An Uncommon Name

I have been at Cal State East Bay for six months now so, today, I thought it was high time to obtain a student ID card.  I went into the administration building and gave the middle-aged woman behind the counter the necessary state-issued photo identification card.  I nonchalantly looked out the window for a minute to see if the wind had picked up outside when I heard a rather audible intake of breath which quickly drew my attention back to the lady behind the desk.  She was looking at me incredulously.  I saw her hand come out to grasp mine in a hand shake.  In the split second before my fingers touched hers, the thought occurred to me that this woman was going to excitedly exclaim that I was the 750th student to come to the counter this quarter and that the debt-ridden, mismanaged state of California was somehow awarding me with $500,000.  That rather ridiculous notion left my head quickly, however, when, instead, she excitedly exclaimed, "Your name is Celia!  That's my name!  You are now the fourth person I have ever met that has the name Celia!"  Having never come across another living, breathing human being with my name before, I was also quite enthused by this news.  What I thought was going to be a quick run-in to pick up a simple ID card ended up being a thorough discussion on both the benefits and the woes of having the unique name of "Celia."  We listed all of the different names we had been called throughout the years (Cecilia, Cecil, Sylvia...).  We talked about its pronunciation and she nearly convinced me (not really) to start pronouncing my name the Spanish way rather than the English way.  We stewed over the idea that the name Sally is supposedly considered an English equivalent for Celia (to which my Dad commented, "You are not a Sally.").  We discussed how Celia comes from the word "celestina" which means heavenly (as already stated in my blog description to the right of this post).  After contemplating together the life of Celia Cruz, "La Reina de la Salsa," I left the office feeling slightly deflated that my wild thought of winning $500,000 did not come to pass, but I also found myself inexplicably satisfied with the encounter.  While it used to bother me that my teachers never pronounced my name properly in school and that my name has bred nicknames like Seal throughout the years, I am pleased that I have a unique yet not overly abnormal-sounding name.  It stands out without being over the top.  It commands a certain level of attention.  It has a nice ring to it.

My name is Celia.  Not many people in this world can say that, and I find that kind of cool.

(I am using this image strictly as a visual.  I am not suggesting that you read this book.  I have never heard of it, let alone read it. :) )

I'm an 89er!

I was born in 1989.  Maybe that doesn't sound too remarkable to you right now but after some explanation, perhaps you will understand and wish you were a fellow 89er.

Though I am only 23, I have the privilege...nay, the pleasure, of saying that I have lived and breathed during four different decades/eras.  Let's go through the greatest characteristics of each one, shall we?

The 1980s
With my infant-eyes, I saw my older siblings wear the neon colors and thick scrunchies of the 80s.  While I can not say that I was entirely aware of my surroundings during this time, the effects of the era definitely carried over into my early childhood.  As the youngest child out of six, my formative years were spent watching "tubular" 80s cartoons my Dad had taped off the TV and playing with some of the "totally awesome" cast-off toys of my older siblings.  If you didn't have a popple or a glo-worm (or, in my case, a glo-turtle), you seriously missed out on some good times. 

I would often watch my brother play Super Mario Brothers and Simon's Quest on the original Nintendo that you had to blow into every time it stopped working.  And you might just be an uncultured swine if you have never witnessed the original versions of Strawberry Shortcake or if you have never seen a single episode of Rainbow Brite.
http://youtu.be/Q4nsALgnx2g
http://youtu.be/CfjgH8LZCPE
(The 80s...it was a strange decade.  After watching those TV shows again, I kind of wonder how anyone came out of it as a reasonably normal human-being.)

The 1990s
Though I was technically born in the 80s, I am most definitely a 90s kid.  I was making my way through elementary school at the height of the boy-band era.  (In case you are wondering, I like the Backstreet Boys more than N'Sync.  That isn't to say that you won't find me rocking out to "It's Gonna Be Me" any given day.)  I became aware of fashion when the cool thing to do was roll out of bed, throw on the baggiest flannel T-Shirt you could find, and head to school in hopes of being the grungiest person in the class.  Once in a blue moon, we kids looked semi-decent.  I felt especially attractive when I wore my extremely fashionable hat that had the flower smack-dab in the front.  Wouldn't you agree?

I showed off my Polly Pocket collection at a Show-And-Tell in 2nd Grade.  The boys and my teacher didn't think it was all that exciting, but the girls in my class thought it was "all that." I so had this exact one!

