I won't write that much tonight because frankly...I'm too tired and sad to write much :/ I'm sure everyone heard about the tragedy that happened today in Connecticut. I can't hold back tears as I think about all the lives that were lost today...especially the little ones. It tears my heart apart to think of all the potential that was taken away from our world. They had so much ahead of them. They'll never have another birthday, a high school graduation, a marriage, or any children of their own. Children have the potential to change the world. That chance was taken away from these poor babies.
I know hating is wrong, but I'm having a really difficult time not hating the man that killed those kids today. I almost wished he hadn't died so that he would have to live with the guilt that would burn inside his soul for the rest of his pitiful life.
It's not fair.
Anyways...I can't go on about it...I can only pray for the families of the babies. I can't even imagine how it must feel. I think about all my littler brothers and sisters and how it would feel to have them ripped away from me in such a fashion. God help them...
Real quick, here's today's activity...
December 14: Pop popcorn and string it
The picture is terrible, but I'm too lazy and tired to take another one :S I didn't make popcorn, but I strung the little cotton balls around my paper lantern in my living room and hung some Christmas lights! It turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself :)
Well, off to bed, peeps. I'm sooo tired, and I have a lot of homework and studying to do tomorrow. I'm telling you...this week has been soooo tough...but I swear I'm going to finish this semester strong if it's the last thing I do!
The title has a frowny face next to it because, unfortunately, I failed to get both 12 and 13 done D: I have an excuse, though! And I think it's a pretty darn good one :P
Well...yesterday I literally woke up feeling like death. I swear a thorn bush was growing in my throat and the river Thames was dammed up behind my eyes. It was terrible! I haven't had a cold this bad in a really long time, but I had to go to work and everything...all sick :( On top of that, I had finals in piano today, and I spent most of the day trying to drink water and study.
Today I got up early to get ready for finals and ended up getting there about 3 hours early. So I practiced for a while. My professor was supposed to be there at 11:30, but because of a 5 car accident on 293, she got there an hour late! Poor thing :( Her mom just went into the hospital yesterday because of a heart attack...so pray for her. She's in her 80's and she's had heart conditions before...but hopefully she'll recover soon <3
Anyways...my 1 o'clock final ended up being around 3:30...and then I had to catch the bus home from there...which got to downtown around 4:15ish. Then I had to walk home from downtown..in the dark..in freaky deaky Haverhill! Not an ideal way to spend my day, but hey! Finals are done, I was accepted to my tutoring position, and I passed with an A in my class :) I'm starting to learn to look at the silver linings in every situation now!
Annnnd...more good stuff happened when I got home! I got my long awaited Moulin Rouge poster in the mail!! Oh my gosh, I FREAKED OUT!! I put it up on the wall right across from my bed so I can stare at it...see??
Isn't it just AMAZING?!?!? It looks small in the picture, but it's actually really big! I'm pretty sure it's bigger than all my Avengers and Justice League posters! Oh my gosh...it's just amazing!
OH!! AND EVEN MORE HAPPY STUFF HAPPENED!! Guess what??? I GOT A CHRISTMAS CARD!!!! I'M SO OVERJOYED!! I know it sounds ridiculous, but one of my favorite parts of Christmas is the Christmas cards! I got one from a family at church and it really, REALLY made me happy :D
Anyways...that's it for all the good stuff that happened today :P Now on to the bad stuff! Well, I won't go into all of it, because thinking on "down" stuff never leads to an "up" attitude. But let's just say that I have to go write six 2-page responses, a 6 page essay, and the essay response for my Lit final on Tuesday. Ugh...it's going to be a loooong night! But that's ok, cuz when I get discouraged, I can just look up at my Moulin Rouge poster and it'll recharge my energy :)
I'm going to try and jump back into the activities tomorrow. December 14th is pop popcorn and string it...then hang it somewhere in your house. It's iffy whether or not I'll be able to make popcorn successfully, so I have a backup plan :P I got cotton balls if the corn doesn't work out...so we'll see!
Well, gotta hit the books! G'night, babes!
*BUT WAIT! THER'E'S MORE!*
I forgot to fill in the latest traditions! A few more people have added to my facebook question so here are their answers!
Aunt Deb - "Spending the day in our pjs"
Yes yes yes!! Definitely one of the best parts of the day! Who doesn't love a day when you can wear your pjs?? A rare occasion, and oh, so awesome! :)
Mrs. Skinner - "Presents...the thoughts about what to get different people, actually buying the stuff, and then seeing them happy when they get it. I think I do like giving more than getting, although, if I get forgotten, I feel a little bad. Another thing for me is the music about Jesus. As we live all year in the Gospel, it's nice to remember it's start at Christmas time."
