A new semester has begun!

So as the title says, a new semester has begun! So let me update on what has been happening:

School: So I probably already mentioned that I was planning on taking seven credits for my last semester at Franciscan. I am taking Epistemology with Dr Harold, St Bonaventure with Fr Dan Patee, and the Theology Seminar with Fr Don Frinsko. I've never had Fr Don before (tried to avoid him as much as I could). It seems to be a good course load. I'm not as busy as I was last semester, and feel like I have enough time to get the work done. Epistemology meets on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; St Bonaventure meets Tuesdays and Thursdays; and my Theology Seminar meets every Monday, right after my Epistemology class. My St Bonaventure class has two papers, my Epistemology class has one paper, and my Theology Seminar has just a presentation. I will be giving my presentation the Monday after spring break on March 19 (the feast of St Joseph) on contraception. It seems to be a relevant topic with what has been happening with the HHS mandate. I've already begun to gather sources for my presentation, and will continue to get sources for my presentation next week. It'll be nice being able to work on my presentation during spring break. It'll give me plenty of time to put on the finishing touches. So I feel really good about this semester, and hope that it is a drastic improvement from last semester.

Household: All of the stars that were in Austria last semester are now back on campus. It's so good to have them back! It has benefited household a great deal having the younger stars on campus and at commitments. And I am really happy to be able to get to know the stars that got into household the semester I was in Austria. It's been about a month, and I can see that they are such a benefit to household, and I'm proud to be their sister! They're awesome! We are definitely not having trouble getting twinkles this semester. We already have five twinkles. And the majority have been coming to commitments since last semester. So I feel good about where household is going this semester. I love my household sisters!

And just to sum up everything else, the winter in Steubenville has been pretty mild this semester. I didn't have to start wearing my winter coat until early December. And we really didn't start to get snow until just within the last week. We haven't been getting much snow, and has been fairly warm. This winter reminds me of how the winter was when I was in Austria a year ago (hard to believe). It's a lot different than the last Steubenville winter I went through two years ago. That winter was brutal! It seemed like we'd always get more snow! Plus I was always afraid of losing power in my apartment on Sunset Blvd. One time I even spent the night in one of the dorms because I didn't want to get stuck in a cold apartment. So I am really glad this winter has been so mild!. With just 39 days left to the first day of spring, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I'll be able to relax once the nicer weather comes around.

Tomorrow night is the FOP (Festival of Praise). Hopefully there will be a good number of people that will go. And where there's a FOP, there's also a coffee house (presented by Regina Angelorum).

Forgot to mention one thing...and grades are in

When I wrote my last post, I forgot to mention that Stella Mariae has two new stars. One of them, Kelsey, went to Austria with me last semester. It seemed like she was a twinkle forever. Our other new star is Abby, who's sister got into household the semester before I did. It was nice being able to see them go through the intenting process. That's something that I missed last semester. We are very happy to have them in household.

Also, all of my grades are in. Unfortunately they are not as good as I would have liked. I already mentioned about the bad grade in history (albeit not failing, but almost), and the C+ in Francis and Clare. I got the other two grades in. I got a C+ in Reading Franciscan Mystics, and a C in Renaissance Lit (which is what I usually get in English anyway). So my GPA took a serious hit, but not nearly bad enough to put me on probation. I'm really disappointed in my results from the semester...especially coming off such a good semester in Austria. So I am hoping that next semester is much better. I am glad I didn't take the seminar this semester. Knowing just how busy I was this semester, it probably wouldn't have gone well either. It seems that I tend to do better in the spring semester at Franciscan anyway. So just pray that next semester will go much better. I want to end my time at Franciscan on a positive note.

Been a long time since I've updated

It's been a long time since I updated (been really busy). So now that the semester is done, I'd update on what has been happening.

School: I was really busy with school this semester. It always seems that classes are busier in the fall than in the spring. But anyway, it seemed like I was always writing papers for my classes. I was doing good in all of my classes except my history class. There is a reason for that...I accidentally studied the wrong information for the midterm. I had studied information on WWII, and it was on WWI. So I failed the midterm. I was originally going to drop the class, but didn't want to have to get my adviser's signature and my professor's signature in order to drop the class. So I decided to stick with it. I did fairly well on my research paper, and felt that I had done really well on the final (I followed the study guide to a tee this time). Overall, I got a poor grade...but it wasn't failing. I'm still waiting for the rest of my grades. I got a C+ in Francis and Clare. And I was doing well in Renaissance Lit and Reading Franciscan Mystics. So hopefully my GPA won't take a serious hit. Speaking of school, I will be taking 7 credits next semester. I will be taking a Theology Seminar. Plus I will be taking St Bonaventure with Fr Dan Patee (I was born on his feast day) and Epistemology with Dr Harold. I'm going to school part time because my financial aid is running out, and I would have owed an additional $4500had I had gone full time next semester. So this was my only option. I just need the seminar to graduate anyway. It's a good thing I had dropped the catechetics major because I wouldn't have been able to finish on time, and wouldn't have graduated. I probably would have had to quit school after spring 2012.

