Christmas is Coming to Town...

Dear everyone,

I am missing my camera. It is blue, and cute, and looks like this:

I last saw it on Thanksgiving day in a black Panasonic case. Which means, yes, my Thanksgiving pictures are currently unavailable. So if it happens to show up, let me know. Of course I most likely just misplaced it in my apartment somewhere, but I get REALLY frustrated when I can't find something (personality flaw...) and I can only handle looking for 10 minutes at a time. Plus I have a theory that if I am patient enough, most of the stuff I lose will turn up. And if it doesn't, well, usually by that point I've realized I can live without it (like two of my most favorite pairs of flip flops. *sigh*). But I'm not sure I can live without this camera...

Anywho, Thanksgiving was awesome and now I can finally turn to the next holiday--CHRISTMAS!--without any guilt! I spent the last of break decorating our apartment:

Baby Christmas Tree!

Wreath I made with one of my bf's out of ornaments :)

And just tonight I finally got around to making Christmas countdowns! I sorta' stole the idea from the ones my mom used to make with us when I was little. You get to cut a piece of bubblegum off each day and there's a cute little poem to go with. By the way, (I tried SOOO hard to blow a bubble for you guys... apparently it's not one of my talents so I gave up and just smiled for this pic. Sorry!)

"Did you know that Santa Claus chews bubble gum everyday?

And did you know that Santa Claus blows bubbles in his sleigh?

Just 25 days 'til Christmas, I hope it gets here fast!

I'll have to plan carefully to make my bubblegum last!

One bubblegum each day is all that I will chew,

and with every bubble that I blow, Santa I'll think of you!"

Successful day! But in all seriousness, it WAS a great day. I spent all day on campus studying for my test and scored... (drum roll please) a 94%! Woot! It was such an awesome feeling to see the little "Fantastic!" next my ID# at the testing center! And I got to see all the Christmas lights on campus, and I have awesome friends, and I have a family who makes sure my radiator is working properly, and I have a dad who will listen to me and help me process my life for hours on end, and life is just kinda' really good. Famous Anne Frank is quoted as saying, "Think of all the beauty still left around you and BE HAPPY." I like that :) This time of year, it's easy to get swept up in finals, and how cold it is, and how much there's left to do in school before the semester ends, but when I take a step back to really look at the world, well, I can't help but realize how blessed I am. So as things get busy this Christmas season, I challenge you all to count YOUR blessings. And life will get a little bit better. I promise.

Take care,

me