Day 86: Happy New Year!

It's 2011!

Since I'm writing this on January 1st, I can say that. And since New Year's Eve is the only real time that people celebrate the New Year (why is that? weird.), I'm including the New Year celebration in this blog post. So Happy New Year! I think my resolution this year is to try something new every week. Either a food/recipe, an activity, go to a new place, etc. So stay tuned for new things coming soon!

Today my mom and I went shopping and I ran into one of my best friends that I hadn't gotten to see yet over break. Yay! I rang in the New Year with my family. We watched the Back Street Boys poor singing and the ball drop followed by 30 seconds of hoopin' and hollerin' before we returned to our respective preoccupations. Mine was watching Dawson's Creek. So... Happy New Year. Hope you had a great 2010 and are looking forward to all the opportunities that 2011 has to offer.

The Seventh thing at Christmas that is so dear to me:

7) Eating Scrumptious Food

6) Singing Christmas Carols

5) Fi-nals are OVER!!!

4) Sitting by the fire

3) Visiting with family

2) Two-Ply toilet paper

1) And a Baby King born to save me

Day 85: Despicable Me

Today was an alright day with the family. My 6 year old cousin and I watched the movie Despicable Me. It just happens to be absolutely adorable and filled with really cute Minions (I want one). Other than that, going to the library, and taking my cousin to the post office for the first time, today wasn't too eventful.

During the long drive back home, we met a really wacky Florida Highway Patrolman, got off an exit before the rest stop (didn't know) to go to the bathroom, stopped for ice cream sundaes at Dennys, and laughed at all the idiots driving. Got home really late/early and I'm still awake. What's wrong with this picture??? I don't know. But I am thoroughly enjoying Dawson's Creek. Which is probably the main reason I'm still awake. NOW bed time. Enjoy the last day of 2010!!!

The Sixth thing at Christmas that is so dear to me:

6) Singing Christmas Carols

5) Fi-nals are OVER!!!

4) Sitting by the fire

3) Visiting with family

2) Two-Ply toilet paper

1) And a Baby King born to save me

Day 84: Boca Adventure

Today I visited Hannah (roommate) and Raychel (RA) in Boca since I'm only 30 minutes away. We went to a delicious place called "Lindburgers" and then went to dessert at Ritas. We also stopped in Publix for a potty break and for me to cash in some scratch offs. It was a fantastic time getting to see my friends from school.

Pesto Burger, Cheese Burger, and Pizza Burger at Lindburgers

Publix Fun! And... we all wore teal!

Tonight after we made Chicken and Dumpling Soup, put the kid to bed, and chilled, we were ready to close our door, but the family dog was napping on her favorite carpet which happens to be in our room. She's a very sweet old dog who wouldn't get up. It took us at least five minutes to get her to wake up and move. We eventually bribed her with some of her food. :)

The Fifth thing at Christmas that is so dear to me:

5) Fi-nals are OVER!!!

4) Sitting by the fire

3) Visiting with family

2) Two-Ply toilet paper

1) And a Baby King born to save me

Day 83: To Infinity... And Beyond!

I think the highlight of today was playing with Buzz Lightyear with my cousin Kyle. I sure had fun... We played around the house a little bit, then went to Chickfila and Super Target. We made Spaghetti for dinner and played a new Wii game called Smarty Pants. It was a great family day!

Bonus: Helped my cousin Scott learn how to use Blogger and hopefully we will have a blog or website up really soon!

Also, I take back what I said about writing the blog super early. TONIGHT is the earliest at 10:15pm! Amazing!

The 4th thing at Christmas that is so dear to me:

4) Sitting by the Fire

3) Visiting with Family

2) Two-ply Toilet paper

1) And a Baby King born to save me

Day 82: Traveling South for the Winter

Today my mom and I drove South for the next few days. We are visiting my cousin Scott and his kids Kyle (6) and Brennan (18mos). Brennan is sick and in the hospital (continual prayers needed), so we are here to spend time playing with Kyle while we're all on break. Be looking for a link to the website about Brennan that I'll be working on the next few days. Yep, that's right, I'm starting my cousin Scott on blogging on a website. Hooray! I love being able to be connected with my family.

On the 5 hour drive today, Mom and I played the license plate game. We shouted out whenever we saw an out of state tag. Whoever got it first got the point. Mom won 11-9. Pretty entertaining...

