Christmas Vacation

Well, I gotta say I think this was my favorite Christmas in quite a while.  This year we got to spend a week in our friend's cabin in Arnold, California.   It was really nice.  Yeah, we didn't have cell phone reception or internet for an entire week, but it was super cozy and relaxing, plus we got to visit Calaveras Big Trees State Park and Lake Alpine.

I'd venture to say there is probably nothing more inspiring than a restful week in the mountains.  The fresh air, the smell of pine trees and a wood fire, the soft sunlight shining through the windows. <3333 It's all so soothing.   I was really happy that during this week I was able to write the lyrics to an entire song, now I just need to work on the music.  But what was even better was that it wasn't a love song!  I've been trying to write songs with better lyrics and it just seemed hard to write about things other than heartbreak or love.  My song started off being about a clock (I know random, but the music sounded like it was ticking) and then it ended being about time and life.  It's actually pretty deep.

Well anyways if you wanna see some more pics from our trip you should check out my other blog.

And I know it's a bit late, but Merry Christmas!!!
Have a good end of the year <3

With much love,
Nicole Alejandra

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

This has got to be the most stressful finals week I've ever had, and it's not because of the finals, but the papers and having to switch rooms this week too. 

Well, Christmas has taken a little longer to set into my mind this year, but with my first Christmas present for the year and finals almost being over, I think it's time to start celebrating!

I was writing my huge essay for my Women's Literature class in the library earlier today, when I found my girlfriend making the cutest Christmas gifts.  They're pretty simple to make, are very pretty, make great gifts, and keep the holiday spirit going.  


It's a tiny box of chocolate that comes with a ribbon, pencil, a special note, and a blank piece of paper.  So the way this gift works is.  As you eat the sweet chocolate, you use the pencil and paper to write a sweet note to someone else, then you tie the ribbon around the note and pass it on.  It's the gift that keeps on giving!  You could choose to get them chocolate as well if you want. 


Well anyways, I have to go, continue typing up papers, helping my roommate pack and move into her new apartment, studying for my last final, and packing my own stuff, so I can move out.  May God Bless You as you continue working through finals and begin to enjoy your Christmas Break.


With Much Love,
Nicole Alejandra

Everything's hilarious when I'm exhausted.... I'm going delusional O.o

So I definitely know I'm not the only one stressing out about finals week.  This probably would've been an easy week had I kept up on my papers and worked on some of my assignments earlier.  My eyes are sore, and I'm tired and cold.  Unfortunately we are now in "crunch" time and with 24 pages needed for my womens lit class, and 3 essays for other classes; there's no time for sleep.  

It's funny though that as stressed as I am I find myself packing, just listening to music, and writing songs.... I guess it's my way of coping/de-stressing. lol 

So my suggestions for you guys this week is:

• Sleep tons.  Your brain works so much better. 
• Assign certain amounts of time for specific subjects.   I can spend all day working on my creative writing hw, but then I'll never finish that paper for American Lit.
• Take breaks.  You can take breaks, but I'd suggest it by studying or working on a different subject or by napping. hehe
• Work Out!  So I feel like dropping dead right now, and as tired as I am working out always helps, it makes me feel better, gives me more energy and is actually a great way to release stresss, especially stretching.
• Don't procrastinate.  I keep thinking of how little homework I would have it I didn't have any late assignments.  Get them in, asap, so you can relax. You don't want to fail your tests.
• Pray.  It's amazing how much better you'll feel after spending just a few minutes with God.  He'll provide you with the peace and rest you need to get through the day and week.
• Keep warm and drink tea and eat tons of Vitamin C.  When you're super exhausted probably not sleeping as much as usual and are stressed your even more likely to get sick.  You don't need a sickness to add on top of all the other worries you have. So keep healthy and strong.

Only SIX more days till the semester's over! You can do this!!

Music is the story your heart wants to sing, and pain the honesty that makes it beautiful...

Being a writer is probably one of the most emotionally painful jobs to have.   It's painful because to write out something with the honesty you have to many times go back and relive some of your hurts.  But I don't think I could have it any other way, it's one of my biggest passions in life. Probably one of my hardest songs to write was my song "Hard As Metal," which I wrote in June of this year.

I finally got the sound file from my guyfriend for it, which we recorded together on his laptop a few weeks ago.  I absolutely love it.  I've been songwriting for about three maybe four years now, but this probably one of my first songs I really like.   It's a painful song, but it's definitely beautiful. It talks about how we tend to close our hearts off after heartbreak, becoming hard as metal, and the only way to be able to love again is to learn to forgive.   One day, I hope to get it professionally recorded then I can show it to you guys. I might make a music video too. ;) 

I honestly had no idea for an album name when his iTunes was asking us for one, but my guyfriend came up with a pretty sweet name from part of my lyrics. "Crimson Words In Cursive"  I think it's sounds pretty good, so I might just keep it.   Well anyways I was taking some random pictures of this red rose I got from our choir concert last night, and I couldn't help but use one of the pictures for making a possible CD cover.  Any ideas, suggestions, or comments??  Let me know!

