MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! May you all have a blessed Christmas! :)

Thanksgiving Week

For Thanksgiving week, I got to fly home for a visit. It was a fun, blessed time with my family that was much needed. We got snowed in, lost power for a couple days, and ate lots of food. Because we lost power, we had to eat the ice cream that was in our freezer. It was a burden, but we ate it all without complaining. ;) Also because we had no power and had nothing else to do, we ended up going to the movies to watch "MegaMind". (good movie, btw).

We had quite a bit of snow. Dad said it was the most snow we've gotten in a long time this early in the year.

Lovely day for a swing, don't you think?

Jackson was very excited about the snow! He thoroughly enjoyed it.

There was sledding.....

Joey and Nick thought that this old trashcan would make an excellent sled. (it failed).

Jackson going down the hill

There was a track specifically for belly sliding.

Jackson on the belly sliding snow track

There was snow man making....

Becca's Snowman

My Snowbunny

Samantha and I's snowman creation

During the construction.....

He had cute little arms....
and cute little feet.

And then there were indoor activities...

Jackson was helping mom cook in the kitchen.

The day after Thanksgiving we went to Apple Hill to find the perfect Christmas Tree. We've never gotten our tree that early in the year, but we wanted to get it while I was still in town.


Jackson got to say "hi" to Santa. I think he was more interested in the candy cane that Santa gave him though.

This is the tree we almost took home.....we called for a cutter and took a picture in front of it.....and then decided on another one.

After picking out our tree, sampling Apple Hill's delicious Apple Cider, and of course, buying some, we turned homeward. Then it was time to decorate the tree!



So, here it is. The perfect Christmas Tree.

It was a wonderful time and I enjoyed every minute of it. I'm back at CBU, Russia now, plugging away at my studies. Okay, so I don't have a lot of studying to do and my schedule is far from hard. However I did spend this entire past weekend in bed, sick with a virus that is infiltrating the campus. Thankfully, I am almost completely well again. Annnnnnd, I get to go home again for three and a half blissful weeks full of Christmas magic, in about two weeks!!!!!!!! I fly home the 16th. I am quite excited and very ready for this semester to end. I can't wait to deck the halls and immerse myself in the Christmas spirit and magic. :) My life.....it's beautiful.

Russia in November

well I certainly have been lagging in my blogging. Life here at Russia.....aka CBU......is going quite well. There is this wonderful wind that has been lingering here lately, and I love it. Perfect Autumn breeze/wind. I have been busy with school, choir concerts, hanging out with Colette, and having a good time. (and sometimes, a bad time. But we're remaining positive in this post). Last Saturday, I attended Colettey's UCO concert, with her parents, who are in town (sort of) for Thanksgiving and family. Twas a fabulous concert, which I loved. Sunday, I had a concert of my own, which pretty took up my entire day. The food afterward though was amazing!!!!! The food's always my favorite part of concerts. Today was a rather hectic morning/early afternoon, in which I felt so frantically pulled in different directions, however it was also a very productive and cheery day. :) My voice lesson was absolutely amazing and so very good today, maybe the best ever!!!!!! It helps to have such an awesome voice teacher though, which I do!

Wednesday is my day I am devoting to packing, after classes and lunch. I am so very exciting about going home for a whole week!!!! I am definitely going to cherish my week home. I happen to have a concert early that morning of my departure for home. My call time is at 6:15 IN THE MORNING!!!!!! Are they crazy?? I think so. Ugh. They are trying to kill me....I know it. Oh well. I will survive. Hey...that reminds me of a song! Anyways. Can't wait for Friday, even though I'm slightly freaked out about flying....alone. This is scary stuff, folks.

Well, I am all out of things to say, so I'll leave you all with some pictures. :)

My Colettey and I

Awesome earrings I got from Forever 21

The pumpkin I made. The girls on our hall made pumpkins one day. Ain't he cute?

8 days!

That's how many days till I get to go hoooome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited!!!! Except for the fact that I have to fly.....alone.....that parts freaking me out. But other than that, I'm very excited! Thanksgiving break, you are wonderful!!!!! I love you! I only wish the break was longer than a week. Oh well. I intend to cherish every single second of it. Did I mention I was excited?

