Friday, February 24, 2006
How neat-o bandito is this thing? It looks through your blog and pulls out the most frequent words, then compiles them into this little deal seen here. I love the words it pulled out: I mean, look at the biggest ones: God, Good, Holy, Love, Veritas...that's pretty sweet! Hoorah for such a finding.Courtesy: Shrine of the Holy Whapping
As for other news: we are on spring break, which means it's time to head back to Rockford for a bit of fun. It's my mom's birthday today, so we'll be starting break off right: with a crazy family party. Woohoo! Then tomorrow is the Here I Am, Lord Conference, which is pretty sweet too. You'll probably hear all about that one.
Does anyone know anything about Amy Welborn's book "De-Coding Mary Magalene"? I'm trying to find a book about Mary Magdalene, and I don't really want to focus on the conspiracy aspect that the secular media loves, but I want to find out what we truly teach about her. I know Amy's awesome, so I'm thinking it might be good. Anyone?
Casting Crown lyric of the day (because I'm obsessed with their new CD):
"I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm"
I.love.it.
I'm out. Everyone, enjoy your week. I know I will. :)
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Wow. It's been a long time since my last post. Or at least it feels like it.
I have since applied for student teaching. We'll see where I end up with that.
My aunt came by this weekend and put the pressure on to make some decisions. I did surprisingly well. I just smiled, told her I will figure it out, and left it at that. I received much consolation from many people the past few weeks - I am not going to get worked up again - that'd be wasteful.
So, let's see, what's been going on? This weekend is the Here I Am, Lord Conference in St. Charles, Illinois, and I am very excited. Rusty, Mary and I are attending, and it should be pretty sweet. It always is. Cardinal George will be there - he was pretty awesome when I saw him two years ago - I am holding high expectations for him! And it's also a great time to spend the weekend with some of the most rockin' religious around! Hooray!
Last Thursday we had a snow day. Two days before (Valentine's Day) it was nearly 60 degrees. I love the Midwest. That stuff just doesn't happen anywhere else. It was pretty sweet, though. We threw snowballs at Padre's window and hung out during the day (we ate scrambies and watched the Olympics). And at night, after our Eucharistic holy hour we went to Padre's for a hot chocolate and Polar Express party. Yesss. It was sweet. I love snow days. They happen all too rarely - somehow we usually brave our way through them. I love succumbing to the weather.
I bought the new Casting Crowns CD this weekend. They're so sweet. The best lyrics are in the song "While You Were Sleeping" - get this: "United States of America / Looks like another silent night / As we're sung to sleep by philosophies / That save the trees and kill the children". Wow. I love honesty. And speaking of which: the Supreme Court is rethinking the "late-term abortions" (a.k.a. killing a child when it's half-born and you really can't deny the fact that it's a child anymore, no matter how hard you try). Pray for the new justices (as well as the conversion of the old ones!). This could be huge.
And the quote of the day comes from everyone's amigo: Aristotle. "Where the needs of the world and your talents cross, there lies your vocation."
That's pretty dang sweet.
And the story that made me laugh out loud today comes from our friend Fulton J. Sheen in the book The World's First Love: "St. Gemma Galgani, of modern times, one day was intereceding with Our Lord for the soul of a certain sinner. As Gemma pleaded for mercy, the Savior recounted one by one the person's frightful and abnormal sins. After the Savior had refused three times, St. Gemma Galgani said: "Then I shall ask Your Mother." Our Lord answered: "In that case, I cannot refuse." An hour later the sinner in question came to the confessor of the saint and made his full confession."
I love it! That's so awesome!!
And the funniest part of my week was definitely last night, teaching in the Spanish after-school program with my kids. We were writing poetry, and the best poem comes from the one 7-year-old in the class. I'll translate it for you. It's too amazing to get lost in translation.
"Funky chickens are in bookses. Funky chickens are weird."
This was beautifully paired with a picture of two chickens, one with a word bubble that read: "Join the funky chickens."
I am still giggling. :)
That's all I've got - until next time!
I have since applied for student teaching. We'll see where I end up with that.
My aunt came by this weekend and put the pressure on to make some decisions. I did surprisingly well. I just smiled, told her I will figure it out, and left it at that. I received much consolation from many people the past few weeks - I am not going to get worked up again - that'd be wasteful.
So, let's see, what's been going on? This weekend is the Here I Am, Lord Conference in St. Charles, Illinois, and I am very excited. Rusty, Mary and I are attending, and it should be pretty sweet. It always is. Cardinal George will be there - he was pretty awesome when I saw him two years ago - I am holding high expectations for him! And it's also a great time to spend the weekend with some of the most rockin' religious around! Hooray!
