7QTs on Traveling to 10 Cities in 8 Days

If you were to count airports, I was in 10 different cities these past 8 days. Woof. Please enjoy the following quick takes that chronicle my cross country journey this week.

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City #1: Leawood, Kansas. My whole family was home for a hot second with enough time to go to lunch on Saturday. It was great to be back Friday & Saturday afternoon to spend time with those that were home. I didn't do much, so it was a nice, relaxing way to start this cross country adventure.

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City #2: Kansas City, Missouri. Megan, a friend from Drake, lives in town, so I got to spend a bit of time with her Friday night. Also, she's watching my cat before my allergic roommate moves out, so that was fun.

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City #2: Lincoln, Nebraska. Read about this trip in more detail here. This trip was filled with ALL THE NOSTALGIA. It was great.

City #3: Omaha, Nebraska. AIRPORT.

City #4: Chicago, Illinois. AIRPORT & being reunited with Carol!

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City #5: Nashville, Tennessee. SEEK 2015 is a mere 8.5 months away. Crazy. I am so glad I was finally able to see the space so I could stop picturing the Hyatt in Dallas for this event. The Gaylord Opry is HUGE and has three giant gardens indoors. It's amazing. I could start to picture what it would look like with 8,000 college students bustling through there. Our CSM, Banquet Manager, & Sales Manager were great - it is always nice to have a face to all the emails you're getting.

The best part was spending time in the exhibit hall with EideCom, our production company, and the marketing team brainstorming ways to implement the theme and the feel into the set and the space. I am so excited to keep working on it and to see what happens when it comes together. #whatmovesyou

Something I don't think I'll ever get quite used to as a meeting planner is the VIP status the hotels treat you with. When we check in at the Gaylord, they took us into a room called Celebrity Services. What!? I am not a celebrity. Regardless, it's fun to be treated well every now and then, even though it can get awkward when they discover our whole team is under 30.

City #6: Atlanta, Georgia: AIRPORT.

City #7: Ft. Myers, Florida: AIRPORT.

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City #8: Ave Maria, Florida. We returned to the tiny, tiny town near Naples to prepare for New Staff Training (NST). Not only was the trip fun, it was essential to the success of NST. For the first time we had the Event Managers (the events team), the Collegiate Outreach Representative, Formation, the Committee Heads, and Ave Maria together in one place to talk about NST. We toured, we planned, and we had a lot of meetings. But mainly, we had epic golf cart races from Queen Mary's Pub back to Xavier Hall. Brian, Cait, & I totally beat Christina, JP, & Mark. This team is great, and I think we are going to ROCK NST2014.

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City #9: Indianapolis, Indiana: AIRPORT. When we got off the plane I mentioned to Christine that every single time I've been in this airport the last few years I've run into someone I know. To which she responded, "well, today is the day that will change." Such a naysayer. Approximately 10 minutes later we were waiting for our lunch and Paige, a former camper of mine strolled by. I had her in Teton in 2011 when she was a baby sophomore. Now she's 18 and graduating in 19 days! I'm old.

Paige is Mt. Wister in this picture.

City #10: Denver, Colorado: HOME.

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You know you've been on a site visit when the last 25 pictures on your phone are of different meeting spaces.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

My 23rd Year

I rang in my 23rd birthday in a van full of pretty amazing girls. We were on a nun run, and I spent the night in Nashville with the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia. I joked and told them I had now spent two birthdays in the convent, to which they replied, "any many mooorrreeee!" Hilarious. 

Some of the best live tweeters I've ever met. And some nuns.

On Monday night, my friend Elizabeth asked for my high, low, & God moment of the year. She asks such good questions, and I hadn't really thought about it until that moment. 

Low: Summer Training. NST is a magical place where hundreds of Catholics gather together in the middle of nowhere to grow closer to God and to be trained in evangelization. Training for me was, well, awkward. I felt kind of out of place - I was no longer a campus missionary, but I wasn't quite yet on the events team. And then there's the business of it being summer time and missing camp. But I think the biggest reason that training is so hard is because we missionaries put ourselves in a place of vulnerability where we are trying our hardest to conquer ourselves and grow ever closer to God. So this past summer, I got very attacked with loneliness and a confusion of where my place truly was. The beautiful thing about struggling in a place such as NST is you are surrounded by people who are passionate about others. My fellow missionaries, the priests, and religious that were there made all the difference in my place of struggle. And the thing about our low moments and struggles is that they propel us forward. If everything is perfect and easy all the time, we will never grow. Shout out to Caitlin & Katie for walking with me during this time, to the Marco Island crew for providing much needed community and carefree timelessness & to Carol for being so welcoming & the beginning of our events team friendship.

