winter wonderland

Even though I like Boise, the weather stinks. I am a California girl at heart-- a true valley girl who prefers sunshine, beaches, and orchards over ice, snow, and frigid winds (yes, I said "frigid"). However, with harsh winter comes great freedoms (do you like the 'Spiderman' speech imitation??? I truly am an English major), which delight me thoroughly-- so much so that I've created a Top 10 list for Winter Break:

1. Sleeping in. Ev-er-y day.

2. Learning to sew on the sewing machine. My first project was fleece cage accessories for my favorite ferret at EFS, Five:

I hand-delivered the hammock, floor pad, and sleep sack. Not to sound conceited or anything, but he (and his cagemate Cracker) loved them.

3. Getting my hair cut. I opted for a long-layered shaggy look a la Trish in "The 40-Year Old Virgin."

3 1/2. Taking random pictures of my new haircut and imagining that I could totally rock a body perm:

4. Ringing in the new year with Brett. We made margaritas, watched "The Pursuit of Happyness," played video games, and caught the last three seconds of the ball dropping in NYC:

5. Meeting friends for some quality pig-out time, like Anna and Christy, at Cafe Ole; Amy at Moxie Java; and the Melville Edition interns at Bittercreek Alehouse (Becca, you're next!).

6. Wimping out on driving anywhere in the snow. As the Zamzow's radio commercial warns, "Don't get overly confident if you have four-wheel drive." I'll just over-exaggerate that statement and claim little to no confidence with driving on any road conditions other than "dry."

7. Reading. I actually have time to read recreational literature! I finished "The Nanny Diaries," "The Virgin Blue" by Tracy Chevalier, half of Barbara Kingsolver's "Prodigal Summer" (I'm forcing myself to give it a chance-- slow going!), half of "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller (I need time to let his words marinate between readings), random Walt Whitman poems, and I reread "Choke" by Chuck Palahniuk before giving it to Zach...

8. ... which brings me to my next favorite thing about Winter Break: hanging out with Zachary who is on R&R from his tour in Iraq (he goes back to work on the 18th).

We always have a blast when we're together:

And another for good measure:

9. Watching endless hours of dumb television, including (but not limited to) America's Next Top Model marathons, Project Runway reruns, What Not To Wear, Rachael Ray, and most anything on E! After break, I'll bulk up on some intellectual reading material-- don't worry.

10. Mostly, I love break because it reminds me of how much I enjoy my life. Can school last forever? Can I get paid to go to school for the rest of my life? I really don't mind, as long as I have a few respites every once in a while.

Hope you're having a fun new year as well.