Last Thursday we had a snow day. Two days before (Valentine's Day) it was nearly 60 degrees. I love the Midwest. That stuff just doesn't happen anywhere else. It was pretty sweet, though. We threw snowballs at Padre's window and hung out during the day (we ate scrambies and watched the Olympics). And at night, after our Eucharistic holy hour we went to Padre's for a hot chocolate and Polar Express party. Yesss. It was sweet. I love snow days. They happen all too rarely - somehow we usually brave our way through them. I love succumbing to the weather.
I bought the new Casting Crowns CD this weekend. They're so sweet. The best lyrics are in the song "While You Were Sleeping" - get this: "United States of America / Looks like another silent night / As we're sung to sleep by philosophies / That save the trees and kill the children". Wow. I love honesty. And speaking of which: the Supreme Court is rethinking the "late-term abortions" (a.k.a. killing a child when it's half-born and you really can't deny the fact that it's a child anymore, no matter how hard you try). Pray for the new justices (as well as the conversion of the old ones!). This could be huge.
And the quote of the day comes from everyone's amigo: Aristotle. "Where the needs of the world and your talents cross, there lies your vocation."
That's pretty dang sweet.
And the story that made me laugh out loud today comes from our friend Fulton J. Sheen in the book The World's First Love: "St. Gemma Galgani, of modern times, one day was intereceding with Our Lord for the soul of a certain sinner. As Gemma pleaded for mercy, the Savior recounted one by one the person's frightful and abnormal sins. After the Savior had refused three times, St. Gemma Galgani said: "Then I shall ask Your Mother." Our Lord answered: "In that case, I cannot refuse." An hour later the sinner in question came to the confessor of the saint and made his full confession."
I love it! That's so awesome!!
And the funniest part of my week was definitely last night, teaching in the Spanish after-school program with my kids. We were writing poetry, and the best poem comes from the one 7-year-old in the class. I'll translate it for you. It's too amazing to get lost in translation.
"Funky chickens are in bookses. Funky chickens are weird."
This was beautifully paired with a picture of two chickens, one with a word bubble that read: "Join the funky chickens."
I am still giggling. :)
That's all I've got - until next time!
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Oh...future.
So I have to fill out my application for student teaching soon. Like, as in, by next week. And I've been holding out on filling it out because I'm unsure of what I want to do. I have a few options. I can student teach in a Spanish immersion program, which, according to the teacher who is the head of the program, is "very good for the resume". I have been in this program for 3 semesters now, and I love it there. But I'm not quite confident enough in my Spanish speaking abilities to know whether I will be able to handle student teaching in this location. So I have the option of doing two different placements, one at the Spanish immersion program (Our Lady of Guadalupe), and one at an English speaking Catholic school in the area (undecided as to which school at this point). With this, I get the opportunity to see the different styles of teaching, see the difference in how students learn in English vs. Spanish, etc. It would be pretty neat. The downside of this is that I have less time teaching on my own, since there would be two "phase in" and "phase out" sessions because of the two placements. Yet, this is what the Early Childhood majors have to do anyway (with one placement in Elementary and one placement in Preschool). So it's not like this is that much of a downside, since it is the only way for the Early Childhood folk. And the third option is to just teach in an English speaking setting and not use my Spanish as much as I should, but be comfortable and really take in the methodology of teaching.
So I have a lot to think about in the next week. And I don't know what I'll decide. I would like to use my Spanish, but I am not really very confident in my Spanish speaking abilities. I have expressed this to my teachers before, and they say that that is definitely a legitimate concern; however, when you're in the classroom and hear/speak it all day long, and all the textbooks and teacher's manuals and whatnot are in Spanish, it makes it a little easier than having to just "wing it", so to speak. So there's always that. Right now the two placements option seems like a nice middle ground, but I don't know if I should go middle ground. Go big or go home is usually the motto around these parts. Who knows? Pray for me, dear bloggers.
So next week my cousins Clare and Colette are coming up to visit (which is exciting!) and then the week after that we're going to the Here I Am, Lord conference, which is really really exciting. I don't know that I'm specifically excited about any of the orders that will be there, but I am excited to see all the religious. And the Fathers of Mercy will be there, so that'll be good for my dear friend, Maurice. :)
Well, that's all I know for now. I really should attempt to write this paper on why we fight wars even though we know they cause suffering for my War and Pacifism class. Should be...interesting.
