Give Thanks

This year I got to spend Thanksgiving in Australia

We have been traveling for Thanksgiving since I was in 7th grade

We spent one year in Roatan, Honduras

The next three years in Fiji

One year in Palau

One year in the Grand Canyon 

One with my entire family in Connecticut 

and just one in my house.

I am so thankful I got to spend more than four months exploring Australia

I am so thankful that my parents got to spend three weeks over there too.

I am thankful I got to spend a week with them in Coff's Harbour, NSW

I'm thankful that we got to scuba dive the day before Thanksgiving

I'm thankful my dad had a two day birthday because of the time zone changes while we flew home

I'm thankful we made it home safely, after 40 hours of traveling

I'm thankful for every friend I made this semester

and all the friends that became family. 

I'm thankful that my adventures went to a whole new level 

I'm thankful I learned a little bit of Latin & how to swing dance (a little)

I'm thankful that so many of my friends studied abroad too and had this incredible experience

I'm thankful I was blessed with the most lovely roommates

I'm thankful that I have a phone interview this week for next summer's dream job

I'm thankful I get to go see all my sisters and friends in Tampa in two days

I'm thankful that my grandparents are doing well & I got to see them today

I'm thankful my brother got engaged yesterday & is so happy

I'm thankful tomorrow is December 1st and we'll be decorating for Christmas

I'm thankful the airport was filled with Christmas trees and Christmas music

I'm thankful I didn't forget how to drive on the right side of the road

I'm thankful for the love and people who are in my life

I'm thankful for my family, friends & sisters

I'm thankful for my home and my backyard

I'm thankful for green juice- because I really love juice

I'm thankful for the opportunity to grow in my faith everyday

and the opportunity to become the best version of myself

I am thankful to God for all of these things every day of my life,

but especially on Thanksgiving this year!

Your happiness depends on the amount of gratitude you show...

So cool and so true

check it out & try it! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHv6vTKD6lg

The Pilgrimage

Pilgrim (n): a traveler on a journey to a sacred place

What I Knew Before

Pilgrims = Thanksgiving...

My lovely Aussie friend, Mary, had been on the Christus Rex Pilgrimage 6 times & loved it

She invited me on this year's journey

I said yes

I didn't really have any idea what going on a pilgrimage would mean 

I thought it sounded amazing though

a journey of devotion, prayer & meeting new friends

We were going to walk for 3 days

Go to masses in different cities

It was going to be somewhere near Melbourne, Australia

There was going to be a lot of Latin

and that is about all I knew.

Road Trip

It was a 10 hour road trip from Sydney to Ballarat

We drove down with some beautiful new friends from Campion College

Some of our stops included: 

fresh mangos, a delicious bakery, a historical submarine, horses, sheep, cows, lots of farm land,

and a spontaneous dinner picnic on some hay bales that we found!

Eat, Sleep, Walk

My bed for the weekend was my yoga mat and a blanket

Breakfast was peanut butter & jelly sandwiches

Lunch was veggies and bread

and dinner was warm, delicious veg with barley soup

We walked from 7am to about 7pm

Friday, Saturday and Sunday

We walked about 30-40 km each day

We ended up walking about 100 km which is about 62 miles

You could say my feet were feeling it

By Saturday I had 7+ blisters 

By Sunday I couldn't feel my blisters because my feet were just dead

they have never hurt so much in my entire life

and it was so great

It was an act of penance for me to walk miles in pain

reflecting on my sins and praying the whole way

Prayer

The power of prayer is incredible

now multiply that power by 150 pilgrims.

To see so many people walking along the side of the road in constant prayer...

it was unreal

one of the coolest things I've experienced for sure

I've probably only prayed the rosary once or twice before

I didn't ever really know the purpose or significance

One of the best things I learned this weekend was just that

We started praying the rosary during our road trip

and prayed it many, many times each day

I also learned how to pray most of it in Latin!!

The Hail Mary is so unbelievably beautiful in Latin, I just love it!

Mass

Friday before lunch we stopped for a Latin mass in a beautiful cathedral

Saturday before lunch we went to a Latin mass in a pine forest

I felt so close to God sitting in the forest & learning to appreciate the Latin mass and music

There were priests walking with us, so we had the opportunity for confession all weekend

I think I've gone to confession a total of two times in my life (communion & once in high school)

I took up the opportunity in during the pine forest mass

God's grace grants the most beautiful moments!

