The Jukebox of My Mind: Books, Birthdays, and Bonding

Ah, winter break. Probably my favorite part about being in college and graduate school (aside from, you know, learning). Fully reminds me that I do not in fact participate in "real life" yet, since I do get three weeks off in between semesters, during which time I don't have to do anything. It's a brilliant idea, really. I've read some books (highly recommend Ellen DeGeneres' book "Seriously, I'm kidding"- it literally made me laugh out loud on almost every page). I'm currently reading "Quiet- The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking"- so good. And I've watched entirely too much [football and] Big Bang Theory. hehe.

I've been home in Framingham since mid-December, and it has been a wonderfully relaxing time, for the most part. There was one-too-many times the ambulance came to my house (because once is really too many...), and my uncle had to spend four days in the hospital (during which time things were stressful at home), and my grammy was sick on Christmas which got us all very sad and worried. But everyone is doing much better now, which is good. I have gotten very used to having a lot of people in our house since everyone is always here to see Grams, but it does make life a lot more stressful when family members get sick, and we don't know how everyone will be taken care of. Luckily, my parents are amazing and are really good at taking care of my grandmother and my uncle. It makes me wonder if I'll ever be able to do what they do if in the future I'm in a similar situation. The way my mother took care of Grams on Christmas... well let's all hope and pray I never have to do that for my mom :-) ha.

Here's a picture of my lovely house all decorated for Christmas!

Other than spending lots and lots of time with my family, I also got to spend wonderful quality time with my friends in MA! It was so nice to see Rachel, Erica, Caroline, Michelle and Hannah, going out for margaritas, or going to trivia, or getting a casual coffee. Seriously, these are the wonderful friends who will in all likelihood be friends forever, who I love seeing (even if it's only for a few weeks a year!) I was also able to see a great friend from HWS- Kazia! We just became friends last year, and what a coincidence that she lives a half hour away in Maynard! Perfect! So we went out to lunch and then created a dinosaur masterpiece.

We named it Charlie.

AND! I got to spend time with Lesley! Seriously, could this break have been any better? I went to Cambridge to her mom's house, and I was able to look through her dad's books. I came home with the entire Anchor Bible series and a few other series/books... hehe

I may have gone a little bit overboard... haha

I cleared out the shelf in my closet, and now all of these books will hang out there until I'm ready to start my real library. Wabam! But it was also so nice to catch up with Lesley. :-) Wonderful.

I also celebrated a birthday! I am now 24 years old, and proud of it! I can tell this year is going to be great. Strangely enough, my age doesn't make me feel like an adult as much as taking care of my own finances does... haha. Either way, I feel like an adult. :-) I spent my birthday with my family (more bonding). We went to go see Les Miserables, and I LOVED it. I may have actually liked it more than the stage version. I will gladly see it again if any Durham friends are reading this and want to go soon! After seeing the movie, we went out to eat at Legal Seafood- so yummy. Then, more yummy food because we had cupcakes from Crumbs. (I'll let you in on a secret, I much prefer cupcakes to an actual cake. I don't know why, but I do! haha)

Happy birthday to me!!

So all in all, it was a lovely break. Christmas was nice, my birthday was awesome, and spending time with friends filled me with joy! Tonight I am ringing in the New Year with Kazia as we have a pajama party and watch Sherlock. (low key is the way to go! haha) As far as resolutions go, I tend not to make them because I know I will break them. But I would like to try and keep in touch with my friends a little bit more, and to try and be generally more healthy. I think I can do those two things pretty well!

I'm flying back to Durham on Thursday, and I'll have a few days to myself before the roomies come back on Monday. Looking forward to being back in my own space :-)

Also, I wanted to give a shout out to people who have told me recently that they read my blog! Thanks wonderful cousin Marybeth! And Peter and Suzy- it was so nice to read your Christmas card!! Miss you terribly! There was also someone else... Well thank you Someone! (Thank you all, really)

And since Jenna doesn't read this blog, here are some videos of her singing to me on my birthday. hehehehe