Check

I can now check off finishing my first year of college! I thought I would do an update as I wait for my dad to get his work done for the day before I go out. The last month went by pretty quick. It was filled with studying and hanging out with friends. Those two friends, know who they are, and they honestly made me love Rexburg. If you go about it the right way, you can meet some amazing people. 

When my car was packed up, and I did my last look at my apartment building I actually started to cry. NEVER IN A MILLION years would I have thought I would be crying when I left Rexburg for the summer. The rough start at first is normal, as I learned that a lot of my high school friends struggled at first too. Just as life goes, it takes time to make friends and find our niche. I think we sometimes forget that stage of a new start, I know I did. 

Another thing about your first year, you will most likely change your major. I thought everyone was crazy and I was set on not changing mine. I think Freshman being likely to change their major isn't even rooted from not knowing what they want to do, but rather rooted from not knowing the options their college provides. College websites are confusing, so knowing the options you have is limited until you get there. That was the case for me. As you are probably assuming, I changed my major. It went from Social Studies Secondary Education w/ an American Government emphasis composite to Political Government with an American Government emphasis with two clusters (clusters are like minors) in American History and Creative Writing. What led me to this is the fact that I don't want to end up teaching, and I would rather take more classes that feed into my interest rather than the mandatory teaching classes. Plus I know how to write a mean paper, but I can still learn a lot about creative writing for my children's books. Theres that.

Now I am enjoying my little vacation in California visiting my dad. When I get back I go back to the so called "adult reality" and begin work again. 

I learned a lot about who I am as an independent person this year and I am interested to see how that directs the course I take this summer. My best friend showed me this song, and I have a strong feeling that this will be my song of the summer. There is always one or two songs every summer where every time I hear it in the future, I flashback to that time period. This will for sure be one of them.

With Love,

Ciara Ann 

Paradox State of Mind

I go through stages where I blog more than others. Sometimes I just blog for big events, and sometimes I blog about random things. Nothing big has happened, and I also don't have some random thought that I felt the need to "blog it out." This post is just because sometime the heart/soul need to wander within itself.

One of the weirdest feelings is experiencing a paradox. Lately it feels like my life has become a paradox. For example, this semester (or I guess this whole first year) has gone by really fast and incredibly slow. I feel like I have enough social activity and I feel like I need more. Some people I wish would never have come into life but yet I'm thankful and needed them in life to continue evolving into who I am. This continual state of paradox reminds me of something one of my American history professors said at the beginning of the semester. Competing values (night and day, earth and sea) are equally good and complementary, but the best happens is when there is tension between the two competing values (i.e. the coast is the tension between earth and sea). These relationship of competing values has proven to be true in American history, because the best things have happened when there was tension. For example during the Revolutionary period there was those who opposed the Articles of Confederation, and some who didn't. These competing values created tension, resulting in the Constitution. This also made me think that maybe the Shimmer Sparkle Shine Project was founded on an internal paradox. I started to learn to love myself but I still struggled with my self worth at the same time. Learning to love myself allowed myself to think clearly, and the presence of struggle allowed me to recognize the degree and severity of the causes and results of low self esteem. The tension between these two ideals resulted in the Shimmer Sparkle Shine Project. So maybe this current state of paradox in my life is creating an ideal situation, and it just hasn't fully developed or I haven't realized it yet. 

These next few weeks before I go home will be busy with writing my paper for history 264 on the evolution of American Foreign Policy. I will be working with my group to compose an Encyclopedia of where American History and Mormon History intersect for my history 262 class. Plus studying for finals, packing and getting ready to resume my life currently paused in Colorado.

Off to bed!

Keep it thirsty!

With Love,

Ciara Ann

One year old, another year wiser

Last Saturday was my 19th birthday! It was weird not being home, but I had some friends come to me! That was a bonus! It was nice having my lovely Marissa and Ashley come and see me! I also got to celebrate my with the friends I've made up here. My roommates took plenty care of me, with some amazing goodies! Only at BYUI do people make fresh bread to make you french toast, along with Samoa Girl Scout cupcakes!

