I love celebrating the transfer from the old year into the new.  I love it even more now that I have been dating my boyfriend because it marks our anniversary.  We started dating four years ago, when I was only 16 and he was barely 17.  We always make it special in some way by going out to eat (with money or a gift card given to us for Christmas from my parents) and we either exchange gifts or do something else that is fun. 

Sometimes we hang out with friends or family for the midnight celebration, which we are doing this year, or we relax together and watch the ball drop alone, which we did last year.  Now that I am home we are two hours away from each other, and since San works all the time, it is hard to meet up to see one another.  He asked for our anniversary off from work, though, so we are going to Red Lobster and then spending time with his family. 

I am so excited to celebrate four years of dating and just thought I would share it with all of you.  We are not exchanging gifts this year because we are tight on cash, but what really matters most is that we will be together on this special day.

For the past four years, I have been able to be thankful, on the day to reflect on the past year, for the person who makes me happier than I have ever been and who is always teaching me how important it is to give love to others and work hard even when life seems to be against you.  I think I have learned more in the last four years about life than I was ever taught in school or through experience before San came into my life.  We have many years to look forward to celebrating together.  I can’t wait for more anniversaries, more lessons about life, and millions more smiles.  Happy Anniversary, San!

Now, I’d like to know, how are you bringing in the new year?

It feels so good to be home.  Above is my burro, Bailey, who let me take her picture as she welcomed me home.  I hope you are all with your families, relaxing, having fun, and reminiscing about what makes life so special.  This is the time of the year to let everyone know how much you love them and what they mean to you.  It’s good to do this all year long, but life does get busy and sometimes we lose sight of what’s really important.  I hope right now you know that what’s really important is not how clean your house is, it’s not any gossip going around about what’s-their-name, it’s not even about how financially stable you or your family is.  What is most important is that you give love to others and you do the best you can.  If you do those two things, you are doing well.

This Christmas, I am more thankful and more understanding than I have ever been of what God did for all of us on earth.  He showed us He loved us in the most gracious way, and I hope to do the best I can throughout the course of my life to tell Him, “Thank you.”  Over two thousand years ago a sweet baby boy was born on a chilly night in bad conditions, but that baby changed the course of history, changed how people saw God, and is still affecting people today.  I hope Christians around the world don’t let the commercial aspect of the season take away from what this holiday really means, because, to me, it is at the source of my entire existence.  I would not see the world in the same way, I would not understand love in the same way, and I would not be so thankful if Jesus had not been born.  I am so grateful for the gift He gave to each and every one of us if we are willing to receive it.

I hope Christmas doesn’t pass by too quickly, as it often seems to do, and you have as much time as you need with your families and friends.  Please sneak a snack for me and don’t worry about the little things that don’t really matter, because what matters most is that you are alive and loved and that you can love others.  Merry Christmas, everyone!

This is what it looked like:

It doesn’t look like it, but this water was at least an inch deep and was quickly spreading to everything.  And this was just the beginning.  It ended up going down the hall (which you can see part of in the photo above) and into the kitchen.  It went through the large closet shown in the second picture which held a bunch of my stuff and came out the wall across from the door and out into the hallway of the building.  It went under our kitchen cabinets and fridge.  It soaked into the floor and was dripping out the ceiling two floors down.  What seemed like no big deal, turned into a seven hour fiasco of pumping up water into a vaccuum, trying to clean the drains, and ended with cutting a hole in a wall to get to the pipes.  All the while, I had told my boss there was no way I could come in and my roommates and I sat watching the plumbers do their jobs, trying to stay out of their way. 

