life

2010 Thus Far…

Posted on by LaMarGoti

So this morning I read my friend Katelyn‘s latest blog entry — 2010- the year of the road trips? That’s travel — and I’m totally stealing this post idea from her, really cause as soon as I replied to her post, I realized that I was doing the exact same thing…

I keep poking fun that my two “big” trips this year were to the mid-west — Indiana and Ohio. Truth is, just as Katelyn’s year was full of weekend getaways, so was mine — I was fortunate to have a year full of exciting adventures. My year so far in review looked a bit like this:

January: a one-day road trip to drive Tim back to school in Virginia — I hit eight states that day; Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia — and went to a Rangers game

February: two weekends in Waltham/Boston, MA — one for Mike’s birthday and one to be Alexa’s family for Family weekend back at Bentley

March: saw a screening of The Human Experience in NYC (I recommend to anyone who has not seen it), partook in the first ever NYC Pilgrimage, in a span of 7 days, I went to Springfield, MA two nights in a row for the Elite Eight and Final Four Division II Basketball Championships (drove home to go to work in Manhattan in the morning), went to Foxwoods that Saturday morning with my college roommate, followed by the rest of the weekend in Providence said roommate, and then headed up to Waltham after work on Tuesday night to ring in Alexa’s 21st with her

April: retreat in upstate NY with the youth group I used to work with

May: a long weekend in Philly to see my little sis graduate from Villanova, followed by flying to Indiana the following weekend for Jenna & Kevin’s wedding, went to the Dave Matthews Band concert in Hartford, opening weekend, and then spent the weekend in Poughkeepsie, NY with the other camp counselors

June: Brooklyn & Queens for Ela & Karol’s wedding

July: Lady Antebellum & Tim McGraw concert followed by a Rascal Flatts concert two weeks later, plus the weekend in between I was at my mom’s family reunion

August: I worked a grand total of 10 days! I had a long weekend in Kent, CT with Mary, went to Camp Veritas as a counselor and hit up the Dutchess County Fair

September: spent the weekend before my birthday celebrating it in with my college friends in Waltham/Boston and on my first Booze Cruise on the Boston Harbor and then rang in my birthday weekend at the Trace Adkins & Toby Keith concert

October: road tripped to Ohio with Courtney & Sharmila — we also visited West Virginia & Pittsburgh while we were out there — and this weekend I am yet again off to Waltham/Boston for Bentley’s Homecoming

I should also point out that this does not include any of my nights out in Manhattan, my gallivanting around the state of Connecticut and random day trips to Hoboken and Long Island to hang out with some of my innumerable cousins. Plus, there’s still two more months worth of extravaganzas to plan before 2010 is done.

So really, my point is, even though my biggest trips this year were to the midwest, I am grateful that I have been able to spend so much quality time bonding with my friends. I may have only boarded a plane bound for Indiana for a weekend, not a private plane bound for a week in the Bahamas with 600 of my closest friends, but all is good. My friends are awesome, and I got to see so many of them this year. Not only am I grateful because I spent so much time with my friends, but as my parents have pointed out to me, I have done a lot more this year than other people have, including themselves. In this economy, plenty of people do not even have the chance to go on a simple car ride to spend the weekend 3 hours away, whether they don’t have the time off from work, or the money for gas and other expenses. In short, I will do my best to stop complaining about my lack of a real vacation as today I realized that I think a bunch of little ones are better anyways — instead of going on say one or two vacations spread out this year, I get to go on little ones every few weeks.

The Monster Under My Bed

Posted on by LaMarGoti

When I was a little girl, I used to think that there were creatures living under my bed. Not only did I think that, but there was a way to be sure that they didn’t get a hold of me. You see, they lived under the bed and didn’t leave there. So long as I was completely on top of my bed, they couldn’t get me. If my arm or leg were hanging off the bed, well then, then the creature could get me. I’m not sure that anyone knows about the fact that I thought this, well that is until now when I put it online for the world to see… Thing is, I haven’t believed this since I was 6 or 7. I know there are no such things as monsters that live under the bed, and I especially know there’s none under mine as I need to retrieve the remote or my phone or keys from under there nearly daily, plus, I’m sure the clothes I store under the bed take up too much room for a monster to co-habitat with them.

