In 2019, Give Me 5

2019 - Holy cow, it feels like we're talking about some futuristic time period. Yet, the calendar flips to it tomorrow at midnight. I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but time sure flies.

I know it's cliche to talk about goals for the upcoming year, but I figure I should put my own in writing anyways...and now is as good a time as any, isn't it? Now, some of these things I am already committed to, but I'm pretty sure they still count, even if I made these goals/commitments within the past few months:

1. Use my talents for the betterment of others --> Run a marathon for charity - I started training a few weeks ago for the annual ACE marathon in the spring. And I've raised about $200 so far (thanks to my amazing friends who have donated!). I convinced my sister to run it with me, and I have friends in the CA area who are planning to come out to cheer and visit, so it's going to be quite a weekend. I just need to buy that plane ticket...

2. Grow in community and share of my time --> Volunteer on a regular basis for the same organization - Recently I've helped out at various organizations and for random activities as the opportunities presented themselves. And those were all quite worthwhile. (My recent favorite was volunteering at Misericordia's bakery during the holiday season with a group from church.) But I started to feel like I was missing something - that I wanted to have a relationship with an organization, the people running it as well as other volunteers. So I connected with Mission OLA - the group of nuns and religious there do an amazing job in the Humboldt Park neighborhood and they are always looking for helping hands. It should be the perfect fit, and I'll hopefully make it over there on a weekly basis starting in a couple of weeks. And, who knows, I might end up doing another marathon (Indianapolis, perhaps?) to fundraise for them in the fall (see goal #1). I'll keep you posted...

3. Share my passion for Catholic education --> Present at a national conference - I have one of my grad school professors to thank for pushing me on this one. I've always wanted to attend NCEA, and this year it's in Chicago...and I submitted a proposal to present, which was accepted. (And I found out that several friends are also presenting at the conference!) Now that we're just a few months out, it's a little nerve-wracking, but I'm also excited, as my topic is along the lines of my grad school work on getting students engaged in preparing for, participating in, and reflecting on the Catholic Mass. I definitely have some work to do before April.

4. Grow in knowledge and cultivate (new) friendships --> Join a book club - Since grad school finished, I've found myself filling quite a bit of my time with books. I ended up stumbling across many good reads since July, but it tends to be, at least for me, more fruitful when you read in a group and for a purpose. Therefore, in January I plan to join a local Catholic book club at a church nearby. Their first read is a book about Pier Giorgio Frassati - he is a saint I've wanted to learn more about, so this might work out quite nicely!

5. Be brave and open up to others --> Take a chance on the opposite sex - Admittedly, I feel a little funny putting this one in writing, especially since everyone always tells you that love happens when you least expect it and that I've never been particularly skilled in the flirting department, but what the heck. After all, I no longer have grad school and my sister's wedding as excuses, do I? What do I have to lose (except my comfort zone)?


Five goals seems doable, especially considering many of them are already in motion. And I hope that these particular goals will help me become a better person and a more devoted disciple of Christ one day at a time. Cheers to 2019!

iRead 2018

1. Bored Again Catholic: How the Mass Could Save Your Life (Timothy P O’Malley) - 1/4/18
2. Of Beetles and Angels (Mawi Asgedom) - 3/30/18
3. The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates (Wes Moore) - 6/12/18
4. Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World (Admiral William H. McRaven) - 6/13/18
5. The Baker’s Secret (Stephen P Kiernan) - 6/22/18
6. The Five People You Meet in Heaven (Mitch Albom) - 7/16/18
7. The Secret Of Magic (Deborah Johnson) - 7/25/18
8. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton) - 7/31/18
9. Beartown (Frederik Backman) - 8/2/18
10. One Day (Dan Nicholls) - 8/9/18
11. The Boys in the Boat (Daniel James Brown) - 10/3/18
12. A Spark of Light (Jodi Picoult) - 10/7/18
13. Every Note Played (audiobook) (Lisa Genova) - 10/12/18
14. The Next Five People You Meet in Heaven (Mitch Albom) - 10/12/18 *This one was my favorite, hands down! Can't compete with Mitch Albom in my book (no pun intended).*
15. Nowhere Boy (Katherine Marsh) - 10/27/18
16. Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions (Valeria Luiselli) - 10/28/18
17. The Dream Daughter (Diane Chamberlain) - 11/4/18
18. The Rain Watcher (Tatiana de Rosnay) - 11/18/18
19. The Energy Bus (Jon Gordon) - 11/18/18
20. The No Complaining Rule (Jon Gordon) - 11/24/18
21. Unselfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed In our All-About-Me World (Michele Borba, Ed.D.) - 12/23/18
22. Before We Were Yours (Lisa Wingate) - 12/24/18
23. The Magician’s Nephew (CS Lewis) - 12/25/18
24. One Day in December (Josie Silver) - 12/27/18

25. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (CS Lewis) - 12/29/18

As you can see, the first half of 2018 was a little light in the book department (and that's understandably so as during that time I was finishing up grad school), but I made up for my lack of recreational reading during the latter half of the year, especially the last three months of it. While I wouldn't come right out and recommend every book on this list, most were well worth the time and effort. Some were recommendations from friends (or, increasingly, Instagram posts) while others were re-reads, favorite authors, or random finds. (Sometimes book covers just appeal to me; I can't explain it.)

I know you may be thinking I was premature in posting this list, as I still have a few days to go in 2018, but I'm quite content with this list as is. Though, a few more books (especially those in the Narnia series) might grace this list before the ball drops on NYE. We shall see...

Another year in the books, would you look at that... (I'm now accepting reading recs for 2019, in case you were wondering.)

Through the Wardrobe

I think it's time to get back to blogging, mostly for my own sake if for no one else's occasional enjoyment. It's good to look back from time to time and reflect on what crossed my mind, tickled my fancy, or made an impact over the past year...

Take this Christmas break, for example. It's been rather laid back - we've done some visiting, some church-going, some baking and cooking, some marathon training, and a LOT of reading. When I arrived at my parents' house in Michigan, I remembered that I had left a few boxes of books in the basement - these were books I couldn't bear to part with (even if they would be collecting dust in the basement) when I went from classroom teacher to school administrator last summer. In this box of books was the Chronicles of Narnia boxed set, so I brought that up, started reading, and plan to bring the complete set home with me when I head back to Chicago in a few days. (I've never actually read the whole series, which, as a religion teacher for many years, I am ashamed to admit, as the themes are so rich for teaching the faith.)

But anyways...once upon a time in my early teaching days in Arizona, I used The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as a read aloud for my fourth grade class. Now, I know as a teacher you're not supposed to have favorites, but this particular class was pretty darn special. Some of that was due to the fact that I had the most amazing group of parents with whom some, to this day, I still keep in touch. As we read through the novel, I got to thinking it would be pretty incredible to create Narnia for my students, so I suggested it to the parents, and they brought my idea to life. (And this was back before the days of Pinterest!) With an adjoining empty classroom, it wasn't too hard. They must have done most of the set-up during the morning, and when my class went to specials, they put the wardrobe in my classroom. When the kids got back, they went nuts! Cries of "It's Narnia!" rang through our room, and they, of course, wanted to try it out. (Who wouldn't?)

We opened the "wardrobe" (which was probably a refrigerator box, but I don't quite remember), and went next door. The parents had done an incredible job - snowflakes were hanging from the ceiling, miniature houses and cotton balls created a sense of a village, and there were toy figurines representing some of the characters, including Aslan. We even had a lamppost! (That I remember clearly as being made from a pole and two clear Chinese take-out boxes engineered together.) After some looking around, my students settled in for a read aloud - we probably read a chapter or two. And then it was time to leave.

By the time we got back from lunch, the wardrobe was gone, Narnia had been whisked away, and it seemed like it had all been a dream. One student astutely pointed out, "Maybe it only happens when it's a cold rainy day," which it surprisingly was that morning. (In Arizona, imagine that!) But my, what a morning we had. And every time I reread Narnia, I'll think of that class and those parents and the magic of opening our imaginations with the creative help from those parents.

In my ten years of teaching, I know I made a lot of mistakes as a teacher, probably more mistakes than things I did right, and I probably didn't raise as many test scores as I should have, but I'm pretty sure they learned at least a little. Above all, I hope my students remember that they had teachers who believed in them, challenged their creative and critical thinking, and loved them.

It's funny how little things hold such big places in our hearts even years and years later. It's memories like these that make me realize I found the vocation God planned for me...and that make me realize I should probably write these things down. ;)

Reading My Way Through 2017

Though this list is not as diverse or long as I hoped it would be, it's always good to look back. Some books were recommended by friends; others were required for school or grad school. Still others just happened to be ones I had around my house or that I happened to pick off the shelf due to their names, covers, or authors... 

