Christmas

was here and gone before you could blink twice. The strange thing about this year's holiday season was that I had been so focused on the end of the semester and already in the mindset that there would be no frantic christmas shopping that there really wasn't much buildup to it. I got home this time last week and really it was a quick week up until christmas. and like most years it was there and done. Christmas is obviously not what it was when I was young. My entire family is waiting for my cousins to have some kids so that nervous excitement can once again be experienced. That is the joy of Christmas, really....seeing the excitement on the kids faces. it just reminds you to be a kid and relax and enjoy yourself.

This week home didn't start off happy. I found out a few weeks ago that my mom needs a hysterectomy because of a benign growth in her uterus. Just that is enough to make me nervous, even though I know that the hysterectomy procedure is a very routine one and very common. But on top of that her mammogram scan came back with something "warranting further evaluation". Well that right there, told to me by my very freaked out mother right when I got home, was enough to make me cry several times over the next few days. But thank God (literally because I prayed so so much since finding out about this situation after thanksgiving) there is nothing to be worried about. i was amazed, even though i shouldn't be, at how absolutely loving my parents friends are. My mom has received several cards from friends over the last few days just letting her know that everything will be ok and that they, the sender of the card, is there if she needs to talk to someone. This is the reason I love coming home. My family could not have found a more wonderful group of people to become friends with when we moved here. We know, as a family, that if any of us are ever in need, we can reach out and visa versa. Our church community is like my second family... I even call some of them mom and dad.

But I'm rambling. It's great to be home. It's almost surreal at times to think that I really haven't been home that much since this time last year. This time last year I was preparing to move up to school and be on my own, really for the first time. I was terrified. But surprisingly, it was an easy transition. I could go into this past year more but this post is already long enough. So Christmas is over and almost done with (still have some post-Christmas sales to hit and more gifts on the way from family and friends) then it's New Years with some of my wonderful "brothers". Can't wait. And I really can't believe that I still have a month til school starts up again. Jeez. This time next year I will be a college graduate. Crazyness. OK off for now.