Christmas Bags

One of our family Christmas traditions is wrapping our presents in homemade bags, to save on paper and on wrapping time. Over time our collection shrinks, they either get gifted out of house or get chewed by dogs, so we periodically make more. In November I told mom that I would make her new ones on break. So today with the help of Badness I sewed 44 new Christmas bags! It was a lot of fun and he learned how a sewing machine works.

I am so glad I get to be home!

Glory to God For All Things,

Cecilia <3

I Did It!

Its official, I survived my first semester at college. It has been a really great 4 months. I have enjoyed all of my classes and my professors over all were really fantastic. I have determined that I really do want to pursue nursing. I have loved it so far and I haven't even started any official nursing classes yet.  I have made some incredible friends. I have earned a nickname I am not to fond of. I mean who would like to be called Cecil? . I had a visit from Sus in September and a visit home in October. I learned how to play euchre and had some really intense game nights. I taught my friends how to play cribbage. I have found and become active in a new parish. I sang in a pan-orthdox advent concert which was truly beautiful. I have had a ridiculous amount of tea, but there is no such thing as too much tea. Now I am sitting in the airport 7 hours after I was supposed to take off with another hour till I board my flight. I will arrive in Omaha 12 hours later then expected, but I am thankful that I had a ride to the airport and I warm ride when I finally land. I am thankful that I get to see my family and our new puppy. I am thankful that the weather looks good so I can pick Sus up at the airport on Tuesday. I am thankful that I get to spend Christmas with the people I love the most.
Glory to God For All Things,
Cecilia<3

Grateful

With the start of Advent and Thanksgiving next week I thought I would spend some time talking about a few things that I am grateful for.

One of the Icons I have on my desk 

To begin with I am beyond grateful for my family. The constant support and love that they offer me is  a huge blessing in my life.
I am grateful for a ride to and from church every Sunday, this semester would have been a lot harder without the ability to attend church regularly.
I am grateful for my friends new and old. The new ones have made this transition as painless as it could possibly be and my old ones are my biggest cheerleaders and a source of constant love.
I am grateful for music. Music has always been a constant in my life. For years you could tell if my Dad was home by whether or not music was playing. Since I got to college I have had music playing whenever I am studying, stressed or relaxing.
I am grateful for my roommate. Living with someone you have never met can be quite a challenge but I really lucked out with mine.
I am grateful for the Icons on my desk. They help me stay centered through out the day.
I am grateful for the children in my life. Perhaps the hardest part of living on a college campus is not interacting with children regularly but it has made me appreciate the relationships I have with children at home.
I am grateful to be going home in 28 days. I have loved being at school, I am enjoying my classes and my professors, but I cannot wait to be home, to celebrate the joyous holiday with my family.
Glory to God for All Things,
Cecilia <3

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.

College wk 1

My college experience has begun and I have had mixed emotions about it. I arrived on Sunday, and it was one of the most overwhelming days of my life. My parents had to leave earlier then most parents because of the long distance from home. I had a new space, and no new people yet, I was all alone for the first time. When I am home alone I always have the dogs for company and our house is full of everyone's stuff, you don't feel alone. This was just me and my stuff in a weird unfamiliar place, it was uncomfortable. Then there were goodbyes which is always the worst part of leaving. Then immediately following the goodbye I suddenly had a class, people with common interests and feeling similar things. I made friends, I am continuing to make friends! It feels like home. I am so excited for the classes that I am taking and I like all of my professors that I have met so far. I am happy in this place!
Glory to God For All Things,
Cecilia <3

Happy Birthday

Today is this beautiful woman's birthday. I am so beyond grateful to have her in my life. She is one of my best friends, my support through everything, and my wonderful mom. Thank-you for teaching me how to be a strong, intelligent, caring, giving, hard-working, faithful, self-sacrificing and loving woman. Thank-you for giving me all the wonderful opportunities you have. May God grant you many many years! Best Mom <3
Glory to God for all Things,
Cecilia <3

Evening Thoughts

I am having a hard evening tonight. I am so scared about leaving home to go to college. I don't think I have admitted that to anyone or even myself. It is a whole huge world of unknown and I have so little control over any of it.  I am going so far away from my family, friends, parish, home, and comfort zone. It has really been hitting me these last few weeks that I will have to say goodbye to all of these things that I love so much. I have to put my trust in Christ and let him guide my life, but it is hard and scary.

This is a prayer I love and it has been helping me tonight: The Father is my hope; the Son is my refuge; the Holy Spirit is my protector. O All Holy Trinity, glory to You.

Glory to God for All Things,

Cecilia <3

Final Shakespeare Camp!

First Cast Picture

This week was my final Shakespeare Camp, it was a very bittersweet experience. We had a cast of 38 teenagers performing in Much Ado About Nothing. Most of the bigger parts were split in half and we had a large crowd of attendants. I was the 1st half of Beatrice, which is the part that I have wanted since 2010. It was by far the best Shakespeare performance that I have been a part of, and one of the best weeks of my life. I have made so many memories, new friends, and lines are permanently running through my head.
Here are some of the good pre performance pictures.

Last day!

Final touches

Lovely masks

Benedick and Beatrice pt 1

Benedick pt 2

The drunks!

Our fearless leaders

Mustache time

preshow bonding

Shirt signing 

more shirts

newest members of our troupe

an annual picture!

One more picture before the show starts!