"If I wasn't meant to be this way, God wouldn't have made me this way. If I wasn't meant to be on this journey, God wouldn't have put me here."

"I think if you believe in God, put your faith and trust in Him, you can do anything"

"I love myself and I wouldn't change it for the world".

Those three quotes were taken from seperate papers students wrote in my creative writing class with the prompt "Are you accepting of the person you are, or do you wish you could be different? Why or why not?". Their answers touched me...I don't know if I would have written those words at the age of 15. They made me sit back and realize that each of us were made special and unique, as a result of God's infinate friendship. Thanks, students. You amaze me more and more every day.

The past few days have been awesome. Lauren was in town for a concert on Thursday night, so she stopped by, saw my house, and took me out to dinner. It was so great to see her, I miss her!!!! Lauren is such a great friend, and was a wonderful roomate last year. She dealt with all my emotional breakdowns, was there during the ups and downs of senior year. Now she's a senior, and I just hope she finds the support in the same way she supported me.

Yesterday is kind of a blur, actually. I remember it as many cups of coffee, being called a "road dog" (yes, it's a good thing), giving homecoming advice to a sophomore, giving the student workers a pep talk about graduating with Dave, and drama in the gymnasium after school. Let's just say it was almost a re-make of Mean Girls. I was very close to yelling "Oh hell no, I did NOT leave the suburbs for THIS!" and smashing a fire alarm with a baseball bat. Okay, not quite THAT intense, but it was drama. I just wish girls would relax and know that tearing someone else down will not make them feel any better about themselves in the end.

Last night the four of us headed over to Dean's house (quick reminder: Dean is the IT guy at the school. He's a sweetheart, so is his lovely wife. They are around our age and live down the street from us. Awesome people). Hannah and Jason from the Jesuit Volunteer's (quick reminder 2: Jesuit Volunteers are another Catholic Volunteer Organization. Not connected to Mercy Volunteer Corps but we are very close to them. Hannah works at Cristo Rey as well). It's so nice making friends here, we're forming a very strong support system with one another.

This morning Hannah, Dave, and I had to drive out to Troy to go to a required workshop for those working in schools and/or churches. It was interesting...what was more fun was that we were very close to my parents house, so we swung by! I got to see my Seamy-poo, the love of my life. We also picked up my sister on the way, so I got to see her as well! So exciting. My parents gave us fresh tomatoes, a new toaster (ours doesn't fit ANYTHING. It was getting frustrating), and gave me a starbucks card. I love them, and I am so glad that they are supportive of this journey. My mommy wasn't home, but I got to see my daddy. We chatted for a while and then headed back to the D.

Tonight our Jesuit Volunteer buddies are coming over to hang out and watch SNL. Love those kiddo's.

Thanks for being with me. :-)