Winter Break

Resolve
I'm not sure what did it exactly, but I got over all the drama, and was able to start my two week long winter break in a relatively good mood. Karisa and I wrote a nasty letter to C, and though I don't believe she'll ever send it, it just felt good to write it. My "healing", as I put it previously, helped me look forward to my vacation, and my vacation helped me finish healing. Though healing is such a weird term to use because really it was just getting over how angry I was...

Spokane
I started off my 2 week long vacation (the longest I've had in a year), by going over to Spokane. I arrived in Edmonds on Friday night, and spent the majority of Saturday hanging out with Brad/Brittney/Evan. They very kindly took me to the train station... I thought we were running late because I only had 10 minutes to spare... oh how wrong I was! Though they did follow me into the station, they told Evan they would have to leave if she played on the storage and that she did, so they followed through and left. A few minutes after that, I heard that the train would be at least an hour late. Then we heard that the train was getting work done on it in Seattle, and they didn't know when it would be ready - but since the work was on the brakes, I was willing to give them as much time as they needed. I got to know the other people in the train station - a family with two teenagers/preteens, who pointed out that it would have been faster to drive to their destination than to take the train; and also a really cute family with two little girls (half asian, half white) who were getting ready for a 52 hour train ride. There was also a college age boy who was going to Spokane, but he spent most of the time outside with the fathers of the two families. Three hours later, we got on the train. I was supposed to arrive in Spokane at 1am - late at night, but not unbearable. Instead, I arrived at 4 am. Clearly, this messed up Laura and Diana's sleep schedule but they oh so kindly napped and then came and got me.

Spokane was great! It was beautiful and snowy the whole time I was there. We walked through downtown and saw all the great architecture, we sledded, played games, ate yummy food and went shopping. I'm sure we did much more, because overall the trip was a perfect combination of leisure and activity.

It was the first time I have been to Spokane since I just drove through it as a kid, so it was much better than I was expecting. I get the impression that the city is nice, it's just the people who are lacking. Laura and Diana's apartment is gorgeous! They have a 4 bedroom apartment for a really cheap rate, and it is spacious and includes a humongous fireplace. All in all I am very impressed. Laura suggested that I should come live with her after I finish working this summer (since I have a big ??? for my future)... if she had asked me that just a week before I would have said no, but now I am definitely considering it. After returning to Edmonds, I started thinking about my future and I could see myself living in Spokane.

Christmas Time
On Wednesday, Laura and I drove home for Christmas. We were worried because we had to cross the state and go through the pass, but luckily snow wasn't an issue. It did snow while we were on the east, but the roads were still managable. You could really only feel the snow (or at least I could, as a passenger), when changing lanes. It made the ride across the state just gorgeous! Plus, we got Taco Bell on the way over -- something that I haven't had in a loooong time! I've had Taco Time, because it is so close by, but Taco Bell will always be my favorite.

Even though it was snowy in Eastern Washington, it was clear roads across the path. I was sad as we came onto the west side and the snow disappeared. If I do live in Spokane, I sure will love having the snow!

Jeffrey had already came into town, so the next few days were spent visiting. Christmas was amazing this year. Last year, I felt slightly disappointed at having to share Brian and Britt with so many other people. I understood it as a concept, but was still trying to adjust to the change. For example, it was weird for me to open presents in the afternoon instead of the morning, even if us kids did sleep in more. This year, however, I didn't feel any negative feelings in that regard. In fact, when Britt explained where they go Christmas Eve (last year we didn't see them at all), Christmas Morning (they don't come over until 12 or 1) and Christmas Afternoon (they leaves for a couple hours), I felt lucky for how much time we do have them!

It didn't hurt that we had Thanksgiving on Christmas Eve this year. I'm sure I wrote earlier about how Thanksgiving was cancelled because my Mom was sick. Our solution - eat all the delicious Thanksgiving food on Christmas Eve (also very convienently stealing Brian and Britt until 4 or 5ish in the evening!)... it made it so we didn't have to cook on Christmas at all and could just be lazy!

But as I said, Christmas was great this year. My Dad asked us what candy we wanted, so I got really yummy candy (I am really picky when it comes to sweets and not a fan of some of the tradition Christmas candy), played lots of game and had fun. My parents got me a laptop for Christmas (and my birthday and my graduation). I was kind of expecting it, but since I was hoping for it I was trying not to think about it so that I wouldn't get disappointed if I didn't find it. I got converse from Brian and Britt, which is amazing because all my shoes are falling apart. I didn't get boots, but I have plans to go boot shopping this week so it is ok. I got a DS game from Jeff. Did I mention on here that I found my DS? If not - man was that a joyous day. It was sitting on my living room floor behind my futon/chair (near the end table). Once I did some cleaning it was just right there! Not hiding or anything. I am really curious to know if it was always that open and I just didn't look well enough, or if it somehow walked there.

I couldn't believe I found it, and instantly went to my wish list online and wrote a disclaimer *DS FOUND. You can buy me games now* or something along those lines. Luckily, Jeff hadn't gone shopping yet, so I got a game!

And last but not least, Laura gave me some really great clothes (a shirt of which I am wearing right now!). For work I am going to try and dress a little bit nicer (but not suit nice). Therefore, I will be wearing some of the sweaters/nice shirts that she got me frequently!

Before I move on from Christmas -can I just remark on how crazy it is that I own a laptop? This thing is my baby and I love it so much! I am working on it right now, in bed, comfy as can be. In the past I would have been sitting at my desk, getting really uncomfortable! :) I am very happy that I decided to ask for no gifts all year long just so that I could get this!!!