Sunday we finished the pilgrimage with a third Latin mass given by the bishop in Bendigo

I've never been to a Latin mass before this weekend 

I'm really grateful for the experience

I had no idea what was going on

but it helped me trust in my faith more than the knowledge of every word being said

and that was awesome!

Friends

I can't even begin to express how blessed I feel

I've never in my life had more than a few Catholic friends

To be surrounded with so many amazing brothers and sisters 

while I am on the other side of the world studying in Australia

it's more than I ever could have imagined or asked for

I met so many friends this weekend

I heard stories of life growing up on a farm with 8 siblings

they recited quotes, poems and books from Robert Frost, Shakespeare & so many others

We shared experiences, joy, sadness, laughter and wine

They carried me when my feet couldn't carry me any further

Through their actions they taught me how to give more, pray more & love more.

My faith journey will take a lifetime but I am learning so much everyday

I choose every opportunity to live and learn and grow 

I am not changing as much as I am just becoming the person God meant for me to be

He has led me to these great places and great people

I'd never heard of a pilgrimage, other than on Thanksgiving, until a few months ago

I have since become a pilgrim and loved it! 

The Best Adventure Yet

Adventures are my favorite thing in the world

any kind of adventure

literally, any adventure that you could think of, I would have a great time

Today I had the greatest adventure of my life so far

I just got back from Thailand about two weeks ago, 

That is still my favorite place and favorite trip

but as far as adventures go, this one wins 

no question about it

Today I went to the Blue Mountains

5 friends, High n' Wild adventure company and a beautiful day

We started the day waking up at 5am on this lovely Sunday morning

We caught a two hour train to Katoomba

had a quick brekky & met up with the High n' Wild leaders around 9am

It's bush fire season right now because of how dry it is here 

there's currently three fires burning in the mountains

so there was a lot of fog and smoke in the air 

but by the time we got to the cliffs it was clearing up and the view was incredible

We started off easy with a 5 meter cliff 

we put on harnesses, helmets and sneakers 

climbed into the mountains and began the day

It was terrifying at first- and this was only the baby cliff

Casually repelling backwards over the edge 

our trip leader said, "It's just the same as walking backwards on the ground, 

keep your feet flat on the rock and take backwards steps down."

Yeah, right!

We did two rounds "walking backwards" down the 5 meter cliff

then we were off to a higher one!

The second stop was a 15 meter cliff

I felt more comfortable after successfully making it down 5 meters first

we did this one twice also

by then I felt like I knew what I was doing

Thinking about foot placement, or anything, too much made it a lot harder

It worked better to not think about it and just go, safely of course

it was really the coolest feeling 

The third cliff was AMAZING 

it was 30 meters, double the height of the last one 

and if that wasn't intimidating/exciting enough..

for the first 10 meters we were abseiling as usual, walking backwards down the cliff

but the final 20 meters, we were just hanging

off a cliff in the middle of the Blue Mountains

Literally, just hanging by the rope, feet dangling & hands guiding the rope

since our feet weren't on the cliff anymore the rope turned us around towards the mountains

this may have been my favorite moments of the day

the view was unreal & the feeling was like no other

suspended from a cliff, a rope helping me face these incredible mountains

turning me around in circles- facing the cliff, facing the mountains, facing the trees and on and on

I can't hardly begin to describe the feeling but those moments of:

intimidation, of the giant cliff I was hanging from

appreciation, that I was so blessed to go on this adventure

gratitude, that God gracefully created this world for us

awe, of the beauty of the mountains

amazement, how the trees, mountains, cliffs & canyons seem to go on forever

love, of everything and everyone around me

life, I just felt so full of life!

