I have been blessed...

Every time I turn around, I am reminded once again of the many blessing God showers me with daily; my incredible family, my loving and thoughtful friends, my gifts, and His grace in my daily life.
Christen came to spend the weekend with me, the first time I've seen her since I left in August! It was so great to finally share this experience with her because it means so much to me and she only experienced it through my stories! She arrived Friday night and me, Christen and Emily watched Grey's Anatomy from the previous night (a Saint A's tradition). Saturday morning we helped to prepare the Inn for the coming meal and then Christen served the meal while I did tickets outside. Every time I was able to break away from tickets and asked her how she was doing, a big smile and "GREAT! I love it!" poured out of her mouth. I really have missed her passion and excitement!
After clean up, I was taken on a surprise birthday adventure! I knew nothing about it and was so excited to hang out with Emily, Joanne, Christen and Yvelisse for the day! It wasn't until we drove for about 45 minutes that I learned what the plan and our destination was. They were taking me on a Fall Foliage tour through small towns with windy roads north of Philadelphia! It was so much like being at home!!! I had been complaining a lot about not being able to see leaves change, or leaves at all, so Joanne decided to take me out of the city for the day! While we were driving around, we stopped by the Delaware River and had a picnic, then continued on to Milford, New Jersey for the big finale! We went to The Ship Inn, the oldest brewery in New Jersey, and had a couple beers! We met this man, Richard, who is from England, and bought all our drinks!

The Delaware River at sunset!

Now this may not seem like the ideal way to celebrate your birthday, but it was absolutely perfect for me! The love and thought that Joanne and Emily put into the adventure really reflected their love and care for me! It is such a blessing to have friends like that here!
Sunday, after walking around Center City for a short while with Christen, I sadly dropped her off at the airport and Maureen, Emily and I headed over to Camden for Inter-Community Prayer. We read Isaiah 55, which I highly recommend, and discussed how it relates to our lives here. Some of the most important things I took from it were that it is my role to be the best me I can be, not to compare myself to others or Jesus, but to strive, wholeheartedly, to really fulfill God's plan for me. Something else I took away from the reading is that at the end of every day, if I can show gratitude to God for the day and give all my anxiety and stress to Him, I can wake up the next morning, beginning a new day to live His will. I'm sure everyone can take something different from it, but this is what spoke to me at this time in my life!
And finally, Emily, Yvelisse, Joanne and I went into Philadelphia and got our noses pierced! It was kind of on a whim, but we had been talking about it for awhile and just decided to take the plunge! Now I know my parents aren't particularly happy about it, but they both asked questions and said, "it's your body". I know I'm 23 years old and am allowed to do what I want, but it was really great to know that they aren't mad. They're pretty great! Fr. Michael, on the other hand, called me a hussy- but I'm convinced it was said with love. :-)
In other news, I will be home November 9th-12th and can't wait to see my family, friends and home!!!
Well, I guess that's a long enough update for now! I hope everyone is having a great week!!!