I've been preparing for my finals and working my butt off. Not only have I been studying a ton, but I've been working on final projects...which stink. ESPECIALLY group projects. Now don't get me wrong, I love the people I'm working with, but writing group papers are just THE WORST idea ever...Anyway, I've been listening to a lot of Pandora (pandora.com) lately to help me stay motivated and all that. I've created a few Christmas stations and the one I like the best is the one where I entered Bruce Springsteen (holiday) and Jackson 5 (holiday). I don't know what is more Christmas then the Jackson 5! I mean, really, what could be better then The Boss, Little Michael, The Rat Pack (mainly Frankie and Dino), The Temptations, The Drifters, Burl Ives, Bing Crosby, Harry Connick, JR., and Michael Buble singing holiday hits? It really puts you in the holiday mood!
Ya know what else puts you in the Christmas spirit? Watching your favorite Christmas movies on the couch with some hot chocolate. I did this recently (minus the hot chocolate :( ). For a study break, Alexis and I watched Nestor the Long-eared Christmas Donkey and Cece and I watched A Year Without a Santa Claus (one of my ALL TIME favorites...Alexis and I have Snow Miser and Heat Miser t-shirts because we're awesome). I can really appreciate those old, stop-motion (clay-mation) animation movies that were made in the 70's. Classics. Basically, this is a really long introduction for my actual point: I'm really excited to go home and spend some much needed time with my family. I'll be home for about 5 weeks (have I mentioned that?) which definitely is NOT enough time, but it's much longer than my normal Christmas break would be. Since my break is so long, it's going to be even harder to say goodbye.
HOLD ON NOW FOLKS! This is where it starts to get sad, sappy, & sentimental so if you don't want any of that just skip to the bottom...I always have a hard time saying goodbye to my family, whether they know that or not, but it's true. Such is the life of a daddy AND mommy's girl that decides to explore the world, I suppose. I'll miss my family the most out of everyone. Whenever we're together we always have a good time, even when we're not doing anything! (I wouldn't have it any other way.) One thing I've learned these past 3 semesters in college is this: absence truly does make the heart grow fonder. I know when all is said and done they will always be happy to see me when I return from wherever my travels take me, which makes the return that much better. I thank God everyday for the family He has given me...it would be great if they would visit me while in Ireland...just sayin' (I HEAR PLANE TICKETS ARE CHEAP NOW!).
Geez, I don't know when the heck I turned into such a sap but it has happened and I don't know how I feel about that...I realized, before Cece locked my facebook for me (hence my status), that I have two weeks left here in South Bend and then I won't see these people until August. If you think about it though, I really only have ONE week since the other week is chock full of finals. I won't see my friends out here for 8 months...WOW. So much can happen in that time span. I've talked about this a lot lately with my other friends going abroad and, from what I've gathered, we're all slightly afraid to go abroad. What if we come back and none of our friends from school are excited to see us again? Or don't think twice about the fact that we haven't seen them for 8 months? It's scary to think about. What if we all drastically change while we're gone? Most importantly, how the heck can a person focus on things like finals when these are the things they're thinking about with increasing regularity? (Don't worry mom, I AM focusing on finals, too :D ) I'm really going to try to live for the day (like I mentioned in my last post) every day this week. I'm going to take pictures of everything and not care if I look like a crazy person for documenting every little event that happens. (I'm going to need something to look at when I get South-Bend-sick.) I'm going to savor every minute I get to spend with my friends from here because I'm going to miss them a lot; some of them have become my family away from home. SO. This paragraph. It's my way to say "Welp, see ya later!" to my friends in the hopes that when we actually say our goodbyes I won't be a weeping, sobbing mess. I'll miss you all. I love you guys. I'll see some of you across the pond!
Well, this post certainly turned out to be something I did not expect...with all this sadness out of the way I calculate I won't need another sad post like this until...maybe the first week in Ireland? We'll see...Anyway, Christmas. I'm excited. Food, family, football (no ND bowl game...lame.), mass at home (which I genuinely miss), presents, friends, and most importantly RELAXATION. It'll all be worth it in the end. Christmas, don't be late!
P.S.-I'm also genuinely excited for Ireland, despite what my posts would lead you to believe. It's bittersweet.
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