7, 6, 5...

Obviously studying has taken over our lives and we have not been able to update this in a while. But the big day is soon approaching! And here's 7 new things I have learned about the holidays:

7. The stores are INCREDIBLY busy the week before Christmas....now I don't know why I haven't learned this before, I must have always done my Christmas shopping earlier. But this year, I have not even started, and heading out to the mall and finding a parking spot is the worst!

6. Secret Santas and White Elephant gifts are the best! Not only is there a mystery person behind it all but there is a potential for some pretty awesome crazy stuff! One of my personal faves was this duck tea infuser Mary got from Cecily.

Haahaa, isn't that hilarious?!?! So cute!

5. This goes along with number 6, but deserves its own number. We had a white elephant gift exchange a couple weeks ago for SP Young Life and Cecily got stuck with a present that, when it was wrapped, looked like a human body under the tree. We soon found out that this mysterious present was nothing less than a life size mannequin Avatar. Shoot, we don't have any pictures of this gift, but let me just say that it is hilarious! We decided to place her on our front deck on the second story and we got some crazy looks from people as they walked to and from the Kohl Center.

4. Peppermint Schnapps in Hot Chocolate! Oh my gosh, so good! It was a nice little reward for finishing finals!

3. These YouTube videos make me laugh out loud! I think I've watched them each about 10 times this year already:

2. It's really hard to get into the Christmas spirit when there is no snow on the ground!! I'm starting to think we're not going to have a white christmas :( There's something about snow on the ground that makes the cold more bearable and brings the Christmas spirit to life! Now that I'm done with finals, I wish I could curl up by the fireplace reading a book while looking outside and see a thick blanket of snow on the ground with snowflakes falling down....can you just imagine it??

1. I am going to miss my sisters at 205! I can't believe I'm not going to be seeing some of you girls for almost a whole month. Hopefully most of you I'll be seeing sooner than the beginning of the semester....but still! Being away from the girls for break is going to be so sad! I'm so used to living in a full house, laughing until my stomach hurts at the late hours of the night, coming home and hearing all their voices.....I'm going to miss you girls so much over break! And as we all go our separate ways, I pray for safe travels to all of you and a splendid holiday!