Stockings

Okay, this is the entry for yesterday.

Of course with Christmas you have to have stockings for Santa to fill. My family had some when I was younger made out of yarn, knitted or something. Somewhere in our house we still have those, but they aren't the ones we use anymore. While we lived in our first house in Layton, so when I was between 5 and 10, we made new ones. Each one of our stockings has a unique puppy or puppies on it in a little circle of fabric. I remember picking out our favorite and which one was going to go on whose stocking. Once we picked them out, mom cut them out and ironed them onto our stockings. Then we got to decorate the top of our stocking with our name, and other things. It was a really fun activity for the family, and each year when we pull out the stockings, its a memory we have together.

Decorations, Christmas decorations to be exact.

Okay, obviously I am a slacker/ busy getting back home and I missed another entry. So here is another double for you. Both of these have to do with Christmas decorations we have in my house.

1. The Tree- here's the deal. My Dad is REALLY picky about how we decorate our tree. It has to fit the color scheme and elegance to be allowed on the tree as an ornament. As children we had our own tree for the decorations we made, and I've loved it that way. Our tree is beautiful as a result, but we love to tease Dad about it. As part of our teasing him, we like to hide things on the tree that don't belong there, and see how long it takes him to find it. One year, David hid his Yoda action figure on the tree...and we never found it again. And that is one of my favorite stories about our beautiful tree.

2. The Christmas count-down calendar: Our family has this awesome Christmas count-down calendar. There is a pocket for every day of December up to Christmas, and each day you move the little mouse from pocket to pocket. It's been around for as long as I can remember and as children we'd race each day to be the one to change it. Now the challenge is to keep up with my Dad. He likes to move it to the wrong day of the month, and we have to move it back.

So, there are just a couple of Christmas memories/traditions of mine. 4 days till Christmas!

mmmm delicious

I am so sorry that I forgot to do an entry yesterday! Today you get to have two memories. And actually...they aren't really memories, but traditions. Both food related.

1. Grandpa's fudge. AMAZING in a square of goodness. He makes multiple flavors and I love them all, but the best has got to be mint. And it is even better because they are usually the green ones!

2. Hot chocolate with Dad. Dad and I both love hot chocolate, so a lot of the time, one of us will make some for the other along with our own, and we'll enjoy a delicious mugs of hot chocolate together.

If You Like Pina Colada....

Then you would love my family's Christmas tradition. Of course, they are virgin, alcohol free pina coladas, but every Christmas eve we have pina coladas! In all honesty, the last few years it doesn't always happen on Christmas Eve, but we always make sure to have it some time during the holiday season. Its another family Christmas tradition that I love!

And they were sore afraid

This story cracks me up. Sadly people usually don't' find it as funny as me, and I guess it was one of those "had to be there" moments. However, I want to share it anyway. As I'm sure many of you do, our family acts out the Nativity scene on Christmas Eve. We do this with the extended family at Grandma and Grandpa Hirschi's. A couple years ago Sarah, Liesel, Abby, and myself were assigned to play the shepherds. Now, for those of you who don't' know, we girls tend to get a little silly when we're together. Specifically Abby and Sarah....no offense to them. Well, this happened to be one of those nights. I believe my father, or Grandpa was narrator that year, well, whoever it was got to the verse where it says the shepherds saw the angel, and they were sore afraid. Of course, Sarah and Abby got the brilliant idea to really act afraid. And it was hilarious. Of course, those two acting afraid would have been funny in and of itself, but this also happened to be the year that Uncle Clark, as the angel, leaped over the corner of a small table type thing to get to where he wanted to go. Who wouldn't be afraid of furniture leaping angels? It really was quite an entertaining Nativity that year, and if I recall correctly somebody has it on tape somewhere....so if you ever get the chance to see it, you'll know why it was so memorable to me.

