going to india!

Our journey has gone very well so far. We left Des Moines at 4:38pm
on Monday and got to London yesterday at 10am. (There's a 6 hour
difference between London time and US Central time, so we were a
bit tired by the time we got there.) The flight was super nice, though.
We each had our own personal entertainment center in the seat in
front of us; we got a pillow, blanket, and headphones; and we got
dinner, breakfast, and several drink services. The seats were bigger
than the small planes that fly out of Des Moines (it was a 777) and
there was actually a relatively nice amount of leg room. I even managed
to get about 3 hours of sleep.

When we got to London, we got our bags, got some pounds ($2 is
about the same as 1 pound) and took a train the Paddington station where
my cousin Dave met us at Starbucks. (I found it ironic that the first thing
Kim and I did in London was eat at Starbucks.) After taking the train to
Richmond, where my cousins live, Kim and I took a nap, ate dinner, and
then we all headed into downtown London to walk around a bit.

Today Kim and I went exploring. We went to go see the Tower Bridge
and then walked around some of the other monuments and attractions.
Everything closes very early...usually between 4 and 6...and we didn't
get into London until close to 2pm. We did get to see a lot of churches,
thought, which was really cool. (Although it is weird to see people
walking around a church listening to audio tours!)

It was really fun just being able to wander around, not really having any
place that we needed to be. We didn't necessarily know where we were
going the whole time, but that was ok. We always had maps, my cousin's
phone number, and friendly shopkeepers to ask directions if we needed.

I am very glad that we were able to come to London. Our original plans
were to go straight through from Des Moines - Chicago - London - Calcutta
without stopping. We saw, however, that there was about a 5-hour layover
in London, so asked the travel agent if we could just stay there for a few
days and we could, which was great!

Kim made a Yahoo! Photo account and has uploaded some of the photos
we took today. We'll try to keep that updated as much as possible! You
can see them at this website, which I highly recommend!

Anyway, thank you all for your wonderful emails and your prayers! Know
that I am praying for each of you and hope you are doing well!

God bless you!

Kat

coolest day ever!

Just in case you wanted to know!

On Wednesday of this-week, at two minutes and three
seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date
will be 01:02:03 04/05/06.

That won't ever happen again.

You may now return to your (normal ?) life.

operation station

God bless operators! I just got done calling India to let the Missionaries of Charity know when we'll be working with them, but I had some troubles gettting started. I was unsure of how to make an international phone call, even though I had all of the correct numbers for country code and city code and the Motherhouse. So my dad suggested that I call the operator and ask. He was very helpful and told me to leave out the zero before the city code and it worked! Very exciting.

Although the phone call itself was very uneventful. They just said we were most welcome to come and when we get there to ask for Sister Corrina (I think - it was a very poor connection. But my roommate Meggan, who's been there twice will know.)

Yay! I am getting so excited! Now I am all ready to go with everything. Maybe I'll buy a train ticket online before leaving. I also still have to get my vaccinations, but I have those appointments made already. And I should probably find a camping backpack to use as luggage since I don't own one.

Jesus, thanks for being so faithful in helping all of these plans to start coming together! Thank you especially for Kim, who has been influential in getting this all off the ground, despite her extremely busy schedule! You are lovely!

cars, planes, and babies

Today I am in Connecticut until Friday visiting my dear sister Annie who was on my NET team with me! My plane didn't come in last night until 11:30pm and I leave Friday at 6:00am, so my visit is short, but life is always fun and exciting whenever Annie's around. It is so good to see her!

Also, my cousin and her husband just adopted a little boy from Korea! (My cousin was also adopted from Korea when she was an infant, so it's pretty neat!) His name is Owen and last Saturday there was a baby shower for him in Omaha. We played a few games, opened presents, and ate. My favorite thing was we all got to design a onesie for Owen! My sister and I did a joint effort and made a night sky (moon and stars) that said "goodnight moon, goodnight owen." It was a lot of fun. Good idea for a baby shower if anyone is planning one.

Also, my Grandma called me a couple of days ago saying that she was giving up driving and wanted me to have her car because I'm her namesake. She has such a generous, beautiful soul! It must have been so hard for her to make that decision, but I am glad that she at least lives where she does. She is close to my aunt and uncle who are always willing to drop everything and help her. Also the community she lives in has daily busses that can take people shopping and out to do fun things, so she can still remain fairly independant.

Jesus, please bless my Grandmother. Thank you for your faitfulness to her. Also bless my cousin Tricia, her husband Ben, and their new little son Owen. Help them to grow into a happy, holy family. And thank you for this time that You have given me to spend with Annie. May it be a wonderful visit and may we encourage each other and draw each other closer to You!

rangoli

Today in my India class, we learned about some forms of Indian art. This class was really interesting because we learned about Rangoli, which is a type of temporary art made with sand in India. Each morning, a woman from the household would go outside and create a design, usually a geometrical one off of a dot grid, in the front yard. They use a sand that is made of limestone powder. For general daily purposes, this art is made with white sand, but for festivals or marriages or other special occasions, many different colors may be used. Sometimes people decide to freehand their designs and create something more whimsical. Also, grains or flower petals are often used in place of or in addition to the sand.

