Home Alone Tonight...

Yes It's true...I am home alone at this very moment. The house seems pretty lonely when I'm the only one to fill it up. I must say, though, that I really don't mind it. I think having a night with only myself is really good every once in a while. It gives me the time to think about important things and...reflect. Reflecting is always a good thing.

I drove back from MaryAnn's house this morning for church. I was glad to be able to see Mom and Dad before they zoomed off to Florida. How I wish I could go with them! I miss you guys Jen! They left for Indy tonight to sleep in a hotel so the morning rushing to the airport would be a bit easier. I had a good talk with Dad about how life changes so much. It's so important how we handle and use the change. I don't think I very often have a good attitude about the big things that change in my life. It's also crazy to think that most times we don't realize how much we appreciated something until it changes. Maybe we didn't really even know that we appreciated it until we experience what it's like without it (confusing...but, maybe it kinda makes sense?). I guess It's really important to try to fully realize that the stage of life I am in now is awesome because I'll only get to experience it once. :)

Christmas Break...

I can't describe how wonderful It's been to relax. It's amazing. I spent a few VERY GOOD days at Aunt MaryAnn and Uncle Denny's house with Ash. I love that girl so much. There aren't too many people that make me laugh as hard as she does. It was so nice to spend some one on one time with her. I need to mention that the sacrifice she made to not be with Bryan for those few days is quite impressive. (Thanks Bryan for being so willing to let us spend some time together...I needed it more than you know!). Another crazy cool thing was that Sadie came out Thursday and Friday. She is also one of my favorite people as you well know. I couldn't ask for a better friend...she is simply priceless! Ash and I met Liv in Bloomington Saturday evening, which was cool. Liv is so much fun...very dramatic :). I guess you could say I was spending the week with some pretty cool girls. I am so thankful for all of the time I had with them too!

Wow!...It seems I'm feeling very thankful and happy tonight! There are those certain special times when it really dawns on you how much you love your friends and family. I guess this is one of those times :). I feel like I could spend ten thousand hours and never fully express how much the people in my life mean to me. I love you all much much much.

I still have another whole week of break...yessss.

Christmas is just around the corner.

This Sunday is the Matthew Christmas gathering. This means that there will be lots of talking and laughing with much food. It's always great to see everyone. I love having all of my aunts in one place...they create great energy and all have a fun sense of humor.:)I'm excited! I just got done doing some major grocery shopping for mom today so that we'll have plenty of food for the holidays. Let the fun begin...

Aaahh...I am home at last.

I'm at Luke and Ann's house right now. It's been forever since I've visited their cozy little place. Andria and I are going to sip some homemade hot cocoa...divine I know. Ash and Bryan might stop by for the evening too. It twill be a wonderful night!
Poor Kurt-- He's lying on a hospital bed at this very moment. Poor Mom-- She's sitting there beside him now. I actually just came from spending the whole day there...his surgery went well. He's becoming a natural at it, this being his second time and all. Say a little prayer for Kurts recovery.
To the sipping of cocoa I will go...Anon!

There are two stories connected to these pretty little key-chains--
The dangley one is from Jenny on one of my birthdays of forever ago. She bought it from Arden B.(very nice store). Typical for Jenny, she bought it before the brass chain w/jewels look was so popular.

The other one I received from my awesome friend Sadie when we were probably in seventh grade or so. We thought it was cool to pretend we were going to be driving soon. I'm not sure why I haven't ever used them...probably they were just too special to be lugged around with a set of keys. Well, I've decided to use them now. And every time I see them I'll think of two of my favorite people! Missing you Jen. :)

Tree Decorating...

So, Mom and I decided that the tree was looking a little sparse with Christmas lights and these old wreathes made of fake leaves (We have used these for several years...SO outdated!). We made a special trip to Hobby Lobby...Decorating the Christmas tree was our hobby that night. You have to have a hobby to go there, of course. Anyways, We found some really nice ornaments! I was planning on posting the original pictures so you could see, but I was having too much fun with photoshop. They don't exactally look like this in real life. I messed with the colors on the chritmas balb one and stuff.
It was fun picking out the docorations. Our tree is looking pretty good if I do say so myself. :) It was quite a successful trip. The middle is my favorite. It has feathers behind a jeweled, silver flower thing. OH--and don't worry, you can be sure re ridded the tree of the old wreathes.

