What a fabulous week!

I spent 5 days with the most important people in my life: my family.  I went to Van and ate, laughed, and spent time with my amazing family.  I had so much fun!  We played ShangHi (our favorite and only card game) like 4 times, which brings so much joy to my life.  I lost every time, but it's fun to see other people win and help other people cheat.  Yeah, I admit it, my cousin and I frequently cheat.  Haha!  That's what makes it so great!  I got to see Mark and Sheila who I hadn't seen in about a month, as well as all my cousins!  This week, besides being Thanksgiving, makes me so thankful to be a part of such a fabulous family.

Friday we went shopping all day which is an annual excursion.  Last year while I was in Rockford, I didn't get to come home for Thanksgiving, so it was nice to be back.

Overall, I had an amazing break.  Two more class days and 3 days of finals and then CHRISTMAS!!  Love you all!

Christen

Another rainy day in Texas.  All it's done for the past week is rain.  Right now it's thundering, which is so cool when I can lay in bed and sleep, but no, I have a researched speech to write, and 150 pages to read and respond to by tomorrow.  That's college, and this semester is almost over.  Yea!

Last night my roommate's intermural volleyball team got 2nd place!  They lost to the staff team which is several ex-SAGU volleyball players.  It was fun.

Tomorrow, I head home for Turkey Day.  We aren't actually celebrating til Saturday, but I will get to hang out with my family all week. 

To my friends, I love you and miss you if I haven't seen you in a while.

Christen

Christmas is hands down the best time of year!  This past Saturday was the official start of Christmas celebration for me!  My two roommates and I went to Santa Land, which is a drive through some woods with over 1 million twinkling lights!  It was incredible.  Plus, I found my Santa's Country Christmas CD which has 10 Christmas songs sung by country singers!  I love it.

Christmas makes my heart skip.  It's not the cold, or the presents, or the days off of school.  It's the family, the lights, the decorations, the MAGIC!  It's the celebration of Christ's birth, and the reflection of Mary and Joseph's faithfulness!  Christmas is so magical to me.  It means joy and happiness and togetherness. 

I am so blessed to have an amazing family that loves me and makes me feel like a million bucks.  And I have friends that love me unconditionally.  I don't have to prove anything to these people in my life.  They just love me.

So, Merry Christmas, my dear friends.  I know it's over a month away, but feel the joy and the magic that makes this season truly wonderful!

Christen

This semester is almost up.  I really can't believe it.  I've got 2 days of classes left this week, 2 days before Thanksgiving next week, 2 days of classes the following week and then 3 days of finals!!  I seriously can't believe this!

For those of you who read my entries earlier in the semester, I stressed out a lot, and it has been hard, but it hasn't been as hard as I made it out to seem.  (Typical me)  I only have a couple of big assignments left and a few little ones.  THEN I'm done.  Well, for now.  I have 4 more semesters of classes and 1 semester of student teaching left before I graduate.

Love you all and Happy Holidays!

Christen

2 weeks, 2 days til Thanksgiving!  Let the holidays begin!!

Christen

Yea, Bush!!  There was a warmth and feeling of security that poured over me when I heard Kerry conceded today.  This country really turned out and backed Bush!

Tonight I'm in Longview because my little brother is playing his last 7th grade football game tomorrow.  Last week he had a touchdown AND they won!  Yippee!

3 weeks from tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  Good- because that means a break.  Bad- because I have a 20 page paper due the day before that I haven't done the 400 page reading for yet.  Yikes!

Christen

Last night I went on a blind date.  What a funny experience!  My friend Jeanene and I got set up by Angela and Heidi (our friends) with these two guys Bryan and Matt.  I actually knew both of the guys.  Bryan (Jeanene's date) went to school with my older brother, and Matt (my date) grew up in Gilmer which is only a few minutes from where I'm from, and I worked with one of his friends.  They were very nice.  We went to P.F. Chang's to eat.  It was awesome!  We got lettuce wraps and then I got Almond & Cashew Chicken.  After dinner, we walked around NorthPark mall and then went to Starbucks.  It was fun to sit and talk and laugh.  The guys paid for everything which was great, and we had a lot of fun.  No sparks, though.  And of course, there were some ackward moments of silence.  Anyway, we get back to school at like 11:45 and decide to play a trick on Heidi and Angela.  Jeanene calls them and tells them it went awful.  Heidi got so worried that they left the movie they were seeing. HA!  The guys were hiding around the corner, and I sat on the stairs "crying."  I actually worked up some fake tears!  We had Heidi totally believing us, but Angela was skeptical.  Anyway, Angela's phone rings, and she walks off to talk.  That's when she spotted the guys.  She was like, "what's going on?"  Jeanene and I jumped up and were like, "Just kidding, it was fun!"  They were mad!  Hehe!  Heidi even locked her keys in the car they had been so worried.  So, at the end of the day, it was fun, but I there won't be any more dates.  Good times!

Today, I actually read every single person's Xanga on my subscriptions list.  I hardly ever go to anyone's site, so today I did.

I miss Master's Commission.  This morning in church we were praying for the new members which included all the new MC students.  I started crying during that short prayer.  I miss it so much.

Christen