Tessie's Confirmation

I flew home on Columbus Day weekend for Tessie's Confirmation, since she asked me to be her confirmation sponsor. It was a really fun and relaxing visit, and a beautiful Confirmation Mass.
She chose two confirmation saints: St. Faustina and St. Martin de Porres. She needed to give one name for the bishop to say during the ceremony, so she chose Martina -- which she told me may be the feminine form of Martin, or may be a mash-up of Martin and Faustina. Who knows. It's cool because my aunt Nina, whom Mom and I visited at her abbey in Germany last year, has the religious name of Sr. Martina after St. Martin de Porres. So she and Tessie are saint twins now!
I feel so blessed to be Tessie's sponsor; it gives us an extra connection over the miles.

Love you, Tessie!

General Life Update

Hello, yes, I'm still alive.

College is absolutely insane, but in a good way. I'm loving every minute of it. 

I love my section and my tutors. Here are my classes:
Math (four times week)
Language (three times a week)
Philosophy (twice a week)
Theology (twice a week)
Natural Science (twice a week)
Literature Seminar (once a week)
In addition, I have 13 hours a week of work-study in the kitchen and sing in two choirs. It's a lot of work, but I love it.
This upcoming week is Don Rags, which we have instead of midterms. It's when your tutors sit down together and evaluate how you're doing as a student. I'm excited because I think it will improve my section a lot, since we will know what we need to work on individually. Another nice thing is Don Rags means we get three days of no class!
We have four fabulous chaplains on campus, which makes it easy to get to Mass, Confession, etc. There is a Dominican, a Jesuit, a Norbertine, and a diocesan priest. They are all wonderful to talk to and such a beautiful presence on our campus.
When people ask me what I like best about college, its hard to answer, because there isn't really any aspect I don't like. It's surreal to be so at peace with a decision I've made.

Well, that's all I'll say for now. Gotta get back to studying.