We had a really great lunch on top of the mountain:

tuna, avocado, alfalfa sprouts, cucumber, hommus, apples

then we trekked down for the canyoning part of our day

We were sweating from the heat, sun, hiking & everything else

but since we were about to get into water that was less that 40 degrees fahrenheit

we happily suited up

from head to toe we wore:

helmets, beanies, 5mm full wetsuits, thermals, backpacks, dry bags, socks & water shoes

I felt like I was dying of heat as we put all that on 

but a minute later I was so thankful when my first toe touched the water

it was colder than ice & my feet went numb within the first two minutes

the thermals, wetsuit, beanie and everything else kept my body really warm though

We had the best time scrambing over rocks, through cave-like tunnels & across logs

we jumped off the walls of the canyon into pools of icy cold, beautiful waters

Some of the jumps we had to do backwards because of the rocks: 

We finally reached the waterfall

30 meters, just like the last cliff we abseiled before lunch

except this time we were wearing wetsuits and abseiling through the water

I was slightly terrified but I was more excited than anything

I lowered myself over the edge, I knew the feeling of going down 30 meters

but this time there was water coming down all around me and the rocks were more slippery 

I ended up making my way down some of the waterfall on my knees 

my feet just didn't want to stick on the rocks

when we got down to the bottom 5 meters of the waterfall we jumped

we let go of the rope, pushed our feet away from the rocks and jumped into our last pool of the day

It was amazing to look up and see the whole waterfall for the first time after we reached the bottom

I couldn't believe I had just come down all that way 

at the bottom of the waterfall, while we waited for everyone on the rocks, we met a snake

a baby Tiger Snake

Tiger Snakes are the second deadliest snakes in Australia but the baby ones are the #1 worst

We got away from him quickly and made the steep, uphill trek back up out of the mountains

A lot of that might sound a little scary but it really wasn't

It was so exciting, exhilarating, thrilling & perfect

Working our way from the little 5 meter cliff to the 30 meter waterfall 

I learned how to abseil a cliff, go canyoning & repel a waterfall

Today was my favorite day in Australia

it was my favorite experience ever 

I would recommend it to everyone who likes adventure

It strengthened my passion for the outdoors and renewed my undying love for adventure

Abseiling & Canyoning in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia

what could possibly be better

It was the best adventure I've ever had

The Notre Dame Experience

There are only five students studying abroad at the University of Notre Dame this semester

FIVE! At the entire university, just five of us

The fab five

Our advisors over here are so helpful and great 

They have taken us on four field trips to help us more fully experience Sydney

First Field Trip

Only two of the fab five went on the first excursion

We went to the Sydney Tower Eye and did the Skywalk

we were 880 feet above the ground walking around outside the tower

it was double the height of the Sydney Harbour Bridge

so so so high

the floor of the skywalk is a glass bottom so when you look down you just see the long way down

even when you aren't looking over the edge 

but the views up there were incredible!

you could see the harbour, the bridge, the entire city and the whole surrounding area

After the Sydney Tower Eye we went on a Tribal Warrior boat ride 

It was run by local aboriginal people who told us the history of their people

The boat stopped at a historic aboriginal island 

The guy put on his warrior paint, tribal outfit and hair braids 

he showed us around the island and did a traditional tribal welcome dance/chant

It was such an interesting experience and his chant was so cool! 

 

Second Field Trip

Three of the fab five came on the second excursion- a better turnout than the first 

This time we got closer to the nature and beauty of the land

we did a bushwalk from Spit to Manly Beach 

It was so beautiful  

It rained during most of the walk 

but cleared up and turned into a beautiful day just as we reached Manly 

We sat outside for a nice lunch at the beach before catching the ferry back into the city.

I would have never heard of the Spit to Manly bushwalk if it weren't for my advisors

Notre Dame excursions are such a blessing! 

 Third Field Trip

For the third excursion we were back to only two of the fab five

We got tickets to the National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour

The museum was featuring Ansel Adams

He is a famous photographer who I studied when I took photo courses in high school

There was also a Viking exhibit, I didn't know much about vikings so I learned a lot!

Our tickets included access to two boats and a submarine

The submarine was so cool to explore and it was a beautiful day for the boats!

Fourth Field Trip

I was so excited for the fab five to be together and explore Hunter Valley for the fourth excursion

Only three of us ended up going but it was the best field trip by far

We took a bus two and a half hours out to the wine country

We visited four wineries for wine tastings at each one

I learned a lot about wine 

for example: how they get different flavors into the wines, the difference between dry and sweet, 

how to make sparkling wine and thinker desert wines

I learned what I do and don't like regarding wine

I do like bubbly, sparkling, sweet, light, white and pink wines

I also like desert wines, but only in small doses because they are super sweet

I do not like dry and most red wines

We also stopped in a smelly cheese shop, which was indeed extremely smelly

They had amazing flavored oils & vinegars though

I love vinegar!

