It's Official!
Mood:  celebratory
Well, I officially made it through the ceremony to become a candidate. I'm really excited for what the future has in store for me with this community. They seem to genuinely want me there, and I really do feel like I really belong there too! I declined to give some sort of speech a couple of times because I was nervous. Perhaps I'll learn how to do that when the next time comes around.

The Sisters that I live with surprized me. One of them thought she wasn't going to be able to make it, but she came back early from where she'd been. I am glad that she was able to join us. Also the formation teams from all over the USA were there and get to see the ceremony. I was very happy to see some of those Sisters there as well.

I forgot to take the thing that I wanted to give the vocation director with me today, but I'll give it to her the next time I see her. I wanted her to have something special for walking with me for as long as she has.

Pray for me. Peace and God bless!

Tomorrow!
Mood:  on fire
Tomorrow, tomorrow...I love ya, tomorrow...You're only a day away...

My ceremony is tomorrow, less than 24 hours away. I'm really peaceful and happy right now. And I feel so thankful for all of the encouragement and such that I've been shown over the past few years. The vocation director has been very helpful and I'm sure will continue to be so. I don't think I'll work with another director until I'm a postulant, I think. I'm not positive though.

I think I want to take her one of the drawings of Our Lady that I did awhile back for a gift of thanksgiving. I don't know. I'm still thinking on that. But I wish she knew how thankful I really am for her guidance. I'll hopefully be able to tell her tomorrow or sometime soon.

Another step! I didn't feel like I'd ever get there, but here I am! I feel soooo blessed! Thankyou everyone for all of your prayers. I wouldn't be here without them.

Right now I'm staying at my parents' house because my mom is out of town and I need to help my dad. He's in a wheelchair because he has Multiple Sclerosis...he's had it since before I was born, but he didn't start to need a cane/walker/ or wheelchair until I was in college. Please pray for him.

Almost There!
Mood:  special
Well, only a few more days until the prayer service when I'll be accepted as a candidate. I'l super excited. I was a little nervous, but that seems to be melting away. I'm sooo glad.

Anyways, I'm driving to my parents' house after work today to be with my dad. My mom is out of town and my dad needs a little help. I've got what I'm wearing on Sunday packed up and it's in my car. I'm just soooooooo excited!

I hope to be able to take a trip to Philadelphia to visit a friend of mine who is a Dominican Sister. She belongs to the community of St Catherine De'Ricci that is merging with some of the other Dominican communities down there. She's on their leadership team so I have to wait for her to get back with me before I buy a plane ticket.

My ceremony (if you could call it that) will be on Sunday. It's not a province wide event, so that means that there will be less people there. That's probably a good thing!

Anyways... I'll close for now, almost time to get to work!

Peace!

Update
Mood:  happy
Well, as of this coming Sunday (the 27th), I'll be a candidate with the Sisters of Notre Dame. Please pray for me as I'm very excited, nervous, anxious, scared, and very very happy all at the same time.

I'm tired...got a headache. So, I think I'm going to go to bed. I'll post more later.

Duck Sitting and Odds and Ends
Mood:  a-ok
Well, I did go play Dominoes after all last night. Not very many Sisters were there, though...but enough to play a game. I won!!!

Anyways... I'm currently duck-sitting for Sr MN while she's in Lexington for today. The ducks are soo cute. I get to feed them and take them out of the box to play for a little while. I did that this morning for a little while and will go again this evening after mass. They are getting soo big.

I went to mass this morning to St Augustine's and saw the other vocation director there. That church is really nice. There are lots of different paintings in that church to look at. There are also alot of statues. I really liked the painting that they had of Mary and Joseph's wedding (though, I'm sure it wasn't called a wedding back then). Both are kneeling for a blessing and holding hands. Mary is dressed all in white.

There were lots of paintings and statues of Mary there. I especially like the Pieta...the Sorrowful Mother. She's my favorite. I also liked the painting of Jesus and the children.

Well, I'm still waiting to see when the Sisters that I live with are going to discuss their evaluations of me with me. Then we can proceed. I'm a mix of scared and excited, happy and nervous...all in one. I've decided that I'm going to try not to worry about it because this is all in God's hands.

To Play or Not to Play
Mood:  not sure
Ok, so I think that my allergies are acting up. My throat is getting sore and I think it's because of the fact that my sinuses drain while I sleep.