So you probably ask why if I don’t believe in the monster under my bed anymore, why in the world am I writing a post about them? Because tonite I’ve learned that this belief as a kid has caused an interesting habit for me now today, and probably something I’ve done the last 18 years. It’s finally that time of year that it is cool enough to keep the AC off, but for me, it’s still a bit too warm some nights, tonight which us one if them. I like being able to sleep with my comforter on my bed year round, especially the new one I got this summer. Being as how my room is slightly too hot for me to sleep under the layers on my bed, I figure keeping my leg curled above my blanket with the fan blowing on it could cool me off. So I stuck my leg out from the sheets and my foot was dangling off the edge of the bed. Almost immediately I pulled it back and made sure my leg was securely on my bed and not hanging off.

As I’m currently wide awake, this struck me as a bit odd of an instinct. Thinking about it, I cannot recall anytime when I’ve laid in bed with a limb hanging out, nor can I ever recall waking up without being smack in the middle of my bed. Perhaps it’s the hour of the night, but somehow I realized that I obviously don’t sleep with my limbs off the bed because of the monsters that live under the bed. In the same half second that I had that thought, I also decided I must be delirious. It was in the next thought that I realized that my fear as a kid caused me to have an interesting habit 18 years later. And now, as I lie here not able to sleep, I wonder how many other habits were brought about through random thoughts from our past…

some random facts about me

Posted on by LaMarGoti

So a friend of mine has her own blog, which you should definitely check out at Who Know the Title of My Life?. Today she wrote a post about two random facts about her and asked people to comment in reply but I really do like this idea, and I’ve got three random facts of my own…

I say “I love you” to everyone.
OK, maybe I don’t say it to everyone, but I say it to plenty of people. In case you haven’t heard, there are three types of love, eros, philos and agape — meaning erotic, brotherly and unconditionally, respectively. I tell my friends all the time that I love them because I truly do. I may not be in love with them, but I learned the hard way when I was little that you need to tell people you care for them before it’s too late. So please, don’t be offended by my over use of the word love.

I have anxiety about almost everything. 
Many people who know me don’t believe me when I tell them I have anxiety. I’m an outgoing person who loves (see I use the word a lot) to jump in and get involved in almost anything. That said, I still get anxiety almost daily. If I am going somewhere new, I have anxiety. If I’m really excited or nervous about anything, I have anxiety. If things aren’t going how I expected or planned, you guessed it, I have anxiety. But what gets people the most, when I’m in a group of people I’m not very close to, I have the worst anxiety of all. That’s right, even extroverts can have social anxiety.

I don’t believe in hating people or regrets.
I know this is sort of two, but it’s really one rule I try to live by. Hate is a very strong word and you can hate some things, but I don’t believe in hating people. You might strongly dislike a person, but I don’t think you can truly hate someone, it takes too much to hate a person and people can change (both the other person, and YOU). And as for regrets, dude, the past happened, it’s done, you can’t change it so move on and get over it! While there are definitely things in my life I would do differently now if I had the chance to, I wouldn’t say I regret anything I’ve done. I have had an amazing life and I am glad that everyone who has been a part of it was there, even if that time was short lived. I think that if you regret something, you are living in the past. Life isn’t supposed to be about the what ifs?, why didn’t I? and what would have been?

The winners in life think constantly in terms of I can, I will, and I am. Losers, on the other hand, concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have or would have done, or what they can’t do. — Dennis Waitley

walking to paradise

Posted on by LaMarGoti

Yesterday I had the opportunity to take part in the 1st Annual Pilgrimage of New York City with six of my friends. Some of you are probably already asking what a pilgrimage is, I sure wondered about what one was the first time I heard about one. For thousands of years Christians have been making pilgrimages all over the world to many different religious sites as both a physical and spiritual journey to bring you closer to Christ. As many know, there is lots of Catholic tradition within the waters surrounding Manhattan, so this year some very wise people decided to organize a pilgrimage that we could partake in locally.

