Christ-mehs

I don't really like the holidays. There was just a lot of fighting going on during the holidays while I was growing up. Then, when I got to be about 15, I just got myself into situations that left me upset and lonely at the "happiest time of year". Anyway, point being, I'm not particularly fond of any of the holidays (I do really like 4th of July though. I'm not really sure how that one got through, but alas, there we are).

This Christmas will be my first away from home. I am kinda sad about that. My first Dec. 25 with no snow or having to wait up in my brothers room to see what we got from Santa (my parents brought us down one at a time, youngest to oldest, which of course means I was the last to go.) In the later years, having my grandpa come give 'the grandparent gift' (which is a term I just coined) and join in the Christmas morning merriment.

The Grandparent Gift
Definition: The miscellaneous and often random gift you recieve from a family elder, because they have absolutely no idea what you would like/want/need.

Anyway, after my siblings begged to open everything and my mom would joke about having to choose 1 thing to send back to Santa, which would make the younger siblings very upset and scream and whine and throw things, we got ready to go to my grandma's (different side of the family). Around 11-12 we packed up the Oddesey with our favorite gadget/toy and went to have the super-sized family gathering down at Grandma Colleen's to show off/compare our awesomeness.

Once here, there was still that excited buzz of sharing what we got before we ate breakfast. My grandma decided long, long ago that she needed to go get a ham for this(I think its the only time of year I ever ate ham). There was also vats of eggs and oj and usually some sort of fruit salad and, of course, Mickey Mouse waffles. Again, this is the only time all year that these waffle irons, with my boss's face, are used. It's comforting.

Before we settle into a nice food coma, we got our presents from Grandma. These gifts were often preselcted by ourselves. Around Thanksgiving, she'd take us all shopping to get jean's or shoes or whatnot so we always knew what we were getting and we'd convey the appropriate amount of enthusiasm and we'd hug her and have to take a picture with her. Mostly because my mom likes to take a picture of everything and make sure she gets 2-3 shots of it all just in case the first doesn't turn out correctly. This did not please grandma. She has A LOT of grandchildren so she has to sit and smile for about 10 minutes to get through them all and she is a woman who does not enjoy smiling and posing for extended periods of time.

Anywho, I don't know that I was planning on sharing all that but i did. I'm gonna miss all that this year. And even though, the super-sized family breakfast was packed with passive-aggressive tension, it was still a nice concept to be with family on Christmas. This year, I'll be singing and dancing for other people's families, which is cool too, I guess.

In my effort to get the "humbugs" out of me, I added some holiday music to the playlist. Enjoy.

Oh and I would also like to apologize for all of the run-on sentences in this blog. I never took English in college.

No more math

I am thankful for my recent trip home.

That week changed things I feel. It changed my perspective of Utah for one. When I left it was a dismal unhappy place. And maybe I'm wrong, but it seems life has come back to it.

On a deeper level, I think I have spent the last 2.5 years trying to make things like my senior year again. Like, if i could just get all the variables together I could make the equasion I'd want. Slowly, I've let go of this notion. The trip has gotten me to drop it completely and be ok with it. I've seen now that the things that would need to happen to get back to that "happy time" in my life, can't happen at all cause the variables have changed so dramatically. Does that make any sense?

Maybe if you had an example:

I'd need 2 and 4 and 7 to get the out come of 13. So I have been trying to get those numbers together, but they have all changed. 2 is now 5. 4 is now 1. and 7 is now -6. so even if I did rangle those numbers from my past together, no matter how hard I tried, they wouldn't yeild the result I'd want. Cause 5 and 1 and -6 does NOT equal 13. Ya know what it does amount to? NOTHING.

Anyway, my point is this. Thanks to my excursion to Utah, I have stopped trying so hard to bring back the past. I've been trying to live in the past and I feel like it's made me an unhappy person. But I think now, just like Bry, I can be in the present. And start looking toward the future. And I'm good with that.

(P.S. I've been meaning to write that blog ever since I got back and I'm really glad I sat down and made myself write it out.)

Halloween

I know it's a few days late but this is what I did for Halloween. To preface, Chipotle, one of my favorite places to eat, was offering a free burrito to anyone who came in dressed as a burrito. So Jam, Stephanie, and I grabbed some tin foil and headed over.


As you can see we got creative. We were creatively wrapped burritos.


I totally designed this one.




"Drats, foiled again"- Jamil Claxton


The glasses were a nice touch. Good idea Steph.



So then, with our free Chipotle in tow, we watched our traditional Halloween night film 300. It's not really a tradition yet, I suppose, but since we watched it last year, its off to a good start.

Holiday Happy

Happy friggin' 4th of July everyone.

I haven't done anyting special, seeing as my entire body is throbing for my time with the stickbug. However, I am watching a great little video called Back to the Future. I always seem to be watching movies on holidays where normal people go out.

Anywho, I'll be brief about this. I'm learning the "High School Musical" show at Disney's Hollywood Studios and I am so freakin' excited for it. It has been my goal/dream for a year and a half and now that it's finally happening? Well, it feels pretty damn amazing. Now, I just hope i get to do the show a few times.

Happy Friggin' Easter

"No candy this year kids. The Easter Bunny is unavailable"


I hate holidays.

Wreck of the Day

I hope ya'll in the blogesphere had a good 4th. It's usually one of my favorite holidays. Luckily, I got in my celebratory acts the day before. Yes, ladies and gentlemen. I honored the 4th of July on the 3rd of July.

Things aren't as crazy and obnoxious the day before. Streets are fairly clear. Stores aren't quite packed. Plus there are always people who do a test run of their home fireworks. I know because I was at my aunt's house, in her hot tub, instead of nasty ass Camp/Kiosk, where I was scheduled to be. It's good to veer off schedule every now and then.

Anywho, we had a family party the entire day and it was a blast. Putting it in retrospective, it almost makes up for my 4th, at Camp/Kiosk, where I was scheduled to be(11 and 1/2 hours is too long. I know, some people work 14 hour days but all I say to them is, "STUUUPID!"). I didn't even see any fireworks. I'm not usually big on exploding sky rockets but it's kinda a F*&^ you reminder to Britain that we got our freedom. I would have liked to see some reminding.

But alas, I am gorging on Saved by the Bell attempting to recouperate from the horrific night.