Southern Travel

Check me out! Posting so frequently!!! Don't you simply love it?

So a little update before I share my traveling stories . . .

The roaches have moved out, or maybe just down the hall, but I'm totally okay with that! I simply refuse to share my bed with the beasts! Friday we lost our water in the building. . . they got it back later that night but it seemed to be contaminated. So, I gave it a couple days and things seem to be toxin-free, or so I hope! Unfortunately now I don't have much hot water. I have to turn the water on about 10 minutes before my shower so that it is at least bearable, but it seems as though I will not have a HOT shower for a while! Two nights ago the fire alarm went off in good ole' Stuart hall . . . and guess what? It was my fault. . . oops! ACTUALLY, it was REALLY the facility's managers fault for not having the stoves cleaned! And as I type this update the alarm in one of the towers in my complex is actively going off!

Okay. . . so what you really all want to . . . my travels:

Florida was great!!! Loved it. . . except for one small detail. . . the day we planned on being our BEACH day was the day tropical storm Barry decided to pound the sands of Daytona! UGH! Great storm, sucky beach weather! Living in Ohio I miss the beach dearly! Over all however, it was a great time! Check it out:

My cousin Terri and I. . . whenever we are together we always take a close up head shot like this because many people think we are mother and daughter. . . or as Terri makes me say, sisters!

Uncle Joe and myself showing off our beastly muscles, and bad ass attitudes!

Aunt Grace, Uncle Joe and their FAVORITE great-niece!!!




Terri as the Caterpillar from Alice and Wonderland. . . oh did I mention when Terri and I get together weird stuff starts happening. . . keep scrolling!!!




Don't you just love it??? Maybe Terri really is my mother. . . Mommy, Daddy, is there something you forgot to tell me?

Okay. . . having some technical difficulties with loading pictures. . . I might have to leave you here with this WONDERFUL portrait of my beautiful cousin Terri (who's graduating from Physicians Assistant school . . . or is it Nurse practitioner school? Well, whatever it is she worked her tooshy off to do it! I'm so proud of her!!!)

Please stay posted for the conclusion of Southern Travels . . . There is oh so much to share about New Orleans and my escapades with the beautiful, fantastic Katie Naab!!!!

For now. . . I need to read. . .

Roaches: A Hazard To Your Health!

Returning to Dayton has not been easy for me. For one I had a pretty fantastic time at home and coming back to Ohio was once again forcing me to give up my life. But the larger reason that this particular return was difficult was because I had to learn fairly swiftly the art of extermination!

Last night I returned back to my room a little after 10:30. I was multi-tasking--talking with Fr. Sam on the phone and checking my email when all of a sudden the nastiest roach when scurrying right past my feet and across the room! To say the least I had to apologize to Fr. Sam not only for screaming and dropping the phone in a panic but for the profanities that crossed my lips in the process! I was successful in lobbing my flip flop at the monster and killing it. . . cleaning it up was GROSS. . . have you ever smelled a squashed roach? It's nasty! OH, did I mention how big the sucker was??? THREE INCHES!!! I felt creepy and crawly for the next half hour.

I was obviously shaken up on the phone with Fr. Sam . . . who being a bug hater himself showed me much sympathy and offered support to get me through this time of creepiness!!! Shortly after ending the conversation with Fr. Sam I went to grab something from under my bed and there again a second THREE inch roach bolted from its hiding place! I quickly jumped for higher ground. . . grabbed my phone and called the good priest back . . . he simply answered by saying, "this can't be good!" He was right! There I was phone in one hand, crying about how miserable I was, standing on a chair armed with a flip flop trying to find the nasty beast!

The only thing worse was that time that my sister's iguana got loose and I attempted to search for it dressed in jeans tucked in my boots, snow gloves and a stick! Hysterical on the phone I decided I had to get down and search for it. . . it's one thing to "think" that there "might" be another one. . . BUT to "KNOW" that it's running around is a whole nother bucket of worms!

Long story short. . . I killed the second one. . . complained to the front desk, who said with a smile on their face that they could do nothing for me, grabbed my car keys, went to Meijers (the only 24 hours store besides the satanic Walmart), bought roach killer (for "small roach" as it was all that the store stocked, and headed back to the war zone. Upon opening the roach killer I discovered that "small roaches" were definitely NOT what I was having a problem with! Miserably I went to the desk again and DEMANDED something be done!

