Here are a few picutres from Ryan's birthday dinner in Chicago. What a great time!

I have to start out today's post with a "Happy Birthday" to my favorite younger brother Ryan.

Ryan's the best-- my favorite story is when he went to a bar to watch the UCLA game. Sounds normal right? Well, he was on a silent retreat, and snuck out to watch the game. He said he didn't talk, though, so it sounds like a legit deal to me. Besides, retreat or not, the last two minutes of that game brought us all closer to God anyway!

You're the best Ryan! See you tonight in Chicago!


Okay, so after such a fun time last week, Beth and I went back to JT's for the coach's show last night. We got to chat a bit with Rhema McKnight, and both agreed that he is one of the sweetest people that we've ever met.



We told him how exciting he is to watch, and how much we love when he and Samardjiza
jump in the air after a catch. He said that he doesn't always wan't to do it because sometimes he's tired :-)

Good luck with the rest of your season Rhema!!

Highlight photos from the weekend...

An adorable high school student shows off his leprechaun suit made by his mom. (Check out the lights on the camper-- quite a creative use of the stadium cups!!)


Even the dogs in South Bend are rooting for the Irish...

A UT fan enjoying his first time at ND

I ran into Andrew Hennessy on the way to the stadium. Great to see you, Andrew!

Beth and I at the game... a huge thank you to Fr. Scully for the tickets!


After the game Amy and I joined Chuck and Beth for dinner. We got to know ten truly fabulous people who confirmed for me that the Notre Dame family is real. It was such an honor to spend the evening with this amazing group of people, and I will never forget you. Thank you so much to Patrick for sharing your story of faith, hope and a miracle of intercession from Our Lady. I hope I'll get to see you all again soon!




And last but not least, kudos to Beth for spotting this man at Chipotle tonight. In case you can't read the shirt it says, "My blessed trinity: Charlie, Brady and Zibby." Perfect blog material! Keep 'em coming!

My friend Terry and I with the ND leprechaun!

I hope this is true!

Last night I got to take Mary's son and daughter, Adam and Amy, trick-or-treating. We had so much fun!


Afterwards I went to Steve and Erin's to check in on the cutest little monster in South Bend :-)

***Guest Blog from Beth ***

I knew I coulnd't do the "meeting Brady Quinn" story justice by myself, so I asked Beth to tell the story from her perspective...

"The greatest day ever" (all times are approximate)

6:53 Nicole and I are driving to "BASS New Members Night" at Corby's and we are listening to the radio.

7:00 At the corner of Ironwood and 23 the U93 Coach's show comes on. Nicole asks "what is this?" I explain that every week at JT's Charlie and a couple of players do interviews. Nicole asks who is there, and like magic we hear "Heisman hopeful Brady Quinn has entered the building" Nicole freaks out a little bit... "Can we go? Where is this place? Do you care? Can we go?!" I tell Nicole "Sure we can go if you want just tell me if you want to go." We debate for a couple more minutes and turn around at Linebacker.

7:05 Nicole also asks if we can run home real quick and get the camera and her jersey. I am getting worried...

7:20 With Jersey, camera and marker in hand we arrive at JTs.

7:22 We get inside. There are a few people there but most are not even paying attention to what is going on. There are no tables left so we sit at the bar.

7:23 Scary drunk guy talks to me (Nicole is focused on the show)

7:40 Nicole goes to inquire about autograph line, scary drunk guy grabs my belt

7:42 Scary drunk guy hugs me and Nicole says "Boy you make friends easily"

7:45 Show is over time to get autographs....

7:46 We walk right past the other ND players (who are they?!) and let the small child ahead of us in line. Everybody else, get behind us :)

7:48 Nicole makes a friend in line, and we practice taking pictures with her camera. Instructions are very specific.

7:50 Our turn with Brady here is how it goes....

Nicole: Hi Brady (hand extended) I'm Nicole, would you mind signing my jersey?
Brady: Sure
Nicole: I have really been studying football this year, blah blah blah slant pass to Carlson teach my friends blah blah
Brady: Oh really? (thinking she means well)
Nicole: Would you mind if we take a quick picture?
Brady: Real quick

Cue camera buddy. We take picture and are gone after we both shake his hand again... We walk away calmly and Nicole refrains from screaming until we get into the car, overall very well done :) and the rest is history!

I never would have had the guts to do it myself, Thanks Nicole love ya!!

"Proverbs 3:5-6"

My friend Beth and I went to the weekly ND football show tonight, which featured O-linemen Ryan Harris & Dan Santucci, and QB Brady Quinn.


We got to meet Brady afterwards, and he was really nice. (I think I embarrassed myself a little though by trying to talk about some of my new football knowledge. I said something about how I like when he picks up the blitz and audibles for a slant route to John Carlson across the middle, to which I'm pretty sure he said, "Oh really?") Beth said he was probably amused, but I'm not so sure! Anyway, he was sweet enough to take this picuture with us and also to sign my jersey, and I was thrilled.


I especially loved how he signed the jersey. I had heard that he has a strong faith, and the Bible verse he wrote has always been one of my favorites...


Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will direct your paths."

A huge thanks to Beth for telling me about the show, and to Brady for being so nice to us. You both made my day!!

I was driving past Notre Dame about an hour ago, and luckily had my camera with me because the sky was beautiful. I took a few pictures from inside my car while I was waiting at the light at Angela & Notre Dame. Thankfully my windshield wasn't too dirty!