The physical portion of the pilgrimage began in Washington Heights at the Shrine of St. Frances Cabrini at 10AM, but for us it began at about 7AM as we needed to all meet up and trek down to Manhattan (by way of the Bronx) to get there before it began. At 7AM, four of my friends left from one of their apartments a bit north of me and I left my house, meeting them at the train station parking lot at 7:30AM with a small breakfast in my stomach, a cup of coffee and my sneakers in hand and a very large bag of trail mix along with my nalgene in my bag. The five of us then set off to meet the remaining two girls in the Bronx, whom we then drove with to Yankee Stadium to park at the Subway station. The seven of us, slightly tired, filed down the stairs to the D train only to find out that the Metro Card machines were not taking cash or credit. Instead of taking this as a sign of what may be to come, we bought our cards from the man in the booth and ventured downtown, transferred to the A train and finally arrived at the 190th Street station where we needed to get off the subway and head to the Shrine. While walking out of the station we ran into our first new friend of the day, Ron, a reporter for Catholic New York. Ron saw that we were headed to the pilgrimage and joined us in our attempt to find the Shrine to check-in and begin (we may or may not have headed in the wrong direction a couple of times before finding the Shrine itself).

Finally we all made it to the Shrine and got our blue wristbands and were able to tour around the Shrine and prepare to begin the pilgrimage. After some prayer and an application of sunscreen, I headed outside to join the girls and our fellow walkers. As time passed, we were able to meet some of our fellow walkers and to take our before picture. We were stretched and ready to go when 10AM struck and we joined the others for the pilgrimage under the tree. We were briefed on the events of the day and how the walk was going to begin before we all headed inside as a group to learn more about St. Frances. St. Frances Cabrini is the patron Saint of immigrants, and also the first American to be canonized a saint. After our brief history on St. Frances, we prayed as a group before heading back outside to split into our walking groups. Once those walking on their own and in their own groups took off, we took off with the “speed group”. Our plan was to take the longest path between the five sites and to walk through Central Park when we got there. In the first 100 block we walked, I think we only hit about 6 or 7 stop lights at corners and I was doing great, I was actually surprised how far we had got since I could not physically feel any wear on my body. On route to Central Park, we passed the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and we also prayed the Stations of the Cross while walking.

We made it to the NW corner of the park just as we were finishing the stations and we began our cross park trek down the main road that circles the park. About 1/3 down through the park we saw a dirty water hot-dog stand, and of course some of us stopped to grab a quick bite to eat. It was here that two new friends of the day were met, Rob & his friend he came to do the pilgrimage with. These two stopped to grab a drink and hot-dogs along with us. You’d be surprised how far the group could get in the short time we had stopped. Since we lost all sight of the group, the 6 or 7 of us who had stopped headed on together towards St. Patrick’s Cathedral. We got about 1/2 through the park when we cut across to the east side and once at 72nd Street, we cut out to 5th Avenue and headed straight down to St. Pat’s. Along with Rob and his friend, Ron had rejoined our mini-group mid-park and stuck with us. We learned on this portion of our walk that some of Ron’s co-workers had an over/under pool of how far he would make it and we were determined to have him make it through.

About 1:30PM we made it to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in mid-town. At the front steps here we met up with the other girls that we lost along the way in the park. Some of them went to the deli nearby to grab food while myself and two of my friends headed inside with Ron to see the crypt below the altar where the bishops are buried, which was rather cool as three of them are currently Servants of God and on their way to becoming canonized. Once everyone got out of the crypts, we all gathered as a large group on the patio outside where we were advised to jump on the 6 train to Bleeker Street to stay on track. Of course, me with my big mouth decided to ask about those of us who wished to continue on walking instead of taking the subway. The organizer of the walk told me that we were more than welcome to, but none of the leaders would be going with us. There was a large group of women who wanted to walk with us and our new friends but somewhere between planning to continue on walking and actually heading out, we split up and they headed on their way without us. Once the original 7 of us gathered back together with Ron & Rob, we were joined by a CFR, Brother Simon and 3 other new friends, Tricia, Marcus & Monica.

