Make it count.

Let's see...this break has been quite uneventful. Not. Almost got fired on Thursday. Then again on Friday. And almost quit all those days and then some. But luckily, I'm a lucky girl and I think I may have it all figured out. So no worries, I'll be serving pie until the end of time.
So I've been home even more this break, and it's been wonderful. Christmas night, we [my mom, dad, Brittany, Melanie, Dan, Sheron, Branden, Carrie, Clint, Owen, and Maddy] went to a late showing of Les Miserables. And I cried like a baby. Seriously folks, if you haven't seen it yet? DO IT. It's incredible. Well worth the time and money. So ignore the quality of the picture and believe me when I say the excitement could not be contained--neither could the tears.

Then I went to Morgan's house on Wednesday night, and for the first time in a long time, it felt like it used to. We played Murderer in the Dark like we were in junior high again, and then took thirty minutes to get home because the roads were so bad. Thursday I went up to work again, and then last night?
I got to be with my best friend again. Emily and I are a disaster without each other, and a mess when we're together. So we went ice skating with her brother Tim, Bronson, Jon, and Jackson for a YSA activity. We're both awful, in case you were wondering.

After far too many farewells in one day, I can safely tell you that the future of this church is in good hands. I'm so proud of my friends that are serving missions, and even though I'm going to miss them all like crazy, there's nowhere else I'd have them be. 

It's New Year's Eve tomorrow....and we're going to make 2012 go out with a bang. 

Reason for the season.

I love being home. Because I get to see Christmas lights with my cute sisters. [We saw a Christmas moose, a Christmas dragon, and a Christmas moose. If they're made of Christmas lights, they're holiday animals. Ask Mary, and my mom.]

Christmas means family parties, and seeing this little cutie. I haven't seen him for three months, at least, and he's the happiest little guy I've met. He didn't let me put him down for a majority of the night, and I was perfectly okay with that.

Same family Christmas party, just a different view. All of the Bell cousins, making donuts, drinking hot chocolate, and opening presents for the cousin gift exchange. We even got Amy's family--who lives in Vancouver--in on the fun via FaceTime. Here's a mass of the small children, watching the Lay's open their gifts, and vice versa. My family is definitely cooler than yours.

Not really sure what this one is for, but we must be related or something.

I love Christmas morning, and this year? I got leggings to match Mary's. We rocked the matching outfits today, and my great grandma told me, "Those are the classiest pants I have ever seen." You better believe they are.

Then I was at the Kunzler's getting destroyed at Uno and Phase 10, and my mom told me to hurry home because Matt and Braxton had brought a present over for me. I came home to this little beauty, and you better believe it's going up in my room. I'm a lucky girl, ladies and gents.

Even though presents and games and dinners and cousins are great, there's more to the Christmas season. And as exciting as new toys are, it's important for us to remember the real reason we celebrate this holiday. 

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord...Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." 

Our Saviour died for us, and he lives today; and He, not presents or candy canes or Santa Claus, is the reason this season is so special. 

Merry Christmas, friends. 

Keep on smiling.

I love being home. [Mainly because there's real food, free laundry, and my family.] Also because I get sushi dinners. For Emily's birthday, she wanted to have sushi for dinner and ride FrontRunner into Salt Lake, so that's exactly what we did. Six sushi rolls, a mango salad, and japanese ice cream balls later, we rode frontrunner to City Creek and then looked at the lights at Temple Square. 

[This was BEFORE Aubrey needed new pants, and my mom had to run with her across the parking lot and into Gordman's to accomodate.]

With a building this pretty, it really makes you wonder why people would want to get married anywhere else. Seriously. And even with what seemed like a million and a half people swarming Temple Square, the lights were incredible as usual, and the temple looked spectacular. 

We watched a...happy couple for a good five minutes, and then tried to take a picture of them. You can barely see them in the background, but the best part of the picture has got to be Emi's face. Pure luck that we caught that on camera, folks. 

After being in Logan by myself for two days, I came home right after work on Tuesday night. And decided to see the Hobbit with my family and the Jason and Bentley. [Maybe I'm just a hater, but I have never been more bored in a movie in my whole life. Seriously. And the fact it's only the first of three movies the same length...kind of makes me want to poke my eyes out. In other words, thought I might be a LOTR fan...not so much. The end.] The fact that the movie was in 3D meant a tool-time picture in the mirror was only to be expected. 