Household: Household seemed different this semester than how household was when I had left in December to get ready for Austria. There's a part of me that feels like I came back to a dead household, because it was so different than it was the previous fall semester. We had almost all seniors on campus this semester, plus two juniors. And the majority of our visitors were freshmen. Plus we had 15 stars in Austria...including nine new stars. All of our sophomores were there, along with the majority of the juniors. Through a large part of the semester, we had just one twinkle...who had been a twinkle since the end of fall 2010 because she went to Austria with us. After getting so used to getting lots of twinkles, it was hard going from commitment to commitment, and not getting twinkles. I'd see other households like TTM and the Angels getting intents and wonder why the same thing wasn't happening to us. I just hope and pray that with the Austria stars coming back to campus next semester, that it will bring life back into household. Stella will have no stars in Austria next semester...which will be the first time in a very long time.

Housing: I'm really liking the apartment on Ridge Ave. I like that it's a safe neighborhood. Plus a lot of the professors live in the area. And the street that I live on is well lit, which is something that I cannot say about the other streets in the Labelle area...they are almost pitch black at some parts. I keep a flashlight with me in my bag just in case. But anyway, I live close to just about everything. It takes me just five minutes to get to campus, and Kroger is close by as well. I just have to make sure that I bring a microwave oven back with me when I go back in January so that I can start making more food besides just sandwiches. I don't want to have to keep eating in the caf and pub for almost every meal.

update on the semester

I figured it was time for me to update on what has been happening. So here you go!

Housing: I moved into my apartment on Ridge Ave shortly before we started training for orientation. It's really nice. I like it a lot better than my apartment on Sunset Blvd. It's exactly as the landlord showed in the pictures. It's a good size for one person. I really like it. Plus my commute to campus is much shorter than before. It now takes me about five minutes to drive to campus. Plus there are so many cats in the neighborhood...which makes me happy because I love cats. Don't worry, I don't feed them. They're perfectly capable of finding their own food. But anyway, the apartment is slowly beginning to feel like home. I'm slowly adding some more supplies to the apartment. So it's a work in progress. But I love it here. Plus I'm not in the ghetto...I'm in a good area, and about a block and a half away from a school.

School: Classes have been getting busy. About a week and a half after classes started, I noticed that I still needed a literature class to fill the humanities core for my major. Speaking of major, I officially dropped the catechetics major, making me just a theology major. Anyway, I added Renaissance Lit. Since I added that, I decided to audit Youth Ministry, since I felt that if I carried 15 credits, it would have been too much for me. So it's been busy, but not as busy as it could have been. I like my classes. Plus I like that the classes don't last 1 1/2 hours like they did in Austria.

Household: So I'm back to going to commitments on campus. It's so good to be reunited with household, especially with those who went to Austria last fall. And it's good to be able to go to Lord's Day in person rather than by Skype. This semester we have 15 stars in Austria. I was really surprised by the number. About more than half of the girls in Austria this semester just got into household. So now that I'm back on campus, they're not here. So I have to wait until next semester to get to know them. I just wish I could get to know them now rather than having to wait even longer. I wasn't on campus when they intented, and I never got a chance to get to know them. I don't want to be a stranger to them when they get back in January. I want them to get to know me, and for me to get to know them. Concerning twinkles, we only have one twinkle so far: Kelsey Bowers, who has been a twinkle since late November (she went to Austria with us last semester). Hopefully we'll get more twinkles soon so she won't be the only twinkle in Stella so far.

Well, I'm going to sign off for now. We have morning mass tomorrow, so I have to get up early.

Summer update

The summer is quickly going by, and pretty soon it will be time to head back to campus. Even though I'm getting ready to begin my senior year at Franciscan, there's a possibility that I may have a job after graduation. A friend of mine from my church choir back at home might be able to get me a job at the diocesan center in my home diocese. It would be part time at first, but still it's a job. So please pray that I will be able to get some kind of job after graduation so that I can begin to pay off my student loans from Franciscan and Rutgers. I would love to be able to work in my home diocese!

On a side note, there are so many of my household sisters that are going to Austria next semester. A lot of them just got into household. Since I was in Austria last semester, I really didn't have much of a chance to get to know them really well. So now that I will be back on campus, they won't be there. I really wish that I could get to know them better.

Pictures of apartment on Ridge Ave

Update on housing

Even before I was able to register for classes, I was looking at housing for next year. I originally wanted to get into Assisi Heights, but it didn't work out. I was put on the waiting list. But I knew that if I didn't look for other housing options, that I may have ended up with no housing if I didn't get into Assisi Heights. So I've been looking at apartments that are close to campus. I've found one on Ridge Ave. It's a one bedroom apartment. The rent would be $375 a month, is completely furnished, and includes all utilities. So I have to send $50 to secure the apartment, and that would go to the $375 deposit. So it looks like this place may be as good as mine. I'll have a place to live, and that it's just a mile from campus. It's much nicer than the other apartment on Sunset Blvd. Pictures are to come!