The Tao of Christopher Robin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tRepZdoRmY

(you'll have to copy/paste the link into ur browser... i'm still trying to figure out how to add youtube videos to my blog)

Watching clips like this reminds me how inspiring some children's shows are... I didn't realize what they were saying when I was younger ;) I probably just ran around in front of the screen pretending to catch fireflies hehe

This clip holds the theme for the year at Collier. The vice principal picks out a theme and this year, it's based on this quote:

"You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."

You and I should hold onto this as the theme of our lives ;) you are BRAVER than you believe you are, STRONGER thank you seem to be, and SMARTER thank you think you are. Believe in yourself :)

Speaking of Pooh, I've always loved this song... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ao9NUITRoE) It makes me think of Jen... we've known each other since we were so little and I remember watching the Tigger Movie with her. "Just think of your friends, the ones who care. They all will be waiting there, with love (and huge smiles!) to share, and your heart will lead you home." :)

Happy weekend everyone!

St. Mary Euphrasia... pray for us

Tonite, I sit in the quiet of the apartment questioning whether or not I made the right decision to stay home. There was an informational meeting tonite in NY at the Astoria residence (another GSV site) for the School of the Americas protest that happens in November. I'm not big on protesting but after thinking about it, it may be good to try it and just see what it's like. So anyways, I decided the trip would be too much for me today, and I'm just trying to remind myself of that and not be so hard on myself for not going. I guess setting boundaries for myself is part of my simplicity for this year. I think I try to do everything and sometimes I get myself into trouble/spread myself thin. Another boundary I should set is how much I let my thoughts consume my thoughts- if that makes any sense ;) Basically, I need not dwell in something but rather let it be.

St. Mary Euphrasia is the foundress of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. She helped troubled children during most of her life... thus, Good Shepherd Volunteers have a specific call to women and children affected by abuse, neglect and poverty. She once said, "You have to adapt to all circumstances. Do the best you can, while remembering that, according to the spirit of our calling, we must be everything to everyone." I love this quote and think it's fitting for my torn feelings about staying home tonight... at least the beginning of the quote- adapting to all circumstances and doing the best you can. The end of the quote- the part about being everything to everyone- is questionable to me, simply because I don't think we can be everything to everyone. Not everyone will be pleased when we try to do something or say something. Maybe she meant that we should do our best to be the best we can for everyone. That is something I'd agree with.

Another one of her quotes is, "Oh, how much love and compassion we must have for those entrusted to our care. Love them, love them very much! Make them happy, very happy." This is sort of my theme or mantra for the year.my life. Love and compassion are two things that can help any situation for anyone. The kids at Collier all need and want to be loved. Sometimes it can be frustrating to work with the kids, especially when they're stubborn or know that they're "working the system". But in the end, they just want love. I interviewed a social worker at the school today... just as an informational interview. She was talking about her experiences and about the population we're working with at the school. A lot of people suggest that if we want to go into counseling or anything with social work, we should just get our MSW because there are a lot more opportunities with an MSW vs a Masters in School Counseling. Buuuut let's be real, I don't know what I'm doing next year so I'll cross that bridge when I get to it... for now, I'll just continue the year and "love them, love them very much!"

St. Mary Euphrasia, pray for us.




"Draw near to our Lord, thoroughly aware of you own nothingness, and you may hope all things from His Goodness and Mercy. Never forget that Jesus Christ is no less generous in the Blessed Sacrament than He was during His mortal life on earth."
-St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier

Back to School

This week was our first week with the students at the school! They had a half day on Wednesday and then the regular full day schedule on Thursday and Friday.

In the mornings, I start in the music classroom with the choir 1st period, instrumental music 2nd and 4th periods, and drama during 3rd period. I'm singing in the choir because there's only 3 other girls in the class. All the girls are preparing solos and then we'll all do a song together. I'm really excited to be singing again! We're singing "Only Hope" from A Walk To Remember, which is definitely not my favorite song, but it just feels good to be singing :) During instrumental music, I help another girl with her piano song. Again, everyone is preparing solos in this class... In the drama class, they're thinking about writing their own musical about stopping bullying and using popular pop songs for the music... the faculty wants them to take it out "on the road" to schools in the area. I think it's such a great idea- I hope it all works out! :) Once things get rolling with that I'm sure I'll be helping a lot with writing scripts, helping students prepare songs, etc.