You really hit the nail on the head for me with both of these! First of all the present thing! What you said really reminded me of the seven love languages thing and how important it is to know what they are. I remember a while ago we talked about this together, and you shared a story with me about how someone had given you a gift, but the way it was given didn't show a lot of love/care. I know it means a lot to you to be thought of when it comes to gifts, and I really admire the fact that you actually know what your love language is! Christmas is a great time to year to respond to people's love languages, and I'm glad you reminded me of that :) As for the music??...
AAAAAAAMEN!!
Christmas music is literally the best music in the world and I just love love love everything about it! Now that you're reminding me of music, I'm going to put a song on here. It's a Christmas song that Kalen showed me a while and the words are just...soooo powerful! They make me tear up every time :') I hope you enjoy it!
Isn't that just amazing?? Those words...wow...
Aunt Kathy - "Going to friends on Christmas Eve for an Italian seafood feast! Then coming home and sending the kids to bed so we can put the presents under the tree! And let's not forget about putting cookies and milk out for Santa!"
That sounds sooooo yummy!!! Italian seafood??? Yuuum :D Gotta love the food! And I remember as a kid being almost excited to go to bed on Christmas Eve night because Mom and Dad would put all the presents under the tree :) And they always did such a fantabulous job of it :D They made them look so nice! Lol..this year, I'm definitely leaving cookies out for Santa! Maybe he'll get me a new phone for Christmas :P But hey...if he doesn't like my cookies, maybe he'll just give them to the reindeer! It's the thought that counts, right?? ;D
Ok, I know I'm one day behind in posting this, but I SWEAR that I actually completed the activity on the 11th! It just takes forever for my computer to upload movies onto youtube!
I'm pretty sure the movie says it all, so I won't go on and on :P But please excuse my messy hair..I was sooo tired last night, and I didn't take the time to make it look nicer :P Oh well!
December 11: Tell your favorite holiday story
I know, I know...I cheated a little bit...but hey, at least I did something! Thanks to everyone who helped me out last night :P I know it was super last minute, but I got a whole bunch of answers, so thanks :) And Aunt Deb added hers this morning and I HAVE TO TELL YOU ABOUT IT! One of her favorite holiday traditions is wearing her pjs alllll day! I totally agree...soooo awesome!!
A few minutes later
Ok...I just died laughing because I rewatched my movie and I have to explain something. For some odd reason, I was going on and on about my actor crushes...I blame it on the tiredness :P But I feel guilty because I said being very attractive is "very important." Lololol...I didn't mean it the way it sounds! Good looks are not the most important thing to me, I swear. I just had to explain myself :P
Can you guys believe it?? There are only 15 more days until Christmas!! I'm halfway between wanting it to come (because I love it) and wanting it to be further away (because i don't want it to be over). What a predicament :S
Anyways...I'm actually anxious to get this post over with because....guess what came in the mail today??
AHHHHH!!! I'M DYING!! I have to admit...I'm a hopeless Percy Jackson addict now :S Oh my gosh, I LOVE HIM!! And when I say "him" I don't just mean Percy Jackson, I also mean Logan Lerman!! That dude... THAT...DUDE!! Hottest kid on the planet, I'm telling you. HAWT BABYY!!
Anyways...before I humiliate myself further, on to today's activity :)
December 10: Toast Marshmallows
Lol..I'm pretty sure if you'd watched me doing this tonight, you would have laughed your head off :P Because it was pretty much a disaster! First, I didn't have marshmallows...so I had to go out to the store to get them. Then I didn't have a stick. I guess I could have gone outside to get one, but it was 11 o'clock at night, and I didn't feel like it :P Soooo...I used a colored pencil :P I'm pretty sure that was a REALLY unhealthy choice, but hey...I'm not dead yet, right??
I forgot how much I loved toasted marshmallows, actually! It lit on fire a few times, but I blew it out before it got out of hand, and the end result was pretty good :) Ya know when you toast the outside and then you pull it off, and the gooey inside is still on the stick?? That's what happened...and it was beautiful <3 I've gotta do this more often!!
Well, I've gotta go to bed! In other words, I need to sit in bed and read all my Percy Jackson books :P Don't forget about tomorrow's activity! Tell your favorite holiday story :) I have to admit, I don't really know which one I'm going to do yet :S There are so many good stories, but I'm not sure how I want to tell them. I might not end up recording myself...they were better in real life, so repeating them might not to them justice, but I'll definitely do my best! G'night, peeps!