I forgot to tell you! During the Christmas season, my mom and I count how many times we hear certain Christmas songs. It started with Feliz Navidad, last year was Walking in a Winter Wonderland, and this year was Jingle Bell Rock. Between my mom, brother, and I, we totaled 62 Jingle Bell Rocks this season. That was only what we heard. Next year we want to count Sleigh Ride. It's SO popular! (In case you were wondering, Winter Wonderland has them all beat by a huge landslide, not that we remember the actual number right now...)

Off to bed since Kyle will inevitably wake us up super early. As my cousin Jamie who is currently visiting, too, put it tonight: " As age increases, spontaneous non-sugar-induced energy bursts decrease exponentially. It is a proven fact." Kyle was Crazy Hyper. And all of us were not to say the least. Ok. Goodnight! Wow... this is the earliest I've posted like... ever.

The Third thing at Christmas that is so dear to me:

3) Visiting with my Family

2) Two Ply Toilet Paper

1) And a Baby King born to save me

Day 81: Lounging

I slept in for a long time today, went to church, out to dinner, and back home. Where I watched Julie and Julia. I love that movie. It's so cute! If you haven't seen it, you really should watch it! It's just a great movie. About a girl who 1) cooks and 2) blogs. AND is played by Amy Adams, who I used for my doppleganger last year. So.... You can see how much I love this movie! How cool would it be if I turned into a professional writer just from writing a blog? Highly unlikely, but it is keeping me entertained (and you, I hope...)

Only other big news of the day: I have started a new TV series to work through! Any guesses on what it is? Okay I'll tell you - Dawson's Creek. I had watched a few of the later episodes since my mom watched the TV show when I was a little younger. So decided to start it. Only problem is that the episodes are longer than the 22 minute Scrubs or Boy Meets World episodes, so I'll be watching fewer episodes a day. Although, since 1) I'm on break right now, 2) I don't have a lot of school on M,W,F and 3) there are less episodes in a season, and only 6 seasons, it should be a pretty quick show. I'm already almost finished with the first season, so YAY. The episode I finished up tonight was a spooky one and I HATE scary/suspenseful/creepy/gory things, so I'm a little uneasy about falling asleep. I know I'll have nightmares...

Anywho: Bed and nightmares are on the way. Hope your Christmas weekend was amazingly memorable.

The second thing at Christmas that is so dear to me:

2) Two-ply toilet paper

1) And a baby King born to save me

Day 80: Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Today's the big day: Jesus is Born! Hooray!!!

To celebrate, we all slept in for a very long time. My dad made holiday shaped pancakes (snowmen, tree, bell, wreath, snowflake, etc.). Then we all just kind of chilled around the house, wrapping presents and getting ready for dinner. We ate dinner (ham, green beans, pineapple baked goodness that Danielle and I are DEFINITELY going to make sometime, potatoes au gratin, and yummy rolls). Neither my brother nor I felt very well after though. Perhaps something to do with the boil water advisory? Not sure, but still don't feel great. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Finally we wrapped up the night (hehe) by opening presents. Yes, we do wait around to open presents. It sure beats waking up early. We all had a great night and we are so blessed for everything that God has given us. My brother's girlfriend got me these really cute Paris-themed pj pants that I'm lounging in right now. And I built the Eiffel Tower puzzle my parents got me. Hooray for a French-y evening. Now I'm off to bed!

I hope your Christmas helped you realize how blessed and loved you are. May God continue to bless you each and every day.

New thing for the True 12 Days of Christmas: I have revised the song to fit me. So here goes, one day at a time!

The first thing at Christmas that is so dear to me:

1) A baby King born to save me.

Day 79: Venite Adoremus Dominum

Which translates to "Come let us adore the Lord". MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!! What an exciting time of year this is. To celebrate, I headed to an annual Christmas brunch at my friends' house for a while, and then returned home to spend more time with my cousins. They left shortly after I got home and then I got ready for church. This included doing my nails, of course.

I played flute at 3 Christmas services today. It was very busy, but lots of fun. Now I'm exhausted, but ready to head out to "tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born". We read from Luke's nativity story tonight and heard about how the shepherds were told that Christ was born. They traveled to see him and then, as Luke says: "When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them." How awesome is this to think about? Most people have heard the nativity story. But what would have happened if the few people that were there (Mary, Joseph, shepherds, sheep, etc.) never told anyone? It'd be far less likely that we would know the story and become so excited to celebrate Jesus' birthday, over 2000 years later! It's just phenomenal to think about.

So thank you, Lord, for sending the shepherds out to tell the world about your Son. And thank you SO much for sending your Son to save us! <3

Merry Christmas! Remember to think of the real reason we celebrate Christmas. Not the presents or Santa, but JESUS!

