Hymns

This evening I was searching for some hymns that we have sung at church at I felt inspired to write. Because we are a small parish we do not have a choir. We have chanters and occasionally some people gather to sing a hymn for a feast and it is truly a blessing! But as I was skimming youtube it occurred to me how beautiful these hymns were. Of course they are beautiful but I have never really noticed. I am a convert to Orthodoxy, as I have mentioned in previous posts, and in our old episcopal parish we sang lots and lots of western style hymns so when we first started attending our Greek parish the music was truly one of the hardest transitions for me. It sounded foreign and odd to my ear. I never thought that I could enjoy it in the same way. But tonight listening to O Virgin Pure  I was filled with a peace and joy. I don't think I enjoy the hymns of the Church the same way I enjoy western hymns but that is okay. They are beautiful prayers in their own way and I love them. If you would like to hear the hymn I mentioned above here is the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkqZbFQb0O0
Blessed Feast of The Dormition!
Cecilia <3

Camp

So much has happened since I last blogged! I went to camp 3 weeks ago and I can honestly say that it was one of the best weeks of my life! This was the first time that I have spent more than 1 night apart from Sus and it was hard. I kept looking for her to share an inside joke, to have an impromptu dance party, or to get hyper with me. I realized how proud of her I am, I could not stop talking about the great things she has done and the amazing person that she is. I missed her so much it hurt!

I am so lucky to have made incredible friends who made me welcome and safe imediatly. They make me laugh so much! We were able to openly discuss our faith and struggles which was a new experience for me. I am naturally very private and I spend a lot of time thinking about things in my head and never talk about them. We laughed, cried, danced, sang, talked, danced and grew together. I love them all so much!
We also had amazing counselors, I love them! One of them it turns out is the sister of somebody who moved to our parish this summer. It is a small Orthodox world. I learned so much from all of them. 

I really grew so much in my faith, it is crazy that it is even possible in a week. I am really not sure how to put into words how spectacular the whole experience was for me. I have been trying the since I left and I just can't.
That's all for now!
Glory to God for All Things
Cecilia <3

Its been a while!

After drama camp performance

Summer has come at last! The last few weeks have been very busy! I finished most of my school, I still have somethings to do over the summer.
We went to two weddings, an Orthodox wedding and a Catholic wedding, it was interesting to go to such different ceremonies so close together. They were both beautiful, fun, and filled with dancing!
We also attended multiple graduation parties and receptions they were lots of fun! So many of my friends graduated this year and I am so proud of them. I can't wait to see what will be next for them.
Last week was drama camp it was full of laughter, fun, acting, and exhaustion. I was in a play about an elevator that gets stuck with a very odd assortment of people.

Cast character picture

I also took the SAT again on Saturday, I think it went pretty well and the worst section had a misprint so they are not scoring it so that is good.
This week I don't really have much to do. It is the first really warm week we have had this summer so I am planning to spend a lot of time at the pool. I also intend to read lots, I finished a book yesterday and began a new one last night. I also really need to start memorize Shakespeare camp lines. I am playing the 1st half of Boyet and I am excited!
Other things that are happening this week include helping one of my bestest friends family move. They have been searching for 2ish years for a house and they finally found one that will be perfect for them.
Sus began her summer internship last week. It is going well I think. But it is really boring at home all day without her.
In 2 weeks I am going to St Mary's Church camp. I am excited and nervous, I have never done anything like this. I am hoping that I will make friends with other Orthodox teens. There is a great shortage of us in the midwest!!
In other news I am officially going to Idaho in July to visit and help my Aunt with her two boys. I am very very excited for that! When I was 10 I got to go spend 2 weeks with her in Virginia and it is definitely one of my favorite memories!
Glory to God For All Things
Cecilia <3

Dinner dance!

A couple Saturdays ago we had our annual high school dinner dance it was a blast! There was a mystery dinner, games, ballroom dance, and line dances. We went to Nicole's house to get ready and we spend 3 1/2 hours doing everybody hair. I left with at least 80 pins in my hair it was nuts! It was lots of fun! Here are some of my favorite pictures!

 

The dinner dance was on the same day as the ACT which made for a very long day. 

Those two things were the major event of the last few weeks. But I have been studying lots, babysitting quite a bit, preparing for the SAT which I take on Saturday. We had our last day of sunday school last week. I am sad and also grateful. It is a blessing for me to be able to teach but also very tiring and I will be grateful to have a break. Sunday was also the feast day of the Myrrh Bearing Women which is always a special day for me because my patron saint, Mary Magdelene, is one of them along with my twins name saint, Saint Susannah.                                                                                                         

Glory to God For All Things. 

