my collection of music) and so to know I will be seeing him on my birthday is so cool. Along with that, the night before my birthday I will be going out with friends to celebrate, so I won't be getting much rest next week-end either. Go figure!

"Advice From Somewhere"

Advice from Somewhere

ONE.

Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

TWO.

Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

THREE.

Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

FOUR.

When you say, "I love you," mean it.

FIVE.

When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.

SIX.

Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

SEVEN.

Believe in love at first sight.

EIGHT.

Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.

NINE.

Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

TEN.

In disagreements, fight fairly. Please No name calling.

ELEVEN.

Don't judge people by their relatives.

TWELVE.

Talk slowly but think quickly.

THIRTEEN.

When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"

FOURTEEN.

Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

FIFTEEN.

Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.

SIXTEEN.

When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

SEVENTEEN.

Remember the three R's:
Respect for self;
Respect for others;
Responsibility for all your actions.

EIGHTEEN.

Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

NINETEEN.

When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

TWENTY.

Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

TWENTY-ONE.

Spend some time alone.

Healthy Living

It is interesting to me how being sick for only a couple of weeks can make me change my perspective on things. Really, two weeks is short compared to those who have serious health issues. Mine only was a bout of strep throat immediately followed by a sinus infection. I can tell you though that now that I am finally feeling better I am so very thankful for it. There were things I missed while being sick like being able to swallow without feeling as though my throat was on fire, or being able to breath through my nose, sleeping or sitting in church without fighting the urge to cough every few minutes (nyquil became a friend of mine for awhile there...). Then there was the issue of not really being able to get up and move much without paying for it dearly. I missed being able to sing, even now my voice is not at all ready to push for that.

Before I got sick this last time I exercised six days out of the week mainly because I was doing it for lent. It was more of a chore for me... After being sick I am so excited and grateful that I am able to get up and move my body around. It is a relief to know that I can sit in Mass without worrying if I will have the sudden urge to cough. I am happy to know that tonight I will most likely not have to take more medicine to get to sleep, as I really do not like to take any unless I am really desperate. It is things like this that get taken for granted, but let me tell you at the moment this girl is enjoying being healthy again. :)

Pope/Obama Joke... Too Funny To Not Pass On

The Pope and Obama are on the same stage in Yankee Stadium in front of a huge crowd.

The Pope leans towards Mr. Obama and said, "Do you know that with one little wave of my hand I can make every person in this crowd go wild with joy? This joy will not be a momentary display, but will go deep into their hearts and they'll forever speak of this day and rejoice!"

Obama replied, "I seriously doubt that! With one little wave of your hand....Show me!" So the Pope backhanded him and knocked him off the stage!

AND THE CROWD ROARED & CHEERED WILDLY!