Day 78: Water Main Break!

Tonight, right when we were ready to start making dinner, the water stopped working. My cousins who are visiting and I headed to Publix to use the bathroom and be able to wash our hands. That's when we realized that it wasn't just a faulty bill problem at home... We soon found out that the water was in fact out throughout most of the county. A huge water main broke, leaving us all stranded. Not literally. But still. It was annoying. So after buying 5 jugs of water and predicting a baby-wipe shower for the morning, we just settled down to dinner, a walk around the Christmas lights display at the gardens and gift exchanges. During that time the water came back on, so we're all good now! We were laughing too hard in Publix though and I couldn't wait to tell you all about it!

Also today, we finally got our Christmas tree up and the fireplace decorated! Woohoo! :) It's the same tree I had up in my dorm room.

Hope you had a great Christmas Eve Eve!!! As I'm writing it's officially Christmas Eve! YAY!

Day 77: Elf

Tonight I went to my bestie's house for an "Elf" party. We settled down with her sister, sister's best friend, and several people from their youth group. It was a blast! I love that Christmas break provides the opportunity for everyone to get to see each other and relax. I only have 3 real days of break though, so that's kind of upsetting. As you all know, from now until Sunday is traditionally considered "family time" for Christmas. And then Monday through Thursday next week my mom and I are going to visit family in South Florida. Then I leave the next Monday for school!!! And what's worse is that, as exciting as the Bahamas class is, I won't have a spring break to hang out here. So unless I come home for a weekend, I'll be gone until the end of April. AUGH. Oh well.

Still love Christmas!

Day 76: Busch Gardens

Today my friend Ella and I went to Busch Gardens! It was a lot of fun. We got to ride Montu 5 times and saw this awesome Christmas On Ice show!! This picture was from one of my favorite numbers. The little girl (center, in white) was amazing and so cute! All the rest of the skaters were some sort of toy or character. Bears, Raggedy Ann & Andy, King & Queen, Jesters... So cute!

After the Christmas on Ice show, we saw some small kangaroos, wallaby's and even a wallaroo.... I don't know, that's what the guide said. They were all super cute and really friendly!

Finally, we finished up the day by taking the train around the park, mostly to see some animals. While the real zebras were infinitely more awesome, this one was much more photogenic.



Merry Christmas!!

Day 75: Chilling

Besides it being cold (for me), I just kind of chilled today. I had a dentist appointment that was a lot less painful than I expected it to be, so that's good. And then went shopping for materials to make a few friends' Christmas presents. Pictures will be up after they receive said gifts. I'm going to Busch Gardens in the morning, so need to get some rest!

Who's watching the lunar eclipse?? If you did and took a picture, post it in a comment and share!

<3

Day 74: Musical Moments

I played flute in a student Christmas Concert today at a nearby church. It was fantastic to get to play and listen to other students as well! I love playing flute and glorifying God at the same time. So great!

Also got to go back to my old youth group for the annual Christmas Party. Hooray fun parties!!!

Watching Practical Magic on TV right now, but laptop is going to die, so wanted to write blog quickly. Talk to you soon!!

Day 73: Christmas Parties

Today I went to two Christmas parties with my family. The first was with my dad's side of the family at my Grandparent's house. The second was at my old neighbor's house. Both were fun! We were the last people to leave my neighbor's at 1 am (and a 40+ min drive home), and were having a great time catching up. So I'm truly exhausted. It's very entertaining to be a designated driver, let me tell you!

Day 72: "I'm Making Waffles!"

I ate homemade waffles for two meals today... They were delicious and the company was fantastic! I loved getting to see my best friends from home. When I first saw my friend Kaylee, she ran across the courtyard to give me a hug. At the same time, my friend Tyler ran from the other direction, previously unseen. During all the running, the drumline was playing on their way back from a performance. Needless to say, it was like a perfect moment out of a movie! So awesome!

After dinner, I went to see my best friend Grace dance in a Nutcracker Suite performance at our local gardens. It was great to see her dance, see all my old dance friends, and all of Grace's family. I love break!

Finally, I found out early this morning that I passed Calc2!! Yayyy!!!! :)

Day 71: Endings

I officially ended my first semester of college today! It's amazing how fast the time has passed since move in day. It just blows my mind.

