Happy New Year!

Vacation has been great. I couldn't have asked for a better new year's celebration. I got to spend time with some of my best friends and hear about life and all of the excitement Huntsville and Arizona bring to their lives! C&D and J&B I am so thankful for you guys! I am so glad we got to hang out together!After dinner and catching up I headed to see other friends for NYE. I have been so blessed to have such sweet friends in Huntsville. Stephen knows how to throw a good party!

Huntsville!

I have been home for a little over a week now and it has been glorious! I am enjoying staying up late and sleeping even later! It is wonderful to be able to watch tv, movies and just relax!

My first full day in town I rode with 3 friends up to Nashville to see Andrew Peterson's Behold the Lamb of God concert. It was in Huntsville a week earlier but I had missed it because I was in STL. The trip to Nashville was wonderful! We ate dinner at Fido's, which I highly recommend for their food-coffee is a little expensive. It is a great place to people watch!

The concert at the Ryman was so good. I forgot the only downside to the Ryman is you are squeezed in to the pews like you are in a football stadium. Each person gets all of 4 inches for their seat. So you have to really like cuddling up with your neighbors.

And one of the great surprises of the night was all the other people I got to see! Julieann Kearns and Leslie McClenny were both at the concert. Plus, there were 3 different couples from school that came in town for the concert! So the night was full of surprises and fun!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Finished!!

The first semester is over!! I am so excited I am done with the first semester!! WOOHOOO!

The final stretch was a rough one for me. I have pretty much been sick with some form of a cold or sinus infection since Thanksgiving and it decided to go full force on me the week of finals. For about 2 days I was laid up on the couch being pretty pathetic using up a whole box of Kleenex.

I was able to pull it together long enough one night to go out and see 1o out of Tenn a group of artists out of the Nashville area. I went with Brian and Rebecca and had a fabulous time! Matthew Perryman Jones and Will Sayles were part of the group. I haven't seen either of them play since high school, but oh how it brings back memories!

So many AMAZINGLY talented artists are a part of that TOT. I highly recommend checking all of them out! Looking forward to some R&R in Huntsville! Can't wait to see everyone.

I'm heading home in the AM!

Christmas party!

This weekend was the Seminary Christmas Banquet. The banquet was at a local glass factory so during the heavy hourdeurves they had some guys creating different pieces (heating and blowing the glass).

Michelle, (below) my roommate and Sally from our program all rode to The Loop together. Thanks Caylen for a great dress. I got lots of compliments.

The only problem with winter parties here is it REALLY is COLD! The night of the party was in the upper 20's. Yes, that's right. So I took my sweater off once to dance. Otherwise I lived in it! Definitely a new experience partying in the cold.

Katie Traylor and I are still doing school together after 4 years in the same program at Auburn. We apparently couldn't get enough! I love having her here though!Happy early anniversary to Brian and Rebecca! So thankful for their sweet family!

Finals start today! I take my first one this afternoon then start studying for my second/last final. I also have to formulate a 10-page theories paper. So much fun! I'll be in Alabama soon!

Thanksgiving Break

This Thanksgiving while Nana and the family were celebrating an Iron Bowl Thanksgiving I was here in STL celebrating with friends. I came out from under my pile of books to enjoy more food and drink that was humanly possible to consume. Me and 9 of my new friends I made this year got together for a meal on Thursday night. Frank, one of our classmates was even kind enough to donate 2 bottles of champagne for the celebration!Jonathan and Christina were sweet to host it in their apartment in order to make good use of their new dining room table! Christina made her first turkey for Thanksgiving and did a fantastic job!My contributions were a pumpkin pecan pie (got the recipe from a roomie even though I didn't follow it). It was really tasty! Good taste and texture combination!The other dessert I made was a Gingerbread Apple Upside-Down Cake. It was a complete hit! I really loved it. Definitely a different taste than what I am normally eating (gingerbread that is) but totally worth it! Also, it does require a little bit more work than the pumpkin pie.Overall it was a great Thanksgiving with wonderful new friends. I was able to accomplish a lot for school and it will be extremely helpful as I head in to the last week of school and finals!

Happy December!

Costco!!

Super excited Costco opened tonight!! I've been waiting now for a few months. When I say waiting, I mean I emailed Costco to find out the official date that they were opening. Tonight was the grand opening and I needed milk so what better reason to go! Tons of people and TONS of samples!

Why I love Costco...

$1.50 Hotdog & a coke

Free samples (helps make for a bigger lunch or dinner)

Like tonight...I really wasn't hungry after shopping because there was SO much food to eat.

Cheap milk! Between Costco and Sam's I can get the cheapest milk in town!

Costco brand liquor and beer. A bottle of vodka bigger than Grey Goose and way cheaper.

Winter clothes anyone? They have real and fake Uggs. NorthFace jackets, smart wool socks and just about any other winter gear you might need!

Good books for good prices...not that I have time for extracurricular reading at this point. Maybe in another 2-3 years.

And yes, I felt like a creeper taking pictures in Costco. But, I am SUPER excited it is finally open! Now I have a new place to shop/wander because I can't eat all that food.

The City??

Who says I live in the city? Because really it is much closer to the 'burbs. I am at a major highway interchange but still not quite what I would call "the city". Still, living here isn't the country. So I don't expect to see all kinds of wildlife running around. Boy was I mistaken! The surrounding towns aren't kidding when they say "deer next 2 miles". One night driving home I'm pretty sure I saw about 20 deer in a 2.5 mile stretch.

What I wasn't expecting to see today was a deer on the side of the road in the middle of town. Right next to an upscale neighborhood grocery store and shopping center. The funniest part was when the school bus stopped next to me and the kids in the bus peered out the window at the deer. One comment was, "Yup, it sure is dead".

Thanks for joining random thoughts with Mary Martha.