Not a creature was stirring.

It's an hour into Christmas and my house is quiet, quiet, quiet. The presents are all wrapped in bright reds and greens and silvers with big pretty bows (except for my sister's, which is sitting in a naked box on my floor. must get on that)under our quite beautiful and majestic Christmas tree, wrapped in blink-y white lights and multicolored ornaments. We had a lovely dinner of shrimp linguine and watched White Christmas, an excellent old film with Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney. It's disgustingly warm for Christmas this year--no chance of a white Christmas for us. I read these posts from the wonderful blog with all of the lovely snow and wished we had even a smidgen of that here. But alas, it's not to be. But I won't let that dampen my Christmas cheer! As Bing Crosby says:

"Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won't make it 'white'."

It's not about moving on . . .

Exams are over, and I've come home for Christmas. However, I won't be going back to my dear old college town for six months, due to the fact that I will be studying abroad next semester (as I've mentioned several times). I didn't expect it to be so difficult to leave the town behind. I'll admit I had a lump in my throat as I drove away. I've met alot of amazing people this semester and am sad to leave them. But now I'm home and am enjoying the time with my family.

We chose our christmas tree today but, due to a visit from my grandparents, it has made its home in the garage for the time being. That crisp evergreen smell is invading into our kitchen and I can't wait to decorate it with white lights and jewel-toned ornaments!

I can't wait to watch holiday movies, drink hot tea and chocolate, bake Christmas cookies, wrap presents. Hell, I can't wait for Christmas!

Christmas, Christmas, Christmas!

This post serves several purposes, one of which being procrastination from my U.S Diplomatic history exam. I know I've been absent from my blog for quite some time, but I've had quite a bit to do! Midterms, Thanksgiving, concerts, etc. It was fantastic! Oh! And of course, the release of Twilight, which was done very well, in my opinion!

First, I went to a fantastic concert with my two new friends at the 9:30 club in DC. We saw Sondre Lerche, this fantastic singer/songwriter. This is one of his new songs--it's not even on an album yet!

Thanksgiving was amazing, as usual. My aunt outdoes herself with the food every year, and this year was no exception. I got to see all but one of my cousins (that are around my age) and it was fantastic to see everyone. My family is hilarious and I love spending time with them. Then we get to December!

My visa application has been turned in, my tickets have been bought, and as of yesterday I know what college I'll be studying with! Hertford college (pronounced: Hartford. Good to know!) They have a college cat named Simpkins, which I find hilariously awesome. According to Wikipedia, the college is in the middle of medieval Oxford and was founded (as Hart Hall) in the late 13th century and was home to John Donne, Thomas Hobbes, and Evelyn Waugh. They also have a Bridge of Sighs, that supposedly looked like the Venician bridge of the same name (except it doesn't). It's beautiful, the chorus is fantastic, and I can't wait to go!

And now it's the Christmas thing. I love Christmas. Particularly Christmas music, of all sorts. Sad Christmas music, happy christmas music, dorky christmas music, etc. So here's a list of my favorite Christmas songs.

The Bird and the Bee: Carol of the Bells
Clyde McPhatter: White Christmas
David Bowie & Bing Crosby: Little Drummer Boy (Peace on Earth)
Jimmy Eat World: Last Christmas
John Lennon: Happy Christmas (War is Over)
Joni Mitchell: River
The Raveonettes: Christmas Song
The Waitresses: Christmas Wrapping
The Weepies: All that I Want
Sufjan Stevens: Holy, Holy, Holy
Priscilla Ahn: Silent Night
Leona Naess: Christmas
The Pretenders: 2000 Miles
Lenka: All my Bells are Ringing
Vince Guaraldi: Christmas Time is Here

I'll hopefully post again soon, but if I don't, have a happy holidays, and your winters look like this: