I'll be Home for Christmas pt 1

I was lucky enough to get a few days off for Christmas, which I gladly spent in Philly.  The drive was beautiful.  I tried to get pictures of how nice the weather was, but, alas, this is as good as it got:

The first thing I got a video of when I arrived in Philly was Joel's Kate pretending (poorly) to be a flying squirrel.

I had luckly made it in time for Family home evening.  Dad read to the kids and played memory.  Everyone had a blast

I got to take a lot of selfies, starting with sister Jaida and her hubs, Ryan:

Until Sydney pushed me out of the picture

It's ok because Syd took some selfies with me

and Jasper

and Ivy

and EVERYONE!!

The next day, dad was working on christmas presents for the kids.  He had a bag full of things and I said he looked like Krampus.  What do you think?

Grandma let me help make a tie blanket.  It turned out amazing:

Dad showed me his awesome tie skills.  This is a trinity knot:

In the evening, Joel and Kate took me to Rose Tree Park to look at the lights.  We got some great pictures:

On Christmas Eve, I found the brass ducks of my childhood.  Mom use to use these as 1lb weights when she was doing arobics.  She offered to model for me:

Mom and I also made the fashion faux pas of dressing alike

Ok blog, get ready, this is one of the few pics you will ever see of me without ANY makeup.  I was lucky enough to get a few minutes with my nieces and nephews and brother in law on Christmas eve:

32nd Bday 2014

The next big holiday after Thanksgiving is, drumroll please, MY BIRTHDAY!!  I turned the big 32!  To celebrate I spent the day in PJ's,

Reading my favorite book,

and fixing a button on my coat!

I received a sweet card and gift from my friend Dani:

And dad gave me a gift card to walmart!!!!

I ended my birthday by going to dinner with my bestie Mitch!  All around great bday!

Thanksgiving and Winter Break Goals

The night before thanksgiving I talked my new friends Dani and Tricia to going to Manja to play foosball.  We had a BLAST!  Dani and I met in class.  We had a group paper, and Dani really kept us all on track AND was the BEST editor ever!!!

Manja's bathroom had some cool signs

Thanksgiving was great.  It was KW, Dom, Mitch, and Mitch's Mom, Dad and Brother.  Everyone brought lots of food.

The 4 mile drive home after dinner was TERRIFYING!  The ground was clear when I came to thanksgiving and within 3 hours there was at least 2 inches of snow on the ground.  I tried to take a selfie when I got home, but it didn't turn out great.

Here's a better picture of how bad it was coming down

The semester is FINALLY over!  I have huge plans for the month off.  I'll still be working part time at the OPL, and will start my internship a bit early at Strongsville, but when I'm not working/interning, my goals are:

1.  Complete Homemade Christmas Presents

2.  Complete Assassins Creed 2 (maybe start 3?)

3.  Read at least 4 books

4.  Watch (at least) two seasons of Dexter

I am SO excited for this well deserved break from school.  I'll be going home for Christmas.  I'm really excited to have a Christmas with my little nieces and nephews!!!

Bucket List

Hopefully I'll be coming back to this to update it as life changes:

Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis)
Go see a Broadway play
Take a vacation out of the country
Go to Burning Man
Try crab legs (Done! 1/2011)
Snowmobiling
4-wheeling
Learn to ride a motorcycle (Done! 5/8/2011)
Get a kiss under mistletoe
Learn archery
Go canoeing...I've been, but I want to go again sometime soon
Ride in a hot air balloon
Go crabbing
Go on a helicopter ride
Ride a mechanical bull
See Stonehenge, United Kingdom
The Louvre in Paris, France
Go to the Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas
Visit Ireland
Watch a meteor shower (Done! 5/24/2014 Camelopardalids at observation park)
Go on a Cruise
Receive flowers for no reason (Done 3/3/13)
build a house out of sugar cube
Do volunteer work for at least a month
Watch the movies Casa Blanca and Gone with the Wind.
Climb a water tower