Sudden Illness (And How Ice Cream can both help and worsen that sickness)

Song of the Day: Sudden Illness by, Ailee 

Soo the inevitable has happened.....but I didn't think it would end this horribly. 

David told me some....choice words that hurt me more than the fact that there was no future possibility for us. It also didn't help with the fact that he delayed this announcement for two days while I felt like dying from sickness and stress. Okay, it wasn't THAT bad, but you get my point. 

Insert rant here: 

Note to all guys who are interested in me in the future: PLEASE DON'T HOLD IN YOUR THOUGHTS. I'm the type of girl that needs to know problems right away. If you tell me "Hey, I need to tell you something but I don't know how you'll take it" I will start freaking out and coming up with conspiracy theories until you tell me. JUST TELL ME. I know it sucks, but really it gets better after the initial shock. I promise.

End rant. 

Okay, so after he prepped with that ominous foreshadowing, in the back of my mind I knew it was going to end. But even with this mental preparation, I still feel pretty crappy, and I still didn't have an answer to the impending question: 

How do I move on?

I need to replace my old routine with a new, more productive one. A still, small voice told me then,

Baby steps, Maya. Baby steps. 

And so I took my first step. 

Wake Me Up When September Ends (On Endings and Relationships)

Song of the Day: Roller Coaster by, Justin Bieber

Fun fact: I am actually starting to become a fan of Justin's music. I just wished he wasn't such a jerk.....what a waste of talent. 

Well, throughout this entire month, I've been going through a roller coaster of emotions (see what I did there? Okay, I'll stop trying to be funny.) 

One minute I'm spiritually enlightened, happy about everything and just want to talk to everybody. The next, I feel lonely and dejected and anti-social. So far, I am able to jump back thanks to the temple, the scriptures, and general conference talks. TAKE THAT SATAN! 

However, this week in particular has been especially hard. 

Walking Along this Distant Road (A New Perspective on Life)

Song of the Day: All My Love is For You by, SNSD 

It's that time of year again. Time to put my thinking cap on and study chemistry, biology, psychology, physiology, and any other science subject there is in order to fulfill my dream of becoming a doctor. 

To be quite honest, I was actually scared of how I would be when I got back from Guatemala. 

Before Guatemala, I had a mild depression episode because I shut myself in and did nothing but study....but that's another story for another time. 

In short, Guatemala was an escape from reality where I was able to live my dream and be happy. But now I'm back in reality....

But I'm doing fine actually. Better than I thought I would be. :) 

Now sure, the first day of school was kinda a mess. I lost both my TA position and my position in my research lab due to losses in funding and the fact that I didn't have internet connection (lesson learned).

But don't worry. After an entire day of running around campus like a maniac and emailing just about everyone I knew, I managed to regain my TA position. The lab position is still pending....maybe there's a reason why I'm not engaged in research at the moment. With my workload and extracurricular load I think I might just explode.

A month has passed and that explosion hasn't happened yet. Sure, I've cried every now and then, but I haven't exploded to depression levels. I don't even have an acne problem now. I have a new, positive outlook in life!

And it's all thanks to 11 people.

Meet David (My Platypus)

Song of the Day: Darte un Beso by, Prince Royce 

(the music video is one of my favorites! It's just so cute and romantic and ah!)

A few warnings beforehand:

• I may or may not be seeing him in rose-colored glasses. But I would also like to point out that since he IS my first boyfriend ever, the bias would be there regardless. But I will try to be as impartial as possible.
• Yes, we have officially broken up, but we still talk to each other often. This is because we didn’t break up because we no longer had feelings for each other, but we wanted to work on our friendship and our relationship with God and being in a relationship would not help. 

So in my previous post I compared David to a platypus. And I mean that in the best way possible. In other words, he’s kind of amazing.

My platypus :)

Here are 20 things about this guy that I was fortunate enough to have as a first boyfriend. 

Eat, Pray, Love (Why I Left My Heart in Guatemala)

Song of the Day: Bailando by, Enrique Iglesias feat. Gente de Zona 

So, it's been a long time since I blogged. There's a reason for that, but I'll bring it up in another post sometime later. 

But right now, let's focus on this recent trip to Guatemala. If someone were to ask me what movie was best portraying my life at the moment, it would be Eat, Pray, and Love.... the Mormon version. 

The Eat: 

I basically ate anything that was on my plate. Sometimes I knew what it was, and sometimes I had no clue. Yet I put them all in my mouth anyways. 

So what was it? Any and every part of the cow, including but not limited to: 

• the head (cabeza)
• tripa
• longanizo
• ubre/uvre (the utter or the breast of the cow)
• ceviche de criadias (the testicles of the bull. And yes, I didn't know that was entering my own digestive system until after the fact.)
• the foot (la pata) 

And to add: turtle soup ( which I personally recommend only for the strong-hearted), iguana (which I personally recommend anyone to try!), and horse (which I personally recommend to no one ever)

The Pray: 

The Mormon church is strong in this country. The chapels literally stick out like white beacons in the jungle. It's beautiful. But you know what's even more beautiful? The members themselves. 

Goodness gracious are they a force to be reckon with. 

I was blessed enough to be included into a lovely ward in the cute, little town of San Felipe. They were nothing but friendly and they all had strong testimonies of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and they all loved to serve! Just like me. 

Because of their strong faith in Christ, I was able to witness the baptism of not one, not two, but FOURTEEN investigators in a single day. It was the longest baptism I've been in, but the spirit was so strong there. I was able to create friendships that I'm sure would last a lifetime, which brings me to the last part...

It's Not All Up To You (Service to Your Fellow Brethren)

Song of the Day: I See Fire by, Ed Sheeran 

This week has been crazy of all sorts!
I had 4 exams scheduled this week (and no, it's not midterms week): Romanian, Physics, Neuroanatomy, and Art History.

I honestly thought I was going to fail at least one of them. I stayed up into the night, missed several classes, and prayed fervently that I will succeed all by myself.

But then I realize, I can't do this all by myself.

I believe that people who say they can do things all by themselves are lying to themselves.
Because no matter how you look at it, it's not all up to you. No matter what dream you have, that dream affects other people and thus, your dream is not about you.
It's about others.
Thus, if your mentality is "Only I can change things. It is up to ME AND ONLY ME to decide to succeed or not" then you're not looking at the entire picture.

Your goals and dreams is about other people: your family, your friends, your significant other, and others that will become an integral part of your life.