Joyeux Noël

Merry Christmas! It's been a great couple of days spent with plentiful amounts of food, games, movies, and most importantly: laughter. With everyone at home, everything becomes quite the ruckus.

Perhaps my favorite part of the Christmas is the music. There are some pretty fantastic carols out there, but I thought I'd share the lyrics of two of my favorites:

Carol #1: In the Bleak Midwinter

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

Carol #2: Jesus Christ the Apple Tree

Jesus Christ the Apple Tree
The tree of life my soul hath seen
Laden with fruit and always green
The tree of life my soul hath seen
Laden with fruit and always green
The trees of nature fruitless be
Compared with Christ the applle tree

His beauty doth all things excel
By faith I know but ne'er can tell
His beauty doth all things excel
By faith I know but ne'er can tell
The glory which I now can see
In Jesus Christ the apple tree.

For happiness I long have sought
And pleasure dearly I have bought
For happiness I long have sought
And pleasure dearly I have bought
I missed of all but now I see
'Tis found in Christ the apple tree.

I'm weary with my former toil
Here I will sit and rest a while
I'm weary with my former toil
Here I will sit and rest a while
Under the shadow I will be
Of Jesus Christ the apple tree.

This fruit does make my soul to thrive
It keeps my dying faith alive
This fruit does make my soul to thrive
It keeps my dying faith alive
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ the apple tree.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

If you'd like an excellent performance of numerous carols, look here. I would argue it's one of the best.

proof...

that i won an intramural t-shirt. and that i actually put on our uniform of pink tye dye.

blech... pink.

champions!

victory dance.

i hope...

they call me to somewhere other than boise, idaho. actually, that's not exactly true. i promised myself i wouldn't go on a mission until i didn't care where i got called. obviously, i think some places are preferable to others (coughmadagascarfrenchspeakingcough) but if boise, idaho it is, boise, idaho i will go. oh yeah, i've started my mission papers. i'll turn them in sometime in february and i've put my availability as the middle of may sometime. to say i'm excited it a gross understatement.

honestly... i kind of just want to go somewhere where i can wear these:

redemption.

i am happy to report that the flag football team i was on won the coveted byu intramurals t-shirt on saturday. our team, the princesses (i assure you, i had NOTHING to do with that name. or our pink tye dye uniforms) won our division and finally got hold of that dang shirt, the shirt we should have won last year if we wouldn't have gotten screwed over by the referees. don't worry. not bitter. but redemption is a beautiful thing.

gratia

Since I'm sure you're all on the edge of your seats wondering if I decided to eat turkey or not, I'll keep you waiting no longer... I did. A very small amount, but I did. And it was delicious. I didn't eat very much during Thanksgiving dinner, which is too bad because it was such delicious food. The past few years I've spoiled my Thanksgiving due to one thing: Chuls rolls. I find that I simply can not restrain myself from eating numerous rolls during the process of making them and of course, sampling them post bakage. This year I counted 7 baked, but you'd have to add at least 2 more if you take into account the amount of dough I ate. (I have a thing for dough.) So, because of the continual consumption of rolls pre-Thanksgiving feast, I couldn't stuff in much more. In my defense, these rolls are the best things you will ever eat. If you were in my shoes, you'd have eaten them too.

I heart Thanksgiving. I think it kind of gets the shaft because everyone's worried about Christmas, but I like to hold onto it a little bit longer.... so, even though this is coming a day late, here are just a few of the things I'm grateful for (in no particular order):

nature, trees, sunrises, beautiful sunsets, mountains, the gospel, my grandparents farm, books, music, my family, schwestern, rugby, my rugby team, my friends, my best friend, second chances, chacos, mercy, my education, NPR, Pennsylvania, Texas football, longboards, sunshine, long walks, going to places where you can't hear any cars, traveling, europe, the opportunity to become better, sports, food, experiments, laughing, the Silly Symphony, fireplaces, sleep, ... and I could continue... but I won't. I have much to be grateful for...

results

So, Ja and I didn't make the week of veganism. On day 4 we broke down and went to Smith's for a carton of ice cream (yes, this broke both our veganism and our no sugar. Sorry folks. I'm not perfect). Call us weak, call us crazy, call us whatever you want... I do, however, have a new found respect for vegans and their lifestyle. I sure ain't strong enough to do it.

Last night I went to the most un-vegan place on this great earth for dinner: Tucanos. Cousin Sammy headed into the MTC today and since he eats meat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, he chose Tucanos as his last dinner before he's restricted to cafeteria food. *sidenote- just a little glimpse into Sammy da Bull's eating habits: his quintessential meal is a Wendy's Baconator, which consists of six strips of hickory smoked bacon piled high atop two 1/4 lb. beef patties, washed down with a Full Throttle. Anyway... my vegetarianism is still on, so thank heavens Tucanos has a salad bar. Sammy put down an ungodly amount of meat last night, but hey, who could blame the kid? I'm going to miss Sammy da Bull. Since he's lived next to my parents the last two years, he's become pretty much a part of the fam damily. He is definitely my favorite punching bag, and it's nice because he's wiling to dish it right back. I'll miss Sam the next two years, but he and I will get back around the same time... did I just allude to something? Perhaps...

I still can't decide if turkey will be on my plate this Thanksgiving. I'm definitely leaning to yes, but I haven't eaten meat except for 3 occasions, since January. Do I indulge for a day? Please voice your opinions...

Until next time.

Cruel, cruel, irony

At least they're together...

In further news... day 3 of being vegan. Ja and I went to the grocery store on Monday and I bought my first carton of soy milk and skipped over the yogurt and eggs, which is too bad because I love yogurt and eggs. All I've got to say is good thing we're only doing this for a week! (However, the soy milk, I will admit, is tasty.) I asked Janelle if we could stop being vegan today because I was really craving eggs for breakfast, but she said no. We then proceeded to discuss why anyone would want to be vegan for an extended period of time.... we couldn't come up with an answer. It's not terrible, but certainly not a lifestyle I would choose. I'll let you know if my attitude improves about it. But as for right now... I want some eggs.