It's a Christmas Miracle!

I only have a short time to post before we go spend time with extended families so here goes!

Christmas is an absolutely wonderful holiday. I love the feeling of love and happiness that comes from spending time with family, serving others and enjoying buying gifts for other people. Christmas Eve, we always go to my grandma's house and have dinner and read a Christmas story together. Last night was a little different because we visited my Grandpa in Rehab after he just had hip replacement surgery, then we went to their house. After visiting at Grandma's, we came home and watched It's A Wonderful Life. This morning, I think we slept later than we ever have on Christmas. Someone woke me up at 8 to go open presents and my parents were already up. Usually, we run into their room and beg them to get up.

Christmas this year was a little different because money has been kind of tight. None of us minded since we all know that Christmas is more than presents. However, my mom was having a really hard time because she wanted to buy us things and she couldn't. When we were getting ready to go down and open our presents, my mom said, "There are presents here that I didn't put here." Then she asked my Dad if he knew where they came from. He didn't know either. Me, being a little cheesy said, "It's a Christmas Miracle!" About six times. Everytime I said it, my older sister would sing, "Fa who dor ace, ba who dor ay" (The who's song from The Grinch). We thought that was pretty hilarious. Anyway, we first passed around presents that we bought for each other.Then, we tried to figure out where the mystery gifts came from. After talking and asking questions, I asked my younger brother (He's 17) if it was him. He is a terrible liar. He said it wasn't, but we could all tell it was. I opened the present that he had secretly bought. Inside it was a wrapped box. I opened that to a gift bag. Inside it was a card. I opened the card to $80 cash and a note that said, "Here is $80 towards a new cell phone :) Merry Christmas!" Now, if you have seen my cellphone, you know I need a new one. It's a joke... He bought both my Dad and older brother a ticket to a really nice Ski Resort. (Those are NOT cheap) My older sister got a new camera from him, my mom got a nice food processor since she has wanted one. My little sister got an ottoman for her room. My mom just cried. She cried really hard and as I hugged my Santa Brother, he cried too. Soon, all the girls and him were crying. My brother has been working over time like crazy at McDonald's to earn the money to spoil all of us. He must have spent some where around $400 dollars for everyone. He is the sweetest little brother anyone could ever have. He DEFINITELY wins Brother of the Year. So in all reality, this was the best Christmas EVER because of my little brother. That act of love and kindness cannot be beat. I tear up even now thinking of all the time he spent to get the money for this, how he has been listening to everyone to see just what they need or want.

He kept everything at my aunts house until late last night. Then he snuck down at five in the morning to set them up next to our piles of presents. My Aunt knew what he was doing so her an my Uncle bought him something so he would have a nice present too. He got a nice stereo since his is run down and overused. Christmas isn't about the presents though. It's about the service that people do. The acts of kindness that people do and the love that is shown. My little brother showed true love and selflessness this Christmas. I love him so much!

Prayers Are Appreciated

Today, my room mate Ashlyn got into a car accident with two of her brothers and one sister in the car. She slipped on black ice into oncoming traffic. One of her brothers was killed instantly on impact, the other was life flighted but didn't make it. Her little sister sustained a broken collarbone. Ashlyn is in the hospital with a concussion as she blames herself for all that has transpired. It is such a tragic event and a just a week before Christmas. Ashlyn and her family are in a lot of pain as they morn the loss of two members of their family and so, with a heavy heart, I ask for your prayers on behalf of my room mate and her family. Hopefully, Ashlyn will be able to leave the hospital soon. I also hope they will find comfort in the knowledge that theirs in a forever family and they will see their sweet boys and be with them again. They are in my prayers and even though you may not know them, I hope that they are in yours too this Christmas Season.

