Christmas

Christmas Day and the day after Christmas are always treasured days. The days and weeks leading up to them are filled with joyful anticipation, crazy shopping trips, and parties. Every other year my family goes to the Oregon Coast where we rent a house and fill it with aunts, uncles, and cousins. The last couple of years a fourth generation has been added to our family and there were five precious little kids between the ages of eighteen months and four years old running around and entertaining us all. Christmas dinner was delicious, we all gathered around the living room with the tiny Christmas tree in the corner and passed out gifts, then all crashed on the couch to sleep off the feast. Today, as usual, we went shopping at the Tanger Outlet Mall to see what bargains we could find. This year, we had a party for my parents' 25th wedding anniversary as well. It's been a delightful couple of days up here with the family. Pictures will follow shortly (I got a new digital camera!), as soon as I upload them.

Katie and I went to Disneyland on Tuesday for a some sister time. It was so much fun! Because of our annual passes, we have been several times, so we decided just to go on our favorite rides (space mountain, matterhorn, Indiana Jones, and the not-so-good-any-longer pirates of the carribean). We spent a total of 5 hours at Disneyland, did a little shopping at Downtown Disney and then had some dinner and went home. We were neither tired nor grumpy by the time we left. It was wonderful!


We took pictures with the corresponding paraphernelia after we went on Indiana Jones and pirates.



Thursday I stayed inside the house for most of the day, looking out the window at the beautiful, soft snow that had fallen all day long on Wednesday. It was nice to be able to enjoy it for a day before we left to drive up to Oregon. We're in Lincoln City for the week to spend Christmas with my Grandma Bonnie and the rest of my family up here in the Northwest.

"I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas"...and an Internet Connection

When I left home to begin college a year and a half ago, I left a world where internet and cell service was a luxury. Since then, I have come to rely on the ever-present internet and the ability to check my email, go on facebook, blog, or simply sit and stare at my computer wondering where I can go on the internet that will not be a complete waste of my time. I am currently on Christmas break and once again on that mountain top where the conveniences of the modern world have yet to arrive. This morning my family and I woke up much too early in order to get my sister to school on time. We woke to the silent falling of new snow. Massive flakes floated down through the air to rest on the ground, joining the already settled blanket of snow that had come sometime during the night. Poor Katie does not have the advantage of a snowday since she goes to school in Oceanside and "snow" is a foreign concept to all southern California residents who aren't fortunate enough to live in the mountains. However, because she has to go to school down the mountain, I am able to find a computer with internet.
Now that I've had my "web-fix" I think I can go back up to the snowy mountains and go without for a few more days.

Books pt. 1

Books give me that breathless, open-mouthed awe that one feels when you see something beautiful, like an exquisite sunset, or something precious, like a baby, or something priceless, such as your great-great-great grandmother's silverset. Before I continue, let me rephrase my first statement. Books excite me. Whenever I walk into a bookstore, I feel greedy. I want to grab them all and, not just read, but absorb all of the stories, styles, and quirks of the authors. I want to take notes and fine-tune my own writing style by picking out likes and dislikes from other authors.
Old books, books that have lost the smell of new and have even gained a little musty smell; books whose pages are worn and yellow, torn and frayed; books whose title is smudged off with age and whose pages are falling from the binding; these are the books that I cherish that I love, that fill me with awe. For, I see in them, not simply the story that they were in their original printing, but just inside the cover, before one turns to the first chapter, is another story. When you open that cover, even when you simply look at the book, another story comes to life, and this is a story of my own making. As I open the cover, I go back in time with the previous owners of the particular volume I am reading to join the hero and heroine in their fight against evil on the side of right, and find that love that "you cannot break, not with a thousand swords. And you cannot hunt it, not with a thousand bloodhounds." There is history in all those old copies. Those books were precious to their previous owners, because they were the entertainment, the relaxation, the way out of this world into another, the way for small children to defeat the White Witch in the safety of their room, or the young woman to be rescued from "a fate worse than death" in the comfort of her living room with a fire blazing in the wood stove and a cup of tea to keep her company. Those books were loved as the only thing to do in the middle of the prairee during a blizzard. They were adored, as the only thing Mother left her.
These are the things that I think of when I open that front cover of a book and finger through the first few pages. My thoughts are thus occupied until I begin the story and get swept away into the literary intelligence of the artist whose masterpiece has travelled through time to rest in my hands.

Tea Time

I went to my grandma's house today to pick up my suit case so that I can pack for Christmas break. When I walked into the house, she was setting her table for the second of two tea parties that she is having this week. When I arrived she poured me a cup, spread some chicken salad on a slice of bread and placed it on a glass plate and then gave me a sample of her homemade cheesecake bites. We took all of this into the living room and sat down to chat for about half an hour. It made me wonder: why have we dismissed the tradition of tea time? Why have our busy schedules blotted out this delightful time of relaxation and fellowship over a china cup steaming with delicious liquid? It was only a small portion of the day. Half an hour perhaps. The English have the right idea about this issue. Tea time should be a priority in everyday life.

Finals week has commenced. I have already had three finals and have two remaining. Then, home I go! Oh, how glad am I for a break from school.

My roommate and I decorated our room. Here is a picture of our tree. We also wrapped our door and hung lights around the window and the door frame.



Tonight was our hall Christmas party. We decorated ornaments, had a white elephant gift exchange, and delighted in lots and lots of sugar! Mmmmm. Yep. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Weekend At The Coast

My roommate and I just returned to school from a delightful weekend at the Oregon Coast. We stayed with my Grandma in the house that she is renting for the month. The trip included shopping at the Tanger Outlets, delicious food cooked by my Grandma, two television sets (we've been without for awhile), our own rooms with double beds, and...oh yeah, some studying for finals this week.

Thank you, Grandma! It was so much fun!