Happy Christmas !

First of all ... Aidan Knight.. I think THIS SONG (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb8rsSARUX4) describes the last week of my Christmas adventure.

This year we went to Disneyland for Christmas, which was super fun. California had the most rain EVER in the 4 days we were there, which ended up being not such a bad thing because there were way shorter line-ups for rides ! It was really good to meet up with my Aunty Rachel and her family and spend time with them as well. I did; however, decide that my next trip to Disneyland will be with friends.. (preferrably friends who will join me in sleeping until 10). There were a few hours where my Dad and I got separated from the group, which turned out to be one of my favourite times: he and I rode a bunch of "big kid" rides together, including a few that I would probably never have ridden on if not for his persuasion haha. One in particular called "The Hollywood Hotel Tower of Terror" which is basically a real hotel made to look really ancient and abandoned, and then for the ride you are strapped into these giant "elevator" cars and brought up 12 stories and then dropped - the only thing I can really remember is being more CLENCHED than I ever thought a person could be. My Dad laughed so hard at me in our picture; you could hardly see me cause I was squeezed down into the seat clenching his arm so tight, hahaha.

Our next stop was Syracuse, Utah where my Aunty Rach lives. We arrived there on Christmas Eve, and were there a little longer than we had expected due to horrible weather. (Utah is crazy, one minute it's sunny and clear, and two hours later there's a foot of snow outside!) It was good to have a break from all the travelling and excitement, and just relax all together as a family. We all had a lot of fun together, and we made sure to watch "It's A Wonderful Life" on Christmas Eve (which to my HUGE enjoyment, has I think replaced "A Christmas Carol" as our Christmas Eve family movie tradition.) I really liked spending time with Bailey and Mik (my Aunty Rachel's oldest) watching funny movies and goofing around. It's fun to have a sibling and cousins who are getting to an age where they can appreciate "Grown up" stuff too. We even got to go "sledding" (which in their neighbourhood means that you sit on a round sled and get pulled behing my uncle Logan's old yellow truck hahaha. I have the BIGGEST bruise ever from getting a little too close to the curb...)

Finally we got home (to my parents house in Mission) on Saturday night, and went to church in their ward which, which I left early so that I could go to my friend's ward (in the same building) which was the best ever. It had been almost 6 months since I'd seen my best friend, so it was GREAT to get to see him !!
Then on Monday morning, Grams and I left my parents house, and in a turn of events, I ended up staying at Nolan's house in Abootsford for the next week.
It. Was. Awesome. I love Nolan so much and it was SOO good to get to spend some time just hanging out with him... which leads me to the next big thing....

Nolan.
We have kind of a funny story.. I met Kelsie Murray begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting at Christmas of 2007 while my family was preparing to move to Mission and she happened to be friends with a lot of the youth from Abbotsford and was super excited to fill me in on everyone and hook me up with tons of new friends. She had met Nolan and his brothers at EFY and was good friends with them and so she had us talking before we ever even met.
In the past 3ish years we've become really close, especially Nolan and I. Since moving away from home, we've both made trips to visit each other, and driven a couple of road trips together, and I always underestimate how much laughter there will be when the two of us meet up, hahaha. We call at least 3 or 4 times a week, and always end up talking way too long and staying up way too late. We are just the best of friends. But lately, as much as I am afraid and maybe even embarrassed to admit(?) I think perhaps I am starting to have feelings.
I should explain too... that the Murley boys have a reputation in the Abbotsford stake, of being super good looking, and cool and fun and basically just the best. Everyone knows and loves them, and so when I met them I already expected them to be awesome, and they were, but I got to know them, and loved them for the fun we had together rather than just for being good looking and cool. But now it's kinda .... I guess now that we ARE so close, I am kinda starting to notice how good looking Nolan is again.. does that makes any sense at all? I am afraid to do or say anything that would jeopardize our friendship (cause I really, truly don't know what I'd do without him; he's been the one I go to through a lot of things the past few years), but I'm also afraid of letting him pass me by. I think we'll just have to wait and see what happens, but I sure do like him.

Christmas was great, as it always is. I've come to the solid conclusion though, that there really is no beating Christmas at home, surrounded by family.

I've also come to an understanding of what Grams meant when she always said how good it is to come home. Being away for more than three weeks was tough, and my OWN BED couldn't have been more welcoming last night.

It's back to school tomorrow - this semester will be challenging, but I have a feeling it will go by quickly, and I plan to make the most of it. I can't wait to be registered, but I know I will miss school as well. And I've been seriously thinking about moving away once I finish. I think it's something that I need to do, and the most time passes, the more I realize that there is a lot more for me out there than what's available here (even though it will always be my home and I know I would miss it terribly!!)
We'll just have to see where life takes me I guess =)

So with that, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I hope everyone's holiday seasons were wonderful! And I can't wait to read about them !

Aubrey