Christmas 3 & 4

Christmas number 3 was with my parents, my sister and her husband. They came over on Christmas Eve and we had dinner and did presents. It was rather low key. It was good to see my sister though. :)

Then on Christmas day my cousin (Scott) and my aunt and uncle came over and we had one last Christmas dinner. It was pretty good. My mom made these little duck things that I cannot remember the name of now, but they were good. And this rice that was amazing! I was getting kinda tired of turkey and ham so maybe that is why I was such a fan of dinner, but it was wonderful!

For me, sometimes it is weird to go back home for Christmas. It is just so much different. I don't know if it is a part of growing up or what, but Christmas just feels different these days. At least it does to me. I keep waiting to get excited about it like I used to as a kid... but excitement never comes to the same degree.

I mean Christmas has so much more significance now. Because as a child it was all about me and about presents but it had a sense of wonder to it... or something. I just always got so excited about it getting cold and putting the tree up and drinking hot chocolate... Now I am much more excited because it is about the birth of my Savior and it is about giving and not getting, and it is wonderful on so many levels. But it is just different somehow...

Anyway, after Christmas my mom and I tried to make gingerbread. And it was not wonderful. I don't know if any of you have an amazing recipe that you want to share but if so I would love it... Because my mom and I have tried different recipes for the last two years and we have not found one we love... But it was much better this year than last, so progress is being made! :)

Christmas 2

For my second Christmas I had a cold. No bueno. I got sick around a week ago and IT IS NOT GOING AWAY. We left early on Saturday morning for East Texas and I felt like a five year old again. I tried to sleep in the car. It didn't really work, but I got to rest a little on the way to my grandmothers.

We got to Gilmer around 10:30 and I ran to Wal Mart with my dad. We then went to Taco Bell and got lunch. About 5 minutes into eating the guy behind the counter announced that they were out of beef for about an hour. How crazy is that? Out of beef... at Taco Bell...

We then had Christmas dinner with my mom's side of the family. It is always great to see them. I have one uncle who has five children and three of them have children. The little kids grow so quickly. I had not seen them since last Christmas and it is amazing what a year will do to a 3 year old!

Anyway, Christmas was fun and my family is well. Though it was weird having Christmas without my brother. He is doing well in Japan. I told him to bring me back something pretty and Japanese... We will see what he gets... I am excited for him that he gets such a fun experience. :)

Christmas 1

I just wanted to say I have enjoyed this week SO MUCH! I know most of you still have work for a while longer, and I am sorry to seem to be gloating, but it is so nice to catch up on sleep and catch up with friends and family. I actually can say I have seen a few of my friends in the last week. WooHoo. And I finally saw that my friends get to have a life on Sunday afternoon when we are done with church stuff... Who knew?!?!


Saturday was my first Christmas of the season. (Note: I have three to go.) It went really well. I got to play with Jessica, which is always fun. She was sick though so she was a little cranky. She opened her first present and it only took her like 5 minutes. Because she is a 7 month old genius! :)

This year my cousin Jacki (Jessica's mom) hosted Christmas for the first time. She and her husband John bought their first house and it was fun to see it all decorated and to see them starting their own traditions. Anyway, since Jacki was hosting, I got to help for the first time. I brought hash brown casserole and got to make the green bean casserole, stuffing, and rolls. I feel like a real grown up! :) I also felt like a grown up when I got cash as a gift and knew I would spend it on groceries...

Another Semeter Down

Hello All,
Well yesterday I took my last final of the semester. I am officially half way done with law school and I am elated! I have the next month off of school! I plan to spend the first half vegging and the second half writing my "senior thesis"... I know you are thinking that kinda stinks... but it beats writing it during the school year.

As far as how this semester went. It was rough. It is funny, I was looking back at my Christmas blog/letter from last year this time and I am amazed at how little has changed....

I am really praying that the Lord will get the glory for my law school experience. I do not want to freak out about my grades. Everyone around me seems to and I just want to rest in the Lord and be content with what I get...law school is insane and I am really looking forward to my break. They say the first semester is the hardest. I hope that is true, because I do not want to endure this for six whole semesters. It has to get easier...Pray that I would continue to be an encouragement to those in law school and those who are generally around me. I feel like I have been to preoccupied lately... I really want to seek the Lord's will for my life and to fulfill His purpose. It is eases to get distracted during finals. Pray that I would be resting in the Lord despite the craziness. It is only through Him that we can accomplish ANYTHING. I want to know that I depended on Him and got through law school on His strength. That is my goal! :)

I quote this because it is almost exactly what I wanted to say today. I still want nothing more than the Lord to be magnified by my life. It is still my daily prayer that I would somehow manage to walk into law school and proclaim His name by my words and my actions. And I still feel completely and utterly blown away by His grace to me on a daily basis.

I can honestly say the Lord carried me through this semester. The first semester is undoubtedly not the hardest. Although I venture to guess this one was. This semester was hard because there was always a million things I needed to do. It bugs me that I so easily get into a frantic rush mode and I so quickly forget the things that are really important.