I brought home lime olive oil and guava vinegar, they are so good on my salads

I found some really nice wines to bring home for the holidays

I can't wait to share them! 

Thank you Notre Dame for giving the five of us study abroad students some amazing experiences! 

Kob Kun Kaa

Kob Kun Kaa means thank you in Thai

I couldn't be more thankful for every experience studying abroad has brought me thus far

I couldn't be more thankful for the support of my parents in all my adventures

I am so thankful for my life, these incredible moments and everything the future holds

I think in planning to study abroad I expected a little bit of a culture shock to come along with it

Australia is extremely similar to the United States and therefore has a similar culture 

There was hardly a cultural distinction so it was super easy to adjust quickly

I did not come to Australia with any intention of trying to visit Thailand

Since I was saying yes to every opportunity, when the opportunity to travel to Thailand came up

I couldn't do anything other than say YES without hesitation 

There, I got my culture shock

DAY ONE

I was under the impression that since Thailand is somewhat close to Australia, relative to the rest of the world, that it would be real quick and easy to get there...

1 train ride, 2 flights, 3 airports, a 12 hour layover in singapore and 9.5 hours of flying later

I finally was in Thailand

I was instantly in love

As soon as I arrived at the Wild Orchard Villa in Bangkok I messaged my mom telling her that I arrived and we needed to come back, after I was only there about 10 minutes!

I, once again, was blessed with the best random roommate for the week in Thailand

I took a tuktuk ride to the Mall of Bangkok with some friends

Tuktuks are these awesome three wheeled, open air, bike/bench taxis 

In the mall we found a sign advertising fish massages

Couldn't pass up any opportunity!

We sat on a bench and stuck our feet into fish tanks for one of the weirdest feelings ever

hundreds of little fish were covering my feet and sucking on them!

The first day was filled with exploring the malls and markets by tuktuk, fish massages, experiencing the people and culture shock of Thailand and falling in love with the city. 

That night I had my first real plate of Pad Thai, it was delicious!

DAY TWO

The backpacking program I went with, ThaIntro, had 42 people on this week's trip

we all boarded a long boat to cruise down the river in Bangkok

the boat took us to different Temples in the area

We climbed up an extremely steep temple to reach the top and have an awesome view of the city

We also visited one of the most famous temples in Bangkok and saw the most famous Buddha

95% of Thai people are Buddhist so it was interesting to learn more about their culture

Our trip leaders decided that night we would all dress as rockstars

It was so funny to see the looks on the local's faces as 42 of us walked through the streets of Bangkok dressed like rockstars

We went to an Indian restaurant for dinner, the food and atmosphere was awesome

we had to leave our shoes outside and sit on the floor to eat

Oh, and you don't just get a typical drink in Thailand

you get a bucket full of your drink

literally, when you order a drink it comes in a bucket

DAY THREE

We learned how to cook authentic Thai food at May Kaidee's Cooking School

She taught us to make Tom Yam Soup, Pad Thai and Massaman Curry

Her recipes are all so simple, healthy, vegetarian and SO GOOD

It was the best Thai food I ate all week, by far

Then we started our journey down south on a 12 hour overnight train ride

we had little beds that folded out of the chairs

we had little curtains to block out some of the light on the train

the people who worked on the train walked around all night trying to sell food:

"waaakkkeee upp, wontonns, eat fooood, chang, chang, wake upppp"

The train was definitely an experience!