The 13 of us continued on downtown to Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It was great being with this smaller group as we were able to learn more about some of our new friends, even though I ended up ahead of them at many intersections as I took the leap many New Yorkers take and walked with the sign showing stop while the group stopped and waited for the signal to change. We finally found our way to our next location, where I learned that the high walls around the Old Cathedral were built to protect the church itself when tensions between the Catholics & Protestants were high (thanks Ron for that lesson).

By the time we made it to Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral, there was a wedding going on, so we said a quick prayer in the foyer and headed out. When we got outside we realized (thanks to my handy GPS on the iPhone) that the 4th location on the pilgrimage was not exactly en-route to the final location — as is it was 3 miles away, whereas the final location was only 2 miles away. That said, with a time limit quickly closing in on us, we decided to take a direct route and head for the Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. We headed out through Chinatown along with about another 10 pilgrims who tagged along at the Old Cathedral. While on Mott Street in Chinatown, we stopped at the Church of the Transfiguration and said our prayers for St. Peter there since as Bro. Simon pointed out, St. Peter was there after all.

We then continued on our way one last time to the final location, where we were able to rejoin all the other pilgrims 6 hours after leaving the starting location for a closing mass 13.1 miles from our starting point. We had some time inside the Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton to pray and recoop before mass began. What was really cool is that while we began at the shrine of the 1st American to become a saint, we ended at the shrine of the 1st American-born to become a saint. The pastor of the parish gave us a quick history lesson on St. Elizabeth before mass began and with the close of mass came the close to a great day. As everyone was filtering out and saying goodbye to new friends. Myself along with two of the girls did a quick interview with a Catholic channel that was there and then rejoined the group outside. Once almost everyone had departed the seven of us along with Rob, Ron & Bro. Simon headed to the Starbucks & deli nearby to grab some food and coffee to eat for a quick bite in Battery Park before heading back home. We sat on the benches near the water and enjoyed some final laughs with our new friends before heading to the subway to get on home. While it had been a gorgeous day out and watching the sunset over the water was a sight to be seen, finally getting on the subway and heading home was a magnificent feeling.

I realize that while this was a great overview of the physical journey, it is hard to put the spiritual part into words. Just as it is something that happens within, it seems to be meant to stay that way as the words just won’t come together to explain it. I think part of this is that I am still realizing now, 27 hours after getting home, that I didn’t even realize what I was experiencing along the way, I only realized it after the fact. But I also think this is just one of those things that no matter how hard you try, any explanation you provide to others will never seem to do it justice. But then, I think that’s part of the mystery and beauty of a pilgrimage.

books, books and more books

Posted on by LaMarGoti

When I was younger, I always read a lot, especially during the summer. My public library had (and I believe still has) a program that rewarded you for how many books you read during the summer. We got a poster, gift certificates for a slice of pizza and free ice cream, but best of all, once you read 30 books, you got your picture on the wall when you read 30 books in a summer. Summer after summer my sister and I had our pictures on the wall and it was a competition between the two of us to see who could get there first. While looking back on it, you’d think the free pizza or ice cream would be the biggest prize, but no, you really weren’t anyone unless your picture was on the wall. Even after I was too old to participate in the program, I used to bike to the library and volunteer as on of the big kids you got to tell all about your book(s) you read.

Obviously, as with many others, by the time I was in high school, I didn’t want much to do with reading. When Harry Potter came out, I got hooked. I am not embarrassed to say that I own every book (having bought the later books at midnight on the day they were released) and I’m even proud of the fact that I have re-read the entire series more times than I can imagine — the entire series is reread every time a book or movie is released. As much as I was hooked on HP, I didn’t read much else other than my books for English class while I was in high school. Even when college started I wasn’t much of a reader. I began to read more during the summers between years in college as it was a good hobby to kill down time while lifeguarding all summer long. Even though I would realize my love for reading was still within me by the end of every summer, the fall semester would always begin and along with the spare time in the summer, my passion for reading went straight out the window.

