Travel Insurance and Other Preparations

Hey guys,
Hope the last two weeks have productive and entertaining! Back at HQ we have been wrestling with tertiary study and other demands on our time. Last Sunday St. Theresa’s Youth Group, where I am part of an awesome, up-beat team of youth leaders, had its first meeting for 2011. It was really great to see so many people with so many fantastic ideas for youth events this year! I look forward to all the shenanigans that are sure to arise. For more information about joining Youth Group find us on Facebook.

In Foxton Catherine has been preparing her luggage for our pilgrimage. Don’t worry, she hasn’t packed just yet! Instead she has brought an awesome set of luggage that is sturdy and big enough to carry all the souvenirs and shoes it needs to come August and September. We have also been preparing by buying travel insurance. The magnitude of WYD is becoming so much more real the more practical travel preparations we make! As part of our spiritual preparation we are also in the midst of meeting with the Internship Program overseer, Sean and other interns of the area.

Finally, in fundraising news, we received a very generous and heartwarming anonymous donation last Sunday, and we would like to thank this person, or people, profusely for their financial help. As we gear up to the Golf Tournament coming up on the 8^th of May (for more information or to register please contact us at st.marys.youthleaders@gmail.com ) we are continually overwhelmed by the generosity of the local businesses of the Foxton/Shannon area. The list of amazing prizes is growing so make sure you register to be in to win!

However, we would like to especially thank all the people that have been praying for Catherine and I in our preparation for WYD11.  Your spiritual support and blessing are enormously appreciated!

Until next fortnight!,

God bless,

Catherine and Kealagh out. 

Cruising, Dancing and Shamrocks

A Very Warm Welcome to All,

Firstly, Catherine and I would like to express our deepest sympathy for all the people who have been affected by the disasters that have recently befallen Japan. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all.

In Foxton we have been engaged with fundraising. On the 13th of March the families of both Catherine and I held a Sunday Road Cruise. This involved members of the community organising into teams, driving around the district in order to answer questions relating to their surroundings. After a morning of fun it was time for a picnic lunch, prize-giving and a mystery bottle auction. All in all the day was a success with many people enjoying themselves tremendously as well as our fundraising account receiving a healthy boost. 

Picnic Lunch

On Saturday the 19^th the Foxton/Shannon Parish held a St. Patrick’s Day Dance in which all the proceeds were donated to our WYD fundraising account. It was a terrific night full of live Irish music, dancing and shamrocks and we are very thankful to all the people who had a role in ensuring the night was a fantastic success.

Dancing at St. Pat's

In other fundraising news registration for the Golf Tournament is now open! Thanks to the generosity of the Foxton Golf Club and many business in the Foxton/Shannon area we are proud to present a Golf Tournamentheld on the 8^th of May at Foxton Golf Club, with tee-off at 10.30am, Prize giving at 4pm and Dinner at 5pm. It is a 18 hole, 3 person Ambrose with an entry fee of $30 per team, and $15 per person for dinner. All profits go toward our pilgrimage to World Youth Day! It promises to be a fantastic day, so for more information or to register please contact us at st.marys.youthleaders@gmail.com .

While all these exciting things have been happening in Foxton, down in Wellington my fellow Youth Leaders of St. Theresa’s Church and I are about to begin this years Youth Group! Our first meeting is on Sunday 27^th of March at 7.30pm at St. Theresa’s Church Karori. So if your Yr 9 + come along for a great night!

God Bless and see you in a fortnight!

Catherine and Kealagh out.

Many 'Thank You's '

Howdy all,

These past two weeks have been trying for the New Zealand community, and we would like to offer our condolences and sympathy for all those who were affected in the Christchurch Earthquake on Tuesday the 22nd of February. Our hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to all the people involved and their families. Kia Kaha. The support and aid Christchurch has received both from around New Zealand and from the international community has been amazing and it is really heartwarming to see everyone banding together to give all the support they can. Thank you.

We would also like to send our thanks and appreciation to the very generous Brigidine Sisters who donated a substantial amount of money to our fundraising efforts.  Your belief and support of us is extremely touching and we are very, very thankful! 

