"Holy Empty Shelves, Batman!"

I finally did it... no, not updating the blog, although that is also pretty crazy!
I went Christmas shopping.
No smiley face, no exclamation point; it was completely a failure. I needed to get: socks (forgot), a sled (the aisle was completely devoid of merchandise), a certain gift for Bryan (wrong size), and some other gift for Carolyn (she was with me, does it even count then?).
Oh, have I made this Christmas un-fun or what? Mostly I'm worried about money, so I've largely limited our potential merriment. It's even been too cold to go outside, so we can't even enjoy all of this snow while we try to be un-materialistic. Our dryer broke, our heat keeps going out, and Bryan can't even go fishing with his Dad!
What is going on this year?
I guess the only enlightenment I'm getting is that we are still pretty lucky even though I'm acting like Scrooge. I can't help but think that it would be pretty selfish of me to take a picture perfect Christmas, with a tree surfing on top of awesome gifts, for granted. There are so many people without Mommies and Daddies or any gifts at all, no heat, no cars, no nice comfy apartments, and the list goes on.
Kind of makes me think back to what the Christmas story was all about, and that's the important thing, right?
I just want to say that I love you all (yes, you), and I am so lucky to be spending Christmas with my wonderful family in this amazing place I call home!
Merry Christmas!

Two more to go!

I'm down to two semesters of school and two weeks left in this semester. I'm kind of excited to be at the point where I'm finally registered for some of the last classes I will ever take! It's gonna be a tough spring, but I am excited; is that weird?

Thanksgiving was BRUTAL this year, we ate enormous meals for 5 days straight. My stomach hasn't stopped hurting for a week. This is not a good thing actually, because my doctor wants me to take some more tests to figure out what's going on with my body, lately. I've gained more than 20 pounds in the last month and apparently that is not normal. That coupled with extreme fatigue, unbelievable pain, and some other strange things makes me worry. But, as usual, I'm sure its nothing but stress, so it's not worth the trouble.

Oh, we got approved for a home loan, so we might start looking at houses (maybe, if it doesn't cause me to gain another 20 pounds!). Carolyn tells us, "Carolyn home" when we talk about it, so maybe she's trying to convince us to get her a place with a yard and the potential for a puppy...

Well, that's what's on my mind right now. Perhaps someday I'll have the ability to post pictures again!