By the end of college, my passion for reading was back. It came back when a friend of mine from college was given a book from someone at home, being told to read it and pass it along to someone else to read. It was kind of like chain mail, but a book (and only one). But the whole point was to read a good book, pass it to someone else to read it, have them pass it and so on, so eventually people reading the book had no idea who the person who bought the book was. (I forget what book it was, I’m working on figuring that out…). I don’t know how, but somehow I found the time to read a book for pleasure during the semester and I really enjoyed it and ever since then I have started reading more again.

Ever since I graduated college, it is common for me to be like Rory Gilmore and carry a book in my purse — though, I only carry it with me when heading to/from work, I don’t intentionally bring one with me to parties. The summer after college I was a lifeguard again and found more than enough time to read on breaks and rainy days, along with when I was home. Even now as a member of the “real world”, I have learned to find time to read on my commute or when I’m home in the evenings.

With all the reading I’m doing lately, I am tempted to ask for an e-reader for my birthday this fall as I feel it would save me money instead of buying books all the time. But then, do I really want to spend, or ask someone to spend that much money so I can save money? I mean, then I should just go to the library — it is right on Main Street and not out of the way when I’m home. But there’s something to be said for reading a real book. Having the book in your hands, the first time you crack open a brand new spine, and then there’s always one of my ambitions from when I was little — to have a library in my house (when I’m older and own one) with floor to ceiling bookshelves covered with books that I have read. Right now I have a small bookshelf that is overflowing with books, in addition to many books boxed up in my attic and a few piles of books strewn throughout my room.

So do I get an e-reader or not? It could save me room in my purse (especially when I’m reading HP and those hardcover books are huge…) but I would no longer have the books at my own disposal whenever I want. OK, yes, I would, but I couldn’t pass the books along to others, and sharing is out of the question. Which is what I’ve been doing a lot of lately. I’m currently reading a book which was loaned to me and I will be reading the next two books in the series by borrowing them from my friend. And I just read 7 other borrowed books and have another sitting on my desk waiting for me to read. While I don’t own these books, and won’t be able to add them to my collection unless I go out and buy them, I still get to experience all that I love about reading an actual book. And what’s even better about reading from a book you’ve borrowed, is the broken in spine and wrinkled pages. I don’t know, and maybe it’s just me, but I think there’s still something to be said for reading a well loved book.

Bucket List

Posted on by LaMarGoti

My on-going blog entry titled Bucket List is now it’s own page! By having it as a stand alone page, it make it much easier to constantly update it. I hope you check it out every now and then to see what I’ve been up to…

do a survey, help your parish

Posted on by LaMarGoti

Hey everyone! 
If you are a parishioner of St. Mary’s in Ridgefield, CT, please read this and complete the survey which can be found at the bottom.

As you may or may not know, St. Mary’s is currently formulating the next strategic plan and has asked for input from all parishioners — and that includes you! One thing that has been addressed by the committee is that there is a need for a ministry geared to young adults in the parish who don’t really have a ministry they fall into. I’ve been asked by a member of the committee to pass along this survey (the link is below) to everyone I can think of to please fill it out — it is 5 questions long and won’t take you that long to do it. 

Thank you in advance for your input. 
(And please feel free to pass this along to others.)

for the survey, click here  
for more information about the strategic plan you can read the newsletter here

thanks for your support!

Posted on by LaMarGoti

Dear friends and family,

Thank you for supporting me in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer — New York. Not only did your contribution help me beat my own personal goal, but it really does make a difference; it will go toward funding access to care and finding a cure for Breast Cancer. Just two weeks ago my friend Kate and I walked across the finish line next to the USS Intrepid with 4,000 other people who walked for such a great cause. Walkers consisted of mothers, daughters, fathers, brothers, friends, family and most importantly many survivors that have all known someone who has been struck by this disease. With your help, we were able to collectively raise more than $9.5 million dollars and raise awareness about this disease worldwide.

