Home

Here I am…home. It seems like I have been here in Wisconsin for weeks, but the majority of my time has been spent at work or sleeping. I am kind of thankful that my break is so short–it is too exhausting to have it much longer. I hope this entry doesn’t sound too boring and/or incoherent…

Tuesday night I flew in, and have been immensely enjoying the green. Unfortunately, the floods have made it too difficult to get to daily Mass at our parish, so I have been struggling to find daily Mass elsewhere. I think I brought the weather from San Diego with me; it has been sunny and in the 80’s everyday. I suppose I am terribly strange, but I kind of wish I was here during all the rain storms. My little siblings (especially David)have stuck to me for the majority of the time that I am actually at home, and I have gotten a much warmer welcome than at Christmas…I guess that is what happens when you don’t see them for nearly six months.

The mosquitos have also given me quite the warm welcome; they are most willing to eat my blood. As a result, I have not spent much time outside–it is hot during the day, mosquitos come out at night. Ah, such is the joy of Wisconsin summers! Yet with all its peculiarities, I love the beauty of the green, hills, and open fields. Fields of corn, wheat, soybeans, hay…it is wonderful. Much different than the city that I am stuck in for most of the year…

I am happy that I don’t work again until Wednesday. I hope to catch up on sleep (a result of trying to adapt to the time change) as well as doing some reading, visiting and cleaning. I get to go to Schoenstatt again!!!!!! I am unspeakably excited about that. The rest of the week will be a whirlwind with work, parties, and more visiting. I am sure I will survive, but it might take me a few days to recuperate. There is a possibility that I will not get a chance to post again until July–so have a good week or two, and I will offer many prayers for you all! God bless and Mary keep you.

Beginning of summer!

I asked for prayers, and you must have obliged me quickly! The past couple days have been pleasant. This week I have been trying to adapt for the time change ahead of time, so that I can get up at a decent hour when I lose two hours on Tuesday. So, I have been trying to go to bed at 10-10:15pm every night, and get up at 6:15am every morning this week. I have managed most of the time.

Thursday I awoke at 6:15am with the pessimistic view that if I was really lucky I could get half of my marketing final done by noon, spend time with other students here in the afternoon and evening, and then *hopefully* finish the marketing final this morning. I was blessedly wrong. I finished the final in less than two hours, and had time to talk and laugh with my roommate (Andrea), make banana bread, do laundry, and do a bit of dishes and cleaning–all before noon! Andrea and I discussed some things about the household that we are starting, we said farewell to another of our suite-mates, and I went through some books and paperwork. At about 3pm, we went down to the pool. Daniel swam, Andrea & I took pictures, and we all talked and laughed. Then Andrea & I sang in the stairwell while waiting for Daniel to get ready and we all went to 5:30pm Mass. After Mass there was more singing in the stairwell, followed by a trip to the beach.

A funny incident happened when we were about to leave. Andrea forgot to grab a sweatshirt, so she ran upstairs…Daniel and I were standing on the sidewalk. He put his arms on my shoulders, hands clasped at the back of my neck. Someone started coming down the sidewalk, and I thought I knew where I was on the sidewalk–and started stepping backwards to move out of the way. The problem was, I was about a foot off–which resulted in my stepping off the sidewalk, losing my balance, and falling backwards into the bushes! It was hilarious and awkward…the guy coming down the sidewalk started laughing as well, and as a result I laughed even harder. My laughter was prolonged as we walked towards the car, because there was a cat in one of the apartment windows. We all stopped and talked to it. The ridiculousness of what we were saying made us all laugh in turn–then we continued on our merry way.

On Friday, I caught up on reading some blogs that I neglected in the past couple of weeks. One that I enjoyed the most was “A Maiden’s Wreath“. It was nice to be reminded of my own dreams that get pushed to the side in the busyness of school. Sometime over break I hope to write a post on such things… After Andrea left and I finished running some errands, Daniel & I left to go to Mass at the Cathedral downtown. Then we wandered around Old Town for a bit, went to Coronado Island, and finished off the day by planning the rest of our lives. It was most amusing and very fun.

Yesterday I went to morning Mass, did more baking, and then talked for the majority of the day. I chatted with several people online, called home, and talked to a few of the people still here. Last night I was invited to watch “Meet Joe Black” in the resident director’s apartment. I was originally planning on only staying for a bit, but was quite confused and wanted to see how it turned out–so I didn’t get back to my apartment until almost 1am. This morning I walked to and from Mass with a few other students. Other than that I have just been catching up on things around the apartment.

And so ends the longest post in quite awhile. Time to go do some dishes!

Ever forgotten

Have you ever forgotten what is like to not have any assigned homework? I have. I am hoping that these two marketing assignments go quickly, so that I have more time to remember. Please pray for me.

Love

For several years, I have been thinking a lot about what it means to love. We are commanded to love God and love our neighbor; yet who really knows what this means? There are so many explanations…books are written, talks are given, it is the subject of meditation for so many people. It is an intrinsic part of our nature, and we cannot rest until we have learned to do it to the best of our ability.

So many people throw around the phrase “I love you” and use “Love” as a pet name. I am not saying that this is intrinsically wrong, but it annoys me. Is it just a word, to which we can put any meaning we choose? Or are there that many different meanings that we can use it is such a variety of ways? “Love” has become a cool slogan rather than a meaningful word to communicate an essence. Then they say “God is Love.” Why do we use the same word to describe both the Creator of the Universe and our relationship with what we ate for lunch? Yes, there are different levels of love. But are some using the word in more of a “false” sense? We speak about true love in many conversations. Yet there is such a misunderstanding of what this is, as well! St. Paul tells us:

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful;
it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

If you ask me, that is true love. That is the kind of love that God is…the Holy Spirit is sometimes called the “Spirit of Love.” The love between the Father and the Son is so strong that It is a separate Person within the Trinity.

One of my favorite quotes of all time is by Archbishop Fulton Sheen: “All the love in the world is just a spark of the great flame of love that is God.” Each kind of love (familial, friendship, acquaintance, ones enemies, charity, etc.) is just a small reflection of God.

So–doesn’t this mean, that when we say “I love you,” we are communicating that we are seeking the perfection of God for that person?