The Long Way Home

Okay, the count is now down to TEN days till Christmas. My memory for today isn't really one memory, but a combination of many. Or really I just want to share with you an old family tradition that I love. My family loves Christmas lights, who wouldn't right? Not only do we love putting up tons of lights on our own house, but we always loved going for drives to look at them too. Most often our yearly lights drive would occur on a Sunday sometime in December, after a visit to Grandma B in Centerville. Instead of going home on the freeway we would go the backroad, or as we called it "the long way". It's really not that much longer of a drive, but when we made it a Christmas light drive, it became much longer. We'd spend an hour or so in neighborhoods on the way home looking at lights and singing Christmas songs together. My favorite parts of this tradition were the houses that had the "special" decorations we would notice. The house with the HUGE pine in the front yard, completely covered in lights. But especially the word NOEL on the side of the hill. We spent some great times as a family on those drives. They don't' happen as much anymore, and usually not for as long either, but they will always be a special Christmas memory for me.

Sing Choirs of Angels

Or more like, sing angelic choirs. Today I went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert, and because the tickets I got were for this morning it was combined with music and the spoken word. The guests this year were Brian Stokes Mitchell and Edward K. Hermann. Everything was simply amazing and it was fun to go with Nathan, Brittany(Nathan's friend/girlfriend), and my friend JPo from my ward. (Just friend) I loved it all so much I can't pick a favorite song at all.

So, now that I've told you about my day, let me connect it to a memory for my twelve days of Christmas;

Because of friendships my grandparents have, my family has always found it easier than most to get tickets to the Motab Christmas concert. One year, my family went to the night they were making sure everything was recorded, so they didn't' do the program exactly in order or smoothly. At one point we as the audience were left waiting for like 30 minutes. I was wearing a scarf, and so I turned to my Dad and said, "Dad, teach me how to tie a tie. We can use my scarf" So, that is what Dad and I did for the rest of the break. I learned how to tie a tie, or should I say a scarf. To this day, my skills aren't amazing, but I know the basic steps. It's a small memory, but one that I enjoy. One of those seemingly meaningless moments that build up a lifetime.

12 Days of Christmas

That's right folks, there are only 12 days before Christmas! YAY! So, I have decided that on each of the twelve days of Christmas I am going to share one Christmas memory with y'all. So, here is number one;

12 Days of Christmas to Grandma Ruth

I don't' remember exactly what year we did this, but I was quite young and my Great Grandma Hirschi lived in Apple Tree Assisted Living Center in Kaysville, Utah. My parents decided that we were going to do the Twelve Days of Christmas to her. So, each night, my father would pick one of us kids to go with him. That was a special privilege. Then, we would sneak into Apple Tree, at the side door of her hall. We would leave a small treat or gift for her outside her door and knock, and then hide. We'd check back to make sure she'd gotten our gift and then leave for the night. Because I was so young, I don't' remember anything that we gave her, but I remember cherishing the time with dad, and doing something special for Grandma Ruth.

Just to Name a Few

I thought I'd list just a few things I am grateful for on this Thanksgiving Weekend:

1. That I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and the many blessings I am given as a part of that

2. That I have a family here on earth that loves me, that supports me, and will always be there for me, and I know that families are forever, and that my family is more than that, they are my best friends.

3. For friendships I built years ago that have lasted till today, and the times when I get to catch up with those friends of the past and find that the bonds we made are still there.

4. For new friends who already do so much to make my life brighter and bring sunshine into it.

5. For the roommates I have, for the memories we make daily and the patience they have with me.

6. For the roommates I had my first year of college, that taught me what kind of love can be formed between strangers who grow to be your family.

7. For my parents, who have taught me through love, example, and word in the best they knew how. That love me despite my imperfections, and who would do anything for me.

8. For a brother and sister who will always have my back in the important things in life. For the memories we've made together even though we've had our rough times, and for loving me in spite of those times.

9. For my dog Aussie, who although he is not around anymore was one of the best friends a girl could ask for, and of whom I have so many sweet memories.

10. For the love of reading I have, and the knowledge I've gained from it. For the adventures I've experienced without leaving my room and the bond that books have given me to my grandmothers who share that love with me.

11. For the love and examples of grandparents and great-grandparents who have taught me what it is to live a righteous life that you can be proud of.

12. For the many teachers who taught me to love learning and to try my hardest.

13. For the opportunity I have to study at a University where I can gain more secular knowledge in a spiritual setting. Where I can learn to increase in knowledge and wisdom, and in standing with God.

14. For the beauty that surrounds us every day in nature, that can bring joy in the tiniest ways, but also in grand displays of splendor.

15. For the senses I have been given to enjoy the simple pleasures in life, color, taste, sound, and so many others

16. For the power or music, for the peace that can be found in a simple melody, and the joy that can be found in a simple song.

17. For the country I live in where I can worship as I please, and where my life is largely under my own control, where I have a say in the way the country is run, and where I am free to be me.

18. For a body that is in most ways healthy, for my sight, the ability to walk, to breath on my own, and to free of any disease that keeps me from enjoying the wonders of life to the extent that I choose

19. For the Atonement of my Savior that can heal me from the pains of sin, but also of any other pains I might suffer. For the gift of eternal life that has been given to me through my Redeemers sacrifice for someone as undeserving as me.

20. Last of all for a loving Heavenly Father who has given me these things and so many more. For his patience with me when I make mistakes, and his support of me when I am facing my hardest moments. For his unfailing belief in me when I can't believe in myself, and for his ability to see and love me for what I have the power to become, instead of focusing on the mistakes I make now.

I love my Parents

So, Halloween was my Daddy's Birthday, so happy late birthday to the best Dad in the world.

I really am so grateful for my Mom and my Dad. Yesterday I went and saw Mama Mia, and since I'm an emotional person, it made me miss my parents. The girl has never known her Dad, and her Mom has to watch her get married...emotional. For me.

So, I just want to take the opportunity to say thanks to my parents. They've always been there for me through everything, with love, patience, and support. I couldn't ask for better parents, and if I have any good qualities it is because of the way they taught me in word, and through example. I am one lucky girl ad I love my Mommy and Daddy very much.

Anything and Everything

So....I have realized a problem, when I have stuff happen worth blogging about, I don't have time to blog! It's quite a sad thing, because I want to tell you all about the wonderfully fun things I am doing, but I'm too busy having the fun to tell you about it! So, I'm going to summarize some of the fun things in my life lately.

1. Weekend Trip to Amanda's.

Last Friday, Kiera and I spontaneously went to Amanda's house with her for the night, and came back on Saturday. It was soo much fun. We watched a movie, played Apples to Apples, and just partied it up. Then on Saturday before heading back, we spent about two hours around the neighborhood taking pictures. It was soo much fun to just relax with those two wonderful ladies. I am so glad that they are my roommates this year, because they make me smile and laugh, every day, even the worst ones.

2. Oktoberfest

Apparently this party of the Villa's is quite well known, but all I cared about was that if was so much fun. It was great to just spend some crazy time with friends in the ward, and dance the night away.

In continuation of the festivities we headed to the apartment of Debra and Maddie, some girls in my ward and watched a movie. There were about 7 of us there who enjoyed the hilarious comedy of Much Ado About Nothing. There are so many awesome people in my ward and I really enjoy spending time with them.

3. Family Dinner

Last Sunday all the family down in Provo, along with my family and some of the cousins from Layton got together for a dinner at Sarah and Matts. It was my first time seeing the newest addition to the family, Jack, and all around it was just great to be with family and catch up.

4. The Fish Pumpkin

My hometeachers are awesome and carved a pumpkin with Amanda and I this past Thursday. I guess that you might not be able to tell from looking, but its a fish, and it was sweetly awesome. Sadly, somebody was jealous of it, and it was murdered.

