Yes.

Ok, Can I just pop in to say that I am the QUEEN of Multi-tasking.

Why yes, you may call me "Your Highness."

:)

Mes chères amies,

Because the Christmas/ finals/ travel/ fun season is upon us, I think it likely that I shall have little time for posting in the next little while. SO here's a post with old news, new news, and fun for your brain to chew on in this while.

OLD NEWS:

Last weekend was the most fun, and definitely the BEST way to kick off this wonderful holiday season.

Thursday was the Monument Lighting. Every first Thursday of the month, they set up a stage and have live bands and kiosks with food and drink, and this first Thursday was no different! Lights, hot cocoa, lots of different groups singing Christmas Carols. It was glorious. I having this picture as my front yard:

Here's the monument all lit up with snowflake lights:

And here are a few videos of the lighting ceremony. They had fireworks with the Transiberian Orchestra's Carol of the Bells.

Friday was Barry's Birthday party. It also happened to be quite a hectic day, so when Shelby and I made him a birthday cake to take to the Afghani restaurant with us, it was still a little bit warm... and falling apart.. By far, the most delicious failure of a cake I've ever made. Look at it.. Glorious. And the waiter came up to me and said "I'm so sorry, but the way the foil was on it, we couldn't stop it from falling apart." Yes, sir, it is totally your fault :)

Saturday morning, Shelby woke me up with a call, telling me it was snowing! YAY! So we definitely threw clothes on and went and played in it for a little while. Until we decided to stop freezing and go eat some breakfast. :)

And I also decorated my appy in true Christmas fashion.

My first tree, before and after:

And finally, Michael's Christmas party (where I ended up wearing an elf hat.. I rock that look, I assure you..), followed by my meeting some friends at Mick O'Sheas to see a live Irish band.

With Shelby, and Kate

And now backing it up a bit to Thanksgiving. I went home to Tejas, and mucho much-o fun we did have. We devoured a turkey, decorated the family tree, and compared bellies :) Glorioso.

Here are some videos of my ADORABLE nephew. That baby cracks me up to no end!

NEW NEWS:

1) HOW do the blind cords always manage to get tangled?! Every time I straighten them out, it's like someone comes behind me and musses them up again.. it's a mystery, I tell ya...

2) I have made all of my Christmas presents this year! I always thought it would be fun to do that, and this year, I've actually managed it! They're almost finished and ready to be packed and mailed. Successssssssssss= Glorious.

3) I have two finals (that's all! can I say it again- Glorious..) this week, for which I'm madly studying... except for the time I'm taking on here, of course.... :) And I'll head home Friday for a month of holiday.

4) I am addicted to Christmas music. (Oh vince, vance, and the vailants....) The dial goes between two Christmas-only stations...

5)This Wednesday, Barry, Shelby and I are up and going to NYC just for fun! I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself. It's going to be SOO fun. I love NYC at Christmas time!!

Pictures are most definitely to come.

Merry Christmas, my dear ones :)

Midnight Mutters

In my room, there is a breeze.

It's coming from my window.

It is causing me to freeze,

And makes the curtain blow.

My head is cold always.

Just my luck, my first floor flat

Has no heat to console me.

So a little heater that

Sits on the floor and only

Is the source of warmth.

The warm air battles with the cold,

Both over my face waft.

They cause my eyes and throat to scold

my situation daft.

I cannot seem to win.

Tis late, and time to now retire

and try to get some sleep;

to forget this moment dire

before I start to weep.

Melodramatic me.

The Golden Sloggy Slough

They say that "these days are the golden days."

This causes one to think that while you're in your 20's, in school, figuring out your life's calling, making new friendships, and generally in a place of instability, it is also the most pleasantly memorable.

My take on this, up to this moment in my life, has not exactly been all that "pleasantly memorable," to be quite honest with you. The past several years have been tough for me. I feel like I lost several of my closest friends once we finished college, either due to moves or marriage. I graduated from a good music program, but was beaten down in my time there, now that I look back, and I suffered from very low self-esteem/confidence in my ability/calling to be a singer. I decided to take a year off before applying to grad school, and began 4 different teaching jobs to make one full-time pay-check. I was very lonely, and perhaps a little on the depressed side, although I don't know that I knew that at the time. Almost all of my friends my age are in serious relationships or married and starting families and I can't relate to that lifestyle yet. So it was 2 years of hard work, and little else. At least my bank account flourished. And on top of that, I recently took the biggest step in my adult life, of moving half-way across the country to a city that is unfamiliar, filled with people I don't know, to attend a prestigious school that was going to either kill me, or push me to live up to it's name.

