A Garden

Baby took a picture of moi. Madrina is proud of his 3-year-old skills.

I am diseased... with a cold.  It's no fun.


However, I am very proud to say that I went for my every-other-day run today after I had been awake for a few hours.  It was very rewarding, for the first time in a long time I didn't stop to take a break!

So awesome.  I love when my body makes progress. 

My goal is to prepare myself for my two-week daily program that I am going to embark on next month.  It's gonna be sweet, I can't wait.  Well, actually, I can. Until my body is ready for it.


There's this song that is a gorgeous song, it's called Garden by the fabulous Matt Maher.  I'm actually listening to it right now.  Singing is painful for my throat because of my cold, but I must say that little life is better than no life.  Plus, I believe that this song is a perfect representation of life and how I'm looking at it right now.

I watched Eat, Pray, Love.  Gotta say, it was enjoyable.  It makes me want to read the book, but I'm too afraid to add it to my list of books to read due to the fact that I procrastinate on ideas...really badly.  Actually, I'll add it.  Who cares if it takes forever to get to it.  At least it'll be on my list, and then one day I'll get to it.

Currently Reading:
-The Screwtape Letters - C.S. Lewis
-The Letter to the Romans - a bible study book
-Men, Women, and the Mystery of Love - Edward Sri
-P.S. I Love You - Cecelia Ahern
-The Way - Josemaria Escriva

Want to Read:
-Because God is Real - Peter Kreeft
-Rediscover Catholicism - Matthew Kelly
-The Shack - Paul Young
-The Rhythm of Life - Matthew Kelly
-Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis
-Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
-Stuck in the Middle - Virginia Smith

I'm currently procrastinating.  I told myself that I'd complete my CV tonight and show my dad.  Sigh, best get to it if I want a future with food in my stomach and clothes on my body..

~Esa Cita

Word of the Day

My favorite bible verse for the longest time has been Romans 8:18.  To me, it is a verse for warriors, for superstars, not for the faint of heart.  Today I read in a book about the next verse and how this special word was used in the original translation.

Apokaradokia – “eager expectation”

“…it describes the attitude of a man who scans the horizon with head thrust forward, eagerly searching the distance for the first signs of the dawn break of glory.  To Paul, life was not a weary, defeated waiting; it was a throbbing vivid expectation.”

“Nonetheless, the Christian does not live only in the world; he also lives in Christ.  He does not see only the world; he looks beyond it to God.”

“…the keynote of the Christian life is always hope and never despair.  The Christian waits, not for death, but for life.”

 So cool, soo cool.

~Esa Cita

Christmas

Fact: I read a whole book for FUN in a day and a half.  That NEVER happens, and hasn't since I was a tween.  Crazy junk. This winter break is a cool one let me tell ya actually.

According to Plan

Good ole' Florida, I miss ye.

This morning I woke up to a text from one of my lifelong friends saying good morning and asking me what the agenda was for today.  I answered getting two of my brothers their presents, running, and yell at Paul. 

Life has a different plan.  I did none of those things so far. The first because my brothers have needed the drivable car today, the second because I needed to clean, and the third because I was just kidding.

Instead, I spent about 2.5 hours cleaning the kitchen chairs with a sponge, pledge spray, and a knife; along with the past few days doing endless loads of laundry, cleaning, and more cleaning.  My mother has high expectations of cleanliness, and this is among the celebrations where we go all out on the clean house thing.

Christmas celebrations will be taking place tomorrow and the next with about half of my big fat immediate Cuban family.  My uncle's family will be staying at our house: a family of 8 and our family of 9.  That's 17 people and two bathrooms, and only 6 of us are over the age of 18.  We're experts at these things lemme tell ya!!

So back to the not going to plan topic.  After not doing what I planned, I snuck into my room and watched Along Came Polly on my laptop to enjoy more free-spirited attitude.  This is probably one of my favorite quotes from Polly:

Polly: Hi, Reuben. It's Polly Prince.
Reuben:   Oh, hey, Polly! How's it going? Good.

Polly:   I'm just calling to say that, um, I'm free tomorrow night if you want to get together.
Reuben:   Yeah, I would love to get together. That'd be great.  Should I, um-- Should I pick a restaurant or—

Polly: Oh, no, no. You know what? I should probably just check

my schedule, see if I can even do it.

Reuben: Okay. I'm...Did you say you were free?

Polly: Yeah, no, I'm actually not sure. But okay, I'll talk to you later.

Good stuff, good stuff.

"It's not about what happened in the past, or what you think might happen in the future. It's about the ride, for [bleep] sake. There is no point in going through all this crap, if you're are not going to enjoy the ride. And you know what... when you least expect something great might come along. Something better then you even planned for."

Last night I discovered that something I was really looking forward to in my life may not work out.  After an hour or two of grumbling about the house, I came to the consensus with myself that all I can do is be proactive, make a back-up plan or two, and just go with the flow.  And while I don't believe that everything in life can be particularly enjoyed like the quote says, I do believe that there's a greater interior plan beyond the exterior "crap"...and in that I can "enjoy" things, or rather attempt to live a life in love.

