7 Quick Takes Friday (#25)

Thanks to Jen for hosting!

1. I GRADUATE THIS WEEKEND!!!! It's kind of hard to believe that I'll officially have a Master's degree. It seems like it's been a long process to get here (which is a long story which never turned into a blog post because it would have ended up being a novel), but I am so glad that I decided to switch from the PhD program and "leave" school early with a Master's. I guess I'll have to change my "About Me" section Sunday afternoon!
2. Now all that's left is to find a job... which has been cause for a lot of stress and anxiety - because not knowing my job situation leads to not knowing about my living situation which leads to not knowing what city or state I'll even be in past August. For someone like me that likes to have control of important situations and plans them out way in advance, it has been a very humbling experience, to say the least. It's definitely driving me to develop a deeper prayer life, that's for sure.
3. Speaking of prayer life, I just finished a novena to St. Frances Xavier Cabrini for help finding a job (she's my confirmation saint and I'm pretty sure she likes me a lot!)... still waiting for all those job opportunities to fall into my lap! No, but in all seriousness, I've come to enjoy praying novenas because, if anything, it keeps me accountable for devoting at least 15 minutes of prayer time in a chapel somewhere each day... but I almost always end up getting to Mass and/or Adoration as well.
4. This weekend is also a tough one because it means a lot of people are leaving town... I've grown really close to three of our FOCUS missionaries - spending lots of late nights laughing, doing crazy wholesome fun things, and having really thought provoking conversations. It will be difficult to not be able to spontaneously meet up with them for a drink and a good conversations anymore. Their friendship has had such a great impact on my life this past year, so I know we will keep in touch, but life will be a bit different without their joyful presence!
5. On Tuesday this past week, our chaplain treated us "seniors" to a day trip to Atlantic City, NJ. So the other senior and I packed up a van with the FOCUS missionaries, our campus minister, and our chaplain and hit the road. It was such a fun and relaxing day to spend on the beach and hanging out with everyone before they leave. We also got to reminisce about all the good memories from this past year... yea it got a little bit sentimental. There are some fun pictures posted here.
6. I'm pretty sure that if there was one prayer engraved on my heart, it would sound like this song:
7. Well, I have a long weekend ahead of me, so I'm going to rest for my seventh quick take! Have a great weekend!