Today was one of those wonderfully relaxing vacation days. I did very little. In fact, I had so little to do that I decided to clean my room and do laundry, just cause.
I thought that you all would apreciate a picture besides just my laundry, especially cause I've already done that haha.
So here is a picture of one of our family traditions, a nativity scene that is from my dad's family that we put up every year in our dining room.
Because of the weather, K's flights were all messed up and we got an extra day with her. We played around with my camera a little bit, trying to get a picture in front of the tree with the lights looking big and blurry. We sort of got it to work, but not entirely. If anyone has any suggestions as to how to make this work, I'd love to hear haha.
This is my favorite shot of K, even though the lights a little weird on her face.
And here is where the lights are doing what we were going for the best. If only she had been looking at me...
It was so awesome having K here for so long and for Christmas. I love you and miss you already!!
We sort of had a white Christmas, it started snowing after dark. We woke up Sunday morning to lots of snow and canceled church. We went walking around right before dark and I got to take some fun pictures with my camera, experimenting and stuff. I'm really enjoying taking pictures, but I need a bigger memory card.
Here's some of faves that we took.
K in front of a pretty tree in our neighborhood.
I liked the light around the streetlights. In the light, the snow and trees looked like Narnia haha.
Brent decided to come out and have a snowball fight. If you look closely you will see that my idiot brother is out in the snow, in shorts, with no shoes, socks, or gloves on. Sorry the pics so blurry.
Throwing snow.
and eating snow. My crazy siblings. Gotta love them!!
We had a great Christmas this year. It was really great having K here!!
My main present this year was a new camera, a Canon DSLR, so from now on I'll have lots of pics as I experiment and learn how to take cool pictures.
Here are some that I took Christmas morning.
One of the new ornanments that my mom picked out this year. She got one for all of us with our first initial on it.
Apparently, I turned 8 this year and not 20. My dad likes to get kinda goofy gifts sometimes, which I love. So this year, I received from him: a computer game that we used to play as kids, Harry Potter legos (already talked to the roomie, it will be going back to college with me haha), and Toy Story 3.
Brent with the whip that K brought back for him and the platter for Mom, somehow he ended up with it and thought that it was a hat. I have no idea..
Every year on Christmas Eve, my dad makes fondue for us. This year, a couple of my friends from International Friends came over for dinner and to our Christmas Eve service at church.
I hope that the girls enjoyed it, fondue takes a little bit of getting used to sometimes haha. They seemed to really enjoy the service and had some good questions.
Oh, and I don't have a picture, but we also taught them to play spoons. Needless to say, it got a little violent haha.
Some good friends of our's moved back to Durham over the summer and so we went over to their house on Thursday for dinner. It was really fun to get to hang out with all their girls. Here is a pic of the girl, Erika, who is my age and me, of course.
"And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them." -Luke 2:7
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”- Luke 2:10-12
Alright, here's a confession: I stalk blogs. That's not the real confession, most of you already knew that, the real confession is that I don't know everyone whose blogs I follow. I know, I'm a creeper, but its really only two families who are crazy about adoption and orphans. I love reading about their experiences and their kids are really cute!!
One of the mothers just returned from Ethiopia where she met her daughter's birth mother and spent some time at the various orphanages there, including the one where her daughter lived. Here is her post about her last day there, if you would please go read it really fast.
I have two reactions reading this.
1. Why don't those children have parents?
It breaks my heart to think of these children so desperate for parental love and affection. Someone to care for them and love them. Why does nobody want them? Is there anyone who would love those siblings and take them in? Or will they wait forever because they will not be separated?
2. Does it have to be like this?
If you haven't read this post that I wrote, please do. (sorry, so many links). The experience that this woman had in Ethiopia is exactly what I was thinking about when I wrote that post. It breaks my heart that these children are so desperate for a family. It breaks my heart that they are waiting. It breaks my heart that for some, like the siblings she met, the waiting will never end.
Why does it have to be like this?
It kills me that these children were competing for her affection and attention. They were competing for a mother.
Also, the boy's response when she told him that he had a beautiful family. He said "I don't have a family, they are gone now" and she blogs, "I just lowered my head wanting to crawl under a rock for using the word "family" with this child." This boy has 3 blood siblings, but doesn't think that he has a family. He has countless children living in the orphanage with him, but he doesn't have a "family". He has adults who work for the orphanage to love and care for him, but they are not his "family". He has a God who loves and cares for him more than any mother and father possibly could.
He has family. It's just not a "family" in our sense of the word.
I've been doing some computer work stuff at my dad's business. It's mind numbing, but I've also been working my way through Lost (again haha) so I can at least listen to the episodes while I work.
