Thanks be to God

I just got an email from Pastor Dan, the Pastor of my church group on campus (LCM). He was writing to tell me that I was chosen as the Assistant Student Prayer Minister for the coming semester. I am really excited about this as I have been wanting to become more involved in the group. I was hoping to be chosen as a Peer Minister but Pastor Dan chose two younger students who will be able to hold that title for longer, but also wanted to assign me a leadership role so he chose me for the Assistant Student Prayer Minister. The installation for Payton, Anjali, and myself as the new members of LCM leadership is Sunday, January 16th at Saint Marks Lutheran Church near campus. I am so thankful for this opportunity.

2010- A Year Of...

This is quite possibly the worst New Years Eve I've ever experience. My plans fell through so I am currently (at 7:25 PM) in bed watching a movie, reflecting on 2010 as it comes to a close.
2010 on a non-personal level has consisted of:

• Oil spill
• Republicans gaining control of the house/Obama being useless
• Earthquake in Haiti
• Remaining tension in the Middle East
• High unemployment rates
• Tiger Woods scandal
• Death of Gary Coleman
• Several other things, those just stand out most.

For me, on a personal level, 2010 has consisted of:

• Attending every home football game and one away, supporting my team.
• First concert at Staples... Justin Bieber!
• Accompanying Laura on her first trip to Disneyland
• Becoming very involved in Lutheran Campus Ministry
• Getting closer with many friends, and losing others
• Adding a minor and getting good grades
• Getting out of an emotionally abusive relationship
• Reconnecting with my high school boyfriend to work on our relationship
• Developing my relationship with Jesus Christ
• Continuing yoga
• Learning more about myself

Overall I'd say it's been a decent year. There isn't very much negativity and I wouldn't change much about it. I am looking forward to 2011. Looking ahead, no turning back.

Plans for 2011:

• Good grades
• Graduation and applying to grad school
• Involvement with LCM
• Continuing and growing in my relationship with Xander
• Remaining close with my friends
• Stick to my work out schedule and with yoga
• Get a summer internship
• Mature more as a person of God

Christmas!

Christmas was two days ago and it was so much fun! I got to spend it with all the people I care about most in the world. My sister and I spent Christmas Eve at our dad's house which comes with lots of tradition. We all went to church together and had dinner after. Then we went to look at Christmas lights around Simi Valley where he lives which was fun. We came back to the house after that and just spent time together playing games and we all opened one present which every year is pajama's. We woke up at 4:30 am to open presents (we don't have any young kids, the youngest is Cailla who is 17, we just all love Christmas!) but before opening the presents we got to go on skype to video chat with our sister, nieces and nephew in Texas which was awesome. After opening presents we all went back to bed then woke up for Christmas breakfast and then went back to our mom's at 3 for Christmas with her.

At my mom's house my stepdad made dinner and we had my grandparents and uncle (and I invited Xander) over for that. We then opened our presents there and spent some time with each other. That night I went with Xander to his friends place to play games and just hang out. Overall it was an amazing Christmas and I hope you guys all had the same!

Unpleasant Holiday Thoughts

I am really missing my Tia right now. She passed away a couple of months ago and I know she is at peace, but I can't help missing her presence on earth. I recently read The Lovely Bones, not the best book ever but it made me think of her a lot because it is about the dead being present with the living. I know she is here, but I miss her physical presence. We always bought her slippers and pajamas for Christmas because she loved warm comfy pjs in the winter time. It's really sad not having her to buy those for. But she's in heaven watching down on us, so for that I am happy. Merry Christmas Tia.

Happy thoughts:

God is good.

Family time tomorrow til Christmas!

3 days til Christmas.

Chiropractics is amazing; so magical.

Oh the holidays...

Why is everyone so stressed out!? Drives me crazy. Come on people, it's Christmas time; time to be thankful for everything we have, not time to freak out. You should be having fun with friends and family, like this:

Embrace the love people, come on. Also, on a random note, California natives should probably be required to take a "Driving in the Rain" class. When it comes to that, we really fail at life. 5 accidents in 40 miles yesterday, very scary and unnecessary. Be safe everyone! Your families want you to make it home safely.

5 more days til Christmas :)

I fail at being a blogger.

