Happy New Year!

Well, it's just a tad early, but I probably won't be back to my computer before the big day. I'm going to a friend's house, and she's not really a computer type.

I didn't make any resolutions this year, because I never make any resolutions. I guess I figure if something is worth resolving, I'll do it any time of the year; and besides, the only thing New Year's resolutions are known for is their tendency to fall by the wayside around, oh, February. I can review some resolutions already in place, though:

• Love God more every day
• Love my family more, and more selflessly
• Love my friends in a way that is helpful to them and brings glory to God

Everything else pretty much goes under those or doesn't matter.

Ah, they just look so neat and pretty, typed out in a bulleted list, but the actual results so far have been a lot messier. Life is a lot messier than a bulleted list. And I've been pretty beat down lately, for various reasons. Christmas break is always somewhat lonely for me, and this one is particularly hard, with my parents gone on a 2-week cruise (I can't even call them on the phone while they're at sea), and my brother out of town the majority of the time with his fiance, and my boyfriend gone, and one of my best friends having moved away forever last week, and almost everyone else gone for the holidays. (Thank goodness it isn't absolutely everyone. My dear Robin, you have no idea how much I needed you, and how glad I am you're here for me. Thank you.) For a girl whose life resolutions center around love, loneliness is a hard thing to endure.

But that's where the first one comes in. Loving God is what I am designed to do. I've cried a lot in the last few weeks, but I've also learned what it means to have joy in the middle of your tears. Even while I'm feeling down and depressed, I know deep down that everything works out for the good of those who love God, and I know that He will never leave me or forsake me. Even while I'm sad, I feel completely at rest. I am completely confident that it is nothing but a temporary shadow, and I know that God controls everything, even (or especially) my most difficult times. Knowing that there is a perfect plan behind every event, whether happy or sad, keeps me going. I have joy, no matter what is happening externally. And that is an amazing thing.

So, if any of you are having a hard time right now, or if you are having the time of your life, I hope you know the God who gives true joy and contentment in this world.

Happy New Year.

Vacation

Ahh...what a nice thing Christmas break is. I'm working 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. every day this week...and it's funny, when I did the same thing this summer it felt like some kind of unnatural torture, but now, after the incredibly strenuous semester I just survived, it feels like a vacation. It is a vacation. After all, I'm not getting up any earlier or getting off any later than I was during school, and I am getting every single evening to do whatever in the world I want to do. No long nights freezing at the observatory, or pulling my hair out over Greek at 1:00 a.m. And my weekends are my own. I love it.

So what do I do with all this time? Well, first, as mentioned in the previous post, I shopped like a crazy woman. Now, however, I have everything I needed or wanted, and I've settled in for a Tolkien break.

It's a pattern of mine that during Christmas break I tend to focus on one particular author or series, probably because four weeks isn't really long enough to branch out into anything else. Last Christmas was the Harry Potter winter break. I read all five of the HP books then in existence, of which I had only read the first one previously. Then I bought all three HP movies and watched them. Naturally, you all know how much I adore Harry Potter. But this break is the Tolkien break. I've almost finished watching (again) all three extended movie versions of The Lord of the Rings (I watch it in six installments, half a movie each evening), and I'm reading J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century, by Tom Shippey (which I highly recommend, by the way). I am also enjoying one of the best Christmas presents I have ever received.

My brother and his fiance gave me this gorgeous edition of The Silmarillion. It is absolutely wonderful, beautifully printed and filled with amazing paintings. Seriously, I want to buy prints of some of these illustrations and frame them for my walls. They're great.

This is exactly the sort of thing I would never buy for myself. It's simply too lavish and expensive, especially when you consider the fact that I already owned a paperback edition of this book (but had never read it). So naturally it is a perfect Christmas gift. I'm in love with this book. I've read about a fourth of it already (it just begs to be read), and I've been driving my family crazy with my constant raving about it: "Oh wow! Look at this map!" "Oooh, what a great painting, see?" "Listen to this, isn't it beautiful?" I'm such a nerd.

So, yeah, I'm a fan. And now I'm going to go back and bury myself in it again. My precious...

Catch Up Day...

Oh, my. The semester's over, my recent trip to Dallas is over, my big family Christmas party is over, and now it's time to catch up on all those little details in my life that I've kept putting off for several months. Time to shop for all those things I've been needing/wanting and had no time to go get. Time to run all those errands that just don't happen during the semester. Time to update my blog, which, like everything else, ends up falling by the wayside when things get busy. :)

I just love Christmas time. Last week was a wonderful time of fun and fellowship with friends, new and old, and with family. I went to Dallas to see my boyfriend's family for a few days, and that was thoroughly enjoyable, as usual. Then I flew back in time to come to my family's Christmas party. It was wonderful. Everyone was there, and we had lots of fun catching up on what everyone is doing. Two of my cousins are expecting babies that are due this next summer, so we're very excited about that. And my uncles, both of whom are in law enforcement, had a good time showing off their guns and giving me advice when I told them that I am planning on getting a concealed handgun permit this summer. Yeah, that's right, I'm gonna be packin' heat. I've always thought that it is a wise thing for a young single woman to be able to use a gun and to keep one around. After all, you might need to defend yourself or the people around you someday. I think it is especially wise for me to have a weapon, since I work with literally crazy people every day, and you never know when one of them will decide to stalk you or something. Don't get me wrong, I don't live in constant fear or anything, I just think I should take advantage of my right to bear arms in the hopes that I never have to actually use them. So anyway, my uncles had all kinds of advice about what to carry, what to take the test with, who to go to, etc. Having relatives who are into that sort of thing can be very useful.

So now I just have to get all these silly little details out of my hair, do a little Christmas shopping, and then I'll be ready to settle in for the break, so to speak. So I'm off! Shopping till I drop!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...