Hello :)

Hi :)

I'm Lauren. I like to smile :) I'm 20 years old and a 2nd year at UVA. I am applying for the Curry School of Education for the 5-year Master's in Teaching program this February. I'm a cradle Catholic and proud of it. I love nothing more than my faith, my family and my friends. I have a Mom, a Dad and a younger brother Paul. My Mom has 2 sisters and my Dad has 4. I have 2 cousins on my Mom's side and 13 on my Dad's side. Hanging out with my Dad's side of the family is among my top 5 things to do, even though we only do it about once a year (getting to Chicago from Virginia is expensive). 25 loud, crazy, loving, Catholic Irish-Americans gathered together make for an interesting experience (I'm the oldest of the younger cousins- my 5 older cousins and all of my aunts and uncles are over 21 and spend their time drinking- I get to spend my time running around yelling for joy and playing tag and house with the littler ones [which I fully plan on doing even after my 21st birthday in June]). I also love to hang out with my CSM (Catholic Student Ministry at UVA) friends. While I probably spend too much time with them, I have some amazing memories with them, although one of my craziest college memories comes from being with my hallmates from last year when we jay-sprinted across Route 29 twice in the dark. I love my new dorm as well (Hereford) because it is a focused community dedicated to sustainability, multiculturalism and community outreach.

I started this blog really as an attempt to be an online journal for myself. I had possibly the worst year of my life in 2010 and am determined to start completely fresh in 2011. I am currently taking a January-Term class that is setting me on a much better path, a path for me to escape the bad memories of 2010 and move on to the bright future that I know God has planned for me. I want to document 2011 in all of its ups and downs. I want a record to remind myself of the good times when I have bad times. I want to hold myself accountable to goals I set and write down. I want to get an experience keeping a journal/writing about my life regularly, something I have done in periodic spurts in the past decade but nothing regularly (which I now regret). I basically follow several blogs already, so now I want to get the experience of writing one.