before i went home

not many exciting events occurred before i went home on the lovely day of the 22st of december...but here are the few that did.
-finals. whew that was an adventure. i can happily say that i have my very first semester of finals and classes over with! thank goodness! they actually went alright, i didn't do wonderfully on the finals, but well enough to get me a decent grade.
-this one is a fun story. so one day our fhe boys invited us over for dinner. because we make them dinner quite often so they were repaying us. that was cute right? so we go over there and it was some japanese food that john knows how to make, because he went to japan one time. so they were making it and the kitchen was super full because we live in teeny dorms and there were like 15 of us. so they put the tables in the kitchen diagonally to make them fit and it worked! that was a great idea jason. so we were eating...and then after it was done i was just sitting talking to rachel and not really paying attention to anything. then suddenly everyone started singing happy birthday and they had a cake with candles on it in front of me! that was such a happy thing that they remembered, because i wasn't going to be there for my birthday. ben had made me the cake haha and there was a random shape on it made of brown sprinkles. i am ashamed to mention that i had no idea what the shape was and so i had to ask. i was informed that it was the shape of alaksa- and it really did look like alaska after i realized it. it was an alaska because of how we named our room alaska. i think i mentioned that story already, right? alright so i really like that story.
-the last thing was how i was the last one to leave my apartment. that was so lame and boring. bad idea. so i was the last one there, not for too long, but lydia left at like 6 and then i left the next morning. so i had to lock everything up and clean and turn off the lights and such. now i have a really bad habit of overpacking. just ask my cousin elle how much stuff i bring to her house in the summer when i live there for a few months. alot. so i tried really hard to not overpack. like real real hard. i thought i did a pretty good job. i had two bags, like medium sized- definitely not huge, my backpack, and then a scrapbook thing to hold my paper. oh...and a tupperware to hold my paper. i was GONNA bring my tennis racket. but decided against it. so when i go with my DEAR friend kimball who was kind enough to give me a ride i was nervous as to how all of this would fit. and a bit embarrassed. so we go out there and because of a long series of events...all of my stuff went in the backseat. along with some of the boy's stuff. and me and kimball's sister who i had previously never met. SO it was a bit squishy. i totally didn't care, just because i was so so happy to be going home, but i am not going to lie, i felt bad squishing into kimballs sister when we didn't really know each other. BUT we made it alive and well to my home! we actually met my family in boise.
-k maybe that wasn't the last thing. santa pictures. alright so every year without a doubt we have santa pictures. we always have a family picture and then individuals. thankfully my mother recently allowed me to not have to take the individual with santa, along with the triplets and joslin. so to get to the story let me just mention that i was not aware that i would be taking santa pictures that would be preserved for all of posterity after i had driven six hours in a squishy car. we always have a dress code for the pictures, this year it happened to be a white shirt and jeans, which i was not wearing. also, my mom had planned on me being a half hour away, and she had heard that the line usually lasted for about 45 minutes so she was counting on my being there when they reached the front of the line. that didn't actually work out as planned so my family was waiting in the front of the line and allowing people to pass them while they waited for me. kimball and family dropped me off at my car in the parking lot while i hastily dug through my bag for a outfit that would work, then threw it on and ran inside! i was SO happy to see everyone, we barely finished hugging when we were all arranged for the precious santa picture. i will post a picture as SOON as i get joslin to email me a copy! after the pictures we split up and all did some christmas shopping, i am pretty proud of myself, i did almost all of my shopping that night! then we went out to red robin for a birthday dinner for myself and my cute little bro kade, who is five now! darling!

oh and side note: shortly after i arrived in idaho it started snowing real hard! it was so fun, there was alot of snow on the ground and it stuck good! so we had a white christmas!