Christmas 2013

Just got back from my Christmas vacation yesterday. It was lovely to escape to a nice, warm location (thanks for moving to southern California, Mom and Dad)! It was especially nice, because I left Boise in the middle of a snowstorm. Gross. I got stuck in Oakland overnight on the way down (and I was on a thru flight... go figure! Silly Orange County airport and its ridiculous sound restrictions/no flying in after 11pm ordinance). But once I arrived the next morning, I was able to relax, do lots of reading, saw some movies (I love Frozen!) and spend time with the family. I went and did a session at the Newport Beach Temple with my Mom and Dad one day, and that was nice. I love temples! My mom also made me go through boxes from the move. I never got to sort through my stuff before they moved, so they packed up my room and put it all in boxes. My parents don't want to store a bunch of junk while they're on their mission, so I went through my boxes and found some great stuff I totally forgot about. (And I also threw out a lot... you're welcome, Mom!)

Speaking of missions, my dad officially got his assignment for where he'll be serving as mission president. He waited to open it until we were all home together, and it was neat for us to all be there. He is going to go to Brazil...to a mission that was a zone in his mission (that he was zone leader of) over 30 years ago. Like he said, "it's coming home." So I'm excited for my parents and sister. I do need to start saving up my vacation time to go visit them, though!

I got some really nice Christmas gifts this year, including a Kindle Paperwhite as a surprise gift from Santa. Which is super nice so that my next vacation, I won't have to take a suitcase full of books. Because that was ridiculous. And heavy.

And somehow I actually had some luck shopping and got a great new wallet and a skirt. I also got some cute sweaters/cardigans, and an awesome peacoat. (Though can I say... it's really hard to want to shop for warm clothes when it's 75 degrees outside.) But success is success, and I can't get mad at that.

I also got to cross another thing off my 101 list--"not spend any money for a week." Not sure if it entirely counts because my parents paid for plenty of things the week I was home. I just didn't have to. :P But I'm counting it.

I got sick the last little bit of my vacation, which was definitely not fun. I'm still recovering. But on the plus side, I got to use some of my sick time instead of my vacation time. Already starting to save up for Brazil!

And on the recovering note, I should go to bed! (Year-in-review posts will hopefully be coming tomorrow...)