This week I barely worked at all, and yet my body feels like I have worked more than I normally do. I am exhausted, I have had a four day headache and my back is killing me. This week has been insane.
It started with Friday. Friday night we had my birthday party at my house, which, by the way, was wonderful. I had so much fun with friends, dancing and singing and no drama! Then Saturday I went shopping with Carle (Ari's best friend) but, as we all know, shopping stresses me out. Partly because I know I have no money to go shopping but there are things that I definitely need to buy. So where does that leave me? Then Saturday night Ari and I went to his old high school to watch his sister play in the pit orchestra for The Wizard of Oz. It was actually pretty good.
Sunday morning Ari and I woke up early and drove down to the Quad Cities (which is about 2 1/2 hours away) to watch my sister-in-law graduate. This graduation was ten times better than my brothers... no offense, Christopher, but I was actually comfortable! For the last 40 years they have had graduation in the gym at the college, this year they moved it to a very comfortable Auditorium/concert center in the town. THANK YOU AUGUSTANA.
Monday I worked all day and then went to a college group BBQ. And then comes Tuesday.... Oh Tuesday...
Tuesday I woke up early to drive Ari to work, since he doesn't have a car. Then I came home and talked to Matthew (one of my housemates). He hurt his back the night before at work and needed to go to urgent care. So I drove out to urgent care, dropped him off, then drove out to my friend, Hillary's, house. Then Matthew called me so I went to pick him up and drop him off at home and then drove the extra 30 minutes back to Hillary's. She left for South Africa for the summer on Tuesday... I am really going to miss her. After Hill left, I drove forty minutes north of her house to meet a good friend of mine for lunch. She was making the drive from Michigan to Minnesota and wanted to stop in Chicago to see me. After lunch I drove to my parents house, picked up my dad and drove him to the airport. By the time I got home from the airport it was almost 7:00pm, time to pick up Ari from work. I picked him and his friend, Sam, up and we drove out to Lisle where he is looking at renting a condo. Then I dropped Sam off at his house and went back to mine and ate dinner at 10pm and crashed for the night.
My back is killing me from being in the car so much the last couple days and my bank account is quickly diminishing with all the money I have spent on gas.
The thing is, through all of this I have become really cranky because I have completely neglected my alone time with God. And we all know who I become when I don't get that.
So that's been my life in a nutshell. Oh yeah, and today I need to be completely moved out of my room... have I mentioned my room is a disaster zone? I better get started on that. ugh.
5.25.2006
5.18.2006
Ode to Erica
I have a story that I feel like I need to share with everyone.
Seven years ago, my cousins and I were sitting around in Aunt Cheri's kitchen talking about our weird bodies. My cousin Erica (who is 5 years older than me) laughed about how she has a "double elbow." Her left elbow had this large bump you could see if she turned her arm a certain way. We all laughed and called her a freak and went on our ways.
Fast forward a couple months. I was sitting at my parent's kitchen table and my mom told me that Erica has a lump in her arm that is growing and she is going to get it checked out. My self-preservation mode kicked in. "No big deal" I said, "that kind of this is pretty normal!"
Fast forward about three weeks. I was in eighth grade. My brother was having a party/BBQ with all of his cool high school friends. It was warm outside and we were out on the deck (it was almost summer). The phone rings and my mom goes inside and stays there. My dad tells Christopher and me to come inside for a little bit and, of course, I think nothing of it. My mom tells Christopher and me to sit down because she has "something to tell us." Now I'm starting to worry. "Erica has cancer" she says.
I remember that moment so vividly. I even remember the smell -- I could smell the lilacs picked from our lilac bush that were sitting on the kitchen table. I could hear everyone talking outside, laughing and having a great time. I wanted to scream. My cousin had cancer and the rest of the world was going on enjoying themselves. I recited the line in my head again, "Erica has cancer" and then I heard two people laughing. To this day I still remember who those two people are that laughed because for a brief moment, I hated them more than anything in the world.