Girls with colorful Lisa Frank folders and erasers would pretend they were the Spice Girls during recess.  We would wake up early on Saturday mornings to watch Nickelodeon, making sure to watch the forbidden shows (Power Rangers and Rugrats) when Mom was not home.  My Tomagotchi was Salem, the cat from Sabrina, The Teenage Witch.  My sister Brittany was so accommodating whenever we wanted to use her Easy-Bake Oven..."As if!"  (Haha, I'm kidding, Brittany.  I just wanted to throw that phrase in there somehow.)  The 90s...another interesting yet awesome decade.

The 2000s
In the early 2000s, I headed into the awkward years of middle school with the lyrics from songs by the Dixie Chicks, Michelle Branch, and Avril Lavigne in my head.  I wore my jean overalls to school for as long as the fashion world would allow and thought I had hit the pinnacle of greatness when I finally managed to get my hands on a visor.

I think I kind of lost my grasp of popular culture during this decade but that doesn't mean my friends didn't try to pull me back into it a time or two.  I reluctantly took part in the viewing of the cheesy yet melodious phenomenon that was High School Musical.  I thought it was so cool when I was able to upgrade to an MP3 player after carrying around my old-fashioned CD player for years. I got my first cell phone when I was a junior in high school and, with it's tiny screen and limited uses, I hardly picked the thing up.  I went from writing my papers on my sister's old once-revolutionary iMac to writing them on my beloved Mac Mini which still serves me well to this day. 

I graduated from high school and headed off to college where methods of communication included some face time, Facebook, texts, and the sharing of YouTube videos.  The 2000s...my, how the world has changed over the last decade.

The 2010s
We are now a couple of years into this new decade.  I think we have yet to see what its defining qualities will be.  However, the trends I am noticing are these: This is the age of the iPhone and the age of social media.  In fashion, girls are looking to the 1940s and the 1950s for style tips.  Music still draws upon the techno age of the 1980s, but we are also starting to see a rise in popularity of music that is a little more "folksy," (yes, I just made that word up) getting some inspiration from the songs of the 1960s.  Beyond that, I have no idea where the next few years will take us.  Twenty years from now we will, no doubt, look back at these years and wonder, "What the heck were we thinking?"  I know I look back at the 80s and wonder how the mullet was ever cool or how the Grunge-look ever made it into popular culture in the 90s.  So what will be the defining characteristics of the 2010s?  I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

So, though my lifetime is like a drop of water in the bucket of time, I have actually been privy to quite a number of eras/cultures and events.  It's amazing to think about all the things that have happened and changed in the last 23 years.

See!  Don't you wish you were an 89er too?  :)

Celia's Crafting Tips

Tip #1:  Avoid crafting alone.
I have found that when I craft by myself I have less motivation to finish what I have started.  When you have others around working on the same or similar projects, it is much easier to stay focused on the task at hand.  (And when you finish, there is already someone there to admire your handiwork :).

Luckily, I have a few sisters who love crafting as much, if not more, than I do.  My sister Brigitte and I were able to do a project together before I left Utah and it was lots of fun! 

Tip #2:  When in doubt, use scrapbook paper.
Scrapbook paper is an invaluable tool in a wide variety of projects.  Half of the crafts I have pinned on Pinterest seem to involve scrapbook paper.  Here are a couple of things I have made in the last few months that use this wonderful product.
JOY Letters

Use your wood letters to trace the outline onto the scrapbook paper.

Cut a little bit inside the lines that you've drawn.  (You do this so that you'll have a white wood border on each letter.)  Then use EXTREMELY watered down brown paint to apply VERY THINLY (with a paintbrush) along the edges of your cut-out letters.  This gives them a nice aged feel.

Paint your wood letters white.

Sand the edges so that the wood shows through.

With a paintbrush, use watered down glue to apply the scrapbook paper to the letters.  Then use your paintbrush to apply the rest of your watered down glue over the top of the letters.

After everything is dry, dress your letters up with buttons, ribbons, etc using a hot glue gun.  The finished product!

Flower on Canvas

This was my inspiration.  You can find instructions on how to achieve this awesomeness if you follow this link: http://itsdoable.squarespace.com/blog/2012/1/23/its-doablethe-flower-wall-art.html/

Here is the one I made.  I didn't really follow the instructions to be honest; I just looked at the picture and made my own interpretation.