While I spent 5 months training for the walk, I also spent 5 months learning more about this disease and how it affects people in our country. The first statistic I learned about breast cancer during my training was that every three minutes another woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer. This fact seemed to stick with me throughout both my training and the walk. What really struck me was that from the time I began walking and the minute I crossed the finish line, over 600 women were diagnosed with breast cancer. It was this statistic along with others that helped keep me and so many others going through our training. I’d gladly walk any distance to help these women and bring an end to breast cancer.

The walk itself was amazing. We had great weather and I was able to see New York City in a new light. All the people I walked with were high-spirited and such a great group of people who kept motivating others to keep going strong. There were also groups of wonderfully spirited people at cheering stations along the way to keep our spirits high along with pit-stops and breaks to keep us fully energized, rested and hydrated. After Saturday’s portion of the walk, we ended on Randall’s Island for showers, a great dinner and some Yoga before camping out to tackle day 2. While waking up on Sunday was a bit rough and took plenty of energy, it didn’t take long for everyone to acknowledge that blisters, cramped muscles and sore feet are nothing compared to that which people with breast cancer have to deal with on a daily basis.

While I could write a short story about my experiences through the walk; I experienced something that no amount of words could do it any justice. I heard inspiring stories from survivors and their friends and families. I saw men and women push themselves past their physical abilities.

Thank you again for your support. You rock!

If you’d like to see some pictures taken during the walk, you can check them out here on Facebook.

I’m walking 39.3 miles in 12 days!

Posted on by LaMarGoti

As some of you know, I like to do crazy and adventurous things in life — simple doesn’t usually explain my way of doing many things. As you may know by now, my next large task is coming up in less than two weeks. I have spent the last four months training for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. It’s taking place October 10-11 in New York City and I’ll be walking a marathon and a half over these two days with my friend Kate and hundreds of other women.

Did you know that every three minutes, another woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer? I didn’t, and I was shocked to learn how prevalent this horrible disease has become in this country.

I am eager for my walk and in addition to having a strong finish to my training to make sure I’m prepared for the walk, I want to finish out my fundraising with a bang and I need your support! I have pledged to raise money for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer as part of my participation in the walk. Your contribution will help to support medical research into the possible causes of and cure for breast cancer, education and early detection programs, and clinical care and support services for women with breast cancer in communities across the country, especially those here in the New York area. There is a special focus on helping medically under-served women, the poor, minorities, the elderly, or those with inadequate health insurance.

It is faster and easier than ever to support this great cause – you can make a donation online by simply clicking on this link to visit my personal page. While I understand that times are hard right now, whatever you can give will help! I truly appreciate your support and thank you in advance. Plus, in addition to your financial support, I could use all your prayers for myself and the other women as we come into the final stretch of preparation before we partake on this wonderful journey.

Thank you for your support; you really do make a difference. You rock!

MIA

Posted on by LaMarGoti

I know I’ve been missing for a while and I’m sorry about that. This is going to be short, but I promise I will soon be updating much more often.

Life in the real world can become overwhelming. In a day and age when you are expected to do everything, be everywhere and know everything, I am beginning to find that it not possible to be all and do all. I have a full-time job, and am most grateful for it, but thanks to the fact at least 62 1/2 hours of my week are consumed by work and my commute with no computer access to the internet, it seems I don’t have enough time for everything I would like to do. On top of work, I am still in PT for my shoulder and work with the youth group at my church. These two extra activities and sleep seem to keep me more than busy enough lately.

Even though life is more hectic and crazy at times than I thought it would be, I enjoy being a part of it. I really do like being involved and doing things. I am currently in the process of designing this Web site and I finally got something up, I have a bit more work to do on the content and I am working on a new layout, but I could use some feedback. So please hit up my site and let me know what you think. So I’m going to spend a good portion of my upcoming free time working on my site and I am spending the last week of July chaperoning the mission trip for my church. Once this month is over and I start to have some more time around a computer, I hope to update more often. Plus I’ve got it set up so that I can now update from my phone by e-mailing in blogs… And in the mean time, check out my travels blog to read about my vacation to Maine for the 4th of July.