Two trips for one and St. Joe!

Today is March 19th which makes it one of the two Feast Days of St. Joseph.  I've always admired St. Joseph for his strong silent fortitude and bravery in leading the Holy Family. 

When I was younger, before I knew more about this earthly father of Jesus, I used to enjoy the fact that I attended Holy Family Elementary School and then St. Joseph's for 5th grade.  5th grade has always been my favorite year when I think back over my elementary/high school years.  Was it because my favorite teacher, Ms. Bednar, taught us that year?  Was it because we had more independence as older students?  Perhaps it was due to being able to walk the two blocks down the "beer alley" to get to school from our house.  Or maybe it was because we felt like we were our separate school since the principal was across town at Holy Family.  Or I might have enjoyed it since it was two floors above my childhood church.  I had grown up attending mass at St. Joe's from 2nd grade through 12th grade when not traveling to Schuylkill Haven to St. Ambrose.  It was a small school with only 5th through 8th grades in it in one hallway.  I have so many happy memories of being in that creaky tall building with both my twin and my older brother and wish we could have spent 6th through 8th grades there!  Unfortunately, at the end of my 5th grade year, the school was deemed unsafe for use and the grades were split.  6th grade was sent back to Holy Family while 7th and 8th were shipped off to Cardinal Brennan High School. 

Another reason I appreciate this day is because it is my aunt and godmother, Aunt Maureen's, feast day too.  She belongs to the Sisters of St. Joseph order so March 19th signifies a special day for her as well.

I recently learned about another cool connection to today while in California.  When shopping at Michael's the other week, Adam said that a clue about one of his surprises was on a display in the craft store.  He led me over to the display and asked which one I liked.  The display consisted of art projects and models that you could build of local missions.  I had no idea what I was looking at that day.  I did not know that in CA there are 21 missions that had been established.  I later learned that 4th grade students spend a lot of time learning about these special places within Californian history.  So there we were standing in the aisle at Michael's with Adam asking which one I might like to go to someday.  I chose this one because of the distinctive domes.

That was when Adam told me he was taking me to the beautiful Mission San Juan Capistrano!  Well, you can't tell me something like that as we're standing in a craft store and expect me to not want to build the model of the mission.  ;)  So, using a gift card from my "York Mom" who happens to be an awesome artist herself (go look at her beautiful work here) I purchased the materials we needed to make our own mission.

The packaging said a ten year old could put the model together in six hours or less.  This did not prepare me for the hours of frustration and irritation I experienced as I worked to put the mission together over the course of a week.  Somehow, eventually it all came together with Adam's help, but I made one big mistake.  I put the domes on the wrong side.  Oops.  Let's just call this model created with love a mirror reflection of the mission instead.  ;)  Adam and I joked that we would have our picture taken at the mission and then print them out and put them in our model but we actually forgot to have our picture taken that day!  Guess we will just have to go back to what they call the "Jewel of the Missions" another time!

What we did learn, during our brief visit to the beautiful mission, was that every year on The Feast Day of St. Joseph ~ March 19th, the swallows return to Mission San Juan Capistrano from Argentina and that it is celebrated with a parade.  Now, I'm not a bird person but I did enjoy the beautiful jewelry and logos that featured birds that represented the swallows (or even the Holy Spirit?).  In fact, the logo reminded me of a charm I purchased, on a whim, this past Fall. 

On November 1st, I was invited to the NC mountains to stay with a friend in her cozy cabin in Boone, NC when we decided to do a Halloween attraction at Tootsie's I mean Tweetsie (LOL!) Railroad (my brother won free tickets through the radio yet again!)...see the pictures shown below of the fun family attraction.  It was great to have some time away and to spend that Saturday putting the finishing touches on Chapters 4 & 5 on my dissertation with such a beautiful view as my friend volunteered at the Applachian State football game.  Before Allison had to go to work, we were able to take in the sights that morning and do a little shopping.

In a quaint jewelry shop at the foot of the mountains, I found a charm of a bird that made me think about the expression, "Hope is a thing of feathers" (or something like that; you can read more about the expression here) so I bought it for my locket.  I inadvertently lost the charm just a few days later but the store graciously replaced it for free within a week by mailing it to me.  It's fun to think back on this weekend getaway and to realize it was so shortly after Adam and I first started communicating with one another.  Fast forward to this past weekend and seeing the exact same bird that was my charm being used as a logo representing the swallows.  Whenever I see the bird image, other than thinking about the Holy Spirit filling us with hope, I also think of the scripture from Matthew that tells us to not worry seeing as God provides for the sparrows then surely he will provide for us.  The charm in my locket is a nice reminder of that which indirectly leads me to Jeremiah 29:11 which is displayed on my personalized purse from Thirty-One by the way.  Yesterday, during my day of travel, I had two gentlemen approach me in two different airports to talk about the meaning of the scripture....evangelization at it's finest eh?  ;)

The performers in this photo started dancing to and singing Michael Jackson's song, "Thriller", just as the train was about to depart.

 

Allison is also a talented artist...check out her handiwork over the fireplace! 

What a view!

My friend rents out her cabin so if you're interested, let me know, and I can put you in touch with her!

Enjoying the (top of the) Ferris Wheel !!

It's blurry but hopefully you can see the bird charm in the locket at the left.

Anyhow, it's fascinating to think the swallows returned to the Mission today as we celebrate the feast day of St. Joseph.  He is certainly someone I look up to as a model of parenting and am thankful for all the fathers out there who are involved with their children's lives!

Check out the pictures/video/website below to learn more about Mission San Juan Capistrano!

 

This cross commemorated my trip to San Diego/time with Adam.  I had purchased it Friday night before we went to the Mission on Sunday.  I like how the cross charm resembles the Cross building you see in the right hand corner of the picture above this one.  :) 

Here is the mission basilica; do you see the resemblance to our model we built?

It was a full house during mass!

 

 

 

 

http://www.missionsjc.com/ (a nice slideshow of pictures of the Mission and grounds with peaceful music in the background starts playing as soon as you click on this website)