A True Hero

REST IN PEACE JASON. 

YOU ARE LOVED.

It is with a heavy heart I yet again update my blog. A son, a brother, a friend and A HERO has been lost to our lives this week. I think I am still in shock. Jason was a wonderful, young, funny, caring, and impossibly strong man who completed numerous tours overseas and would have done ANYTHING for his family and friends. He will always be remembered for his service to our country and for the love he shared with those around him. Jason was the guy who made sure everyone around him was having a good time and if you weren't? He made sure to turn that around. After hundreds of nights spent around the pool and fire pit in the Prostrollo's backyard I can account for several times he turned my frown upside down. He was a loving, courageous and wonderful man and he will be missed dearly by all.  I leave you with a few things I will never forget about Jason:

He is the ONLY person in my life who has ever let me touch a gun. Not only touch a gun but MADE me learn to check if it was loaded, how to hold it, how to aim, and how to shoot (though we never got to the shooting part where the gun was actually loaded). I wish so badly we had not continuously pushed back our date with the shooting range. It won't be the same learning from someone who wasn't a special force sniper in the United States Marines.

You always knew he was listening if you were talking to him. He always had advice, even if it was just to let something go. Make sense? It did when he said it. He had a lot of insight on life and knew how to put something into perspective...that many years in the military and you learn to do that.

He knew how to make a drink. Not just pour alcohol and juice and whatever into a cup, no, seriously, he could perfect a drink so that you didn't know that you were even drinking alcohol. That may sound dangerous haha but for someone as picky as I am about tasting what I drink, it was great. And he knew the amount of ice cubes that were acceptable for certain glass sizes (or so he bragged about one night hahah). And best of all?!?! He knew how much I loved drinking with straws and made sure my cup always had one!

He liked to tease people. It was never harmful but it made you realize even more that he listened when you talked. He loved to make fun of me for going to CA for school and when I would send him pictures of the sunset to show him why he would let me know I could see the same sunset in Lake Havasu if it was water I wanted to watch the sun set over.

 I could go on for ages but tears have blurred the screen and this much sadness can't be conveyed through the blogosphere


Love you, Jason!
My prayers are with you Bryan and Mr P.

A Lasting Impact

I've had a really tough few days trying to stay my positive and upbeat self. Those of you who have seen me or talked to me have probably noticed very little difference in my usual peppy personality but on the inside my heart is aching. A wonderful, and very loved high school teacher passed away on Sunday and the tears and sadness seem to build up and bubble over when I least expect it. Let me explain to you why Coach Bemis was such an incredible man. He wasn't just a high school football coach, or your typical nerdy science teacher. He was a prankster, a jokester, and he made you work hard in class because you WANTED to, not because he was forcing you to. 

Coming to Notre Dame Prep in 2002 didn't just mean a new class of freshmen in a big, scary school. No, it meant we were the very FIRST class of kids to even be entering the school since it had become a high school. We were the guinea pigs. We voted on the school uniform, we tested out different class schedules every. single. semester. for 4 years, we gave feedback on clubs, sports, and food options in the cafeteria. And it was scary. I wasn't what people (ok high schoolers) defined as pretty, I sure as heck wasn't popular and the very first class I had was with...you guessed it, Coach Bemis where he starts the class off by warning you he yells. A LOT. Being one of only two girls in this 8am Biology class and having the entire football team sitting behind me, I wanted to run as far and as fast as I could. But Mr Bemis didn't play favorites with his team and he sure wasn't going to let them pick on me. He put a stop to that the first week of class and you know what? It lasted through four years of high school. I may have been teased and picked on but it was never by a member of the football team and you know why? Mr. Bemis is respected and loved and you wouldn't dare do something he told you not to do. 

You would however jump at any chance to do anything he asked. Feeling antsy in class? Mr Bemis had no problem sending you on a delivery which had to be done "quickly now! Run fast!" and usually ended with the person handing a blank note to a confused Spanish teacher, or some inside joke given to Mr Gibbons (who of course, always took time to reply on the spot). He put a farting machine in the class next door and it was 2 days before that teacher found it. He was not amused....but we sure were! 

And then of course there was updog. 

Mr Bemis- DiMarco! *slams yardstick on desk* Could you pass me some updog?

Me- huh?

Mr Bemis- the updog! in the back cabinet, can you get some?

Me- ummm huh?

Mr Bemis- DIMARCO! please. get. the updog.....now. 

Me- what's up dog?!

Mr Bemis- not much just trying to teach my class. hahahahhaha

And he'd burst out laughing. funny guy right there. 

Mr Bemis is kind, caring, motivational, devoted to his students, and in turn respected and loved by every single person who knows him. It breaks my heart to think that there will be students at NDP who don't have the honor of meeting him but I know they will feel as though they do. His memory will live on forever because he is such a special man. 

My thoughts and prayers are with the entire Bemis family during this tough time. As sad as I am the loss is felt a million times over by those who had that special place in his heart. He is one of a kind and I feel privileged to say I was able to know him, if only for a brief period of time. 

Dear Mr Bemis, 

Thank you for everything you've done for me, for our school, for this city...you've brought so many people together and that can never be taken away. Team Bemis will live on in your memory and you can bet that for many, many, MANY years to come your legacy will be passed on. I could never thank you enough. 

Love from London,

DiMarco!

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/preps/ne/articles/2012/01/23/20120123high-school-football-scot-bemis-legacy.html

www.teambemis.com

Age Doesn't Matter....Right?