Time to be productive. Too-dah-loo.


~Esa Cita

Chilly days

Good Stuff.

Teachers. Need. To. Post. Grades.

I've been checking everyday....and I am very proud to say that I only checked twice today. I cannot say the same about the past two days.  I have two more classes left that still need to be posted...come on professors, your due dates are PAST already!!!!!!!!

So unfair.

So, impatience aside, I am happy to say that I am almost done with all my Christmas shopping as of today!  This year I decided to get everyone in my immediate family gifts, something I never do but shall because this semester has put me in an overall  generous/loving mood. Cool stuff, cool stuff.


Dangit, I just realized I didn't have dinner tonight.  I'm pretty hungry, so I'm gonna go.  Nightnight!

Esa Cita

It is finished.

Christmas Celebrations

I am ALLL done!

Let me tell you, that felt like the longest few days ever.

Without fail, Finals Week has shown to be a drama-filled week of mostly academic stress.

Last night as I was cramming for my last final I came to the point where I realized I needed to complain to Ana.  So I did. "I'm sick and my throat is killing me I'm angry and I've had this killer headache for 7 hours. Complain complain." Luckily, I have a compassionate friend who was in her compassionate mood...

Thennnnnnnn, I woke up this morning and as I was brushing my teeth, my sick self decided to gag and throw up.  Second time that it's happened this year.  Random fact: I haven't really legitly thrown up since I was twelve-years old.  So it was weird for me. Yes, you're welcome for sharing.

However, just as it usually goes....after I took my last final this morning, life seems to have been quite lovely of a time.  After finishing my final I went up to my professor, told him I was finished and that I wasn't going to take his extra optional exam.  He said "oh you're not? That's okay."  I then told him to have a good break...and then all hell (or heaven) broke loose.  He SMILED BACK AT ME with this face that was UNKNOWN to me and said "aw you have a good break too!"

That, my friends, has got to have been my favorite part of today.

This dude has not smiled ONCE the entire semester...in fact, after months of him frowning I eventually assumed it was the way that his face looked.  So seeing him smile such a nice, genuinely happy smile was CRAZY to me.  He's one of the professors that I respect the most at Mason, and his class has been one of my favorite in college, totally a plus.  I walked out of the class with this little joy in my heart like as if I was a really really cool kid....and out into.... snow!

So good.  So good.

I just found out that I got 15 out of 15 on my International Relations Theory final. Good, so good. :)

Now I'm gonna go do something slightly productive, like read.  :)

Ahh, winter break.  :)

~Esa Cita

"Tie my handlebars to the stars so I stay on track"

It's not like this yet.

It snowed yesterday for about 20 minutes.


Coolio, very coolio.

Needless to say, the chilliness has been infiltrating the premises.

As the next week approaches, I have a few Advent preparations that I shall be doing to be ready for baby Jesus.  Since I'm a student and FINALS WEEK begins Tuesday, I want my gifts to baby Jesus to be academically orientated.

First: no music coming from the internet allowed.  All music I play while studying or doing anything must have been already downloaded and not require internet connection.

Second: blog and twitter must go bye-bye until my last final. Must focus, and this has been a good internet distraction.

Third: prayer. Gotta get on that more everyday, and of course for the rest of my life. ;)

Lately, I have been challenged in my patience in handling certain situations.  I'm not a fan of it, but God's giving me the opportunity to stay strong with patience.  God is so good.

If the bombs go off, the sun will still be shining 
Because we've heard it said that 
Every mushroom cloud has a silver lining .

Last night was Ruthie's birthday celebration at Champps.  Yummy food, yummy people! 
Just kidding, humans really aren't yummy.  I just wanted to use the same adjective.
Good times, great people.  I was happy to be with my discipler as she celebrated her one-year anniversary of being 21. :)

Well, I will now sign off until Thursday. Good bye dearest blog!

~Esa Cita

Last Day

I had a nice day today....but what was nicest was the fact that:

I got accepted to go on an alternative spring break to Princeville, ILLINOIS for a faith formation trip from March 13th-19th!!!



I'm SO excited.

Not only do I get to continue the awesome learning time that I've had in this Catholic Philosophy class that I took this semester, but I will be the closest I've been to my friends from high school since I left the midwest!

Not that being near my friends is the main reason I wanted to go...but when you haven't seen the people you went to high school with since the summer after graduation....it's perfect reason to be ELATED.  Even if I don't see them, it'll be so sweet to know that I'll be in the Midwest again.


 Last day of classes today....sigh. The semester is over!  Another college semester gone...and a new chapter begins. :)  Life is good.

After a complicated rushed episode of running around for my extra credit assignment (many complications and much sweat for 3 pieces of paper...sillysilly!) and going from one friend's apartment to another, I eventually made my way to Mass and the Christmas Party!!!  I got to wear my red dress that I wore senior year at the Christmas Ball for my high school and sit with lovely ladies from bible study and fabulous Patricia.   Those were some good bread rolls and cheesecake, and I must say the balls of butter made me smile.