I also officially finished watching Scrubs today. I've now watched every episode of all 9 seasons. And I'm quite sad to be finished! I loved watching them all in order and recognizing things from other seasons that I would have forgotten if I had been watching them in real time. Love Scrubs, but they really didn't need the last season of Med School. But oh well. It's really over this time, so no worries about them messing it up more. The final episode of the (real) last season was Peter Gabriel's The Book of Love, which I'm listening to as I blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Got to go to Starbucks with one of my best friends from home today. Boy is it good to be back! Going to be a very VERY busy 18 days, let me tell you that!

Safe travels to everyone this Holiday season!

Day 70: Good, Clean Studying

Today was a "study day" for Calc2's exam tomorrow. In between studying, I cleaned my room like I've never cleaned before. Floors swept, mopped; fridge defrosted and emptied; room dusted. And best of all: packed for leaving tomorrow! Everything in one suitcase (besides what I gave my brother to take home for me later...) I'm so ready to leave. Just 2 dishes left to wash and breakfast to eat before my exam tomorrow. And then I'm home-free! Literally. Hope everyone else has had a great week either on vacation, getting ready for it, or studying for exams.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6

Day 69: Chemistry and Christmas Cookies!!

I'm much more excited about the Christmas cookies than the Chem exam, but hey, whatever. Got a B in my Chem class! Hooray!! Anyways: Cookies. So delicious. We have to defrost our fridges so there's nothing in them over the break. So Danielle had a whole lot of eggs and butter to use up. Hence Operation Bake-a-Lot. And it sure is tasty!!
Milk and White Chocolate with Peppermint Chunks, Milk Chocolate with White Chocolate Holiday Chips, both on Shortbread cookies, and Christmas Chocolate Chip cookies (not pictured). Everything is so delicious!!!

Finally, I took down all the decorations in the room today and organized a bit, recycled a lot, and started packing stuff. So excited to be home!!! It's now 3:30 am and I REALLY need to go to sleep so I have energy to study tomorrow (ew). Night!/Morning!

Day 68: Fantasizing about Warmth

It was VERY cold today. Mostly because it was really windy. I had to pull out the hot cocoa after my French exam!

I had my interview for the Bahamas research course today. Guess who's going to the Bahamas over spring break!?! Me!!! So I've been thinking about the warmth of Spring Break all today. Even though I actually hate the sunshine and heat... but still, the break will be awesome.

Chem exam in the morning and then a little relaxation and more studying. Only 3 days until I'm home! Woohoo!!

Day 67: Good News

Today several happy things happened.
1) I finally got a seat in the Bio2 class for next semester!
2) I found out that my friend Elizabeth is in that section so now I'll have a friend.
3) I studied for French exam and I'm confident about it.
4) I realized that I only need a 63% on my Chem exam to get a B in the class. Hopefully I can get higher, but it's definitely less stressful now...
5) I found out that I got a 12/10 on my last Calc2 quiz!!!
6) Therefore I calculated my grade and if I can get at least a 55% on the exam, I can get a C in the class. So I'm going to do better than that on the exam and therefore get a better course grade.
7) With all the expected grades (the minimum), I'll be getting a much higher GPA than I expected to. YAY!

Now. Off to bed to rest up for first final exam tomorrow. Bonne Chance a Tous! (Good luck to all)... It's the French exam.

Day 66: What Day is it??

I'm super confused about what day of the week it is, seeing that we had 2 days off of school before the weekend. So I just chilled in my room today. Did a little studying. My friend Sam came over and I painted snowflakes on her toes and we talked. Other than that, nothing special! Lots more studying tomorrow!!! Woohoo!

Day 65: Oot and A Boot

Woke up this morning and made Apple Latkes with Danielle. Yummy!!

Then my beautiful roommate left for break. So my room is now very lonely.

Danielle, her roomie Chelsea, and I went to dinner at TGI Fridays, sniffed trees at a Christmas Tree Lot, went to 3 different bookstores, and Target. Trees smelled great, laughed at what each bookstore didn't/did have that the others did/didn't, respectively. We ended up getting a great deal on books at Books a Million. So I'm definitely going there next time I need something. At Target, I bought an extra set of Christmas lights because the room is so dark. It's now very beautiful! Yay!!!

Headed to bed now and then nothing scheduled for tomorrow. Except some studying....

Day 64: Sweet Potatoes and Sweet Songs

Danielle and I made sweet potato casserole today for lunch. It was SO DELICIOUS!! Yumm. After that, I went to the Phi Lamb Christmas Party. Had a great time but left early to go to Christmas CRU. Which was amazing. It's just so great to participate in awesome Worship of our Lord. Just can't get over it. After we got back to the dorm, we had a little story time and then Raychel (R.A.) came in and visited and we just had a great time.