I'm almost done with my first semester, and living by myself has given me a lot of thinking time to think about the above paragraph. And here's what I've concluded:

I am so blessed.

Beyond anything I am worthy of, and until it hurts my heart to think on it.

Sometimes I don't stop myself from complaining about my little hardships here and there, but my time in Maryland has been greatly rewarding and I have to much to be truly thankful for.

I have a wonderful family. They are so good to me, and I love them so dearly. Our lives of hardship have made us so close- they are my best friends and I can't go more than 3 days without major withdrawal if I haven't spoken to one of them.

I have been given some really wonderful friends here. We're such an unlikely little group, too, and I get pleasure out of thinking about how God has brought us to be in the same place, if only for a small while. My new friends are from Philly, Alabama, Ireland, Florida, California, and Germany, and I'm so grateful for every one of them. I've never really been in the circumstance where I had a "family" outside from my real one, but we're a little family here. At least, they are my family, whether they know it or not. And sure we're different, and perhaps we don't agree on every single little thing, but we're ok with that, and God has used them in my life to daily remind me of how good He is to me.

My school is phenomenal. I'm challenged, and each day I grow more in self-confidence and drive. I still don't know my future, but I'm confident that God is going to be going each step of the way with me, and that encourages me all the time.

I still get lonely. Life-decisions and moves are difficult. But I think that I am, be it ever so slowly, really learning how to see God's hand in the little things, and also learning to trust Him. But I think that, more than anything, I'm really learning and taking the opportunity to be so very, very thankful. I've been more aware of how sweet to my soul is a one-line text from a friend, a shared joke, having someone to dance in the snow with, how lucky I am to have siblings that would give me their Christmas tree so that I could have a happy, Christmas-y apartment, listening to my teachers talk about their relationships with world-reknown artists, feeling outside of my comfort zone which gives the change to trust in Him, the privilege of being inspired and challenged to better myself, and the reminders to hold on to my heart beliefs even when it's hard and annoying.

And so I disagree with the statement that "these are my golden days," and have coined my own phrase:

"These are the days of my Golden Sloggy Slough"

For starters, the words Sloggy Slough are the most fun to say, and they present a picture of a giant muddy mess. And I think that most of my life will probably feel like that, sometimes uncertain and always changing. And that's ok, because the little blessings along the way make it golden and worthwhile. And isn't it so much more fun to picture you dragging yourself through a Sloggly Slough when that Sloggy Slough is Golden and beautiful?! I do think so.

I'm just glad I have a really cute pair of galoshes.

:)

Tongue - in- cheek

For all of you music lovers out there, and especially those who love contemporary music ;) :

CHRISTMASTIME IS HERE AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!

I just love Christmas.

It's my favorite time of year, by far.

I think I just aced a final.

They're lighting the Monument on Thursday.

I'm feeling better today than I was yesterday.

There's Christmas music on my radio.

It's gonna be a good week.

(P.S. I just found a blog called Chocolate Ink. If ink were chocolate, I'd definitely be one of those people that chew on pens.....)

M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S ! ! ! ! !

Nap Time.... or not....

OK.

So I decided to take a nap this afternoon,

to rest my tired and sickly little self.

But I made the mistake of taking my laptop-

you know, just to check my e-mail.

And I remembered that I hadn't played on

Photobooth in a while.

It was only three pictures of myself later

(oh I know it- SO Jr. Highish of me.)

that I was laughing so much,

and I HAD to call my little brother in

to take pictures with me.

So much for that nap.

Just some good, laughy, bro/sis bonding.

It was like we were 6 again, told to take a nap,

and instead played under the covers

in our own world for the nap time duration.

A nice way to begin Thanksgiving holiday.

And here are the pics for you to enjoy.

Man, did we laugh at us.

Aren't families wonderful!?!

:)

Happy Thanksgiving, mes amies!