One of my friends reminded me of a great verse during my finals crunch and it encouraged me so I want to share it with you now:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. -- Hebrews 12:1-3

Thank you to all of you who were diligent to pray for me this semester! Your prayer means more to me than you will ever know! Know that my prayer for you is that you would fix your eyes on Jesus and run the race marked out for you! :)

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I went back to Dallas and spent time with my family. Thanksgiving is my mother's favorite holiday because everyone always comes to our house. This year we had 15 people sitting around decorated folding tables in our living room stuffing their faces. It was quite a sight to see.

My mother always makes a TON of food so we have Turkey Pot Pie and Turkey Tetrazini for about a week afterwards. If anyone is interested in either, I have some of both in my freezer in Houston! ;) Though you better act fast if you want to try some, because finals are a comin' and I am going to be eating them fast!!!

This year was special because we have a new addition to the family... As you can tell from the fact that every picture has a baby in it... If you keep up with my blog, you know that the baby is my cousin Jacki's daughter, Jessica. She is six months old and almost crawling. She is absolutely adorable and the center of attention and she loves it. She is big enough that she smiles and is beginning to have a personality of her own. It is great.

But my holiday was quite good. Mainly because I got to see my entire family, which doesn't happen often. My brother is going to Japan to see his girlfriend (she is in Japan for a year teaching English) over Christmas break and I probably won't see him again until May. So it was good to spend some time with him... It is weird that my little brother is big enough to go all the way to Japan alone... It is weird that he is old enough to have a girlfriend in Japan! I mean he is only a year younger than me, so I don't know why it freaks me out but on some level I expect him (and me) to stay young forever. Oh well... as you can tell from my last post, that is not an option...

Hope you all had a wonderful time with your families as well!



As far as school is concerned, I have 10 more pages of my writing requirement due tomorrow at 8am and a quiz on Wednesday in IP Survey then it is all studying all the time. Oh the joys of school. Have I mentioned I am looking forward to the 13th of December... I will have 53 hours down 37 to go... WooHoo!

Grown Up

This morning KSBJ proved to me that I am in fact an adult. During their morning show, KSBJ played a tone that can only be heard by children. Apparently there is a tone (which teenagers are now using for the ring tone on their cell phones) that is audible to the child but not adults. And low and behold, I could not hear it... At all... I was hoping maybe I would be able to hear it faintly... Like your childhood is fleeting, but not gone yet... But no such luck... Silence... It is official... My childhood is gone.

Sad day... Oh well... Had to grow up sometime. :)

Feel free to test yourself. Though I warn you, you may have to face the lack of music as I did...

Finals....

It is official. Finals preparation is beginning. I am about to drop off the face of the earth. For those of you that will begin to worry about me in a week or so, I am not dead, just buried under books... Have no fear, I will reappear sometime after December 13th... Ohhh, and I will be in a really good mood when I do. Because I will be over HALFWAY done with LAW SCHOOL!!!! Until then, prayer is more than welcome! ;)

Finals Schedule:
12/5: 9am-1pm Federal Income Tax
12/8: 9am-12pm Marital Property
12/12: 3pm-7pm Business Organization
12/13: 2pm-4pm Intelectual Property Survey

Shrimp = Death (Part 2)

Alright, so the day we have all been waiting for has finally arrived, I went to the Dr. and got my allergy results today. Yea! Turns out I am "highly" allergic to crab, shrimp, and lobster. I am "moderately" allergic to scallops, clams, blue mussels, and oysters.

The good news is there is a category above highly allergic, it is "very highly allergic"... Haha, sophisticated system, I know. So it could be worse!!! My Dr. said I still have to carry my epi-pen and chewable benadryl around with me always... but I should be able to make it to a hospital without dying if I ever ingest shrimp, lobster, or crab. So I guess the verdict is I am deathly allergic without my spiffy medication and with it, I still shouldn't take any chances...

A random aside, I asked my Dr. about imitation crab and she said it was fine, so I can eat cheap California rolls, but noting with real crab. :) WooHoo...

Brain Teaser...

I have been told this is a classic, but I had not seen it before and it actually challenged me, so I thought I would share a brain teaser I received today with all of you. :) Enjoy.

"Everybody has to cross the river"

http://freeweb.siol.net/danej/riverIQGame.swf

The following rules apply:

• Only 2 persons on the raft at a time
  
• The father can not stay with any of the daughters without their mother's presence
  
• The mother can not stay with any of the sons without their father's presence
  
• The thief (striped shirt) can not stay with any family member if the Policeman is not there
  
• Only the Father, the Mother and the Policeman know how to operate the raft
  

• To start click on the big blue circle on the right.
• To move the people click on them.
• To move the raft click on the pole (red dot) on the opposite side of the river.
  

Jessica is the coolest...

I have the privilege of having the cutest 2nd cousin in the world. I went to the Woodlands yesterday to hang out with my cousin Jacki, her husband John and baby Jessica! We went to the Cheesecake Factory and I got to play with her while mom and dad ate.

She is getting very quick (she is 5 months old)! I had her sitting on the table at one point and she had my straw out of my glass and into her mouth in about 2 seconds flat. :) She is also rolling over on her own... I am amazed at how fast she is growing. I get to see here every 2-3 weeks, but it is crazy how much bigger she is every time.

She has also recently learned that screaming at the top of her lungs can get her what she wants much faster than crying does and with much less effort. So keeping her quiet in a restaurant was interesting... I realized am still not ready to be a parent! But I enjoy stealing Jessica for an afternoon or evening and then giving her back. :)