Goodbye's Hello

{{  don't be delicate; be vast and brilliant }}

One year ago, on this day I was moving into my dorm at Marquette, fully prepared to become a nurse in four years. Clearly God had different plans for me; not only did I switch my major, but I also switched the university I will be attending in this fall. Marquette was wonderful and I enjoyed every minute of it, which made it the most difficult to say goodbye. Now that the day is actually here for me to move, my heart is partly breaking and partly thumping with joy. 

My heart is breaking for a few reasons. First and foremost I really, really, really do not like goodbye's. I think that they are possibly the worst thing to experience (only being second to going sky diving or anything involving heights). This week has been full of goodbyes and it is only half way through the week. On Monday, I said farewell to two of my closet friends. It was rough because I am become accustomed to seeing them at least four times a month, sometimes four times in a week. Of course when I met up separately with each friend we attended a coffee shop. First I experienced Peet's Coffee and Tea for my (embarrassingly) third time that week. Peet's is a super chill coffee shop, making it easy to converse, laugh and smile for about an hour and a half with her. Since it was our official goodbye, we had to engage in a photo shoot:

(Our drinks! On the left is mine: Iced Coconut Mocha with Soy, which was delicious! It was the perfect blend of flavors-coconut, chocolate and coffee. On the left is my friends: Vanilla Latte, which I am sure was also wonderful because all the drinks I have ordered from Peet's have made my taste buds happy.)

 My second goodbye happened a few hours later, but we got so deep into conversation that no photo shoot followed. But between the both of them, I was able to talk to two of my closet sisters in Christ before I left, which was just what I needed. Now that I will be about 9 hours away, we will be resorting to phone calls, texts, Skype and snapchat. The following day (Tuesday) I went back on Marquette's campus, which was heartwarming but also really hard. I visited with one of my super awesome nursing friends. We were able to catch up for about an hour, walking around campus and hanging out in her dorm. Being in a dorm hall on campus made it really hard to see myself leaving a campus that I made so many wonderful memories. One of the things that I will miss the most about Marquette's campus will be the Joan of Arc chapel, so it was lovely to be able to spend time in prayer there. The inside of the chapel is prayerful, full of history and beautiful. The surrounding landscaping is also prayerful with gorgeous flowers, birds chirping and a wonderful presentation of the beauty of God's creation!

(Yay for jumping pictures and beautiful flowers!)

Later that evening, my sister treated me to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Pizzeria Piccolo. We chatted over delicious pizza (she ordered a Margherita pizza and I ate a delicious gluten free four seasons pizza) and then a delicious dessert of tiramisu (Sarah) and a flourless chocolate cake (me). 

(This is the four seasons pizza from Pizzeria Piccolo on gluten free crust. Each piece has a different topping-olives, mushrooms, artichokes and prosciutto, which is thinly cut ham. I really suggest this option, it's my favorite by far!)

(Say hello to the flourless chocolate cake with raspberry syrup from Pizzeria Piccolo! I am not too overly fond of chocolate, but I thought this was delicious! It's very similar to fudge in its richness, but it's not overwhelmingly chocolate. Again, I highly suggest trying this dessert if you happen to visit this restaurant.)

It was really great to spend time with my sister before I left, but it made it even harder to say goodbye. It's true that 'you don't realize what you've got till it's gone'. I have really taken for granted the wonderful friends and family I have here in Wisco. Now that I am leaving, I don't want to leave them behind. But then I remember another quote: 'home is where the heart is' and my heart is here in Milwaukee, but also my heart is so overwhelmingly focused on my relationship with God. Even though I have a heavy heart leaving a city that I will greatly miss because I love it so much (and all it's wonderfully cute coffee shops), I know that I will find a second home at Franciscan.

Throughout this week I have also been visiting the parishes of all the priests I have come to know in Milwaukee. My goodbyes started last Wednesday at Holy Family in Fon du Lac with Fr. John Paul, who stayed at my home parish while he was in seminary. It was so wonderful to talk to him about his future plans, my summer experiences and our faith over coffee ( big surprise, I know). Thursday I attended St. Margaret Mary for Mass in anticipation of the Feast of the Assumption on Friday with Fr. Michael. Then on Friday I attended my first Latin Mass at St. Stanislaus, which was prayerful but confusing because I know Latin as well as I know French. (I don't know French.) After Mass there was a procession around the block as we sang songs about Mary, which ended back inside the church with Benediction. I also had the pleasant surprise of seeing some of the kids that were in Totus Tuus at one of the parishes I was at this summer. I honestly can't tell you who was more surprised/excited to see each other: me or them. On Saturday I visited my past associate (Fr. Phil) at his new parish for a Holy Hour, which was beautiful and prayerful. There was amazing music, deep reflections and yummy food afterwards. After the Holy Hour I went Mass of Anticipation with Fr. John, who was just as happy to see me before I left as Fr. Phil was. Sunday was my last Mass at my home parish with Fr. Phillip, who gave a great homily to reflect on as I began my last week at home. On Monday, my mom and I made the trek up to Champion to the Marian Shrine for Mass, which was so beautiful; the two hour drive was defiantly worth it. Yesterday (Tuesday) we made another long drive out to Sheboygan for Mass at Holy Name of Jesus with Fr. Matthew, who stayed after to talk about my summer and college endeavors for an hour even though he was busy. And tonight I end my stay in Milwaukee with Cor Jesu with multiple priests in the Archdiocese.

This summer has really shown me the beauty of the church and how blessed our Archdiocese is with our priests! We have so many wonderful, energetic, knowledgeable priests here and I am going to miss every single one. 

Even in all this change, my heart is ready for something new, thumping with joy for this new adventure. I get to meet my roommates in less than 24 hours (yay!!), be in a new state (with considerably warmer weather), learn more about my faith (triple yay!!) and make new friends! This school year is going to be so, so wonderful. Yes, there is going to be a lot of adjusting in big things and small things. I will be 9 hours from home, as opposed to 30 minutes when I was at Marquette, I will have to make completely new friends, I won't be attending Cor Jesu as often, and I will be finally taking classes I am excited about with a strong Catholic touch. As for small things, I will have to walk up a hill every day for class, there is no dinning hall in my dorm (and there is only one on campus), and the church on campus is not as large as Gesu was. But these are all going to turn into blessing and wonderful experiences throughout the first semester! Truthfully, I cannot wait to start my new journey. With every goodbye, there is a new hello; and with every hello, there is a new blessing!

St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us!

Totus Tuus Maria!!

P.S. The picture at the top says: Fortitudo et Prudentia. This is a canvas board that I painted for my dorm, and the reason behind that is because it is the motto of Franciscan University. The phrase means fortitude and prudence. Fortitude is mental strength and courage that allows someone to face danger and prudence is the good judgement that allows someone to avoid these dangers. I am hoping to make this a mantra this semester in my new transition to maintain fortitude and prudence in all my trials.

P.P.S. I am not an English major, nor is writing my strong suit. I chose to start this blog so that people can see what is happening in my transition. Plus, I am using it more for fun than for academics. So, I apologize for spelling/grammatical errors!

*All pictures where taken on my iPhone