Thankfully, none of our things were ruined but a few cardboard boxes, but I am so thankful I was here when it was happening (because my class was cancelled) because otherwise so many of my things would have been wrecked.  I had some Christmas presents on the ground as well as some books.  I find it hard to believe that it was a coincidence that my class just happened to be cancelled when this huge disaster occurred.  Nobody else would have noticed it but me until it was too late, so I feel like I was being watched and had to be here to save my things and our apartment.  Sure, I could be upset that I didn’t get to go to work and that it got in the way of my studying.  I could complain that now I’m scared to leave anything on the ground and that our apartment smells a little funny, but I’m trying to look on the bright side because it could have been so much worse.

I wish I could have posted the last couple days, but as you can tell, there were more important things to take care of and lots of schoolwork to finish.  I hope to get everything back up and running as usual for sure by next week when I am home and have nothing to do but relax.  In the meantime, I would love to know what you are thankful for!

With the stress of finals, papers, and presentations looming over me and the added stress of Christmas (as much as I love it, it stresses me out that I can’t even concentrate on it with all the stuff I’ve got going on), I have started to see the more important things in life.  I don’t get to see or talk to my family very much at school, so I rely on my friends for moral support, and let me just say I have the best friends a girl could ever ask for.  We get excited for each other when good things are happening and we try to pick each other up when we’re down.  I am so lucky to live with three girls who, besides little living quarrels, never bother me and make me happy.

Yesterday, for instance, we should have been studying but we all sat down, talked, and watched Youtube videos for over an hour, having a blast just spending time with one another.  We’ve all been really stressed out, but sometimes the ways to de-stress is not to get your work done, but to take a break and focus on what’s really important in life. 

I have realized this semester, which has been the most stressful few months of my life in regards to schoolwork, that academic learning is not the most important thing in my life, and there is no point getting overly stressed about it.  Sure, I want to graduate with a good GPA and get a good job, but what really matters is that I make the most of the little time I have here on earth with the ones I love.  If I didn’t have my friends here with me or my family to support me, there would be no happiness in my life.  Sure, in general school makes me happy, but what’s the point of knowledge if you have no one to share it with?

So, this Christmas, I am not only thankful for my Savior dying for my sins, but I am thankful that God created love, because it is the only thing people have to hold on to when times are at their worst.  It is the only thing that gives a person hope when all odds are against them.  It brings faith when when there is nothing else to believe in.  My love for God, my friends, and my family has pulled me out of many sticky situations, which I know will happen again and again until my last day on earth.

What are you thankful for today and this Christmas season?

Deciding was a lot harder than I anticipated because beside having to decide between a Nikon or a Canon I also wanted the best I could get for my money.  I found that I had really high expectations without any knowledge of how those expectations could be met and that in the end most DSLR cameras out there will take good images, it matters more who is behind the camera than the camera itself.  That being said, I know higher level cameras are better, but for a beginner who has a lot of learning to do, I do not need the features of a nicer camera and wouldn’t know how to use them anyway. 

I finally decided on a Nikon D5000, but even after deciding, I waited a few days and decided multiple times I would hold off before delving back in.  Before buying, I made a contract listing rules I have to abide by in order to justify the camera, such as using it excessively and getting over my shyness when photographing in public.  I have never spent a lot of money before, but I felt that I deserved to treat myself to this (if treating can involve a contract) because I have had the most nightmare of a semester and its time I focus on myself.  I don’t like to be selfish, especially during this time of the year when I should be giving, but it’s just a perfect time to buy with the prices being so low and then I’ll be able to take lots of pictures at Christmas.

All of that being said, I am so excited to get my camera and start capturing all of God’s gifts around me.  I think taking pictures allows a person to see the world in a different way.  Some photos are so powerful, so much that there is no way I could ever deny God’s existence when I see them.  Photos are touching, tender, beautiful, baffling, mysterious, and say something about the person who took them.  I am excited to start seeing my own life in a different way.  When I look at it this way, I feel like there is no price you can put on it and that I should’ve gotten a better camera sooner!

What are you thankful for?  What do you think about photography? Do you have any tips for me?

By the way, I gave up on posting a link-up every Thursday because no one ever participates.  If you would like to participate, please let me know and I will get one up again.