Last Saturday, one of our parishioners was hosting their daughter’s wedding and we were given the opportunity to serve nibbles and tend the bar. It was hard work, but a great experience! We made $380 for our fundraising, so thanks to Nellie for thinking of us and for your support!

In other fundraising news, we are having a ‘Sunday Drive’ on March 13th. After Mass we will congregate to have a cup of tea and receive instructions, then head off in teams, following directions in order to answer questions about the scenery and landscape of the drive. Afterwards we’ll have a picnic lunch, a prize giving and all sorts of other fun. If you are interested in being involved please email us at st.marys.youthleaders@gmail.com and we’ll send you more details.

We're also in the process of planning a Golf Fun day at the Foxton Golf Course, so check back soon for more information.
Finally, we have some exciting news about our pilgrimage! After the conclusion of the WYD pilgrimage, we'll be remaining in Europe until the 13th of September. We're planning on traveling to London to stay with some of Kealagh’s relations and then on to Germany to spend some time with a close friend who has been very influential in our spiritual lives. We hope to spend time with their Youth Group as they were such a substantial part of ours during their year long exchange here in 2009. This will compliment our WYD pilgrimage and will be a wonderful experience, we can't wait!

God bless,

Catherine and Kealagh out . x

Passports, Centenary's and Moving!

Good day all!
It’s been an eventful past two weeks! After days of frantically searching Catherine was able to find her passport, and the next day I was granted my New Zealand Passport! This means that we can legally attend World Youth Day!! We’ve been preparing ourselves for the countries we’ll visit by google-stalking them with interesting results. I am also in the process of teaching myself elementary Spanish with pretty dismal results. Looks like we are going to have to lean heavily on Plan B- interpretative dance!-  Wooo!
In other news, the Primary school that is connected with our parish and which both Catherine and I attended, celebrated 100 year of Catholic teaching last weekend. Considering the relative youth of New Zealand compared with countries such as France and Spain, 100 years definetly warrants a celebration! During the Centennial Celebrations Catherine and I were asked to serve coffee and tea at the Morning Tea. While it was lovely to catch up and meet new people, quite a few people attended the Celebrations (one woman flew all the way from Canada!) which meant quite a few dishes to do afterwards!
Fundraising is also going swimmingly, and we are constantly overwhelmed by the generosity of members of our community, who give freely of their time and money! It has been truly inspirational to see how the community has rallied in support of Catherine and I and we are both extremely thankful! We still have a small amount to raise yet and are in the process of some serious fundraising. Hopefully, next fortnight we will have some concrete news to share.
Finally, today marks the day that I move down to Wellington to commence my tertiary study. =( Packing my bags has made me worried about luggage restrictions on international flights, but at least I will be prepared for anything that could happen; rain, hail, sun-strike, I even packed my thermals just in case it snows during Summer/Autumn. However, my location does not hinder my involvement with the Internship Program and the Foxton/Shannon Parish! Catherine and I will be working tirelessly with our fundraising and work with in the Parish, so look forward to many more exploits!!
Have a wonderful fortnight!
Catherine and Kealagh out!

Murder, Deposits and Flights

Hey there folks! 

Yes, yes, we know.. we're late.. it's Monday not Saturday! Rest assured, this was intentional. On Saturday night we had an event, and we wanted to include you by putting it in this here blog of ours. What was this event, you may ask? Well, it was in fact a Mid-Summer Murder! Yep, you heard us.. murder, dinner, intrigue, mystery… sounds delicious doesn't it. We delved deep into the murky depths of our imaginations and created nine distinct characters. Each guest at dinner took on a character with a motive to kill the 'victim' .Kealagh, the victim, and I had a splendid time op shopping for a dressing gown to splatter with blood, and using talcum powder to give her a nice deathly glow. Everyone had a fabulous evening full of fist thumping accusations, decoy tactics and few wines.

The money we raised goes towards our fundraising efforts. Speaking of money, we recently withdrew an amount from our super secret account (that you can donate to using the info on the column to the right) in order to pay our deposits for WYD! We're getting really excited now that it's sunk in. Guys, we're totally going to Europe!!!!!!!

We have also booked flights to Auckland in order to catch our international flights. After some nice sleuthing we've discovered we'll be flying from Auckland to HONG KONG and be staying there for a few hour before flying on to Paris. In order to legally depart the country and enter others, Kealagh has applied for her passport! Yay!!!! 

