Wednesday, August 31, 2011

always blessed, soon to be stressed

Here's a taste of what is coming up in my pro-life life!

an article to finish
a phone date soon
a coffee date Friday
an article to begin
a form to get filled out to achieve organization status on campus
a banquet to volunteer in Austin
a meeting to brainstorm
a meeting to plan events
a meeting to choose a venue for an event
a meeting to educate
a benefit to attend in Houston
a benefit to volunteer in Austin
a form to fill out to be in the quad
an event to plan to bake 1,000 cupcakes
a day to distribute cupcakes
a cause to be fundraised for
a maternity home walk to support by said funds
a million emails to reply to


*throw in a dozen more meetings and some more articles and a few more cupcakes and that's pretty much the rest of my semester. LOL! I'm not complaining. I'm not. Just assessing my schedule; trying to brace myself for everything that is about to hit. I'm blessed to have so many opportunities to fill the pages of my agenda and the entries of this blog.


Oh and by the way, in the next few weeks I will be volunteering 7ish hours a week at an emergency children's shelter. SO excited! SO scared I will not ever sleep anymore with everything going on. I seriously think it'll be a really great though.





Sunday, August 28, 2011

i think i'm in love

...with children who have Down syndrome, or anyone who has Down syndrome for that matter.

After everything I've been reading and watching and thinking and seeing lately, I am pretty sure I have fallen in love.

As a result, I've contacted an organization in Austin that is focused on children with Down syndrome and I might get to do my volunteer hours there for my social work class this semester!

Even if it doesn't work out (there has to be a social worker on staff to be my supervisor, blah blah) I am still totally volunteering there. So excited.

weep alone


Oh just a little poem that I love by one of my favorite poets. I happen to be able to relate to this at this very instant, so that rocks! Bolded some of my favorite lines. Almost finished with a task that has been strangely seemingly impossible for me the past 10 days! That is an "up" to this "down" of an hour.

"Solitude"
Ella Wheeler Wilcox



Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone.
For the sad old earth must borrow it's mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air.
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you;
Grieve, and they turn and go.
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
But they do not need your woe.
Be glad, and your friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all.
There are none to decline your nectared wine,
But alone you must drink life's gall.

Feast, and your halls are crowded;
Fast, and the world goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you live,
But no man can help you die.
There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a long and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.

pro-life turtle race success

What does a Pro-Life club do for a social event? The answer to that question is obvious: eat watermelon, play volleyball, and race pet turtles. 

A week of planning and preparing the competitors definitely paid off. Bobcats for Life had a great time at the river and I was so happy the event went well... no, not "well" but GREAT!
watermelon + volleyball + pro-lifers + turtles + river + ukelele = great afternoon


watermelon chunk spitting contest
watermelon spitting contest winner, John



Tuck, a.k.a. the champion

Why, yes! Our Priest IS cooler than your Priest.

Annnnd they're off! or at least Tuck is.
 





Thursday, August 25, 2011

aint it funny how time slips away?


14 = hours I've spent on Bobcats for Life this week
3 = hours I will spend on Bobcats for Life tomorrow

15= hours of class I have on my schedule
12 = hours I will have after I drop my 5th class... 5 classes in one day... not a good idea.

50 = hours of B4L work a semester I must complete for TX Right to Life
50 = hours of volunteer work I must complete this semester at an agency for my Social Work class

12 = hours I work on campus per week
8 = hours until I wake up for work

2 = hours I spent watching The Office with Ryan yesterday
0 = hours I should have spent watching The Office with Ryan yesterday


Today I tried to do some math and figure out how many hours of my week are "free" a.k.a. empty for studying, napping, having a healthy relationship, etc. It's really not too bad, like it could be worse, but it's definitely a lower number of "free" hours than I've seen before... and that still isn't counting everything that is important to me that I have prioritized (lately, very poorly) into my schedule. If it weren't for journaling and the occasional therapeutic rant on this blog, I would probably lose my mind. I got a nap in earlier so now, at 10:45, I'm going to chug some Coke Zero (sidenote: "chug" is an awful word) and try and finally knock out this task that I have been somehow only touching the surface of for a week now.

I need to make a priorities chart. I also need to cancel Netflix so I'll stop watching The Office.

Monday, August 22, 2011

whelmed (so obvi it's a good time to blog)

I'm not overwhelmed necessarily because that sounds negative, but I'm at least "whelmed" or something...

Taking a break for nutrition, hydration, and apparently a quick blog post.