 I had other news but alas....I forgot.  Oh well, I'm sure I'll blog about it later.
  Now time to study some economics.  Holy hour in a few hours!
~Esa Cita ♥

Today

My lil' man.

Today, today, today.

Today I was given the opportunity to achieve something I haven't achieved before: I wrote a 12-page final in one day from blank to end.  This has never been done before.  Granted I had the research and all the ideas set up in my head for a few weeks now, but when it comes to actually saying things that aren't just words about my day my my brain just flips out and will not accomplish within the day.

But today, it did.

Unfortunately, all other unimportant things such as a balanced meals, breathing, and order had to take the back burner. :( Wah.  Don't like doing that.

But this accomplishment will be remembered along with the future birth of my first child one day and my graduation from college.  Don't know how I did that, I'm way too slow a writer to ever be able to do that in real life.

So what did I do today? Went to Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception with some of the fam, went to my favorite class in the world, paper-writing at Starbucks, class with my favorite Ukrainian professor in the world, food break, more paper-writing, go home, paper-writing at home, FINISH.

I took a nice extra long shower, and was about to jump into bed and pat myself in the back for a job done...until I realized that I have an extra credit assignment due tomorrow that I told myself I'd do....

So I'll be up for a lil bit more.  Just wanted to get on and do something non-work related.

Soon and very soon. :)

Christmas Party tomorrow night!

~Esa Cita ♥

Dear Distracted Student,

What a stud.

Here's a bit of "Boom, Roasted" 
for the Distracted Student 


(a.k.a. Me)






By St. Josemaria Escriva, taken from his "Study" Chapter of The Way:

There is no excuse for those who could be scholars and are not. (332)

You pray, you mortify yourself, you labor at a thousand apostolic activities...but you don't study.  You are useless then, unless you change your ways.

Study--any professional development --is a serious obligation for us. (334)

An hour of study, for a modern apostle, is an hour of prayer. (335)

If you are to serve God with your mind, to study is a grave obligation for you. (336)

You frequent the sacraments, you pray, you are chaste, but you don't study.  Don't tell me you're good; you're only "goodish." (337)

Study. Study in earnest.  If you are to be salt and light, you need knowledge, capability.

Or do you imagine that an idle and lazy life will entitle you to receive infused knowledge? (340)

To be idle is something inconceivable in a man who has apostolic spirit. (358)

Add a supernatural motive to our ordinary professional work and you will have sanctified it. (359)

~Esa Cita ♥

Cold Dedos.

My little cold fingers are quite cold.

As silly a statement as that sounds, that is probably one of the most frustrating things that I come across in the warm indoors while trying to get work done.  When I have cold fingers, I cannot work.  I cannot read, I cannot type...and I become captivated by the need to hold hot mugs, search out my good ole' fingerless gloves, or find any way to warm those little digits.

So much work for those 10 phalanges of mine...all for the greater cause of getting work done and not curling up in my bed to stay warm.

As much as I'd like to talk about myself and how I gave my blue fingerless gloves to a best friend last winter for Christmas so that he could look like Ash Ketchum, perhaps it'd be cooler to tell you about where I went last night.

Actually, my head hurts, I'm tired, and my fingers are warmer.  I think I'll just log off and get back to my work.  Alas, it's the last week of classes and I have my McDonalds final due tomorrow.  

Soon and very soon, I am going to be all through with the Fall Semester of 2010.

~Esa Cita

Why Girls Are Awesome

Sometimes, we have these great hair chains.




















Bam.
Need I say more?


~Esa Cita ♥

first purple candle down...2 more to go.

I'm sitting at my dining room table once again.....distracted from another final paper. This time, I'm writing about McDonaldization! Yahhooo! After I turn in this paper, I'll be finished with the class...and then I can focus on the rest of my classes. So cool. School's awesome, just really really time-consuming.

Last night I went Christmas carolling with some cool peeps.

It was pretty tight, I miss doing that. Some houses weren't very receptive to it....but honestly Christmas spirit and preparation for the real meaning of Christmas are quite lost in our society so.....they just need to suck it up. ;)

I started doing some applications this week, which has been making me think about my future a lot. It's really cool for me to think about my future...and kinda scary. I'm not ready to be a grown up...I'm too much of a kid at heart. Oh well. I can just be like my dad...who pretty much is a kid that just finished his career and earns money for his kids.

The second purple candle gets lit tomorrow! And it's Saint Nicholas' feast day Monday. Growing up, we've always had a lot of candy and celebrating and Christmas plays and all that junk on Saint Nick's day. I can't wait. I'm making cupcakes tomorrow for it.

~Esa Cita

Blog Song

Dada's Birthday!




The song on my blog is called "C.S. Lewis Song."


Why?

Because it's based on a ballin' C.S. Lewis quote.