They FINALLY sent the trouble shooter up who gave me more roach killer, a bottle of roach spray and a lecture on how roaches do indeed get in your bed and where there's one there are thousands! UGH, thanks dude, you are so VERY helpful!

So I sprayed my room. . . a lot! At the advice of Fr. Sam, left all my lights on, put on a blindfold to block the light out and went to sleep. . . and of course dreamt of killing roaches all night. To say the least it was a VERY restless night!

Today. . . I went to Mass and prayed profusely that God protect my room from the devilish beasts. Before returning to my room I took a trip to the grocery store to buy BORAX, a laundry soap that dries up roaches exoskeleton killing them. I cleaned my room, vacuumed EVERYTHING, I even moved the bed for a thorough cleaning! Then I put the BORAX EVERYWHERE!!! Hopefully I encountered my last!

Tomorrow's headlines: Graduate Student at UD inadvertently poisons herself while dealing with roach infestation!

Attempting a Commitment

Hey everyone! Do you like the new look? I felt like I needed a change . . . so many things in my life right now are helter skelter and giving myself--or my blog--a new look seemed like a fun idea! Not that this gave me any more order to my life but it definitely let me have control of something!

Anyway, I am attempting to make a commitment to anyone who actually still checks my blog with anticipation that there will be something new! Are you still out there? Through a suggestion of Katie I have decided to pick one day a week with a specific TIME to sit and blog! Who knows what I'll write about! Maybe some days I'll just pop on and say "hi!" But maybe I'll surprise myself and have some great things to share with you!

I'm gonna try it! I am not back in Dayton yet, I leave on Thursday. . . so don't expect these postings to start until next week!

Hope you are all well, I'm . . . . well, I don't really know how I feel. These days I sometimes feel like returning to Dayton is like giving up a beautiful life for sweat and tears. I just keep telling myself those sweat and tears will pay off. . .

OH, P.S. I went to Florida and New Orleans for Vacation. . . had a wonderful time with my family and KATIE!!! I'll post more later. . . maybe I'll save that as my first "weekly" post! Then I can guarantee I won't have a loss for words!

How Well Do You Know Me?

So, now that I am OFFICALLY DONE for the semester I have four days of nothing to really do before I head home. . . I am only sticking around for a party Thursday night. SO, I have spent time doing some silly things. . . like making up quizzes for you all to take about me!!! How fun does THAT sound???

Wanna take it????

Go here: Do you THINK you know this Cowgirl?

ENJOY!!!

Almost Home

The great news is that I am only six days from being home for a little while! For this I am extremely excited! The bad news is that unfortunately due to the amount of work required of masters students during the summer session I will have to start working at home, ugh.

I'm sorry there is not really much to update everyone on! Life in Ohio is not all that thrilling. . .

But if you want a good time go to the most random website EVER! You could waste HOURS! Not such a great thing for me right now! But nonetheless fun!

Well, I should be signing off and getting to papers and such. . . who am I kidding. . . I won't start that work until tomorrow. . . but as I don't have much else to say I'll let you all get back to what I'm sure is a more exciting life than I have to offer!

Love you all! Miss you all!

You Don't Know Whatcha Got 'Til It's Gone

As I wrap up my time at home I realize how true the cliche is: you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. Being home, being with friends, being with family, being at Simon and Jude, it all makes me realize how much I really have here and how little I really have in Dayton. I keep telling myself, "one more year, one more year . . . " Things have not been easy in Ohio, I do not fit into the midwestern world as much as I imagined I would. My eastcoastness has become most evident to me and the illusion of friends has faded. The thing is . . . my friends from West Chester could not be more opposite than we already are . . . yet it works! Not only does it work but they are the most valuable friendships I have ever had! Andrea, Brian, Christine, Fr. Sam, Katie, Lisa, Maria, Michelle, Tim . . . you all mean the world to me! Thank you for loving me for all I am as a person, whether to you that is too conservative, too liberal or just plain NUTS!