Last night a good friend of mine told me about some of the ND football team's pregame rituals. I knew that they went to mass together, but he told me that they also pray a litany to Mary that one of the captains leads. (I think this year he said it's always Brady Quinn who leads it.) He gave me a copy of the prayer, and I thought I'd share it in case anyone wants to pray it on gamedays too. (I especially thought Ryan O' might like this!)

God the Father of Heaven (R. Have mercy on us)
God the Son, Redeemer of the world
God the Holy Spirit

Holy Mary (R. Pray for us)
Mother of Christ
Mother most pure
Mother most friendly
Mother of good counsel
Mother of our Savior
Virgin most prudent
Virgin most powerful
Virgin more merciful
Virgin most faithful
Seat of Wisdom
Cause of our Joy
Health of the sick
Refuge of sinners
Help of Christians
Queen of angels
Queen of apostles
Queen of martyrs
Queen of all saints
Queen of Peace

Lamb of God, who takes away
the sins of the world (Have mercy on us)

Let us Pray:
Grant, we beseech You, O Lord God, that we may enjoy continual health of mind and body; and by the glorious intercession of Mary, Our Lady, may we accept the joys and trials of this life, and someday enter into Eternal happiness. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Chris Tomlin concert with Melissa~





I was able to take my friend's daughter Melissa to Chris Tomlin's concert this weekend, and it was amazing. (As Melissa said, it's not so much a concert as it is a chance to worship God.) Chris just released a new CD, and Melissa and I both loved the song "How Can I Keep from Singing?' It's a re-write of an old hymn, and an awesome song of hope and trust. I remember the lines from church~ "What though the tempest 'round me roar, I hear the music ringing. It sounds and echoes in my soul... how can I keep from singing?" I have always loved that song (especially the ND folk choir version), so it was awesome to hear him make it new. I am so thankful that I was able to be there, and I hope you'll all get to hear his music sometime soon. Thank you Chris Tomlin for sharing your music, and most of all your faith. (And for stopping to take a picture with us!) We are so grateful!

PS. It was so much fun spending time with Melissa. I've known her since Mary (her mom) and I worked together at ND four years ago, and Melissa was in 7th grade. Now she's a junior in high school! We had a lot of time in the car to chat, and I couldn't help but think how much alike we are. She wants to go to med school, and has a very real passion to become a pediatric oncologist. Melissa has the heart for it, and I know that she can do it. Mary, you must be so proud of her!

A few highlight pictures from last weekend...



The team takes the field...



One last chance--



The rest is history!

Bebo!!

Last night a group of us girls went to see Bebo Norman in concert. Wow. He is so talented, and such an amazing person. I highly recommend checking out his music if you can. Amy, Maureen and I got to talk to him for a few minutes after the concert, and he was so nice to take this picture with us. Hope you all can see him in concert sometime. He's amazing!

This past weekend was awesome! Ryan came in from Chicago, and we had a true 'Notre Dame' weekend... Rocco's for dinner on Friday, then the blue/gold baseball game, taligating, the game, and then CJ's for dinner on Saturday. It doesn't get much better than a day like that!!

Here are two of my favorite pics from the game. The catch by John Carlson was right in front of us. It was awesome--

On September 20th, a beautiful rainbow spanned the sky in South Bend. Who ever said that there isn't gold at the end of the rainbow??

Wow. Those of you who watched the game know exactly what I'm talking about. We needed this one-- what an amazing comeback!!!!!!!

Amy had reserved the mini-movie theater where we live for this game, and so we watched it on a huge screen, complete with surround-sound and stadium seats. It was amazing. My brother and Claire even came in from Chicago for the event. I am so glad they were able to make the trip, and hope that Claire wasn't too overwhelmed watching two Shirilla's cheer on the Irish. Let's just say that it was a little crazy at times! Claire is a great sport!

Here are some of my favorite picutres from the game...






(#28, Kyle McCarthy, went to my high school)







I know it's just a game, but I LOVE it!

Go Irish!!!!

For the past two weeks I've been filling in as a substitute teacher at my former high school, Cardinal Mooney HS in Youngstown, Ohio. An English teacher had to have a surgery right at the beginning of the school year, so I have been filling in and teaching his sophomore Honors English World Lit class, as well as 2 classes of seniors, who are learning Brit. Lit. Literally the day after the MCAT I drove to Ohio to start teaching, and since then have been lesson planning, grading and re-living my days both as a high school student and as a full time teacher! All of the sudden I am watching my grammar more closely, and trying to stay at least a day ahead of the students with their reading assignments. To tell the truth, when I was in high school I would have rather forgotten about the story "Beowulf", but all of last week I found new interest in it as I had to teach it to about 55 seniors!!

It's been a lot of fun being back at my high school, and a great chance to be back in the classroom. The first few days I was really tired, and remembered the early days of ACE (and the challenges) of teaching in Baton Rouge. But soon enough, I was also remembering all of the GOOD parts about teaching-- at the top of the list is getting to know the students. They are really a good group of people, and I am going to miss them when I return to South Bend!!

By the way, speaking of South Bend... way to go Irish! I can't wait to be there for the Michigan game and take in all the best parts of South Bend in the fall. Good luck vs. Penn State!!