Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Getting to College in One Piece

Hellooo world. I feel like I've been hibernating for the past few weeks. POP camp has come and gone, it was enlightening, humbling, and exhausting as always. I'm always grateful I go even though I usually dread it beforehand. I GRADUATED which is about at the top of my reasons-to-be-happy-about-life-right-now-list. I am ecstatic to be done with high school forever and am terrified and completely excited about opening a new chapter of my wild and precious life at Marymount University in the fall :) I have orientations coming up this weekend. My mom and I are driving down to Virginia a few days early so i can hang out with my sister and play in DC before I go to orientation. I am so excited. I keep hoping I feel better before I go... I've been sick for about a solid month now. Coughs, cold, sore throat, you name it. It's dumb BUT I think I'm getting better.
I had my graduation party on Saturday! It was a joint party with three of my friends, and I think it was a smashing success. There was a ton of food, there were tons of people and I think everyone had a good time. We had a keg ;) No underage drinking, obviously. My dad manned the beer. No shenanigans get past that man. I owe my parents big time. our power was out for a good 24 hours and our party just happened to be during that time. Despite all of the food-rescuing from powerless refrigerators and retrieving of generators, they were stellar hosts, I am so grateful.
At the moment, I am soaking up the peace and quiet. Four of my six siblings are out of town! It's just me and little William here, and I miss everyone a lot. Poor Will probably has been bored out of his mind. i took him to the library and Starbucks today to lighten the mood. I think it helped a little.
I'm reeeeeaallly in the mood for just driving. I don't care to where, I just want it to take a long time. There is a lot on my mind and I need to ease my thoughts somehow. I would run, but I rode my bike today for about 2.5 miles before I started shaking and had to stop. I hate being sick. Meanwhile I'm praying for all my anxieties and troubles to be lifted up-- God knows what he's doing, and he won't give me anything he knows I can't handle. I have two quotes of the day; One deals with not worrying, the other deals with not being discouraged with myself, which I tend to be.
"Do not worry over things that generate
preoccupation and anxiety. One thing only is necessary:
To lift up your spirit and love to God."
~Blessed Padre Pio

and

"Have patience with all things,
but chiefly have patience with yourself.
Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections,
but instantly set about remedying them -
every day begin the task anew."
~ St. Francis de Sales

God, You Astound Me

Nooo matter how stressed out I am or how sick I feel or how confusing life gets, God always finds ways to astound the heck outta me. Seriously, he is so cool. I am so blessed to have friends who share my love of Christ, eyes to see the world He created, and the mind and heart to appreciate what i am given. How great is our God, he loves us infinitely while we are finite.




Laughter staples my soul to life's simplicity
like third grade construction paper.
It colours my walls and draws on my heart.

Just by running, keeping pace with the sky,
leaving behind road dust and sandy sidewalks
my soul is exploding, it wants to laugh for joy.

I laugh at mistakes, laugh at myself
I am young and unprepared, I am not getting through life alone.
God, ground me.

Glue gun my mind to life's adventures, tack me to its edge.
I love the wind, the rush of it when it combs my tangled hair.
Ill shout and run, sprint if I can to reach the arm of forever.

Feet out the window, new perspectives unwind...
dangle the stars over my head,
I want to gape at my inability to count them.

Dizzy me, wonderful world.
God, you astound me.