“If I discover within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world”

I adore the song by Brooke Fraser song so much. :)

If I find in myself desires nothing in this world can satisfy,
I can only conclude that I was not made for here
If the flesh that I fight is at best only light and momentary,
then of course I'll feel nude when to where I'm destined I'm compared

It's one of the most comforting things to read when the world just gets you down. It's so nice to know that there's so much more to daily life and what we do, to know that we were made for more than what we look like on the outside.

~Esa Cita

This Week.

My beh-beh

This week has been awesome to me... butttt, the schoolwork has been crazy on me. My final paper is due in a few hours, and I'm still working on it. I haven't gotten a decent night's sleep since Saturday. I'm going to sleep in later on today. The people that don't go to my study spots haven't seen me much.

Happy December 1st! I've been waiting for this day for a long time. I turn in my first final today, and it's the day I decided to pamper myself after I turn it in.
Rewards=necessities.

I'm living on coca-cola, kindness from friends and family, purposely wearing non-sloppy clothes, little sleep, and daily Mass. I shall make it through!!!!!


~Esa Cita

One Republic

"When you're happy like a fool, let it take you over. When everything is out, you gotta take it in. Oh, this has gotta be the good life..."

~Esa Cita

Hey you, Catholic.

Yeah, you.


Happy New Liturgical Year!


:)



It's 2:14AM and what exciting thing am I doing for this fabulous new year? My final paper for GOVT! Yaaahhooooo!!! Well, sarcasm aside...it's actually not that bad. I'm writing a paper on American public opinion...and it's opening my eyes to public opinion in general. Did you know that in my research the people that answer "I Don't Know/Refuse to Answer" tend to be a minority for Americans...but in Russia (especially when it comes to them talking about Iran and China and conflicts) it can be a majority? Now that I think of it, it's not very surprising.

Maybe this is a sign that I've been reading too many nerdy surveys...but I find it so cool and I've begun to enjoy myself in this research. We Americans are so confident that our opinion is a "Yes" or a "No" instead of an "Ionno". We know that we won't get lined up for the firing squad if we say what we think, so we blab away our opinions and thoughts. (Kinda like me with this blog...) But to be fair, I've found in surveys that we Americans love to be hard on ourselves and our stereotypes as well...soooo...we kinda balance out our "personality" in a way.

Now it's back to analyzing some more American opinions....and eating the last piece pumpkin pie from the fridge. Mother dear may not be pleased with me...but I needed something tasty to go with my cafe con leche.

~Esa Cita

Consumption Friday

It's Black Friday....a.k.a. The National Day of Extreme Consumerism.


I'm at home...supposed to be working on an 8-page paper due on Wednesday, but instead on Facebook looking at other people's Thanksgiving photos and other time-wasting things.

Did you know that today is the Feast of St. John Berchmans? That's what I've learned so far instead of researching American public opinion about foreign countries.

Here's the lowdown on this ballin' guy:

This Belgian saint once said, "If I do not become a saint when I am young, I shall never become one." In fact, he died at the early age of twenty-two-and he had, without any doubt, reached his goal of sanctity.

John was born in 1599. As a child, he stayed very close to his sick mother. Still, he liked to join with his young friends in putting on plays about Bible stories. He was especially good at playing the part of Daniel defending the innocent Susanna. By the time he was thirteen, he wanted to begin studying for the priesthood. However, his father, a shoemaker, needed his help in supporting the family. Finally, Mr. Berchmans decided to let John become a servant in the household of a priest. From there he could go to classes in the seminary.

Three years later, John Berchmans entered the Society of Jesus. He prayed, studied hard, and enthusiastically acted out parts in religious plays. He made a motto: "Have great care for little things," and he lived up to it. St. John Berchmans never performed any great, heroic deeds. But he did every little thing well, from waiting on tables to copying down notes on his studies.

When he became sick, no doctor could discover what illness he had. Yet John knew he was going to die. He was very cheerful as always. When the doctor ordered that his forehead be bathed with wine, John joked: "It's lucky that such an expensive sickness is not going to last long."

John Berchmans died in 1621. Miracles took place at his funeral. Right away people began to call him a saint.

"Have great care for little things."

When I become a saint [;P], I wanna perform a billion miracles at my funeral. I think that'd be the funnest thing ever.


K, back to researching.

~Esa Cita

Lumen Entertainment

"By the age of 12, the average child has already seen 8,000 murders on TV and over 12,000 acts of violence on TV. That's scary, that's what's forming our future generation. Wouldn't it be nice to turn on the television, and whatever they're watching on TV you know its going to be faith-filled and glorify God?"
-My cousin Brian Shields, Founder of Lumen Entertainment :)




~Esa Cita

Full of Thanks.

Awesome Picture.


I am now on Turkey Break!

So awesome. Breaks are one of those beautiful blessings that give you a chance to do great things, like clean your room, fix your heart, sleep, fix your body, and read things

My original goals for this break were to work on my back's health and to get caught up in school so that I can be ready for FINALS coming up. YIKES.

