Capstone Presentations

It's been a long time coming...

The past year I have been working alongside 4 of my fellow Rockhurst University classmates on a Research project that is required of us to graduate from the MOT program.  Finally, this past Friday we presented our research data in front of our professors, other RockU faculty and staff, countless family members and the rest of our classmates.

I can't believe how far we have come in our time here at Rockhurst.  I am so proud of my group members - Kolina, Kayla, Emily and Lacey.  We spent many hours after class and extra Fridays at school... not to mention a bus ride back from Topeka to perfect this project!  We could not have done it without our Capstone Mentor, Mary Jane and Dr. Clump for helping us with data analysis (it would have been impossible without him!). I personally could not have done this without the love, support, prayers and sacrifice of my parents, family, roommates, friends ---and most importantly without placing my trust in the hands of my Heavenly Father.

As we walked to the front of the room, the girls asked me if I had my rosary in my pocket (as I usually do, especially during stressful days such as lab practicals).  I hated to respond with, "No, because I don't have pockets today."  However, I was able to quickly add, "But I do have my posse (St. Sebastian, the Holy Family, and St. Faustina medals) and I have lots of people praying for us."  A calm quickly came over me and I knew that the Holy Spirit was with me.

It's been a wonderful experience, but I can't say that I ever want to do another research project again :) Thanks girls, for the journey!

My Capstone Group: Lacey, Kayla, Emily, Kolina, myself

Our poster! So official :)

My beautiful Godchild and sister. Thanks for coming to support me!

My parents. They have sacrificed so much for me to be where I am today.
The love and support is indescribable. I love you both!

Eskimo kisses for Aunt Cece. Shheesh she's cute. 

It was a Happy Flight Redbirds!

I should have posted this before the series started, but now it is over and I still feel like it is necessary to post it.  For baseball fans everywhere this was a seven game series that will never be forgotten - especially for those who grew up with a love for the Cardinal Nation.  I am proud to say I am a Cards fan after fighting to come back and win the series in the final game, and in Busch Stadium at that.  I only wish my brother, Marcus, would have gotten to experience the excitement as well instead of being deployed overseas.  

Twas the Night Before the World Series – written by Joe Rathert

Twas the night before the World Series, and throughout Cardinal Nation, fans dreamt of ball bats and standing ovations. Jerseys were hung in the lockers with care. This year’s Fall Classic, soon, would be there.

Nyjer Morgan was restless and rolling in bed, grudgingly eating the words he had said. Carp slept in his cleats, and Freese in his cap, while some players struggled even to nap.

The Phils had the pitching, the Brewers, the batters, but as of that night, none of that mattered. The Redbirds gave them a run for their cash, and took them each out like a week’s worth of trash.

Fans felt some guilt, for two months ago, they took their towels and gave them a throw. “The Cardinals are finished and I have great fear; we may have squandered Albert’s last year.”

But the Players not once believed they’d been licked. They made up some ground and made it up quick. With heart and resilience, the comeback came. The season hinged on its very last game.

So Albert, and Lance, Allen and Jay, and all of the Cards (except Holliday), delivered a win in game 162, then waited to see what Atlanta would do.

Their collapse was completed on that very same night. While booze filled the air, Redbirds cheered, “Happy Flight!” Most fans regret their early surrender, but this is a lesson they’d surely remember.

One test remained; a club called the Rangers. To World Series baseball, they were no strangers. Nor were the Redbirds, with history so great. Last rings in ’06, not 1908.

So with hearts full of hope Card Nations slumbered. hopes to reach four, the new Magic Number. Twas a perfect year to get number 11, and bring home the trophy to MLB Heaven.

Go Cards!

These are two things I have constantly been needing to remind myself of lately.

The first is more for my sanity, the second is more for my soul.  Both are directly related to how close I am to finishing my graduate program.  This last semester is flying by, yet while I am sitting in class I feel like the hours are dragging on and I cannot pay attention for one more second.  Then all these assignments, quizzes, lab practicals, etc hit me like a ton of bricks and I need the reminder: Keep calm and just graduate.  I know it is going to do me no good to worry.  I know I need to place my anxiety in the hands of my Father and he will take care of me.  The last month however has been a struggle.  I wake up each morning and promise myself I am going to do better, but I find that I constantly have to remind myself each day that it really is out of my control.  With each passing day, I am inching back (slowly but surely) to the place where I once was – and finding that peace in knowing that if I give everything I have, God will take care of the rest. 

Now on to the second statement… I have been so caught up in the excitement that I am going to be moving home soon that sometimes I forget to live, enjoy, and be grateful for where I am RIGHT NOW. In the past month and a half, I have gone home every other weekend for the sole purpose of seeing my family simply because I miss them.  Sometimes I associate all of the chaos and stress of school with just being in KC and it feels so good to get away.  It has been wonderful going home and I absolutely cannot wait to get back to NEMO when December rolls around.  When I realized a couple of weeks ago I only had two months left in Kansas City, it hit me that I needed to take in what was left.  I began spending more time outside of class with my friends and making sure they knew how much they were appreciated and loved.  We’ve started going out to watch the Cardinal’s play on a Wednesday night, or watching a movie even when we have things to do the next day.  Instead of constantly worrying about what assignment we have due tomorrow, we have been simply enjoying the presence of one another.

To sum it all up: I am torn between where I am and what is ahead of me.  I am going to miss the friends I have made here that have become more like family.  I am going to love being with my family each day, spending time with my parents and sister, watching my niece grow into a beautiful little girl, and start my life as a professional. For the days I don’t appreciate my beautiful life enough, I hope you can forgive me, Lord.  I promise I love exactly where I am right now :)

For all of my friends, when we go our separate ways in December – we must plan frequent reunions! 

My prayer for today and everyday

Dear Jesus,

Sometimes I'm afraid of letting you take complete control of my life.  Show me how to be a "yes" kind of girl like Mary was.  Please use me to bring others to you today and every day.

Amen.

Ecuador Day 8

August 20, 2011

 

We woke up early to eat breakfast, went to the market for about an hour, then we were off to spend some time in the Andes Mountains. It was today, my last day in Ecuador that gave me that warm fuzzy feeling all over again.  It gave me hope for the world we live in.  It was pure, the love that I was feeling.  It was Godly. Throughout this entire trip I could see nothing that was not God. I felt so deeply, terribly happy.  I keep thinking to myself over and over… whatever this feeling is – this is exactly what I have been praying for.

As I walked in silence along the path I thought about all of the people who helped me get here and I wondered to myself – how will I ever thank them enough?  This is what I come up with…

“In the end, though, maybe we must all give up trying to pay back the people in this world who sustain our lives.  In the end, maybe it’s wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices.” – Eat, Pray, Love

So, for all of those who have helped me along the way – the best way I can say thank you is to pay it forward and to live my life loving and serving others.  I pray that God blesses you abundantly.  Because of your generosity, my life has been forever changed.  I could never have done this without all of you, and most importantly without our Heavenly Father.  In Christ, through Mary.  Love, Celie

P.S. Enjoy the pictures of this beautiful earth He created!

Shopping at the market. I'm one of the goofballs in the background waving :)

Celie, Molly, Emily, Jessica, Jess

Celie with llamas!

Beauty.

Allison & Celie

OT girls

Action shot!

Sad to leave the Andes Mountains

Ecuador Day 7

August 19, 2011

These last couple of days in Ecuador were an extremely necessary part of our trip.  I was awake for about two and a half days straight, but it was worth every single second of it.  Yesterday (Friday) morning we woke up earlier than normal for our last breakfast at Tangara.  Our tour bus picked us up and we were off on our last adventure.  Our tour guide, Elsie, gave us a brief history of some of the places we were passing in Guayquil.  After that we crossed the river into Duran.  This is a much more run down part of Ecuador.  A lot of our patients come from this area, so we asked for our bus driver to take a route through the city so we could get an idea of how they live each day.  It put things in perspective for a lot of us.  

Duran

We saw women on the streets doing laundry, as well as on the roofs of houses.  We also passed a cemetery, which is much different than the ones we have in the US.  The ones here have the plots built on top of each other or often on the sides of hills.  The poorer people get buried toward the top and often their plots get washed out due to the rainfall.  This specific cemetery we passed was the one where Sr. Annie buys plots for the residents at the Damien House so they can have a proper burial.  (Did I mention Sr. Annie is amazing? She advocates so much for the residents and she loves them so much. It is so inspiring to be around her.)

            The rest of our adventure in Ecuador involves a trip to the Highlands – Cuenca to be exact.  There is only one way to get there from here.  The road is very long and winds through the mountains.  It takes 4-5 hours to get there, but the scenery is unreal so that makes up for it!  There are all sorts of fruit markets on the side of the road on the way up.  We made a stop right before entering the National Park.  This is when the real mountainous views become clear.

Me - Right before heading into the National Park!

First clear view of the mountains.

            I was literally speechless for most of the ride.  I have no idea what heaven looks like, but for a while I felt like I was there.  Our world is so beautiful.  Our God created this for us and I am grateful.  There was a period of time where I could not take my eyes away from it and I completely forgot about taking pictures.  Thankfully, everyone else was snapping them (even though they don’t begin to do the scenery justice). 

            Once we made it into the city of Cuenca, I was once again in awe.  It is a completely different world up here.  We got to our hotel, had the best meal I have eaten in a very long time, and then were off for a bus tour of the city.  

My first glimpse of the city!

A woman on the street selling fresh fruit.

            First stop – Panama Hat Factory.  This was awesome.  We got to see where they made and dyed the hats.  We also got to see them actually pressing the hats into their shapes.  Of course, we all had to try on and buy hats there too.  Next, we went to the top of this hill where we got a view of the entire city.  You could see for miles and miles.  I was in awe.  Luckily, we were able to visit a lot of these places during our walking tour that afternoon.  

          

Beautiful view of the city.  The three domes are the domes on the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

            After our bus tour we were dropped off went to San Sebastian Plaza.  Of course, I was extremely excited for this. Saint Sebastian was my Confirmation saint.  The Church de San Sebastian was extremely beautiful. It caught my attention and I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it.  We continued our walking tour throughout the beautiful city and saw many churches along the way.  The pictures don’t even begin to do my experience justice…

Church de San Sebastian

Church de San Sebastian

Allison, Celie & Jess - San Sebastian Plaza


Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception



Rosary in the window :)

Mercy Me - I Would Die For You

And I know that I can find You here'
Cause You promised me
You'll always be there
Times like these, it's hard to see
But somehow I have a peace, You're near
And I pray that You will use my life
In whatever way Your name is glorified
Even if surrendering
Means leaving everything behind

My life has never been this clear
Now I know the reason why I'm here
You never know why You're alive
Until you know what you would die for
I would die for You

And I know I don't have much to give
But I promise You I will give You all there is
Can I possibly do less
When through Your own death I live?

No greater love is found
Than of those who lay their own lives down
As sure as I live and breathe
Now I know what it means to be free