Cecilia <3

Pascha!

So today has been the first day I have had time to sit down and blog in a while! We had Pascha last week and it was beautiful as always. I love the joyous singing of the easter hymn "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death be death and to those in the tomb granting life. " We got to spend a lot of time in church during holy week which I am very grateful for.
During holy week we also had our HOSA State leadership conference. It was a great experience as always with interesting lectures, tours, and keynote speakers. Our chapter did very well and many of us qualified for nationals which are in California this year. I took first place in my human growth and development knowledge test. I have placed second the previous 2 years so it was nice to move up the list.
I have been doing lots of prep for the ACT on Saturday and I am hoping to do well on that. Other than that I haven't really been doing anything other than keeping up with my regular school work.
Glory to God For All Things
Cecilia <3

Happy Birthday Bia!

One of my bestest friend's birthday was this week. We have known each other since I was in 2nd grade and she was in 1st. We both remember the day we met and we have been inseparable friends ever since. I am so proud of her and lucky to have her in my life. Today is Holy Thursday in the western Church. Holy Thursday is her favorite day of the whole year so I always think of her on this day. I love you Bia!

Glory to God for All Things

Cecilia <3

St Patrick's Day

St Patrick's Day is always fun at our house. We are mostly Irish with lots of other things mixed in and we love St Patrick! So tonight as usual we had a nice dinner with soda bread, mashed potatoes and other yummy things. We listened to various sorts of Irish/celtic music and had lots of fun.

St Brigid is another Irish saint I love

Also today I had an interesting car adventure! One of the radiator hoses split which led to me driving down the interstate blowing white smoke. I pulled over and called dad and he came to look at it and bring us home. Luckily it was an quick and easy fix and I was only 10 miles from home.

Glory to God For All Things
Cecilia <3

Happy Day

Yesterday was one of the happiest days I have had in a while! I had a mildly good piano lesson and then we went to church. There was a chrismation (similar to confirmation) of a woman who has been coming to church for just under a year. It was truly beautiful! She was glowing and beaming and never looked happier. I am so grateful that I got to be there for her special moment. It reminded me of the day my family was received into the Church, one of the happiest days of my life!
After church Mom, Sus, and I went out to eat indian food! YUM!!!!! Then we went shopping and enjoyed ourselves tons! Then we drove home in my freezing car!
Because we had been gone all afternoon Sus had not checked her email all day. When she got home she checked her email and saw that she was accepted to the very competitive biomedical research internship. I am so happy and thrilled for her. It is such an exciting opportunity that will shape her future! Congrats Sus!!!!!!! <3
Glory to God For All Things
Cecilia <3

Family!

So today I am very frustrated and tired of my siblings! I am sure you know the feeling! So I thought I might write and remind myself that they can be awesome too!
Badness has been really bored lately. His solution to boredom is seeing what everybody else in the house is doing and then repeating the whole process in 15 minutes. This means that every 15 minutes or so I get a hug, a kiss, a story, or a joke. It can get annoying but it is so special. It seems like every week get busier and I see him less and less so the 2 minutes that he and I share are good!
Rabbit is positive all the time. She is always spotting positive things in our life and it makes me happy.
Bean is the sweetest of us all without a doubt! He will do anything if it will make you feel better. He also gives the best hugs ever!
Shark is hilarious! He can make anything funny. He has also recently become one of my best friends, something I never expected!
Sus can make me laugh anytime. She can explain how I am feeling to other people when they just don't get it. She bakes me cookies if I am having a bad day and puts up with my random hyper fits at 11:30 at night.
I feel much better now.
Thanks for listening! I am really enjoying blogging more frequently!
Glory to God For All Things
Cecilia<3

P.S. I can't get the preview to load so if my formatting is terrible I apologize! C

March!