So I have to fill out my application for student teaching soon. Like, as in, by next week. And I've been holding out on filling it out because I'm unsure of what I want to do. I have a few options. I can student teach in a Spanish immersion program, which, according to the teacher who is the head of the program, is "very good for the resume". I have been in this program for 3 semesters now, and I love it there. But I'm not quite confident enough in my Spanish speaking abilities to know whether I will be able to handle student teaching in this location. So I have the option of doing two different placements, one at the Spanish immersion program (Our Lady of Guadalupe), and one at an English speaking Catholic school in the area (undecided as to which school at this point). With this, I get the opportunity to see the different styles of teaching, see the difference in how students learn in English vs. Spanish, etc. It would be pretty neat. The downside of this is that I have less time teaching on my own, since there would be two "phase in" and "phase out" sessions because of the two placements. Yet, this is what the Early Childhood majors have to do anyway (with one placement in Elementary and one placement in Preschool). So it's not like this is that much of a downside, since it is the only way for the Early Childhood folk. And the third option is to just teach in an English speaking setting and not use my Spanish as much as I should, but be comfortable and really take in the methodology of teaching.
So I have a lot to think about in the next week. And I don't know what I'll decide. I would like to use my Spanish, but I am not really very confident in my Spanish speaking abilities. I have expressed this to my teachers before, and they say that that is definitely a legitimate concern; however, when you're in the classroom and hear/speak it all day long, and all the textbooks and teacher's manuals and whatnot are in Spanish, it makes it a little easier than having to just "wing it", so to speak. So there's always that. Right now the two placements option seems like a nice middle ground, but I don't know if I should go middle ground. Go big or go home is usually the motto around these parts. Who knows? Pray for me, dear bloggers.
So next week my cousins Clare and Colette are coming up to visit (which is exciting!) and then the week after that we're going to the Here I Am, Lord conference, which is really really exciting. I don't know that I'm specifically excited about any of the orders that will be there, but I am excited to see all the religious. And the Fathers of Mercy will be there, so that'll be good for my dear friend, Maurice. :)
Well, that's all I know for now. I really should attempt to write this paper on why we fight wars even though we know they cause suffering for my War and Pacifism class. Should be...interesting.
Saturday, February 11, 2006
| You Belong in Rome |
 |
What City Do You Belong In?
Friday, February 10, 2006
| You Are an Espresso |
 At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung You drink coffee when: anytime you're not sleeping Your caffeine addiction level: high |
What Kind of Coffee Are You?
So so true. And I even have my very own espresso machine. :)
Monday, February 06, 2006
I love my students.
Tonight we were picking Spanish names (because it's cool). One of the little girls decided her name would be Francisca, because she likes Francis. I said "ok" and wrote out her name card. Then she came up to me later and said she wanted to be Domingo, because it means Sunday. I told her that that is a boys name, but she can be Dominga. She said "ok", and I wrote her a new card. Then she came up to me a bit later and said "Um, can I just be Dominga on my card, but you really call me Domingo? I like it better." and I said "ok", so I wrote her a new card. Then the other kids started jeering saying that Domingo is a boy's name, and that she's crazy to pick a boy's name. She was like "No! Domingo means Sunday!" and then I said "It also means Dominic" to which she exclaimed "Yeah! And it means Dominic!" The kids kept making fun of her, and she was like "What's wrong with Domingo? It means Dominic! I like Dominic! And it means Sunday! I like Sunday! Sunday is when you go to Mass. You go to church on Sunday! I'M HOLY! I WANT TO BE HOLY! I WANT TO BE HOLY!" She nearly has a meltdown about being named Dominic because she wants to be holy. I couldn't help but smile and say "That's wonderful. You can be Dominic. It doesn't matter if it's a boy's name. It's a good name." She smiled, sat down, and class resumed.
I love children. :)
Especially the kind that scream about how they want to be holy in the middle of class.
They're the best kind.
Tonight we were picking Spanish names (because it's cool). One of the little girls decided her name would be Francisca, because she likes Francis. I said "ok" and wrote out her name card. Then she came up to me later and said she wanted to be Domingo, because it means Sunday. I told her that that is a boys name, but she can be Dominga. She said "ok", and I wrote her a new card. Then she came up to me a bit later and said "Um, can I just be Dominga on my card, but you really call me Domingo? I like it better." and I said "ok", so I wrote her a new card. Then the other kids started jeering saying that Domingo is a boy's name, and that she's crazy to pick a boy's name. She was like "No! Domingo means Sunday!" and then I said "It also means Dominic" to which she exclaimed "Yeah! And it means Dominic!" The kids kept making fun of her, and she was like "What's wrong with Domingo? It means Dominic! I like Dominic! And it means Sunday! I like Sunday! Sunday is when you go to Mass. You go to church on Sunday! I'M HOLY! I WANT TO BE HOLY! I WANT TO BE HOLY!" She nearly has a meltdown about being named Dominic because she wants to be holy. I couldn't help but smile and say "That's wonderful. You can be Dominic. It doesn't matter if it's a boy's name. It's a good name." She smiled, sat down, and class resumed.
I love children. :)
Especially the kind that scream about how they want to be holy in the middle of class.
They're the best kind.
