yay!

Oh man... I am so excited about everything that is coming up! First of all, my birthday is coming up really soon and I am so glad I get to spend it at my grandparents house with all my family! They will definitely spoil me =). Next, there is graduation, and it will be so fun! I can't wait to have my loved ones here in town with me. It will also be good to know I am finished with yet another phase of my life that has involved copious amounts of schoolwork.

Also, I can't wait to move into my new house in May. It will be so nice to live with two fun, and wonderful friends who will be a huge encouragement to me. It will also be really nice to not be in an apartment again. People in the surrounding apartments are so loud and my room is so tiny! I love decorating and getting new things for where I will be living =)

I joined a health club recently and I am really loving going to combat, yoga, and RPM classes. Other than that, it is just life as usual for me: school, work, cooking dinner, homework, and (hopefully) sleep.

p.s. I really want to go to Israel! The culture of that area and the history of it has always fascinated me. However, I wish that area of the world was more safe and peaceful. Wouldn't the world be a better place if people spent more time on trying to love than on trying to get back at people who have wronged them?

Mouths

While I have 'known' it my whole life, I don't think I ever understood the full importance of it until recently- The importance of what comes out of our mouths. Sure, the tongue can be "as sharp as a sword" but I don't think we really understand that most of the time.

As a college student surrounded by peers, I am constantly amazed at the effortless flow of crude language from people. Words that I used to think were just beyond horrible and shouldn't even be mentioned, I now hear probably 30 times a day (if not more). When all that people hear out of your mouth is nastiness and words not accepted in public by mainstream society, how can you blame them for judging you? I know people should not judge each other, but you should not be offended or surprised when people do judge you based on what they consistently hear you say. I can tolerate most language (while I am not desensitized to it), but one phrase I will not ever get over hearing people exclaim in anger or frustration is "Jesus Christ!" To me, it is just totally unacceptable and sacriligious to take a name that should be holy and set apart and use it as a common curse word.

So come on people- clean up your mouths. If you want to sound vulgar,common, and nasty go for it. But no one will aplaud you. It is much more enjoyable to be around a well-spoken, graceful, and humble person.

______________________________

On another note, spring is almost here! I could not be any more excited about seeing the blossoms in the trees or noticing the gradual change of jeans to capris. This spring and summer, I fully intend to be "girly"- wearing cute sandals, flowery skirts, and frilly blouses are a few of my favorite things=) No more dry skin, large sweatshirts, or hair full of static!

I am also really excited for spring break. Being home with my family, taking my dog on walks, playing tennis, and having Dad make me waffles in the morning is the best.

I live in a constant state of amazement at the blessings I have been given. I am so thankful for my friends and my wonderful family. I love you all =)

average

So, I guess things are pretty good right now. I usually don't update a whole lot when there isn't that much going on since I don't have that much to talk about. I love my job more and more each day, and I am feeling pretty optimistic about my classes.

So right now, I am listening to my top favorite songs of all time. It puts me in pretty much the best mood ever when I listen to these five songs:

1. Your Song- Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge
2. Strawberry Swing- Coldplay
3. February Song- Josh Groban
4. Supermassive Black Hole- Muse
5. Read My Mind- the Killers

While I'm at it, I might as well list my top 5 favorite movies of all time. In descending order:

1. Kingdom of Heaven
2. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (can't seperate them)
3. The Patriot
4. The Prestige
5. Casino Royale

That was really difficult to list my top favorite for those categories! I love music and movies. They really help get my mind away from school, work, or other things I don't want to think about at the time. As do books. Here are my favorite books in no particular order. These are the books that I have read the most times or that I would never mind reading over and over:

1. The Twilight Series- Stephanie Meyer
2. The Harry Potter Series- JK Rowling
3. Any Michael Crichton novel. I can't decide which is my favorite (Jurassic Park, Pirate Latitudes, The Andromeda Strain, Prey, Congo, Airfram, Timeline... I love them all and would read them any day)
4. Angels and Demons- Dan Brown
5. Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen

Just listing all of these things makes me very happy =) It is always good to take a step back from the average, every day things that stress you out and take a couple hours to refresh, relax, and renew your hope in humanity haha.

Amor est vitae essentia.

Start of the spring semester

Wow! I had such a great Christmas break. I loved all the time I got to spend playing games, relaxing, and watching movies with my family. David and I went to all my favorite restaraunts that are not in town and we even went to Holiday at the Park at Six Flags. It was really fun to ride the Titan when it was freezing outside! David got me a Kindle for Christmas, so I was able to spend a lot of time on it reading and looking up new books. Mom and I went shopping a couple times to try and find me some work clothes for my new job.