DAY FOUR

After a very long night on the train we arrived at Khao Sok National Park

While we were on our boat ride out to the floating bungalows, a rain storm came out of no where

We had already gone about an hour from the main land so we couldn't easily just turn around

There were beautiful & huge rock structures that looked like mountains all throughout the lake

The boat anchored behind one of the rocks that was big enough to block a good amount of rain

We were already soaked through our clothes and overnight bags so we jumped off the boat 

The lake didn't look like a lake as much as it did an ocean

It was clear blue water that was so refreshing to be swimming in

We climbed up the rock that was blocking the rainstorm and jumped off into the water

Once the rain calmed down we finished the boat trip to our floating bungalows

They were the coolest things I've ever stayed in

Only floating by some wooden planks and nails

The only things inside the bungalows were mattresses with a sheet and pillow

No toilets, no sinks, no bed frame, night table, shelf or electricity

The only toilets where we were staying were up in a shack at the end of the wooden plank 

The toilets in Thailand are holes in the ground that you squat over

They don't have toilet paper at most places either 

we bought toilet paper at 7-11 and carried it around with us 

the toilets don't flush, there is a bucket of water in the corner of the bathroom

you just pour some water into the toilet and that's it

The bathrooms were an experience all on their own

We took out tubes and kayaks into the lake and floated around for the rest of the day

No amount of rain couldn't stop us from enjoying every second of the trip

DAY FIVE

We were up early for our final day of traveling with ThaIntro

We made our way to the final stop: Mac Bay's Resort in Koh Phangan

We had dinner at Same Same

there was glow paint on all the tables for us to paint our faces and bodies for that night's beach parties

After we were fully painted we made our way to one of the nearby beaches

The next few hours were spent dancing on tables and watching fire jump ropers 

The fire jump rope was so cool and I wish I would have done it but I was too scared of getting burned

two Thai guys stood on different tables that were a good distance apart 

each of them holding one end of a long rope 

the rope was on fire and they would just swing it in circles continually

people would run into it when the rope was at it's highest point and jump until they fell or ran back out

since most of the people jumping the fire rope had a good number of buckets at dinner or the party

they would jump until they fell and then get burned by the fire

so many people the next day had bandages covering their third degree burns 

It was really awesome to watch the Thai people jump it because they were so good at it

one guy could do push ups in between the fire swinging around him

so insane

after that beach party we moved back to our resort which was also on a beach hosting a party that night

Koh Phangan is home of the full moon parties 

since there was no full moon that night, they threw a black moon party

The music was blasting and people were partying on the beach until 7am

it was a long and crazy night.

DAY SIX

We took a boat to a different beach on the island to relax for the day

after lunch we took the boat to another beach to explore

we hiked up to a little waterfall 

climbed through a cave and swam in the waterfall's pool

We just relaxed for most of the day  

it was a much needed break from the busy and crazy adventure week in Thailand

DAY SEVEN

Our last full day in Koh Phangan & I was not anywhere close to being ready to leave

My day started with a Thai massage on the beach

It was so amazing, especially after having slept in airplanes, hostels, mattresses on the ground and trains

Thai massages are more stretching than a normal massage

they were twisting my body all over the place 

It felt like I was doing yoga but with someone else moving my body for me

The last thing we did was the thing that convinced me to go on this trip to begin with:

we rode an elephant!!!

the elephant I was on had no interest in taking us for a ride

all he wanted to do was eat very bush, tree and plant in the surrounding area

We got to have the longest ride because our elephant took quite a few snacking detours

Once we got off the elephant we were able to feed him bananas and just hangout with them

They are huge, beautiful and amazing animals 

definitely one of my favorites, along with Koala Bears :)

There were also monkeys at the safari site we were visiting

the monkeys had been raised by people for their entire lives so they were super friendly and playful

some of them were sexist, though, and wouldn't go near any of the girls

I got to play with one of the monkeys

I swung him on my arms, he climbed up onto my shoulders & head and we fed him with a bottle

It was an amazing last day of an amazing spring break trip 

Thailand is most definitely my favorite place in the entire world and I will be back one day for sure

Kob Kun Kaa to ThaIntro, our trip leaders and all the awesome backpackers I met along the way!

Twenty Years Young

TWENTY TWENTY TWENTY! 

I just celebrated my twentieth birthday

I just turned twenty in Australia

I am no longer a teenager & am now in my twenties

It's such a strange feeling
I definitely feel twenty 

My brain is having a hard time grasping the concept though

How to celebrate this new exciting time of my life, 

while in a foreign country where I knew so few people? 

I couldn't have asked for a better night with better friends. 

It was also the first time my three roommates and I all went out together! I love them.