Ash and I

Ash was in Lafayette for classes last week and we decided to meet up. We ended up going to Moe's and sharing dinner. We talked and laughed a lot. I realized how much I really value my close relationships...it was so great to spend time together. the picture is of course Ashton and I. We set the camera on a timer and everything :). We always look cool like that...so, cause we are and stuff...we are cool.

Yessss...Christmas.

I've sent this cute little dance to some of you already. Just in case you didn't get it here it is...It is a little strange, but fun nonetheless. http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1222453712

Bitter-SWEET News

I am writing to finally proclaim that the mountaineer will soon no longer be a part of my life. I know this comes as a bitter shock to some of you(At times, I too find myself somewhat filled with sadness). I guess what must happen will happen...Life moves on and so do our material possessions(sniffle).

...Hallelujah! I don't have to feel like a soccer mom any longer! I'll soon be the proud owner of mom's car, which I've ventured to name Shepry. I know, It's an interesting sort of name. What better name than Shepry for an interesting sort of car? I'm really excited that I won't have to spend a fortune each week on gas anymore. Gas mileage of an SUV is pretty bad...especially when gas prices are no good.

If you have any parting words for the old, faithful mountaineer I'd be glad to deliver them. You have plenty of time to write letters of good-bye and such, because we have yet to sell it.
Have a good week everyone!

Oh The Stress-

These next two weeks are going to be killers! I have five essays due this week and finals quickly approaching. I'm realizing that I MUST prioritize like mad if I intend to survive. wish me luck in my schooling endeavors!
this picture is very relaxing and pretty. If stress becomes overwhelming I'll just imagine myself relaxing on this misty hill.
......(A moment of silence in honor of relaxation.)

Reminiscing about a wonderful few days...

Over thanksgiving break, Kurt and I traversed the long, winding roads to IL. We were able to spend Thanksgiving day with Denny and MaryAnn. We all know that Denny can cook up a feast in a matter of seconds...it was great.

I can't even begin to describe how relaxing it was. I pretty much did nothing the whole three days we were there...so great. I love spending time with Denny and MaryAnn! MaryAnn and I went to Tiffany's(Their daughter) house for one of the days. We painted her cabinets and had wonderful conversations while doing so. It's great to work, but feel like you're just spending quality time with people you like. It was a wonderful trip as always!

I love people and Thanksgiving Break!

I'm so excited that thanksgiving is finally here! I took a rather taxing math exam today, and now I'm on my way to lots of eating and seeing of my favorite people. It feels oh so good to be done with school for a short while...I'm going to indulge in the wonderfulness of relaxation. To start my break off, Kurt and I are headed out to IL for a couple of days. We are going to visit Denny and MaryAnn. It should be a pretty fun time...as it always is. I can't wait to see all of my precious family members on Sunday. I hope to see everyone!(Here I'm taking a sad pause in honor of Jen, Luke, and Luca.)

...I want to wish everyone a LOVELY holliday of Thanksgiving!!! Don't feel guilty for getting an extra piece of pie. :)

Souls And Rain-Drops by Sidney Lanier

Light rain-drops fall and wrinkle the sea,
Then vanish, and die utterly.
One would not know that rain-drops fell
If the round sea-wrinkles did not tell.

So souls come down and wrinkle life
And vanish in the flesh-sea strife.
One might not know that souls had place
Were't not for the wrinkles in life's face.

---I thought this poem was pretty. If you have
any comments as to your interpretation of the
poem I would love to hear them!

Pretty Silly.

This song is cool on its own...
but even more cool in this snappy version.
(I thought Noah would appreciate this)

Wonderful Evening

Mom and I went for a short run tonight...it was the perfect night for it. Towards the end of our run I noticed that there were a great deal of little lightening bugs sitting along the side of the road shining their green lights. They looked really enchanting with their little glowy lights. It really isn't even the season for them so it was quite a site to see. As cool as it was, I realized that they were probably close to death...very sad. I just thought it was much too special of an experience not to share! If you are ever lucky enough to witness...the sadly beautiful death of lightening bugs I'm sure you'll be quite delighted yourself. :)

Deep thought.

I was enjoying my plain yougurt w/honey in the kitchen when all of a sudden my mind formed a deep and thoughtful little verse. It goes like this...
"The world will become a better place when we, within ourselves, decide to become a better place." I think I might just eat plain yogurt w/honey on a weekly basis...I'm sure I'll be solving all the worlds problems soon. This picture is kinda random, but it sort of has an enchanted fairytale feeling to it---so I posted.(Picture: Captured by DeLisa Photography & enhanced by Kaitlin Bahler)...It's one of the many pictures mom and I took for my senior shots. :)

Just for you...you little bowling ball head you!

