crazy cold and i am off duty

well, well, well... i am free at last! i am sooo glad i do not have to think for the next 3 weeks! someone decided to allow us to have SEVEN finals. say bye-bye to your sanity. the practical tests really wear me out. you always feel like you are performing... which is pretty much the case. i have actually done better on my practical exams than the written ones, but they require a lot more energy! it is much easier to be tested by reading yourself the questions and answering them on your own time, or even skipping some and coming back if you so choose. i study a lot more simply because i do not want to look like an idiot in front of my teacher. also, if you violate the more than one safety rule you fail! i understand that it has to be that way, but it does stir up some tension. enough said about school!

it is snowing like crazy here! only 24 degrees and frigid. i love the snow! my goals for this next week of relaxation include making a real snowman and taking a snow-flurried christmas picture. also, i would love to have a snowball fight and go sledding, but we might save those activities until the big snow comes to town- which we have been told comes after christmas. speaking of christmas, pittsburgh is forecasted to have a white one folks! how sweet! also, i would like to finish some christmas shopping, if i want to get out in the snow that is. i might just sit in my slippers and drink hot tea all day and stare out the window and watch the snow fall. sounds wonderful, right? feel free to join me. we will be here until the 21st.

jon and i have felt the need to settle into a church around here and get involved. we do not want to join anywhere... don't worry ollie pollie! we just miss being active in church. now that we have some free time, we started working with the shadyside pres youth group. it was a really fun night of sardines all over the church, a lovely mac n cheese dinner, and a service project/ bible study/ discussion time. i hope we have time to keep it up next semester. the kids were great, and i think we fit right in.

jon and i are trying to watch as many christmas movies as possible this year. so far it is not going so well. we have seen christmas vacation, the holiday and part of white christmas. and now i am off to watch the rest of white christmas! do not tell me how it ends. this is my first time to see it!

merry christmas friends!
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