Tip #3: If you don't want to use a stencil but you also want to have good-looking letters on your project, try this:  http://pureandposy.blogspot.com/2012/07/how-to-paint-near-perfect-letters.html
This is a link to my sister's blog.  I used this technique on one of my projects and it allowed me to pick out the fonts and sizes of letters I wanted.

The only thing I did differently was use transfer paper.  If you like making crafts, transfer paper will be a good thing to get.

 

Just place the transfer paper between your design and the surface you want the design to be transferred to.  You might want to tape it in place.  Then, using a pencil or a ball-point pen, trace the outline of your design.  Your design should be transferred to the wood/fabric/whatever other surface you're using.

Then all you have to do is paint inside the lines.  It's really awesome to see your own designs come to life!

Tip #4: Use Google to search for design ideas.  It's amazing!
While working on my most recent project, I found that I had left a little too much empty space in one of the corners.  So I typed "corner designs for pages" into Google and looked at the images that popped up.  So many good ideas!

For a Christmas present, I painted the lyrics to my sister and brother-in-law's song on wood...but I left a little too much empty space in that one corner.

So after typing "corner designs for pages" into Google, I picked this design from the large number of designs that came up with my search.

Using that design as a guide, I was able to draw my own design to fill in the empty space.  The finished product!

I'm no expert by any means but maybe these tips will help you out in some of your crafting endeavors.  Happy Crafting! 

Things I Get Excited About

A while back, a friend of mine mentioned something that they were thrilled about and asked me if I was excited about it too.  I replied with a simple, "Yeah, that's cool."  This person gave me a rather bewildered look and said, "You don't really get excited about anything, do you?"  Slightly affronted, I explained that just because I'm not one of those people that publicly jumps up and down and squeals with delight doesn't mean that I am never excited.

There are two reasons why I may not seem overly enthused all the time. 

Firstly, I generally express my feelings of joy, sorrow, anger, etc. in private.  My freshman year of college, I came home from a date that I was actually very excited about and my roommates promptly came out of their rooms to ask me how it went.  All I said was that I had a lot of fun.  Not satisfied with my casual answer, one roommate exclaimed, "Can you please show some excitement, Celia?"  I jumped up in the air once and flashed a small smile.  Once I got to the privacy of my room, however, I could not stop smiling.  The door opened suddenly and my roommate was able to witness the true merriment I had been feeling all along.  So really, it's not that there is a serious lack of feeling in my life.  I'm just not very good at showing other people how I feel.

Secondly, different things excite different people.  Something that excites you might not excite me and vice versa.  Some people get really excited about cars.  I appreciate a sleek shiny vehicle as much as the next person but I can guarantee that I will never be talking excitedly about any car's horsepower.  Some people really love art.  I like making crafts and being artsy in my own way but you will never find me overcome with emotion while staring at a painting in an art museum.

So what kinds of things get Celia all riled up, you may ask?  Well, I'll tell you.

Movies - I love watching movies.  I love quoting them.  (Before she left on her mission, my old roommate Jen and I would text movie lines back and forth to each other for hours.  "Don't want that...don't want that...")  I love movies that transport me to another world or another time.  I love movies that cause me to be emotionally invested in the futures of the characters.  Some people go to movies for the social aspect of it.  They go because their friends are going.  I (generally, not always)go into a movie theater and try to forget all of the people around me so I can focus on what is going on on screen.  Weird?  Yeah probably.  But that's the way I like to be entertained.  ("Are you not entertained?")

Music - I come from a very musical family and I minored in the subject so I better be somewhat emotionally drawn to music.  The story I am about to relate very aptly expresses my experience with music: I really liked the soundtrack for the Star Trek movie that came out a few years back so I bought it on iTunes.  (I love movie soundtracks in case you didn't know!)  I was listening to it one day while studying for a test.  In one of the pieces, the main theme was being played on the oboe but then the violin section, almost imperceptibly, took over the melody.  It sounded so cool to me that I dragged my roommates into my room to listen to it.  They just looked at me and said, "Uh yeah, that's cool," and then left.  I couldn't believe they didn't appreciate the pure genius exhibited in those notes the same way I did.  (Here's a link to it so you can listen and decide for yourself.  I bet most of you will probably respond similarly to how my roommates responded and that's okay. What I'm talking about starts at 0:23.)
http://youtu.be/ZEDLQD7l-dM

Books - I have never understood people who do not enjoy reading.  That is a completely foreign concept to me.  I love curling up in a blanket on the couch to read a book.  I love to imagine the characters and the scenery.  I am one of those people that can, and often does, stay up all night to finish a book.  Whenever I go to the library, I come home with three or four books I didn't intend to check out when I first walked in.  I love reading!  And I think it's one of the only forms of entertainment out there that can expand your vocabulary.  Seriously, what's not to love?

