My Cousin's Graduation Part #2

My cousin graduated this past Wednesday in the top 5% of her class! Family and friends all congregated on Saturday to celebrated her accomplishments, including but not limited to committing to play soccer at a local college. She is also one of the most humble people I know - a trait that will be exemplified in the following reflection.

The graduate on the right along with her sister, her brother, our cousin and I.

The celebration itself was wonderful - lots of conversation, food, and fun. The majority of my extended family was there as well as the majority of my cousin's extended family was there. I have spent more and more time over the years with my cousin's family and thus have spent time with my cousin's extended family.

My great-aunts and grandma having a lively conversation on the couch.

I was pleasantly surprised when I got out of the car near my cousin's house and two of her small cousins ran up and hugged me. They were happy to see me! I ventured inside and saw that there were people who I recognized from previous gatherings including my cousin's neighbors and fellow church members. It was great to see familiar faces.

My cousin playing chair for my brother.

As I spoke about my education thus far and how passionate I am about nursing, I imagined my cousin in a year's time doing the same thing. After a while, I noticed that my cousin spent most of her time huddling in corners and generally looking worn-out. When I finally got the chance to speak to her, I found out she was ill. Can you imagine? Feeling ill at a graduation celebration, nevertheless one's own! My cousin tried to be as present to others as she could be while she was battling nausea and a severe headache. Bless. I may have enjoyed her party more than she did.

Super Bowl XLVIII

At the moment I am watching Super Bowl XLVIII with my family at home. There happens to be lots of yelling and munching on snacks. My feet are freezing, but I refuse to move from my position on the recliner in front of the television - not because someone might steal it, but because I do not want to miss the game.

I am live-tweeting the game and as I do, my pride in the Seahawks grows. I am what one might call a "bandwagonner." I did not follow the beginning of the season, mostly because I had just started nursing school. Reading about sports is more complicated that watching sports, so I simply did not keep up.

Watching the 12th Man from my seat, however, I wish I had kept up. The intensity of the fans and their uninhibited joy whenever fortune is in the Seahawks' favor is contagious. I imagine myself a true fan for the next few hours.

I think being part of the 12th Man is like being a member of the Church. It does not truly matter when people join in the celebration, what matters is when and what they celebrate. For instance, coming together for mass every Sunday for the Word and the Eucharist is similar to gathering for games and eating Skittles (ahem, thank you, Richard Sherman) or Rally Fries (different sport, but still).

Earlier this morning at mass, Father had stated that although he knew we were all fairly preoccupied with the Big Game this afternoon, he wanted us to turn our focus to the real reason we were gathered. Of course, my mind then wandered to the game and whether anyone would accost me about my recent public support. Then, as the RCIA members gathered after the Liturgy of the Word, the thought struck me.

No one should give anyone a hard time about supporting a good cause. And with that I say proudly:

GO HAWKS!

A Tasty Halloween

Halloween this year was rather eventful - but not in the orthodox sense. I had been scheduled to man the Dia de Los Muertos corner from 10am until I left for clinical at 2pm. Typically clinical ends at 9:30pm. With such a long day before me, I did the one thing that could immediately make it better - I dressed up!

My costume this year was Snow White. I have always been keen on the Disney princess and after watching the television show Once Upon a Time I have become more and more attached to her. I made myself as pale as I could look without looking dead, and wore a bright shade of lipstick to complete the look.

My friend dressed up as Red Riding Hood, who, in Once Upon a Time is best friends with Snow White. It was a perfect match! We hung out pretty much all day just for effect. (Not really, we just like hanging out together - plus we are in the same clinical group). I even had the honor of curling her luscious blond hair! I think I had far too much fun helping her with her costume.

In fact, I helped put together costumes for several of my friends! If there's one thing I truly appreciate about Halloween, it's the opportunity to show off a great costume. Maybe it's from theatre withdrawals...

Anyway, one of my first tasks of the day included whipping up a batch of champurrado (Mexican hot chocolate) for our Dia de Los Muertos celebration. It was so easy to make and delicious! I decided not to post my own photos with the recipe because the ones I took did not do it justice.

As I mentioned, I was scheduled for the M.E.Ch.A. corner all morning, but some replacements came in time for me to complete a festive scavenger hunt around school. Of course, Red was my hunting companion. Scuttling around campus, we saw all sorts of costumes! The faculty and staff had some of the best costumes.

Unfortunately my day was cut short by clinical. Although I did end up throwing some swimming goggles around my neck to participate in the sports-themed festivities at the care facility, I did not feel quite so enthused about the holiday. Fortunately, we did get off early (by 15 minutes, but still).

As soon as I returned, I gathered my friends and we ventured out to 23rd to hit up Little Big Burger before it closed to get our beloved truffle fries. After satisfying our salty cravings, we then satisfied our sweet cravings through Salt'N'Straw. The icing on the cake was that Salt'N'Straw - pause for effect - did not have a line. The day could not have gotten any better.

From left: Tinkerbell (Milly), Esmeralda (Amanda),
Snow White (Me), and Red Riding Hood (Emily).

...And that was the extent of my Halloween festivities. I returned from the outing exhausted and heading towards a food coma, or as I recently learned, a postprandial somnolence. (What can I say? I'm still a nursing student.)

In Honor of Guello's Birthday: an Appreciation Post

Today is my grandfather's 80th birthday. Now, I don't have many photos of solely him, and the ones I do have are not very good. I think it is kind of a metaphor for his life though... He has always worked for others, whether that be his family, his friends, or the Church. My grandpa, Guello, is who I think of when I think of hard-work, service, and humility.

Guello used to regale me with stories of his youth, particularly of jobs that he worked, conversations that he had, and people he met. He has worked most of his life and has met so many people it is hard to believe he also spent much of his time with his family. Guello is my inspiration for when I do not think I can handle the long, sleepless nights or the rushing days. He never seems to complain about anything, especially working so much. He is always finding ways to help out in some way at church or in the family. Guello's involvement in his parish makes me want to be more involved in mine.

In honor of Guello's birthday, I want to recognize those that humbly serve the community in which they live and/or reach out to other communities in need. Thank you. There are few others like you and I, along with many others that cannot verbalize it enough, appreciate that. Your actions not only physically aid others, they emphasize the inherent goodness in people and give hope to a struggling society and world in constant turmoil. Service truly does make the world go round!

My family celebrating my grandparents' birthdays this past weekend.
As you can probably tell, it was a full house!