Seeing a three hour movie at 10:20 pm, does nothing good when you have to be up at six thirty the next morning. Yesterday was Bronson's birthday, so Bronson, Jon, Paige, Jackson, Jared, Kambria and I went snowboarding/skiing at Brighton all day long. After not being on a snowboard in two years, I spent a fair amount of time either flat on my butt or on my face. And I'm sore enough today to make sure I'm not doing that again for a litte while. But I got to spend all day with my best friends, and then we went to the Davis Viewmont hockey game too. [Which was probably the weirdest thing...sitting next to Bronson and Dylan when I'm used to watching them play. Good news though, we still lost. And Bronson predicted the score perfectly, right down to who would score how many goals.] Needless to say, yesterday was fantastic, and it was the perfect way to spend the last birthday for two years with my best friend. Happy Birthday, kid. :)

Give me a break.

In case you were wondering, finals week is just as bad as everyone says. Countless hours in the library, reading textbooks until you want to poke your eyes out, and eating very little food--if any--in between study sessions. And all of this for a test, that at most, lasts two hours. It's ridiculous, really.
But, I survived. Creative Arts? A joke of class, which means I should have expected that the final would be just as big of a joke. 20 multiple choice classes. Every single answer was A. Biology? Not even bad...besides, it didn't count on my GPA. [Which makes all my studying kind of pointless, but I was proud of my score.] JCOM wasn't bad either, and most of it was review. But it was stressful. And finally, Psychology this morning. Paige and I studied forever yesterday, and we'll find out shortly if it actually paid off.
It's been a long week. Because on top of finals, I had to work. And got my fifth flat tire of the last month. And had to say goodbye to way too many people.
So. After Paige and I got no sleep, took our last final, cleaned our apartments, said goodbye to Bronson and Jon, took my car in for new tires [Thanks Dad.:)]  and attempted to appeal her parking ticket, we decided we needed food. So we moped about until we went to lunch, and now I'm just waiting to go to work so that I can get out of here. I've never wanted to be home so bad in my whole life.
It's been a long 24 hours. And I'm ready for Christmas break.

BUT. I get to be home in less than 12 hours. And I get sushi for dinner tomorrow. We're going to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Concert on Sunday. And it's almost Christmas. So even though life is stressful, and I should probably not talk to anyone today, I'm so grateful for what I have, for this semester up in Logan, and for the friends that I have. Friends that stay up studying with me, change my flat tires way too many times, wake me up for my final, and for friends that talk to me over Dr. Pepper and noodles, and sleep over so that I'm not alone in my apartment.


There was a shooting today in Connecticut, and 27 people--18 elementary school kids--died. So today? I'm counting my blessings that a flat tire and no sleep are my biggest trials. Hug your family a little harder, and be a little more grateful for the life that you have. Because we really have no idea what's coming next, and we are so lucky to be where we are with what we have.

Finals are over, I'm going home, and next semester shall be wonderful.
Until then? Merry Christmas from the Snitches of 102!

[Yes, we did devote a full hour of our lives to a photoshoot for this card. And yes, those are corduroy jumpers, turtlenecks, ugly sweaters, knee length tshirts, fishnets, and glitter bows. We're cute. Accept it.]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I made A-Team!!!!!

Which means that I get to spend the next few semesters and summers working with all the incoming freshman, heading up orientation, USU's SOAR program, and mentoring classes for the Connections class that's offered before school starts in August. 

Which means that I get to live in Logan this summer with Lauren, and possibly Kelsey. 

Which means that life is so dang good. 

That's the moral of the story. 

See you soon.

With No-Shave November officially over, we've been able to watch some of our friends remove their facial hair in stages....these would Max's "star-burns." I didn't get the handle-bar mustache that accompanied them the next day, but this should just serve as a pleasant reminder to all of you that not all facial hair is creepy...some of it's just plain weird. [But Max, I still adore you. :)]

I got a text on Tuesday from my mom just as I was getting out of yoga and all it said was, "Mary says this is her crying because she misses you." I called her later that day and this is about how our conversation went. 

