Hi, I love getting to come home. I own a Christmas tree and decided to come home this weekend to retrieve it so we can set it up in our dorm. yea!!

I got to hang out with Jason and Jarrod for a little bit tonight which was fantastic, and then my parents took me to Roadhouse for dinner...yum!

Next weekend I'm working the NASCAR races in Ft.Worth. This morning we had set up for the merchandise booths. It was a whole lot better than I expected. We sorted and hung like 300 shirts, plus hats and little knick-knacks (like ash trays, pens, flags, buttons, blankets, film, etc). NASCAR fans will buy anything from what I've been told.

I'm for sure graduating next December!! I got my schedule and course plan all ironned out this week. : )

Christen

And so it begins...

The holidays have begun...in my heart at least. CHRISTMAS!!!! Yeah, I know, you're thinking, "It's October 25!" Okay, you're right, but as of next week, it's November, which is definitely Christmas season!! I even saw a house tonight with Christmas lights up.

So, it began today because I busted out the Santa's Country Christmas CD. Go ahead and make fun of me, but it's my FAVORITE!! It has all the classics.

Christmas is the best time of year because it guarantees lots of family time, great decorations, and of course the giving and receiving of gifts.

I don't think you grasp how much I love Christmas. I have the best family in the world. We're huge!!! And we all gather under the same roof for like 3 or 4 days! PLUS, I'll have a baby nephew this year.

With the love of Christmas,
Christen

Sunday night, 8:24 p.m. and I still haven't been productive. I was going to spend this entire weekend doing homework. I was not only going to get caught up but get ahead. *sigh* So much for my good intentions.

Oh well, it's been seriously fun. Friday night I went to Fort Worth for the 1st time since I was like 10. It was so beautiful!! Then yesterday I went and saw Elizabethtown (if you like slightly weird movies, you'll LOVE it). Afterwards, Karissa and I rented A Lot Like Love (one of my new favorites!!!) and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (also wonderful).

OH and Karissa showed me this exercise video with BALLET!! I love ballet, so I've done it twice since 11 pm last night!! haha

DANCE PARTY!!!!

Christen

Yea!!!  I finally successfully uploaded a picture!

  This one is from my birthday party at Olive Garden: Danae, Shelby, me, Brooke, Karissa, Heidi, and Jeanene.

This may be the ugliest picture I've ever seen, but it's hilarious.  We had a funeral for Jeanene's old tennis shoes from early high school.  Notice the tear drops I drew on each of our faces.  : )  Karissa gave us a lovely 21 gun salute.

Christen

Drama.

Tonight we celebrated the birth of Shelby Brown. We cooked hot dogs, ate birthday cake, played Pin the Tail on the Donkey, busted a pinata, and gave her some amazing compliments. Basically, she's super cool and is now 22.

After the fiesta, I watched a little baseball then got a snowcone...yum!! Then, of course, we sat on the outside couch and hung out with some great friends.

Ikey, one of my good friends from home, just called. I like him; he's great.

The new picture is me (in my new glasses) and Shelby (the homecoming queen!!!!) right before she was crowned.

Christen

I'm tired. I feel like life hasn't slowed down in weeks. *sigh*

Congrats to my ROOMIE Shelby Brown who was crowned Southwestern's Homecoming Queen today!!! It was so exciting!!!

I went home last night for baby Eli's baby shower this morning. Mark and Sheila got a ton of cool stuff. They are all set. Now if Eli would just be born!!! Yea!

Tonight was fun. I went to dinner with Shelby's brother and sister then we went to Braums. yum. I love my friends and my roomies.

Christen

This week has been crazy. I had a research paper due today that I think I did well on, and I made a 110 on a quiz that I did not do any of the reading for. : ) Tomorrow I have a Children's Lit test. It's gonna be hard, but I feel okay about it.

Hey, Nathan Hartman, if you are reading this, it's time to get a Xanga. I believe in you. (And I just gave you a shout out, so that should count for something.)

Guess what, the outdoor couch got stolen today by some no-good-dirty-rotten scoundrels. They are worthless, and I'm officially mad.

Christen

Does life ever just sneak up on you? I feel like I'm just minding my own business and....WHAM...I'm super busy. I try not to be a procrastinator, but it happens. I think I overestimate myself and how long it actually takes me to do things. Oh well, I guess that's the point of college: to completely stress you out and test your limits before sending you out into the real world. So, I'll be fine. : )

Despite busyness, I'm very good and happy. Every day my anticipation of being an aunt builds. I keep dreaming about little Eli. A few nights ago I dreamed he was a newborn, and I was holding him while he was sleeping. AWW!! He may be the cutest kid ever born. He'll be half white/ half Filipino (Asian). I can't wait. The doctor told Sheila he'd be willing to deliver anytime after Nov. 1!! That's only 3 weeks! *sigh* I'm going to be a great aunt.