So for socializing, sweet potatoes, and Worship songs, today gets a YAY TODAY!!!

We sang Relient K tonight!!!

Day 63: End of the Semester

I'm finished with the classes for Fall Semester! Now just 3 exams left on Monday, Tues, and Thurs next week.

Hannah had her final acting showcase today, which was super great to see! All the actors did a great job.

Tonight we went to the Campus Crusade for Christ Christmas Party. It was lots of fun. Christmas Karaoke!

After that, Hannah and I watched the Christmas Glee from last night. It was awesome!!!

Now off to bed and sleeping in however long I want since there's no school tomorrow.

Day 62: Caroling and Crepes

Today I joined my RA Raychel and others for a Christmas Caroling session in the free speech zone on campus. We caroled for almost 2.5 hours! It was a blast! I played flute for some of the songs and ended up having a video project done about me. Glad I could help the project presenter! It was so much fun just getting to play and sing "just for fun". And wearing my Mickey Mouse Santa hat wasn't too bad either.

After caroling, my friend and I made crepes for our French class tomorrow. The teacher asked us to bring in food (related to France) for a party tomorrow. Hopefully people bring toppings!!! (aka Nutella!)

It was a good day. Last Calc2 test in the morning, then French party, a theater showcase that Hannah is in, dinner, and the CRU Christmas Party! So much (fun) stuff to do!

<3

Day 61: Winter Redesign

Re-did the blog for winter!!! Comments welcome.

Besides school, studying, and Phi Lamb today, Danielle and I made CHILI!! Yummy delicious hot chili. I also splurged for a Caramel Apple Spice drink at Starbucks. Oh, and I fell in the hallway on my way to the bathroom for a shower. The floor thought it was a slip-n-slide. Wrong. It is indeed a floor. But feeling better now.

I also did a Holiday Henna!

Have a great, cold day tomorrow. Christmas Caroling on campus!!!

Day 60: Partyyy

The first Christmas party of the season happened today! It was with our CRU community group (CG). Tons of fun and very yummy. Then we came home, had a floor meeting, a quick going away thing for our floormate, and then watched The Holiday together. (we being me and Hannah)

Loveee the Holiday. <3

Day 59: Holiday Nails!

Today I slept in really late, watched Scrubs, and went to dinner for our friend's birthday. But didn't feel all that great, so I went home when everyone moved to party part 2. I then returned home and did my nails! Tada:

That's it for today!

Day 58: Comedic Friday

Other than a lunch at the A Cafe with my big, Jenny, today was a normal boring school day. I went to the student union for a comedy show. It was not the people that they said were going to be there, so I was a little upset. But the headliner was pretty good. A little rude, but hey, we're at college.

Anyways. Going to bed, sleeping in and doing nothing until tomorrow night. :) Happy Weekend!!

Day 57: Date Bidding

For CRU (Campus Crusade for Christ), we are doing a fundraiser called Dinner/Dates. The girl community groups design a dinner for a guy's group and the guys design a date for the girls.
Our dinner is called the MeetBall. Meet new people. Have a ball. Eat meatballs. At the MeetBall. Spaghetti flinging included!

And the guys date that we bid on and won tonight is Cottage by the Sea - a relaxing trip to the east coast. :) We are all really excited for it, and the best part is that we are helping people get to go to a conference in Atlanta for Christmas break!! Hooray!!!

Speaking of Christmas, this is our whiteboard decoration for the season. Remember, Jesus is the reason for the season!!!

Day 56: Last Lab and Late Jams

Today was my Last. Chem. Lab!!!!! (until Chem2 if I end up taking that...) But still pretty exciting. And if we did well enough, we won't have to take the final exam!

Other than that, the only exciting thing is that tomorrow (well today now) is our great friend Katy's birthday. Hannah sang and I played flute for Happy Birthday at 12:26am. Moments later, Alyssa breaks out the Trombone and plays with Brooklyn singing along. We then combined our efforts for a third and final video mixing together like "peanut butter and jelly meets the bread" (or in our case Peanut butter and Jam!). Anyways it was a lot of fun. Especially at 12:30am. Since the floormates keep us up often...

Anyways, off to bed now after quite a bit of writing for my Digital class essay.

Goodnight! Listen to sweet melodies! (Note to self: Trombone and Flute do not sound that great on a laptop microphone when posted to Facebook...)