A Moment's Grace

So I really should not be typing away on here right now; I should be preparing for my final two exams of the semester. But...they are not until Thursday, so I figure I can spend a little bit of time informing the non-college (and college) world of the past week.

It has been a whirlwind, and crazy to say the least. I would like to say that I was a devoted student and hibernated at Club Hillman (the nickname for Hillman Library) all weekend, but, fortunately, that was not the case.
Thursday evening was a waffle party at Ruth and Gina's (two of the FOCUS missionaries) house in honor of the Immaculate Conception. If you want some good, but in depth reading on the Immaculate Conception, or if you don't know what it is, click here!

Friday my friend Valerie and I went to see "The Mask of Moriarty," a Sherlock Holmes theatre show presented by the Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre. I signed up through PittArts, a program here that enables students to get discount and free tickets to various arts programs around the city. This one was free--yep, absolutely and positively free! It included dinner at Joe Mama's, a pre-show talk by one of the artistic directors, Andrew Paul, and a fabulous show! It was full of comic relief, which was a necessity, considering the impending finals.

The next day was spent studying but rewarded by the Newman Center Christmas party. Here is a picture from the party (From left to right: Morgan, Valerie, Melissa, me!, Christine, and Sam):

The party was great--lots of good food, a hilarious white elephant gift exchange, and best of all, great friends. The Newman Center really has been a blessing here. It has both strengthened my faith and given me some of the best friends I could ever have hoped for.

Sunday morning was delightful. Mom's cousin Mike, his wife, and Aunt Jerry (my 93 year old great aunt) drove in from Butler and picked me up to go out for breakfast. We went to the Eat n' Park in South Side since the restaurant they'd planned on going to was having the holiday children's breakfast with Santa; that would have been complete and utter chaos, even if I do love kids. They seem to all be doing well. I am hoping that my family will be able to bring me back to Pittsburgh after the holidays so we can see her again. Since neither Aunt Jerry nor I have our own transportation, we are usually at the mercy of Mike and Cheryl. We got a great photo too!

These past couple of days I have been camped out at the Newman Center studying. I was here from 1pm until midnight yesterday (Monday) and then have been here since 7pm today. It is a great environment for studying though--very quiet and lots of goodies!

Tables One and Two!

I have two more finals remaining--psychology and Spanish--and then I am free for nearly three weeks. I cannot wait to be at home to cook, play games, hang out, hopefully ski (but there is not supposed to be snow for Christmas...I live in Michigan! Come on!), and spend time with lots and lots of people. Hope this finds everyone well and not too stressed out for finals :)