Mama, WOW!

I'm a big girl now!!

I have some exciting news to report.... I grew up! It happened in about 24 hours. It was quite exciting.

On Friday August 12th, I received a phone call from the HR department at Bell and they offered me a full time engineering position with the company after I graduate. I cannot begin to explain how ecstatic I am about this opportunity. I have wanted to work at Bell since my sophomore year and now it is actually happening. God is so good!! He has taken all the worry and stress of job hunting away and now I can enjoy my last semester of college while looking forward to the future. I also have to mention what an amazing company Bell Helicopter is. I have loved both of the internships I have had there and I know I am going to love working there full time. YAY!!!!

So, second piece of exciting news. On Saturday August 13th, I bought a new car! EEK! I am now the proud owner of a beautiful 2011 Dodge Charger. I promise this wasn't a spur of the moment "I have a job now" purchase. My parents and I had been looking into getting a car all summer and had already gone on some test drives when the job news came. I like to think the timing of the job offer was God's way of reassuring me that I didn't need to drive myself crazy worrying about whether or not it was smart to make such a big purchase. Anyways, back to the car. It was quite a process! But I think I handled myself pretty well. I test drove 6 cars, did a ton of research before I settled on the charger, and was able to get a sweet deal. The charger was exactly what I was looking for too! It is the perfect combination of muscle car meets functional sedan. It looks amazing and drives like a sports car while still having four doors and plenty of room in the backseat for passengers. Perfect!! I will stop doting now and show you some pictures. Her name is Eleanore. :)

Proud new owner!! :)

And I will conclude with some words form my father. He said to me when we got home from purchasing the car "You know, if someone where to ask me to go car shopping with them, I would probably tell them I would rather go to the dentist... or the proctologist. But, I would go with you again. I am proud of you, Steph." <<< Isn't he the sweetest! :)

Whoop for a car! and WHOOP for a new job!! I hope yall are having a wonderful week! God Bless you!!!

P.S. I feel I I must apologize for my extended absence from the blogging world. The past month has been pretty crazy and I have just been riding the waves. :)

The End of an Era

"Having fired the imagination of a generation, a ship like no other, it's place in history secured, the space shuttle pulls into port for the last time. It's voyage, at an end."

Not going to lie, I cried while watching this today. You never realize how much you treasure something until it is taken from you. I have dreamed of being an astronaut and flying the space shuttle since I was little. It was a dream I had abandoned for my greater desire of being a wife and mother. Yet, somehow today it felt like my dreams were being stripped from me. I guess I always held on to that hope that maybe, someday, God's plans for my life would lead me in that direction. So today as the space shuttle is laid to rest, so too are my hidden dreams of piloting that same shuttle.

I think the words of the Commander Ferguson and Mission Control capture the mood and feelings of so many around the world, including myself.

Commander Ferguson: "Mission complete, Houston. After serving the world for over 30 years, the space shuttle found it's place in history. It's come to a final stop."

Mission Control: "We copy your wheel stop and we'll take this opportunity to congratulate you, Atlantis, as well as the thousands of passionate individuals across this great space-faring nation who truly empowered this incredible spacecraft which for three decades has inspired millions across the globe. Job well done America."

Commander Ferguson: "Hey, thanks. Great words. Great words. You know the space shuttle has changed the way we view the world and has changed the way we view our universe. There's a lot of emotion today but one thing's indisputable, America is not going to stop exploring. Thank you Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Endevour, and our ship Atlantis. Thank you for protecting us and bringing this program to such a fitting end. God Bless all of you. God Bless the United States of America."

 I mourn the loss of such a wonderful and iconic program but I also look forward to what the next generation of space exploration will bring.

Life Updates

Well hello there! It has been a while..
In my absence from the blogospehere many things have happened so enjoy the updates. :)

1) My internship at Bellicopter (as my friends like to call it) is now half way done. The saying is absolutely true. Time flies (no pun intended) when you are having fun!! I am thoroughly enjoying my internship. I won't go into the nitty gritty details of what I am working on for sake of your mental clarity, just know that I am being challenged and I am loving it. I have a project that is pretty much my own and looks like it is going to take up the entirety of the summer. This is almost unheard of when you are an intern. Thanks to this project assignment I am being treated like a full time employee and I am making some great connections that will benefit me in the future. I am even getting to tell some full timers what to do!! As an intern! :D I LOVE IT!

2) I had the privilege of witnessing the beautiful wedding of Stephanie and Christopher Lafitte. These two are a wonderful example of what it means to live out Christ's love in the world. They inspire me.


3) This past weekend will now be summarized in pictures - because it is more fun that way! :)

HP7 Part 2 Premeire - The whole gang.

The House of Black

Sibling Pic!

Aggie Awakening 92 Rocked! It was flawless.

I finally stopped at the Aggie barn on Highway 6 and took pictures. I have always wanted to and this was probably my last opportunity. Yay!

Class of 2011 W1-1OOP!

God blessed our drive home with an absolutely beautiful sunset. :)

Gob Bless you!