The good news is I only have a couple weeks and then I am home for a month . . . in which I fully intend on having that Murder Mystery Dinner Party! So until then, I will pray for you if you will pray for me!

Back From Oblivion

If anyone is still reading, or for lack of postings, "checking" my blog I wanted to share that I am back from OBLIVION. This semester has gotten the better of me, but now I'm back to reclaim myself amidst the destruction of what my research has done to me these past few months. Although I am no where near "accomplished" in my work this semester I am trying to trust that it will be finished . . . or at the least I'm praying that it will be! Anyone want to join in? In prayer that is!

I would love to catch you all up on the wonderful, amazing things I've been doing and the spectacular places I've been and the fabulous things that are happening in my life. . . unfortunately I live in Dayton, Ohio and attend graduate school . . . oh and did I mention: live in a freshmen dorm!

Actually we did go on retreat in Indiana in the beginning of February. To most midwesterners this is nothing . . . to me, a displaced eastcoaster? It was a new state to add to the list! Oh, I suppose I forgot as well, I spent my spring break with seven students in El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico for a Spring Breakout trip. These trips are offered through campus ministry for students as an educational alternative to the spring breaks that the "average" college student attends! The fun part to share is that our group might be featured in a documentary on globalizaton and economic justice at the border entitled Agua Miel: Secrets of the Agave. You can check out the website where footage will soon be available!

This week I also visited Cincinnati for the first time! What a great city, why couldn't the University of Dayton be in Cincinnati?

Well, I must be getting back to life. I would like to promise more frequent updates. . . but we all know that sometimes life is unpredictable and at times chaotic. So I will simply promise to try!

A Bit of an Update

Okay, so not much is going on. . . but I did not want to leave my avid readers hanging. I am still here. Classes are going extremely well this semester! Things just seem to fit better now, I have finally found a routine to exist within.

Work is great, we started campus ministry nights here in the building. I work with a group of seven students to run nights ranging from social justice to education to social and it's all going very well. We had 30 come to our opening social. And we retained 12 for the social justice night. . . hopefully people will continue to come and get more people involved!

Well, sorry to disappoint you but that is really all I have to share. I suppose once you find a routine life just becomes boring. Not that that is a bad thing, I am very happy!

My birthday is coming up!!! That's exciting news!!! February 4th . . . woo hoo! I'll be 24! Does that count for mid-twenties? It's all very exciting!

Okay, maybe soon I'll have something more substantial to share with you all! For now peace and blessings!

CCMA and My Return to Dayton

WOW, so much to catch you all up on. Again Lisa and Katie I apologize for not writing in so long:( My New Year's resolution just might be to write more often!)

Anyway, as some of you know, I spent the last week of my break in what is normally considered sunny San Diego for the Catholic Campus Ministry Association's conference. Unfortunately it was not quite so "sunny," a fluke in their weather but none the less exciting and new for me! I met so many great people and made amazing connections. In fact I was offered a job! Louisiana Tech is in need of a campus minister and told me to call them in a year. Gave me his business card and all!

Besides work connection I made amazing connections with people around the country who are going to be able to help me out with my practicum, the major project I have to come up with-run-and complete before I graduate. Part of my practicum involves getting Cardinal Rigali to attend a dinner with students . . . people seem to think it can't be done, BUT I made a really awesome connection at CCMA, who actually told me, "I'll make it happen!" When I tell others about this they simply reply, "and he WILL!" SO, so exciting!

So, with the conference aside let me share with you all the mess I returned to! After having a fabulous week in San Diego and a good flight home with my campus ministry team from Dayton, AND a nice dinner on our way from Columbus to Dayton, I got back to my room about 1:30 in the morning on Monday. When I opened my door I thought there was a corpse in there the way it smelled. Apparently there was a sewage problem and to spare you the grotesque image I still have in my mind let me just say I had a lot of crap to deal with . . . you can figure that one out.

I had a troubleshooter come up who explained to me that it was not an emergency and someone could deal with it in the morning. "NOT AN EMERGENCY??? There is SHIT all over my floor!!!" So anyway, I closed the door, lit candles and attempted to sleep. God knows what diseases I've contracted!