At the time, Erica was a student at Notre Dame-the school she has always wanted to go to. She didn't get to go back the next year. She stayed home and went through intense chemotherapy. I wasn't around very much that year. I was too scared to be near her, but I remember the battle. I remember when she lost her hair and her brother's shaved their heads. I remember when she was admitted into the hospital time after time because her immune system was so weak even a common cold could kill her. But more than anything else, I remember her being so strong. I remember seeing her laugh and hearing stories of jokes they told in the hospital room.
Erica was a fighter and she won. Five years ago we went to Pompei (a great resturant downtown) and reserved our own room to throw a party for her. She was cancer free and done with treatments.
She went back to Notre Dame and finished school. After school she spent a year downtown volunteering at Mercy Home, this place for delinquint/troubled (or whatever you want to call them) boys. After that she went to law school at Northwestern. She's always wanted to be a lawyer and Erica always does what she wants to do. She spent a semester studying in Australia and she spent some time in Africa studying African law.
Erica graduated on Sunday. I went to her graduation and then the big party at pompei. I am really proud of my cousin. I admire her more than anyone else I know. She has been an inspiration to me to live my life to the fullest and the way that I want to do it. She also has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know. Not to mention, she is really fun and knows how to have a good time! :)
So Erica, congratulations. I am proud of you and I love you.
Seven years ago, my cousins and I were sitting around in Aunt Cheri's kitchen talking about our weird bodies. My cousin Erica (who is 5 years older than me) laughed about how she has a "double elbow." Her left elbow had this large bump you could see if she turned her arm a certain way. We all laughed and called her a freak and went on our ways.
Fast forward a couple months. I was sitting at my parent's kitchen table and my mom told me that Erica has a lump in her arm that is growing and she is going to get it checked out. My self-preservation mode kicked in. "No big deal" I said, "that kind of this is pretty normal!"
Fast forward about three weeks. I was in eighth grade. My brother was having a party/BBQ with all of his cool high school friends. It was warm outside and we were out on the deck (it was almost summer). The phone rings and my mom goes inside and stays there. My dad tells Christopher and me to come inside for a little bit and, of course, I think nothing of it. My mom tells Christopher and me to sit down because she has "something to tell us." Now I'm starting to worry. "Erica has cancer" she says.
I remember that moment so vividly. I even remember the smell -- I could smell the lilacs picked from our lilac bush that were sitting on the kitchen table. I could hear everyone talking outside, laughing and having a great time. I wanted to scream. My cousin had cancer and the rest of the world was going on enjoying themselves. I recited the line in my head again, "Erica has cancer" and then I heard two people laughing. To this day I still remember who those two people are that laughed because for a brief moment, I hated them more than anything in the world.
At the time, Erica was a student at Notre Dame-the school she has always wanted to go to. She didn't get to go back the next year. She stayed home and went through intense chemotherapy. I wasn't around very much that year. I was too scared to be near her, but I remember the battle. I remember when she lost her hair and her brother's shaved their heads. I remember when she was admitted into the hospital time after time because her immune system was so weak even a common cold could kill her. But more than anything else, I remember her being so strong. I remember seeing her laugh and hearing stories of jokes they told in the hospital room.
Erica was a fighter and she won. Five years ago we went to Pompei (a great resturant downtown) and reserved our own room to throw a party for her. She was cancer free and done with treatments.
She went back to Notre Dame and finished school. After school she spent a year downtown volunteering at Mercy Home, this place for delinquint/troubled (or whatever you want to call them) boys. After that she went to law school at Northwestern. She's always wanted to be a lawyer and Erica always does what she wants to do. She spent a semester studying in Australia and she spent some time in Africa studying African law.
Erica graduated on Sunday. I went to her graduation and then the big party at pompei. I am really proud of my cousin. I admire her more than anyone else I know. She has been an inspiration to me to live my life to the fullest and the way that I want to do it. She also has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know. Not to mention, she is really fun and knows how to have a good time! :)
So Erica, congratulations. I am proud of you and I love you.
5.16.2006
settling down
This week/weekend has been absolutely crazy. I have been going non-stop for the last 6 days. I'm not quite sure what to do with myself now that I have a little bit of free time. So I guess I will just write about the last couple days.
Celeste's great grandma (Gigi) died on Tuesday. We just celebrated her 90th birthday in April. We all knew it was coming but it was still really sad for everyone.
