Next Chapter

Chapter 2

2009-02-12T11:35:00.000-08:00

So these past few weeks have been kind of stressful. I am not quite sure why but it seems like I have been bogged down with lots of work from school and then stressing not being able to find a job.
My school has been great. Even though I have tons of work that keep me busy throughout the week and weekends, I am still enjoying all my classes.
As far as jobs go, I have been consistently looking for a part-time job so I can at least get some kind of money coming in so I can splurge every once in awhile on shopping or going out to eat. But since the economy, jobs have not been too available. Keep me in your prayers so I am able to start work. I am hoping and praying everyday. It is also hard because lots of restaurants are hiring but I know that my parents do not want me to work at a food establishment so I am repecting their wishes on that. But it is just hard I guess.

Overall, everything has been great. I have been sick a few times. I think it is just because of the weather change. It has gotten really cold here compared to normal temperatures but now it has gotten hot and humid. I am not quite sure which one I like more. haha.
Well I must be off. I am in the library now doing some chemistry homework that is due in 20 minutes. Don't worry I only have one more question to do. So yea. I hope everyone is doing well!
Peace & Love
:)

New Beginning (Chapter 1)

2009-01-25T19:55:00.001-08:00

Okay so my weekend has been quite busy but great! It started on Friday with my friends leaving for Michigan for their track meet. Yay for them. And then I had ten classes that morning. Luckily they went by pretty quick so it wasn't so bad.
But something great happened that day. I had emailed a lady named Lauren Shaw about a job that my advisor sent me. I told her that I was interested and that I believe I met all the requirements she wanted. She emailed me back to call her. So later that day I did and we had a great chat about the job, about me, and what is expected of me if I get the job. It sounded really promising because she was impressed with my answers to her questions and letting her know my schedule and being up front with my skills and work schedule. So basically in the end, I have an interview wtih her tomorrow at 3:30, so wish me well!!!! Oh and the job is a clerical job at an OBGYN office. So I will be working in the hospital (sort of). I am indirectly involved with medicine but hey, I will take what I can get. Plus I think this will be a great opportunity for me. I have always wanted a job like this ever since I was old enough to get a job because I love doing this kind of stuff (yes that makes me weird and I am okay with that). But yea.

Saturday was a great day. I woke up to go to Zephyrhills to visit the Auntie Mimi and Uncle Dante and the kids at church. It was a great church service talking about Freedom of religion. Then we ate at a sushi place and just talked about my break and a whole bunch of other stuff. I really love hanging out with them. It is always fun. And the kids are great! Maggie is just awesome. She is growing up so fast I feel like I have to just keep up with what she is doing. And Alec is just crazy as usual and is hilarious. He reminds me of what Marcus might be when he gets older. Haha. Then I came back and dug into the tons and TONS of homework... that I am still doing today.

Well that has been my weekend. It has been mostly filled with homework and stuff. I have been hiding away so I can get some quiet from everyone and just study study STUDY. Sometimes I just like to do that. Well God Bless everyone. I hope everyone's week will be great. Please pray for me because I am going to have a long week ahead of me. What an adventure.
:)

Continuous Chapters

2009-01-24T05:43:00.001-08:00

Okay, so I have not written in this thing since what, August? Well I must tell you that a lot has happened since then. I have dealt with a lot in the past few months and for me, I have had to grow up more and take everything in. Of course as many of you know I lost two people that were important to me, one to a car accident and one to an asthma attack. It was a rough two months of my life. I had to go home for the funeral and that was not my idea of what I would be going home for. Then, I found out that my sister has not been doing well which also hurt my heart because I hate that she has to go through all these things. I wish I could take some of her illnesses and pain away and take it on my own so she can have a break. Regardless of the rough times I have had throughout my first semester here in Tampa, I have come along a lot of great things.

Since I have been there, I have gotten a lot closer to the Chens. They have been more than gracious to me. I love hanging out with Billy, Geri and the boys! It is always fun and never a dull moment, as you can imagine. They have been more than nice and have shown me so much love and are there for me through anything. I have had wonderful talks with Billy at night and awesome talks with Geri during the day, or when I just have to stop by for a few minutes. Regardless they have been the best family ever towards me. As for Auntie Delma and Uncle Tony, they have given me great advice when it comes to college and finding jobs, etc. They always ask me how I am doing in school and healthwise and always give me the best advice that I could get. They have been super supportive towards me and are always there and I am thankful for that. For my family in Zephyrhills, Auntie Mimi and Uncle Dante have been so helpful. I never really got to know them when I was little and now I get the chance. I go to their church on Saturday in Zephyrhills and I spend most of Saturday with them. It is always a lot of fun. Auntie Mimi always knows how to take care of me and we ALWAYS talk for hours on end about anything and everything. Maggie and Alec have gotten so big since the last time I saw them and they are absolutely beautiful children. They are a lot of fun to hang around even though Alec is usually shy around me. He will warm up to me soon enough haha. But I have such a strong connection with Maggie. I feel like I am a mentor to her and she looks up to me. It is nice to have someone who looks up to me like a little sister.

As far as school goes, it is FANTASTIC!!!! I love it here at USF and Tampa. This is exactly where I wanted to go and I am glad that I am here now. I have met some really great people and my classes are a lot of fun. My first semester was an experience but I made it through with good grades. As for my second semester, my days are filled with homework, as expected. Taking Biology, chemistry AND calculus, it can get a little busy. But I am making it through and going along.