5. Halloween!

So, an hour before the stake party Danielle helped me decide on a costume, and I was the Night Sky, or a Starry Night. It was awesome, and I got a lot of compliments on the creativity, which i couldnt' even take credit for. And so the night's festivities began; Destination 1; the Stake party at the bowling alley on campus. It may have been really crowded, noisy, and one of the worst games I've bowled in a while, but it was still so much fun! Destination 2; Doing Bart's costume makeup at Sara and Kaitlin's. So much fun, and it led to Destination 3; Dance party with the boys of 45. Sara, Amanda and I tagged along with them. The dance was a little too crowded and crazy for me, but it was still fun. Destination 4; Kiwanis Park with Bart, Amanda, and Sara. Possibly my favorite part of the night, the four of us had a leaf fight and played on the playground. After which we came back to the apartments and changed into different clothes for Destination 5; Rock Canyon Park. At this point the party was Bart, Ryan, Megan, Corin, Sara, Amanda, and myself. We had way too much fun sliding down the wet hill in our bare feet thanks to the rain. This idea was basically awesome and I had way too much fun. The only problem was the cold, so we came back to Destination 6; the hot tub. Nice and warm. Then to wind things all up, I finally reached the Final Destination; My BED!! it was nice to get to sleep after so much fun and craziness, but it was possibly one of the best Halloweens I've had in a while.

6. Library Card!

That's right folks, I now have a card for the Provo Library. They arent' as cool as the Layton one though, the rules are stricter. Sad day. But thats okay, because its still a LIBRARY! with BOOKS!

7. MAMA MIA!

Yes folks, yesterday I finally saw the movie. Kiera and her friend Sarah decided to go see it at the dollar theater and invited Amanda and I along. I LOVED it, and being with some of my favorite girls just made it all the better. The movie is a a great one, albeit there are some awkward scenes. But, if any of you like musicals, the music of ABBA, or any of the actors in it, its totally worth seeing.

8. Ward Party

So, because the Stake had a party on Halloween, our ward had ours the day after. I Love my ward. I dont' think I can say it enough, but its such a fun ward, and I love the friends I've made in it, as well as old friends who I get to enjoy it with. We danced like crazy, played hilarious games and all around had a good time.

9. Dinner for Jared

This was probably the most bittersweet event of my weekend. Jared Bell is one of my awesome FHE sons, but sadly he has to move back home to Washington because his work cut his hours. I am pretty heart broken about it, and he is on his way to airport now. I'm going to miss that boy tons! But, to say goodbye, a few of us got together to go to dinner at T. G. I. Friday's. It was a lot of fun, even if it was for a sad reason, and while we were waiting to leave, we took some fun pictures of course!

10. Random fun last night

I stole Jesse's sword, and fought Laurien with it. Jesse sent her after me because he said he couldn't' kill a lady.

Hot tub again with people in the ward

Life in general is awesome.


So people, there is a slight update/ not so slight. Life has been wonderful lately and I'm still surviving school and work. Life IS GOOD.

A Response

A response to the comments on my deer post. Melanie, I'm not silly! In Utah, the deer stay in the Mountains! Usually. When there isnt' snow. I'm not crazy, this much is true. To those of you who were excited with me, thank you very much. I appreciated it.

And today, you can share my excitement again. Thought I contained it today, because apparently its not as exciting as I thought. When Kiera and I were on the way to work, there was a deer on campus! Eating the grass at the base of the RB stairs. It made me happy.

Thats all.

400

Approximately the number of stairs I went UP last Wednesday. Just up, not down.

My Spectacular Weekend of Fun

Okay people, I'm sorry that I haven't updated in so long. Life has been good, but nothing SUPER exciting has happened. Then, I had a fantabulous weekend, so I decided to tell you all about it!

So here goes;

Friday I of course had work, but it wasn't so bad because it was a "training" day, that means we get to be done cleaning early, we have breakfast, and read a page worth of training stuff. That usually only takes like 10 minutes, and we just get to talk with the other workers for like 20 minutes. Its a good thing. Then I had classes, and I can't say that I can complain about my classes, as I've said before, I enjoy them all. So, I got home and I had a message from Sara! She had this brilliant plan to take homework to the park, and do it there, because it was a beautiful day outside. So, we did that. Except we didn't' get left as early as we would have liked, and of course, we talked while we were there, and it got chilly. So, we didn't get as much homework done there as we would have liked. Then we went back home and I did homework for a while before I headed back over to Sara's for a SLEEPOVER! Kaitlin, bless her heart, was home for the weekend, so I just slept in her bed. It was fun to spend time with Sara, though I must apologise to her for being half asleep most of the time.