This is my day so far:

  1. Woke up at 7, laundry party!
  2. Worked on Bobcats for Life display 
  3. Worked on article
  4. Sat on the floor and looked at the ceiling while wondering how I've been so productive and it isn't even 10:00
  5. Glued display together
This is the rest of my day:
  1. Continue working on display
  2. Continue working on article, hopefully finishing (EMAIL ME BACK, INTERVIEWEE!)
  3. Conduct Bobcats for Life meeting at my apartment at 2
  4. Plan like 5 events with B4L leaders
  5. Make cookies for tonight's orientation
  6. Head to CSC for new student orientation at 5 for B4L table set up
  7. New student orientation at 5:30
  8. Recruit thousands of new members!
  9. Clean up
  10. Meet with music staffhead for Awakening
  11. Bobcat Awakening meeting at 7:30
  12. Go home at 9
HOW IS THIS ALL GOING TO HAPPEN?! I am just so grateful that I didn't end up working today. Praise the Lord, forreal.

display in the making

sifting through this = makes me love doing my learning on a computer


my pro-life craft mess

peace & hope.

wall collage

break is over. Lord, help me!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

good things come in threes

I'm only 20 years old and I'm just starting my junior year of college so it's probably a little, or a lot, early to say this but I've added a new hope to my "hopes and dreams" list. I hope one day I will be able to adopt or foster a baby with Down Syndrome or a baby with special needs. Something in their smiles just makes me fall in love.

found this on Etsy.com recently.


That's all for now... back to my research!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

home: a place so sweet only Michael Buble should sing of it.

This summer of transitions has finally ended.
San Marcos->Dallas->Austin->Dallas->Houston->Dallas->Jacksonville->DC->Dallas->Austin->San Marcos.

corner of my room.
paper hearts!
If I hear the sound of suitcase wheels or see another Hudson News sign I just might go crazy. Living out of a suitcase isn't fun. I tried to make Houston, Jacksonville, and DC feel like home by unpacking into dressers and closets, but by the time the clothing was folded or hung up...it was time to refold and roll away. I've discovered a way of knowing you are in a home environment: milk. There was never a time this summer when I had access to a personal fridge and a grocery store that was accessible by a vehicle (not by foot... sorry Trader Joe's, I still love ya.) so I never bought milk because I hated carrying it across town. Now, here I am in my homey apartment with my very own bed and my very own fridge... ironically I have yet to buy milk since my roommate has a gallon in there and sharing is caring... but I finally feel like I am in a home environment.

I have unpacked all my resources from this summer's pro-life endeavors and I can hardly believe how many binders, papers, stickers, and brochures I have accumulated over the past few months... it is wild. I'm looking forward to sorting through all the loose papers and filing them in their proper divider! Ha ha ha...

I have many thoughts and blessings to share but it is late right now. Tomorrow I have a craft project I'm looking forward to as a reminder of defending LIFE for my room. Excited! I <3modge podge.


wall of my room. made this today out of twine, paper, and tape!

Tuesday, August 09, 2011

in conclusion

 I had a great summer in DC at the National Right to Life Academy. Here's a summary in photos.

spending time with some wonderful ladies
and celebrating birthdays.
learning with some brilliant ladies
and finding time to smile during momentary frustrations.
Living with a crazy, awesome, Russian-Rhode Islander,
potential future Catholic provided for some unforgettable times.
Spending time with some of the brightest
people I have ever met.
Appreciating those who offer their time and wisdom to us.
We were a very blessed group of girls.
I felt emotionally overwhelmed at times this summer, but what
kept me sane was knowing my best friend was coming to visit me!
We got to celebrate his birthday together in DC.
Roger Stenson. He was definitely a highlight of my summer,
of ALL of our summers. We all wished he was our grandpa.
This picture is a perfect example of the friendships we formed this summer.
Great girls. I can't wait to see what great things they will do in this world.

Belittled Women

my latest piece for Human Life International is up today!
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) states that its mission is to promote health and opportunity for every man, woman, and child; it attempts to ensure that “every girl and woman [be] treated with dignity and respect.” As a woman, I will gladly stand behind an organization that empowers me, dignifies me, and acknowledges the rights that accompany my femininity and humanity.The UNFPA’s idea of empowerment, however, seems to be limited to the promotion of birth control, and its dignity to the avoidance of children through sterilization. Its acknowledgment of rights is applied narrowly to those women who are “wanted” or who happen to be outside of their mother’s womb. In taking this tack, the UNFPA is in reality accelerating the very discrimination against women and children that they are purportedly trying to alleviate.
 Continue reading here.

Monday, August 01, 2011

oh and uh can I get an AMEN?!

"The best way to protect our First Amendment rights is to use them without fear."-Father Frank Pavone


My friend Chelsea tweeted this during the NRL Convention and I just found the piece of paper I wrote it on. Serendipitous! Okay now back to work.

I went to the Capitol, y'all

Photo 1: This is when we discovered my camera was not, in fact, broken.
I had turned on a weird setting without knowing it and thought it was broken.
Missed out on a lot of great shots while my camera was being cray cray.

Photo 2: the amazing Chris Smith. Just wow.

Photo 3: Hey wassup, Speaker of the House?
Photo 4: Chelsea & me! Also, heels = always a bad idea.

nice poem

"If"
Rudyard Kipling


If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master,
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!

Living by this wisdom is really difficult lately.
 

approaching everything in life with love Copyright © 2011 -- Template created by O Pregador -- Powered by Blogger