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee belong, we belong togeeeetherrrr.

High: Closing Campfire the week I subbed at Tecumseh. Of course my high would be from camp. I wrote about this when reflecting on 2013, but this moment was so profound for so many reasons. I last minute decided it would be so fun to have a picture with my campers who are now on CT Staff, so I asked Rachel to spread the word that we should meet behind the benches after cheers. I was not prepared for being stampeded by those 10 girls, being picked up, and all the squeals and hugs of reunions. 

such a happy heart.

It was in that moment of nostalgia, cherished memories of their time as kiddos in my cabin, that I remembered why I loved working at camp. Yes, we have fun, Yes we get to be crazy. Yes, I have made lifelong friends there. But this moment reminded me what camp is all about: loving those kids. 

God Moment: I had two I just could not choose from. First: being prayed over by my Nebraska teammates. I really struggled to understand why God sent me to UNL and how I was making an impact for the kingdom. As the year drew to a close I had no idea if I would go to the DSC or stay on campus. So my team prayed over me for a solid 20 minutes, and then we hurried off to Mass. 

look at these beautiful, holy people. 

Over the summer, I was telling a friend the story and I realized that ever since that moment of being prayed over, I had been blessed with a divine perspective of my time as a missionary at UNL. God had graced me with the ability to see some of the work He was using me for. It was a beautiful moment, and I was so grateful to The Lord for this gift and my team. 

Second: August & September of this year. Oh how the Lord blessed me during those months. I was so full of Jesus and gratitude and joy that I thought I felt like I would just burst. I was reading Interior Freedom by Jaques Phillipee and the fruit of the book was oozing into every aspect of my life. Jesus was so real and present to me and I am being propelled from that consolation even now. 

Thanks to you all for being a part of my 23rd year of life! I can't wait to see where year 24 will bring us.

Putting Together the Pieces

This past weekend, Sister Colleen gave a talk on moments when God has come down and touched our lives. She asked us to reflect on eight key moments in our lives where this has happened and to carry them with us as we took time to figure out who we are now. 

1. Little Miss Christie Auditions 

In the 6th grade, I didn't get cast in the school play. I was pretty bummed. So about two months prior to auditions the next year, I started praying every single day. I would say my route prayers (mainly the rosary) and then ask Jesus to let me make the play. Precious. After I was cast, I keep praying almost every night, for a long time. 

Though I don't remember a specific moment, I know that this time in my life was graced. I saw the power of God and responded to it. Though it was for a silly petition, I saw that God desired my well being and began to lay foundations of prayer in my life. I really believe this response to His pursuit of me is what set me up to grow in my faith a few years down the road. 

2. Destination Jesus - Out of the Jungle

I was required to go on a retreat for confirmation.  This meant joining the ranks of DJ graduates. Though I could not tell you the specifics of what was talked about on this retreat, I can tell you exactly what happened that Saturday night in 2005. It was the first time I had experienced adoration and in that high school gym, Jesus came down and touched me. I was filled with His presence and His love and I was intensely overcome with joy. I knew, in that moment, that not only was Jesus truly God, but He was truly present in the Eucharist. This moment solidified my faith, and kept me Catholic when I was a sophomore in college. 

3. Camp Tecumseh 

Surprise, camp made the list. There are so many things I could list on how The Lord came down into my reality from campers sharing their hearts to friends to the beauty of nature to chapels. But what I want to focus on is the preparation Arielle and I put into bringing back the "10 Lepers" chapel. I think that was the first time I really sat with scripture and applied it to my life. I spent hours sitting and talking with Arielle and Tom, looking into how Jesus had worked in my life and how it had brought me to where I was today. We chose to focus on the one leper who had thanked Jesus for healing him. The humility of this leper showed me how to thank Jesus for the blessings in my own life and taught me how to listen to the voice of god in scripture. Arielle's willingness to share her heart through the experience brought us incredibly close as friends, and opened my heart to a deep friendship with Jesus. 