Well, I'm back in this windy old city now. Fortunately, the weather isn't too bad- it has gotten above 45 degrees every day since I have been here. I started my new job at the accounting firm here in town on Monday. The people there are super nice and put me to work on clients' tax returns barely an hour after I first stepped into the building. I have a feeling it will be a lot of busy work, but hey, what are interns for? haha

I don't think any of my classes should be too hard this semester. Just lots of reading and studying. I am taking Geology, Strategic Management, Business Law, Income Tax, and my first graduate class, Advanced Financial Statement Analysis.

Hope this finds everyone well and enjoying the many blessings of life.

Thanksgiving

Well, now that Thanksgiving is over, I guess the official Christmas season has begun and I could not be any more excited =) Our Thanksgiving holiday in Lubbock was wonderful. I could not have asked for a better time or more fun people to be with. All of the food was delicious and there was a ton of it (enough even for the 23 of us!) It was really great to get to bond with all of my cousins, especially the ones I won't see for 3-4 years as they are moving to Papua New Guinea to do mission work. I know they will have such an adventure, but I will miss seeing them for that long.

I have so much to be thankful for in my life. I was born into such a wonderful family that loves me so much. I sometimes muse about how different my life could have been if I had been born to a poor family in New York, natives in Brazil, or a really rich family in California. Things could be so different, but I am glad they are not. I love my life and most everything in it. The only thing I would change right now is that I would be done with school and moving on to the next stage of my life. I know, I know. Supposedly college is the best time of your life, and things only get more stressful after it. But I won't miss the papers and homework, having to worry about tests constantly, and the mundane/boring classes. I'm just a little tired of being at college. It kinda makes you feel cut-off from the rest of the world, like the only thing that matters is school work. But I could not be more appreciative that I am blessed enough to be here.

Now, for a short week of school and then finals week. Christmas will be here so soon!!!

Worries

I have been so preoccupied lately with the inundation of worries in my life. I recently got an internship to begin in the spring, and just thinking about starting a new job and the stress that entails has really been hard on me lately. Don't get me wrong- I feel so blessed to get an amazing job with a lot of potential, but starting a new job is always scary.

So this morning, I did something I wouldn't normally do, but I really felt like I needed to get back in touch with myself and work through some personal issues so I stayed at home rather than going to church this morning. I decided to look through Beltway's sermons they have on their website, and I was blessed to find one totally focused on worrying. Did you know our word "worry" originally came from the word "worien" which meant "to grasp by the throat with the teeth and lacerate or strangle to death" ? We really do torment ourselves with things that we cannot change or fix. If we focus on those things, it will only "strangle" us in a way and prevent us from enjoying life and the joy God wants us to have.

It helped me so much to be reminded of the importance of trusting in God. Finding true, Godly peace does not come from the lack of hardship or troubles, but rather from the knowledge of that God is present in our lives and cares for us.

woops!

Man, you know what is the worst? When you thought up something amazing to do/say, but it is too late. For example, a really good comeback to an insult, an amazing idea of what to dress up as for Halloween, or the fact that a good TV show was on that you should have watched, but didn't know it was on.

Additionally, I really want a puppy. I hope I get to live in a house next year that allows dogs.

Now, back to tedious work at the library.

Favorites

Here are a list of my favorite things... people, movies, words, situations, feelings, smells... you name it. I love makings lists... especially lists of things that make me happy! So here it goes:

• wearing scarves
• typing
• painting
• watching epic movies
• wearing my comfy pants
• making hazelnut coffee in the morning
• gerbera daisies
• getting hand written notes
• little kids being legitimately joyful
• my used, loved Bible
• getting a new purse
• taking pictures of random things that make me laugh
• seeing squirrels try to "hide" from you by freezing their movement
• getting inbox messages on Facebook
• blogging
• decorating
• homemade hot chocolate
• finding really cool things for really cheap
• wearing ridiculous socks
• naps
• when my mom thinks of really random, nice things to do for me
• when I get texts from David in the middle of the night
• having my dog wake me up
• delicious fajitas from On the Border
• a brand new diary
• a new episode of House
• when people call and want to spend time with me
• getting a lot of homework done in one afternoon
• Swiffer-ing the apartment
• wearing sweatshirts
• the word "subpoena"
• getting really dressed up
• funny quotes from Nacho Libre
• working on homework upstairs at the library with a Carmel Macchiato
• jewelry
• Christmas caroling
• riding my bike
• swimming when the pool is not cold
• Josh Groban's music
• reading for hours
• being with my whole, huge family
• knowing that Jesus loves me and was here on Earth.
• going trap shooting
• Coldstone ice cream
• Twilight
• getting a job
• driving on a beautiful, fall day
• having a favorite song come on the radio randomly
• vintage clothing and art
• traveling.
  