In the morning the plumber came fixed the toilet and told me housekeeping would take care of the floor. My Mondays are insane. I go from 3 to 11pm straight, not even a break for dinner! So when I returned to my room late that night to realize that housekeeping never came I was a bit livid! I got a mop and bucket and went to work. BT, my supervisor helped out, God Bless him! Even a student of mine came and helped. Is that a boundary problem? Having your student AND supervisor in your bathroom late at night? Hee hee. . . anyway, they were both wonderful, I had been working on it for close to forty five minutes and they came up and just finished the job for me! Eric and BT Rock!

Well, I shall be signing off, as I am still in pajamas, have lots to do and it's 11 in the morning. PLUS, tonight I am attending an Epiphany Party! YAH!

Thanks for tuning in to this addition of Sara Speaks . . . over and out

For Katie and Lisa . . .

This afternoon over smoldering smores at Cosi, some friends voiced their concern of my sporadic postings, claiming that the frequency of my writing has slowly declined in the past weeks. I would like to suggest that maybe . . . just maybe this could be attributed to the oppression of the system of higher education upon defenseless graduate students during finals week . . . or perhaps I was just lazy!

At any rate, this posting is dedicated to you Katie and Lisa, for all the times I abandoned you, left you hanging on the development of my life, for all the times I chose my theology text books over you. My New Year’s resolution is to cater to the appetite that the era of reality television has imposed upon you! Okay, just kidding! Honestly, I have to say, I never realized so many people actually read my blog! After all my life is nothing special, just the everyday escapades of a 23 year old, constantly on the look out for what’s next and insistently happening upon it when I cease looking!

I have to switch subjects to share with you all that I am currently watching VH1’s “I Love the 90’s.” It totally reminds me of our attempt at the “Back in the Day” dance we held at the Newman Center when we were convinced that a dance that commemorated our childhood in which we wanted to “remember when . . . the 90’s,” would be a HUGE hit. Okay, maybe it wasn’t “huge” but hey, it gave us an excuse to do the running man and not be ridiculed for it, right?

Okay, it’s getting late and I want to get this posting up before midnight since I promised you two that I would post today! Plus, as I posted before, the “oppression” of the system of higher education already began imposing upon me for next semester and I have a bit of reading and reflecting to get to!

Signing off, grateful for my friends! And in remembrance of our college days, “Peace out, Rainbow trout!”

He'll Be Faithful To Complete It

Something I have discovered through the fire and brim stone of this semester is that the study of God takes a lot of faith! You become aware of the good, the bad and the ugly and through it all you have to continue to discover who you are and why you are doing what you are doing!

A couple weeks ago I shared with my pastor, Fr. Meehan, that I was struggling with studying my faith, because when you put your faith under the microscope all its imperfections suddenly engulf you and you begin to drown in doubt. I shared that I was learning to separate my faith from my studies so that I could hold onto my spirituality in a world of academia. I thought this was the thing to do. Fr. Meehan voiced his concern with my decision and offered an alternative. He suggested that instead of separating the two, begin with a prayer that the things God intends for my spirituality through my studies will become evident. What I didn't realize until this point was that completely separating the two was like separating Siamese twins that share a heart; one will inevitably die. By connecting the two I am allowing God to work within me yet sifting though what is unhelpful to my spiritual life.

Finals week was another time of trial! For a person like me who suffers from test anxiety, taking a test that is accounting for 65% of your final grade is like facing the lions in the arena of the coliseum! As I am writing this it is obvious that I have survived, but I must emphasize that it was only barely! Last week's second reading contained the verse, "He who began a good work, will be faithful to complete it in you." This became my mantra for the week! I kept trying to remind myself that God was the one that brought me to this point in my life and God would not let me down! I don't mean to suggest that I did not have to work because God was handling it, I simple offer the opinion that if I do my part than God will sure help me through it and together I will proceed to walk the path before me!

Next semester's stress, although it should not be as encompassing as this past four months, has already begun with an emailed assignment from my professor for the first day of class: a book and reflection paper! UGH! I just keep saying, "He who began a good work, will be faithful to complete it in me!"

