"It's the most wonderful time of the year"

Merry Christmas Everyone!
I hope you all enjoyed yourselves and remembered the real reason for the season.
I have had a wonderful holiday so far. All of my siblings (and I mean all of them) were home and we all celebrated Christmas together. There is nothing better than being with the people you love and knowing that there is no time limit to how long you can be together. That is how I think Heaven will be. Although we won't always be in the same place at the same time there will be nothing keeping us from visiting anyone we want for any amount of time. That would be so nice.

So I got a lot more presents than I expected and my sister gave me a new book. I got a lot of cool things but the book was what I was most excited about. There is something about knowing that at my own leisure I can explore and re-explore a new life in this story that excites me. I have never been a good writer but I really appreciate the people who are.
I also received a new high-tech blender from Jamba Juice. I did not see that coming but I am so excited. Smoothies and shakes are pretty much my favorite food. It is going to be awesome!

I watched Polar Express tonight and the Conductor said to Billy at the end, "Friendship is the greatest gift of all" (or something similar to that) and I realized that it was true. Katie and Molly came over today to give me a gift (they are so nice) and it was a great gift (another book of course) but I would have been just as happy if they had come just to visit. I value their friendship more than any gift. The same with the rest of my friends and my family. I do a lot of what I do to please people and it is not because I want them to give me anything...except kindness and love. What could really matter more?

I hope you all had as great a Christmas as I did and I love you all!

"I Guess I'll Cry Instead"

What was up with last night?
It seems like everyone I know had some sort of emotional break down. I don't know what it was but it wasn't fun for anyone.

I am thankful that God gave us the ability to cry. Crying is like throwing up: It hurts when you start but you feel better once it's over. Even if whatever makes me cry hasn't changed I feel better after crying. It relieves the stress of the situation and I feel like it's not as big a deal as I thought and even if it doesn't get better it won't be the end of the world.

I am super excited for Christmas! I have been looking forward to this Christmas for about 3 years. All of my family will be home. My siblings are finally all home from their missions, Karl won't have left yet, and my sister and her family are also coming. We are all going to sing Christmas Carols, eat good food, and be together. I love my family!

This was kind of random but I want to tell you Kortney that you can always talk to me (even if I don't have any gas money) and you have made a difference in my life. Thanks!

"I am not a hero. I am not an angel. I am just a man"

So, I officially decided that I am sick of doing poorly in history. If I had studied myself to sleep every night, read the chapter, and taken notes like I was supposed to and then gotten a bad score on the test I would be okay. That would not frustrate me because I would have performed to the best of my ability. If I don't know the answer than I don't know the answer but this...
I can't stand looking at a question and thinking, "I should know the answer to this." I may not be the smartest person but I am not stupid. I know how to study and when I am not studying enough.

I am going to start today and I am going to sudy my history atleast one hour every night like Mr. Rockwell told us to dang it! So you should all see an improvement in my scores from now on and don't let me be a slacker any more.

In fact, I am going to start right now and do my assignment because who doesn't want to read about subsistent farming? I know I do.