As I've mentioned in previous blog posts, the other students in my class are all much older than I am. It doesn't bother me and it's honestly quite helpful at time to have insight and perspective from people who aren't my age but today it made me laugh when I realized how far removed I was from a certain few of the much older crowd. My teacher was talking about a book he had read and said something along the lines of "this book was widely popular between 1940-1945 so I know many of you have heard of it...." and continued to talk about a book I had no understanding of and am still trying to figure out how it related to what we were talking about. (I tend to play catch up a lot in class). Now I'm not saying that anyone else in the class was following the purpose of bringing this book up in class but it seemed that those who chuckled to his analogy at least knew what he was talking about and why it was funny! Is it so wrong that I want to be in on the joke?!
Anywho, although I've decided that age range of the class doesn't matter I do feel as though it would be a small comfort to have more than one person to relate to in the class. Don't get me wrong, my friend Chris is great to have around but we are definitely more removed from certain discussions where we constantly have to try and look up words that are not in our vocabulary but seem to flow freely from others. Maybe I'll absorb the words as well and some day be able to throw things like paradigm shift or Pelagian Controversy into conversations I have over lunch as well.
Point of this post is to let you all know I had my second first day of school this term and I really, really liked the class. There were about 20 of us in this one as it is a required class for everyone going through this program---anyone doing the program full time or part time and in their second year. I'm looking forward to having lectures from several different respected teachers in the theology department and I'll keep you updated on how the classes seem to be shaping up in the next few weeks.

Love from London,
Kristin

And So It Begins Again

Over the past week and a half I have started 3 separate blog posts and haven't gotten around to finishing any of them. The first one made me too sad that my time at home was coming to an end. The second one I didn't have time to complete because my time at home WAS at the end (aka I was trying to procrastinate packing) and the third one...well I've just been jetlagged since I got back and busy, busy, busy already!

We Have Lots of Fun Together

My time at home was absolutely incredible and just as I predicted would happen, I did not want to return to London after having the comforts of home, family, friends, my dogs, and just overall a great holiday season. I do LOVE London, don't get me wrong, it's a great city but now I have to get back to school and writing papers and constant frustration at public transportation. However, home was just the break I needed. I was able to see Javi for a total of 2 weeks which was WONDERFUL! We hiked Camelback, spent a few days in Flagstaff where we got to go sledding and enjoy leftover snow from whenever they're last snow fell haha and just relax with the fired while feeding our addiction to this great tv show called....DEXTER!  I also got to spend lots of time with my most perfect, beautiful Godson, Aiden and for the first time since we've all been 21 my best friends and I were able to go out to the bars together! (Pictured in last blog update). I also got to go to taco Tuesday every week which is basically my favorite thing everrrrr to do haha. I LOVE TACOS! I couldn't have asked for a better break and although it was fast paced and flew by too quickly, it was just what I needed to get back on track for this next term.

From the Inside of Parliament

Coming back to London this time was made a little easier by the fact that one of my closest friends from LMU came back with me! Justin Ramos, out and about in Europe for the first time! hahah it's been a blast!! We have been non-stop tourists the entire time we have been back and 3 days in, we finally crashed and slept for TWELVE hours. You heard right people, Kristin Michelle DiMarco slept for 12 hours unaided by tylenol pm. (ok fine, I took melatonin but that's a natural medicine!) The coolest things we have done so far is go to Westminster Abby including hearing the Evensong Prayer Service with the men and boys choir, INSIDE houses of parliament (I didn't even know you could do that!) and we saw the play Matilda! Now although I had been outside Westminster Abbey I had never ventured in, waiting for people to visit me who I would know would want to go in so I wouldn't have to pay twice. IT IS GORGEOUS. We spent over TWO hours slowly touring the church and listening to the audio tour tell us all the amazing history and controversy that has taken place in the abbey. Incredible. And the men and boys choir!!!!!!!!!!!! In the words of Katie Leight....HOLY. COW. Incredible. I don't know where they find such talent! The youngest boy could not have been older than 6 or 7 but man could he sing. I was beyond impressed and had chills the entire time. It was beautiful.

Got our Matilda Tickets

And Matilda! wowowowowowowowowowow. London has talented children is what I learned from everything we did this day. These kids could really act!! It was funny and silly and also made me realize I need to read the book as it must have followed a different plot since it didn't match the movie. I should start at the beginning though. We found out that this theatre has a deal where the first 8 people who arrive in the morning get tickets for £5 if you're between the ages of 16-25. We tried to get the tickets two days ago but didn't get there until 930 and there were already 10-12 people ahead of us in line, the first people having gotten there at 700am!! crazy. so yesterday, we woke up at 6, left at 7 and got to the theatre by 8 where we ended up being the 3rd and 4th ppl in line! After waiting 2 hours for the theatre to open up we got our tickets! I then had to run to class and Justin hopped on a tour bus where it sounds like he had a VERY productive day and has also fallen in love with this city.
My first day back in classes went very well and I'm very excited! This first class is called Theology, Church, and Worship and is taught by Alister McGrath who is apparently a big deal in the religious community. He is very intelligent but engages the class well. Also, my class has 17 people in it this time around! My friend Chris and I are still the youngest by A LOT but at least we're in it together and I'm excited for all the diversity in the classroom again this term.

(photo taken by Justin)

Justin and I have a lot of museum things and touristy things to hit up today so it's time to go get ready but I'll be back sooner this time, PROMISE. Blogging happens to be one of the few (ok only thing) I do that is productive while I procrastinate. And since I have so many avid followers waiting for me to post frequently I will continue to write as time allows.

Love from London,
Kristin