I wish ya'll a Merry Christmas!! I hope for you peace, happiness, warmth, and love today and everyday thereafter.

As 2006 comes to a close, it's a good time to reflect on how fortunate we all are and all the positive things in our life. We're so good at looking at the negative things that we fail to remember the positives. I know I fall into that trap a lot of the time. Let us not focus on materialism for one second. There are people less fortunate out there that don't have the love of friends and family and don't have the means of affording a place to live. Many are at the brink of starvation and some are in the chaos of war. I'm no longer religious but I pray for those suffering in Darfur. Please pray with me for the inhumanity to stop and for the people to find peace in their lives.

Rob and I are currently visiting his mom and her significant other's family here in Toledo Ohio. We had some trouble getting here because of complications with our flight (it was supposed to be a 7 hour flight but turned out to be 10.5). I'll elaborate later. The house is HUGE (at least 5 bedrooms) and Sharon recently remodeled it so that it's interior is gorgeously decorated in time for Christmas. Outside, there's a river and a lake that connects to the Erie Canal-system. It's refreshing to take a walk outside among the trees, with the water flowing past you, and the birds having a rest before migrating south. Rob's mom's bf and his family are a riot. There are five siblings total but only four showed up with their families. One of them is a professional chef so he has been cooking dinner for the past few days. His bbq ribs are the best ribs I've ever had. They fall right off the bone. Word has it that even vegetarians enjoy them. Today he cooked up some elk that he hunted, skinned, butchered, and dry-aged himself. I can honestly say that it's the perfect meat. It's extremely lean, the fibers are fine and tender, and the flavor mildly resembles beef. He's an excellent cook! There's so many people here that the house is bursting with activity. I'm not used to being in a full house like this but so far it's enjoyable and the people here are very nice.

I feel like a zombie today. I didn't get much sleep last night for a variety of reasons. I'm pretty sure I did badly on my Poli Sci final. For some sick reason, he told us to study the questions from the quizzes and none of the questions on the final were even close to what were on the quizzes. I can't wait for tomorrow at 5pm when this will all be over and I can make my 5 hour trip back home to Rob. Mmm, Rob, the giver of backrubs and provider of good night sleeps. My laptop battery's running low so I must get going. Adios.

It's that time of year again when I begin feeling down, unmotivated, and out-of-sorts. I think it's both the weather and maybe the way that I'm influenced by everyone elses' mindset that we have to lavish material gifts on people we care about. I'm personally more concerned about having enough student loan money to survive next quarter and my own problems. I donno why I feel so guilty about worrying about my problems when it's tough to escape them at this point.

I think I just had the best Thanksgiving weekend that I can remember. The past few Thanksgivings were less than ideal because of the drama that was always present between and within the families that attended. This year was fantastic because everything was very chill and to top it off, Rob made us French Toast in the morning! He followed my recipe and they turned out great.. I didn't have to cook Thanksgiving dinner because we got a precooked meal from Whole Foods, which was yummy. My family behaved (though my dad still filled our ears with his stories). It was eventful but relaxing at the same time. Here is a lovely example of me trying to take a picture of all of us and failing miserably because I was sitting in the middle and I didn't have time to get there before the timer snapped the picture.

I just love the reactions on each person's face!

I fly home (aka Robert's place) later today for Thanksgiving break. His sister is also staying at his place and I look forward to getting to know her. He's taking us out to Alexander's on Friday night which I am very excited about. I miss my friends from there and I hope they will be just as happy to see me.

I'm swearing off coffee for a long time. I just recently realized that it gives me headaches and nausea and is NOT a good thing to have before a test. I downed a Mint Mocha Frappachino today before my midterm and now I'm paying the price. I guess I never realized how bad of an impact it was in the past because I only used to drink it when I didn't get much sleep. I associated the headaches and nauseous feeling with exhaustion and fatigue. Now I know better. At least I get to save more money that might have gone to Starbucks.

Today I made the realization during my conversation with Amy that no one has really stood up for me in my life.