Pre First Assignment!

    I’ve decided to write this blog to bring along family and friends on my adventures. This is my first time blogging outside of class so it may be a total bust. I’ll give it my best shot but I won’t promise you perfection. Mondays will hopefully be my publishing day but life can get in the way. If it does, I will post changes on Facebook.

 

    Monday Taco Nights are the highlight of my week, where I can catch up with some of my family. If I can’t facetime in, this give me a way to share all my stories with not only them but anyone else bored enough to read about my life. I promise not to go through a play by play because sometimes the hum drum of everyday life or even my shifts can be quite boring. I will try to do only the highlights but like my mom’s side of the family, I love chatting people’s ears off. I don’t fully know how I want to organize so please bear with me for a little bit. Here goes nothing!

 

    Wednesday: I left Omaha and a rainy 42 degree day behind. Thankfully throughout my 10.5 hour drive the temperature doubled and the sun came out. After way too many hours alone I finally made it to Memphis and to Lizzie! Old friends are exactly what you need after driving for hours alone. She is one of those friends that I may not talk to for months and then see her and after a quick catch up, our friendship goes on like no time has passed. Obviously this stop in Memphis was intentional because might as well make it a fun road trip and see familiar faces along the way. COVID put a little damper on our adventures because of closures but we made do.

 

    Thursday: She worked the afternoon so we lounged around in the morning and went out for lunch. Normally I would hate to sit around but I needed the R&R.  I did end up going to a Crystal grotto in one of their cemeteries. Twelve beautiful depictions of times in Jesus life were surrounded by thousands of crystals. I sat in awe with the fact that someone took the time and effort to find all these crystals and to create this grotto. It was a beautiful testament to Jesus’s life here on earth. I apologize for the quality of pictures, they will never do it justice.

 

    Friday: I decided to go on a hike. I didn’t think 5.5 miles would be bad at all. Well 5.5 turned into 6.6 but never mind that extra distance, it built character. I’m currently reading a book called “Love Does” by Bob Goff. There was one chapter that talked about how God tries to have us fall in love with Him day after day. The tickle of the wind on your face or something beautiful that catches your eye, is Him trying to woo you. He loves you more than you know, He just wants you to accept that love and love him in return. The other day I was thinking about how I wanted to find a man that would see wild flowers on the side of the road, pick them and bring them home just because he thought of me. While I was on this hike at Shelby Farms in Memphis, the woods opened up to a field full of wild flowers (again pictures are nothing compared to the real thing). At that moment God made me fall more in love with Him. He gave me fields of flowers when I only asked for a few. We only ask for a little of His love but He wants us to accept all of it. It’s amazing what He will give us, if we only ask.  I love what I call my God moments. These are periods of the day where God hits me over the head with a 2x4 and tells me something. Be prepared, I love my God Moments, so they will be frequent in my writing. Back to my day. After I saw the flowers the extra mileage did not seem so bad. I had extra time to just be with creation. That night Lizzie, Chow (her boyfriend and a good friend), got to walk around downtown by the river. We didn’t go to Beale street because of COVID but we drove by it. That counts right?

 

    Saturday: This morning I watched a video by Fr. Mike Schmitz about the Eucharist and loved it. Whether you are Catholic or not, he did a great explanation of the Eucharist that I had never thought of before. It was called “An hour that will change your life”, or something of the sorts. As a Catholic it still was an hour that changed my life. Whether you are Catholic, Christian or anything else, I recommend it. It talks about how God shows us His love and desire to be intimate with each and every one of us. I also did a solo exploration of the riverfront. Those who know me well, know that the water calls me. Obviously, I had to get as close to the Mississippi River as I could while not getting in. Usually I’m the first person in a body of water but not knowing that river, I was okay to just sit by it for a while. While sitting there I was blessed with an escape from the modern world (except for the few pictures I took) and was able to be grateful to have that moment of silence with God.

 

    Sunday: Lizzie and I planned to go to 1030 mass at Blessed Sacrament but when we got there we realized that mass was no longer and we had to go to St. Theresa, the Little Flower. During this mass the black parish cat, Benedict, got loose in the Church. He was a short but comical addition to mass. There were a few adults trying to catch him during the homily but he evaded them. Some young kid ended up being the person to let him out. It just made me think how Jesus called the little children to Him at the Sermon on the Mount and then used this boy to let do what the adults couldn’t do. I know that God has a sense of humor and I definitely got to see it at mass. My friend also doesn’t attend mass that often so when God got her in the church, He made mass a little longer by making the mass sung. Side note: back home we don’t normally have sung masses, but apparently its becoming a growing trend in the south, or at least in Memphis. After mass we decided to celebrate Lizzie’s birthday because it is on Monday and I will be leaving for New Orleans in the morning. Chow or Johnathan (his given/professional name), Lizzie, Stella (her dog), and I went on a picnic in Overland Park. It was hot but it was perfect. Simple moments in life like these, make me appreciate and recognize all God blesses me with on a daily basis. To end a perfect day, we toasted to the end of 24, and the beginning of 25 for Lizzie, with “Saved by the Bell” and champagne!

 

    Monday: Today is the day I officially move to my home for the next 8ish weeks! Obviously my  body hated me and woke up before my alarm so I got on the road earlier than expected. Driving 5.5 hours was nothing compared to the previous journey so I got to NOLA in a jiffy. I was terrified when I rang that bell for the main residence I was staying at (I’m in the pool house). I don’t know why I was scared because the landlord was like any other southern woman I ran into. She was kind and caring and very accommodating. I cannot sing her praises enough for how she made my little pool house feel like a home. Her two daughters did warn me about their brother, who was excited to see the new young nurse to move in. I about died laughing. Yes, the place is lacking a full functioning kitchen, but it has what I need and obviously a pool. I don’t need much more than a bed and water to make me happy so I think I’ll do just fine here. I topped off my morning with lunch with Charles, another Spring Hill friend. Hopefully while I am down here, I will be able to catch up with old friends and make a few new ones!

 

    So I think I’m done for now. Sorry if I bored you, but I did try to give you the highlights! Maybe next week’s layout will be a little different. I don’t know, but you’ll learn along side of me. Oh wait, I forgot a HUGE thing for today (Monday). New Orleans is welcoming me with a hurricane! I promise, my host knows what she’s doing, so I’ll be safe and secure. Until next week! I love you!