Birthmas, moving, and all things new.

The bridge from 2010 to 2011 has been a big one. A lot of good things and life changes have been happening for me, and I've just now found the time to grace you all with an update of what been happening from Christmas to now.

(sidebar: "Birthmas" is in reference to the celebratory time surrounding Christmas, December 25th, and my birthday, December 27th)


I'm a fan of the quick recap method, so let's breeze through this thing:

1) Christmas.

I, regrettably, didn't take any photos of the Christmas celebrations I was a participant in.

There are usually at least four (4) main parties I go to with my respective paternal and maternal sides of the family. The morning of the 24th, I spend with my dad and stepmom, and the evening is spent with the extended family. Then, the morning of the 25th is with mom and stepdad...with the extended family in the evening.

There were some great gifts this year: 2 Snuggies, several seasons of TV on DVD, a Haven Kimmel book I've been wanting, and a coffee maker and bean grinder were just a few of the highlights.


2) Birthday.

I usually decide a theme for my birthday in the month of September or October. This year, I wasted no time on deciding what I wanted to do. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.


















Yeah, the theme was mustaches and soul food. You might ask, "But, WHY???" My answer to you would be, "Why not?" Also, I'd say "For fun."


Another thing that went down was...

3) I moved.

Moved into a townhouse in Eugene with a girl I knew from college. So far, so good.

I made the transition up here on January 1, 2011. I figured it made sense to do a new thing on the newest day this calendar year. Ba-da-bing.

Also...

4) I began graduate school.

George Fox University accepted me into their Master of Arts in Teaching program a few months ago (hence, the moving) and I had my first session yesterday. My cohort leader is fabulous. I was surprised to have our first meeting be filled with beading turquiose and purple beads on hemp strands, and decorating the outide of our interactive journals (aka "chapbooks") with magazine cutouts and pipecleaner.

Our professor opened with the following disclaimer to prelude all the above mentioned activities: "I'm a non-traditional instructor. Some people don't like that, but that's the way it is. I'm pretty flexible with adjusting to wherever we need to be in our coursework, and I'm very hands-on and try to see things from a different perspective." Soon after, I muttered something along the lines of "This is my dream come true." She looked over at me, and smiled. We connected, and I knew that this was going to be the start of something great.


I'm so excited to be where I'm at right now. I can't shake the feeling of happiness and anticipation that is surrounding all that I'm a part of at the time.


Here's to a fun, big, happy, exciting, beautiful 2011.