To Do:

• Run every morning
• Mass every morning, get good un-interrupted prayer in
  
• back exercises every day
  
• go to bed by 12:30 every night, get my body rested
• start and finish my GOVT paper before break ends
  

Tuesday (yesterday) came around and changed things up on me. I woke up with huge back pain...pain so strong that I haven't felt in months. :( I couldn't carry more than one book...I couldn't take deep breaths, turn my head, or move my body without extreme pain. It's so weird, I thought I was past all that! But running may have to wait until maybe Friday or Saturday. We shall see.

Buuuuuut....What have I done so far?

• watched the end of When Harry Met Sally...I've never watched it before! :)
• slept in, laying down feels so much better than having to sit up
  
• cleaned some of my room
• currently doing work for the charity that I work for as I babysit the siblings
  

It's nothing I planned on doing, but spontaneity tends to be a bit funner. After sleeping in a ton my backs been feeling a bit better, and I've been stretching it out as I rate some albums. My volunteer job for the childrens' charity is pretty cool despite the hours it takes to listen, it's something I like to do.

My mom and my brothers are at Mickie Hernandez's funeral today as I babysit the little ones. The violence and drama that's been happening makes me even more thankful for all the opportunities that I've been given by just being born. I've been blessed with so much... so so much. To anyone reading this, please pray for Mickie, his family, community, and whole city of Manassas that is dealing with this tragedy.

The picture I posted is an awesome thing I found online. I sent it to my Dad and he thought it was great too.

That's all for now..I'll probably post some more tomorrow!

~Esa Cita

T-minus 1 class.

I am one class away from Thanksgiving Break!!!!!

Oh so exciting. :)

I'm really looking forward to this time....

Thanksgiving is often my favorite holidays because it's one of those times when everyone gathers together but doesn't stress about getting other people their presents.

These past few days I learned what it's like to work SO hard on something for months and then feel totally slapped in the face with a frying pan one day. Not literally, but it sure felt that way. Such a chance to grow in humility I tell ya.

I've found it easier to be open when I am faced with challenges. The heart does things to ya, like make you move. Just some blabbing...

This is random, but if I were to get everything that I wanted...aka if I had money that I could spend, I would get myself a scarf and a fuzzy hat. I lost my favorite scarf in January back when I was in Florida, and that truly disappointed me. :( As for the hat, I just really am jealous of the kids that have those big fuzzy or beanie hats...they look so warm! And not to mention pretty ballin' looking.





Enough gushing over material possessions before I start to think that they are as gorgeous as me....


Off to fold laundry and shower!! Goodnight.

~Esa Cita

The Origin of Cita

I don't recall that I've ever shared the story on how and why I sign everything on this blog "Cita." Here's the story:

So, once upon a time, I made a friend named Kana. Kana was great; really great. Since I was often called Carmencita and since many of my non-Latin friends thought that Carmen was short for Carmencita, Kana and I enjoyed joking with my name. He started calling me Cita, and I even changed my Facebook name to be Carmen Cita for a while to see how many people would think that Cita was my middle name.

Cita became the name he called me, and was another cool nickname that I came to love.

Kana is still great; really great. He now lives in California studying fashion design, designing all sorts of cool things. And he still calls me Cita, the name I carry for this blog.

If I were a rich kid I'd totally would buy his stuff. There are so many times where I wish that I was rich so that I could heavily support a trillion people and organizations I wish I had money to support. Missionaries, mission trips, fashion designers, jewelry-makers, orphanages, schools, the organizations my family members and I are part of, and all these different fantastic things.

Distractions aside, that's the story of how I came to make this blog to be Esa Cita. In Spanish, Esa means "That." So, I'm saying "That Cita."

Funny thing is, "Cita" is actually a Spanish word. So if you speak Spanish, you'll notice that my name sounds kinda funny and I'm technically calling myself that appointment or that quote. Gotta love being a Spanglish speaker, teh heh.

Time to go work on a paper. Got about three that I need to work on..yaahhhooo school!!

~Esa Cita

Humans and Their Jibber-Jabber

The superficial world, the glamor and the fame; it's nothing to me, it's nothing. Empty as can be, those snapping cameras go... what use is it for me to show off to the world? I can dance the night away, I can hold on to bodies tight, but the mere physical could never be a true delight. Bodies with no heed for souls...what a sad concept. Life with no meaning, what is this? It's disgusting, it's empty, it makes me want to cry.

Superficial and so lonely, this makes no substantial sense. You can catch the world's eyes, yet gain no heart and no souls. Where is true love? True peace? It must certainly isn't found in the human games we play.

I often catch myself in a daze when I'm surrounded by what seems to be waves of distractions and superfluous things. As a society we create rockstars out of simple beings who are no more deserving of attention than we, yet we constantly wonder..."can I be them one day?" "Can I be a rockstar?" "Will I ever get my day, ever be good enough for words and acts of affirmation?" Where is the love, where is the real? Why, why, WHY must we insist upon the masks of a "life" that we know we all don't live? What happened to humility, and letting the peace of your heart shine through you and radiate TRUE beauty?

