Plans Plans Plans

We're here!

The boyfriend and I have arrived at his home. Things are a bit casual and laid-back for now, but tomorrow I am being whisked away to make batches beyond batches of cookies with the boyfriend's sister in law whom I adore! It won't be the same as home...just because this is my first Christmas away from the family units. However, it is only a week and then we shall be returning to the ever-faithful hometown to which I am so familiar.

This shall be a good week. We are going to go and see the zoo lights tomorrow night, which will be magical since I have never seen the zoo lights. Excitement! Tomorrow is also when we are celebrating Christmas early, so I have to brace myself for present-opening and gift giving! Double excitement! It definitely will feel weird getting presents on a day that is clearly not the 25th.... But who am I to complain? Early presents are triple excitement!

That is all I can think of for excitement around here, the boyfriend and I are just taking it easy and thinking of things to keep us occupied. We went grocery shopping today with his mother and....I have never seen a cart so full of groceries! We were literally told to take things we wanted from the shelves so that we could eat whatever we wanted this week. Needless to say we had too much fun.

Let it be known, plastic Christmas trees are nowhere near as wonderful as real trees. They may serve the same purpose, but there is definitely a distinct difference. So choose your trees wisely!

Tip: If you want to 'go green' this year with your Christmas tree, make sure the garbage people who come to pick them up are deposing of the properly by turning the trees into fertilizer.

Will stay in touch!

~Piper

A Season for Perpetual Hope

Let us celebrate all that we have accomplished this year and all those who have made it possible in our lives. Cherish your loved ones, be it friends or family or even both.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

I hope you all are getting excited for the holidays! I know I am! I get to spend my first Christmas with the boyfriend and his family, which will be wonderful. They have invited me to bake cookies with them Sunday morning and then Wednesday my boyfriend's sister in law in inviting me over to watch Gilmore Girls with her! I cannot contain the excitement. At the same time, it will feel strange not being there for my family, however, we are promptly returning Christmas day to spend it with everyone, which is exactly what I wanted. To see my family for Christmas. (Insert Awwwwwwwwwwww here)

So, eat as many holiday sweet as possible! Love your gifts and the people who gave them to you. And as always, make sure you cat does not get stuck in the Christmas tree.



~Piper

The Strawberry Mug

Good morning!

I made a pleasant discovery this morning when I scampered over to the kitchen here at work. Hidden in the cupboard were several boxes of hot chocolate! I asked if it was okay and everyone told me to go for it. So I took a packet and made myself a steaming cup of cocoa. Mmmmmm. It’s perfect for a day like this, and it seems to be a little reminder that Christmas is coming. I made the cocoa in my favorite mug, it’s a simple white mug with cute little strawberries painted all over it. It’s like the perfect combination, chocolate and strawberries! Yumm

Ever wonder why the bubbles in hot chocolate are rainbow colored rather than just clear? Someone should do a study on that.

My roomie and I watched several more Barbie movies yesterday…. We watched Rapunzel, the Nutcracker, and the Christmas Carol. It’s kind of sad how much fun we were having while putting in commentary as well as trying to sing along, it’s like we’ve turned into 9 year olds all over again. For some reason, they have very catchy plots that are both cute and enchanting. Despite the fact that they are cheesy Barbie movies, they are actually quite good. I know, I’m shocked to have discovered this. I gave the Barbie movies a chance and they won me over, confound it.
The remainder of the week shall mainly be focused on studying Microbiology for my exam on Monday, ugh; there is nothing worse than a Monday exam. But I shall pull through and studying my brains out up until that point.

I am writing profiles of people at work, and one lady sent in a magnificent letter about her life story. I’m not going to give any specifics for her own privacy, despite the fact she sent us this information so that we could post it in a magazine. So I just had to share this marvelous tale with you.

She did EVERYTHING, including charity and volunteer programs as well as being a founder and president to numerous things. She met her husband while at college and their love story was phenomenal. In a nutshell he pursued her in the shyest and cutest ways possible, coming to every event that she was at and eventually she got to meet his father and he told his son that he would be a fool if he didn’t marry her. And they did, they got married the same night they graduated from the university. They had six children, and they basically lived happily ever after. Traveling all over the world, her being in charge of several things at once like she did in her college years and her husband gave her wonderful support in all the things she did. In her words she said that her husband was a jewel and she lost him three years ago. (It was in this part of the letter I nearly started blubbering and crying like a baby) But her son lives with her and three of her daughters live close by, so that was a happy moment.

If you got the read the in-depth part of her story and read the language she used, the emotions coming from those pieces of paper were positively enchanting. I am secretly longing to meet this woman and give her lots of hugs. Isn’t it wonderful, the influence of words? That's why I love pursuing a major in English. :)

Well I best get back to typing. Enjoy your day! Make it a great one!