I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M ACTUALLY KEEPING UP WITH THIS BLOG!! Lol...it makes me so happy :) I feel like I'm finally sticking to something!
Anyways..random happy moment right there :P Today was actually a great day! Got up and went to church...something I haven't done in a while because I've had work the past few Sundays :/ I was actually supposed to work yesterday, but someone took my hours for me so I could go to the piano concert I went to tonight! My professor (the one I gave my gift to a few days ago) has a conservatory in Topsfield, so I went and saw their Christmas concert with a friend from class. There was a party afterwards, but my friend didn't want to stay, so we left early :/ Yeah, I was bummed...REALLY bummed. But ya know what, you can't have everything, right?? Life goes on...
This is an absolutely TERRIBLE picture
of me in the car on the way :P I thought it was
kinda querky and weird...and that's me!
The concert was AMAZING and it always surprises me how much she can do with her students! She's literally the best professor in the whole world...and I LOVE her!
But now onto today's activities :)
December 9: Make paper snowflakes and hang them somewhere in your house
I have to admit, I thought making paper snowflakes was going to be easy...it wasn't :S At least, not for me! I don't know what I was doing wrong, but seriously...these were the hardest things in the world to make!! How does everyone else in the world make them?? I must have taken the hard route :P But here they are!! I didn't have time to iron them flat, so they're kinda sticky-outy, but that's ok :) I hung them in my window in my living room so the neighbors can see them too :)
Well......I think that's it for tonight! I have work tomorrow, so I'd better sleep. Yeah, sleep is good, I guess :P Tomorrow's activity is toasting marshmallows! I'm gonna have a hard time with that, because I don't have access to a fire or anything. I'll probably just toast some over my gas stove :P Can't go wrong with that, right?? Lol...
I have TONS of homework to get done tomorrow!! Ughhhh...but hey....the more I study, the better my grades are! I already have an A in my piano class, I know that. But when it comes to Literature, I'm a little more nervous. My average is an A, but if I want to keep that, I have to STUDY MY EYEBALLS OUT! I'm sure all you other college students know what I'm talking about :) G'night, peeps!
Gooood day today!! I thought I was going to sleep in today, but I got a nice surprise and got a phone call from my Gramma this morning, and she asked if I wanted to go to to an open house today at Lowell's Boat Shop! And I said yes :) I don't know if any of you have ever heard of it, but it's actually a historical land mark. It's the oldest running boat shop in the country and it's amazing! My Aunt Alice works and teaches there, so it's pretty cool :) Annnnd..there was $1 slices of cheesecake!! DUUUUUDE!! I loved it :D
Anyways...after that, we went to another open house at a place that just opened up. Not exactly sure what it was called, but it was LOADED with antique stuff...and it was most beautiful antique store I've ever been to! I took some pictures, so here they are :)
Here's the building! It was sooo stunning! I wish I'd gotten a picture of the house :/ FAIL! It was a beautiful house on an amazing piece of land.
These are three of my favorite things in the WHOLE store! The first one is a mirrored vanity...and it had some adorable little paintings on it :D The second one is a GORGEOUS table set! It was like..something from the 70's or something :P Lol...I'm not sure how to describe it, but it really was cute :) And the third one is the best fridge in the world. The Big Chill!!! My mom wanted one of these for a while, but it was too small for our family :/ Someday...when all the kids are out of the house...I'm buying this fridge for my mom :)
Me wearing a vintage top hat The spiked cranberry sparkle! (It was delish :)
So that was my awesome day!! Now...on to the real stuff :P
December 8: Write something you love about each family member on an index card and give it to them if you can :)
Sorry about the crazy messy hair :S It does that to me sometimes :P Anyways...there it is!
Ok...there are some days when I just totally fail. Thankfully, today was not one of those days, but I wish it had been better :P I got to sleep in (yayy!!) but I woke up and realized that I'd missed four texts from a friend I'd told the night before I'd text. It was...kind of an emergency, so I felt TERRIBLE :S Not a great feeling to wake up and realize you fail :/ Thankfully, she was ok, and I was able to move on with my day. I washed dishes (ugh) and spilled a pot of soapy water all over the floor. After I cleaned that up, I remembered that I'd left a load of laundry in the washer over night. So I went and restarted that before sitting on my couch and finishing the last Lord of the Rings movie and crying my eyes out at the end.
When that was over, I came in to make my dinner/dessert....
December 7: Eat dessert for dinner
This is what I decided on...because fudge is DELISH! They came of the oven looking great...but they I tried to cut them up :/ BEHOLD! THE BROWN SLOP!