Thursday I babysat until 9pm and then went over to Ari's house. His mom's sisters and brother and mom all came in town from Minnesota. It was really good to meet everyone and hear stories and so on. Ari's uncle fixed up his dad's boat and gave it to Ari's mom for her birthday--which bring us to Friday: Ari's mom's birthday.
We went to Pal Joey's (a pizza place) and there were a lot of people there. It was fun, I really like Ari's and Celeste's families. They are great people and know how to have a good time. Plus, I really love Ari's mom so I am glad I got to be there to celebrate her birthday with her.
Saturday was Gigi's funeral. I always chuckle at the people who say things like "she looks good" when the dead person who "looks good" is lying in a casket. I heard a couple of those comments on Saturday, but then I also heard stories about Gigi's life and how this amazing woman touched others' lives. I've been blessed to know her even in this short time--because I know that Celeste and her mom and her grandma (whom I all enjoy immensely) would not be who they are if it weren't for Gigi. The funeral, although sad, was also a celebration of the wonderful life she lived and a celebration that now she is with Jesus, in whom she trusted.
Saturday night I went to this great Japanese resturant with Ari's family. It was really fun. They cook the food on a grill that is connected to your table. It's actually really cool. And we came back home and played great games like apples to apples and wild and crazy 8s. I love games.
I'm saving Sunday for a post on it's own...
and yesterday (Monday) was my birthday! I am finally 21. It is now legal for me to drink. It's funny everyone assumes now that I'm 21 i'm going to be drinking all the time... definitely not true. All in all it was a great birthday though. I got some phone calls from some pretty wonderful people. I spent an hour and a half talking to one of my best friends (Ann) who called me all the way from the Middle East. And I got to spend time with people who are really important to me. I ate dinner with my parents and then Celeste, Ari, Hillary, Justin, Anna, (and a couple other people), and I went to a great Irish pub. Fun times were had by all!
And now it is Tuesday. I finally get to relax. I think my weeks are settling down now. I hope.
Celeste's great grandma (Gigi) died on Tuesday. We just celebrated her 90th birthday in April. We all knew it was coming but it was still really sad for everyone.
Thursday I babysat until 9pm and then went over to Ari's house. His mom's sisters and brother and mom all came in town from Minnesota. It was really good to meet everyone and hear stories and so on. Ari's uncle fixed up his dad's boat and gave it to Ari's mom for her birthday--which bring us to Friday: Ari's mom's birthday.
We went to Pal Joey's (a pizza place) and there were a lot of people there. It was fun, I really like Ari's and Celeste's families. They are great people and know how to have a good time. Plus, I really love Ari's mom so I am glad I got to be there to celebrate her birthday with her.
Saturday was Gigi's funeral. I always chuckle at the people who say things like "she looks good" when the dead person who "looks good" is lying in a casket. I heard a couple of those comments on Saturday, but then I also heard stories about Gigi's life and how this amazing woman touched others' lives. I've been blessed to know her even in this short time--because I know that Celeste and her mom and her grandma (whom I all enjoy immensely) would not be who they are if it weren't for Gigi. The funeral, although sad, was also a celebration of the wonderful life she lived and a celebration that now she is with Jesus, in whom she trusted.
Saturday night I went to this great Japanese resturant with Ari's family. It was really fun. They cook the food on a grill that is connected to your table. It's actually really cool. And we came back home and played great games like apples to apples and wild and crazy 8s. I love games.
I'm saving Sunday for a post on it's own...
and yesterday (Monday) was my birthday! I am finally 21. It is now legal for me to drink. It's funny everyone assumes now that I'm 21 i'm going to be drinking all the time... definitely not true. All in all it was a great birthday though. I got some phone calls from some pretty wonderful people. I spent an hour and a half talking to one of my best friends (Ann) who called me all the way from the Middle East. And I got to spend time with people who are really important to me. I ate dinner with my parents and then Celeste, Ari, Hillary, Justin, Anna, (and a couple other people), and I went to a great Irish pub. Fun times were had by all!
And now it is Tuesday. I finally get to relax. I think my weeks are settling down now. I hope.