It's all empty, meaningless, and pointless to be a performance without love. A performance for a world that knows otherwise? No, thank you. Love cannot be absent, there's no point without it. There's no direction, no meaning without love.

Jibber-jabber, quibber-tabber, there's nothing like the real thing.

~Esa Cita

Half Full, Half Finished

Near My Old House in the Station

November is almost half way over!




This means that Thanksgiving is imminent...
creepin' on me and trying to catch me off-guard.
Papers, outlines, quizzes and tests are blurring me into the end of the semester.
Plans for the future semesters have me excited for new things.

My week was pretty flippin' alright. Friday was full of bustlin', life sharing and chit-chatting, monthly Upper Room, tears, and then I watched Hancock with Noeli. Yes, Hancock. The movie with the most wonderful man ever. Ah. [Sigh] Oh, and my ring that I got last December broke on me Friday night as I was reaching into the fridge for something. Slight travesty...it was my favorite ring and I feel naked. One of the wooden pieces is still in the fridge somewhere....I can't find it. Oh well, someone's gonna find wood in their ham and cheese.

Saturday, I slept in, babysat, studied, and went to see the Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Company perform at the Center for the Arts. Super awesome. Tons of colors, jumping Filipinos, Spanish-speaking, a beautiful rose in the background. Oh man oh man.

Sunday was family brunch day! I saw Anastasia for the first time in many years. Love. I've forgotten how much I enjoy it. I haven't forgotten how much I love my family chain in FOCUS though. Sure makes things beautiful I must say. Speaking of beautiful...the weather is still AWESOME!!! Last year it was terribly terribly cold at this time. However, now it's just ridiculous amazing. Blue skies, colorful leaves, perfect weather. Couldn't ask for more.

The rest of the day was spent studying ECON until about midnight. Not cool. I decided this section to actually really study in hopes of raising my grades. We'll see. I'm not too happy with my homework and whined away my salvation to one of my classmates on the phone while doing it.

So this is random, but...dreams.

• Go overseas for a service trip before I graduate
• Study abroad
• Get my back into awesome shape
• Get on a whole 'notha level in life
  

About those dreams:
I wanted to go overseas this coming spring for a service trip, but because of health stuff I can't. Bleh. Senior year I wanna be better and able. Instead, I'm applying for this other trip next semester that doesn't make me do physical stuff. I'm trying to study in IL with the Community of Saint John! I'm really excited about that. I'm gonna be studying philosophy and love. I'm gonna come out a wise ole soul. ;)
Study Abroad: Senior year, Fall 2011. It's gotta happen. I've gotta try and make it work out. We shall see!
Get my back into awesome shape: sitting up straight it my first step. [sits up straight] It's difficult for a slobby sitter like myself. But if I want to get better I need to get on top of this. Also, those back exercises need some doing..
Whole 'notha level: Pretty much, I just want more and more.

Well, it's time for sleepy-pie. Good night dear blog.


~Esa Cita


P.S.

One of those Cute Daddy Songs I Love:
I remember when you were born
I felt like one lucky Son of a gun
Held you in my arms so tight
I'd never forget
The best years of my life

Apple of your daddy's eye
Wanna be the one to hold you in the night
Apple of your daddy's eye
Oh, oh sleep tight
Don't you worry gonna be alright

Don't stop ever lovin' me because
You're the apple of your daddy's eye.

Hello Novemb-o

The Way

The month of November is about to "attack" me.

(For lack of articulate words that describe busy) I've been anticipating this month like my friend probably anticipated her Marine Corps Marathon she ran a bit over a week ago. Until I leave for Thanksgiving Break, I will be on "Eeeek" mode. But it's okay...because, well, it has to be.

I just registered for my classes to take next semester. I have to take two almost-3-hour and classes because that's the only way that they're offered next semester. I am not pleased. I detest late class & once a week classes, and I'm taking three. But if I want my diploma, I need to suck it up.

Once the next two weeks are over, most of my work will be through and I'll be able to get ready for finals. How crazy is that? Finals. Already. Eek.

On the up-side, I had a job interview this past weekend with the hotel at my school. The manager was SO nice and awesome. I have a second interview, probably next week. I'm pumped.

This past weekend, I experienced some challenges...but also a lot of love. It's in the love that I'm not totally freaking out. I'm scared about life as a student and as a me, but I'm loved. I got a letter, a song, and support for seemingly no reason at all other than the fact that I'm loved. Funny thing is, it was given to me in the most perfect way possible and I didn't really even ask for it. Heaven knows that I needed it.

Life sure is confusing and hurts sometimes, but it's full of so many gifts.

~Esa Cita

From God ;)

Oh her eyes, her eyes
Make the stars look like they're not shining
Her hair, her hair
Falls perfectly without her trying

She's so beautiful
And I tell her every day

Yeah I know, I know
When I compliment her
She wont believe me
And its so, its so
Sad to think she don't see what I see

But every time she asks me do I look okay
I say:

When I see your face
There's not a thing that I would change
Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are
And when you smile,
The whole world stops and stares for awhile
Cause girl you're amazing
Just the way you are

Words

"Trash-talking and rambling like you know everything, your words are foolish knives with no certain direction and ultimately a big fat waste."


