getting to know your friends '07 edition

I just got an e-mail that I thought would be fun to answer on my blog.

"Welcome to the 2007 edition of getting to know your friends. Change all the answers so they apply to you, and then send this to a whole bunch of people including the person who sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little things about your friends, if you did not know them already."

1. What time did you get up this morning? around 7:00
2. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? we are marshall
3. What is your favorite TV show? alias (still sad it was cancelled), 24
4. Favorite cuisine? italian
5. What is your middle name? marie
6. What food do you dislike? hot-dogs and coleslaw
7. What is your favorite CD at the moment? norah jones
8. What kind of car do you drive? a white saturn (148,000 miles and still running!)
9. Favorite sandwich? turkey w/tomatoes and mustard on toasted rye
10. Favorite item(s) of clothing? right now it's my new winter coat, because it was -10 degrees with the wind chill today!
11. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation where would you go? italy
12. What color is your bathroom? white
13. Favorite brand of clothing? banana republic
14. What was your most memorable birthday? turning 21 at the grotto
15. Favorite sport to watch? football and baseball
16. Favorite saying? hmm.. maybe "coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous."
17. When is your birthday? may 17th
18. Are you a morning person or a night person? a little of both
19. What is your shoe size? 8
20. Pets: none but would love a golden retriever some day.
21. What did you want to be when you were little? annie. other than that, i think a teacher or a ballet dancer
22. What is your favorite candy? does cherry garcia ben and jerry's frozen yogurt count as candy???
23. What is your favorite flower? tuilps and roses
24. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? hmm... february 10th- chris tomlin concert in chicago

trick plays, proposals and potatoes

My good friend Ryan O'Connor takes a break from his adventures in Guatemala to break down "the state of the (ND) nation" in his latest blog. I know a lot of ND fans, but Ryan takes it to a whole new level...


While I'm talking football, I have to take the chance to wrap up my '06 season comments. There's not too much to say about the Sugar Bowl, but on the brightside I did get to watch the greatest bowl game ever complete with a thrilling last minute TD to take the game into overtime, a coach that went for the win and came up big, and of course, the after-game marriage proposal. My new favorite? Jared Zabransky. The best part about him? He grew up on a potato farm, and his claim to fame is that he can throw one 80 yards. A potato that is.

I know I'm probably guilty of jumping on the bandwagon with this one, but looks like I'm not alone. As the Boise State president recently said in a press conference, the admissions office has seen a 135 percent increase in online inquiries and graduate school applications have soared. “The week after New Year’s normally produces about three to four applications a day for graduate school, this week 30 to 40 applications arrived at our door every day.'

Do you think they have a med school?

the work of Christmas

I am reminded every year in the days following Christmas by this poem I found a few years back that "the work of Christmas" begins again each new year. I pray that 2007 will be a blessed year for all of you!

The Work of Christmas
by Howard Thurman

When the star in the sky is gone,
When the Kings and Princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins.
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry
To release the prisoner,
To teach the nations,
To bring Christ to all,
To make music in the heart.

cutdown '06

Back in October Beth told us about her family's tree cutdown tradition, and we had to check it our for ourselves. This is why I love the midwest!

favorite day

I've been out of town for the last week and haven't had a chance to write in awhile, but I wanted to be sure to remember one of my favorite days of all time, December 5th, 1842. One hundred and sixty four years ago this week Fr. Sorin wrote these words to Fr. Moreau, and so many lives have been changed forever because of it!


December 5, 1842

Beloved Father,
When we least dreamed of it, we were offered an excellent piece of property, about 640 acres in extent. This land is located in the county of St. Joseph on the banks of the St. Joseph River, not far from the city of St. Joseph (Michigan). It is a delightfully quiet place, about twenty minutes from South Bend. This attractive spot has taken from the lake which surrounds it the beautiful name of Notre Dame du Lac. . . . It is from here that I write you now.

Everything was frozen over. Yet it all seemed so beautiful. The lake, especially, with its broad carpet of dazzling white snow, quite naturally reminded us of the spotless purity of our August Lady whose name it bears, and also of the purity of soul that should mark the new inhabitants of this chosen spot . . . . We were in a hurry to enjoy all the scenery along the lakeshore of which we had heard so much. Though it was quite cold, we went to the very end of the lake, and like children, came back fascinated with the marvelous beauties of our new home. . . . Once more, we felt that Providence had been good to us and we blessed God from the depths of our soul.

