It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....joy to the world

*Random thought of the day: "Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year. And then discover once a year is way too often" ~Johnny Carson

Isn't that the truth!*

Ok-so I didn't go completely crazy in good ol Show Low...I repeat...not COMPLETELY crazy(: But it is true that some families are just insane. I had to convince my best friend Emily that she really did want to come home and spend time with her family instead of spending it alone...all because of her large family and all the cooking she would have to help with(: Love you Ema!

It was rather nice being home. I arrived Wednesday afternoon and hung out and practiced and started a little bit of homework. Yep-had to bring the work home with me.

Thursday I decided was to be a lazy day! Yep...I got up and began to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade which I love. Then...it somewhat sadly began snowing. It had been raining all morning, but then turned to snow, which caused our satellite TV to lose signal, until basically the last half hour-ish of the parade. Oh well. After that, I watched some more TV and hung out with the fam and played on the computer a bit. I then decided to break down and watch my favorite Christmas movie EVER....The Polar Express. Oh how I love that movie. It makes me feel like a kid and its just cute! I usually wait til at least December 1st to watch it...then again I also usually wait til the day after Thanksgiving to listen to Christmas music..I did it the day before this time(: So, I watched that movie and then took a power nap. I'm really not used to taking naps so I don't know that that was a good idea!

After my nap, it was finally...CHOW TIME! Oh how I'm thankful for food and especially Thanksgiving food. It was awesome. My mom's boyfriend and his daughter joined us for Thanksgiving so we all ate and enjoyed each others company. It was wonderful food! YUM! Leftovers are especially good the next day! And my mom made her cherry pie which I absolutely LOVE! It was amazing.

After the food was more chill time. Then Thurs night, I went over to hang out with my friend Jourdan McNiel. She just started at BYU-Idaho this semester and was home for a break as well. So I went with her to the Parkers house and played our famous game of Scum! This is what I used to do when I was in high school. The Parkers was totally the place to hang out-so it was fun for old times sake! And I had more pie there too....guilty! Sorry but I just gotta take advantage of this goodness because I am a really pretty healthy eater normally! We had fun!

Friday, my mom and I got up around 8ish and for some "stupid" reason, we went out shopping. It's official-I've become a scrooge when it comes to Christmas shopping. No longer am I good at it, but I hate the crowds as well. Too many people pushing their way around each other for sale items. Now-dont' get me wrong, I am A CHEAP SHOPPER! I LOVE SALES! Especially when it comes to buying gifts, because I'm a terribly poor college student(:. But, the crowds...oh the crowds. Annoying. And all the cashiers and managers are completely stressed out and grouchy, especially if something goes wrong. Trust me I know, I was a cashier for a year...bleh....Take this picture for example...I mean seriously....that is what the electronics at our Walmart REALLY did look like on Friday morning.

and so on and so forth....

It's kinda been making me realize more and more the true meaning of Christmas. It's great to get gifts for loved ones and have lots of junk to eat, and have parties and celebrate and such, but honestly-the rushed crowds and gifts are not what its all about. More about that as it gets closer to the holiday......for now I have my Christmas Music-especially my good friend Josh Groban, who should be the only famous person allowed to ever sing my favorite song "O Holy Night". *Side note to Curtis-take me seriously. Just do it! (:

Saturday, was......TWILIGHT DAY!

Here is my personal review: I was very impressed! It wasn't completely amazing...and they didnt' go into alot of detail on certain parts of the movie but I still absolutely LOVED it! I give it a B+ grading! See, when I read a book and then I see the movie, I generally like the movie better, for the sake of seeing it in real life. I guess I"m not always very imaginative(: I like to see it all really happen too! Anyway-it really was pretty awesome! And shockingly, Kristin Stewart did a better job playing Bella than I thought she would. And pretty much every guy in the movie was flippin hott! Even James, the bad guy vampire. And it was kinda cool that the bad girl vampire is a redhead and her real life name is Rachelle. Sounds familiar eh haha! I thoroughly enjoyed Twilight and am hoping to see it again and very soon! I reccomend it mainly to those who have read the books and are female(:

Saturday night, my Grandma and Great-Grandma came into town. Dallas, the baby of the family is actually growing up and turned 12 last weekend. And so he got ordained to the Aaronic Preisthood! Crazy crazy stuff! My Aunt and Uncle, Kathi and Ray, along with their two youngest boys, came as well on Sunday! It was really neat to see Dallas on his special day! Can't believe he is growing up so fast....(: So, Saturday we went out for Mexican food, and boy do I need to get back on a healthy streak again after all that I ate the last few days! It was nice though.

NOW...I have arrived back in Thatcher. Its Monday and I already have a stress headache...grrr....It's overwhelming all the things I have to do this week. Mainly all in prep for finals. Plus I have 2, not 1, but TWO concerts this week. Tomorrow is our Festival of Carols which is choirs, band, AND Orchestra. Yup. Should be a good one. Mom's coming for it and bringing the stuff I left at home this weekend(: Then on Sunday is the annual "Messiah" performance. That should be pretty awesome too. I'm sure I'll blog about it.

So, its quite the week ahead of me. I hope I can handle it! I'm sure if I do whats right and prioritize my time, the Lord will truly bless me and help me to do well in finishing out this semester! He's helped me thus far, so I have faith that He won't let me down!

Have a fantastic week everyone....pray for us poor, hard working, stressed out, sleepless, wild college students!