Boom, roasted.

All Saints!

Party Party
2:45 AM and I'm not in bed yet...ew.


My goal is 12:45 every night. Tomorrow night, yes, this is gonna happen.

So the Halloween party was fabulous. Lots of dancing, which is bad for my neck/back but it was totally worth it especially if it's going to act like it's chronic. I spent a bit of time singing with friends under the stars too with la guitara, always a good time! Good night, good times.

I am being faced with ...the uncomfortable. I know what to do, and am stalling. I tried going to mother dear for some encouragement..and she totally blew me off and told me to go do stuff on my own. Ouch. Being 20 stinks. Now I know why I'm so tough and seemingly un-sympathetic to people I love about doing the right thing.

Tomorrow my dad is paper official on his retirement! So, my whole family is missing some of school to go get new ID cards! Exciting.

Tomorrow my paper will be due for my anti-capitalist class. We're discussing hybridity...something that has a habit of coming into pretty much every class discussion. I think if I hear the word hybridity one more time I will cringe with discomfort... It's like those times when you hear that overplayed song on the radio again and change the station...only to find that the next station also likes that song as well. That's what the words globalization and hybridity mean to me as a Global Affairs major. There's pros, cons, and oh look a squirrel that are associated with it.

I've been getting addicted to tea. I now like: Lemon, White Pomegranate, Blueberry, and Rasberry. All fruity drinks...but I'm getting there. Maybe I'll like me some different tea in the future. Who will know...stay tuned for more!

Well, Cita needs to get off of this blog.
However, I must leave with this awesome link that I bumped into by accident. It's my cousin, and he's pretty great. He pretty much started the Catholic Veggie Tales of the future with his company. Supporting them is definitely something we should all do.

Also, Happy All Saints Day!!


~Esa Cita

Hallow's Eve

Fact: in my three years of college, I have never celebrated Halloween!

Tonight, as a Junior, I will celebrate October goodness for the first time as a college student. It's kind of cool. The last time I celebrated Halloween was my Senior year of high school and I was a "Catholic School Girl". It was probably the easiest costume in the history of my life considering I attended a Catholic high school and already had the uniform. This year, I will be Annie Oakley because the theme is American History. I had to actually get a hat and two toy pistols (I don't want to carry around a rifle). I'm gonna curl my hair, I'm pumppeddd.

Speaking of hair...

Guess whattttttttttt. I cut my hair today! Eek. The lady cut too much and DIDN'T give me the face frame I asked for...but my mom says that the back of my head looks pretty. Can't have everything I guess..

I'm really hungry, but don't know what to eat. Not in the mood for dinner yet, but totally could use some comida.

Quote of the day: "It is all straw." --St. Thomas Aquinas

<3
~Esa Cita

The Month of Pumkins and Roses

I’m surrounded by October blue skies and autumn leaves. Long sleeves aren’t necessary, yet multi- colored scarves follow me throughout the campus as I contemplate the pros to neoliberalism and free trade for my anti-capitalist class. Nothing can stop me because I’m drinking white pomegranate tea and my favorite iTunes playlist is playing.

October in this area is a beautiful time for color changes, classy outfits with brown boots, and comfortable cool weather.

May the last few days of this great month of October be awesome.

~Esa Cita

Avoiding Econ

My cousin is a funny kid.

Since today was the feast of St. Luke, he posted a Facebook status saying, "Happy feast of St. Luke! The gospel is strong with this one..." Leave it up to a family member of mine to love on saints and Star Wars in the same Facebook status.

Cannot wait until Wednesday at 12! My midterms will be over then, and I'll be able to start catching up on homework....

Okay, stop getting distracted.

Go back to studying.

~Esa Cita

Mid.Terms.

This Looks So Awesome to Me Right Now


I still have ears full of sticky yucky medicine....a few more days and my ears should be back to normal!!

Midterms are upon me.
[insert death music here]

I am currently taking one as I type. It's one of those take home exams that are really in depth and take up a lot of your time...so much that you can't see your friends unless you're doing homework together. My goal is to finish this midterm by tonight because I won't have time to do it tomorrow before 5PM. Eeek! I got this.

I'm getting coffee tonight, and that should be my motivation. Also, music practice is at 7:20 tonight, so I am aiming to get dinner beforehand and finish the paper. Ahg. I can do this, yes I can.

I just got a phone call of this recorded lady speaking in Spanish telling me that I was going to receive a present if I did something....I hung up. Gotta love it when people waste your time.

Ahhhh, can't wait for this paper to be finished. Gotta go do it. A huge hunk of stress will be gone once I do. Then I two other midterms that I need to study for. One that I NEED to ace, and really work for. Another that I just need to work hard for. It's going to be an interesting weekend. So yay, yaahhhhoooo.