I know, I know...it looks AWFUL! They were in the oven for 45 minutes, and they STILL came out undercooked! I keep trying to tell people, but they won't believe me...I. can't. cook. But whatever...at least nobody else had to eat it...just me :P And then I made the BIGGEST mistake EVER!...
I started drinking this... ...instead of this.
I'm telling you...epic fail. NEVER drink anything but milk with brownies...it doesn't turn out very well :S
But now it's done...I finished off my brownies and milk, and now I'm preparing myself for a really REALLY long night at work! And when I say long, I mean 5:30-midnight long :S Ugh...I don't want to be there that late!! And the bad news is that I have to do it all over again on Saturday! On Sunday, I'm scheduled to work from 4-11, which is ALMOST as bad, but not quite. I'm going to try and change my Sunday schedule, though, so I can go to the piano party that my professor is having. I really really REALLY want to go!! Hopefully someone at work will be willing to switch schedules with me :S Ciao!
Ok...I have something to confess...I didn't take a picture of today's activity. AHHHH!!! I KNOW!! SO SHOOT ME!! lol...
December 6: Give a gift to your favorite teacher
Since I didn't take a picture of it, I'll just tell you what I came up with. First of all, my teacher. She's my piano professor...I think I told you a little bit about her in yesterday's post. She really is amazing, and I love love LOVE her! So I made her something :) I got this little black frame and made it all sparkly by gluing glitter around it. Then I framed a piece of lined paper in it, and wrote "Thank you <3" on it with a dry erase marker! It actually came out pretty cute :)
Anyways...that's my post for today :P Tomorrow I'm going to eat dessert for dinner...and it's going to be AMAZING!! You should all do it with me :) I already have an idea for what I'm going to eat, but it's going to be a surprise! You'll see when I stick the picture on. It's gonna be a little tough eating dessert for dinner...when I won't even be around for dinner...
Tomorrow and Saturday I'll be working from 5:30-midnight! Ughhhh...it's gonna be a looooong night :S But hey..I'm a night owl anyways, so it shouldn't be too bad. It's going to be disgustingly boring, though :/ I'm not looking forward to that part. But hey...like someone told me today, at least they're paying me :)
And as an added bonus, since I forgot a picture, here's a random movie of me and my best friend answering random questions :P
Such an awesome day!! Finally got to sleep in...and it was awesome :) Kristen came and slept over last night, and we actually made a blanket fort in my kitchen, so we slept in it :P It's kind of nice pretending to be a kid again...I forgot how much fun blanket forts were! I had a tiny string of Christmas lights, so we hung those in there too...sooo cool! On top of that, I'd never seen the Little Mermaid before, so at 2 in the morning, we watched it :) Good times, good times...
We also went to the Loop today and ate lunch at Wendy's cuz we were both DYING to get out of the house! That was fun :) Umm...let's see...what else went on today...
Oh! Today was my friend's birthday!! Dude...he's one of my bestest friends in the whole world. He's one of those friends who sticks with you through everything, ya know? He turned 15 today...hard to believe! I remember wayyyy back in the day when we used to babysit him and his brothers and he'd be crying in his pack n' play for his pacifier, then his mom, then his pacifier again. It was so sad :'( But thankfully he's outgrown the well-loved "passy" and now he's 15. Happy Birthday, little bro <3
Kris helped me do today's activity which was....
December 5: Decorate one of the the doors in your house all Christmasy!
Chris did todays activity with me, and I have to admit, I'm
jealous of the red door he has in his house! Dude...red
doors are AHHHMAZING!
Here's my door! And the ribbon looks TERRIBLE!
But whatever...lol...I tried :P
So those are our doors! Thanks to Kris and Chris (Kris and Chris...lol :P ) for helping me out! They look great! :D
Tomorrows activity is to give a gift to your favorite teacher. I'm still not sure how I'm going to do this one, but I know which teacher I want to give a gift to. Christina Dietrich...my piano professor. She's absolutely FABULOUS...she's an amazing teacher and a great friend :) There are only a couple more weeks of class, but thankfully, I'll be spending all next semester with her too! She asked me to help tutor in her piano 1 class next semester, and I am SO PSYCHED! On top of that, I'm also taking advanced piano with her...super exciting :D It's gonna be a crazy busy (but crazy FUN) semester :)
Well, babes, I'm off once again! I've been trying to go through all the Lord of the Rings movies in order to prepare myself for The Hobbit. I've seen them all before, but I watched them all out of order :S I watched the second one years and years ago, then the first one, then the third one with my dad and Kalen. I loved them all, but I didn't really understand the whole story. So I decided to start over :)
I managed to get all three movies for under $5 each (yayy!) so I'm watching them all now :) I saw the first one a couple of days ago, and I'm watching the second one now. I have to admit, I'm finding it rather funny... practically memorized Lord of the Beans, so some of the lines are cracking me up. "We ain't had nothing but maggoty bread for three stinkin' days!" Lol...too funny :) Ttyl!!