Politics - I am probably a little overly-passionate about politics in this country.  Anyone who ran into me after last month's election would probably agree.  There are very few times in my life when I've shown my anger as openly as I did then.  Though I like to talk politics, it often brings out a side of me most people rarely see.  When I was a senior in a high school, part of our grade was based on our participation in Mock Congress.  For two days, all the seniors gathered into their designated "senates" and debated bills of their own making.  I think I talked more animatedly during that two day period than I did the rest of the school days combined.  What can I say?  When you run into idiots you have to defend your beliefs from their idiotic attacks.  Just kidding...but really.

Boys - I would be remiss and dishonest if I chose to neglect them but...I'll just leave it at that.

American History - I love American history!  When I found an entire section in the BYU library on the American Revolution, I just about died from sheer joy.  George Washington is one of my heroes.  I have more books on the founding of America than on any other subject.  My favorite subjects to study are, in order, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, WWII, the Great Depression, and WWI.  I get a little bit giddy everytime I watch this scene from the movie Gettysburg.
http://youtu.be/-kdOKJXfTU4
I love America!

The Celtics - Win or lose, I love my boys in green!  I get slightly hysterical during their games and witnesses to my hysterics are often bewildered at my sudden release of emotion.  If I had a Bucket List, watching a Celtics game in Boston would definitely be on it.

So next time you think I don't get excited about anything, think again.  Ask me to participate in any of these things and, trust me, you'll probably get more excitement than you bargained for. :)

10 Things I Am Grateful For

1. A Toothbrush - I spent the night of Thanksgiving at my brother's house in Brentwood with the rest of my family.  After stuffing my face with piles of plaque-promoting foods, I found that I had forgotten a very important item: my toothbrush.  I resorted to rubbing toothpaste all over my teeth with my finger and went to bed with a less-than-fresh feeling in my mouth.  There really is no substitute for a good toothbrush.  Whoever invented the modern-day toothbrush deserves about 40 million pats on the back.  I am truly grateful for their insight.
2. Jeans - After a long day at work, there is nothing better than slipping out of my dress pants and putting on some comfy jeans.  I am grateful for the clothes on my back, for the clothes in my closet, and for the stores just down the street that allow me to remain properly protected against the elements. :)
3. Nieces and Nephews - I just spent the last four days surrounded by children, all of whom are five years of age or younger.  While each one definitely had their little moments of insanity, I also enjoyed their moments of laughter and discovery.  I love them all and I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to watch them learn and grow. :) 

4. Movies - Anyone who knows me well knows that I love movies and good quotable lines.  I just recently splurged and bought the movie We Bought a Zoo.  I'm grateful for those who put time and effort in to producing good quality entertainment for my enjoyment.
5. Rays of Sunshine Through Puffy White Clouds - This past Friday, I had to walk in the rain to get to the bus stop.  After that rather miserable walk, I looked out the window as we rolled down Ygnacio Valley Road and saw the sun shining through the clouds onto the hills.  I'm grateful to know that there is always light behind the clouds.
6. Food - Thanksgiving is one of those holidays when everyone feels justified in filling themselves to the brim with delicious food.  I loaded my plate with mashed potatoes, turkey, gravy, corn, green beans, and rolls then sat back with a contented smile on my face when I was done.  I'm grateful for the abundance we enjoy.
7. My Job - Though I don't always know what I'm doing and I am sometimes asked to do things that go beyond my field of expertise, I am grateful for the opportunity I have to learn new skills and gain experience.  I am grateful for others' generosity and understanding as I become accustomed to a new field.  After going through quite an extensive period without a steady income, I am grateful to have a paycheck and the means to support myself.
8. My Country - Despite some recent disappointing events, I am very happy that I am an American.  There are so many people in the world who don't know what it means to be free.  We do.  I'm grateful to live in a country where my voice can be heard and where I have the right to stand up for what I believe in.  I am grateful for all those, both past and present, who have made this country great.
9. The Temple - Over the past year, I have been able to attend the temple quite regularly.  I can not tell you how many answers to prayers I have received while in the temple.  I have felt comfort and peace there even when it felt like the whole world was crashing down around me.  I am grateful that, through making and keeping temple covenants, I can be with my family forever.
10. My Savior - I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that He loves and cares about me.  There have been so many times in my life when I have been able to rely on His strength when I knew that mine was not sufficient to make it through the day.  With his help, I have been able to accomplish so many things I would have never thought possible.  I am grateful for the Atonement and for the sacrifice Christ made on my behalf so that I could overcome the trials and tests of this world and move on to a better one.