My first year of being an adult didn't disappoint! I lived a little..well a lot. I progressed in my experiences, had some triumphs, along with some defeats. I don't expect my 19th year of living to be any different.
In much bigger news, I only have about a month left of school! It is so weird because these 7 months have gone by super slow AND super fast. It is really hard to describe! I really enjoy college life, and I am kinda sad to be leaving until September. Granted, I am excited to leave some things behind here in Rexburg.
The educators here at BYUI have not been a disappointment. I love my classes so much, and I have learned so much! I am so glad that I ultimately took the career path for being a Government teacher! I had an amazing government teacher in high school, and I want to be remembered for igniting that passion, just as my teacher did. Whether you are going through your first year in college, graduated, or even retired, it is never too late to do what you love in life! Just as my History and Philosophy of education class emphasizes, the process of learning never stops. It is a continual, infinite process. Therefore, it is never too late!
With Love,
Ciara Ann

Valentine's Day 2014

This year the Valentine's Day season was lots of fun. It was just super crafty! I had fun making all kinds of different Valentines. Here are some that I made.

I also made some owl cupcakes and attached a note to them saying "Guess HOOO loves you." 

I had someone in mind that I wanted to be my Valentine. I saw this idea before on Pinterest, so I just had to do it. I made a message in a bottle. It came out soo cute, and it was really easy. I got the bottle at the local craft store for only $1.50, wrote the note, rolled it up, and tied it with a bow. The only semi-difficult part tying the note tight enough to fit in the bottle.  So did the message in a bottle work? Of course!                                   Unfortunately we were both leaving town on Valentine's Day Friday, so we celebrated a few days early. We started off the evening by cooking dinner together. We made Santa Fe Chicken Stuffed Bell Peppers, and it came out fabulous. I would attach the URL to the recipe, but the link isn't working all of a sudden. 

The Fried Ice-cream 

Dessert was a different story. I have been craving Fried Ice-cream. I found a recipe to make it, and I thought to myself, "it is something new. Why not try it?" I have already had bad experiences with hot oil in the past, so when it came time to fry the coated ice cream I was on the opposite side of the kitchen as he did it. Good thing it wasn't me, because long story short it started a fire in my kitchen. I am not exaggerating when I say that a 2.5-3 ft flame was bursting out of the pan. We got it under control, but needless to say we did not have our fried ice-cream. Afterwards, we learned that the coating on the ice-cream had to cover the ice cream ball perfectly, which seems impossible to do. Next time, I'll just go to a Mexican Restaurant and pay for it. 

My Rose

The evening was finished by watching one of my favorite movies, 500 Days of Summer. It was a great Valentine's Day to say the least. Whether you shared it with a significant other, your girlfriends, your family, or even just by yourself, I hope you had a great Valentine's Day.

With Love, Ciara Ann 

Soul Meets Body: Bohemian

No need to fear, the social experiment is still happening!! We just paused for the weekend and redid our schedule.

• Tuesday; Preppy
• Wednesday: Emo
• Thursday: Scene
• Friday: Girly

In the mean time, today is bohemian! We must allow ourselves to become one with nature and optimize our free spirits. One must needed item is a versatile vest. I had that one covered. The vest that I am wearing I bought my sophomore year of high school, and I barely wear it because it needs the perfect outfit. I honestly end up wearing it on spirit days in high school, or on days like today.

Bohemian essential? The flower crown! Also, its about the feathers man! Thanks to Uncle Byron I had plenty of feathers to share between simple parachute and I. 

Really want to get into the mood? listen to some Indie music! My favorite band, He is We, fits perfectly into this. 

Our source for the day? http://www.collegefashion.net/fashion-tips/boho-fashion-essentials/

Tomorrow we deal with the prim and proper and the argyle. 

Its not a choice its a lifestyle..