This is the article that was posted about the accident before the 10-year old passed away.
A 7-year-old boy was killed and three siblings were injured Saturday when a 18-year-old sibling lost control of the car she was driving and slid into oncoming traffic.
At 11:30 a.m., a Honda Civic was traveling north on state Route *** near **** South when the vehicle spun out of control and was T-boned by an oncoming Chevy Malibu, according to the **** Department of Public Safety.
Three children, ranging in age between 7 and 12, were sitting in the backseat. A 7-year-old boy was killed, and a 10-year-old boy was transported to an area hospital in critical condition. The 18-year-old driver, her 9-year-old sister and the 53-year-old female driver of the Malibu sustained minor injuries.
Names and hometowns of those involved weren't immediately available.

PASSED!

Words cannot describe the relief I feel after passing my Biology final today! No more Biology for me! Don't get me wrong though. I do like Biology, just this particular teacher was so hard and made it less fun than it could be. I need to go to Rate My Professors and warn others. I will say that I came out with a lot more knowledge on the subject, but I don't think I'll remember anything on the Kingdoms and the Phylums we learned about. I just finished my Math Final and I feel really good about that one. I just have one left tomorrow at noon and then I've got to find a ride home from someone. I probably will have to wait until Friday to go home. :( Not having a car in college is really difficult. It's doable but it's hard. If you are me (which you aren't), you have awesome room mates who drive you or lend you their cars.

Excuse my rambling, I must now go to the beautiful Library (I love libraries!) to study for my final final. :)  It shouldn't be so bad. If I can pass Biology, I can pass ANYTHING!

FHGF (Fake Hot Girl Friend)

If you really love steak, how bout a free steak dinner!? The catch? Be this 28 year old mans fake girl friend for his office party. If you email him, he will give you all the dets. Don't worry, it's not like it's suspicious or anything. Come on, I would do anything for a free steak dinner!

Beware The Studying Monster

He will tempt you to get on Facebook, post on your blog, go to Wal-Mart or do anything besides studying. He is very manipulative and good at what he does. He is actually sitting next to me rubbing his hands together and cackling because I am posting on my blog instead of studying. However, he will be very disappointed in me when I begin studying in earnest. Dear Studying Monster, you have won far too many times, it's time for me to beat you!

Finals: Read all about it!

FYI, finals = stress. Why? Here, I've made a list!

1. Some finals are tons of questions, so you must know tons of stuff.
2. Some finals are only a few questions, but you don't know which ones so you have to know tons of stuff.
3. Your professor can change the time of the final and the place if he or she so chooses.
4. Math is hard to study for.
5. If you don't pass your final, you have to take whole class again.
6. Big tests the week before the final.
7. The need to study, but absolutely no desire.
8. 7:00 AM finals. (Will I sleep through it on accident?)

So that's why it's stressful. Why it isn't?

1. I only have 3!
2. After your last final, you get to go home for Christmas!!!!!! (I may be just a little excited for that...)
3. Finals week, absolutely nothing happens so you have time to study, take breaks, eat, go to Wal-Mart, and exercise to destress.
4. It's only two days and only 6 hours of testing.
5. I know more than I think I do. (I hope.)

Finals are in one and two days. Wish me luck!

The Girl Effect

This video is AWESOME!

Just click agree (even if you don't) and the video will start.

The Girl Effect

Pay Phone Forest

I love art (in some forms), but sometimes, I just don't understand it. That is the case with the pay phone forest that now sits on an area of open lawn near the Humanities and Arts building on my school campus. I think it looks really cool and unique, but as I learned from going to the MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) in LA, art usually has a meaning behind it. It says something about the world or the world of the artist. I've been wondering for quite some time what this pay phone forest means? I don't think they actually call it a forest, but I do. There are no phones on the hooks though. They are mysteriously missing from the entire forest. One was knocked over and lay flat on the ground in the snow and no one had bothered to stand it back up to right it. I don't think that was part of the art. Is it even art? HELP! I am drowning in artistic questions!