Will you permit me, dear Father, to share with you a preoccupation which gives me no rest? Briefly, it is this: Notre Dame du Lac was given to us by the bishop only on condition that we establish here a college at the earliest opportunity. As there is no other school within more than a hundred miles, this college cannot fail to succeed. . . . Before long, it will develop on a large scale. . . . It will be one of the most powerful means for good in this country.

Finally, dear Father, you cannot help see that this new branch of your family is destined to grow under the protection of Our Lady of the Lake and of St. Joseph. At least, this is my deep conviction. Time will tell if I am wrong.


E. Sorin

friday night lights

The day after Thanksgiving my dad and uncle and I went to see Mooney play in the state playoffs, and it was great to see so many of the students that I taught in September. Good luck to the Cardinals in the state final on Friday!



Tony Brunetti

Dom Scarnecchia

Jason Hehr

Alyssa Moody and Tori Salata

birthdays

fiThis Thanksgiving we also celebrated my cousin Ana's 1st birthday!



My cousin Bobby's son Matthew got a preview for his big day just around the corner...

Ray Ray and Andrea are best buddies!

brady and ben

After missing out all season, I finally got to watch the players walk from the Basilica to the stadium.


Ben Hunter made it back for the game... great to see you Ben!

tradition never graduates

"Tradition Never Graduates"

Here are some quotes I loved from Charlie Weis' press conference today...

Q. Seeing how it is Senior Day, and I know there's a few games left this year, what has Brady meant to this program, the last four years in your mind?

COACH Charlie Weis: I can't imagine any player in this country being more important to his team than Brady Quinn is to ours. I can't imagine it. Maybe that exists. I just can't imagine it. Therefore, he's meant it to our team, he's meant it to our coaching staff and to our entire university. He'll be dearly missed.

Q. Do you anticipate that he's going to be some degree involved and important to your program years down the road?

COACH Charlie Weis: I could see that he'll always be a significant factor in our program, always.

......

Q. Any general thoughts on the Ohio State/Michigan game?

COACH Charlie Weis: Obviously you have 1 versus 2, the two undefeated teams that have got it rolling. It should be an interesting matchup. We obviously played one of the teams this year and played one of the teams last year and we lost to both of them.

Q. No rooting?

COACH Charlie Weis: I root for Notre Dame. Whatever is best for Notre Dame, that's what I'm rooting for. Tell me what that is and that's what I'm rooting for.

.....

Q. Obviously one of the legacies of the seniors is the experience and mentoring that they provided to the younger players. Given the amount of players you're losing on the offensive side of the ball, can you talk about how they have done as a group preparing younger players for what will happen next year?

COACH Charlie Weis: I was talking to a high school coach out in California this year, and he was ... in the same situation where he had graduated a bunch of players, and the phrase that he came up with which I thought was great which I'm going to copycat and use this year was "tradition never graduates."

I mean, players can graduate, but tradition doesn't, and I think that's what Notre Dame stands for. So there's going to be a change of personnel every year. There's going to be people going out and there's going to be people coming in. That's just the way it is. But if they are part of a tradition, I think they realize it's just one guy moves out and the next guy moves in, and your job is to win regardless of who wins and who comes in.

colorado springs

I just got this picutre from my roommate Amy, who went to the Air Force game with her boyfriend Brian last weeked. It's too good not to share -- thanks Amy!

A good picture of Kyle McCarthy (a Mooney grad) in the Air Force game--

One good thing about the ND game not being on cable is that we got to watch it at a place packed with fans. We shared our table with Kathy and Cathy, who are HUGE fans! It was great to meet you both!



I also saw Kara too. See you next weekend at CJ's Kara!!

Jeff called around midnight last night to let me know that Kansas State had upset Texas. Things are looking better and better for the Irish, and it will be interesting to see what happens next weekend when tOSU plays Michigan. I think I want Michigan to win* (sorry Christy), although I can't really imagine rooting for either team.

One last thing for today-- when I was in Chicago with Ryan on his birthday he added this line at the end of his prayer before we ate: "And it's not too early to start adding prayers for the USC game, so God, let the Irish win." (*Note, this was on November 7th, and the game is on the 25th.) I love it!!

Happy 23rd Birthday to my awesome sister Christy! I love you!


Also, a big thanks to Prof. Jim Davis for the 8 tickets to the ND basketball home opener last night. We had a great time!



The funniest picture of the night was definietly this one. I'm not sure if it was a leftover Halloween costume or what, but this ND student came dressed as a box of wine. Hmmm...




Alli and Beth... two of the biggest ND fans I know!!

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!