With love,

Ciara Ann

Soul Meets Body; Grunge

Day number two is happening and we are kicking it old school a tad, with grunge. What do you think of when you think Grunge? Flannel, Kurt Cobain, Ripped Jeans? <--- that pretty much sums it up.
Similar to being a hipster, Grunge style is not about caring what others think. It is matches it matches, if it doesn't it doesn't. I actually really digged this look, and it didn't look half bad.

" If you want to dress grunge, you will have to give up any value you might put into matching or looking too clean." 

We wanted to go with the obvious signature of flannel. We would have done ripped jeans, but the Honor Code at BYUI doesn't permit ripped jeans. I wanted to rock the beanie that helps enlighten a "grunger" to a state of Nirvana. Simple Parachute (Bethany) and I might be getting a little lazy since both the Grunge and Hipster look don't require hair maintenance. 

Want the grunge makeup look? Use lots of eye liner and do some smokey eye.  

Source of the Day; http://www.wikihow.com/Dress-Grunge

Tomorrow we get in touch with the source of inspiration for those cheesy icons we put all over our Myspace pages.

It's not a choice, it's a lifestyle...

With Love,

Ciara Ann 

Soul Meets Body: Hipster

My lovely roommate and I often joke about past fads and trends that we subjected ourselves too growing up. We decided we wanted to do a social/artistic challenge, where for one week we put ourselves into past (and current) fads. We might be looking ridiculous, but hey we don't care. Here is our 7 day break down:

• Thursday: Hipster
• Friday: Grunge 
• Saturday: Scene
• Sunday: Shabby Chic
• Monday: Bohemian
• Tuesday: Preppy
• Wednesday: Emo

We wanted to get really into this, so we named our experiment "Soul Meets Body" after the Death Cab for Cutie song. Anyways, we had to do our research for this hipster look, so we went to the realest source out there....wiki-how made by Wikipedia. hahahaha

So what makes someone a hipster? 

Rock the just getting out of bed look; "you should try to go for a look that makes it look like you didn't spend hours trying to pick the perfect outfit but that you just threw it together at the last minute." They also reccomend graphic t-shirts, t-shirts w/ a message, or even your 7th grade gym uniform shirt.  

HOW CAN WE FORGET THE HIPSTER ATTITUDE? The most important rule about being a hipster, don't ever call yourself a hipster! Also, you must exemplify to its optimum potential, the IDGAF attitude. 

Here is a link to our source; http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Teenage-Hipster(Girls)

We even drank tea (herbal tea since we are Mormon) to get into the spirit. Day one was a success. Actual hipsters, don't be offended. This is just for fun. Besides, if this offends you, you aren't a real hipster......Just Sayin. Bethany, a.ka. Simple Parachute, will be documenting our journey on her Tumblr. Tomorrow, we shall find our internal nirvana. 

Being a hipster is a lifestyle choice......

With Love,

Ciara Ann 

(a.k.a. The We and She) 

Stand Ye in Holy Places

This is a side of me that everyone knows about, but they don't always hear me talk about it in depth. People know my standards, but I thought it would be time that I shared my religious growth, especially since I have been here at BYUI.

• I love seeing the temple right outside my window. Some people go all the time, and that is a habit I really want to develop. The temple is such a beautiful place, but not only because it looks like a castle. It is because inside truly beautiful promises are made with the Lord, and sometimes with your eternal companion. One day I will get married there, to the love of my life. 
• The standards of the LDS church is the way to true happiness. Living in modern society it can be hard not to be pressured into thinking that certain recreational activities/choices are okay. Honestly, those choices only lead to more problems and being weighed down by the chains of the advisory. 
• Every night my roomies and I do roommate prayer and read a section from our Strength for Youth pamphlet. It is used as a guideline booklet for references for anything we will encounter in life. Those conversations with like minded individuals is an awesome experiences that allows many situations for the spirit to be invited in.

I can't even begin to describe all the spiritual experiences and feelings I get here. Heavenly Father and his gospel is the center of all my classes, because he is the center of pursuance of education. 

With Love,

Ciara Ann