Mid-April, here I come!

I am not generally superstitious... check that, I've been superstitious since my first day as an E'gal Dance Team member freshman year of high school. However, it's been quite a while since I've had all these wacky crazy signs pointing in one direction for me. I know, weird right? There's no such thing as fate, there's no such thing as good kharma, there's no such thing as crazy gut instinct premonitions. Well, let me tell you, things are not always what they appear.

Just for curiosity's sake, I looked back on some old online journal archives from all four years of college to follow a hunch I had about the mid-April season for me. It turns out that the first 15 days of April hold some of the most positive and life-changing events of my college career. You think I'm joking? Well, the following may not mean much to you, but here goes:

April 12, 2002: One of my best and first guy friends from college, Ryan, writes me this incredible email that I still to this day keep in and pass from journal to journal. In it he shares inspiring thoughts such as, "It's me and I don't just accept it, I love it. I love who I am, the bad and the good. I love God and Jesus and they help me. I love everyday because I find joy in purely being alive. The biggest decision I think I ever made in my life was to devote my life to God's will. I believe I am suposed to help others, but I have no idea how. So, for now I am studying engineering. I don't honestly know what I am going to do. I don't know when I will know, or if I will. All I know is that it's all undercontrol. So I sit back and enjoy life. I help others everywhere I can, and that brings a joy to my life. I guess when I help some feel better or with something thats hard they help me far more than I help them." God I love that kid. :) That was a turning point in our tumultuous early relationship.

April 12-14, 2002: This weekend my good friend from Minnesota came to visit me in Milwaukee. I had been crushing over him since my senior year of high school, and during the course of this year, my freshman year of college, we went through this HUGE drama and ended in him admitting (FINALLY) that he was gay. This weekend was super fun quality time with just the two of us, and was exactly what we needed to help mend and continue our friendship. Although the friendship has since dissipated, that weekend was incredibly fun and important to me.

April 12, 2003: One of my favorite nights of sophomore year -- going bowling with Suzy, Katie Rock, Ryan, Rob & Mike Granito at the Annex for Lil' Sibs Weekend, then hanging out drinking, playing Egyptian Ratscrew and learning to play poker. Also one of the first nights Mike & I hung out as a precursor to us "liking each other" and eventually dating junior year. AND one of my favorite pictures from college is from that night. :) (if it was scanned somewhere I'd post it... maybe I can figure out how to do that soon).

April 2-6, 2004: Good Kharma Weekend -- one of THE best weekends in my college history. Parties, run ins with college basketball players, drinking, lunches and catch-up chats with old friends, and lots of positive feedback in the academic and pre-professional realm. This doesn't do it justice, but that was the craziest 5 days of my life, good kharma-wise.

April 9 & April 12, 2004: Got offered a public relations/marketing internship at Milwaukee Repertory Theater for summer 2004; spent a kick-ass Easter with Mom, John & Brandon, which was probably the best Easter I've had in several years.

April 1, 2005: Finished my second and last term as President of Marquette's chapter of Circle K EVER! That was such an amazing feeling -- a great three years of Circle K, a great 2 terms as president, a great legacy to leave and a great feeling to be DONE! :)

April 11-14, 2005: A crazy 4 day process in which I went from believing I'd be going to Chicago for a volunteer year to emailing, online applying, phone interviewing, and accepting a position with Gateway Vincentian Volunteers in St. Louis, Missouri! I couldn't believe how fast it went! But there you go, and here I am, and now I'm in the process again of figuring out what's going to happen next in my life.

I don't know what I think or expect will happen in April, but it could be anything from job search-related good news or the simple fact that Mom & John will be here at that time. All I know is God has been a blessing to me in the month of April for quite a few years now and it wouldn't hurt for him to keep up the trend -- even if He wants to be unpredictabe. :) So, fingers crossed and here's hoping!