Life on a roller coaster!

Life is full of many ups and downs. Sometimes you don’t really know how high a peak in your life is until you hit a valley. But even with peaks and pits in life there is always great scenery, friends, family and things to be thankful for. Life in these past three months has been full of many ups, downs, laughs, memories and the need for trust. I have realized that as soon as I think life is going smoothly, God always reminds me that He is in charge and I am always learning something new. These past three months have been full of changes and adventures including graduating from JMU, exploration through Europe and the unknown of what’s ahead in life. 

Graduation… It was a bitter sweet last month of school combined with many lasts and a bright look at the future. One of the hardest parts of leaving JMU was leaving my ORL family. I grew to love my job over the last two years and I knew it was going to be hard to leave my staff, my building and the lifelong friends I had made doing what I loved. Despite the countless hours I spent talking with residents or not sleeping due to ping pong balls hitting my wall or my cell phone going off, I tried to use every conversation as a way to make a small difference in the other person’s life and also learn something new from those closest. I will forever be grateful for all that I was privileged to meet and some that I will be lifelong friends with from my time in ORL. I am so thankful for every opportunity I was given at JMU and for all the people that I got to meet over my four years.

Europe was a life changing, month long adventure. First I want to thank my parents for supporting my love for traveling and learning about new cultures by giving me a plane ticket of a lifetime for graduation. I was thrown completely out of my comfort zone within 1 hour of landing in London by showing up at the creepiest hostel ever. All I have to say is that I was thankful that I didn’t have to know a foreign language to communicate and by the end of the day it was my job to prove that not all Americans were rude and snobby. After surviving London and getting to meet one of my cousins and meet new friends I was finally headed to Paris to meet up with Marc (brother) and Christy (sister-in-law). Each new city and country was an opportunity to learn something new about others perceptions on life! The food was salivating wherever I went and unlike anything that can be found here in the U.S. I cannot wait to go back and eat crepes. Until next time I will have to just have to make my own crepes. Traveling unknown lands allowed me to have time to walk and think about what I am most thankful for in life and what I want to do in life. Mostly during my long walks through the streets of Paris I learned to trust that God has great plans for me and has been with me every step of the way. Europe was a trip of a life time with many firsts as well as countless new ideas about life.

Home… Nothing is like home, whether it is California or Virginia both of which I call home. Upon arriving back in the United States I was looking forward to being able to relax by the beach and just hang out with all those that I love. God definitely had another plan for my summer and for the next chapter in my life. Less than a week after arriving back I received an email saying that the firm I signed to work with back in November had rescinded their offer due to over forecasting revenues. At first this was a huge shock and disappointment but that soon passed as this became the opportunity to rethink what I wanted to do. I don’t know where my next step is in life, but I do know that God is paving the perfect path for me. Jeremiah 29:11-12 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.” Now I learn patience and trust as I start the job search again and prepare to go back to Virginia without a definite plan.

So far I am still learning a lot about life but overall I know that God is faithful and has the perfect plan for my life. These last couple months have been a whirlwind of memories that will never be forgotten but will instead inspire the rest of my life. The inspiration to seek new cultures and tested outside of my comfort zone. So until next time family, friends, readers be inspired by the opportunities that we are given each day to learn more about ourselves and God’s love for us.

A week of indifference and lessons learned

This week is one of those BLAH week you have as you look back at last week and go, "I am so glad that week is over," and look at your planner for next week and go, "please don't ever come." So that is basically what is going through my head this week. I have finally gotten a chance to think briefly about spring break (I am going to Florida) and I have really started to think more about my trip to Europe!!!! I have gotten the chance to respond to emails from my sister-in-law as she plan our short excursion to Italy!! This is definitely a thinking and reflection week for me. I don't really get a lot of down time in my life between 200 freshmen, 6 RA's, a want a be social life, and school work, but this is a week where the dust is settling a little bit and I am taking full advantage! Although that also means that I have gotten to take a nap this week :). For those of you that don't know me very well, I used to hate naps because they made me feel like a "baby", and as the youngest of 3 older brothers that is not something I was going to ever look like!! But since I came to college I realized that they are wonderful, especially when it is cold out and the only place warm is under my covers! So anyways, back on track to my indifferent week and reflection week. This week I have really been working on the "life is better with Love" part of my life. I have been thinking about the 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 verse that says, "⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." Last week my life was filled with patience, between constant group meetings, needs of others that needed to be fulfilled and just trying to find the time to get everything done. Another part of this verse that has stuck out this past week is that love is not "easily angered." Over the past couple years I have definitely grown a lot in not getting frustrated with others and becoming easily angered over the small things in life, but instead I have had to practice love in all circumstances even the what I call "annoying" circumstances. Although some say that I do not give off this"love" side of me because of my strong sarcasm and strong personality (often taken as "my way or the high way"), I(and most of my close friends) would say that I just take time to open up and let people into my life. I tend to be a major planner and organizer so when someone messes with my plans or things don't go according to plan, I tend to not be very happy. This is where I have learned that "life is better with faith" because we can never plan enough for what might happen in our futures. So all in all this week has been a great week full of reflections, memories and life lessons that I feel like I am always learning, but not always wanting to apply to my life. 

Now it is time to go to the library (a scary place for me), but hopefuly a place where life might be full of laughter??? I guess only if I can laugh at my finance books :( 

Anyways until next time, I hope you can look back on the hard weeks and see all the things that you can take away and be thankful for, such as friends, the memories created, the need to grow in love and patience, the people you care most about also learning and growing and just another chance to see how God might be trying to change your life!

Just something New

So for a long time I have been telling people that I want to write my own blog. I love reading other people's blogs and catching up on their life, but in today's day in age where everyone is always so busy and schedules never match up. I also want to keep track of all the crazy things that go on in my life and the new things I learn throughout any given year. No guarantee that these post will always be funny or help teach you something new, but if you want to read then you can join me in my crazy life of (well currently) finishing school, looking after 200 freshmen and figuring out exactly what God wants me to do.

Here is a little bit about me...
I am currently a senior at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. I am studying business finance with a minor in human resource and development. I work as a hall director and run a building of 200 (just lovely and respectful) freshmen and 6 resident advisers. I am originally from San Diego (well Oceanside if you know San Diego) California. Yes, I did decide that it would be cool to move cross country to a place I had only been to once to go to college! Days like today where the high is 20 degrees I kinda regret that decision, but normally I love being in Virginia. So the explanation of why Virginia of all places? Well when I was in the 8th grade I came to Virginia and other states on the east coast on my school's 8th grade D.C. trip to learn about the history of the U.S. For some reason I fell in love with Virginia and upon arrival back to California I told my parents that I was going to go to college in Virginia. They thought I was crazy, which made me more determined to make it work. I knew that I wanted to go to a public university because I had gone to private school my whole life and wanted to make my faith my own and not just requirement of taking Bible class or going to Chapel on Thursday mornings. So I fell in love with JMU the second I stepped foot on the campus and knew that this is where God was leading for my college year.

Four years later and now I am getting ready to graduate in May and leave JMU and all of the memories I have created and friendships that have been formed to enter the "real world" of the 9-5 job in McLean, Virginia (guess I couldn't get enough of VA). So stay tuned for some boring days but also so hopefully entertaining adventures as I prepare to enter the next chapter in my life!