"I'm Coming Home. I'm Coming Home. Tell the World I'm Coming Home!!"

I'm done!!! Finishing finals is THE greatest feeling in the world. It's especially great when it means that I am completely done with that class and that it is finally time to go home. The lack of homework that I should be doing always freaks me out once the semester is over, but I love it. Tomorrow I plan to read "The Help" and People magazine on the plane....not "The Multigenerational Developmental Systems Perspective" or "Discovering the Western Past." It's kind of wonderful having absolutely nothing that I should be working on. Christmas break is the greatest. I am mostly packed and am now going to try to get a couple hours of sleep before I leave. Dallin is giving me a ride to the airport at 3 a.m. and then I just have 3 plane rides, 2 layovers, and a 2 hour drive before I'm HOME!! It's going to be a very long day, but so worth it. Minus that it was 65 degrees here today....I don't really think that will be the case in Burley. I guess I can deal with that though. 15 hours and 33 minutes until I land in Boise!!

Also, today was Beka's birthday. (Do you like how this blog has become a place for birthday shout-outs?) We took her to dinner at Applebee's which was delicious and a great way to end the semester. 

Happy Birthday Beka!

P.S. This is us with Elder and Sister Crowther on the last day of class. Together we are the "Recess Friends." Elder Crowther made up a parable about us one day in which Institute is recess time and we are their friends on the playground.

 

Almost Done...

So today was crazy...but good. This morning I had my Western Civ final, which almost caused me to have an emotional/mental breakdown while I was studying for it last night. I didn't really sleep all night because I was super nervous and nauseous from not eating well yesterday. I didn't know anything and was sure that I was going to fail and then, by what I know can be attributed to divine intervention, I not only survived the final, but I feel pretty good about it too. Whooo! The rest of the day was mostly spent running around like a crazy person. Then tonight Imari, Kenzy, and I finished frosting some sugar cookies. Our attempt at eclairs failed epically yesterday, so we decided to go with the classic Christmas sugar cookie instead. Once we had a plate of cookies frosted, we took them to Elder and Sister Crowther's apartment to tell them Merry Christmas. We ended up staying at talking to them for almost 2 hours. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love those people. I loved them as my Institute teachers, but this semester I feel like they are my best friends too. It was so much fun to just sit and talk to them in a casual setting. They are the most incredible people. I can't even explain it. We made plans to have a game night with them next semester, and Imari and I are going to play them in tennis. Apparently Elder Crowther gets super competitive and Sister Crowther is a beast at the net. We are going to get killed. I'm super excited though. I absolutely adore them and they seem to like us a lot too. Mostly that was the highlight of my day. It was an awesome break from finals to talk to those two. They are so funny. Now I have un poco mas studying to do for my last final at 8 tomorrow morning. Then it's packing time! Only like 35 hours until I'm home!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. My personal trainer (Kenz) made me do a suuuuper intense workout today. Imari and I tried to hide from her but it didn't work. She kicked our butts today. I love her for it though.

Oh Finals...

I feel like finals week wouldn't be nearly so stressful if people would just stop talking about how stressful it is. All the hype about finals week always stresses me out more than the actual tests do. Plus, in college finals week is super chill because all we have to do is take a few tests all week. No class or anything else to worry about. Don't get me wrong, it is stressful and I am super nervous about my finals, but let's not get over the top about it people. Today I slept in, worked out (Kenzy has become my personal trainer and she is kicking my butt!!), lazed around for a while, practiced my guitar, studied for my Art History test, talked to Elder and Sister Crowther, went to my guitar jury (like a final for private music lessons), took my Art History final, bought some shampoo and conditioner, studied for my Western Civ final, went to "New Years Eve," studied a little more, and now I am headed to bed. Really not a bad day considering it's finals week. Tomorrow I don't have any finals so it will consist of taking Imari to get her car fixed, working out, studying, painting, and making eclairs for Elder and Sister Crowther (We decided we wanted to make them something for Christmas and they told us eclairs are their favorite. We are doubting whether we can actually make them, but we are willing to try anything for the Crowthers...love them!). So yep, there's life right now. Mostly I have been wanting to start packing my suitcase for the last two weeks. We are getting closer to that being a reasonable thing to do. So excited to get home. Two more finals and a couple final paintings to go!