I'm back, yet again after some time. I do apologize but as many of you know, it's very time-consuming to be a college student! After a hectic fall semester, I am home for winter break. There's something special about coming home for the holidays that just makes me so warm and fuzzy on the inside. That combined with a month long break from school is just heaven. That being said, this past semester has quite possibly been the best one I've had yet at USC, and I don't mean this on purely a scholastic level. I've learned so much about myself and God's plan for me this semester. A great part of that is thanks to the amazing Lutheran Campus Ministry and Pastor Dan Gibson. I have become much more involved in LCM than I have ever been and I think belonging to such a spectacular group of people is what I've been missing. Not just a group to be part of, but a Lutheran group to keep me grounded and help me grow in my faith while I am at school away from my home church. The people of LCM have really become my family away from home. This picture is from a beach bonfire service we had mid-semester to get a break from everything going on at school.

Another amazing part of this semester has been really growing in the friendships I already have at school. I've become so much closer with people there, making more life long friends rather than just people to talk to. This also comes with growing apart from others, but I have learned that that is a part of life. These girls are hands down the best friends I could ever hope to have. Finding people you can truly be yourself around without judgement being passed is much easier said than done, especially in college. I am so glad to see these friendships growing deeper everyday, and learn that I mean as much to them as they mean to me.
Apart from a horrible living situation, this semester (on a school level) has been very satisfying. I had three new professors that I have never had before along with two TA's who I had last semester and loved. I excelled in a class I was worried about (statistics), actually getting 100% on the final and the highest overall grade in the class which I am very excited about. I figured out the plan for after I graduate and that is to go to grad school to get my Masters in Social Work. I have realized with help from others that my true calling is to help other people better their lives, and I feel that social work is a great way to do that. On that note, I am adding a minor called "Non-profits, Philanthropy, and Volunteerism" in order to spice up my grad school application and to fill the empty spots in my schedule that I need filled to remain a full-time student. With that said, next semester should be pretty intense. The schedule consists of Families in a Changing Society, Sociological Theory, Global Civil Society: Non-governmental Organizations in World Politics, and Public Service in an Urban Setting. Doesn't that just sound like a very educational set of classes? Should be rough and not that exciting, but it's one step closer to the rest of my life and I know I can get through it. On top of classes, I plan to remain very involved with LCM, possibly/hopefully taking on a leadership role as a Peer Minister. Then, as always, I have my job in Gerontology to keep the cash flow strong.
I believe all of this catches you up to present time in my life, which is being home excruciatingly bored but enjoying the company of my family and being able to see some friends from here again. Going from fast-paced LA to Lancaster and Simi Valley is quite the change, but it's nice; it reminds me to slow down and enjoy the little things in life that I am so grateful for. We are just getting ready for Christmas which is always exciting. I'll post again soon. Ta Ta for now!

Back to the ol' grind.

It's been about 5 months... oops :)
I survived last semester, obviously. And all of summer. I pulled off pretty decent grades also; passed Italian 3, B+ in comparative literature, A in Sociological Research Methods, and an A in Social Psychology. My GPA is on the rise which is good. Fun fact for those of you who don't already know, I'm back with my, as they say "high school sweetheart," Xander, so that's fun.
Summer... Nothing super eventful has been going on. I worked in LA at my job I have during the year, so that wasn't new or exciting. It was a good summer overall. Nice and relaxing. My nieces and nephews were down from Texas for a while so it was great to see them. I've just spent a lot of time with family and seeing old friends. That's what summer is all about, right?

I move back to LA tomorrow to my apartment. My address will be 3115 S Orchard Ave. #125, Los Angeles CA, 90007, just in case you feel the urge to send me a letter or something exciting. Fall semester is looking like it should be a decent year, despite the horrible football sanctions the school has been so lucky to receive. The good news is USC is officially ranked higher than UCLA in the national college rankings, we are 23rd and they are 25th. So if nothing else, at least there's that :). I will be going to Hawaii with a friend and her parents from September 1st through 6th to follow our football team and watch our first game there, and enjoy a few days to ourselves too. We are looking forward to that. In terms of actual school, I will be taking Advanced Writing for Social Sciences, Deviant Behavior, and Sociological Statistics. Nothing particularly fun, but it should be alright. I'll still be working at the same place and am also going to continue doing yoga twice a week.

I can't think of anything else coming up soon. That's the gist of what is in the near future. I'm all packed up and ready to start another year at good ol' SC. Only a year and a half to go! God only knows what's in store for me after that. I'll be in touch though! Don't be strangers. I hope all is well!

-Ciarra