Turkey Day

Things I love about my family... (and Thanksgiving)

• Talking wooden Amish people
• Memories
• My little cousin trying to create a marching line with everyone
• Playing Don't Break The Ice
• Pulling out the Christmas decor after cleaning up the Thanksgiving dinner
• Realizing how many things we have to be grateful for
• Driving to Wal-Mart for the last minute spray cheese
• "Blackmailing" with crazy pictures
• Cousins singing at the top of their lungs
• Seeing people that you haven't seen in a while
• The Manichean in the basement
• Feeling warm and fuzzy
• Hugging the Grandparents
• Talking about liver and sheep fetuses.... *coughashleycough*
• Staying at Grandma's for over 6 hours and not wanting to leave ever
• Catching up with my twin cousin
• Knowing you are loved no matter what
• Mecham Style Happy Birthday (You haven't lived until you've heard it)
• Realizing that you must prep outsiders before they hear the Mecham's sing so they don't get scared
• The food is never gross
• Never getting bored
• Knowing we are a forever family
• Fishing worms
• Praying together
• Hide and seek
• Dress ups
• Laughing together
• We are not just a family, we are friends

Harry Potter 7 Madness

Madness may be an understatement for what happened at the 2 screen movie theater here. There were to be 200 tickets sold for the Harry Potter 7 Midnight Showing last night. My room mate, Sam, me and Sean our neighbor went to the movie theater at 9:00 PM to wait in the line that had not even wrapped the small building all the way around yet. At 9:30, they opened the box office and it was a mad rush. There wasn't any order whatsoever. Instead of being near the middle of the line like we were, we ended up closer to the back. Eventually, it didn't matter where you were in line before. The line had become a mass of people all crowded around the small one person box office. I felt like I was at a concert except there wasn't any music and the "f word" was thrown around way too much. I accidentally touched far too many backsides and mine was certainly touched more than normal. People kept yelling about people pushing but it didn't ever stop.

Finally, we forced our way to the front and got a hold of a yellow wristband that acted as our ticket. I don't think I will ever throw it away after all I went through just to get it. :) Then, trying to get out of the crowd was nearly impossible because everyone wanted your place in the line as you left. I think I may have elbowed someone a little hard. Whoops... When we got out of the crowd, we went back to our apartment to get some hot chocolate from the CocoMotion and brownies. After warming up, we went and waited in yet another line to get into the theater. I heard stories of the people up front getting stuck behind the door and loosing their place in line. Luckily, being in the back meant no shoving and we still got good seats. When the movie ended, I wanted the 2nd part to start playing because I was so ready for it! Unfortunately, we have to wait until July for it to come out. HURRY UP JULY!

PS College kids can be violent. I think a few girls were ready to punch people.

Registration

It's time to register for classes for next semester. First, you have to decide exactly what to take. That can be hard since there are lots of hard classes and not that many fun ones. Then, after deciding what classes to take, you plan out when you want to take all of them, cross your fingers and hope that when it's your turn to register, that there is still space in that class. Then you try to register for classes. It's not so bad at my school because it's not a huge university, if you are at a university, you fight to get into the system with all the other several hundred students. That's why smaller schools are awesome. :) No fighting to get into the system. Tomorrow, I register. Crossing my fingers!

Homework?

I'm sure that I'm not the only person that does this, but I procrastinate sometimes. Usually, when I should be doing homework or studying, I do something else. Once, I made donuts, another time, I made blueberry muffins. Another time, I went to Wal-Mart. The list could go on and on. I do need to add one to the list though. Sometimes *coughrightnowcough* I write in my blog instead of doing my math homework. *sly smile* I even exercised instead of doing math homework once. I should probably go do some math homework now... BOO!

CocoMotion: Man's Best Invention

After spending an hour on Campus in the cold, it's pretty much awesome to come home, poor some milk and hot chocolate powder into a CocoMotion machine, hit a button, and have perfect, frothy hot cocoa in minutes. Whoever invented this machine was a genius. It is positively the most used machine in my apartment. That includes the microwave and dishwasher. I have a feeling that as it gets colder, hot chocolate will be the biggest expense. I just hope the CocoMotion holds up. Crossing my fingers!

