Franciscaness

Here are videos some of my Franciscan buddies created for class! Enjoy!

Second Sunday of Advent

"Wait for the LORD, take courage;
be stouthearted, wait for the LORD!"
~Ps. 27

Waiting...

December is full of waiting. Waiting for letters, waiting for the semester to be over, waiting for relatives to arrive, waiting for trains and planes to depart, waiting in shopping lines, waiting for snow, waiting for the next adventure...
...waiting for that one day that everyone looks forward to.

I'm not exempt from the waiting game. It usually drives me nuts in the long run when nothing seems to be happening and I know I can't do anything to make it happen faster.
Something's about to happen...I know it is...now..?..no...when will it happen...?!?!

Then God laughs at me and drops the Psalm into my lap.
Waiting does take courage. It can even hurt having to stay in one place for so long a time when you long to be in another. You have to swallow your pride and accept the fact that you can't do or have something. You have to stop yourself from asking at the top of your lungs, "WHEN God??"

But...While I'm waiting, there's so much time to grow. Just because I'm waiting, that doesn't mean that I can't do anything to prepare. Maybe I'm not given this time to "wait" per se, but instead to grow and prepare for what God has planned up the road. Maybe this state of waiting is where He wants me for now.

Trusting God isn't always easy (actually, is it ever?), but He always pulls through. Even if the Israelites waited how many years for their Savior, it all worked out in the end. Hopefully waiting this time around won't take as long, but even if it does, at least there's a reason.

Adventures part 2 (aka, the more interesting part!)

There's one more story that happened over break that's worth mentioning...I'm very sorry for not having more time to write the rest of them out, but I'll leave you with this one at least.

So there was one point on our adventure where we were still getting used to navigating the streets. New York isn't really all the difficult to navigate through since the streets are numbered and in a grid, but getting used to which way was up or down took a bit of thinking (and walking)!

We were walking on 6th avenue and decided to find 5th avenue since we heard it was one of the best streets to go window shopping down. Well. We couldn't figure out whether going left would bring us down the avenues or going right would. In the end, we decided to wing it like the rest of the trip and head right! Off we went, headlong into adventure!

Yes, you guessed it, we ended up on 7th avenue. Actually, we weren't all that surprised (especially since things like this seemed to be the theme of the entire trip). We turned the corner and started walking back the next block.

Much to our surprise, there was a large, glowing Cross on one of the buildings. As we got closer, we found that it was a Catholic church. Whispering a prayer for it to be open, we went up the steps. Lo and behold, we stumbled into the last few minutes of Benediction! I couldn't help it. It took a whole lot for me to keep from bursting out in laughter. Here we were, semi-lost in the city, and we find Jesus - no, He found us! (Plus, just being able to be with Him in the middle of all the hustle bustle of the city made me incredibly happy! Yes, I'm that type of person.) On top of that, we found out that the Extraordinary Form Low Mass was about to begin! Dear God, how You spoil me so! =D We get lost and we find a lovely unexpected surprise! Honestly, I didn't expect to be able to have any quiet time whatsoever on that trip, much less at church for Mass. Apparently, I was quite wrong.

Well...I think I like being wrong once in a while.

Oh the places you go!

Ack, I'm not a very good blogger, gomenasai. There's so much that's been happening!

Thanksgiving break!! There was so much to be thankful, especially on the adventure over break!

It was kind of a "wing it" sort of trip, and we had bought our tickets the day before leaving campus. God has a knack for turning the topsy turvy into something that fits perfectly with everything else. And so our random trip became randomly amazing.

So last Tuesday, my friend and I took the bus to New York. We were supposed to leave at 3:20, but somehow it got delayed and we ended up leaving an hour and a half later. Well, ok. Thanksgiving break crowd, what can you do? There were actually quite a few other homebound college students, so we couldn't really complain. It was a rather nice drive once we got to the leaving bit. That's the thing about road trips after those long, hectic weeks of school: sitting and doing nothing but stare out the window. It was a pleasant change. But then came the twist! Things were going a little too well apparently, and someone decided that something needed to happen. Things always happen. We were supposed to stop at Philly, but the driver didn't have a GPS and got lost. It was hilarious, the people on the bus had to go and give him directions. (Thank goodness for people who know their way around!)

We got to the station at 2:30am, but had to wait for a friend. It wasn't too bad, there was an

interesting contraption at the station that had to do with pool balls and bells. Not to mention being able to watch people pass by. When you're in a big city with people from all over the country (and world), you pretty much get a world tour of cultures. After a couple of hours, our friend arrived and we hopped on the subway. It was exciting; I've never taken the subway

before! Though honestly, it wasn't as "sub" as I thought it would be. Anyway, we ended up arriving at our final destination at 5 in the morning...four hours later than we expected.

