Zac and Victoria made the great trek north to spend New Year’s Eve and the first few days of 2009 with us. After an amazing dinner at my place with J-Lo, the four of us with Lauren headed downtown to watch the Flagstaff Pinecone drop. Amazingly enough despite taking such silly pictures downtown, we were some of the most normal (sober) people there.

It’s not very often that my dad and I get to spend a huge amount of time together, but thanks to my mom’s recent trip to South Dakota, he’s been hanging with me up in Flagstaff this weekend.  We’ve done our best to fill his short time here with fun times and yet still remain low-key enough that he can consider his stay up north a vacation.  After a long drive and a few short stops in Phoenix on Friday (I mean who could be in the valley and NOT stop at Cabela’s???), we arrived in Flagstaff on one of the coldest nights of the winter.  I’m sorry, but telling me that it’s -10 degrees windchill doesn’t inspire joy and happiness.  Is that just me?

Saturday morning we worked to get my car started and unfrozen from its parking space and moved to campus before lunch at New Frontiers and a trip to the mall.  Next, we met up with Cory to see the matinee showing of Valkyrie.  I have to confess I was not excited to check out ‘Couch-Jumpin’ Cruise’s newest cinematic masterpiece but was pleasantly surprised that after it was all said and done Mr. Scientology didn’t detract from a really great movie.  After the movie, we met up with J-Lo and had dinner together before heading back to hang out at my place.

We slept in Sunday morning before we headed to church.  After spending such a long time searching for a new church home, it meant a huge deal to be able to show him where my new place of worship was. Strangely enough, dad and I wound up at the same Mexican restaurant as J-Lo after going to separate churches. (I still believe he was stalking us despite his constant denial.) Sunday night we hung out with Cory who made stir fry, and after a few hours of an NCIS marathon, we ended up watching both installments of Grindhouse, Planet Terror and Death Proof. (What could possibly be better than watching exploding zombies with your dad and boyfriend?!?!  Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.)

Yesterday while I ran into work to check in and meet our new staff member, dad headed downtown for a haircut and beard trim.  A couple of hours later we met up for lunch before spending the rest of the day hanging out and enjoying each others’ company and a House and iPod loading marathon.  Finally, we had dinner at one of my favorite Thai food places where we treated our impeding colds with spicy food.

Dad left town today in time to pick mom up from her return flight, and I can’t help but be a tish sad that he had to go.  One of the hardest things about living in Flagstaff is living so far from those I care about the most.  But instead of dwelling on the small amount of time I get to spend with them, I prefer to relish what time I do have.  With a new year approaching, one of my resolutions needs to be to go home more often. Because even though it’s completely cliche’… Home truly is where the heart is.

Of all of the Christmas gifts I was blessed with this Christmas, the one that might mean the most to me is a pearl necklace given to me from my parents.  The ‘Purity Pearl’ necklace was at the top of Christmas wish list this year.  You see, one of my student workers, Phil, is the creator and founder of climatepearl.com, and from the first time I saw his signature pearl I was in love with it.  Not only is the pearl my birthstone, but this necklace has a special story attached to it.  Back when I was a CaresTeam, I had the privilege of meeting and working with Melodee who was one-half on a neighboring team.  As interconnected as we all are, Phil and Melodee are friends, also, and Mel’s story is one that truly parallels the lifecycle of the pearl.  Phil even called to make sure the pearl arrived before Christmas once he realized that my mom was my mom.  Because I believe in supporting great ideas and have fallen in love with my new necklace and matching earrings, I think you should take a second and check out climate pearl and read Mel’s story.  Then bookmark CP for the next time you need a special birthday, Valentine’s or Mother’s Day gift.

Who wants to buy me this bag?  I almost bought this one a few months back, but by the time I went to order it, it was sold out.  This is my spring version of that bag.  Now I just gotta convince myself I really truly need it.

Sunday is my grandma’s (my mom’s mom) 80th birthday, so my Dad and I dropped Mom off at the Mesa airport today to fly up and be with her family.  After a few brief stops to do a bit of post-holiday shopping (the sales really weren’t that great), Dad and I drove through day after Christmas traffic to get back to Flagstaff and find it exactly as I left it… snowy. (I couldn’t help but snap a picture with my phone of my neighbor’s buried car.)  Dad plans on staying with me until Mom flies home on Tuesday.  It should be a good time getting to hang out together for a few days without the rest of the family.  Now if I could just convince him to sleep in my room with the queen-sized bed and not the spare twin.

