Let's vacation....to Idaho?

This is the final week of my highly anticipated Christmas break. It's true. Four more days and it's all over. Then the craziness of reality sets in....school, work, dating, homework. Shall I continue? This Christmas break has been a little less exciting than last year's. 365 days ago I was basking in the rays of the Hawaiian sun, snorkeling with sea turtles and eating THE most delicious pineapple I have ever tasted. I'm not going to lie, I kind of wish that I was there right now. Okay fine, I would give my right arm and leg to be there right now. But I have had a lovely break this year as well. I guess if I was able to go on extravagant vacations every Christmas break, I wouldn't appreciate them as much as I do now.


So what exactly have I been doing over the break? Well, after Christmas, my little brothers had a basketball tournament up in Idaho Falls. And although Idaho Falls isn't quite Hawaii, I figured it would be great to leave Logan for a few days and chill with my family.

We sat through hours and hours of basketball. We ate some delicious food. And we sat through more basketball. We played some games and took naps. We did a little birthday celebrating. Oh and did I mention that we sat through a whole lot of basketball? I think that I would have gone crazy sitting through all those games if my brothers weren't so dang good. Seriously, those little boys (who are not so little anymore), are incredible athletes. They are so much fun to watch! I was the proudest sister. Call me biased, but they are the best on the team. Just saying. :) But seriously, it was so much fun to see my little brothers in their element, doing what they so dearly love to do.


Like I said, I did eat some tasty food and have some quality time with my parents. My mom had a birthday on the second day of the tourney, so we went to dinner and celebrated a little. We also made a pit stop at the Idaho Falls Temple. They were displaying some incredible sculptures by Angela Johnson. These displays have been traveling to various Temple visitors centers over the past months and was only in Idaho Falls for a few more days. Did we luck out or what? Seriously, these were breathtaking. Don't believe me? Check them out. The temple was beautiful, as all of them always are. There was even a bride and groom coming out! (And yes, it was 7:30 pm. Not your typical wedding, right?) I always love visiting the temple and can't wait to finally go inside one day.


Also, this New Year's Eve can be chalked up with the other many great ones. Last year I celebrated New Years in my shorts and t-shirt, watching fireworks go off above Waikiki Beach. This year I still got to see some fireworks...outside in the snow in my coat and boots. But hey, fireworks are fireworks right? I spent the night with my two sweet roommates and dear friends, Rylee and Chelsea. We had some pizza, danced our little hearts out playing "Just Dance" on the Wii and rang in the New Year with party hats, whistles, fireworks in the snow, and some Martinelli's. No kissing at midnight occurred but it was a wonderful New Year's Eve nonetheless.

Here is a sweet video that has gone viral over YouTube and Facebook. It's the oh-so-unique Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Leavitt (stars of 500 Days of Summer) singing their own version of What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? They are quite the duo and her voice is one of a kind.

So it's the cold, hard truth...the holidays are over. It is hard for me to tuck away my Christmas albums and take down the trees. It isn't nearly as fun to go on nightly drives when the Christmas lights are gone.


But with the holidays rolling out, the new year rolls in. Which means that there are goals to be set and worked toward. I wrote down all of my "New Year's Resolutions" and yikes! I have a lot. But slowly over time, I hope to accomplish them all. 2012 is going to be a great year, I can feel it. There is so much to look forward to. I am in the "Decade of Decisions" as they say, and with that comes a lot pressure, a lot of stress, and a lot of excitement! I am thrilled to see what this new year will bring and grateful for the chance to continue progressing and striving to be more like Christ.