"Hi Mar! I saw your picture."
"Ohhhh, yeah."

"Were you just so sad?" 

"You're just always gone, Ash! And I miss you. Can we have a sleepover?" 

I admire the innocence and pure love this little girl has...and I miss her more than anything else. I can't wait for Christmas Break. 

Kelsey is a winner, and she wore this lovely ensemble to the Ambassador [or Ambadassador, depending on who you ask] Christmas party. Opaque red tights, pleather red boots, a Christmas t-shirt, and a Christmas sweater, complete with jingle bells, all tied together with a tacky red bow in her hair. I absolutely adore this girl, and wouldn't ever wake up on Tuesday and Thursday mornings if it wasn't for her. Thanks, Kels. :) 

For our Relief Society activity this month, we had a steak dinner and made ornaments. We wanted to get a picture taken with all of us roommates and our ornaments, so we asked Morgan to do so...and this is what we got out of it. Four pictures of Morgan's face, and one decent picture of us snitches. We'll keep Burns around, I guess. 

Cute, aren't we? And Kelsey and I even made an ornament, and we're the least crafty of the six of us. [Yes, it may just be a clear ornament with a Wendy's coupon in it that we're going to smash like they do in a Jewish wedding ceremony as soon as we both finish our JCOM final, but don't judge us. We tried.]

And now, it's time to crackdown for finals week. So the six of us migrate to the library, and don't move for six hours. [Except for mental health breaks, where we run stairs and people watch until we have to study some more.] Which is exactly what we're about to do for the second time of many, as soon as we get our study food and pack our bags for nightly hibernation. The moral of the story is, I'm signing off until next week. [Except for the A-Team announcement tomorrow, which is giving me an ulcer the size of a small country.] Time to put the Dr. Pepper in an IV line, and stock up on Polar Ice gum, since that's the only thing that keeps me focused on the fact that I can't be snacking constantly. Yay finals week, and good luck to you kids doing the same. See ya never. :) 

We're just different.

Friday night, I had to work until close, which is at 2 a.m. I got home around 2:45, and all of the lights in my apartment were still on, so I knew my roommates were awake...but I couldn't hear them or find them anywhere. So I walked into my room to change, and they started singing. From my bed. Wrapped in Christmas lights. I guess I'll keep them around. 

My interview for A-Team went really well, apparently, because I have an individual interview today at 4:45. Laur, A-Ludd, and Em helped me pick out an outfit for today so they'd all feel partially responsible if I make it...we'll see how it goes. 

After I untangled the snitches from the lights, we moved our mattresses out into our family room and had a giant sleepover Friday and Saturday night. We slept until noon...and even though I've never done that before, it was so nice. First time I've had more than 8 hours of sleep in who knows how long. Even though I woke up in the crack between mine and Kenzie's bed at least three times and probably spent a majority of the night on Kenzie's mattress, it was great. And made for an even more entertaining Sunday nap session. 

When the restaurant you work at doesn't need anymore one dollar bills, you get stuck with way too many of them. So Paige decided it would be fun to throw them all over my bed and then roll in them. The ultimate waitress problem, right here. The bank is going to love me today. 

Kenzie and Adrienne did a dress rehearsal of our Christmas surprise, and decided that rather than both being elves, Kenzie was going to be a pregnant polygamist. I'm telling you, my life would be much less entertaining if these two weren't such a huge part of it. 

Jon and Bronson spent a large part of the last 48 hours in our apartment and we kept them up way too late every night, watching Warrior, making cupcakes, and last night....we painted Jon's nails. He'd make a great hand model, wouldn't he? 

We wanted to see what Jon would look like with long hair...so Emi volunteered her mane...and really, we just wanted you all to appreciate Jon's shirt. DisneyWorld sells some quality looking clothing, my friends. 

It's been quite the weekend, and this week is going to be an adventure. A-Team interview today, work tomorrow, and the Aggies play the Cougars on Wednesday in Provo [you better believe we're making the drive down there.] Then more work, more work, and finals next week. Living on the edge of crazy makes life that much more entertaining.