Chapped Stick, Chapped Lips, And Things Like...

Having a lazy day. It is now 4:40 PM and I just got out of the shower. I skipped math class today which resulted in a lot of guilty feelings for doing so. Instead of studying, I watched a movie. Thus, today has been a fairly unproductive day. My high light was looking inside my tiny mailbox to see a letter addressed to me from a friend who is at the MTC (Missionary Training Center for LDS missionaries). The one way I was productive is that I wrote him back 10 minutes after reading the letter. Oh, and I did go to 3 other classes today besides math class. I guess I should feel bad for my laziness, but I really just work a lot this week and this is the only day I can just sit around with nothing to do. It's nice to have zero plans sometimes. Exciting things this week? I'm going HOME! It's my Grandpa's 88th birthday so we are celebrating. Also, I have another friend headed for the MTC next week so I'm going to hear him speak in church before he heads out. Friday cannot come soon enough!

P.S. The title is from a song I just listened to by Relient K (My favorite band) called Chapped Sticks, Chapped Lips, And Things Like Chemistry.

Snow Creams-A Taste of Heaven

So there is this place that makes Snow Creams. What are those you ask? I'll tell you. Pretend that you just got a snow cone except when you got it, you found ice cream in the middle. Not only is it ice cream, but the best ice cream you have EVER tasted. It's incredibly smooth, home-made, and half the calories of regular ice cream. Now say you are me (which you aren't) and you like raspberry flavoring so that's what you ask for. Then you watch the lady prepared a fresh batch of the syrup. That's right. The whole thing is home-made and there is no high fructose corn syrup. None! Even better is the fact that she is trying to franchise her idea. She even told me that a man in my hometown wants to buy one. Is this an amazing thing? YES! I LOVE Snow Creams!

The Prize at the Bottom of the Box

Remember when you were little and your mom bought those cereal boxes that have prizes in them? I sure remember the fights that ensued as to who would get the prize. i.e. "You got it last time!" "I haven't had one in forever!" "I really wanted that prize!" I especially loved the prizes hidden inside the cereal bag. You would be poring your cereal and all the sudden, there was a prize in your bowl. Who ever thought of doing that was a GENIUS.  I wish I was rich so I could only buy cereals with prizes in them. Sigh. Unfortunately, being in college means being poor. It also means you don't go through a box of cereal as fast as you did when you were living at home. Every so often, I think I will splurge for a good prize. It would be worth it, after all. Why does everyone have to grow up and become boring. You are NEVER too old to get a prize in a cereal box. Never.

Sidewalk Police

Today I was walking to class on campus and I realized that everyone was walking on the sidewalk like you drive on the road. Everyone stuck to the right side of the sidewalk whether they were walking towards campus or away from it. I thought to myself, what if I just walked on the left side of the sidewalk. What would happen? As if this kid read my mind, he walks past me on the left side and walks straight through a big group of people. If looks could kill, this kid would have just died 6 times. I immediately looked around for the sidewalk police to see if he would get a ticket for disrupting the flow of traffic. Those tickets can be pricey you know? Naturally, I would never disrupt the flow of traffic. After classes, as I walked home, I stepped onto the left side of the sidewalk. The girl walking on the sidewalk to the right of me kindly moved over to the left so that I could be on the right. Just a shout out to her for keeping me from getting a "disrupting the flow of traffic" ticket.

New To This? Nope!

Most people use their first ever blog post to say something like: "I am new to Blogging, excuse my awkwardness." Or "My friend told me I should start a blog so I am." Well, why does anyone need to excuse themselves for blogging. Please don't excuse my awkwardness and no, I'm not new to blogging. Also, I don't think you really care why I started this blog, so I probably will never tell you.