Wednesday, we slept in. We hopped on the bus, took the subway, and headed into the city to explore! Our first official stop ended up being at a church. (yup, typical Cy =D we started to keep a count of how many churches we visited) Honestly, we weren't really sure where we were headed after that, just being in the city was fun in itself.

Oh dear, have to run to class in a bit. I'll post more later...

Slowly but surely

Slow and steady wins the race! Well...not that I'm trying to win a race or anything, but....

Slowly but surely I'm getting this little blog up and running. There will be more interesting links and such on the sidebars soon, I promise!
I do however want to introduce some classmates of mine who have have started their very own blogs. I love my Franciscan family. It's so amazing to think that God has brought all these wonderful people here from all over the country. All their stories are so unique.
So do visit them, dear anonymous reader, through the links up on the sidebar. And don't forget to stay for tea!

Say what?

I was sitting in the gazebo last month and these ladybugs kept flying towards me. I guess they must've really liked reading Walt Whitman...which was awkward because he scared me....


Can't help it. I really ought to start keeping a memorable quote journal because people here are just hilarious and inspirational.

"Don't be afraid of Latin! It can't hurt you.........it's DEAD."
This past week we had a Latin substitute teacher who is really passionate about Latin. If you were wrong you immediately knew it, and I mean immediately. So our class sat at our desks a little quieter than usual. (Don't take me wrong, he truly is a fine Latin professor!)

Psychology class on a Wednesday:
"What's wrong with you all? You're more alive on Mondays - you're not even alive on Mondays so that's saying something!"

"'I love your shirt.' 'Thanks! I do too!'"

"Be who you ought to be for God, yourself, and for others."
What can I say? The homilies here are amazing. I'd go to the Chapel everyday just to hear the friars preach! (if they didn't have Mass, that is. Thankfully there is Mass.)


I'll keep updating this post as the week goes on. Or maybe I should start posting quotes regularly! In any case, feel free to comment and add a few memorable quotes of your own! =)

Silentium

Leaves! Yes, I'm the type of person who goes around taking random pictures of leaves. I have a good excuse, however! I'm from Hawaii where the leaves don't change amazing colors and fall. Jumping in a huge pile of leaves is one of the top things on my "to do before I die" list. One day....

Hello anonymous readers! I hope you are all well this lovely Sunday morning. Can you believe Thanksgiving is just around the corner? =D

I've been running around campus lately. =) With Thanksgiving break coming up, there's just so much to do and so little time to do it all! Willy Wonka celebrations, sports events, coffeehouses, Arsenic and Old Lace, poetry recitals, epic talks regarding other religion or Swiss Guards, Pro-Life conferences, Shakespearian plays with a 70's twist, swing dancing...not to mention the minor detail of schoolwork.
Then, to fill in the blanks, society hands me Facebook, Twitter, iTunes, Blogger, Tumblr, and other media to capture a 360 of my life. Oh, life, how busy you are. But why, with all these things to do, do you seem so lifeless sometimes?

In the middle of it all, it's so easy to get caught up and forget to make time for something more.





I decided to do a little follow up of my own. =) Hopefully, if you've ever felt that little "something missing," dear anonymous reader, this could be a start to something found.

Life is crazy...but it's so worth it.

Have you ever had one of those days wherein one thing just happens after another? (Yes you have, don't deny it!) Well, fear not. You aren't the only one! There are days when I trip over the sidewalk trying to get to class in a hurry, only to arrive realize that I'd forgotten one of my books. Or when I fall asleep on my books while studying for a test. Or times when I absentmindedly walk halfway across campus, only to remember that I was supposed to be back on the other side in five minutes. Or when class is about to start and I can't find my pencil anywhere!

It's days like these when I run to Chapel and beg God to help me keep my sanity...but in doing so, I am reminded how very blessed I am to be able to actually be in Chapel. How many people have a Chapel within a couple of minute's walk? How many people are actually able to get an education? Only so many people have such a beautiful campus to walk around absentmindedly in. Goodness, there are probably people who have never even seen a pencil, much less know what it is!
Suddenly, the end of the world doesn't seem all too soon. Within a few seconds, God has turned my bumbling day into a day full of blessings.

And so, this is what this little blog is all about - finding the blessings in the crazy instances of life....
All in the life of your not-so-average Catholic college girl. =)

Without further ado, here's the inspiration for this blog: