Egret

Well hey there! It's been awhile, eh? So I suppose I should divulge the fascinating details of my break thus far. Brace yourself...

As most of you know, I spent the first week of break at my grandparents in the bustling metropolis of Tyler Hill, Pennsylvania. Just to put things into perspective, their post office is smaller than the one on campus (and interestingly enough has an emu living behind it- a perfectly logical place for such a huge bird to live, don't ya think?). The trip started out with a bang, or screeched to a halt before I ever left, if you will. I love Atlanta traffic. No really, I simply adore spending one hour moving at a snail's pace down 400 only to make it a lousy seven miles. I ended up taking MARTA so Dad could make a 10 o'clock meeting and so I could make my flight (I'm not too fond of missing flights...).

And while I'm at it, let me rant about our city's transportation. I got on the train at the peak of rush hour- 400 was a parking lot (as it always is), and the stinkin' train was not even half full! What's wrong with those crazy people?! We have this clean, fairly reliable, economical transportation at our fingertips, and most people who have the option to conveniently use the stinkin' train would rather sit on stinkin' 400 as the train rolls past them. What's up with that?!

Ok, I'm done. So I get to the airport, wait on no lines and stroll to the gate at about 10 o'clock. I decided to bypass my traditional coffee (I was in the terminal with Seattle's Best, and I have made this deal with Starbucks that I won't partake of their competitors if they will simply give me the best Cafe Mocha ever, every time I go) and I sat and read Crime and Punishment (which I am finding to be quite fascinating!). Now, let me preface this with the fact that I had felt like crap for the past several days, and that morning left me feeling the same. It was a fairly decent flight, except for the jarring turbulence at the beginning that brought back memories of one of my first flights- I was quite young, and the flight was a bit turbulent, but I distinctly remember my ears popping so badly that I just sat there and cried (I was probably 5 or 6 and not quite the rough and tough gal that I am now). Needless to say, by the end of the flight, I felt pretty bad- I mean, really bad. Um, it was a good thing I happened to come across that little white paper bag in the seat-pocket in front of me as I searched for the holiday catalog. However, I was very discrete, and I don't even think the guy beside me even noticed (not that I cared or could do anything about it...). And the worst part about flying into Philadelphia is that the winds are always so funny that even the best of pilots bounces down the runway- a perfect conclusion to the perfect flight... My grandparents picked me up, and we headed north. It began to snow about halfway through the drive (making the windmills invisible as we crossed over the mountains- boo hiss). I don't really remember reaching Rutherford Hill- I collapsed in bed and that was that. My grandmother was afraid to leave me the next morning before she found out that I was, indeed, still alive.

The rest of the trip was spent running errands into town, baking cookies for some families in the area who are having less-than-ideal times, crocheting, watching educational television (ask me anything about Alaska, ice roads, the construction of Paris, early airplanes...), and um, lots of other intellectually stimulating things. On one evening, we went to the Settlers' Inn, which is an amazing restaurant. It was all decked out in holiday decor- absolutely beautiful! Along with wonderful company, I really enjoyed butternut squash ravioli with mango cream sauce- yum. And I think I mentioned that my grandmother knows everybody- so this restaurant probably holds about fifty people, and my grandmother knew 6 of them (I counted!)- and this restaurant isn't even in their town! Crazy.

On the last day, we went back down to Philly for my one and only cousin Sara's sixth birthday party. It was really great! I just love my family so much- they make me laugh, and they're all so unique, but in a good way! Uncle Rich's family was there too, and sometimes I forget that I'm not a part of their family- they're awesome! And also equally wonderful is the fact that I'm taller than at least half of those crazy yankees! Woah! I wish I could spend more time with them, but alas, when you live that far apart, at least we get to see each other as often as we do. I spent the night at Aunt Lisa and Uncle Dave's, and we had pizza and rented iRobot, and life was good :)

So there's my vacation, folks. I know it doesn't sound too exciting, but hey, it was just what I needed and wanted- can't ask for more than some good, quality family time! I returned home to start Christmas shopping (I work best under pressure, as in, I finished shopping on Christmas Eve, and then started wrapping...hehe...).

I got some Katy time, which was wonderful. We had our traditional Monster Popcorn as we watched the Incredibles (ok, that's a lie, we got there early and finished the popcorn before the movie started- oops). Otherwise, it's just been crazy getting ready for Christmas, and I'm just getting over the recovery phase now. I was afraid I was starting to get sick, and then I was going to have to get mad, but it appears as though my body is just suffering from the inability to decide how it feels. Oh well. Finally got back to working out again and caring about my health and little stuff like that. No more sweets, no fried foods, and I think I'm going organic now. It's kind of sick what the FDA allows farmers to do to our meats and veggies and such. I know I won't be eating meat at Saga- no telling what it is- and I'm on the organic milk and Soy milk bandwagon now (oh goodness, don't get me started on that... did you know that milk is actually pus?). So yeah, health nut Erin is back, although most of you probably didn't realize she had gone :)

So yeah, Santa was good. We decided that we would only do three gifts this year, but somebody forgot to send Saint Nick that memo. I'm not complaining ;) I got a microwave, a vacuum, a DVD player, cool chime things, disease books, the 9/11 Commission Report, cds, Target giftcards, canvases, and other goodies. I'm spoiled rotten. Oh well, what're ya gonna do?

The Christmas Eve service at our church was incredible! It's hard to describe, but they really succeeded in getting across not only that we were celebrating Christ's birth, but we're celebrating why He came in the first place- to die for us. How easy it is to look over the resurrection as a part of the miracle of Jesus at this time of year. At church, they did one of those readings where they parallel the birth of Jesus with His last days- very powerful stuff- God was definitely working in our church that night!

And God has really been working in my life too, which is really cool! He sure is making things happen for me- it's incredible- a while ago, I decided that I was really gonna leave all of this stuff I was unsure about in His hands and trust Him to do as He will, and that's exactly what He did! I may have had to wait awhile, but my God is a faithful God and He keeps His promises- I just have to put my faith in Him. It took a long time for me to really do that, but now that I have, I just can't believe my eyes! Thanks God! You're the best :)

And so now, we are fast approaching the new year, which brings us precariously close to going back to school. I think I'm ready for it- let's get this show on the road, right? I miss you all, and I love y'all so much! God bless :)

"I fear that one day I'll meet God, He'll sneeze, and I won't know what to say..."

Emu

Oh my goodness! Just a few quick notes before I lay me down to sleep-
...the Galapagos Island trip is a definite go! Yay! And Amanda is my cabin-mate- how fun! We're the only students going...with Dr. Saladin... and Dr. Viau... and others, but woah, that sounds... interesting...
...and sad/happy news! I'm headed to Wells to be an RA next semester! My first reaction was excitement, because well, that's cool and definitely an answer to a prayer- thanks God. But I don't want to leave my great roomie and my great suite-mates and all of the other great people in Sanford! I'm so sad! I wasn't prepared for this, but prepared at the same time. And I should probably just go to bed and deal with all of the fun stuff I have to deal with tomorrow (aka meetings, studying, exam and unfun conversation). Oh sad day! I will miss this place so much! All of the "I don't want to study, so let's pretend to have something else really important to do" or "I'm experiencing emotional trauma; please fix it" or "I just want to have some good old-fashioned fun" or "I want to act like an idiot" or "Professors make me smoke weed and drink beer" or "Walking on Broken Glass" or "Every Rose has its Thorn" or " STUPID, WORTHLESS, NO-GOOD" or "Boys are dumb, throw rocks at them" or "You're such a granny!" or "You dirty Yankees" or "My God is so BIG!" or "You silly k-nig-uts" or "I could marry him right now" or "I don't whine." Well, that's where God wants me to be, and that's all that matters- He's got my back, ya know.

Goose

Finals week already- kinda creeped up on me. I'm very ready for this week to be over- it will be the end of lots of things that I'm ready to be done: physics, that class, and just this semester in general, which has turned into the most difficult thus far. I know that there won't be many changes come spring semester, but I'm ready for a fresh start. So many changes took place this fall that it took me the majority of the semester to get a grip on things. Now I can start the semester with a firm, solid grip on everything, so things should be better, I hope. We shall see. God's got my back, so it'll all be good- I just know it!

Among other things, I'm so ready to go to my grandparents next week- I need a vacation- managed to get through the summer without one, but now I want out! It's supposed to snow the day I arrive, and it's gonna be cold- for real! I'm so excited! Going to their house is a true vacation- we'll probably drive into town a bit to do some Christmas shopping and just browse (I think my Grandma knows everyone in that town, because everywhere we go, she stops to talk to people- we can't get out of a store in less than thirty minutes!)- my grandfather (affectionately known as Pops) wants me to sit in on a Habitat board meeting, and hopefully I'll get to check out the house they just finished and meet the new family- that's always fun! We'll be heading down to Philly for my cousin's birthday- I love spending time with the aunts and uncles- they crack me up! Some good, hard-core Yankees- ah yeah!

But alas, I find myself still at school contemplating what to begin first- my Christmas cards, my crocheting (yay for cheap Christmas presents...), or studying. As of yet, I am doing nothing- way to be! Brittany and I are ordering a pizza- I wish I had remembered that before I decided not to run this morning. Oh well, ten-thousand calories never hurt anybody, right?

