I've been tagged!

On December 2nd I posted a blog to which Helga (a novice with the Sisters of the Incarnate Word that I know from Texas - The story of a vocation Historia de una vocación) posted a comment. According to the comment I had just been "tagged" in The Immaculate Conception Meme. Hmmm... intriguing, no?

So, I went to her blog to find out what this might mean. And here I found the rules...

Each tagged person must post 8 random facts or habits about themselves on their blog. At the end of the post, choose 8 people to be tagged and list their names.Don’t forget to leave a comment telling them that they are tagged and to read your blog. Have fun!

At the time I obviously didn't follow the directions. However, now I'm ready to dive in. Let's see if I can come up with 8 random facts or habits...

1. I have a college degree that has nothing to do with anything I've done for the past 6 1/2 years. My undergraduate degree is a BS in Biomedical Sciences from Texas A&M (WHOOP!). My original major was Bioengineering... then I realized that I don't think like an engineer (not even on the same wave length!). I switched because I enjoyed the science (without the physics). Somewhere in the midst of my senior year I decided that I would be a high school chemistry teacher. Why? I liked working with young people... didn't see myself going further with nursing, medicine etc.... And I enjoyed ministry. So, long story short... here I am! :)


2. I danced for 15 years... from the age of 2 1/2 until I graduated from high school my second home, or so it seemed, was Lorna Badon's School of Dancing. Yep... tap was my favorite, but I also took (and student taught) ballet, jazz, pointe, gymastics for a while and twirling for a while. When I was in high school I was part of the Orange Jazz Company... we toured, competed, and performed a great deal. I learned a lot through those experiences. I think, though, that I learned the most about discipline, dedication, and respect.


3. Texas A&M was the first and only public school I ever attended. I went to St. Paul's Episcopal for pre-kinder and kinder, St. Mary's Catholic School 1st-8th grades, Monsignor Kelly Catholic High School, and St. Mary's University for my MA. Nearly my entire high school could have fit in my first psychology class. It was a strange transition...


4. I taught myself to play the guitar about 10 years ago. I had just graduated from college and I was doing a year of service as a teacher in a pre-K - 8th grade Catholic school that needed a music teacher/children's choir director. So, that person became me. I knew going back to the piano was hopeless (it had been YEARS), so I asked my parents for a guitar. I practiced everyday for a few hours. One of my housemates played also, so she helped me get the sounds right (and taught me how to fake some difficult chords - Thanks Amy!). Then, I started bringing it to church with me on Sundays so that I could play with the wonderful, talented ladies there. And... that's how I learned. But, I'm in danger of losing the ability because I don't really practice and I don't play very often either. I know... tsk tsk!


5. I'm the youngest of 3 girls - we're all 10 years apart. My middle sister is 10 years my elder and my oldest sister is 20 years older than me. It's quite the spread. We almost grew up as only children in a way. We all went to the same middle school. During my last week of 8th grade my mom made the statement that she had been driving that route for 20 years and now it was coming to an end.


6. Retreat work has been a large part of my life since I was 15 years old. While I was in high school I served on our parish retreat team, my school retreat team and our diocesan retreat team. Then in college I was involved with SMYRT - St. Mary's Youth Retreat Team (see http://www.aggiecatholic.org/custom_page.cfm?category=3&page=162&active=162) and Aggie Awakening retreats (see www.aggiecatholic.org/awakening/ ). In my adult life I have stayed active with retreat work... through high school and college campus ministry and most recently vocations retreats. It's a passion of mine, I guess you could say.


7. I learned to play poker and shoot pool from my 11th grade theology teacher! That's fun... Her son is a year younger than me and was one my closest friends throughout high school and college. There was a group of us that would hang out together nearly every weekend and at school. Anyway, my teacher and her family had a lake house in north east Texas (near Jasper). We went to their lake house for spring breaks and for days in the summer and during Christmas break. This house is where the family kept their pool table, poker chips and other such things. To see me play pool now, though is to think I've never held a cue! Anyway, I also learned how to water ski (well, kind of, truth be told) and had my first experiences of sailing. Those were great days!


8. I like to bake... breads, rolls, desserts... you name it, I like to bake it. I'm not the world's greatest baker, but I really do like it. In fact, I just made bread on Tuesday. I was going to blog about it because it caused me to reflect on how little patience I have sometimes, but time got away from me and that never happened. C'est la vie, I suppose!

Wow. That's it. All 8 random facts. That was fairly difficult, actually.

Now, I have to tag 8 people. I'll tag k, Sr. Betsy, Angela, Bro. Brandon, Julia, Kelly, Veronica, and Sr. Susan Rose.

Many blessings to all who read this (and find themselves tagged!) ~ Sr. N