#1. Twenty-one whole days with my family. {And my cat.} Seattle days, lazy days, just plain
being sick days, car-washing-and-vacuuming-days, Christmas day(!!!), etc.
I loved every single one.
#2. Spending time with college friends, including ones that I haven't seen forever
due to study abroads, and ones who won't be going back with me come January due to
being old, graduated farts now.
#3. Daily runs and walks on the beautiful trails by the river. Oh how I pine for them
when I'm running on endless sidewalks in continuous, boring straight lines in Provo.
#4. SNOWSHOEING. It was so cold that the water froze solid in my CamelBak
tube, and I'm sure I increased the longevity of my flu by subjecting my sick self to such conditions,
but it was stunningly, pristinely beautiful, and completely worth it.
#5. Ringing in the new year with family. It's 2013. I graduated high school almost three years
ago. I'm a junior in college. My brother graduates and comes to BYU with me in the fall. My youngest
sister is almost in middle school, and the other can go to stake dances. Where does the time go?
#6. Hanging out with old friends. It's always so much fun to catch up with the people you were close to during high school and see where they are and what they're doing.
#7. Having a cute friend from school call me with news that he'd have a 9-hour layover in Seattle the following day. It was so much fun to see him and have him hang out with my extended family and I while we wandered around Seattle. Plus we got tickets to the one of my favorite places on the planet, the Pacific Science Center, to see 3,000-year-old Egyptian artifacts in the King Tut exhibit. Pretty incredible.
#8. Being sick about 60% of the break, including both Christmas and New Years Eve. You should try it guys, it's GREAT.
#9. Our annual tradition of caroling to our neighbors the Sunday before Christmas. Buddy the Elf's mantra about the most effective way to spread Christmas cheer? Proven.
#10. My movie intake spiked by about 700%. Going from hardly ever watching any TV, as is my lifestyle at school, to the level I went to during break was a shock to the system, but I can say that I thought the Hobbit was wonderful, I have fallen in love with the cello and classical music/Russell Crowe all over again due to seeing Master and Commander for the first time, and I will truthfully confess that I cried through Les Mis more than I did the play.
By Sunday evening I'll be back in Provo, in a new apartment, a new ward, and new classes.
Life is so good. I can't wait.