Merry Christmas!  I’m not sure when this post will actually see the light of day, but that really doesn’t matter when you can back publish posts, right?  I’m home in Willcox for the holiday season, and now more than ever there is really no other place I’d rather be.  I’ve been home since Saturday when my amazing brother drove all the way to Flagstaff (Thursday night) to bring me home since I can’t drive due to my awesomeness and ankle air cast.  Since I’ve been home I’ve been graced with the opportunity to see Hero and her lovely family, countless hometown friends, and my lifelong church family.  I forget sometimes what it’s like to be in this small town until we head to the grocery store and run into at least 4 or 5 people we know.  It’s in those ‘hello…catch up… hope to see you soon’ moments that I feel truly blessed to be a native of such a small community.

One of the highlights of my time home this Christmas was the annual church caroling session on Sunday night.  For the past five years, my mom and I have bundled up and met a handful of our lifelong church friends at the church to carpool to the four nursing homes in town and the homes of our elderly and shut-in church members to sing our favorite carols to them.  I could pretend that my participation in this yearly activity is purely altruistic, but the truth is beyond making the elderly happy and getting to see them sing-a-long with just us, I go for two selfish reasons.   The first is to have the chance to stand beside my mom and sing.  There’s something almost magical about how family sounds together when they sing and living five hours away from mine limits the time that Mom and I get to sing together.

The second reason that I never miss these church outings is my dearest childhood friend, Kate.  I don’t know how to explain Kate but to say that she’s everything you’d want your daughter to grow up and be.  As a kid I knew Kate’s sister Leslie better than Kate because Kate was nine years older than me.  Leslie was just a year older than me and was born with Down’s Syndrome.  Of all the things Kate and I share a protectiveness and love for Leslie is atop the list.  The first few times Kate and I went caroling together it was because we both were home visiting family, however two years ago Kate moved home to be closer to Leslie which means I get to see her on more than just holidays.  Heck, she even cuts my hair now!

Caroling with Kate is an absolute joy.  Not just because she’s got an awesome voice and is fun to sing with, but because everything with Kate is just that much more fun when she’s there.  Things that normally would annoy us or upset us singularly seem funny when we’re together.  It’s like having a sister or kindred spirit who you don’t have to see everyday to feel close to, and no matter the activity, you’d both show up to just spend time together.  This year was no different.  From singing ‘Feliz Navidad’ and ‘Hit The Road, Jack’ in the back of her parent’s Explorer to sharing ancient stories of church follies, caroling with Kate, Leslie, their dad, Mom and Zac was two hours that I wouldn’t trade for anything else.

So on this Christmas morning, I’m happy.  Thankful for friends.  Blessed by family, and ecstatic to be home.  Merry Christmas to each and every one of you… I hope that you, too, are as blessed as I am.

The game just changed.

RIAA says, “No more lawsuits: ISPs to work with RIAA, cut off P2P users.”

It’s good to know that even back before cds, iPods, and Napster I was sticking true to my love/obsession with music. I’ve even got the middle school poetry to prove it.

Every week I read PostSecret like clockwork on Sunday afternoon. One of this week’s secrets is more than just a plea to relate or touch some way out there in the unknown. Instead, it’s a reminder of what this time of year is all about. If only each of us found someone to reach out to others, maybe the true reason for the season wouldn’t seem so forgotten.

These pictures have a hilarious story that goes along with them. One that I don’t quite have time to tell you today, but trust me you’ll crack up at it when I finally get to it. We’ve been buried for a few days, and Zac arrived on my doorstep to drive his crippled sister home for a week. I’m hoping to have the internet at my parent’s house to blog from. If not, I’ll catch you up when I get home. From the bottom of my heart, I hope each and everyone of you have an amazing Christmas.

It makes me think of White Chocolate Peppermint Mochas in the BSM, car drives around Flagstaff to checkout the lights, and those annual voyages to Los Abrigados with flashlights and puke breaks. Those were good times.

I love when the University closes due to winter weather, and I still am expected to report to work.