Holiday Party
Laura left town the Monday after Christmas :(. Therefore it became more of a friend time. I had plans to hang out with Brad and Brittney, but due to last minute traveling on their part that didn't work out. However, I did get to see all my HS friends for a holiday party! We played games, made lunch, made cookies and visited. After Rachael and Lindsay left, Shelley, Rachelle and I were able to plan for New Years!

Since Rachelle just got back from Italy, she got me a couple souvenirs. She got me a liquor thing of some sort (that I am looking forward to drinking) and a little portable wallet, perfect for a night on the town. Man, do I love that wallet! The wallet I use currently is one that I never planned to use regularly, in fact I just started using it for Europe because it was less likely to be stolen! But, since I'm me and I'm cheap and I normally don't like to shop, I still use it everyday. Well not anymore! Now I have a tight fitting little wallet that just has the necessities! Though I have to figure out how to fit my Group Health card and AAA card in there as well.... maybe I should still use my other wallet? :/

New Years Eve
Jeffrey left town New Years Eve, and about two hours later I headed down to Seattle with Shelley. Shelley, Rachelle and I made reservations for 6pm in Belltown, at a Mediterranean/Middle Eastern restaurant. I was really excited because they had a lot of vegetarian options, and it is food that I like but eat rarely. We decided to dress up becasue we were going to a nice restaurant and we weren't sure where the night would take us. We found one bar in the area that had no cover - amazing when most places have special "parties" that are $75 entry. Needless to say, we didn't end up going to any of those places. (Next year though!)

Since I don't own many clothes, I ended up wearing Shelley's dress, Rachelle's Jacket, Laura's old nice shoes and I bought some tights. It ended up being a very nice outfit, albeit a little chilly. Also, Rachelle straigtened my hair, so I looked fancier than normal.

In our fancy outfits, we went out to dinner. When we first arrived the other patrons were wearing jeans, and I felt a little overdressed... however, as the night wore on, people got fancier and fancier until finally everyone was in a suit and a dress. The service was amazing - our waiter was attentive and nice, and made us feel welcome. Which is a good thing, because we were there for three hours! Originally, we were worried that we would be done eating so early that we would have too long of a night afterwards (since we started so early at 6pm)... wrong we were! Which was a good thing! The food was amaaaazing. The restaurant had a special New Years Eve dinner like everywhere in the city - $25 for a four course meal. An amazing deal! We got a big appetizer with pita and hummus and a lot of other really yummy things that I don't know how to spell. We then got a salad, entree and dessert. We were so full that we had to pace ourselves, and luckily we did because we were all able to eat dessert by the time it came around! Though we had a lot of leftovers from the entree.

After dinner, we walked a few blocks over to the space needle to walk around. I haven't been to the space needle in years, and haven't gone much at all in my life, so I was really excited to see the area again. Furthermore, every year I watch the space needle on the TV (per my family's tradition), and I have always wanted to be there. That said, it was cooolld! That and the fact that none of us wanted to be in a mob at midnight, we decided a tour of the space needle was good, but it wasn't where we would spend the New Year. So, after a nice little tour, we hopped a bus back to the apartment.

We were planning on just dropping off the food, and grabbing some comfy clothes and then driving closer to our destinations for later in the night. However, due to walking time, bussing time and how long we ate dinner, we ran out of time to go to the bars. So instead of just sticking comfy clothes in the car for after some bar hopping and before some park going-space needle viewing, we just got comfy right away. And man did that feel good! Our next destination of the night was to Kerry Park, which is on Queen Anne and has an amazing view of the Space Needle. A few of Rachelle's friends were there, so we met up with them and visited for about 20 minutes until the fireworks! The only downside was that there was one fellow fireworks viewer that decided that moaning and sighing and yelling random things was funny (mature much?)... it was annoying but didn't ruin it for me, luckily.

After the fireworks (we had the perfect vantage point!) we walked back to the car. Traffic was really backed up, because a lot more people had come up into that area than we realized! Instead of sitting in traffic, we sat in the car and listened to music for a bit. Our plan had been to go out to the bars after the fireworks, however we didn't get back into the u-district until 1ish. By then, we were beat. Though I loved the idea of going out partying after the fireworks (as a kid I was always disappointed when everyone left at 12:15. I thought the party was just getting started!)... coming home, hanging out, getting into pajamas and watching a movie sounded really good. So that is just what we did!

All in all it was an amazing NYE! And it didn't even include any alcohol! What kind of 21 year old am I? I guess Rachelle had wine at dinner, but I didn't! I consider this NYE to be a sampler, we saw a little of this and a little of that, saw a few different people and had time to ourselves. We had some time to be fancy and some time to be cozy, some time to spend money, and some time to just sit in a park and watch. I think it was amazing!!

Next year I do think I will want to stay in one place, not because this year wasn't amazing, but because the commute times made the night seem way too short. We're thinking about saving up money to go dancing next year, and I am really excited!

Nestor Dinner
On Saturday I came back up to Edmonds and had the Nestor family over for Dinner (meaning "Grandma", Janet, Brad, Brittney and Evan). We played games and had dinner, and had an overall good time. I spent most of my time entertaining Evan, which I always consider fun. My parents had a chance to play the games that I normally choose not to play, and Brad and Brittney had a chance to have fun without having to worry about Evan. I could write a whole other post about how cute Evan is and how I can't believe how old she is getting (it is very obvious how old she is when I see her so rarely!). Instead, I will move on because it is waaay past my bedtime (almost 2! I think I've been writing this novel for almost an hour!)....

Back to Bellingham
So, on Sunday I came back up to Bellingham to get back to my "real" life. The vacation was amazing in every way, and I am so thankful for my friends and family who made it that way!

There are other things to update on, however this post is clearly not where I should... But for a sneak preview:
-EdCC/Health Insurance
-1st day of work/700th day....
-New Years Resolutions

So, ta ta for now, until we meet again....
Amy