Christen

Today was wonderful!!! I got to watch my little brother play basketball with his JV/8th grade team. He got to play a ton, and they won 1 of 2. It was great.

Then off to good ol' Van. We played cards (I got 4th), ate some amazing gumbo, and celebrated birthdays. I love my family so much.

So...I love the country. I can't imagine growing up anywhere different. My grandparents are currently having a lake built out on the front part of their property. It's several acres big, and they just finished it. Now they're just waiting for the rain. (The builder said an 8 in rain could fill the whole lake...I don't understand how that's true.) Anyway, I took the 4-wheeler out in the bottom of it for about half an hour. It's AMAZING and HUGE!! They left several fallen trees for the fish, and there are a million bumps from the bulldozers, so it made my trek incredible. I was flying through there jumping over stuff and skidding through the dirt. It was some of the most fun I've had in a while. hehe

Christen

P.S. I had to change my profile picture because there was some controversy about what I was holding. Earrings, sickos!!!! I was holding earrings. So, in the new picture, I am blowing out birthday candles in my my bowl of fruit. I didn't want a birthday cake, so my roommates got me an awesome bowl of fruit.

Through Facebook, I've been reading people's profiles that I went to high school with. What meaningless, empty lives they lead. I am not judging them, only evaluating the hurt I felt inside myself while reading about what is important to them. I am so sad that I did not make more of an impact during high school. I had the means and many times did not use them. But I was also overjoyed to see that some of my classmates have come back to the Lord. It's apparent, and I'm so happy.

Fall Break is going well. My family is the proud new owner of wireless internet. My dad told me this morning to go buy it and set it up, so I did. It's beautiful.

Oh, and this is cool...I got glasses today. My vision has progressively gotten worse over the last couple of years, so I took the plunge. They are so cute. Someday I'll get a picture.

Goodnight!
Christen

I sold my soul to Facebook today.  I had no idea of the world out there.  But do not fear Xanga world, I shall not abandon you.

Have I mentioned that I really, really like some of my new friends?  You know how there are people that you know but never really hang out with?  Well, this semester (through my wonderful roomie Shelby) I have had the opportunity to hang out with some really great guys: Skip, Nathan, Josh, and the Trewern boys.  So fun!!

Tonight I told Shelby and Jeanene the long, drawn out version of my relationship with my ex-boyfriend.  (By ex, I mean, we broke up 2 1/2 years ago.)  For those that knew me then, isn't it crazy that it's been almost 3 years?  How life has changed!  God is so faithful to me in the hard times and the good times.  I love knowing that everything happens for a reason, and being able to confidently say that I'd do it all over again if it meant I got to touch one more life.  God is truly good.

Christen

Today I've had such a weird feeling. I've been thinking about the wreck, and it seems so surreal. Sorry I didn't elaborate more yesterday.

Last night on the way home from the Ranger's game, we were coming through Midlothian and our driver accidently ran a red light. I saw the whole thing, which was crazy. I was sitting in the front seat and realized we weren't slowing down for the red light. The guys in the back seat said I started screaming (I don't remember screaming) at this point. I saw the oncoming SUV begin to turn right to try to avoid us, but his front left end hit the back seat passenger door intially and moved all the way up to about the mirror. I braced myself against Shelby (who was also in the front seat) and now her arm is really sore. In the impact, the back seat door's window shattered throwing the glass throughout the car. Glass was all down my shirt and pants, and I have a few bad scratches on my lower back.

Isn't it amazing how complex our minds are? I can recall about a million different things that were going through my mind immediately after the impact, like: "What if he doesn't have full coverage? How expensive is this going to be? He does not deserve this." or "Am I bleeding? I cannot get blood on Karissa's sweater." or "Oh, crap, my drink just spilled in the floorboard." or "It's 12:30; we're going to be late for curfew."

So, the police came and asked a million questions. I was in complete shock. I'd never been in a wreck before and felt so bad that it had happened to my friend who was driving. It still doesn't seem real, but we're all okay. We all have some scratches, and Shelby has a sweet bruise from the steering wheel. God really had his hand on us.

Christen

What a crazy, crazy day!

It was great...I found out I made A's on two tests this week, my reading project was a huge success, AND my computer came in the mail today!! Then, tonight Shelby and I went to Corsicana with Nathan, Josh, and Kendall. I absolutely love those guys. We went to a hunting/fishing/camping store to exchange Shelby's sleeping bag (cause her's ripped). Afterwards, we picked up Kyle and went to the Ranger's game. Of course they lost, but it was so fun. There were drunk guys in front of us who were being ridiculous. On the way home, the guys thought they saw a bowling ball and went running after it. They almost fell in a man-hole!!! Crazy!

The only bad part of the day came at the end: I was in my first wreck tonight. It was so scary, but we're all just fine. I wasn't driving, but I was still pretty shaken up. I have some scratches from broken glass, but we're okay. Pretty crazy.

Christen