Okay Saturday. First, I woke up at 8 and headed back to my apartment to get ready to leave with Sarah and Heather at 9 for breakfast at Grandma and Grandpa's. We got there around 10:30 and I got to see my cutest cousin ever, Easton. I was so excited to see him, and the rest of the family too. It was so great to be with them all again, and enjoy some delicious food as well. Abby was even up from Dixie, so we got to see her. The only damper was that Liesel was at work, so she wasn't at the breakfast. But, don't worry, because after going home for a bit, Mom, Sarah, and I ran some errands, and stopped by Liesel's work, so I DID get to see her. Not only did I get to see her, but I also stopped by Apple Tree (where I used to work) and saw my old boss and a couple of really good friends and got to talk to them. So, happiness!

After some more time at home, and some homework, we headed back down to P-town. Because we had dates! That is right folks, I went on a date this weekend. Sarah and Matt set Heather up with Logan, and I got set up with James. They were both roommates of Matt his freshman year. So, no offense to the other guy I've gone on a date with since I've been in college, but this one was a lot more fun. Since we all were around enough people we knew it wasn't awkward at all, and the boys are just as crazy insane as Heather, Sarah, and I are. So, we were able to just have fun. I really felt comfortable just being myself, and that is what made it so great. James was way nice too, and fun, so he was good date. (and yes girls, I will admit that he was good looking too) We went to the Corn Maze in Pleasant Grove and after finding our way out(and having way too much fun in the process) we took their Hay Ride too. It was a fun, and James and I talked about school and stuff, and the 6 of us just had fun. Then we went back to Sarah and Matt's where we had delicious caramel popcorn and watched an episode of the Twilight Zone, and then most of Night of the Living Dead. All in all, a really fun night for me.

Sunday: I love Sundays. Just a fact. My ward is amazing, the Sunday School I went to was really good, I mean really good. Then we had this awesome Sacrament Meeting about a tutoring program we are doing with a Spanish Family Ward. A couple of the kids came and played the piano and sang for us, and it was amazing! They were so cute, and I am really looking forward to helping out with the tutoring.

So, Sara had another brilliant plan for our Sunday and it was a PICNIC! At the park. So, we fixed us some amazing egg-salad sandwiches, got some other things together, and headed to the park. It was a lot of fun to just spend some time relaxing and talking, though we both agreed, it would have been a little bit better with a guy. :) After our lovely picnic I took a good power nap and then went to ward choir. Then later, Jill asked if Sara and I wanted to go for a walk with her, to the park. So, we went to the park again. This time we remembered cameras! (I would post pictures with this, but I'm on campus and don't' have any with me.) After the walk I wrote a letter to missionaries, and some love notes. Then it was time for ward prayer. Can I say once again that my ward is amazing, so ward prayer is always fun. Then, perhaps the best part of the day came; LOVE NOTES!!! I got 4 hilarious love notes this week, and they were fantastic!

So, that's all folks, an update on the life of Lydia. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed my weekend!

DEER!!!

OH MY GOODNESS! Here is my story of the week. I think its a pretty amazing occurrence, and nobody seems to be as surprised as I am, which is a little sad. Here goes;

Kiera and I head out for work yesterday morning, and for some reason I decide to look down the road. And guess what, crossing the road down by Freedom Blvd. I see like 10 DEER!! In the middle of PROVO! Before there is snow on the mountain! I mean, last year I saw them around Heritage, but that was when there was SNOW! So I kind of freaked out and was like, "Kiera, Oh my Gosh, LOOK! So she looks, but she was not as surprised/excited as I was. Which made me sad. So please be excited about this with me.

The end.