Also, it's this kid's birthday today. Weird that she's 20. That means that I'm 2 weeks away from being 20. When did we get old?? Also, I really was going to call you today, Heath. Kind of I got busy and the day got away from me. I'm sure you were busy too. Good thing I will see you soon! Happy 20th Heath! Love you!

You Can Count on Me

I'm dreaming tonight of a place I love

Even more than I usually do

And although I know it's a long road back

I promise you

I'll be home for Christmas

You can count on me

Please have snow and mistletoe

And presents on the tree

Christmas Eve will find you

Where the love light gleams

I'll be home for Christmas

If only in my dreams

I have been doing pretty good this semester with not getting homesick. Of course I  always miss my family and want to be with them, but I have had so much fun and so little free time this semester that I was pretty distracted from actually being homesick. However, now that I have less than a week until I go home, I am definitely dreaming of that place that I love more than I usually do. I am sooo excited to go home. So, now you get a list of all the reasons that I'm excited to be back in good ol Burley, Idaho:

1. My family. Duh. I can't even begin to tell you how much I like those people.....it's a lot

2. My friends. Another duh. There are four wonderful girls that I haven't seen in far too long. I am so excited for some of our best friend time. 

3. My bed. The ridiculously squeaky, twin bed from the 50's that I have here is just not cutting it for me. I am so excited to sleep in my extra big and comfy bed. 

4. My house. Mostly I love everything about that place. It's clean, the dishes are always washed, the counters always wiped down, the kitchen floor is always swept, laundry is cleaned and folded and put away ridiculously fast, it smells good, and I looove when it's decorated for Christmas!

5. My puppy. That little guy is crazy but I sure do love and miss him.

6. A haircut. Darla has cut my hair pretty much my entire life. She is the only person that I trust to cut my hair which means I only get a haircut when I am home. I need one really bad.

7. Upper Crust, Stevo's, Chadwick, Edith's, and Taco Bandido. Burley classics that I am super excited to eat at.

8. Snow. As much as I love that there are still days that I can still go outside without a jacket on here, December just isn't December without snow. I kind of need a white Christmas.

9. My hot tub, my fireplace, and my hot chocolate maker. They make snowy days so much more fun.

10. No school. I am ridiculously excited to be done with the semester and have 3 weeks of zero stress. That will be incredible.

11. Christmas. I mostly love everything about Christmas and I am so excited to be at home where I can really get into the Christmas spirit.

12. My ward Christmas party. I have always loved that thing. I don't know if I will be home in time for it, but I hope so because I love it.

13. My ward. I love those people a lot. So many people there that I am so excited to see.

14. Hysterical laughing time with my sisters. We get a little weird when we are all together and it's mostly my favorite thing in the world. Also Mitch looking at us like we are psychos when we get stuck laughing for literally hours.

15. My piano. I love that thing. SVU's pianos are all old and out of tune....makes me appreciate mine so much more.

16. My 20th birthday. I am so excited to be done being a teenager. I feel like I was done being a teenager a long time ago but I'm excited that it will be official soon. Maybe it's all in my head, but I feel like I will be taken more seriously by my fellow students when I can say that I'm 20 and not 19. 

17. Gingerbread house making. We are pretty pro at that. 

18. Christmas morning cinnamon rolls....need I say more? 

19. Family time reading the story of Christ's birth from our little advent calendar books. We have never been good at reading one each night, so it usually turns into reading all 24 little books on Christmas Eve.
20. My family. Can I say that one again? I am so excited to be home with them.

So maybe this is dramatic and makes it sound like I have been living some cold, lonely existence for 20 years. I haven't. I've had fun. I am just so ready to be home for Christmas!

Can I tell you how much I love these kids? No, I really can't. 

.................