Classic Celia Moment #1

This is the first installment of what, I am sure, will become a common occurrence on my blog: recountings of what I will call "Classic Celia Moments" or CCMs.  My sister Lisa came up with her own acronym a while ago (CLMs) to describe those times in her life when events occur that she feels only happen to her.  They are the kinds of stories that, when related to others, produce a laugh and a loud, "That would happen to you!"  Although Lisa's stories generally involve falling down, walking into glass doors, dropping spaghetti sauce on white shirts, etc., mine seem to involve animals or bugs.  It's probably because I'm not too fond of them so I notice their presence more than the average person.  Whatever the reason, I feel that most CCMs will fall into the animal/bug category.

So, Classic Celia Moment #1:  A couple of weeks ago, my sister and brother-in-law were dropping me off at my apartment after a nice evening of babysitting my nieces.  I did laundry while at their house so I placed my laundry basket in their trunk for the short drive over to my apartment.  When we reached my complex, I stepped out of the car and made my way around to the back to open up the trunk.  It was dark and I wasn't fully aware of my surroundings.  I set the laundry basket down on the ground next to me, swung the trunk lid shut, and took a step to the right.  As I did so, I felt something squish underneath my foot and heard the rather nasty sound of thick liquid splattering on pavement.  I pulled my foot up quickly to find that I had stepped on a frog/lizard/insect/whatever-thing (I'm still trying to figure out what the heck this thing was) and that all the liquid that was in this creature before my unfortunate misstep was now foaming to the left of it in the parking lot.  The creature had somehow flipped onto its back and its legs and arms were flailing about as it tried to right itself.  At the sound of my strangled cry, my sister got out of the car and stood beside me as I tried to figure out what this monstrosity was.  Our speculations were cut short, however, as the creature did eventually manage to right itself.  As it began to limp (rather quickly, I might add) toward the car, I grabbed my laundry basket and ran up to my apartment while Brittany hastily got back into her car, shouting, "Make sure you wash your shoes!" as her vehicle sped out of sight.  Needless to say, I was grossed out for the rest of the evening.  The still visible splatter mark in the parking lot of my apartment complex will forever serve as a testament of the events of that disgusting night.

Yes, you can say it.  That is the kind of thing that would happen to me.

This is not at all what the "creature" looked like.

UPDATE:  If you wish to know exactly what I stepped on, my sister has figured it out.  Type "Jerusalem Cricket" into Google at your own risk.  Yuck!

(By the way, this is my 100th blog post!  Here's to over four years of being a member of the blogging world!)

Happy Halloween!

It's that time of year again.  It's that time when we can bake 10 loaves of chocolate chip pumpkin bread and feel justified in doing it.  It's that time when we can shove handfuls of Reese's M&Ms down our throats and say we're doing it for the sake of the holiday spirit.  It's that time when adults and children alike can dress up like lunatics and approach doors late at night and ask for free candy.  It's that time of year when we can act like the devil's angels and grim reapers and not feel at all sacrilegious.  It's that time when we can get together with friends and watch scary movies that give us nightmares or cheesy old "creepy" classics that make us chuckle.  Really, though.  Who doesn't love Halloween?

I took this picture while on the drive to work on the morning of Oct. 30.  (I know it wasn't technically Halloween but close enough.)  I thought it fit the spirit of the season :)

Picking out pumpkins in Brentwood with the fam!

Bruce was Buzz.

Sophie was an adorable little pumpkin.

Sydney was the cowgirl, Jessie.

Rhyan was a cute little ladybug.

All ready to go trick or treating!

The awesome decoration Brittany and Melissa made.

At the Halloween dance in Berkeley.

Mrs. Incredible and the waitress from Roswell.

I hope everyone had a "spook-tacular" night!  (Yeah sorry, that was lame but it needed to be said :)