Rejoice in Autumn

Fall. Autumn. I love it. I am quickly coming to the conclusion that it has become my favorite season. I love the smell of autumn, the taste of autumn, the feel of autumn. Everything about Autumn is glorious. A brisk, invigorating wind whizzes through the air. It puts one in the mood for hot chocolate, and hot tea. It is the perfect season for reading. It makes one want to curl up in chair, wrapped in a warm blanket, with a nice hot drink, and a delicious book. Outside it smells of rain and dirt, two wonderful aroma combinations. I can wake up on the wrong side of the bed, and when I reach the outdoors, with the wind and the smell and the beauty of Autumn pulling at my scarf, blowing my hair around, it lightens my mood. I can’t help but smile. Yes, I love this season. I love fall. The Autumn colors of orange and brown and yellow surround me, in warm cheerfulness. Scarfs and sweaters are pulled out, tea is brewed, orange rejoices. Even in southern California, in the midst of an ugly smog and traffic filled city, Autumn is beautiful and brings a smile to my face. It lacks the beautiful colors for the most part. Trees here do not change their color scheme to celebrate the season. Palm trees remain the same color, and the wind causes them to shed onto the ground below. But the smell and the feel of Autumn is still here. And it’s wonderful! I miss my colorful trees and my mountain air. But this southern California Autumn will have to do. Indeed, it does do, quite nicely. It is not quite as gloriously wonderful as Autumn back home. Nevertheless, it is glorious. So let it be Autumn! Let the wind blow, and the cold air seep into my room. Let the smell of rain, and dirt, and a wonderful world rise to noses everywhere. Let the scarfs and sweaters and jackets be brought out of storage. Let the tea kettle sing. Rejoice in this wonderful season. Rejoice in Autumn!

(P.S. yes my blog has been Autumn-a-tized. It is rejoicing in Autumn too).

Home Sweet Home

Two weekends ago, I got the opportunity to go home! A guy that I know, who attends CBU and who was driving that way for the weekend gave me a ride, along with another girl. It was a short time home......but it was so wonderful. Truly the best weekend I've had! It was just what my heart needed!
\

A night out at town!

Last Saturday night my dorm hall dressed up and went to town! We strutted over to 'The Cheesecake Factory' for a birthday celebration, for the three girls on our hall who have birthdays this month. Okay, we didn't strut, we drove. But, still. We looked mighty fine, let me tell ya. It was an amazing and fun time. I ate at the caf before hand, but I did drink Hannah's extra cup of Strawberry Lemonade. It. was. awesome!!!! I would like a Strawberry Lemonade ever day please, with my dinner. Thank you. I also split a cheesecake with Hannah, which was also heavenly. Ah. I love good food and sugar. I also love my hall room mates. They are all such beautiful and amazing girls. :)

The car I was in. My room mate Emily, (one of the birthday girls!) is in the passenger seat, Hannah is driving, Ivy is dead center in the back and I'm on the left side of her, Nicole on the right side.

Me, Ivy, Nicole

The Birthday Girls! (from left to right) Jana, Emily,

The fun group. lol.

The whole beautiful bouquet of us

CBU Russia

Well. I'm in Russia. CBU, Russia. Okay, so I'm not really in Russia. But Jackson and I have an inside joke.....and thus, CBU is Russia, to us. But, Russia or not, I'm here at CBU. At this moment, I am eating cinnamon raisin cream of wheat and thinking about how much I dislike math...and how I need to do my math homework. My room is a mess, I'm surrounded by school books, and I have had a ferocious appetite, ever since I got here. Just ask Colette. She's had to tame that appetite down a couple times, at her apartment. I am no longer a pre-nursing major. I am now 'un-declared'. I am undeclared because I am not sure if I want to major in English or Journalism, or both. I absolutely love my English class, and I hated my science classes with a passion....and was utterly confused by them. Thus the major change. I got my first English homework back yesterday. The teacher left some real encouraging notes on my papers, leaving me excited and happy. :) My hall mates are amazing, and I love those girls! I have had many adventures since I have gotten here. Classes have been switched around and changed and dropped and added, totally confusing me, at times. I have a new voice teacher already, due to switch-a-roo stuff. However, as amazing as my first voice teacher was, my new one is just as amazing, I do believe! I had my first lesson with him today. I searched the entire music building before finding the room which was right by the entrance.....ahem. I was scheduled for 11....and was sitting outside the door on a bench, waiting for my lesson. Another guy walked up and waited right by the door too, holding a music book. I thought to myself that maybe he just had a question to ask the teacher or something real quick....well he knocks on the door, and the teacher opens it, the other student leaves, and the guy and the teacher start talking. I wait. They close the door. Hello! Wait! It's my turn! I wait a moment, to make sure they are really starting a lesson. Then I knock on the door. "I'm suppose to have my lesson at 11, here...." I sound so pathetic and pitiful. Lo and behold, they had double booked that time slot on accident. I got moved to 12. The teacher had to miss his lunch break....I felt bad for him. But it was an amazing voice lesson.

