19 years

Today is a special day. It is my birthday and it also so happens to be the birthday of my best friend, other half, and twin sister. We have always been close but it took us years to figure out that we were friends. Now when people ask what having a twin is like we say "it is having a built-in best friend." She is my car dancing partner, my late night phone call, and study partner even when we are 100's of miles away. Today is our first birthday that we have not celebrated in the same place, but we are celebrating together. This semester far away from each other has been hard but also has made us closer. I miss her dearly but I am so proud of her.

Happy Birthday my love! May God grant you many many years.

Glory to God For All Things

Cecilia <3

P.S. I challenge you to tell who is who in the old pictures!

Fall Break

My school has an unusually long fall break and they close the dorms so I decided to fly home and surprise everyone. I am so glad I had the chance to see everyone and its only 60 days until I get to go home again!

 I flew out early so I got to see the sunrise from the plane which was beautiful

I surprised Maria and Nicole separately and then we got together to hangout later in the week. We had a lot of fun but we missed Sus!

Sunset

Field waiting to be harvested! 

I drove almost 700 miles while I was home for a week and there was lots of beautiful fall and harvest scenes I had to pull over and take a picture of this beautiful sunset. South Dakota sunsets are unequaled! 

 I missed my dogs a lot! They were all excited to see me. Leaving was hard because our sweet Mia will probably not make it to Christmas so I had to say goodbye to her.

I really enjoyed the week of home food, although school food is not bad at all it gets boring and repetitive.
Now back to real life, I have a busy week with 2 tests, a paper, and a presentation all due this week.
Glory to God For All Things
Cecilia <3

Friendships

I am extremely blessed some to have some fantastic friendships. My friends at home hold such a special place in my heart. I love them like my family. It has been such a hard thing to be so far away from all of them, but I would not be where I am today without them standing behind me. These special people always know what to say, when to give me a hug, and when to tell me to shut up. I have a hard time identifying why these relationships mean so much to me but last week I watched a video from the Greek Archdiocease about how true friendship is a reflection of the love of Christ (here is the link if you are interested https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQI24mmhJaM). I have been thinking about it ever since. My friends share so much of me, they share my fears, dreams, hopes, and my heart. Their gentle reminders that they are here for me throughout my days remind me that Christ is everywhere present and fills all things. Through the love of my friends I am able to feel the love of Christ in my life. I thank God for these true friendships and for placing these beautiful people in my life.
Glory to God For All Things,
Cecilia <3


P.S. I thought I would add some pictures. I miss you crazy people!

A Month In!

Hello! I'm alive! I have survived my first 6 weeks of school. It has gone really well so far. I am adjusting well. I have had a few crazy weeks and I don't think that it will get better until mid-October when I have fall break. I went on a retreat with one of the clubs I am in and it was a blast! I made some new friends and had a lot of fun. I have found a new parish, it is a really beautiful church building and I have been welcomed completely. I joined the choir and today I went to my first ordination. It was a very long service but very beautiful and moving. Fall has well and truly come and it is very beautiful in Ohio in the fall. The trees outside my window are turning and it makes me smile every time I look out the window. Over Labor day  Sus came to spend the weekend with me and even though we did basically nothing it was so nice to see her. Overall I am doing really well.
Glory to God For All Things,
Cecilia <3

The twining is insane in this picture.