2012 in Review

As the year draws to a close, I thought it might be a good time to take a moment to reflect on the past year. So, here it is: 2012 in review.

January
I began my last semester as an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin! I also started to feel the pressure of having a thesis due in three short months. It was both a relief and slightly terrifying! Even though I wasn't a full-time student, I knew I had a tough semester ahead of me, with my part-time job, Bible study, discipleships, and finding time to enjoy Madison!

February
Lent began in February, and I decided to go big this year. I gave up meat for the whole forty days! It was a budget-friendly decision - meat, on average, costs much more than rice and beans, but also a spiritual one, as there was nothing that would prevent me from not eating meat. I originally thought it would be a really difficult sacrifice, like the way I would crave a cheeseburger every Friday during Lent in the past, but it ended up being much different than I imagined. I found I really didn't dream about eating meat as much as I expected. In fact, there are so many different non-meat options, that my diet hardly suffered at all.* The hardest part was eating out at restaurants, and not being able to order 90% of what was on the menu.
*Except when I really wanted shepards pie, but couldn't use hamburger. I tried using barley with extra sauce as a substitute, but it really didn't turn out at all. I had rubbery barley and mushy mashed potatoes with a sauce that really suffered from not having the hamburger flavor. I ate the whole thing as a sacrifice, and even tried not to complain!

March
I realized that turning 22 isn't quite as fun as turning 21. I don't even remember whether or not I had a birthday party to be honest! But a good friend, whose birthday is just a few days after mine, turned 21 and had a big celebration. I had so much fun baking a cake for her, and seeing her excitement, that whatever I did has totally slipped my mind! March was also unseasonably warm, and I remember being so happy to ditch the winter boots and bring out the sundresses and sandals!

April
With just over a month left of school, April was crunch-time. I realized that if my thesis was ever going to get written, I needed to start writing, and writing fast! I also saw looming deadlines in my other classes, and smaller deadlines for papers and projects that become more of a nuisance than anything. I also started to realize that I might have bitten off more than I could chew with work and Bible studies! I ended up having to cut back a little to finish my school work, but, in the end it all worked out and my thesis got done.

May
Graduation! After four years of hard work and dedication, I finally graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with degrees in History and Religious Studies. It was a bittersweet moment. I was incredibly proud to have made it through my time at the UW, but it was harder than I thought it would be to leave behind all my friends that I had grown so close to over four years. Of course, I'm still close to so many of my friends, but it takes a lot more effort now that we don't see each other on a daily or even weekly or monthly basis.

My sisters and I at graduation

June

I was at FOCUS New Staff Training, colloquially known as "Summer Training" or NST, for the whole month of June. It was a really difficult transition for me, to graduate from the UW and one week later be back in classes. I also found it hard to come from UW-Madison, where I encountered a wide variety of people with many different opinions, to NST, where everyone that I saw was a Catholic missionary. It was wonderful in some ways, to know that we were all striving for holiness together, without any of the first years really having a good sense of what we would be encountering in the next few months with fundraising and transitioning to campus, but I really struggled with feeling so homogeneous.

Me (second right) with FOCUS missionaries at NST

July
Fundraising, fundraising, and more fundraising! I spent the whole month meeting with people to tell them more about FOCUS and the mission work I would be doing for the next two years, and inviting them to join me! At times it got really tiring and prayer was the only thing that helped me through it all, but it also was really amazing to reconnect with old friends and meet some new faces! I particularly enjoyed meeting so many parishioners at St. Agnes Parish, where I grew up and have worshiped with for years, but never knew! Now, whenever I go to mass there, I always know at least one other person and often more. I love feeling so connected with a community back home.

August
At the beginning of the month, I packed up almost everything I owned, and traveled across the country to Virginia, my new home! Oh my goodness! I learned to trust God SO MUCH over the summer, with fundraising, and I got to trust Him just a little bit more in moving. It's funny to think that almost everyone that I see on a daily basis I met just a few months ago, and that the place I now call home was totally unknown to me before August 10!

September
It was so hard to transition from student to missionary! I had no clue what I was doing half the time, and I struggled to figure out how to relate to the students as a missionary, and not as a fellow student. While I am still their peer in many ways, I am also a representative of the Church and a living witness to Christ. Talk about pressure! I'll be the first to admit that it wasn't always easy. There were many sleepless nights of wondering whether or not I'd said or done the right thing. At times, I thought for sure all the students hated me and that I was the worst missionary in the history of the world! And then I would realize I was being dramatic, and just kept on working, knowing that "all things work for good for those who love God" (Romans 8:28 - a Bible verse that has gotten me through many rough times this semester).

October
By the end of the month, Halloween, I finally felt like Virginia was home. I knew more of the students on a deeper level, my teammates and I had gotten into a routine, and I more or less knew my way around Fredericksburg. It also helped that I was able to visit Wisconsin for about a week! Although it was nice to be back at the UW and at my parents' house, neither of those places were home. I know more people living in Fredericksburg than I do in Green Bay. St. Paul's, UW's campus Catholic church, held more unfamiliar faces than familiar ones. Returning to campus was difficult, but it was nice to return to my ordinary pattern of living.

Susie and I went as "hawaiian punch" for Halloween

November

I (finally!) visited Washington, DC with Susie and a fellow UW grad who lives in the city. It was so much fun to see our nation's capital. It was a beautiful day, so we walked around to all the monuments, and stopped briefly in the American History Museum to see the original American flag they have there. Stepping outside of campus life for the weekend was a lot of fun. Sometimes I feel like my life is on display, like my actions are always being judged and noticed by teammates and students. And for the most part, it's true. As a missionary, I do have a responsibility to represent myself well because it doesn't go unnoticed. But, at the same time, even if I wasn't a missionary, I would still have the responsibility as a Catholic to represent myself and the Church well.