Pride check

I think this article speaks for itself....  WOW.

As I've watched college students graduate recently, I've noticed a distressing trend. Campus ministries are becoming better, teaching orthodoxy without hesitation. Genuinely Catholic colleges are brimming over with zealous young people

And yet.

There is a harshness, a sort of snobbery happening. I watch in not a little horror and listen to what they are saying, as they measure other people by their overt acts of piety, while they size people up and discard them like the stuff of yesterday's recycling bin because they don't fit the new collegiate image of perfect holiness.

And I can just imagine that several years hence, they will go together with their young children to a playdate. They will meet another young mom at the park. They will inquire as to how many children she has. And when they discover that she has two, four years apart, they will say something sanctimonious about how they are open to God's plan for having children and has she ever heard of NFP? She will sit and wonder briefly whether she should tell them about the two years of cancer between the first birth and the second, about how desperately she prayed for this second child, about what a miracle he is. That young mom, with the two children widely spaced, will have just learned how some people of faith can judge one another. Litmus tests. Checklists. As she raises a family in the real world, she will see that attitude given voice over and over and over again, while Jesus weeps for his Church, broken and divided.

What's the opposite of gentleness? Harshness. Hard lines. Brittle rules. 

So there you are, you all grown up and graduated and out in the real world! You've come so far. You've left behind the safety of campus life, the happy campus ministry, the structure of academia. You've gone and gotten yourself a real job in the real world. With a real cubicle and a good excuse to shop at that very fine career wear store. Good for you!

You have a zeal for the faith that can be spotted a mile away. You wear it proudly splashed across your chest on more than a dozen t-shirts collected over the years of vibrant Catholic education. And you've come to embrace all those devotions of our faith as you've learned of them in your coming-of-age. You are on fire for your faith and you are eager to go out there into the real world and tell everyone just how Catholic you are.

May I whisper a word or two to you? CONTINUE READING.

Precious Jesus, grant me the grace to be gentle and humble. Amen.

Wonderful Weekend

This weekend was perfect! I did pretty much nothing and it was exactly what I needed. Saturday evening found my entire family relaxing at the pool. We had a great time playing "dibble dabble" and just laughing with each other. Sunday we went to Mass where Deacon Bill completely blew the church away with his homily about The Blessed Body and Blood of Jesus. It was one of the best homilies I have heard in a really long time - no joke! After Mass the family went out to lunch with another family from church and we had a wonderful time cracking jokes and hanging out.

First for me: I gave blood for the first time ever this weekend. I have never had high enough iron but this time I did. YAY! It was not nearly as traumatic an experience as I thought it was going to be. Of course, my perception was probably a little bit tainted since my wonderful brother decided to tell me blood donation horror stories for the entire hour leading up to the event. Things like nurses jabbing the needle completely through the vein and shredding it...Thanks bro! Top it off with me being a person who has to run out of the room at the sight of someone bleeding.... I can't even handle loose teethe. I mean really? why was I giving blood again? It could have ended badly. But, VERY surprisingly, all went well. I now have a small hole in my arm to prove it. :)

A wonderful weekend was continued today when after work the family went out to eat to celebrate my dad's birthday. Then back home for cake and presents. I just love family time!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! You are an amazing role model and I love you so much! :)

Friday Photo Favorites

My new cousin Mary Colette with her big brothers Paul Thomas and Avery Robert!!! Born June 24, 2011 11:58 am.

God is good!

Vessels

I am reminded today about the importance of continually educating ourselves in the practice of our faith. During my lunch break today I was having a very casual conversation about life outside of work with the coworker who shares a cube with me. I mentioned that I was Catholic and that I try to go to church as close to every day as possible. He commented on how nice that was and the conversation moved on. I thought nothing of it.

Well 2pm rolls around and my coworker (let's call him Joe) approaches me pretty randomly and starts asking me all about confession and the Catholic beliefs behind it. It caught me completely of guard. I tried my best to explain it and the conversation continued from there. We covered everything!! Mary, the saints, confession, the priesthood, the trinity (specifically the Holy Spirit and the charismatic gifts of the Spirit), marriage, the bible, forgiveness, salvation, and the Eucharist.  AND...For the majority of the conversation he was whole-heatedly agreeing with me. How beautiful the truth is!

The Lord is truly magnificent and the Holy Spirit can work wonders. All we have to do is be open to Him moving in our lives. I was totally unexpecting and totally unprepared for the conversation I had this evening. He chose me to be a vessel for His work anyways. Not only myself but Joe as well. There were times in the conversation that I didn't have all the answers and God chose to use Joe to stretch me also.

This conversation also solidifies in me the fact that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ meant to be united in the one Body of Christ. It is not natural for there to be so many factions and splits within His children. I think it is so important for all of us to be open to listening to others beliefs because it is only through listening that we can have a peaceful dialog with other faiths. And it is only through dialog that people will be open to hearing the wonderful truth we have to share with them.

Praise Jesus for amazing opportunities to be vessels of His love!! :)