I get by with a little help from my friends...

Back home (in my apartment with no air conditioning), I can finally breathe and let the past 25 months (or 3 years, same difference, right?) sink in. I won't shy away from the fact that it was challenging, but I wouldn't trade the experience for the world.

And, in addition to God, my classmates, professors, and family are the ones to thank for that...


PLC 1: Always remember to PLC like a champion today...and never follow Phil.

We just weren't complete the first week...

My prayer partner:

My roommate (3 summers running...):

My ACE housemate (now in the program one year behind me):

Our amazing Holy Cross priests:

annual t-shirt unveiling

My 29 classmates:

Room 210 for presentation day - love these guys!

ACE 15, now RLP 15 :) :)

all graduated!! :D

My family:

Now it is time to look forward to what the future holds...may God bless all of us as we continue our endeavors as Catholic school educators and leaders!

Week One - Over So Soon...?

So much to be grateful for after the first week of this, our very short 2-week summer. Graduation will shortly be upon us, and there is much to celebrate.

Here is a look back at week 1...

We opened with retreat last Saturday over at Moreau seminary. It's such a beautiful space, especially the chapel, where we gathered for prayer and Mass. I was blest with the opportunity to share a talk/reflection with my classmates, and it turns out that helped me process a lot of these last two years and the journey I've/we've taken.

At the end of retreat, we got our annual t-shirts - this year ours are Kelly Green and say "Remick Leaders."

me and my roommate

me and my prayer partner

Cohort 15 (minus two of us)

the whole crew - Cohorts 15, 16, and 17

PLC 1...minus Jess (who is at home with a newborn)

We ended the day with a progressive dinner. Here's a photo from our first course - the salad! Table 7 - woo hoo!!

When it comes down to it, the people are what make this place and program special...

Remick 15 Chicago

some of Cohort 15 celebrating after week 1

some of my favorite ladies celebrating the 4th of July

Did I mention how much I love sparklers?

And then, of course, there's the Grotto...which is absolutely beautiful and peaceful by day or by night...

And there are plenty of sunsets over the lake...

After so many years at Notre Dame in the summers, it's going to be hard to say goodbye. I have been blessed to know, work, and be in classes with so many incredible individuals. But we've reached the final countdown...and it's going to be time to be sent forth, filled with zeal and courage, love and hope. 

Love thee, Notre Dame. Love thee, Remick 15.

Road Trip - Take 3

What a trip! (See Tetons & Glacier (1 & 1.5), respectively if you missed those and want to read about those adventures.) We finally made it to Canada - day 7 of our journey. Woot! I'll admit by that time I was pretty mentally and emotionally exhausted by thinking about the potential presence of bears everywhere, so it wasn't exactly thrilling to know that our campsite had spotted two grizzly bears nearby earlier that morning...

(Crossing the border was fun too - I hadn't signed my passport, which I then promptly had to do, and when asked if we were planning on leaving anything in Canada, I replied, "Not if we can help it." (One day my mouth might get me in trouble, but I just couldn't help it.) And I also kinda lied about the bear spray we had in the backseat - technically he didn't call it by its name; though, he listed everything else similar in the book (e.g. pepper spray). Oops.)

But it sure was beautiful in Banff, which must do a crushing business during the ski season. The town is set up for such tourism, you can tell.

Once we set up our tent, we went for a hike nearby and then got dinner in the town. We walked around for a little bit afterwards, making room for ice cream. (That was an amazing life choice...as always.) And then we were ready to call it a night. The next morning we got up, packed up the tent, and headed for another close hike before traveling up to Lake Louise (a must see in Banff, apparently) and finally starting our long journey home...

But before we get to the long journey home, here are a few pictures:

On Monday, after visiting Lake Louise, we traveled to Swiftcurrent, where we spent the night. The following morning, we got up pretty early (though not as early as we intended because we were one time zone over than we thought) so that we would have time to stop at Teddy Roosevelt National Park for a hike before making it to Fargo.

We found Cracker Barrel!

The moon was so big!

For our final leg of the journey, we pretty much drove straight through...starting at 4 a.m. We were determined to beat Chicago traffic. And we did!

And the best part of the trip?

1. Bear spray remained unopened!

2. I added 3 national parks on my poster as places I've been.

And now I'm at Notre Dame for two short weeks. I'm excited to graduate, but it's all bittersweet because this is one of the best groups of people I have ever had the privilege of knowing and we'll all be soon heading our separate ways. Going to try to enjoy it while it's here, though...