Merry Christmas!!!

Courtesy of Julian Smith, my favorite movie maker/actor of all time.

I'm officially home from school until April! Drove through three separate storms and five states in two days.
Total Traveling time: 17 hours
Things learned:
Driving through a blizzard in the dark feels like driving at warp speed.
It is possible to make the suicide run from Provo to Temecula in one shot, but it's best done with a friend and lots of music.
It's also possible to sing yourself hoarse on said trip.
ALWAYS watch the weather. Driving to get ahead of storms isn't fun, but neither is trying to get home when three of your required mountain passes are snowed in/flooded.

Anyway, Merry Christmas everyone! Hope it's fantastic!

Fere Universa

Or, A (theoretically) quick update because I have white glove tonight and need to get back to cleaning.

I finished my last Chemistry class today, and ultimately am very sad. I loved that class!
I have one more Orchestra rehearsal, then Sunday's Dress rehearsal, and then Sunday will be the Messiah Fireside. 500 singers, 200 musicians, 8 soloists, 1 Messiah. I will be one of the 200, and I'm more ecstatic than words can describe.
The only other class I have is Book of Mormon, which I'll sit in two more times.
Well, that and a LOT of online classwork.
Between today and Dec. 17, I have no fewer 5 exams, only 3 of which are actual finals. I have crazy teachers who think it'd be fun to do a unit test right before finals. Silly Teachers.
Tonight I have a massive white glove clean check in my dorm. I've spent over three hours just cleaning the fridge and defrosting the freezer. I still have to go through and clean every cupboard in the kitchen, inside and out, then completely overhaul my bedroom. The goal is to make everything look better than when we moved in 3 months ago. The problem is, we still have to live here for another week too. I'm still trying to figure out how to get everything move-out clean, a week before I move out. And, for that matter, how to keep it that way.

For anyone who's wondering, I feel 100% recovered from my surgery, and feel healthier than I have in over three years. Normally, I'd post pictures of my four awesome scars, but for modesty's sake I will forbear.

By way of update, I'm changing my major...probably. Seeing as how I'm an average student (ok, maybe a smidge above average, but not enough to count), and the nursing program involves competing with over 200 students for 24 spots, well...I don't have the 3.5 required to get in, let alone the 4.0 required to beat the other applicants. So I've decided to pursue and idea that I've been tossing around for a while now. Even though I hate to look like one of the 150 other students who decided that the nursing program was too hard, and will end up going for something like dental hygiene (no offense to hygienists, I love you), I have decided to look into becoming a paramedic. Like I said I've been tossing this idea around for a while. Over summer was when I first started getting the impression that it's more of where I should be, and the idea has slowly taken life, grown a personality, and decided to nag me constantly until I look after it better. It's like, Nursing is the neighbors dog, and she's so cute, but someone just gave me my own little puppy, and though it may not be the purebred labradoodle from next store, my little Paramedic mutt still wants to be taken care of. So I think I'm going to give Nursing one final goodbye, and start falling in love with Paramedic, because he's still adorable and puppy-like, and it could be the start of a beautiful relationship.

There's so much to do in these next eight days, I just might go insane.

Thank you so much to all of my family members who have made this semester possible.
With any luck, I'll manage it even better in the spring.

Much Love,
Katie