I turned twenty on Thursday, September 19th, 2013

My morning was spent working on a research paper

 it was such a beautiful morning so I sat outside at an organic cafe near my uni to do my work

My afternoon was spent at work, at Woollahra Public School 

running around with the kids that I love so much

My night started at Spice I Am, one of the best Thai food places in Sydney, 

with a group of 12 lovely friends

The menu wasn't very big but my food was delicious: black bean tofu with veggies in peanut sauce 

I love peanut sauce too much. 

After dinner we went to a retro/vintage bar called the Soda Factory

My wonderful new Aussie friends met up with us at the bar to help me celebrate! 

It was the absolute coolest bar I've been to

When you walk in it just looks like an old fashion hot dog stand, 

then you walk through a door that looks like a coca-cola refrigerator 

and are suddenly back in time. 

From the vintage green leather couches, to the band dressed from another era, I was instantly in love. After a few hours our group had dwindled down to myself and 5 Australian friends.

We realized it was 11:30pm and so there was only 30 minutes left of my birthday

With that 30 minutes, my friends danced circles around me, 

we danced a conga line in circles around the entire bar, 

they made me swing dance through the tables of chatting people, 

and keep in mind... no one else in the bar was dancing and I NEVER dance but it was so much fun! 

The next few hours were spent dancing, singing, 

sneaking on stage to pretend play the drums until we got kicked off, laughing 

and enjoying the night with amazing friends. 

They sang me birthday songs all the way back to my apartment 

I can't imagine starting my twenties in a better way. I am so blessed they came out to help me celebrate. 

Love & Responsibility

I love love

I love learning about love

I love reading books about love

I love hearing people's love stories

 I love loving everyone around me

I got an email from my Aussie uni with the subject 'How To Love?' 

It immediately sparked my curiosity

The email explained that 'How To Love?' was the #1 google search in Australia and the United States 

and the #2 search in New Zealand and Canada in 2012

The University of Notre Dame Sydney was starting a 6 week social series about love & responsibility "A fun way to make new friends, nibble on free food and sip on hot chocolate, whilst chatting about how to grow in authentic and genuine friendships and relationships"

Sounded awesome to me! 

One of the main reasons I wanted to go was to meet Australians and grow in genuine friendships 

I had been here for about a month and I was friends with about 2 Australians and 20+ Americans

 that wasn't how I wanted to be spending my time abroad

I was ready to meet more Aussies.

Throughout the 6 week program we ate lots of chocolate, brownies, tim tams and hot cocoa. 

At the start of each night we would gather as a large group, 

listen to readings from Karol Wojtyla's words on Love & Responsibility, 

break up into small groups to discuss the readings and talk about any questions we had, 

and then come back together with everyone to share our thoughts. 

We talked about everything from virtuous relationships, sexual attraction, fatal attractions, 

sense and sentimentality to the gift of ourselves, tenderness 

and of course:

LOVE AND RESPONSIBILITY! 

At week one of this wonderful event I met Patrick and Lauren Langrell 

not even realizing, until later, that they were related

Patrick was the first person to come up to me on the first night

I'm sure I looked as awkward and out of place as I felt (the bottom picture shows my awkwardness)

I didn't know a single person at the event but I was there to meet Australians and learn 'how to love'

Pat came over to me offering chocolate 

and the most friendly face I could have imagined in a courtyard full of strangers

As he was busy running the event 

I sat and listened to the readings and joined a small group which was led by his sister Lauren

Another joyful, friendly face in a crowd of strangers

I immediately felt at ease chatting with her about the readings and discussion questions

We bonded over our love for coconut hot chocolate from Max Brenner 

She was soon off to help move her older sister to New York City to join the Sisters of Life, 

a beautiful group of religious women devoted to poverty, chastity, obedience, 

and the sacredness of human life. What an amazing family! 

These two have made me feel so welcomed into their lives 

Inviting me to different events, masses, nights out, introducing me to more lovely Aussie friends, forcing me to go Cuban dancing and planning road trips, 

and weekend adventures for the coming weeks. 

I also met their brother Tom in the following weeks, who is as great to know as they all are.

I am so thankful that Patrick sent out the email that brought me to Love & Responsibility 

where I met some of the greatest friends 

I am so looking forward to getting to know them better and making more unforgettable memories.