OK, time to go. Off to talk about homogenization and hybridization of culture, deterritorialization, and the shift of fordism to flexible accumulation. Boom, let's roast them.

I got this, I got this....

~Esa Cita

Dumbo & Government Employees

Infection!!! Don't worry, I don't have pictures...haha.

My last needles from acupuncture fell off on Friday, and that night my ear got really swollen and bumpy...infection! Yahhooooo. I put some stuff on it and went to the doctor today.

Since my hospital didn't have any appointments for the day and they weren't going to be working on Columbus Day, they told me to go to an urgent care near my house, assuring me that they were currently sending the referral for my insurance. I got to the urgent care with my lovely Dumbo ears only to find out that the referral didn't get through. Gotta love free healthcare. Anyways, after calling again, going through 3 different people in the system, I finally got to a nurse and passed the phone to the urgent care technician who assured them that they needed to actually do their job, I was able to get admitted and was taken care of by this really great doctor. Luckily, my ears are only in the early stages of an infection so as long as I use my meds he gave me I should be good.

I can only imagine what it's like in places where you have to walk miles to see ONE doctor whenever your body parts are the size of Dumbo and infection is way more a big deal and will probably lead to death because it isn't treated until terrible. It makes me really grateful for living close to a doctor, but at the same time I can't help but remember what my economics professor said about government employees versus in the private sector.

I was supposed to get my OMT referral for my back on Wednesday...I'm gonna call Tuesday morning.

Dang them government employees who don't like to ever do their job and give me my referals...grrr. Of course I say this while I get a college education on the GI Bill...gotta love being a hypocrite, haha .

~Esa Cita

Little Decorations

I have.....little decorations in my ears!




Today I was scheduled to have trigger point injection for my back problems,

buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuttttt....




I was given the option to get acupuncture.



The side effects of that were more appealing than my lungs possibly popping with trigger point.

It was kind of intimidating: I was in the room with two doctors, a medical student, and a technician who were ALL looking at me and giving me about 5 different options of ways to go about with my treatment. I felt like I had a ton of power because these medical people wanted know MY opinion. Oh my my my! In the end I chose acupuncture. I'm gonna get an OMT appointment soon and then they may possibly get me one of those zapping machines whose name escapes me right now. Good times, good times. I may be blessed with chronic back problems.

So it felt like getting an ear pierced. I actually wouldn't know because I was about 2 weeks or months old when I got my ears pierced, but if I were to guess what it felt liked...I would guess it to feel like acupuncture in the ear. After each pair of piercings, Doctor Titus had me get up, stretch, and walk around to make sure I wasn't too dizzy. It was no Procecet, but I was a bit lightheaded.

There are 4 needles on each side to be exact. They should be falling off within the next 1-3 days, maybe 5. I can't wait to show my friends my needles tomorrow at school. They look like a bunch of earrings in awkward places on my ear, but it makes me feel special now.

I don't remember if he originally pierced 5 or 4 in each ear, but I know that when I looked in the mirror in the car I only found 4.

Although the help has been temporary...I appreciate this new experience. Now I can say I've received alternative medicine!


~Esa Cita

Madly In Love With You

I know you wish you could see me
That’s the way it has to be
Someday you’ll understand,
Don’t you lose your faith in me

I know you wish you could hear me
Sometimes it’s so hard to do
But every morning sunrise it says
I’m madly in love with you.

Love, God



http://www.lyricsmania.com/madly_in_love_with_you_lyrics_sean_mcconnell.html

Brothers

Lil Carlos


At dinner today, my brothers were telling the table how "deuces" is the way to say "bye".

So my three-year old brother Javi shouted "DEUCES!!!" after my mom told the older boys to stop saying that slang...


It was adorable, and hilarious.

Okay, time to go back to reading about what Mr. Harvey has to say about neoliberalism..and write a paper pretending that I value his opinion. Hah just kidding, I value his opinion...sorta.


~Esa Cita

Sunday, the day of rest

Blue


This weekend marks official OVER A MONTH of being back in school. It feels like I've been here FOREVER!!! Not that it's necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes I get the big reminders that the day of rest is totally and completely necessary. After Thursday night, I totally flopped... and been passing out of being able to make legitimate conversation by midnight every single night without fail. Sorry to everyone who wanted to talk to me any night for the past few days...

Friday night, I celebrated my girl's feast day....it was nice times. Good fellowship, good cookies. I'd say quite the lovely night.

Saturday day: Matt and Carmen date day...Yaahhhhooo! Saturday night: family dinner. I miss having dinner with the fam, so good times.

Today is Sunday, and although it's supposed to be a "day of rest" I've been homework-ing it up while trying to ignore this annoying dizziness that's been bugging me all day. So I may just go running in a few minutes to get my head to stop killing me. Don't feel well enough to go to Mass again tonight. :/

But fear not, Matt Maher is playing in the background, and Love has come to show the way.

Off to attack this grumpy body of mine.

~Esa Cita