Not much has happened in my life lately since I have been back in Tampa to start my second semester. I do promise to try and keep this thing updated from now on. I am trying to turn over a new leaf with the new year coming up and looking at life from a different perspective. I believe I have become a new person. And I am excited for what's to come in my life. What God plans for me.
:)

Chapter 2

2008-09-03T07:41:00.001-07:00

Alright so I am definitely going to try and blog once a week or something like that. I doubt I will be able to blog everyday like my mother does, but I am glad that she is doing it because I know what is going on in Tennessee.
I tell you I am so excited that my parents are able to work the webcam so I can talk to them. Of course knowing me, I am a personable person who wants to see people when I talk to them so like my mom said in her blog, it is one thing to talk on the phone with someone but it is totally different when you see them. I am also excited that my dad is getting the hang of blogging or at least responding to my blogs. It really means a lot to me that he is doing that.
I will say I am not as homesick as I thought I would be but I do miss my parents a lot. I mean coming home from a long day of school or work and sitting around relaxing talking about my day and all that good stuff. But it's no worry because I still get to talk to them which I look forward to everyday.

Well so far, my classes have been going great. They all seem to be pretty fun and easy so far, well except for Chemistry. When I walked into my lexture, there were at least 120 people there and it kind of freaked me out, but luckily I knew some people before going in the room so I was not totally by myself. Other than my Chemistry, all of my classes are great. I love my teachers, they all seem really nice. Oh and by the way I love not having class on Friday. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate my advisor for making my schedule that way because it has helped give me at lesat a day to most of my homework before the next week starts. So yea.

Now this past weekend I went to Sebring and stayed with Billy and Geri from Saturday til Monday afternoon. And let me tell you, I now know how it feels when Billy used to live with us and I would always go and wake him up by jumping on him or throwing pillows at him. (And I did tell him this haha) But yea Marcus would always want to start playing as soon as he woke up and trying to find Sissy. Regardless of how tired I was, I had a lot of fun hanging out with them. They are so amazing and I am glad that I am able to be close to them. Also I am glad to see Geri and the baby. Geri has been so humble and so great towards me letting me stay in their house and all that good stuff. She is such a great mom, and I say that because it takes a stupendous person to take care of three boys all by herself. I give her props for that. And Billy, even though he has been stressed, he still keeps a head on his shoulders. He has been my inspiration for my whole entire life. Like becoming well-known by so many people, having his own practice that is doing well by the way, and just having a beautiful family. I want to have something like that. I definitely want my own practice in physical therapy and know so many people that I can go anywhere and know someone that works there or that can get me the hook-up or something like that. And I definitely want a beautiful family as well because family is the most important thing in my life. Almost everyone I meet becomes my family and I love it!

Well if there is anything I left out please let me know. I need to get going to class and all that good stuff so I will post another one soon!

Much Love,
Christie Q.

Chapter 1

2008-08-25T14:28:00.000-07:00

Okay so I was told to write a blog so everyone will get to know what is going on in my life since I am a little far away from home. I am not quite sure how much I am going to be blogging but please bear with me because I will definitely try and blog as much as I can, as needed. I named my blog Next Chapter because it is the next chapter of my life basically. Very simple but with a lot of meaning. This is a big step in my life and needs to be charted down in my "book of my life." So here goes.

My summer has been incredibly hard because I knew that I was leaving very important people in my life. So many events have occurred in my life that it has overwhelmed me with different emotions that I now have a new perspective of life. My summer begins with just work work and more work, which is what I intended because my tuition to go to this fine school, University of South Florida, is very expensive due to me coming from out-of-state...curse the out-of-state tuition. Anyways, I worked about almost everyday and it was a lot of fun but of course I had to leave. Then it got to be one of the best summers because I got the Willie Levine Scholarship. My parents and I went to go out and eat with Asher and his fiancee. What I did not know was that his whole family was coming to this breakfast. I was shocked to see them but I was so glad that they came because it was a real honor to get to meet them and get to know their lives and the history of the scholarship. They treated my family and I like their own and I really appreciated it. I will tell you I did cry once I opened the card they gave me and saw the money that I had worked so hard for. Thank you Levine Family!
However, just as my summer got to be one of the best it grew to a complete stop. I had found out on July 28th about 10 in the morning that my best friend in the entire world had died in a tragic car accident. My life had stopped at that moment and it become from one of the best summers to the worst. Caitlin Currey and I were supposed to travel to Tampa together and once be reunited as we would be going to schools close to each other. She is one of the most caring person I have ever met and I will never forget her. She was well known to so many people that even her college, University of Tampa, contacted me and asked me to write something about Caitlin. (here is the link to that http://theminaretonline.com/news/an_unimaginable_loss_incoming_student_loses_life_in_a_car_crash) As I will miss her so much I will live my life in a different light. I know that death changes people's perspective on life and it truly does. I will not lie to you. I want to live like she did, to the fullest, being surrounded by people who had a positive influence on me. I want to keep her close to my heart and that is where she will stay.

To the next part in this chapter, I came here to Tampa, Florida. To tell you the truth I LOVE IT HERE! It is such a gorgeous city and amazing. I love the school I am in, I could not ask for more. However I do miss a lot of my friends back home and I definitely miss my parents a whole heck of a lot. But there is so much to do in my life that I have to grow up, it is a part of the next chapters in life that we all have to go through. Well to tell you about college...it is great. I have one of the best roommates ever! Her name is Becky Harry and she is just like me and we get along so great. We have met so many people and plan to go to so many events. But not to worry though are #1 priority is our school work and to graduation with flying colors, as they say. So we do remain focused as well as enjoy the social light of things. My classes are great so far. I have only gone to three of them out of the five but I like them a lot. Not much has happened here so far. So until the next chapter:

I love you all til the end of time. I miss you whole-heartedly. Here is my address so if you want to send anything!
The Edge
13605 N. 42nd street
Tampa, FL 33613
#1323

Much Love,
Christie Q.