5.08.2006
5.06.2006
my funk
I haven't really posted much in a while because I don't really know what to post about. I have been in this sort of funk for a while now and I'm not really sure how to get out of it.
My life isn't bad by any means. I have parents that love and support me. I have a boyfriend that would do anything for me. I have friends that are encouraging and fun. And most importantly, I have a Savior that has given His life for me.
Its not that I am blind to the continuous support around me or the great friendships I have. I value them greatly and realize how lucky I am. So why is it so hard for me to get out of this funk? Someone whose opinion I truly value told me the other day that I have become unreliable and flakey. That is not the kind of person I want to be.
I want to be someone with passions so deep everyone sees them. Someone who knows who they are and who they want to become. Someone who lights up a room just by being in it. Someone who loves others without question. Someone that people will know that I have something special (ie. Jesus) from just one interaction. I don't want to preach the gospel through words, but through action... and I don't think I have done that lately.
Maybe my problem is that I know who I want to be, but I have no idea who I am right now. I know that I am a daughter of Christ but that is about all I know.
So where do I go from here?
My life isn't bad by any means. I have parents that love and support me. I have a boyfriend that would do anything for me. I have friends that are encouraging and fun. And most importantly, I have a Savior that has given His life for me.
Its not that I am blind to the continuous support around me or the great friendships I have. I value them greatly and realize how lucky I am. So why is it so hard for me to get out of this funk? Someone whose opinion I truly value told me the other day that I have become unreliable and flakey. That is not the kind of person I want to be.
I want to be someone with passions so deep everyone sees them. Someone who knows who they are and who they want to become. Someone who lights up a room just by being in it. Someone who loves others without question. Someone that people will know that I have something special (ie. Jesus) from just one interaction. I don't want to preach the gospel through words, but through action... and I don't think I have done that lately.
Maybe my problem is that I know who I want to be, but I have no idea who I am right now. I know that I am a daughter of Christ but that is about all I know.
So where do I go from here?
5.04.2006
i promise ill post somthing with substance soon.... until then...
| Yeah I'm a loser... | |
| =======About You======= | |
| name:: | mon |
| hair color:: | black |
| height:: | 5'6 |
| weight:: | lets not go there |
| eye color:: | hazelish brownish thing |
| your style:: | it's called the monaca style |
| pant size:: | not going there |
| shirt size:: | medium or large |
| do people spell/say your name wrong?: | all the time |
| are your parents still married?: | yep |
| how many siblings?: | 2 older brothers and 2 sister-in-laws |
| +++++Have You Ever+++++ | |
| Sat on Your RoofTop?: | yes |
| Kissed in the Rain?: | yes |
| Laughed So Hard You Cried?: | yes |
| Gone out of your way to befriend someone?: | yes |
| Been in Love?: | yes |
| Performed on Stage?: | yes |
| Nearly died?: | yes |
| Lied?: | yes |
| Bitched someone out?: | yes |
| ?????Random?????? | |
| Do you belive you should be in love to have sex?: | i believe you should be married |
| How do you feel about God?: | we're buddies |
| How many true friends do you have?: | i dont count my friends |
| Who is your best friend?: | kelly wagers and ann milauskas |
| Who knows the most about you?: | ari |
| Who is your ditziest friend?: | not going there |
| Who is your funniest friend?: | troy |
| Which friend do you fight with the most?: | i dont really fight with my friends |
| #-------The Last Person To----------# | |
| Laugh at You:: | ari |
| Text You:: | hillary |
| Touch You:: | ari |
| Write you a note:: | ari |
| What was the note about?: | it was a long time ago... i think he was apologizing for something dumb he did. |
| Sing to You:: | ari |
| Hold You:: | ari |
| Cry WITH You:: | celeste |
| Take Your Photo:: | not sure |
| Call your Cell:: | Ari's mom, actually... |
| Drink With You:: | celeste and ari |
| """"""""""Right Now"""""""""""": | |
| What are you wearing?: | boxers and a tank top |
| What's in Your Bag?: | everything - my bag is very much like marry poppins' bag |
| What are you saving up for?: | to move to spain |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