Ok...I have to admit...I didn't make breakfast this morning :S I accidentally woke up late and had to literally RUN out the door so I wouldn't be late for school! I kinda felt bad about it...because I really wanted to stick to my blog really well, but I messed up :/
The good news is, I made breakfast for dinner!! Kristen came over to sleep over, so we made colored pancakes together :)
December 4: Make your breakfast in Christmas colors!
I know, I know...the batter looks disgusting and the pictures are terrible, but I got my point across, right?? Make sure you do your activity tomorrow...cuz IT'S GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN!! Decorate a door in your house all Chrismasy! I bought ribbon the other day, so I'm all prepared...and Krissy is going to help me!! Yayy :D
Well, another crazy day at work :/ But I have good news! I have three days off now!! Tchyawww!! Only thing is, I have school on Tuesday and Thursday :/ But that's not too bad, since I'm done early in the afternoon, so I can just chill at home :)
I don't have a lot of time to write tonight...got TONS of homework to do before 8:30 tomorrow :S But here was today's activity...
December 3: Make a paper chain in Christmas colors and hang it somewhere in your house.
Here's Chris's paper chain! It looks awesome! :D
And here's mine :)
Tomorrow's activity is to color your breakfast Christmas colors :P This one is going to be fun :) I remember doing this when I was a little kid...my mom used to color me and my sister's food, and I always thought it was so fun :) So let's do it again, yeah??
I know, I know...at this point, it's pretty much December 3rd, but I haven't said goodnight to December 2nd yet, so this post will count as the 2nd :P
Today was absolutely CRAZY today! Well...nothing new...it's been crazy for a few long days now :/ Don't get me wrong...I really LOVE my job, but it's getting to be that time of year when either everyone is really happy, or really REALLY grouchy :/ Unfortunately, I seem to get all the grouchy customers! Ugh...I'm just throwing this out there to people who are shopping for Christmas this year! We retail workers are people too! We have feelings, and if you yell at us, we don't enjoy it! Just keep that in mind :)
Sooo...catching up on the December 1st post, Chris Eddun sent me his letter to Santa!! Here it is!
Fantastic job, Chris, thank you for sending it to me :) Guys, isn't that just awesome?? You can still send yours in if you have one! I'll still put it up :)
And now on to today's activity...
December 2: Make a Christmas drawing and decorate it with glitter!
If you can't tell those are ornaments, go back to Christmas school :P I wish you could tell how much glitter is actually on that...because I put a LOT of glitter on it! I love love LOVE sparkles, so I kind of overdid it :P But now it's hanging out in my hallway so I can see it every time I come home!
Well, it's very VERY late at this point, and I have to get up for work tomorrow :/ Ugh...wish me luck! Tomorrow is December 3rd and the activity is to make a paper chain with Christmas colored paper and hang it somewhere in your house. I haven't make a paper chain in sooooo long, so I'm really looking forward to this one :D I hope everybody can do it!
So the official Christmas countdown begins!! Who else is excited?!?! I am :D Holidays are so amazing! I can't say I had a fantastic first day of December...work was pretty crummy :/ But who cares?! It snowed on the first day of the holiday month...what more could I ask for?
Now that the best month EVER has started, let's get going with the Christmas month fun! Guess what, peoples?? I have someone who's taking pictures with me :D Isn't that awesome?? So now EVERYBODY has to join in! It just so happened that we both got our pictures by a Christmas tree, so that's going to be the "picture of the month!" If you have a picture of you in front of a Christmas tree, send it to me...and then I'll stick it up on my blog for everyone to see :D (email me at missmarlymae@gmail.com)
The wonderful Chris Eddun :)
The Christmas Tree before it was lit The Christmas tree after it was lit!!
So HA! Now we have two Christmas trees up! Send me your Christmas tree pics, pleeease :D
Now to the official business! According to the 24 activities list...
December 1: Write a letter to Santa
And there's my letter to Santa :P I wanted to have a longer list, but I realized that I don't have very much that I wanted/needed! That's actually a pretty good feeling :) If you write a letter to Santa, send me a picture! I'd love to see it :)
Hope everyone had a FANTASTIC December 1st :) Tomorrow the activity is making a Christmas drawing and using glitter. If you don't do it, you have no valid excuse...glitter is AMAZING! Plus, I like to see creativity...hit me with it!
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