Anyways, that was probably a little too much information... I am trying to decide if I want to go to another Dominoe tournament game with the Sisters. First none of the other Sisters that I live with were going to go, and I don't like going to things like that on my own...I mean I'd go if I really wanted to go, but I don't know if I really want to go. But one of the Sisters that I live with comes up to me while I'm eating breakfast and tells me that she'll go with me. So...I might consider going. It just depends on how I feel. I might need a nap when I get home.

My boss graduated last night. I'm sooo excited for her. Her party's going to be on Sunday the 20th. I'm definitely going to that...even if I end up going by myself. I feel comfortable enough around that household to go by myself if none of the other Sisters that I live with want to go. But I don't think that's going to be the case. I know that at least two of them are considering going.

Anyways...gotta get to work.

Peace out!

Celebration!
Mood:  bright
Well, today my workplace is celebrating my boss's graduation from college. There's a table full of food here and it all looks sooo good.

Tomorrow is my day to cook and we're going to have my friend Renee over. She also just graduated from college (Magna Cum Laude) if that's how you spell it. I'm sooo excited for her! I am thinking of making quesadillas and also doing something with the pork in the freezer.

The vocation director e-mailed me and said that there's nothing to worry about and that the evaluations that the Sisters turned in were favorable...that's good. You know me, though. I'm not worried...just excited and scared...all mixed up together. I'm sooo happy yet I'm so nervous.

This Sunday my boss is having her own graduation party. I'm going to go and hope that at least one of the Sisters that I live with will also go.

A Time for Everything
Mood:  a-ok
I've got only a few mintues before I have to get into my workplace (the actual room, I'm writing from the staff room), so I can't write too much.

Yesterday Sr MN and I took the ducklings that she'd hatched to the nature trails behind one of the cemetaries down here. The ducklings got to play in the creek while we watched them swim. There were lots of people on the trail that day..lots of kids who loved seeing the ducklings. It was fun. I didn't take my hiking shoes, but oh well.

I also got to help out with the sign at the school (Prince of Peace) next door, where the Sisters that I live with work. They're now registering for next year. I also helped Sr MSuz with a powerpoint presentation that she's going to give at the provincial gathering next month for prayer.

Well, I've gotta go now. Will write more some other time.

Still haven't heard from the vocation director or the provincial.

Peace!

Just Thinking
Mood:  not sure
Well, it's about 10:39 pm and I'm still awake. I'm waiting for one of the Sisters that I live with to come home from working over at the school. Usually she's not this late, but I think she had a lot to do.

Anyways, I've got alot to think about. As the date that the vocation director mentioned is quickly coming for a possible welcoming ceremony, I'm a little nervous. I really haven't heard anything about it yet. I think it may fall through. But anyways, dates don't really matter to me. I'm happy at this time and in this place where I am at the moment...the present moment. I am not living in the past nor in the future. I'm just living in the NOW. I'm really excited about the possibility of becoming a candidate in this community. They really are an awesome group of women.

The Sister I was waiting for just came in and went up to her bedroom. It's probably been a loooooong day for her. Me? I ate too much chocolate and should be in bed at the moment but I'm not sleepy yet. EEK! I need to get up for morning prayer at 6:30 though. I'll be getting to sleep sometime soon, hopefully.

One of the Sisters that I live with hatched duck eggs and has three little ducklings that think she's their momma. It's really cute to see them react to her voice. I wonder if they are named yet. This particular Sister has been hatching ducklings for 25 or so years and has written a book on it as well. That's pretty cool information. I'd never guessed it. Guess I learn something new every day.

Tomorrow is my day to cook. I'm thinking about going to the store and buying a rotissere (spelling?) chicken. I'm not the greatest cook because I never learned. Oh well. The Sisters are nice enough to eat what I cook.

Well, gotta go.

Peace out!

Hello World!
Mood:  lyrical
Well, this is not really official yet (it hasn't been run by the council yet)...but, the vocation director told me that I could become a candidate and have a welcoming ceremony as early as the 13th of May. That's a feast of Saint Julie Billiart's. I love Saint Julie. It would be awesome if I could have my welcoming ceremony then, but it's also Mothers' Day and I'm sure that at least one of the Sisters that I live with cannot attend if it happens that day.

This is just an idea that the vocation director had. I don't know if it will be executed the way she explained or not, but I'm really excited!!!