Crazy week

Last week was pretty crazy, but super fun.
Morning of the 13th, I Megasbussed (I know, it's not a word) out to Harrisburg to spend a little over 24 hours with Chuckie, Katie and wee Maria.

Maria - "Ew, Dad, cut it out, I'm trying to use my phone."

This is how Maria feels about her uncle John

She gave me lots of smiles before I left! Yes!!!

That was super fun, and then I Megabussed myself back on over to Pittsburgh super early Friday morning. Couple hours later, and I was on my way with John to Madison. The ride was super fun, but the evening was tiring, due to 3.5 hours of sleep the night before, driving all day, having dinner with a bunch of strangers at a loud German place, and then walking around Madison with a pair of (previously) trusted sandals that decided to be annoying and give me blisters.

D'awww!

However, the next two days were pretty fantastic - we didn't try to do a whole lot, and stayed with smaller groups that already had a couple people I already knew in it (I get tired/bored really fast in big groups). I got to meet some more cool people (including a priest that was super funny and nice) and hung out a lot with Emily. I won't lie and say it wasn't awkward at some points, but spending the extra time with her helped me get to know her better, and she is an awesome person and very holy. Without intending to, she showed me how to offer sacrifices better and how there's pretty much always an opportunity to offer something up. Things I knew before, but couldn't really get a solid picture of in my soul before of how I could do it.

I now understand why Sister Maria liked her so much. ;)

Anyways, I've got a LOT of packing to do. I spent a couple hours doing so today, and I'm still not done. 

Ugh. *cue in previous statement of always having an opportunity to offer something up*

Crazy Summer

I think that this is probably the most crazy/memorable summer ever, mostly due to Maria's entrance, but also probably because I have the memory of a goldfish.

Some crazy things that happened this summer;

1. Maria's entrance, as mentioned above.
2. My first real car accident. Apparently the driver who hit me "didn't think (I) was going to turn." (hmmm, yes, that definitely excuses the blatant running through a red light...) I'm almost excited this happened, because unlike most of my older siblings, who have been in near-death situations, I've been pretty low key till now. I can't help but connect the fact that my guardian angel was doing some serious damage control here (like with my siblings) and the fact that now most of them have a pretty good idea of what their vocation is! Is this a pathetic hope? Yep. 

1. I got my hair cut by a real-life hair cutter person for the first time! Okay, so maybe this isn't really crazy, but the experience was pretty terrifying (hair salons are SCARY) Oh, and I got short bangs, which I haven't had since I was ten (maybe?) and I go in between hating and just being annoyed with them...

1. This hasn't happened yet, but I'm going to live, in a different country, with no relatives, for three. whole. months. 
2. I got invited to join the design team of one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE STAMP COMPANIES. I'm still kinda in shock about this, but maybe by the time December rolls around (I couldn't start right away, studying abroad and all) it will hit me. BUT I'M SO EXCITED. Seriously, as pathetic as this may sound to non-crafters, this has been a dream of mine for about five years now. 

There have been a lot of little exciting things too, but that's all I got for tonight.