Orientation

As I sit here writing this post I listen to the extreme winds and rain of Hurricane Sandy approaching little Ossining New York. It's amazing how quickly the weather changed here. Such beautiful fall weather has been approaching since I have arrived. Leaves turning red, orange, yellow, lime green, etc...and these past few days the strong winds have blown all these beautiful leaves away (even though it is still gorgeous). What I have come to love so much here is the Hudsom River! We try to make as many trips as possible down to just relax by the water. Here in this picture Margaret, James and I sat at the marina on the Hudson in just awe of the beautiful hills that cascade the background of the river :)

I am happy to say that I am starting my 4th week of orientation and it has been quite a whirlwind. Everyone here are so sweet! We have Lexie and Marc going to Bolivia; a sweet married couple from D.C, Veronica and Rich heading to Tanzania; Veronica an amazingly wise women with such a fun sense of humor and Rich a hilarious man with such compassion, Margaret is heading to Kenya; she is such a bright light onto this world and has become such a close friend!, Ed, Nancy, and James heading to Cambodia; Ed is such a sweet man from NY who has been such a positive example to me and others, Nancy a beautiful woman from Seattle who makes anyone feel at home wherever she is, and James who has become such a great friend with such a great spirit and beautiful sense of the world; Greg, Kim and Christopher an awesome family from Colorado going to Brazil; and lastly my group of Tony and Janet heading to El Salvador; Tony such an intelligent man and Janet: so sweet and so compassionate. I am so lucky to be spending my time in orientation with such an amazing group of people!

 

 

Time to begin

So here we are. My last day in Houston! I leave for NY tomorrow for my 2 month orientation! I can't wait to meet the other missioners, enjoy some cold weather, take some awesome theology classes, and make some possible trips to NYC and Boston! It's going to be an eventful part of my life and it all starts tomorrow! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh

I want to thank everyone who has supported and prayed for me this past month. I have had such a good time at my farewell parties. A few weeks back I had a party to say goodbye to all of my friends and it was so comforting to have my soccer girlfriends, kickball friends, social work friends, and church friends all come together in one place. It truly reiterated the fact that I have so much love and support here in Houston.

Last Sunday I had a send off mass at my home church St. Ignatius Loyola in Spring. Father Martial presided and all the people who have supported me through prayer, reference letters and hours of affiliates meetings/fellowships were there to celebrate with me.


So again, thank you EVERYONE for everything you have given me. Your support will follow me through these next 4 years of my life and forward!

Special shout out to my awesome family! I am going to miss yall so much! Love yall