4. Delta Gamma - TDH

This is going to be a lame explanation, because I can't explain this one. TDH are some of Delta Gamma's secret values that correspond with who we are as a fraternity. All I can say is that when I really learned what these things meant, they launched me forward to a deepened relationship with Jesus. 

5.  Mission Trip to the Bronx

This trip opened my heart to receive Jesus' love in a new way. Here I saw how alive Jesus is today. I was blown away by how present He was in such a huge city, and how many young people across our country are fighting for Him. Here I opened my heart to what Jesus wants for my life, not just the plan I've created. That has made all the difference these last few years.

6. FOCUS 

Oh, FOCUS. As I reflect on the people Jesus has put in my life to draw me to Him through this organization, I am overcome with gratitude. FOCUS came into my life right as I started to respond to Jesus' pursuit of me. All of the missionaries and students that I have been blessed to know have challenged me to respond to Jesus' love for me, to go deeper, and to share my faith in a new and radical way. I have learned to pray, how to be present, how to love, and so many more things because of FOCUS. I am so grateful to this organization. I am who I am today because of FOCUS. I am so glad FOCUS is still a part of my life and I am excited to see how being an office missionary will continue to shape my life.

7. The Visitation

This summer, pregnant Mary started stalking me. And she hasn't left me alone. I'm pretty okay with it. Mary's journey to help her cousin Elizabeth is her response to being filled with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Mary says yes to God, is filled with the two other members of the trinity, and immediately, without hesitation, sets out to serve others. I want to be like this. I've stayed with Mary's Magnificat and this image for a few months now, and the more I reflect on it, the more I want to be like Mary. I want my yes to God to bring Jesus to other people, simply in being who I am.  

8. Moving to Colorado

This might have just happened, but these past two months have just been saturated with Jesus. I told a friend last week that I feel like I'm on the cusp of something big. Never has my faith been so consistently alive. I am learning to be more self aware, to trust the desires Jesus has given me, and to live in the physical presence of God. I know that this is graced time, and the deepening of my trust in Gods love will set me up for an ever deepening relationship with Jesus. 

The pieces of our lives come together, as signs of God's love for us. They may not fit where we thought they would, but they all play a critical role in shaping who we are.

Cheesey, yes. But I liked it. 

7 Quick Takes Friday: My First One! [1]

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I just discovered this (thanks Carol!), and I'm excited to be participating. As you probably know, consistency seems to be my problem when it comes to blogging. Hopefully participating in something like this will help me be more consistent! Also, you should really check out Conversion Diary by Jennifer Fuwiler (thanks again, Carol!). Her blog is great.

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Last year, I was feeling so drawn to evangelize a parish. Which was weird for me (for a lot of reasons) because I was an on-campus missionary. Looking back, it is beautiful to see how God placed that desire on my heart as He was calling me to move off campus into the office. It's been interesting making this transition, especially since my new parish is in a time of transition. I am glad to be involved in a few different ministries, but I want to keep focusing on how I can really help make the parish a place where people can become true disciples and followers of Christ.

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Guys, it's time for me to admit it. I really miss Nebraska (my team, my students, Newman - everything).  No justifying or explaining. I just really miss them. GBR.

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Yesterday at work, my team made crock-pot pumpkin spice lattes. Everyone brought in some ingredients and then we let it cook in the morning and drank away in the afternoon. Best team bonding ever. Our office smelt heavenly.

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This is my view as I pull off the interstate to go into the office each morning. This place is so beautiful.

Snow!!! In September!?

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I've had a lot of Shauna-esq moments this week and I can't get enough of it. There's something about gathering people around a table with good food and wine that makes for a full heart. I think I may finally read Bread and Wine when I start my traveling adventures next week. These moments also make me want to plan parties.

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My favorite app is Timehop. You connect it to your facebook, twitter, instagram, etc and it pulls your posts from this date one, two, three, etc. years ago. It's so fun seeing my tweets and pictures...a lot of things I have forgotten about. Like this gem I posted on Carley's wall two years ago from yesterday:

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!