Why is it that:

   The kids were up very early.  Unfortunately for them, they had to wait till six to leave their room {they all had a sleepover in the girls' room} because some people came to pick up some of Whisper's puppies.  Still, they ran around the room like banshies.  {Trust me, Rachel and I could hear them quite well.} When the time came, they burst into the room where me and Rachel were still in bed and screamed for us to get ready.  Then we took the tradition Christmas stair picture and raced to the presents.
  This year was a really good year, present-wise.  There were dolls, bikes, cameras, legos, clothes, books, etc.
   My poor parents had to come up with stuff for me by themselves.  I could not think of anything to put on the list to save my life!  But I was very excited to see a guitar...
   A new phone with a better plan...
   and tickets to Wicked.

   It was a Sunday Christmas this year, and it was at 10:45.  But it was only an hour and was mostly music, a great way to feel the Christmas spirit.  Afterwards we went to our cousins to hang out for a few hours.


    How bizarre to think that I now only have three Christmases left with the family before I go off into a totally new phase of life.  But until then, I will continue to enjoy Christmas and the time I get to spend with my family just the way it is.
  Merry Christmas!

  I've been feeling really strange lately.  Not sick, nor well; not sad, nor happy...  Everything just felt like a drag of what, in years past, I called "the holidays."  I think it was the fact that I had so many finals that didn't end till the week of Christmas, and then with puppies going home soon, etc, we haven't gotten much done.  The tree got put up Thanksgiving weekend, but a lot of the other decorations didn't come out of the boxes for another couple weeks.  Even then, the lights outside, the kids' tree, and the garland never got put up.  And the choir concert was scheduled on the night of the annual combined-YM/YW caroling, so that didn't happen either.
  Well, my parents knew that I was not very happy about that.  I mean, how could I be able to stand driving around the neighborhood when everyone else had gone all out?  So FINALLY Dad allowed us to put up some lights.
  And guess what?  It finally feels like the holiday season to me.

  Finals?  Done with.  I am honest?  Yep.
  I know, I can't believe it either.  Though they has dragged on for about three weeks, twelve in total, I no longer have to worry about giant tests, nor all the material they covered... at least for now.
  Now?  Now that is a pretty good question.  Now I will:

• read
• write
• sleep
• eat
• exercise
• draw
• sing
• practice piano
• blog
• be myself

  School + Christmas time = not good.  To say the least.
  Not that those two addends, alone, or bad.  Really they're quite fabulous.  But {deep, goosebumps-are-running-up my-spine shudder} those two together...  The sum could also could be called insanity, stress, or finals.
  I have already had four-and-a-half finals.  Now I have six more to go.  Wahoo!
  Now if you'll be kind enough to excuse me, I'd prefer not to stay up till 1 AM studying for a second night in a row...    

  I know I've been lazy and haven't been doing my daily journal-writing {blogging} as has been requested in Seminary, so I have a lot to catch up on... but...
  Let me just say that I am so grateful for this beautiful Earth, especially at times like this when rains kiss the ground from the heavens above.  Even if it ruins my curls, I love the refreshing splash of water on my face and the coolness that tightens our grasp on our coats.  This week has made Arizona history with 100% chance of rain!  And I don't care what some people say- this is just amazing.

  I always double-check things.  It's kind of an annoying habit that comes partially from this paranoia, but I can't help it.  I double-check that my homework is done, that my makeup looks good, that I'm wearing my spankies under my cheer skirt...  Usually I know that I don't need to, but I get really nervous if I don't.
  Then, of course, I double-check tests.  This is in no way an annoying habit, but one that is a life-saver.  Today I caught three or four mistakes on my math test before turning it in, working to the bell.  Which is great, because it seems like no matter how careful I am, the only reason I do bad on math tests is stupid mistakes.
   

  So yesterday morning Dad asked if he could download the scriptures onto my iPod and test it out to see if he wants his own.  Sure!  But when he gave it back to me, he explained that after doing that, Brian, his business partner and the father of one of longest family friends, had decided to download about 200 songs onto my iPod as well, without asking either of us.  I was now get to listen to Horton Hears a Who, Susical the Musical, and about fifteen versions of Annie.   Though I'm excited about Les Miserables and Aida, you can imaging my reaction to the other songs...  Yeah...  But love you anyway Brian!

  Then today was a half-day at school.  When I got home, Mom called and told me about this $2 special at Subway.  I had already been planning on eating this really good soup leftover from Monday, so I ate that but went to Subway with Rachel and Taylor when their bus dropped them off.  We walked over, and I sat at a table as they ordered their food.
  But this lady behind them in line kept glancing at me and then talking to her friend.  I didn't pay much attention, but once Rachel and Taylor had sat down and she had ordered her food, she set an extra-large soda cup in front of me.
  "Get a drink," she told me, then whispered to her friend, "I got her a drink."
   We just stared at the two of them.  "Uhh...," I said, definitely bewildered.  "Thanks...?"
  She started filling her own cup.  "Go on, get your soda."
  Of course, I was still standing there, unsure what the heck to do.  If you know me, I hate soda and the fizziness that burns your throat and makes you burp through your nose.  I probably should have payed her back.  But she was so insistent and I so shocked that I was just forced to obey her.
  As I started getting ice, she leaned over and asked me, "Why didn't you get any food?"
  "I already had lunch."  I answered her kindly and appreciatively since she was charitable, but really I was so angry.
   Like seriously, do I look either too poor to buy a sandwich, or super unhealthily skinny with a look of misery on my face? I'm not anorexic, I'll tell you that.
  I love food.

