Tim: WARNING workcamp '09 coming with a fury

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted... I don't have a particularly great excuse; but If pressed to give one I'd say buziness. I am really excited about the Workcamp meeting this Thursday @7PM!!! I hope to see a lot of returners, but also a lot of new faces. AS SUPER AWESOME as last year was @ Millcreek in Youngstown, OH. I am estatic about the Glider City Challenge camp this summer.

Above this post is a picture of Elmira,NY ... I know we are going to make a difference for this community. I'm still getting overwhelming response from the people of Youngstown, OH... Lots of people were able to keep their houses because of you. And you all should be proud of yourselves, I know I am. Anyways, I promise I won't wait so long before the next post.

In Christ,

Tim

Angie: Youth Rally...

Youth Rally 2008 was quite the day! Great food, great talks, great friends from all over the diocese, inflatables, pizza, ice cream, 3-2-1 Improv, Stellar Kart, Superchic (videos above), 2 other cool bands (I forget their names), Mass with da bish, adoration, confession, Renee Bondi, donuts with Heather, football, real fruit popsicles, "What is rock?"...

I'm sure there's more that I've forgotten. Suffice it to say, it was a jam-packed day and lots of fun!! For those of you who could go, what was your favorite part of the day? Did I forget anything in my list? Let me know... :)

Enjoy the pics and videos... there are more on facebook... :)

Angie: My Purple Purse...

Well, I know I'm still new to most of you (Just for the record, it's been great getting to know you all, and I look forward to a great year with you!!). I've never done a blog before, so this is a new experience for me. But lucky for you all, I've always loved telling stories... :)

So, here's my latest story...

My Grandma Maysie passed away back in March of this year. She was my mom's mom, and she lived in Sterling. After I moved to Virginia, I made it a habit of going out to visit her once a month. We would usually sit at her house and chat for a while, then visit a yummy Chinese buffet, and then she would take me shopping. It was just her little way of being generous with me. We would go to Kohl's or Macy's or other various locations, and if I made a request, I always got it. And the thing about these shopping trips was that Grandma knew how to shop! She was great at finding the right thing for the right price.

So, last weekend, I received a $10 off coupon for Macy's because it was my birthday. With the economy such as it is, I've been trying to be thrifty, but I figured for my birthday, I could go out and get something nice for myself. One of the straps on my purse was just about ready to snap, so I thought I'd go to Macy's and see if I could use my coupon to buy a new purse.

Well, I got to the store and started looking through the various handbags. The only problem was that every one I picked up cost $100 or more! I mean, I wanted something nice for myself, but I wasn't about to spend that much on it! So, as I was walking through the store, I said a little prayer to my grandma and asked her to help me find a good purse.

I kept looking. I found one that was okay, but it wasn't great. But it was the right price, and I could live with it. I had made up my mind to go with it and started walking toward the register when something caught my eye: a purple purse sitting on one of the displays.

I changed course and went to check out the purse. I picked it up and opened it up. There was a flashlight on the inside to help you find your stuff. And it was nice and deep, but not too big. I slung it over my shoulder, and it felt just right.

And then, the moment of truth... I looked at the price tag: $49.95. Well, it's a little more than I was hoping to spend, but I really liked the purse. And with the $10 off coupon, it wasn't going to be that bad. Oh what the heck! I put the kinda okay purse back and went to the register with the purple purse.

And let me tell you, Grandma really came through for me. When I got to the counter, the purse rang up as $32. I guess it had been on sale, and I either didn't notice or it wasn't well-marked. So, with the $10 off, I ended up paying only $22 for my new purple purse.

All thanks to Grandma Maysie, who was looking out for me from heaven. :)

Tim: Oh what a wonderful world!

Tim:
In the grey skies of early Fall when the world can't seem to make up its mind about whether to be warm or cold, it can be a struggle to see the beauty of the world that surrounds us. This beautiful creation that is in transition: Birds are migrating to warmer winter homes (or soon will be), some mammals are perparing for the long cold winter's hibernation, and we too are in transition...

On the Youth Ministry front we have begun to get back into our routines... Our 4th weekend since our kick-off is quickly approaching and we have only begun to scratch the surface. WE have only began to scratch the surface of fun activities that await us, of service and learning opportunities that are ahead of us...

With nature preparing itself for winter (and soon our trees will be preparing themselves as well) We are preparing for winter and beyond... Just a quick side note: If you read this blog on a regular basis you will probably get insider information on events that are being planned down the road. So as we prepare for our Youth Ministry seasons we look forward to events such as Lazer tag, Christmas Caroling, Workcamp, and much much more...

But in transitional times such as Fall, we cannot look forward so much to Winter or backwards so much to Summer that we deny the beauty in the present... The world is beautiful right now!

I encourage you to take a moment to admire this beauty, and Thank God for the many blessings we have been given with this wonderful world.

Tim: It's Peanut Butter- Blogging Time

Tim: Before I start to blog, I feel a need to explain the title... This morning after the High School teens left from 6:15AM Mass and the wonderful breakfast that the Lupinacci Family provided to go to their different places of learning, Angie and I went to the prayer circle that the teachers of St. Mark School have every morning... It was at this prayer circle that I saw something that I can definitively say that I have NEVER seen before! Mrs. Brewer (the principal) was dressed up in a banana suit. Apparently, the students at St. Mark had reached a certian goal with their fundraising... I couldn't help but to think about that ridiculous Peanut Butter Jelly time song with that animated banana http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8MDNFaGfT4

Anyway, I was looking around at different web pages from other Youth Ministries at other churches around the country and I realized that our needs a significant amount of TLC (Tender Love and Care) We came up with a couple of awesome things to add to the site to make it more fun and friendly...

One of the things we thought would be cool would be to have a Youth Minister's Blog which Angie and I will both blog in... We will post our names with the Title line that way you will know who is writing, feel free to leave responses that are appropriate, and this will also give you a chance to post questions annonymously...

Many more changes to the website are to come, including Games, videos, quizzes/polls, photos, and other links.

I've gotta get to Teen Leadership see ya at Youth Mass, if not before...

God Bless,

Tim