Sorry the picture is super blurry, but it shows the lights better without the flash. I love the Christmas lights all over the place. We like to keep our decorations simple outside. We used to do more, we would put lights all over the deck and everything. Pretty fun, when you're ten. My favorite is that when we used to have peach trees in the side yard, my brother would put lights in them and when it was dark, it looked like the lights were floating in the air. Really cool.
Last time in Davis for this semester! Attempting to study for my last exam did not go very well. I was just mentally done and just did NOT care about studying for drama haha. I did good on the exam, so it's all good.
Lindsey and Hannah were very kind to put up with my lack of focus and just being ADD in general.
My exam schedule had a big break in it, so I went home for a day and did some Christmas shopping with K. (Not the best way to keep yourself motivated for studying haha). I always forget to take pictures while we're actually out, so here's the bags of stuff. Of course I can't show you what's inside of them...
All packed up and ready to go home (at least the first trip haha). The majority of what I took home was in the form of laundry... (is that too much info to put out on the internet??)
So I'm in a little bit of a CS Lewis craze right now. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader just came out in the theaters and so, of course, I had to reread that book.
This is my favorite part. First, a little background. Eustace is the cousin of the Pevensies and was a terrible child. His selfishness caused him to be turned into a dragon. This is him telling Edmund about how he was changed back into a boy (its kinda long, but totally worth it):
"'Well, anyway, I looked up and saw the very last thing I expected: a huge lion coming slowly towards me. And one queer thing was that there was no moon last night, but there was moonlight where the lion was. So it came nearer and nearer. I was terribly afraid of it. You may think, that being a dragon, I could have knocked any lion out easily enough. But it wasn't that kind of fear. I wasn't afraid of it eating me, I was just afraid of it- if you can understand. Well, it came closer up to me and looked straight into my eyes. And I shut my eyes tight. But that wasn't any good because it told me to follow it.'
'You mean it spoke?' [Edmund asked]
'I don't know. Now that you mention it, I don't think it did. But it told me all the same. And I knew I'd have to do what it told me, so I got up and followed it. And it led me a long way into the mountains. And there was always this moonlight over and round the lion wherever we went. So at last we came to the top of a mountain I'd never seen before and on the top of this mountain there was a garden- trees and fruit and everything. In the middle of it there was a well.
'I knew it was a well because you could see the water bubbling up from the bottom of it: but it was a lot bigger than most wells- like a very big, round bath with marble steps going down into it. The water was as clear as anything and I thought that if I could get in there and bathe, it would ease the pain in my leg. But the lion told me I had to undress first. Mind you, I don't know if he said any words out loud or not.
'I was just going to say that I couldn't undress because I hadn't any clothes on when I suddenly remembered that dragons are snaky sort of things and snakes can cast their skins. Oh, of course, thought I, that's what the lion means. So I started scratching myself and my scales began coming off all over the place. And then I scratched a little deeper and, instead of just scales coming off here and there, my whole skin started peeling off beautifully, like it does after an illness, or as if I was a banana. In a minute or two, I just stepped out of it. I could see it lying there beside me, looking rather nasty. It was a most lovely feeling. So I started to go down into the well for my bathe.
'But just as I was going to put my foot into the water I looked down and saw that it was as hard and rough and wrinkled and scaly just as it was before. Oh, that's alright, said I, it only means I had another smaller suit underneath the first one, and I'll have to get out of it too. So I scratched and tore again and this under skin peeled off beautifully and I stepped out of it and left it lying there beside the other one and went down to the well for my bathe.
'Well, exactly the same thing happened again. And I thought to myself, oh dear, how ever many skins have I got to take off? For I was longing to bathe my leg. So I scratched away for the third time and got off a third skin, just like the two others, and stepped out of it. But as soon as I looked at myself in the water I knew that it had been no good.
'Then the lion said- but I don't know if it spoke- You will have to let me undress you. I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I just lay flat on my back to let him do it.
'The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off. You know- if you've ever picked the scab of a sore place. It hurts like billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away.'
'I know exactly what you mean,' said Edmund.
'Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off- just as I thought I'd done it myself the other three times, only they hadn't hurt- and there it was lying on the grass: only so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly looking than the others had been. And there was I as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been. Then he caught hold of me- I didn't like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I'd no skin on- and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I found that all the pain had gone from my arm. And then I saw why. I'd turned into a boy again. You'd think me simply phoney if I told you how I felt about my own arms. I know they've no muscle and are pretty mouldy compared with Caspian's, but I was so glad to see them.
'After a bit the lion took me out and dressed me-'
'Dressed you. With his paws?'
'Well, I don't exactly remember that bit. But he did somehow or other: in new clothes- the same I've got on now, as a matter of fact. And then suddenly I was back here. Which is what make me think it must have been a dream.'
'No. It wasn't a dream,' said Edmund.
'Why not?'
