Alleluia!

Springtime has finally arrived!!

I do not think it is possible for me to adequately describe how happy I am right now and how much I love this time of the year. So much is happening for me right now and it is resulting in the culmination of years of hard work finally paying off in ways that still seem to good to be true. God has always blessed me and I have always been a happy person, but right now I just have so much to be thankful for and so much to be happy about!! Ok...so you get it...I'm happy. :)
A few of the myriad of amazing things in my life right now include the fact that I received admission into the University of Washington's School of Nursing - the #1 School of Nursing in the nation. Out of 475 applicants this year, only 96 were admitted. You are reading the blog of one of those 96. :) My aunt gave me a nursing school regulation stethoscope at Easter along with a really beautiful card and those little things are what make this seem so real and exciting!! I just cannot believe after literally almost 6 years of hard work, careful planning, dedication, tough decisions and often times the neglect of more age-appropriate pasttimes, I finally am able to follow my dream. I realize the hard work has only just begun - nursing schools grueling and I don't forsee having much of a life outside of academia for the next two years, but I am so prepared to work hard at this. :)
The downside of receiving admittance on March 30th is that this quarter is basically BS for me. I'm only taking one class (and one summer quarter) and all I need is a 2.0 to retain my offer of admissions. Obviously I'll try for something higher than that, but I don't need to because my gpa is now irrelevant. Even for grad school - I've been told that graduating from UW SON is prestigious enough by itself that grades aren't really that important. I'll still try to get decent grades, but it's nice knowing that the school on my diploma will speak for itself. :)
On the heels of my nursing school admittance came my first layout in my ultimate-playing history. Technically speaking, a layout is when a player dives headfirst for the disc and it's pretty damn epic. However, the thought of diving headfirst for anything, especially when I know people who have broken bones, sustained concussions, or at the very least received BA turf burns, turned me off for years. However, I kept telling myself I would layout, and that conviction finally paid off at OnionFest 2012 in Walla Walla. I actually laid out twice and in full disclosure did not catch the disc either time, but now that I have overcome the mental block associated with laying out, I am confident that this summer will be a summer for the layout books. :)
In addition to laying out, I am really jelling with my UW team and can feel myself improving, even though the process is very gradual. It's the little things - like reaching out to catch something behind my back just out of instinct, or throwing a disc with exactly the right amount of spin exactly where I wanted it to go, or reading someone's hip positioning and poaching the hell out of their shoddy d. I even threw a hammer yesterday during scrimmage! (Again full disclosure: it was uncatchable. But I had the presence of mind and confidence to at least try it!)

I have always considered myself a confident person, and never really had an issue with self-image or insecurity or caring too much about other people judging me. When I started at UW, I got kind of a reality check because being 1 in 40,000 students leads to a very public sort of isolation. People kind of put on this hard, impersonal exterior and basically pretend like no one else exists. It's really weird, but I felt myself being sucked into that mindsent a little. I think part of it was my crippling insecurity and doubt about nursing school and what I would do with my life if I didn't get in. However, now that I'm in, and that it's Spring and that I am so happy, I just feel my self-confidence bubbling back and I am surprised at how contagious a good mood is! I know I won't be this happy forever, but I am loving life right now and damn well want to make the most of it.


Well, I think this post has gone on quite long enough. As always, I could write for pages more, but I will refrain out of respect for the time of anyone who chances to read this, although, let's be honest, probably no one does. :)

Alleluia! He is risen! He is risen indeed!!

Ave Maria

I recently stumbled upon an Ave Maria arrangement for cell by Caccini. It is simply beautiful and is probably now my all-time favorite arrangement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjwnWWNNeFg

Along with the theme of hymns, O God Beyond All Praising is one of my favorite hymns and although the recording isn't as good as it could be, I love this video of the choir at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome singing it. Their organ is so freaking awesome and it makes me want to visit the Vatican even more. Someday...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWzqVhPLF8o


Well I was going to expand this post a little with updates about my job but I have to go peel garlic.

Happy All Saints Day!

Hello dear peoples!

Well, two of my fingers really hurt right now, so this will be rather brief. :( I know, you're all so sad. I'm glad you are loving my quizes! Honestly, if none of you are double-entering them, there are not a few people who are voting but not commenting. FEEL MY RATH. Comment! I want to hear from you!
Life is good. :) My first tournament of this year was October 26th/27th, my first time in OPEN! Needless to say, it was quite fun. I got 4th speaker in the Senate, and a perfect 20 in one of my IE rounds. Snohomish tourney is 11/16&17!!! I am SO going. :D We have about 4 duos right now, the most in our teams history, and 3 of them are awesome! Henry and Alex performed their duo today, and it was AMAZING! We were in hysterics! At one point Elliot was laughing so hard he was crying-I'd never seen him laugh that hard. :D What a riot. :D :D :D
Okay, I have a chemistry test tomorrow, then I'm going to a Murder Mystery dinner at Erika and Elliot's...it should be REALLY FUN!
Love to you all!

A variety of things...

Hello dear readers!

First of all, Happy Eve of the Feast of St. Lawrence!
Second of all, Happy Eve of the Birthdays of my mother and Raph!
Third of all, I have an awesome new friend named Br. Peter Junipero O.P.
I met him while he was out visiting and we had a really awesome conversation about vocations. So he's my spritual prayer partner. He is so cool!

Next, I have an inspirational passage from the Blithsdale Romance which I am currently reading thanks to the pen of my good friend Nathaniel Hawthorne.

"'Die in a ditch!' muttered gruff Silas, with genuine Yankee intolerance of any intermission of toil, except on Sunday, the fourth of July, the autumnal cattleshow, Thanksgiving, or the annual Fast. 'Die in a ditch! I believe, in my conscience, you would, if there were no steadier means than your own labor to keep you out of it!'"

Yes, it is a wonderful book, which I highly recommend.

Happy Feast...

...of St. Catherine de Ricci! Just last night I was reading about her and thought that I should put a post up about her.

"St. Catherine was born in Florence in 1522. Her baptismal name was Alexandrina, but she took the name of Catherine upon entering religion. From her earliest infancy she manifested a great love of prayer, and in her sixth year, her father placed her in the convent of Monticelli in Florence, where her aunt, Louisa de Ricci, was a nun. After a brief return home, she entered the convent of the Dominican nuns at Prat in Tuscany, in her fourteenth year. While very young, she was chosen Mistress of Novices, then subprioress, and at twenty-five years of age she became perpetual prioress. The reputation of her sanctity drew to her side many illustrious personages, among whom three later sat in the chair of Peter, namely Cerveni, Alexander de Medicis, and Aldo Brandini, and afterward Marcellus II, Clement VIII, and Leo XI respectively. She corresponded with St. Philip Neri and, while still living, she appeared to him in Rome in a miraculous manner. She is famous for the "Ecstacy of the Passion" which she experienced every Thursday from noon until Friday at 4:00 p.m. for twelve years. On Easter Sunday 1542, Our Lord appeared to her, took a ring from His finger and placed it on the forefinger of Catherine's left hand in commemoration of her mystical espousal. She described the ring as being gold and set with a large pointed diamond, but others saw it only as a swelling and reddening of the flesh, which various experiments could neither duplicate nor erase.
After a long illness she passed away in 1589. Her feast day is February 13."

Also, St. Catherine is incorrupt. The Basilica of Prato possesses the remains of this saint who has been designated the patroness of the city. She lies in an ornate reliquary where her darkened, but still beautiful body is exposed for public veneration.

St. Catherine de Ricci, pray for us!