Books of 2017:

1. Mercy in the City (Kerry Weber) - 1/12/17
2. The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway) - 1/15/17
3. One Ordinary Sunday (Paula Houston) - 2/4/17
4. Raising Cain (school book club) - 2/26/17
5. Walk in Her Sandals (Wahlquist - women's Christian book club) - 4/16/17
6. The Charm Bracelet (Viola Shipman) - 6/6/17
7. The Power of Habit (Charles Duhigg) - 6/21/17
8. A Sense of Urgency (John P Kotter) - 6/22/17
9. My Brilliant Friend (Elena Ferrante) - 6/27/17
10. Moo (Sharon Creech) - 7/2/17
11. 7 Riddles to Nowhere (AJ Cattapan) - 7/22/17
12. Understanding Independent School Parents: The Teacher's Guide to Successful Family-School Relationships (Thompson & Mazzola) - 7/30/17
13. The Alchemist - 7/31/17 - audio
14. Something Beautiful for God - 8/5/17 - audio
15. The Chosen (Chaim Potok) - 8/8/17
16. Saints for All Occasions (J Courtney Sullivan) - 8/10/17
17. When Breath Becomes Air (Paul Kalanithi) - 8/13/17
18. Wishtree (Katherine Applegate) - 10/1/17
19. The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic (Matthew Kelly) - 10/7/17
20. Tattoos on the Heart (Fr Greg Boyle) - 10/22/17
21. Same Kind of Different As Me (Ron Hall & Denver Moore) - 11/18/17
22. Barking at the Choir (Fr Greg Boyle) - 11/21/17
23. The Art of Hearing Heartbeats (Jan-Philipp Sendker) - 12/11/17
24. Cutting for Stone (Abraham Verghese) - 12/26/17
25. Tuck Everlasting (Natalie Babbitt) - 12/28/17


I feel that readers can find so much joy and wisdom from the pages of books. It looks like I'll be reading into 2018 with St. Augustine's Confessions, but after that my recreational reading will depend on grad school, so we shall see...

What makes a meaningful life?

I've NEVER (I repeat, NEVER) been excited about teaching Family Life. Why we still use the textbook series we use is beyond my comprehension - the themes are there (if you look REALLY hard), but the substance is completely surface level. How are we supposed to get the kids serious and interested about the topics if we don't give them anything worth being serious about in the first place?

It has taken five years of teaching middle school religion to finally take this into my own hands and do something different. (It's not that I haven't changed things up before in Family Life - I must say, "Tuesdays with Morrie" has been the catalyst of some of the most meaningful discussions I've ever had with students - but they need something even more.) In sixth grade, the topics span all stages of life, from natural conception to natural death, and focus on the decisions we face in each stage. 

So, if you think about it, the question I should be posing to my sixth graders is this: What makes a meaningful life?

This question has been posed throughout history and, notably, across many great works of fiction (and nonfiction)/entertainment. Take A Christmas Carol, where Scrooge learns that a life of building up one's own riches and not spreading love and joy to others is no life worth living at all. Or, consider my personal favorite, "It's a Wonderful Life," where George Bailey gets a chance to see what the world would be like without him, and through that experience he understands how much one life has the power to positively affect so many others.

Think about Mitch who took a lesson from his old professor in Tuesdays with Morrie:
“So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”

I'm still fleshing out the exact activities and discussions of this unit... What makes this unit/theme difficult is that many students have lost grandparents and one of my sixth graders recently lost his father to a rare disease, so I do need to tread carefully, allowing students opportunities to speak with the guidance counselor or do whatever they need should a particular discussion or activity bring certain emotions or memories to the surface. (While it has been a long time since my grandparents died, I admit I still cry at the end of the movie "Tuesdays with Morrie" every year when we watch it in class. And that's okay...and I want the students to know that and be able to safely experience that too.)

Some people may think middle school students should not have to grapple with this question or may not understand it or cannot handle it...but I respectfully disagree with anyone who feels this way. Our children can and should think about these things. If not now, then when? If not under guidance and in the safe space of a classroom, then where?

So, right now the plan is to keep "Tuesdays with Morrie," but I'm going to open our unit with a look at a work of fiction, Tuck Everlasting, to set the scene and to act as a comparative piece of literature. (If you have not yet experienced this beautiful book, then I suggest you make your way to the closest public library or to Amazon because, in my humble opinion, you are missing out.) It's the story of Winnie Foster and how her path crosses that of the Tuck family on one fateful summer day. To not give away too much while still providing the context of using this in class, the Tucks drank from a spring that allows them to live forever. At first this seems like a marvelous idea, but as Mr. Tuck explains later on, it's more complicated than the glamour and thrill such a life suggests. It's not natural. "You can't have living without dying," Tuck states to Winnie at one point. (Morrie says it another way: "Once you learn how to die you learn how to live.") But when faced with the decision to drink from the same stream or to let her life keep its natural course, what will Winnie do? And, as the reader, you ask yourself, what would you do? What if you could live forever?

