"it's the most wonderful...

...time of the year!" -andy williams

CHRISTMAS EVE! what what?!

this time of the year really is one of the most wonderful.  it's cold but that means cozy time!  i've been on break for a week and a half now and i hardly ever went outside...i stay in this ridiculously comfortable bed until mid-morning when i wake up and then just stay in it longer to read.  my sister got me to read the Twilight books and i've already passed her. haha

my family and i went into the city the other day and enjoyed the commercial side of Christmas.  businesses will do some crazy things to get you to spend spend spend!  my youngest sister went ice skating while we watched her glide around the rink in circles.  and also while an awkward lanky man attempted to skate while running into small children and proceeding to fall quite firmly on the ice knocking his glasses off of his face. :D:D:D:D:D:D made me giggle.  he deserved it...he was a danger to the unconfident and unstable.  but there was a sign stating "skate at your own risk"

tomorrow is Christmas day! and it is not only wonderful because of the presents and family and fond memories made...but because of the original reason we celebrate Christmas.  for the birth of the savior of the world Jesus Christ!  the band relient k puts it into words quite well...

And the first time

That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior

And the first breath that left Your lips

Did You know that it would change this world forever

To look back and think that

This baby would one day save me

In the hope that what You did

That You were born so I might live

To look back and think that

This baby would one day save me

And I, I celebrate the day

That You were born to die

So I could one day pray for You to save my life

...pray for You to save my life...

"baby, i'm done...

...i gotta go home." -michael buble

so my semester is over and i am HOME!!! yay! :)

it's nice and rainy which is cause for cozy clothing, a warm mug full of hot cocoa, and lazy days of Christmas vacation. mmm...my favorite.

finals week was a little crazy but went fairly well as far as i'm concerned.  i really wanted to write a blog on wednesday but my laptop charger broke and i didn't have a computer.  so for the past few days i have been computer-less and it seemed like i had nothing to do. sad, i know.  we've become so dependent on the internet for entertainment.  but luckily i had my iPod and i listened to music for most of my free time...besides sleeping and studying of course.

but wednesday was quite a day if i do say so.  i had my 3-dimensional design final at 9:45 in the morning which was to present our animal masks to the class. so the night before i had stayed up until 4am working on my project.  i decided to create a cloth monkey mask referencing a sock monkey more than an actual monkey face.  so i finished it and went to bed and in just a few moments it seemed as if i were up again.  but it was 9am. so i went to my final and got to see all the other crazy animal masks.  our entire class then suited up and proceeded to parade out of the classroom and into the cafeteria like a herd of crazy zoo escapees.  it was probably the greatest final i will ever have.  everyone was looking at us but nobody knew it was me!  our professor then bought us all drinks from the coffee shop and we debriefed the semester and then said our goodbyes.

then when i got back to my apartment i was still very tired from the lack of sleep i had been getting so decided to take a nap.  when i normally take naps i usually set an alarm just to make sure i don't sleep too long but this time i decided not to. possibly a terrible idea.  i got into my bed at about 11:30am and woke up at 4:00pm. yes, my friends, i basically slept my entire day away after parading through the food court of my college campus literally looking like a monkey!  and the funny thing was for a second i thought it was the next day.  it had gotten darker and anyone could have easily been as confused as i was. another thing was that i had not consumed anything except for the iced chai that my teacher had bought me earlier at 10:30am.  that definitely was one of my stranger days compared to the rest although lack of sleep seemed to remain a common factor.

then on thursday night there was a banquet for the graduating liberal studies students, and i being a student worker in the liberal studies office was there to help.  basically i got paid to eat delicious food and listen to an amazing and profound professor speak on christian world views and how teachers affect their students.  just like jesus making prophets out of "donkeys" aka his disciples. haha :)  then friday i got paid to watch the movie "elf."  i think i've mentioned before that i love the people i work with.  that statement still stands.

and now all of my finals are completely finished and credit wise i am officially a first semester junior!

it is oh so nice to be home.

"it kinda crept up...

...and took me by surprise." -marie digby

the semester is coming to a close! ALREADY!
finals are this week...! ahh!
i have one final everyday starting monday through friday and two on thursday. and then i am finished! wow, that went quick.

there was a Christmas party at my friends place last night where we made graham cracker gingerbread houses and played fax machine/telephone pictionary and apples to apples. fax machine is when each person starts by writing a sentence on a piece of paper. they pass the paper and the next person draws a picture based on the sentence. that person then covers the sentence and passes the picture to the next person. then that person writes a sentence based on the picture. and it continues by alternating words and graphics. in the end it can be so extremely hilarious!
one girl's sentence started off as "my dog ate my homework" and nine people later there was a picture of a sheep getting it's head cut off into a treasure chest...lol. seriously.

i have a lot to work on for finals but all i want to do is play my guitar...

keep warm :)

"all the birds are heading down south...

...but you're staying up north you say." -matt costa

so i completely got into the Chrsitmas spirit yesterday. my roommate and i volunteered for an organization called "Angels Sing" where we went caroling for the elderly. SO FUN!

we didn't really know anything about how it was going to be so we showed up in festive-ish apparell, prepared to sing our little hearts out. we were paired with three other random people and received directions for the places where we were to sing. my roommate and i knew each other and i knew the other girl. the other two guys were cousins whom i had never met.
so there were 5 of us with directions to two facilities and a mobile home park. equppied with free t-shirts, 2 song books, and candycanes to hand out, they sent us off to merriment the old folks. uhh...ok? ready, set, go!

in a car with 2 guys we had never met i was a little apprehensive but determined not to make it awkward. we all introduced ourselves (joel, josiah, kelcey, cody, and me) and headed on our way. and it was GREAT.

before we even got in joel's car he warned us it may smell like cheese and we discovered a fingered inscription in the dust on his back window stating, "honk if you love weiners." bahaha he erased it of course...

we all made sure none of us were music majors and started "warming up" our voices... oh my goodness. those boys were hilarious. they would sing super high falsetto or belt out extremely low notes randomly in the middle of the songs which only made the rest of us laugh.
the first home we went to was very nice with lots of cute elderly people. so the 5 of us did a "marathon" of songs(meaning we sang the whole book they gave us cover to cover, except for "i'll be home for Christmas" because i thought that would be sad) in the dining area and had a wonderful time. :)
we also went to a mobile home park with residents mostly 80 or older and were instructed to stay in the car and drive around singing. joel has a ford explorer so we stood out on the sides of the car and belted Christmas carols around the park. haha it just makes me smile. :D we were told to meet the manager who gave us cider and hot chocolate before we went to our final destination.
then the last facility we went to there were only 3 ladies still awake although it was 7:15pm...so we sang to them as a finale of the night.
so i made 2 new friends, sang the entire twelve days of Christmas song 3 times, and had a very joyful night. :)

Merry Christmas!