5th period is lunch and it's pretty much like eating at an Italian deli every day... the chefs at the school studied in Italy and make these awesome homemade meals for the students for lunch! They also have really good salads so I've been having a salad and fresh veggies every day fur lunch... nom nom nom

In the afternoon, I help in the office and in a gym class. 2:45 marks the end of the school day and by that time, I'm exhausted :) I tried getting up every day at 5:30/6ish to work out before school... I'm hoping my routine lasts ;) We have access to the school's fitness room with weights and treadmills so maybe I'll go in there when the weather is too crumby for running.






Last night, a few of us went into a nearby town, Redbank, and went to a couple bars there... it's SUCH a cute town and there are so many cute shops (like the irish shop in the bottom pic above-- ;) thinking of u, ma!). I want to go back and look during the day- not that I can buy much, but it reminds me a lot of old town Foco so I love it already :) One of the places we went was called The Dublin House... we had a little bit to eat on their outdoor patio in front of the restaurant. It was a beautiful night so it was perfect for eating outside... they also have seating and a bar indoors and a back patio bar so we were there for a while. We walked through the town a little and a lot of the restaurants have folding doors/walls in the front of the restaurant that open up in the summer so it feels like the whole restaurant is outside! There are a TON of home decor shops too. Maybe I'll get in touch with a designer here and at least see what the market is like. :)






On labor day we went into NYC for a volunteer picnic with the people from GSV... my friend from CO, Stephanie Pott, was in the city so I also got to see her!! Last summer, we were both doing internships (she was in NY and I was in southern NJ) and we both happened to be in the city one weekend so we met up! It's so crazy that we were both back in the city again!!! Meant to be or meant to be?

Today, my aunt and uncle(my dad's brother) came today to visit me for a little bit and I went to see my mom's sister and mom last weekend. My dad will probably come up this way at some point cuz he's out this way for business trips a lot :) I can't wait to see him!! It's nice to have some familiar faces once in a while :) Missing all my frands and family in CO and WA! xoxoxoxo

Not a fan, Irene, Not. A. Fan

Who survived an earthquake and hurricane in one week? This kid... that's right folks, ur talkin to a well rounded severe weather fightin force right hurrr.... ;) actually it wasn't bad at all and that's a highly over exaggerated statement. The earthquake felt like someone kicking my chair (aka not that big) and the hurricane involved lots of wind and rain.... There were lots of trees down on our property and some flooding in surrounding neighborhoods, but we live on a hill so we were clear of floods. The worst part was losing power and hot water for a few days but we kinda got used to it. One of the tenants of Good Shepherd Volunteers is simplicity... so it was kinda simplicity on steroids- no showers, putting together all kinds of strange meals with the food we had, candle light at night, no drying/straightening hair, no laundry. But really it was only a few days and we survived! :)

This week, we've been getting situated in the school and belay certified (maintaining, monitoring, and helping people stay suspended on a rock wall). They have a rock wall and ropes course on the school campus for the youth- I love it and can't wait to do it with the students. They have so many neat classes and opportunities for the students here like the ropes course, film classes, and a cosmetology class. We also went crabbing yesterday with Ray, our principal, in the bay off the shore. I probably caught 10 crabs but only 2 were big enough to eat. I feel like I've learned so much this week and it's only the first week! I can't wait for this year! Ray's family has also been so wonderful in welcoming the GSVs... His wife and three daughters are so sweet and I have been enjoying getting to know all of them... his daughters LOVE disney and the performing arts... automatic A+ for those kids in my grade book ;)

I may have mentioned this in a previous post but the religious sisters here are absolutely wonderful. They are so hospitable and I feel so at home. I think that has been a major part in helping me transition- I feel so safe and comfortable with them living right below us. They have made us dinner a couple times and were very helpful during the hurricane-- they gave us food, water, and ice to keep the cold food cold. After the hurricane, we helped them rake the entrance road to the school and scrubbed out their pool... They say we don't need to repay them but of course we like to give back so we were happy to help in those ways.

We were also blessed to have one of the previous GSVs from Collier stay with us for a couple nights because her flight home got canceled with the hurricane... so we had a great time getting to know her and drilling her with questions- poor girl was probably so ready to get out of here so no one asked her any more questions! haha... She said she didn't mind because of course she loved her experience here... can't wait to see what the year holds in store for us!

