Hey there,

It's been awhile. I was busy trying to focus on my last semester of college. It paid off!!! I am now officially a graduate of the Colorado School of Mines (which I learned recently took the number 1 spot for engineering school in the USA)! I am now the holder of a Bachelor's degree in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering. I still can't believe how far I have come in my life. Being a young mom and all the stressful moments we as a family had to push through so that I could get here. The hard and stressful all nighters to the stress it put on my relationships with my family, fiance and friends all led up to this point and I couldn't be happier!

I was very lucky to have an amazing support system. I was able to surround myself with the type of people who wanted more in life and believed that I could be more than just a teenage mom statistic. From the time I found out that I was pregnant I have done everything in my power to succeed in something that would allow me to take care of my family. I never let people tell me how my life should play out...even though they tried and I hope that you never let anyone dictate your life either. I take things one day at a time (not to say that I don't PLAN because I am totally a planner) and have figured out along the way that life is really what YOU make it. Your biggest enemy is yourself. You decide what is too hard or too easy or too stupid. YOU decide whether or not you will live your dream or not. Unfortunately I had no financial help from my parents, but I didn't let that stop me. I received grants (financial aid) and took out loans in order to pay for my education, but I didn't let it go to waste. I cannot wait to start work as an engineer. I have always been a problem solver, someone who could look at a problem in a different light and figure out how to make things work. Solving problems is what I love and when you do something you love, all the stress and money in the world couldn't prevent you from doing it.

In closing I just want to say thank you to every single person who has told me that I can do this, I can make it and who has supported me through it all. I also want to say that you can do anything you put your heart and mind into. Follow your dreams and do something that makes you HAPPY it is well worth it.

<3 Crystal

First Senior Design Meeting

Today in the life,

I had my first meeting with my senior design group today. We have to create a processing plant that makes a certain chemical at a 99% purity and design everything from the infrastructure to the economics. It was an interesting meeting. I was appointed the contact person/organizer. Which basically means I have to make sure everything we do is organized and easily available to everyone. I am the main person who communicates what needs to be done and when we all need to have it done by. It's probably the hardest job but I am happy that they all trust me with the responsibility. I am the only female in my group which is fairly common. I have four males on my team. So being able to have control on my end is nice.

We have to create a progress report of our objectives and how far we are in completing them by Friday. We have to write a 4 page memo every two weeks. Apparently, in industry this is a common practice so it is good for us to practice doing this now. I am still looking for a job and have been applying all over the United States. I am so excited that Spring 2015 is my last semester. I cannot wait to be working with other engineers!

Anyways, if you all have a million and one things going on in your life at one time like I do, keep your head up, breath, stay organized and execute your goals by prioritizing what is important. I already rescheduled next week's meetings so that I could see my son's winter concert at school! Because even though I know school is extremely important, especially now that I will graduate in May, he will always take precedence over anything and everything else. Hope you all have an amazing night and remember that only you can make your life what you want it to be.

<3 Crystal

New Year Resolutions

Today in the life,
I read an article about Marilyn Monroe and how she wrote a list of her New Year resolutions down. I don't know why I have never done this because my scheduling calander always has my to do lists ready to go. So anyway here are my new year resolutions for 2015.

1. Enjoy everything the year brings
2. Marry the most amazing man ever (I have already found him lol)
3. Lose 50 lbs to reach a healthy BMI level (join a gym)
4. Pass my last semester and graduate
5. Find an amazing job that I will love to go to everyday
6. If I move out of state...have my living situation all figured out
7. Visit my Nina in California
8. Hike up a mountain
9. Jump out of an airplane :)
10. Fly in a hot air baloon
11. Love my family each an everyday for their love and support
12. Stay determined and never give up on my dreams.
13. Be possitive...see the good in people
14. Talk to people more often (I am usually the listener)
15. Take my son to amazing places that he has never seen.
16. Enjoy the potential when you don't know what you are doing the next day. So many possibilities await.
17. Be open to new experiences
18. Be strong and embrace change
19. Be amazing
20. Cross off what you have accomplished from this list at the end of the year and make a new one :)

What are some of your new year resolutions? Hope you have an amazing 2015!!

♡Crystal

Background On...Well...Me!

Hey there,

My name is Crystal and this blog is all about a day in the life of me. I'm just a regular gal, no celebrity status here, but I have been blessed with an exciting and busy life. My son will soon be 8yrs old (Plot twist #1 my fiancé and I were both16yrs old when I gave birth to our beautiful boy). Can you sense the drama we encountered? Being sophmores in high school, scared to become parents, scared to inform our parents with the news (Plot twist #2 my son has been the best gift in my life). 

So there I was, pregnant at 16 and deciding what the best course of action was in order to move forward. Thinking back, this was a critical moment/decision in my life. I held my head up and told myself I wouldn't be another statistic of a young girl getting pregnant and ruining her life. I decided in this moment that I would fight as hard as I could to be successful and take care of my child, not only financially but by being an amazing mom. In order to do this, I knew I needed to finish high school. 

I have always enjoyed learning and up to that point in my life I was in a very good position academically. Therfore, continuing school was a must. I decided to talk to my counselor (for the second time throughout my high school career) and I asked him if I could take online classes in the summer in order to complete the classload I would have had in my first semester of junior year. This way I could stay at home during my last trimester of pregnancy and not fall behind on my coursework. He loved the idea and we set it all up. Throughout that summer I contacted my counselor a few times to take my exams and one day he mentioned that he attended Colorado School of Mines and that I should think about applying there for college. He stated he was unable to complete the degree but with my background in science and math I should check it out. I had never heard of it before. But long story short I applied there and got in! I am currently a senior in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering! Super excited to have only a year left! :) 

Thanks for reading. More interesting stories to come!

♡ CRYSTAL