~Piper

A Lot On The Mind?

Dear Readers,

I am sure you are tired of hearing this but…. Sweet tap dancing Lord it’s cold! This morning it was approximately 10 F outside, which made for a spectacular walk to work. I’m sure it’s rather amusing to watch me tip-toe my way down the frozen sidewalks as to avoid any mishaps.

Things are going surprisingly smoothly as of late, I had my Shakespeare exam over the tragedies (King Richard III, King Richard II, Othello, Romeo & Juliet) and it was A LOT easier than the last exam (knock on wood) as well as my Microbiology oral presentation in front of the entire class So yesterday was very successful and I am actually getting ahead on things for finals next week, yay!

Story time!

Last Friday (the 3rd) the suitemates and I decided to have a fun Friday night and really do something spontaneous. We put on our warm winter clothes and quickly hurried uptown for the 7:30 showing of the movie Tangled. I had not seen this movie yet, and let me tell you….it was positively adorable and totally worth the money. I would actually pay to see it again in theatres! The plot was deliciously exciting, the characters both loveable and believable, and the overall animation was spectacular. I particularly loved the fact that they animated Rapunzel’s hair so that it wasn’t ridiculously straight and perfect, it had waves and stray hairs and it actually looked like real hair! Two thumbs up!

After we came back from the movie, the suitemates put in the Barbie version of “Princess and the Pauper”, and…I hate to say this…but…I actually enjoyed it. Just a tiny bit. I liked the songs a lot, but the animation was very poor and lacking. So I am saved by the fact that I am very picky about what I like in movies. To me, Barbie movies are like the next Land Before Time series, it will never end and they will just keep getting worse.

Last night seemed to be a confession night. One of our friends came over to our room and was venting about things that were clearly bothering her. So my roomie and I listened and talked her through her thought process and seemed to have given her a better view about things. We stayed up until about 1:45 and I think it certainly paid off. Not only did our friend vent, it seemed my roomie and I needed to as well. So we put all our frustrations and random thoughts out onto the table and squeezed the life out of them. It was truly beneficial to our sanity and I think we are all better off for it. This may sound weird, but it's kind of comforting to know that other people have frustrations too, it makes you feel like you are not alone and that you are not the only one struggling with internal thoughts. Ever feel that way?

That's kind of how we are, we will do anything for our friends. The knowledge of that makes me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside, and it's comforting to know that we have such a strong and reliable circle of friends. Much love and kudos to them all!

Aside from all the fluff and stuff, everyone seems to be buckling down and finishing off this semester with a "okay, I'm done, can we go now?" sort of attitude. I'm starting to feel that way myself, however I don't actually say it out loud unlike other students.... SO, with only a couple days left of actual classes I am excited to finish this semester, have Christmas break and see family, friends, and loved ones, then start the next semester with new classes! Excitement!

Hope everyone's Christmas shopping is going well, I am desperately working on mine!

Good Luck!

~Piper

The dreaded "S" word!

It seems Mother Nature has been tuning in to all the things us college students have been saying.

The weather predicted snow, so we all whispered eagerly about it. And of course, it snows the next day and we are all jumping for joy and squealing as though we have never seen snow before. Unfortunately it is not like High School, where school would close at the very sight of snow. In college you have to bundle up and trudge your way across campus whether you like it or not. Alas!

So yesterday, when it snowed, I had a marvelous time catching snowflakes on my tongue and in my eyelashes. Quite the scenery. If I had had my camera with me at the time I would have posted some fun pictures for you all. Next time!

Today is just as cold, and ohmegoodness was it a fun walk to work this morning. It was one of those days where you wish your alarm clock didn’t exist, and you could just roll over and fall back asleep all curled up in your magical micro-fleece blanket. (le sigh) I woke up this morning with a fine dry cough and my nose completely stuffed up. Granted, I have had this thing coming on for a while now, but seriously, when I talk I sound like a nasally man. Not appreciated.

So I sit here with my box of tissues, patiently wrestling with this evil cold that has made my joints sore and my brain fuzzy. This may be the most wonderful time of the year, but it certainly comes at a price. Sheesh.

Aside from my immune-system misfortune, I am both surprised and glad to say that not a whole lot is going on. I have started prepping for finals and it seems finals week is going to be very kind to me (knock on wood). Therefore with all this nothingness I have to accomplish I am taking a little time for myself to recover and drink lots of orange juice.

(insert sneezing and sniffling here)

I get some serious brownie points for hauling my butt out of bed this morning and coming to work. Huzzah!

Hope you all are staying healthy and staying warm!

~Piper