Last weekend, we had a sleep over/ movie night in Ivy, from my hall's room. Twas quite fun. Before the sleep over, we (my roomy, Ivy, her sister, her sister's boyfriend, and another girl we are friends with, Katelyn) went to a Thai food resturant for dinner. Orange Chicken is delightful, just so ya'll know. After dinner we met Ivy's parents at Marie Calenders and had dessert. It was such a fun night! I have such amazing hall mates/ friends, and I love them! :)

Last night I dreamed I was at home. I woke up thinking I was at home. However, I found to my disappointment that I was still in my dorm room. sigh. Twas very disappointing. However, such is life.

Wednesday is Colettey's birthday. I have her present all wrapped and everything. I just need to stick a bow on it, make her a card, and get some candy to accompany the main present. Yay! It shall be a grand day!

Oh, I almost forgot about the wonderful breakfast event. The first time I went to breakfast at the caf.....I threw my plate of food on the floor. The plate........and my breakfast....went flying! The guy who was walking by me definitely was smirking and grinning......and trying not to laugh. okay, maybe he wasn't even trying to hide his laughter. But....lets just say he was. ahem. Yes, you may all clap now. Thank you.

End of the rambles about Russia.......for now.

Have you forgotten?

I am working on a post about my life here at CBU, but right now, it is put on hold. Right now, September 11th must be recognized. Nine years ago, all hell broke loose in America. Nine years ago today, on September 11th, 2001, America was attacked and people were killed. 9 al-Qaeda (a militant Islamist group) terrorists hijacked 4 commercial passenger jet airliners and proceeded to fly two of them into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers. The third airliner was crashed into the Pentagon, and the fourth crashed into a field, due to the heroic effort of the passengers on the airliner. However, no one survived on the fourth airliner. The Twin Towers exploded into flames and collapsed, trapping people, killing people. People were burned to death, crushed to death, mangled, and bloodied. Mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, and friends died a horrible horrible death, or were disfigured and mangled for life. Thousands of people's lives were ended. People flung themselves from buildings to keep from burning to death, instead choosing to die by the impact of being smashed upon the ground below. Soot, blood, and debris was everywhere. People were trapped underneath the building rubble, suffocated to death, or crushed to death. The buildings came tumbling down upon the people still inside. Mournful, urgent, terrified screams filled the air. 9 years ago, thousands of American people died a horrible, excruciating, tragic death, a mass murder, planned out by 19 Muslim brutal men. Some would have us forget this event. Some would have us forgive and forget. But if they can forget the mass murder, and attack on the U.S.A on September 11, 2001, they have no right to be called Americans. Nor have they any right to live in America, land of the free and home of the brave. Fellow American's were blown to fragments, burned to death, and put through a living hell! Our homeland was attacked. Our people were murdered. That is not something we should ever forget. Never forget.

Curly the praying plant

This is Curly.

Curly is a Prayer Plant.

At night, his leaves curl up in prayer. Thus, his name is curly. However.....Curly is not a very spiritually mature plant yet, and has not yet quite mastered curling his leaves in prayer, each night.
Curly was a gift from my Colettey! I shall love and care for Curly till his dying day. Isn't he just so cute? Yes, he is. He is very cute!

SnowFlower Camping Trip

Jackson whacked his face on the metal leg of the picnic table the first day. He had a wowzers of a bruise/scrape on his face below his eye all week long.
Chinese eyes! Jackson's latest 'funny face'.

Jackson makes this picture!

On this camping trip, there was coloring.....

there was reading......

and there was swimming!

This is what the big boys do when at the pool.......pretty exciting, eh?

Happy Camper

Mom and I

Funny Faces time!

Smile!

Goofy boy

And no camping trip is complete without a trip to Dairy Queen, right?

Family Camping Trip, August 2010! Epic.