I'm hoping the students can use this opportunity to engage seriously in considering all aspects of life, from conception to death, as the gift God has given each of us. And I hope this book (as well as "Tuesdays with Morrie") will help provide the structure the class needs to do just that and to consider how their decisions and actions will shape their lives into meaningful ones.

As the years come and go - can we believe it's 2018 so soon?! - it's a thought worth pondering for all of us: "What makes a meaningful life?" And, perhaps more importantly, we should be asking ourselves, "What am I doing to make my life meaningful - something beautiful for others and for God?"

On that note, Happy New Year! I wish you all the best in 2018!

I left my heart in San Francisco...

My (mini) San Francisco vacation in photos:

at the airport (11/18) - a little early for Christmas, just saying...

Two great reads from my trip - I highly recommend them!

My friend/host is the best - she had water waiting for me!

We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge!

It was a picture-perfect day in San Francisco!

Pretty as a postcard...

Bridge Selfie

Enjoy the views

The skyline

Sunset view

So many smiles - good times! Love these people...

Representing ACE Phoenix - SJV love

Wine tasting on Sunday with my hosts

We also tasted (and purchased) cheese

more wine photos

"Is this the 'That was good!' photo?"

The ferry building

Coit Tower from below

We didn't count the stairs...but my dad told me there were 400+...I believe it...

Views from the top of Coit Tower

Panorama-style

We saw Alcatraz from afar

Views from the top of Coit Tower

Lombard Street! (Walk down it, not up it...)

Chinatown dim sum

They folded the fortune cookies right in front of us!

Old Saint Mary's Church

Chinatown entrance

We visited our classmate's school in Chinatown!

So great to tour and catch up...

Gift from my hosts :)

Great pit stop :) Free samples

A perk from an early morning flight

Gotta have a good snack on a 3 1/2+ hour flight

These were just a sampling of photos - pictures could really not do this part of our country justice. I can see why there's even a song about how you can leave your heart in San Francisco...

Columbus Day Weekend - Marathon, Ice Cream, and Reading!

Columbus Day weekend means two things in Chicago:

1) Marathon time!

2) No school (if you're lucky)

It turns out that I knew quite a few people running in this year's marathon (none of whom are pictured below - those are random people who happened to run by as I decided to photograph), and it was exciting to cheer them on as well as the tens of thousands of other runners. What a great day!...even though it was probably 20 degrees too hot for the runners...

After we finished watching (but before the clean-up crews came), I went with my sister, her fiance, and another friend to brunch at the cutest French bakery. We had actually just been there Friday night for a girls' happy hour, but clearly it was that good we wanted to come again right away! It was still as delicious round #2.

The way I ate on Sunday you would have thought I ran the marathon... Later in the afternoon, I met up with Marisa and her fiance for ice cream at one of our favorite spots. The weather was perfect for ice cream-licking on seats just outside the building - we had shade from the buildings and L stop, and it was not quite hot enough to melt the ice cream before I finished the cone...

I did try the pumpkin...mmm...

Today I was one of the lucky ones to not have school. I did get up early (so as to not mess with my ability to fall asleep tonight) - I went to the gym, got some grad school work done, and then went to daily Mass at my church. Daily Mass is probably one of my favorite parts of the Catholic church...I just wish I could do it more often. (This will probably be one of my action steps for Advent this year - finding a church with daily Mass that is either early enough to go before school or late enough to go after school.) Today's Gospel was about the Good Samaritan - it's always a wonderful reminder to hear that one! After Mass I got my daily cup o' Joe at the coffee shop near church, and on my walk home I caught up with a friend who recently moved to another state. I tell you - so many wonderful things before 10 a.m.!

Upon arriving home, I did some additional work for grad school and regular school (lesson planning for next week) until mid-afternoon. At that time, I decided to get some fresh air, so I walked up to the park, where I knew I would find some peace and some shade.

It was glorious! My book of choice was Tattoos on the Heart, which I have read before but felt compelled to read again. I'm glad I decided to pick it up - so many heart tugs, so much wisdom, so much love. If you haven't read it before (or even if you have), I urge you to read it (again). One line in the preface (photo included below) particularly caught my eye: "If there is a fundamental challenge...it is to change our lurking suspicion that some lives matter less than other lives." How beautiful and how true! As Christians we cannot think any life is worth less - we are all loved by God. (I also included a poem from the end of the introduction below - read it slowly, and then re-read it.)

Back to reality tomorrow when the alarm sounds at 4:45. It's a 4-day week...I totally got this!