Yesterday, the girl teaching our relief society lesson said "Self-defecating" where she should have said "Self-deprecating"...

Just had to get that out there.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...

Drum roll, please... I am finally blogging again! Wait, is anyone there? I think I hear an echo...echo...echo...
Okay, it comes as no surprise to me that I probably don't have any blog followers left... except maybe my mom, who always has hope. So mom, this one is for you. Thanks for always believing in me (haha).
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, two months should elicit at least 20,000 words from me, but since I don't have time to write a complete biography, I'm just going to let the pictures do the talking. Here is a little bit of what I've been up to the past couple of months:

Enjoying a Christmas party with friends
Making cupcakes with Trinity

Christmas Day

A gathering of old friends

The many faces of Eliana

Trin playing with the little forest animals we made together

Eating ice cream on "the best day ever!!!"

Is there any question that I am the luckiest aunt in the world???

Other highlights from my trip home:

• Relaxing
• Making and eating great food
• Singing Christmas carols
• Fresh oranges from Mesa
• Staying up until the wee hours of the night playing "Clue" with my parents and Matti
• Playing "Speed Scrabble" and winning (usually...heehee)
• Having heart-to-heart talks with Angela
• Falling asleep at 10 pm on New Year's Eve and realizing that, when your brother wakes you up at five till midnight and shoves a glass of Martinelli's into your hand, you'll drink it even though it doesn't taste very good with your current degree of halitosis...
• Hanging with Tatton and Rachel
• Wrestling sunbeams with my mom
• Chasing Eliana ALL OVER the place 24-7
• Being a ballerina with Trin
• Jumping on the bed with Trin
• Helping my dad shop for my mom's Christmas presents, and getting it all done in an hour and a half
• Seeing great friends
• Watching "Its a wonderful life"
• Trinity jumping up and down while they mix sprinkles into her cotton-candy ice cream, then becoming intoxicated by all the sugar and saying the most hilarious things.
• Trinity giving my dad a big hug and saying, "Papa, this is the BEST day ever!!"
• Eliana consuming all of my mom's dark chocolate ice cream.
• Spending time with my family and feeling so much love.

I really enjoyed the Christmas break, and the time I was able to spend with family and friends. Now its back to the grindstone, but I find myself still feeling happy and grateful that I am so blessed.

By way of update: I am officially DONE with culinary school, and it feels great to have achieved that. However, I can't seem to get enough of school, and am now working on finishing my bachelors degree with a different major-- Community Health. So far I am loving my classes and the things I'm learning, and everything just feels right. I am still working for the catering place I've been at since May, and feel really blessed to still have a job in this economy. I love my co-workers and the work I am doing, even if it is exhausting. I am thankful for this new year and all of the possibilities that come with it. Hopefully I will be able to make it my best one yet!