Left Overs Party

This year I had brilliant idea! Katie, a friend from West Chester, and I decided to throw a party the day after Thanksgiving with the idea that everyone would bring their favorite left over. . . this way we have GREAT food and don't have to spend a thing! Brilliant! Possibly my best idea to date! Free food!

What I truly love about my college friends is that a party in which you eat left overs, make felt Christmas tree ornaments FOR A FELT TREE, sit around playing Catholic and Bible trivia, AND end the entire evening by sitting around the living room singing Kareoke is considered a GREAT night!

Favorite part of the evening? Well that would be a tie between singing I Got You Babe where my father, Fr. Sam, and Brian (whose in the seminary) sang Sonny's part and all the girls sang Cher, and having my sister walk in during the one point when we decided to sing O' Holy Night! She looked at us like she just stepped foot on strange planet (as if to say, "this is a party?)! It was simply fabulous!

This may have to become a tradition!

Graduate Assistant Web Page

Five devoted years at the Newman Center and Tim and I are both still wondering where our pictures can be found on the website! Four MONTHS at Dayton and I made the website! I guess that's the difference between a two person team and a thirty--a Campus Minister of technology!

Check out the Graduate Assistant Web Page!

You Know You're a Party School When . . .

In case you have not heard there is a new runner hoofing it in the horse racing scene, UD Ghetto. This two-year old homebred is stealing the spotlight, not so much for performance but for potentiality. How does this connect to the University of Dayton you ask? Well, despite the faculty and staff's futile attempts of referring to the student housing on campus as the "Student Neighborhood" the student body has rebelled and thus the student housing has continued to be called "the Ghetto." This has perpetuated to the point that the student Mass on Sunday nights in the neighborhood is commoninly referred to as "Ghetto Mass."

In an article about this emerging race star the owner spoke about the name of the horse, here's what they had to say:

"There is certain to be a lot of folks watching and rooting for U D Ghetto, and not only because of the local connections. The colt also is drawing attention for his name, a reference to a row of shotgun houses where upperclassmen reside -- and often get rowdy -- at the University of Dayton . . . The Ghetto is the place to party at Dayton on weekend nights, and Reinstedler agreed the name is a perfect fit for a colt who's "a handful." U D Ghetto was gelded before he raced because of various behavioral problems."

I wonder what this will do for admissions come spring? So, in conclusion, you know you're a party school when you have a rowdy race horse named after you!

A Chilling Wake-Up Call

Have you ever had to stand out in the cold, in the wee hours of the morning, wearing nothing more than your pajamas and coat (and by that I mean literally just pajamas a a coat . . . in other words no underware)? I have! Dayton offers me such opportunities that I'm sure I could not experience any where else.

Last night, or shall I say EARLY this morning. . . roughly about 4 am . . . ON THE DAY MY SCHEDULE ALLOWED ME TO NOT SET AN ALARM CLOCK (hear the anger in my voice?) . . . We were rudely awaken to the fire alarm blaring through the halls, and in my room!!! Being that I am in the handicap room (because it was the only place they could put me) I am privaledged to have not one but TWO alarms in my room WITH a flashing strobe. When I wake up to the alarm-in the confusion of my sleep-I feel like it's an air raid!

Anyway, short story is three fire engines and four cop cars later it was discovered that some boys, in their brilliance, decided to light all the bulletin boards and posters in their hallway on fire! Drugs may have been involved! The facilities manager wants to treat it as arsen. . . we'll see what happens.

We permitted back in the building around 5 am, at which point sleeping was difficult since I had been up for so long my body thought it was time to go. After persistantly persuading my body it was wrong I fell back to sleep until close to 11.

Ugh!

A Spooky Thanksgiving Fairy Tale

As Christy said last Tuesday morning, this was truly an "Unforgettable" day. The 8 of us GA's in attempt to be a committed community to one another, had planned on having Thanksgiving dinner together before we all left to go home. The only problem was, as busy as we all are the only time to do this was on Halloween.

So, Halloween morning there we all sat (after using both duplex kitchens and myself using Brother Tom's across the street) eatting Turkey, mashed potatos, green bean cassarole, broccoli cassarole, pinapple bake, salad, stuffing, rolls, and of course pumpkin pie!