Happy March! Oh how I wish that I could say happy spring too! I am really hoping that after this week spring will be here! Right now I am enduring great suffering because Sus and I made chocolate cookie bars and the whole house smells like cookies! But because they are bars there is no way to sneak one away and it is a serious problem!!
Other than suffering from cookie deprivation I am having a good week! I babysat, baked, cleaned, read, studied, got sick, got better, volunteered, and studied more! That sounds kind of boring but boring is good sometimes! I was really glad to be able to sit and read this week. It has been a while since that has happened and I really miss it! I really want to reread two of my favorite books (And The Ladies of The Club and The Book Thief) really soon! That reminds me I need to find them!
Sunday was the Sunday of Orthodoxy. We commemorate the decision of the Seventh Ecumenical Council to uphold the use of holy icons in Orthodox worship on the 1st Sunday in lent. I really love the icon of The Sunday of Orthodoxy (left) it is so beautiful!
Glory to God For All Things
Cecilia <3

Great Lent

Lent started on Monday and I am so glad. It is such a beautiful and holy part of the year! Sunday evening was Forgiveness Vespers which is truly one of the most moving services. It is the regular lenten vespers but with an addition. Everyone at the service goes though a line and says "forgive me a sinner" and then you respond "God forgives and I forgive, forgive me." This is repeated until you have asked forgiveness of everybody and forgiven them all. It is truly beautiful service and a wonderful way to start lent. 

As well as fasting during lent our family is going to try and say evening prayers together every night. We used to pray together every evening when I was small but as we all got older and were home less it happened less often. I have very fond memories of praying with my parents and twin in bed when I was little and I hope that my siblings will have similar memories.

I hope you all have a blessed and fruitful lent.

Glory to God for All Things

Cecilia <3

My Week and Some Thoughts

How are you? I have had a pretty good week so far! Sunday I submitted my application for an internship this summer and had a very fun sunday school class. I got to spend all of monday hanging out with my friends and playing games and it was a very good day. I have not had a day to just sit and relax for a while so it was good. Tuesday my quiz bowl team won and our other homeschool teams took 3rd and 4th. This was the second to last quiz bowl this year and it was good to finally take 1st after getting close so many times! Mom and Badness are out of town all week and I miss them tons!

Today is Ash Wednesday in the Western Church so I wish my many catholic friends a blessed lent! I am looking forward to lent this year. I love all of the lenten services and I enjoy spending so much more time at church.
Sorry this is kind of scattered but I enjoy thinking about my week this way.
I hope you are having a good week!
Glory to God for All Things
Cecilia <3

A week of birthdays!

This week some of the most important people to me celebrated or will celebrate their birthdays. My brother Shark turned 14 on the tenth and I can't tell you how happy I am that he is getting older! This year we have had some of the best times together! He is probably one of the funniest people I know and he is really a fun dance partner. I can't wait to see all of the great days and terrible inside jokes that come out of this year! :)

Also on the tenth Mrs B-H had her birthday! She is my "spare" mother and it would be impossible to count all of the amazing things she has done for me in the 9 years I have known her. But I am so grateful to have her love, support, and yummy food in my life. Love you!

Tomorrow is one of my bestest friend's birthday! I am so blessed to have her in my life! She can make me laugh till I cry, cheer me up if am having a bad day, keep me from going totally insane, and be just generally awesome and amazing!!! Love you Nicole
I hope you are all having a good week!
Glory to God for All Things
Cecilia

A Quick Update and Random Thoughts

We had a wonderful Christmas at our house! It was filled with slippers, games of cards, and mostly tea. My Oma (grandma) came to visit for 12 days which was very nice. We don't see her often so we were all very excited for her visit and sad when she left. My mom's only brother came to visit too and we had a lot of fun, you would be surprised how many times he could possibly ask "is it my turn?" :P

2015 has been pretty good so far and I am excited to see what this year holds for me. On friday we had our last physics class and I am sad. I am truly so blessed to have had such a great experience taking classes at the public school and to have had such a wonderful science teacher. He is really one of the best people I have ever met. He is truly an inspiration, he has gone through many struggles but he is still so positive. He makes an effort to connect with his students and is always there for them.
I have also really enjoyed this class because of the connections I have made with the other students. It has really been so much easier then my chemistry class to make friends.

We had our first quiz bowl of 2015 this past week and it was super fun! We did really well (placed 2nd) and met all of our teams goals. We won all 6 rounds, broke 110 points, and worked well as a team. I am really nervous about next year because all of my teammates are seniors and won't be able to play next year. I keep telling myself change is good.

I also have been really enjoying ballroom dance. This Christmas was my 3rd year doing ballroom every other week. But I think that this year I have really appreciated having my brother start coming with me. It has been great for us because we enjoy it and it gives us a way to hangout together and have a ton of fun at the same time. As it gets closer and closer to when I will move out I realize how special spending time with my little sibs is. It is one of my goals this year; to spend more time with them.
That went on rather longer than I wanted but I like writing down my thoughts like this. Thats all for now!!! <3
Glory to God for All Things
Cecilia