Susie and I at the Virginia pillar of the World War II memorial in Washington, DC

December

I'm 25% of the way done with my FOCUS mission work! Now that I've started to make the transition from student to missionary, I'm starting to prepare for the next transition: missionary to student. Specifically, studying for the LSAT, the Law School Admission Test. But first, I'll just enjoy spending time with my family, being back in the midwest, and the snow! If I've learned anything from being a missionary, it's that life is best handled one day at a time!

Jogging

Before moving to Virginia, I had decided I wanted to try to go running more regularly. When I first arrived, however, I went into a little bit of "climate-shock." Every time I stepped out of our air conditioned apartment, I immediately felt short of breath. I was confronted by this weird, thick, heavy air that seemed to make it impossible to breath fully. And then I came down with a cold and/or allergies that put my nose out of commission for a good week. So my whole ambitious plan of jogging on a schedule totally flew out the window.

When I did recover from my cold, I was warned to have a little more care around people than I might be used to in Wisconsin. Unlike Wisconsin, there seems to be a lack of friendliness between strangers in Virginia. When jogging or biking at the UW, it's routine to smile, wave, and give a nice "Hey there!" or "Good morning!" to any fellow exercisers you might meet. Here, unfortunately, this behavior is definitely not encouraged. In fact, I was told to not smile or wave with random passers-by while jogging because it might give the wrong impression, and it just isn't something people do.

Fredericksburg does have a very low crime rate, so I'm not particularly worried when I go out jogging. And one of the students and I have teamed up and becoming jogging buddies! We both seem to lack the self-motivation needed to get up early and go running by ourselves, so we are going to keep each other company! She's familiar with the campus and its surrounding neighborhood, which is a huge help for me, since I don't have a great sense of direction.

One of the ways we work with students as missionaries is called "incarnational evangelization." Essentially, it's the idea that as we share everyday life with students, we can build up a relationship and encourage them in their walk of faith. Jenniffer, my jogging buddy, is a super-solid Catholic who is already involved at the Catholic Student Center at Mary Washington. By jogging with her, we can get to know each other, discuss different things that are happening in life, and learn from each other. I appreciate her help to me, by giving me motivation to wake up and get out of bed to go running in the morning, and I hope I can reciprocate and show my gratitude in the weeks and months to come!

Greetings from Virginia!

Oh my goodness! The past week has been a total whirlwind! I am now in Virginia, and just finished my first official day of work here at the University of Mary Washington. Within the past week, I packed up all my things, traveled halfway across the country, unpacked in my new apartment, fell sick with a cold, and started a new job! It has definitely kept me busy, but a good busy.

The apartment here in Fredericksburg is huge! It's easily twice the size of the place I lived at in Madison, and everything, minus cable and internet, is included in rent, even parking! I'm still a little in awe of how much space we have, and I have to stop myself from trying to fill it with furniture.

The city of Fredericksburg is beautiful! It's different from Wisconsin, but still nice. I've had most difficulty getting used to the humidity here. I thought it was bad back home over the summer, but it was nothing compared to what it's like every day here. I keep waiting for the morning when I open the door and step outside without being surprised by the intense, oppressive heat. So far, it hasn't happened; but there's always tomorrow!

When I get a moment, I'll post some pictures. The campus of Mary Washington is absolutely beautiful, with a lot of green space and brick buildings. So far, I'm really enjoying my time here, and can't wait to explore Fredericksburg more and meet the students!

Houston, We Have a Problem

Oh man, why don't all these boxes hold more!? And maybe my clothes would all grow legs and jump into my suitcases

Oh my goodness, it's time for me to leave for Virginia. Which means packing... Yikes! As of right now, there's SO MUCH to do, I just don't even know where to begin. I think I've looked in my closet, at my desk, went into the bathroom and stared at all the stuff I have there, and then start looking at everything again. Maybe, if I just look really intently at all my things for long enough, they'll pack themselves up all nicely. Maybe they'll even magically be transported to Virginia.

And I'm pretty sure my stuff has gotten bigger, while my car has gotten smaller. And I keep remembering things I have to bring--like, it's hot now, but in a few months it will be cold! I need my winter clothes! And blankets! And snow boots! Uh-oh...

Except, even as I'm packing, I'm not sure I want any of my things to be magically moved to Virginia. Today seemed to just fly by. I looked at the clock and it was 7 am. Then I blinked and it was 3 pm and then, just one blink later, it's 9 pm. And now I only have one day, ONE DAY!, left in Green Bay. I'm not sure that's long enough--I don't know how to leave my family, and say "See you at Christmas!" My things fit so well in my room and my closet and, really, it seems like such a waste to move everything only to move it all back in a year or two. Maybe I should just not go.

But what am I thinking!? Of course I'm going to go! I love my job!! A missionary at the UW told me that change is good, but transition is hard. And it's so true! I'll just remember that this packing up of my life isn't supposed to be easy. I'll just remember that my things fit in my room so well because they've been here for 22 years, so it's right that they fit. It's hard to pack up and move, because it somehow seems more permanent than moving to college did. I might be making this more dramatic than it needs to be. (I started crying while packing, so I'm definitely making this more dramatic than it needs to be.) And I also might be writing this blog post just to put off more packing...

Change is good; transition is hard.