it's so fluffy!

I didn't get a pillow pet for Christmas.  Not that I asked for one, but everyone else did.  They are fluffly.

Christmas was a perfect lazy day with the fam.  I have to admit, I enjoyed having Christmas morning without a bunch of little kids.  I love having them around and I'm so glad we had a full house the rest of the week, but sometimes the peace and quiet rocks my world.  It's been a fun break, but I need to start getting ready for school next week.  Teacher's think they're being nice when they give you homework.
Mom's here, which I love, but she's got to leave tomorrow to see my new nephew!  What a doll.

Sorry for my last dramatic post.  Here's the quick version.  Last Tuesday night my car was broken into.  They took my purse which basically only had my wallet--driver's license and credit card--in it.  I surprised myself because I never really freaked out.  I cried once, but it was because I felt violated.  For a few days (actually, still), I was afraid to go out at night by myself and I'm a bit distrusting of people who are probably perfectly nice.  The hardest part for me was not having a license.  Or car, I guess.  I finally got my window fixed, a new wallet, a new license, and a new card, so I am good to go.

News.  I bought my first Christmas tree!  I've been way too excited for college lately (even though I still need to be accepted...) and everytime I go into a store I have visions of what my apartment will look like.  Seriously, Pier 1 is the worst.  I've been resisting buying everything I see because I have no where to store it, but I saw this little white tree at Target for four dollars so I snatched some ornaments and beads and I'm set for next year.  I'm hoping my favorite Kar Kar Pants and I can live together cause our home would be bomb.

I thought I'd post some reviews on some great Christmas presents I got.
- MacBook Air: 64GB Flash memory, light as a feather, and super fast.  It pretty much rocks.  No CD drive, and not very many other ports, but I'm feeling like this will be just fine as soon as I get an external drive.  Also, just found out that you can buy Photoshop online and download it, so that helps too.
- Crocodile Chia Pet: Perfect.  It just needs to sprout soon.  Apparently the seeds (not sprouts) are good for you.  They look nasty.  Buy vitamins.  It came with a free deck of Chia Pet cards.  That might be my favorite part of Christmas.
- Hair Biscuit Solid Shampoo from One Bath and Body.  I thought it might dry out my hair, but it's amazing!  You rub the bar over your hair a few times and it lathers up so nice.  I got a bath fizzer too, but have yet to try it.  For real though, try it.
- Mustache Bandages.  I know.  I almost cut myself on purpose just to use one.
- Russian Language Map:  I'm learning my alphabet!
- Everything else.  People were so nice this year.  I didn't really ask for anything this year.  I got everything I needed and way more than I ever wanted.

Favorite presents I gave:
- Everything.  I rock.
- Mustache frames & pictures
- Flashing Christmas light earrings
- a DI trip
- Pei Wei
- snazzy crafts
- love:)


Here's some post Christmas/still Holiday love:

p.s. Hopefully I'll have some pictures soon.  

safety dance

Last night something sad happened and even though I feel violated and am having the occasional panic attack, I'll be fine soon.

I'm not a big fan of losing freedom, but setbacks happen, and I know it could have been a lot worse.

So, while I'm taking deep breaths, I'll leave something that I love because it reminds me of Christmas dance recitals every year at Pam Nobles Dance Studio.

hips don't lie

Have you ever heard of Zumba?

I was always too afraid to try it until my friend took me a few weeks ago.

Now, I'm hooked.

It's an amazing workout and you have no time to feel silly.

And it's dancing.

It's perfect!

I keep reaching for my long hair and it's not there.  

I love it.

At my school, the Men's Combined Choirs sang this song:

It was amazing.  

Even more amazing than this.

Though, I'm pretty sure they copied some of the choreography:)

now or never

I thought this was too adorable.

Today was a huge day.  

I went from this:

(maybe plus an inch of hair, Oct. 2010 at Thriller)

to this:

(yes, I'm wearing the same shirt)

Maggie & Hannah joined in the fun too:

the pile:  mine's third from the right.  Hannah is first on the left and Maglight's is next to hers.

10 inches are gone and it feels oh so good.

I needed me some bangage again.

I was so surprised at how much hair I really had! 

---

here's some love I don't think I've included yet.

forever

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Yesterday I found out my family's little dog Cosette had a tumor that was causing her pain and needed to be taken out.  I'm so sad she was hurting, but I'm so thankful for modern medicine!  As far as I know, everything is great now.  

The other night as I was trying to find something to do other than homework, I decided to do a little blog makeover.  I picked ab initio for my new title because it means from the beginning.  For me, every day is a new beginning because I'm constantly learning something that helps me grow.  Hopefully it will be fitting as I leave for school next year, as well.  

I should also mention that just in case you ever see a weird title on this blog, they always are song titles or some from songs. 

My school's Christmas dance was on Saturday at the U of U.  It was fun, but honestly I could've done without the dance.  If you know me at all, you know I love to boogie, but high school dances suck.  My date and I rolled our eyes at each other every time a new song started and eventually, our only entertainment was watching how crazy other people were.  I probably had the coolest date there.

For our day activity we went bowling and I totally owned the second game-- 138 points, baby!  Then Saturday night we had dinner at my house and partied at the dance.  

Don't you hate it when you're really excited for something and you just get letdown after letdown?  The silly part is, is that this time it was all about me and if I had really taken the time to sit down and think about my decisions (Mad Cow Disease), I might have felt better.

Overall, it rocked my socks.  I didn't take pictures because that would be normal, so as soon as I get them from the fam, I will show you the glory.  

This morning I went shopping for Guadalupe at 6 am.  Woot.

Here's todays song.  I'm not ashamed at all to admit that I first fell in love with it after watching Raise Your Voice, and that I still love both.  It's pretty much my dream to sing The Messiah one day.

This is an awesome video, too.  Enjoy!

Also, I am so attracted to John Corbett.

flashback

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I'm probably the only person in the world that loves these songs.

if i could marry this song, i would.

Straight No Chaser - This Christmas

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His voice is so delicious.

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Please check them out.  They're old, they're hot, and they're really good.

baby, it's cold outside

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This was just another crazy Christmas song until I heard these versions:

Hopefully, I'll have some fun things to show in the next few weeks.

This is my favorite favorite time of the year:)

the plan

It's always been that I'll go to some far away school, blah, blah.

This year, I decided the plan was to start off slow (by slow, I mean in-state) and then see where that takes me.

Now, I'm wondering.  I'm only applying to one out of state school for now, (I lied, there's two.  But it's Tulane and that's only cause it's free and there's no essay.  Woop.)  And it happens to be on the other side of the country.

What happened to the plan?  Why can't it make up its mind?  I mean, why can't I make up my mind?

I  know that one day I'll decide.  I know it'll the right decision for me, right now.  I'm just too impatient to see what I'll do.

Now, it's a waiting game.

Speaking of waiting... When did it become DECEMBER?  I love December and it seems like I've waited all year long and now it's here!

To celebrate, this is what I love about this month:
- Countdowns.  So far I have a paper chain with things to do every day, an Santa face/beard to put cotton balls on every day, an advent calendar, and my own calendar full of things to do.
- It's so close to my birthday!  In 39 days I can register to vote.  And trust me, that is the first thing I'm doing.
- Guadalupe.  I love fundraising, hair cutting, shopping, kids, and serving.  I love Guad.
- Christmas music.  'Nuff said.  I'll be posting my favorites throughout the month.
- Sparkling drinks of sorts.  Yum.
- Love.  Yeah, I just love it.

To kick off this love-filled month, here is one of my very favorite songs, by one of my favorite men, on one of my favorite Christmas album.  :)