Back in the CA (and Christmas at home)

I figured out the longer I take to write another post, the more pictures I acquire, and so the longer the posts end up being. Not a good thing. I will try to be more frequent.

I had just gotten back to MD in my last post, so everything that follows will be updates since then. Before the giant snowstorm of 2009 (best homecoming present EVER, btw), I made it down to College Park to visit! It was such a great day and I got to see so many wonderful people that I miss so much! I also went to CP with my one and only LaceFace. It was amazing to be reunited with my travel buddy again. Here's us visiting our PI ladies in the OUA:

Here's some cool cats:

And here's the thing I crave the most when I'm in California:

Then we got 2 feet of my favorite thing in the world: SNOW. Some of the guys I work with in San Diego (which never gets below 50 degrees) don't believe that I have shoveled snow before. So here's proof of that, and more fun snow pics:

Dad with the leaf-blower

And then Christmas came! And MAN was it great. Since my parents just bought that big boat thing, a whole new world of possibilities was opened up for Christmas presents. So I bought LOTS of things for the boat. To the right is one of them! We had a very pretty Christmas tree, and it was the best feeling in the world to see all my family again. I like my Christmas pictures so much that I absolutely must post them. So please enjoy the next few photos from Xmastime.

Holiday puppies (Lakota and Nikki)

This is a pillow my momma made for me. She traced a very profound and intelligent writing sample I had done when I was 6. Very deep, informative, and quite phonetic, if you ask me.

I got lots of other little things for presents, since my big present is the trip to Africa next month. All I really wanted for Christmas was to be home, and I got a LOT of that, so I needn't ask for much else. We went to Frederick for Christmas dinner, to the cousins' house, and I stuffed my face with ham, homemade mac and cheese, homemade stuffing, salad, and more. Best Christmas anyone could ask for, as far as I'm concerned.

Then it was New Year's! Ahh! So much going on. Since New Year's has never been that exciting of a holiday for me, I just wanted to spend it with friends. So that's what I did. Yay! I met up with some great band friends at Doug's house in Germantown and spent the night playing Rock Band and eating mexican dip and homemade fudge. Again, couldn't ask for more. Here are some of my favorite people in the whole wide world:

After New Year's I visited College Park one last time, since I miss it so much, and had the distinct pleasure of visiting some very rare places on campus. As a late (albeit amazing) graduation present Captain Brandt took me to the roof and catwalks of Comcast, the roof of McKeldin, and the bell tower of the Chapel, where we saw an awesome sunset. Enjoy the view!

Looking down the mall

Looking to the left at Jiminez
Looking at the upper deck of Byrd
Hooray!
Inside the clock in the chapel. This is only the 3rd of the 5 levels we climbed.
Sunset from the chapel

All in all, it was an incredible holiday break. I will be home again in about a month right before my mom and I leave for our mission trip to South Africa. We will be going with a few other people from Poolesville to help with a project called Hope in Richmond. My mom, since she is medically inclined, will be working with the HIV/AIDS community and hospice workers, while I, along with helping her, will be working with a program called Grassroot Soccer. We'll also continue to help develop the children's soup kitchen, the women's sewing coop, the employment traning center, the children's library, and MORE. As you might imagine, I'm VERY excited about this trip and can't WAIT to post on the blog when we get back. If anyone wants to know more about it, or donate to the project (South Africa is ALWAYS in need of funds) please let me know. Or donate to the Haiti relief funds first, then let me know.

For other boring updates without pictures, work is very busy, and only going to get busier. Not only am I the clerical work on the new Medical Lab Technician Training Program at Miramar, but I'm also going to be the lab tech for all the classes, and apparently going to be doing even more if I can. Wish me luck! I'm going to try to keep tutoring (if they let me work over 40-hour weeks) and I'm still volunteering with the cats when I can. San Diego is supposed to get a year's worth of rain in the next week, too. Good thing I brought my rainboots home to MD. Oh well!

As always, I miss everyone like crazy, but am doing alright :) Hope you all had a great holiday season! Keep on readin'!

I will leave you with a picture of the best pet mouse in the whole world. Behold sleeping Ferdinand:

<3 Shub :)