There's a chapel in the convent and I'm thinking about getting up and praying each morning before work. I think it's so important for me to have that time in prayer (which I haven't had recently) and a great way to start the day. Plus i've been running around the campus here- it's so beatufiul and i'll be very sad when winter comes and I can't run outside anymore. There are a few different routes I can take and it's all through the forests with a family of deer every once in a while- very peaceful here :)

That's all for now- i'll post an album on facebook with pics so you can see some of what i'm talking about :)

Funky Tunky

Oh what's up Wickatunk! here's my volunteer community that I'll be living with for the year:)


It's official! I've arrived at my school in New Jersey :) Things have been pret-ty exciting this week!
Last Sunday, my flight left at "O'dark thirty" (as AC says) and I had a layover in Chicago... my flight into Newark got delayed so I was late to orientation but there wasn't much but mingling and "getting to know you" sunday night. Two family friends from Colorado were at the orientation! Melissa was there Sunday night for dinner and Julie was there the whole week leading the orientation... small world!

This week we basically got to know our community members (when I say community I mean the 4 other volunteers I'm living with in NJ) and talked about the 4 tenants of Good Shepherd Volunteers: Simplicity, Service, Community, and Spirituality. Surprisingly, the one I wrestled with the most was spirituality. I got spiritual direction yesterday and the nun that I talked with told me that I needed to trust in God and myself. I think this means I need to be more confident in who I am. Its so weird... Not everyone in the world is Catholic or studying interior design! haha... but really- I was in a bubble in college and so this year is going to be such a great experience for being uniquely *me*

While we were at orientation, we felt our chairs shaking and got really confused... later to realize that it was the rippling from the earthquake in MD! Now we sit with flashlights and water bottles, preparing for Hurricane Irene... womp womp. My community is going to the library tmrw to get some books in case we get stuck inside/without other options for entertainment. It should be interesting ;) I'll keep you updated as long as I can! hehe...

Just a few last random notes/thoughts:
I love my community! I think we have a lot of differences but I think it's going to be lots of fun and a great learning experience for everyone.

The nuns are awesome and hilarious. Sr. Carol (who's probably in her 80s) apparently loves to text and is a spitfire when it comes to jokes and comebacks. Love her.

We haven't even started orientation to our specific work site and I'm already a little overwhelmed with the amount of info we've received.

The ID nerd inside me rearranged my room right away tonite to be better space planned ;)

This weekend is proving to me that it's too bad I brought my broken umbrella.

aaaand th-th-th-th-that's all folks... I'm POOped! see ya on the flip side of good ol' lean Irene

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehn, Goodbye! .... for now :)

Packing for a year is so overwhelming... there's so much to think about! I'm still not totally sure what my role will be at the school, so I'm trying to be prepared for all situations (P.E. classes, substituting, etc)... It's been an emotional rollercoaster today- :) :/ :D :( :O I think God has great things in store for this year!

This isn't gonna be super long but I just wanted to do another post before I leave. My flight is early tomorrow morning and I'll get there tomorrow afternoon for orientation. Orientation is one week in Staten Island and then we'll move to the school next weekend. I'm not sure how much computer access I'll have this week but I'll try to let you know that I got there or at least post something on FB...

Thank you again to all of you who have sent your love and support... I really can't thank you enough. I am so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing family and friends. Until next time, Colorado, God Bless! East Coast, here I come! :)

When you wish upon a star...

"There are many ways to reach your dream, so don't be discouraged if you can't yet see the way on your own."

"Demand to be free of whatever categorizations or limits others try to put on you."

These are two quotes from Life Without Limits that stuck out to me today. What are my goals? My dreams? What's holding me back or creating a road block? For me, my dream is to have a family, live simply, have a home where I work to live rather than live to work. I've always dreamed of having a big vegetable garden... not only do I love veggies, but home-grown vegetables are so yummy and cheapppp! My road block? Society tells us that we should be $uccessful and work our way up the corporate ladder... a bit different from living simply on my garden ;) I just finished college with a Bachelor of Science- shouldn't I be getting a job? I just spent thousands of dollars on this degree... I am such a believer in the idea that nothing happens without reason. Whether or not I end up in interior design, the people I've met, experiences I've gained, and ideas I've had throughout college have all happened in perfect timing with God's plan and preparation for my future. Another part of my dream is to rebuild my childhood home wherever I live so interior design definitely plays a role in that plan. I haven't given up the idea of health care design, either. I would really love it, actually. But my dream is moreso the life of simplicity as a housewife. As I prepare to volunteer on the east coast, a simple life in a country house seems a little ways out and I'm not sure how that's gonna happen... but as Nick Vujicic said in his book, "There are many ways to reach your dream, so don't be discouraged if you can't yet see the way on your own." God knows the desires of our hearts- He put them on our hearts and will either fufill those dreams or change the desires of our heart- I'm so excited for this year and I know the experiences ahead will greatly prepare me for my future. Never give up and always believe in your ability to achieve :)