'Well there are the clothes, for one thing. And you have been- well, un-dragoned, for another.'
You can't see it very well, but there was a really pretty rainbow coming back into Chapel Hill today. I snapped while at a stoplight, so no worries about driving while taking pictures, that would not be safe.
We had an International Friends Christmas party Saturday night and made Christmas cookies. It was so much funny. A first time for some of the students decorating cookies and they loved it!
Everyone working hard.
We made so many cookies! It was a little ridiculous haha. They were really good though.
The two different versions of a Christmas wreathe. Which one is prettier?
Ok I couldn't get this picture to look right. Ben had to make a UNC cookie of course and not really sure what the other one is supposed to be. I'm saying its Nagini after Neville got a hold of him (if you don't know what I'm talking about, I'm sad for you).
Came back after my second exam on Friday and realized this is what my desk had become.
Not that I keep it completely clean all the time and that's not really even that bad compared to what I'm sure some look like, but I typically at least try to keep the books from piling up, etc. During exam studying, I let the place become somewhat of a mess. Luckily, I have a roommate who stress cleans and I came back to all the dishes done haha. Not that I take advantage of that, I do her dished too. But I do love it when she has a big test or paper. Our room is never cleaner.
If you went to UNC or have ever been on campus, there is one sight that is extremely familiar to you. No, I'm not talking about the Old Well, the Dean Smith Center, or even Davis Library. I'm talking about this.
Construction.
Everyday I walk past this and I ask myself two questions.
1. When will they be done?!?!
2. Was it really a good idea to start construction on the football stadium right before football season started? Just a thought.
We all took a short break from exam studying to have a small group Christmas party. I'm in small group with some of the best girls at UNC and I love them all so much. It was really fun to get to hang out with them and to see some of the girls who are in the other Summit group at UNC.
Bridget and Rebecca, the only two who let me take their picture haha. Bridget is the leader of the other group and really awesome!
Thankfully, I wasn't alone in my studying misery. The nice thing about having my friends all want to get into nursing school is that I'm never without someone to study with. The not so nice thing is that the only time I get to see them is in Davis.
So the reason I got so terribly behind is because exams have started here. Unfortunately, that means some of the coming pics are less than exciting. I spent more time in Davis this past week than I would care to repeat. But, they did try to make the place a little bit cheerier, which is nice.
As many of you know, I have a love/hate relationship with snow, mainly leaning towards hate. I have found in the last few years, that my body was very much created for life in India haha. This summer, I didn't mind the 120 degrees very much at all. It was hot, but bearable. However, as soon as it gets belowed like 50, I get miserable. I hate cold weather so much! Give me July any day! It really does not bode well for me that it has already snowed in December in the Triangle. I have never seen this before in my life. I'm sort of dreading January.
Each semester we have to write and film a skit in Hindi. This is my group, including our guest star, Kavya, creating a shaadi.com account for our skit. Shaadi (Hindi for marriage).com is India's most famous dating/marriage website.
Shaadi.com
While we were filming it started to snow!!! We got to film our love/dance scene (every bollywood film has to have at least one) in the snow. So fun! but cold!!
We decided to decorate our room this year and make it a little bit more Christmasy. I'm so excited for Christmas this year!!! also, all of our decorations (the bow and the lights haha) are Carolina themed haha. Not on purpose, its just what I had at home to steal haha.
Saw this while walking back from class yesterday, don't know if its been there for a while or someone wrote it after the game last week. It made me laugh and think of my State friends.
Headed back to school and ready for the final press till exams. I had a lot to do on Monday and Tuesday, lots of work (hence the lack of posting). I've been getting sick a lot recently, so I wanted to stock up on healthy food and vitamin c to try and keep healthy for these lasts few weeks.
We got home from Puerto Rico around noon on Saturday (which unfortunately required that we get up at oh about 4:45 to get to the airport on time- not fun!!). But, it did mean that we got to do some traditional things before headed back to campus the next day.
My dad and I have a tradition of going to see a movie double feature (in this case, the day after the day after Thanksgiving). So we did that on Saturday, we went and saw Megamind (which was hilarious!) and of course, haha Harry Potter (I know, I'm crazy!)
And when we got home look what was waiting outside the house...
I'm so sorry ya'll, I have been really busy with school and stuff. Classes end next week so of course there is a ridiculous amount to do and stuff. But, I'm going to try and get caught up.
Friday 11-26-10
Friday we took a ferry to another island that has one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. This isn't a picture of that beach haha, this is where we snorkeled. Well, Mom, Dad, and Sergio snorkeled, I read Harry Potter haha.
The view in the opposite direction. It was so beautiful there. Some people brought their own private yachts to this place to go snorkeling. We were not one of them.
There was a hobo sleeping on the ferry over. Oh wait, that's my brother. Nevermind.