9 days and 13 hours until I am home!! Whooo! I really want to be in that lovely frozen wasteland. Also, the to-do list is getting shorter! I love when that happens. Today I finished the process of applying to BYU to take summer classes. It feels good to get that out of the way. I have had a lot of people stress when I have mentioned something about applying to BYU. Apparently I am not allowed to stay there. My bishop pretty much told me he wouldn't sign my ecclesiastical endorsement until I promised that I would be coming back to SVU after my summer in Provo. Super funny. Probably BYU is going to terrify me and I will be more than happy to come running back to my comfort zone of SVU.....all 800 of us. I kinda like this place. Also we had our last activities committee meeting of the semester tonight. After we were done putting away the decorations from the dance, Branden told us that he was taking us all out to dinner tomorrow night as a thank-you. Then he gave us all a hug. I mostly never know how to take that kid, but I won't complain about free food and hugs. It's nice to feel appreciated........................ Wow I just got hard core writer's block. I really have nothing to say tonight (obviously). I feel like there's lots I could say but I just can't..............write it.......type it.........think of it.......know if it's worth talking about...........um yeah I'm struggling. I'm going to be done now and go to bed.

And just because this post isn't random enough already, here is Cassie's random question of the day: Why do trains honk their horn/blow their whistle so much? BV has tracks that run through it and there are always trains on them, and the trains are always super noisy! They just pull their little horn/whistle  the whole time they are driving through. It's extremely loud and unnecessary I feel like. Plus trains are loud enough as it is. Why is this necessary? I don't know. It makes me crazy though.  And now I'm really done.

You Must Be Extremely Bored if You are Taking the Time to Read This Post Today

So I keep not updating this because A) It has been a crazy week and B) I don't really have much to say. Neither of those things have changed, but here I am. The rest of Thanksgiving was wonderful. After Imari and I tried all 7 kinds of pie at the hotel's Thanksgiving buffet, we spent the majority of the day napping in hammocks. Can't complain about that. I was definitely reluctant to come back to real life. The last few weeks of school are rough. I don't know why every professor feels like it's a good idea to have their major projects/papers/presentations due in the last few weeks of the semester. Okay, it kind of makes sense. But it's super annoying. Especially because after Thanksgiving I am just ready to be done. Last week was pretty intense and I mostly lived in the library all week. Luckily, I made it through and now we are on the downhill slope. Thanks to my Art History paper being made optional (which obviously means I'm not doing it) I have finished all of my big assignments and mostly just have finals to stress about now. Getting close. Today was ridiculously long and I have been going since 6:45 this morning. Hopefully the rest of this week isn't quite so long and busy. I created a massive to-do list of every little thing that I needed to accomplish before I went home. It's pretty lengthy and I add more to it every day. Fortunately, I also cross things off everyday. Mostly that's why I make to-do lists; I love crossing things off of them. It's just a little high for me. Apparently I was looking a little worn down today because in institute my teacher was going around shaking everyone's hand before class started, and he stopped when he got to me and asked me if the end of the semester was kicking my butt (or something to that effect). I said "Yep it sure is!" Dang spiritual people who can see right through my calm, cool, and collected mask that I thought I wore so well. Oh well. Only two more classes of Western Civ (and all of my other classes)! That makes me a happy kid.

In other news, Saturday night was our Winter Formal. I got stuck being in charge of the photo booth so I drug Kenzy along with me and we sat and creeped on people all night while we waited for someone to come get their picture taking. Too much fun (sarcasm?). At one point, we walked into the ballroom where the dance was for like 15 seconds and decided we weren't feeling it. We had fun just talking and creeping though. Also I wore my poofy red dress and got a ridiculous amount of compliments on it. I am really bad at taking compliments, especially to that extent, but it was kind of fun. Then we went to Kenzy's house and her, Dallin, and I watched Sherlock Holmes which none of us had ever seen before. I was pretty impressed with it. Oh also Kenz and I made homemade bread on Saturday. It was DELICIOUS! We are such good little homemakers. It made three loaves....I think we are down to one now. Don't judge.

Wow this is a lot longer than I was expecting. Sorry for the rambling. I'm going to be done now. It's bedtime. Bye.

P.S. Willard (Voldemort's middle name that he now goes by) is still alive and happy. He spent the weekend at my house because Imari was gone. We have been bonding. We just love that little creeper!

Oh! P.S. again! Thanksgiving was Cheri's birthday and since I haven't written since then, this is me wishing you a happy birthday Cher! Love ya!

She's a special one.....

Also, Imari's birthday was yesterday. While she was gone we filled her room with balloons, streamers, banners, rose petals, dollar store presents, and googlie eyes (super creepy)! And then we took her to dinner. Happy 21st Imari!