The Sun Rises in the East and Sets in the West

So I'll admit, I don't live on the prettiest college campus.  There aren't too many trees and we're kind of set in the middle of nowhere with these random acres and acres of yellow grass fields.  But we definitely get the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets.  

I couldn't help to just sit on one of the huge rocks by the parking lot the other day and admire the sunset.  Isn't it gorgeous??

Though we may not have many plants on campus, from our classrooms or the dorms you can look over the town and enjoy the colorful trees.   Fall colors are so beautiful!

I took this picture last semester when walking back to the dorms from our cafeteria.  Imagine seeing these sunsets... every. single. day.  I'm so glad I get to live here :)

 

Probably one of the things I miss most about living in the dorms is waking up to the sunrise.  We had a huge window going all the way across one of the walls.  We could just look over the entire city and see the sun.  Majestic.

It looked even cooler on cloudy/foggy mornings. 

Well anyways, I know Thanksgiving already passed a few days ago, but this is one of things I'm thankful for.  God has blessed us with a beautiful world.  Thanks.

  "And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.  And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.  And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,  And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good."

Genesis 1:15-18

Can We Just Celebrate One Holiday At A Time?

I still don't understand why stores are so convinced to start celebrating Christmas so soon.  I LOVE Christmas. But seriously, it's still mid-November.  We haven't even had Thanksgiving yet, and I need my Thanksgiving break, I'm not ready for finals yet. lol   I think we need to just take some time to slow down and enjoy life day by day rather than rushing through it.  I've spent so many years rushing through life rather and I've finally decided to slow down.  I wanna just enjoy the slightly cooler weather, the yummy foods, and time with my friends.    

So much has been going on lately.  There was that huge "Breaking Dawn" premiere.  Thanksgiving Break is coming up.  And Starbucks and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts were having super awesome sales! 

Our school just had it's Preview Day last Friday for prosepective students. I got the amazing opportunity to host a high-schooler (which I actually knew from camp).  She, like me, is also a songwriter.  Watching her play piano and sing, definitely inspired me to practice more piano.  Thus I'm  trying to learn how to play "River Flows In You" by Yiruma.   Little did I realize that the song is also "Bella's Lullaby" My roommate says that this therefore makes me a Twilight fan. lol   I've actually never read the series, I'm pretty sure I will over break just cause I'm super curious of how the books are, plus I really wanna read a good novel/series. 

Over the weekend, Starbucks was having a "buy one get on free" on all their Holiday drinks, and yesterday Krispy Kreme Doughnuts was giving away free doughnuts if you could guess the year the first Krispy Kreme was opened.   Well, as starving college students we couldn't pass up the wonderful opportunity.  There's probably no better way to pass the time and do homework than over a nice hot cup of coffee with fresh doughnuts and fabulous friends.  I got so much done!  My goal for this Thanksgiving is not to have a stress-free break but a guilt-free one, gotta make sure I have no late assignments being forgotten. lol

Well we only have a few more days till Thanksgiving.  I get to go home tomorrow!! :)  So make sure to think of everything your thankful for, and I'll hopefully post more later.

I Got A Feeling That Tonight's Gonna Be A Good Night

So I've kind of been really busy lately, thus I've been MIA.  It's actually really fun.  Like the days I accidentally forget my cell in my apt, when we go to the gym.  I get no phone calls, less stress! lol   Well anyways, school's been awesome these past few weeks. I've gone dancing for FREE 4 weekends in a row, made some sweet friends, been getting in shape, learning tons, etc.  Anyways life is just amazing!

Yesterday, our school had it's very first non-instructional dance.  It was a Christian Rave! We had glowsticks, crowd-surfing, snacks, strobe lights, DJ, and over 240 students show up. It was pretty bomb.

Anyways I thought I'd do a quick recap of how life's been this past month.

There was obviously halloween weekend. Which included having a movie marathon, eating junk food and candy, visiting the Dorm's "Haunted House" and midnight shopping for snacks :)

Then there was the harvest festival on campus, where we all got to dress up in our costumes.

We also got to play "Bigger or Better." My group started with a paper clip and after a few hours ended up with these nice chairs.

Then there's always the weekends hanging out with our friends, either doing homework, having movie nights, playing in the arcades or just chilling.  It's pretty awesome.

And then one of my other favorite things to do is go to church on Sundays, eat lunch in the cafeteria, and then form a study group afterwards.

Then on Monday, our new choir "Master Works Chorale" had our very first concert ever.  It was so good, we got to sing Eric Whitacre's "Lux Arumque" and portions of Haydn's Creation and several other pieces. It was outstanding.

I praise God every single day for the tremendous amounts of blessings He has given me.  This doesn't mean life isn't difficult but He's always there and always provides a way to be joyful throughout life's trials.

So now I have to get back to HW and all the stress that develops towards the end of the semester, cause we only have a few more weeks left. CRAZY!

God Bless You All!