This weekend will be nuts. On the way into town, I have to drop off my dry-cleaning, or else I won't have any sweaters for my trip, which would be disastrous. I have to make about fifty-thousand muffins (again, cheap Christmas presents) and throw together a quilt for my cousin. Along with that, I have to unpack all of the stuff I'm bringing home from school and then pack it up again for the trip. I have to clean my room and my bathroom. Um, I'm sure I can come up with something else. Oh yeah, I have to go to Chipotle with my daddy, because he loves me :-) And we're decorating the Christmas tree and making cookies. I think that about does it. Thank goodness I'm flying out of here- driving just wouldn't cut it...

There's not much else going on here- just the normal social junk, which I have learned to get used to- not much has changed since high school in a lot of ways- very disappointing, but what're ya gonna do? Everybody should just love Jesus, and then it would be so much easier to love everybody else! Why don't people understand that?! Oh well, I guess it's one of those "easier said than done" things.

Off to be productive! I hope you are all having a great Christmas season thus far! Don't be afraid to be joyful- come on, you can do it!

Isaiah 9:6 "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Panther

You know, I should really update more often, because ten thousand things have happened since I posted last.

I had an excellent Thanksgiving break! For the life of me, all of the fun little details of my lovely five day weekend escape me right now, but I believe all of the joyous moments were centered either around sleep or food- my two favorite things. Mom and I cooked a five-star meal for Thanksgiving, and Diane did her five-star cooking for my birthday. So yeah, I ate... a lot. And that whole no-sugar thing? Totally went out the window the first chance I got- hey, I had discipline for long enough. I believe my first sugar encounter consisted of ice-cream, some cookie goop stuff (I promise it's better than it sounds...), apple pie, eh, probably lots of other stuff too- I promptly took a delightful little nap. The b'day was equally delightful, spent in much the same way- relaxing family time is the way to go. On Saturday for "Girls Night," we went to Buca di Beppo for dinner, watched Finding Neverland (which was really great- Johnny was, well, wow.), and then we spent some joyous time in Barnes and Noble (and the essential Starbucks, of course). It was really great!

Oh my, I picked up the most amazing book at B&N- When God Writes Your Love Story. It's so great- everyone should read it. I like it, because it just puts into writing what I've been thinking and praying about lately- kinda helps me get a grip on things, ya know?

Um, let's see... after Thanksgiving, we came back to school and I continued to be the ultimate slacker- I tell you what, I have just about lost my motivation to be motivated. No more. I've gotta start getting myself pumped up for next semester- I figure, I should already be done with school, so I'll just pretend it's not there anymore (which is hard to do when you have to sit in class...). Lately, I keep beginning work with every intention of getting it done, but I get so distracted, and next thing you know, it's 1am, and I have this rule about starting work after 1am. Ok, that's a lie. But anyways, you know what I mean.

So, random highlights of my week...

I turned in my money for the Galapagos Islands trip, and thus far, they need three students for the trip to be a go. I can't even tell you how excited I am- I could do back-flips.

I spoke with one of my professors about possibly minoring in environmental science (eh, why not? I like the environment- it's so...green....), and she said that I could help her our with some of her research stuff (nothing huge- very informal, but still, really cool!). I'm excited about it! Her research is not exactly in an area that I'm planning on heading (hybridization patterns of some flower species, I think), but it's interesting, nonetheless.

I had another icky day of physics, after which I returned to lovely Sanford feeling ick, and guess who left me a message on AIM? Brooke! I was so excited, I can't even tell you- it's so nice to hear from old friends- seems like with some people, even though you don't really talk much, you can just pick up where you left off. Yay for God for giving us friends like that (sisters in Christ, partners in crime ;) and just people you can laugh with- wow)!

And I have had yet another revelation about myself- I am incredibly stubborn. In most cases, I would be annoyed with myself, but in this particular case, it just amuses me. My will to remain firm in this situation has almost become, to me, a test of my discipline. As much as I want to just be like, "Hey, this is stupid," I will not allow myself to do it- goes against everything I've been "fighting" for. Sorry that's terribly cryptic, but it's been making me crazy (and also rather pleased, in an evil sort of way- I really am a horrible person- oops). Agh, why don't people just talk!

Moving right along, I did my Christmas shopping for friends today and played Santa, which is just about the most fun thing to do! I love Christmas!

Ok folks, my head is hurting pretty bad (might perhaps have to do with my apparent boycott on sleep, but that's neither here nor there...), so I'm gonna put myself out of my misery before I start being stupid (eh...)