We're so excited we've begun google stalking the countries we'll be visiting. Finding out who's there, what's on, where's hot, why it's important to visit and how do we buy that dress. You'll notice that we've added a countdown, top right, in order to know exactly how many days, hours and minutes are left until we leave. Make sure you vote on our poll and help us decide what's the thing we can't miss seeing in Paris.

We have more plans in the mix so check back with us soon.

Catherine and Kealagh out.

Merry Christmas/Happy New Year, Good Citizens

Hi guys! 

It’s been a while, but we do have heaps to report. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Hope you enjoyed the time with friends and family as well as having a refreshing and rejuvenating break.  Back here at HQ, we’ve been busy all holiday season and we haven’t stopped yet! Leading up to Christmas we were spreading the spirit with the delightful ladies of our parish and one dashing gent. That’s right – Choir! Caroling Choir! Complete with reindeer, jingle bells and fruitcake.  For two months we preened, prep’d and primped our voices into a collaborative masterpiece. Well, we like to think so. Two performances, one each in Foxton and Shannon, went swimmingly and raised funds from members of our generous community. 

Speaking of generosity, shout outs to everybody who’s supported us so far, we love you guys!!! We’ve raised an astounding amount for the size of our community. This being said we still have a long way to go, BUT FEAR NOT good citi-zzins! We have plans....

In other news, we’ve been fortifying our strategic barracks for the coming year in order to prepare for the departure of one of our own. Kealagh will be leaving us (by us I mean ME) to attend university in the windy city, Wellington. Don’t worry though, due to the recent and miraculous invention of the inter webs we’ll stay in touch, with both each other and you, Dear Reader.

Stay tuned for more...

Catherine and Kealagh out.

Introducing Catherine and Kealagh...

Hey! First post jitters out of the way with. If you look to your left you’ll see the basic facts. We are two Kiwis about to tackle the most exciting trip imaginable: one month, two teens, Paris to Madrid!! But first, how it all began…

Catherine and I met at St. Mary’s Primary School, both inhabitants of the small town Foxton, New Zealand. As the years passed we both attended St. Peter’s College, catching the bus to the city 40min up the road.  Catherine has since finished college, while I am in my final year franticly studying for the end of year exams. We both plan our lives to involve travel to interesting and inspiring destinations. To fund this adventurous life style Catherine plans to work in anthropology where as I plan a career in research psychology.  Together, we make a great team with Catherine ruling over the cooking and outreach, while I take on the organisational and cleaning side of things, both sharing a dash of crazy creativity.

Last year we were approached to be members of a fledgling Youth Group and as this grew we took on the role of Youth Group Leaders.  At the beginning of 2010 our Parish Coordinator, Judith, recommended to us the Internship Program as a way of giving back to the community as well as providing us the opportunity to develop our leadership skills.

We both applied and were accepted into the Internship Program run by the Palmerston North Diocese.  This program means that Catherine and I work to complete 400 hours, over two years, of voluntary service as Youth Leaders of our Foxton and Shannon Catholic Parish.

Sounds tedious, and while it is a lot of work we have an awesome time organising and running Youth Group, as well as events for the parish such as the 1920’s Night and Mid-winter Picnic, and working in conjunction with St. Mary’s Primary School in creating Mass for Young People. Both Catherine and I love the buzz that comes with helping out and making a difference in our local community, which is why we do what we do.  However, the fact that the Internship Program gives us the fantastic opportunity of attending World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid is pretty awesome too!!!

World Youth Day started in 1987 by Pope John Paul the Second as a way of bringing together young Catholics from all around the world to celebrate their faith and learn more about it, enabling them to go out into the world to be witnesses to the Gospel.  The 26^th World Youth Day takes place in the home of the salsa (the dance, not the food) and flamenco dancers; Spain!!

As part of the Internship Program Catherine and I travel with youth from the Palmerston North and Wellington Dioceses on a tour from Paris to Madrid,  stopping in places such as Taize and San Sebastian, taking in the churches, shops and culture of these two amazing countries!!

Until then we’re dreaming of Spanish architecture, French shoes and all the new friends to come!

Catherine and Kealagh out