After reading your blog entry I really couldn't resist. That was a fun night. Three cheers for sisters!

Poem for jenny

Jenny how I miss you so
Why, oh, why did you have to go?
Florida is nice if I must be positive
But let it be known, of my sadness it is the cause-itive.
Sometimes I just feel like seeing your face
Your smile is like a bit of...lace.
Dancing isn't near as fun.
I'd rather not be dancing when it's all said and done.
November seems a long time from now
Figuring out how to survive (without you) is a rather big -how?
Emailing and blogging will just have to do
But can you blame me for this little boo-hoo?

New Favorite Author

I have recently discovered an author that is sooo great. And by so great I mean almost as good as Daphne Du Maurier. I would actually say that they are about tied in their greatness. Isak Dinesen is her name...well, that's her pen-name. I randomly picked up one of the old books off of my shelf and disappeared into another world. I later found out that she is pretty famous, which I didn't know. I read her book Winter's Tales and really liked it. If you're bored I would suggest it. It is a book full of short stories, which makes it really easy to read.

Hello Friends

Today was a cool day in school. We had a very intellectually stimulating conversation in my soc. class. The question on the table was- "Is America morally declining?" It was pretty interesting. My first reaction to the question was "Of course it is...our world is very immoral!"...but then I thought about it. Back in the Bible times people really didn't have any better morals. I came to the conclusion that people are becoming more comfortable with doing wrong in general. That doesn't mean that they are doing MORE wrong...just talking about it more comfortably. Like terrible song lyrics and sexual behavior are thought of as OK. Everything is talked about and voiced boldly now. People are trying to make wrong behavior normal and not wrong. Everything should be tolerated! America's sensitivity to wrong is definitely declining, which will lead to a decline in morals. It's pretty hard to have strong morals when wrong things hardly seem a big deal anymore. I guess there isn't really a completely definitive answer to that question.

so...

After three days of classes I've arrived at the same conclusion...School is dumb. Actually, I'm only saying that because I moved up a level in my math class and don't like it much. I don't know why I do this to myself. Hopefully I can figure it out!!!!! Anyway...the rest of my classes aren't too bad. It really is nice having more freedom than I did last year. I hope everyone is getting back in the swing of the new school year! Summer was definitely a great few months of relaxation!

Andria's Birthday...

I'm at Luke and and Ann's right now. The boys are still cutie pies and Andria is...a cutie pie too. Yeah, It's definitely HOT today...should feel like 105ish today(no joke). I kinda think we should go swim or shop a little. Who knows...It's Andria's day, which means she makes the calls. She's sleeping right now. Pretty much wasting her Birthday...and I'm trying to guilt her about it. Jude is a little bundle of joy and joyness...he is sleeping with her. Ok---this entry is boring. I'm done now. This picture should liven things up a bit!

Life after Florida

So...I'm home. I MISS JENNY, LUKE, and LUCA! I had a great week with everyone. Ashton, we really did miss you there.
I decided to be responsible and baby-sit for a lady from our church today. It wasn't bad except for the fact that I was pretty tired after staying up till 3 in the morning the night before. Oh, I had a good reason: I was overcome with the desire to organize my closet...yeah it turned out to be quite the job. After the feat was accomplished there I was triumphantly holding a bag for goodwill and a bag for the trash. To celebrate I lit two scented candles...it was a magnificent night.

There is no sun for us.

Beach bag, sun block, choice magazines and books, ipod, and THE SUNGLASSES...
That's when it happened...RAIN!!! Yeah, our day in the sun by the pool wasn't so cool. But we decided that we looked too good not to take a pic or two. so. yeah. No sun bathing for us.

Sisters...oh the joy :)

These girls are the best. This is an exciting evening spent using photobooth on Luke and Jens mac.

Florida!

This picture is so adorable. The two cousins Luca and Jude are hanging out on a relaxing evening in Florida. They are going to be close friends when they grow up for sure!

Florida with Luke and Jen

Andria and I flew down to Florida last monday to visit Luke and Jen. It's been a great week...sadly enough it's already saturday! I love Gainesville...it's beautiful. Relaxing here has been great with the pool and the cute little village Haile. Luca is getting so big! I'm going to miss Luke, Jen, and Luca when we get back home.

HAAAAAA!

I just LOVE my family!!! And that is all for now.