  Mom took this picture on Sunday for the family Christmas card.  I was very happy to realize that my hair is blonde.  I know its strange and kind of really stupid, but ever since summer I've been wanting my hair to be light, especially because it's often a weird color that people can't decide if its dark blonde or light brown. And I have this opposition to dying my hair... other people can dye their hair, but I want mine to be natural.  To me it feels like I'd be ungrateful to what I was born with by completely changing my hair color, not like a bit of makeup that can be rubbed off easily... Make any sense?  I'll let the sun work its magic, maybe even with a bit of olive oil and lemon juice, but no dye!  So you can see how this picture is {stupidly} satisfying.

  But this newly-realized fact came immediately back to kick my butt this morning.  I had gotten dressed up all fancy with a cream blouse, bluejeans tucked into knitted boots, a warm, wintry fur coat, my hair twisted into a semi-elaborate bun with a floral headband, and then pink crystal earrings and a bracelet.   But as I was walking from first to second hour, I saw one of the girls on my cheer squad wearing her uniform.  What....?  My second hour teacher is also my coach, so, a bit panicked, I asked her if we had a game today.  She only gave me a weird look.  "Did you not get the text?"
  So I called Mom, Dad, and home a total of about five times before third hour, Seminary, and of course no on picked up.  During fourth hour, lunch, it took another three attempts before I finally got a hold of Mom. It's at times like these that I'm glad she's a stay-home mom with a flexible schedule!  She brought my uniform, problem solved.  I just changed and slid my afternoon plans from practice to game.
 And apparently I wasn't the only one who didn't know about the game!
  But boy, am I am blonde.

  Mondays are weird.  My coach always seems to unexpectedly cancel practice, I always have a lot of homework, and I always seem to find something else to do besides my homework for quite a while.  Like going to the store with Mom to shop for dinner for the rest of the week, extra credit for my Spanish class, and a few Christmas presents.  Yeah, that took way longer than I thought....  And I always seem to want to stay up too late, though the earliest I've gone to bed in the past two or three weeks is 10:45.  Man... I need to be a better time manager...

• I am going to be one of those people who plucks from the sky the stars of the impossible dreams which become reality.  Everything that stands in my way I will spread my wings and soar over.  Who says I can't be a wife, mother, Latter-Day Saint, writer, artist, singer, dancer, actress, designer, reader, blogger, scrapbooker, teacher, missionary, etc. all at the same time?
• I am going to go to BYU, serve a full-time mission, then go back to BYU and get a degree.  
• I am going to marry a guy that's abnormally tall and muscular {because I'm so abnormally small} so that (1) our boys can inherit his massive gene and be football players, and our girls can inherit my petite gene and be gymnasts, and (2) he'll have to lift me up by the waist in order to kiss me.  Oh, and whether it be his dominant or recessive allele, he will have some blue eyes in him so that at least one of my kids can have them like me and most of the Lundgreen side of the family.  There will be six of these kiddos, and some of our kids names will be: Nicole, Isabelle, Ethan, and Isaac.   Oh, and they will be taught both the gospel and music from the time they are young.  I think it would be fun if they all played different instruments so we could have a little band/orchestra.
• The one word I want people to think when they think of me is "creative."  Because I will have published books and a crafty house.
• I am going to travel everywhere.  We have already been thinking of going to Peru; I also want to go to Greece, Italy, Paris, Spain, London, Niagara Falls, Egypt, and return to Hawaii, the East Coast, Colorado, and Escalante in Utah. For some of those places, it will be great because I will be a fluent Spanish speaker.  Gilbert's cool and all, but the world has so much to offer, it would be a shame to only glimpse a few of its wonders!

  Oh, the holiday season.  The time of year when the sun's grasp on the world slips, the white clouds thicken, your breath freezes.  The time of year when you can slip on you long coats, Ugg boots, and scarves, and sip hot chocolate.  Everywhere, lights glisten and classic songs ring through the air.  
  So don't be surprised when my posts sound extra happy and energetic.

  Mom got a new camera.  By looking at these pictures I'm sure you can tell just how much I've fallen in love with it.
  {Click photos to see them in a slide show, full quality.}

  Today Dad and I went to see the movie Courageous.  It was one of those rare events when the theater basically said, first comes, first serves, so it was free.  Funny enough, we went an hour and a half early to beat the crowds... which we beat entirely by forty-five minutes.  Although hundreds of people eventually came, we sat in line by ourselves, ate one of those little pizzas {which I don't recommend} and I did my homework.
  The movie was amazing.  It taught about the importance of being a good father {which I can change to mother}.  I totally bawled, but I also got to laugh hysterically.
  I am I going to buy it?  Heck, yeah!