The parts that make it "Unforgetable?" Well, first of all we were having Thanksgiving on HALLOWEEN! Second, the house was still decorated from the weekend before when we had Christy's Surprise 30th fairytale themed birthday party! Third, in the middle of our meal two city inspectors came through to inspect the house . . . unexpectedly! All the while we had Nat King Cole's Unforgettable playing on the stereo! It was great!

This Spooky Thanksgiving Fairy Tale will truly remain Unforgettable!

Manna from Heaven

Yesterday, as we were gathering at the duplex to put the finishing touches on our halloween costumes for last nights campus ministry party we all began to talk about what to eat. We were VERY hungry; it was about 2 in the afternoon and no one had eatten yet for the day! There was not much at the house to munch on let alone make a meal. We were standing out on the porch when a car drove by, one girl jumped out with TWO Papa John's Pizzas and asked if we wanted them. They were left over from UD atheletics. . . OF COURSE we wanted them! Never doubt, God ALWAYS provides!

15 Passenger Van . . . What's the Big Deal?

Tonight was my first experience being responsible for driving a 15 passenger van and it's occupants! It went well. I suppose when you learn on a conversion van you really are prepared for anything!

Our excursion tonight was the largest Corn Maze EVER! It takes the average person an hour and a half to finish!!! Many of the students finished but the three of us campus ministers gave in and just walked around. You might be thinking we are wimps . . . but think again my friend! Check out this INSANE Corn Maze! There are 12 sections, each section contains a mailbox that contains a piece of the map! After finding all 12 clues you can complete the maze! I was cold and my allergies or possibly the start of a cold is kicking my butt. Nonetheless, completing it or not, it was still fun.

There was also a quite interesting maze. You can ONLY turn right! It's a NO LEFT TURN maze. It was hard but very, very fun! And YES I completed this one!

So driving the van was fine! Parked it back in its spot using one back up! No different than the Marshmellow (Daddy's van) or Mommy's truck! The 15 passenger van is no match for me!

A Photo Tour of Dayton

So, I have finally loaded pictures to give you all a photo tour of the University of Dayton! Welcome to my tour!

The Main Entrance to the University

Stuart Hall and Stuart Hill, my home at UD

Stuart Hill . . . from the bottom! Yes, Stuart Hall is at the top!

My Bedroom

The other half of my bedroom

My living room, remember this was in the process of moving in! Since then this has become my kitchen! So I guess it's a very mobil room!

My HUGE bathroom! Unfortunatly no bathtub:(

The infamous Neighborhood!

Stuart Hill overlooking the field

Serenity Pines, one of my favorite places on campus!

Another favorite spot! This is a statue of the Blessed mother in her old age.

Humanities Building, where all my classes take place!

Inside of Chapel

Thanks for coming! I hope you've enjoyed my tour of The University of Dayton!

A Heartfealt Moment

Many of you know that Jason was deployed on Tuesday for six months. I had been asking for prayers for him for a while now. All day Tuesday people had been sharing with me that my brother and my family were in prayer. Well, that night I was running around trying to get things together for Mass and one of the GA's walks into chapel. She looked very flustered so I asked if she was okay and she said yeah, I was surprised to see her and thought she just decided to come to Mass. This was rare that another GA would make their way up Stuart Hill to come to Mass but Christy is very devoted to daily Mass and I simply assumed she missed the noon Mass. So we both sat down, Mass was getting ready to begin and in walks three more GA's. I knew something was up at this point. I looked at Christy and said, "what's going on?" She said I had to ask Melissa. At this point Mass was ready to begin, I knew why they were here, they were here because they knew my brother was deployed and they wanted to pray with me to support me! During the intercessions Melissa prayed, "Father, please watch over and protect all those who are in the military especially those who have been deployed this day. And bring peace to their families, letting them know that they have a community around them that love and support them." I broke out in tears. This was a defining moment here in Dayton. I knew at that point that I had a group of friends around me that really do love and support me. I can't say thanks enough to Melissa, Christy, Abby, and Katie. Later I found out that the reason they all looked flustered is because they were running late so they are RAN to get to Mass. That makes it that much more special! They are great, not only making their way up the hill but running? That's special!