• ancient history and artifacts
• the word "superfluous"
  
• stepping on crunchy acorns
• playing with puppies
• taking Sydney for a walk
• playing tennis
• the smell of laundry
• going somewhere where everyone knows your name
• finding really cool things at Marshall's
• dress shopping
• Groucho Marx quotes... such as "You're making a mountain out of a molehill!", "Well that's quite a trick! You should try it sometime"
• finding old, funny photos of you and friends doing silly things
  

That can be enough for now. Life can be really good sometimes.

New School Year

Wow. I can't believe this is my senior year. College has flown by! I am enjoying most of my classes even though they are a lot of work. My schedule is also amazing!!! On Monday and Wednesday, I have Bible, Cross Training, and Advanced Accounting. On Tuesday and Thursday, I have Business Law, Auditing, and Business and Professional Writing. On Fridays, all I have are Bible and Cross Training, which is amazing. Although I will have to study a lot this semester, I am enjoying my classes and what I am learning. I am feeling like this college is really preparing me to be an accountant someday, in whatever field I choose to be in.

I have been feeling so blessed lately. I have an amazing family who supports me and encourages me, and I have a wonderful boyfriend that helps me through hard times and helps me calm down when I am stressed out. I love having my own room in an apartment this year- it really makes me feel like I am more at home in this city away from my home. Living in the dorms just always made me feel like I was camping out away from home. I also have some great roommates/apartment-mates that are fun to be with and help me out whenever I need it. While it hasn't been good for me financially, getting my hours cut in half at the library is really probably best for my school work and my stress level. I think 10 hours a week is really all I could handle right now anyways. I am also really enjoying being a part of a lifegroup and I recently joined the SALT organization so I look forward to all that will entail.

I know I have to make a lot of decisions this semester concerning grad school and things like that, but I am really not all that worried about it and am actually starting to look forward to what the future may hold. It is really nice to finally feel at home here and to not mind being away from home. The past two years were really hard in that regard, and I am glad I feel more independent and integrated into college life.

A little bit of life

This is one of those times where I really want to write a great post, full of humor and wisdom. However, I have none of those things right now haha.

The past couple of weeks, I have just been working at the school, and am getting to be more adept at answering phones and doing receptionist work. It's not as bad as I thought it might be. Everyone here is very nice and helpful.

Every day, I am getting more and more ready to go back to school. I am actually pretty excited to start classes again. I can't believe this is my last year of school! I would be really really excited... except for the fact that I will more than likely be doing graduate school. blah. I have so many questions about grad school, and am a little stressed out when I think about it. So I am just not going to think about it. haha

Eh...

Well, I have hit that magical point of time in the summer when I am suddenly ready to go back to school. Whether it be boredom at home, frustration with people, or just being excited to move into my apartment, I am ready.

Afterwards

People keep asking me "So how is it, adjusting back to being in America?" And I must tell you- it is great! I hadn't realized just how much I loved Texas until I had to leave it. Sure, it's REALLY hot here, and some people say it is boring, but I don't think so. I will confess, it is really hot when you go outside, but at least there is AC when you go indoors to cool you off. In most of Europe, there is no AC. So you go from being really warm outside, to walking inside a building where the air is all still and it is no cooler. It is really pretty uncomfortable. One other thing that is just so great about America is that you get free refills in almost every restaurant. McDonalds wouldn't even give us a free refill over there. Crazy, no?

I loved Europe. I will have to say my favorite place to be was in Rome. I knew we would get to see tons of cool old landmarks, but I just didn't know how much I would love the general feel of the city. It actually seemed really clean to me, everyone there was so friendly and always wanted to help us, and it just seemed so timeless. Now I know why they call it the Eternal City. It really was a gorgeous city- everything from the Mediterranean foliage and the beautiful gardens to the gigantic Colloseum made me realize I was in a special place that was the home of some of the worlds most incredible sites.

I feel so blessed I was able to study abroad in England and visit France, Ireland, and Italy. It was truly an amazing experience that I will never forget and always treasure. I also feel incredibly blessed that I was able to find a job for this next month until I have to return to school. I had been very stressed about not having a job the rest of the summer after spending so much money in Europe. But I found out today that I will be able to be a part-time receptionist until school starts. Hope this finds you all doing well.