Many of us were commenting about the American mentality that we need to keep all of our creations. We took pictures of what we had each done and made a lot of comments about it as we were doing it. Our teahcer, on the other hand, said that in India, people do not get attached to their designs because they know that at the first sign of wind or rain, their hard work will be washed away. The most similar thing I could come up with in American culture was sidewalk chalk, although I know plenty of children who cry when the rain washes away their masterpieces. I also found it interesting how Rangoli is often a group effort. One woman will be the main artist, but others will pitch in by filling in colors or helping create a certain area of the design. To Indians, rather than the exclusive goal being the enjoyment of the finished product, the process of making these Rangoli is designed to be enjoyed and calm people. It was a most enjoyable class. I hope to be able to do Rangoli again someday. Maybe I’ll have to go buy some sand…

my new "special friend"

So my roommate Kim and I joined a gym yesterday in an attempt to build up some muscle and weight for our trip to India this summer. (We'll probably need it since we may loose it all from being sick as happened to our other friends who have gone there.) So far we've gone twice and it's really fun! I discovered that I actually like to exercise! Well...it helps to have a friend there too.

Apparently Kim had called them on Monday and the guy said that there was a deal ending yesterday that you could sign up for $35/month with no sign on fee ($100) when they usually wanted a sign on fee of $450 and $50/month member fee. So she went over there and aparently this was not the deal at all. (We're not really sure what it was.) The guy was trying to have her get the really expensive one and she refused. She asked if she and I could get the family membership together ($100 sign on fee and $70/month total) and he said absolutely not until she was about to leave and then he said it was ok.

So now the gym probably has Kim and I down as a couple...but hopefully they just put "family" instead!

God bless you! Happy Ash Wednesday!

slightly bummed

So I have officially ruined my GPA.

Not really, but it's not longer a 4.0 as I was trying to maintain.

I missed getting an A by 0.73% in my Mental Health Nursing class, getting an A- at 92.27%.

Oh well...now school will be a lot less stressful, I suppose.

Not the end of the world.

nun run

This weekend I went on a discernment retreat with the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist! It was a really good weekend. I went into it not really knowing what to expect or what I wanted to take away from it, which I think was good because it helped me to be more open.
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I got to talk with the vocation's director, Sister Joseph Andrew for about 10-15 minutes, which was really helpful. I just told her my entire vocational discernment journey and she said it sounded like I'm called to marriage, but to continue to pray and keep myself open to whatever God has in store!
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I'm really excited about this! She said that as the "JP2 Generation" (as she calls us), one of the important jobs we have is to raise up the next generation's priests and religious. It will be a powerful witness to my children when they discern to be able to say "You know what, honey, your vocation is a beautiful gift from God and whatever He wants you to do is wonderful with your father and me. I even thought about being a religious sister but discerned that God wanted me to be married. We are praying for you and will be happy with whatever you discern."
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It is just exciting to be at the point in my life where God is saying "It's alright for you to know a little bit more about your future now!" Usually I want to know everything at once, but this much is good for me now!
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Anyways, sorry it's been so longs since I've last written! I've been so super busy with school!
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God bless you!

birthday delight!

This Saturday we had my roommate Meggan's little sister Ginny's 9th birthday party at our apartment. 19 little girls were invited over for the surprise pary, and all of them showed up. It was so fun to see her joy as she walked in to her friends running out from every corner of the apartment! But one of the happiest parts was when, five minutes after everyone else had run out, her big brother, Phillip, who had come home from college for her party, ran out and yelled "SURPRISE!" [She didn't know he was going to be there!] I almost started to cry!

This little girl is so wonderful! The only things she asked for for her birthday were to go to Meggan's apartment and watch "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" with her family and to get donations to give to the poor children in India. What a little saint!

She is also so joyful with life. She loves making little pictures or peoms for people as presents and gets so happy when you make a big deal about them. Yesterday Ginny and I spent almost an hour playing "keep the balloons in the air." It was a good time.

Jesus, thank You for Ginny and her witness of love and charity! Please bless her ninth year of life and bring her to an even deeper holiness! You are so good!

best dad ever [part 2]

In case anyone was wondering who the best dad ever is, it's mine.

So this Friday I was on my way to a friend's birthday party and I stopped by my parent's house to get a few things (I also used the opportunity to drop off some dirty laundry to do at a later occasion).

Well...I ran out of time to do lanudry in the weekend because of events I will discuss later. So I got a call from my dad yesterday and I imagined he was going to ask me when I was going to do my laundry, but he said that he'd done it for me! As if that wasn't good enough of him, when I came over to get it today I picked up the bag and felt something cruncy at the bottom...he had gotten me a little prize!

[My dad loves giving my sister and I prizes.]

He had gotten me some toffee covered peanuts and hid them in the bottom of my laundry bag!

I love dads! [Especially mine!]

Jesus, thank you for my wonderful family, especially my wonderful dad! You're the best ever!