It always amazes me how life always fills up with stuff to do. I found myself running around like a mad woman the last week of the semester because my mom needed prescriptions filled, I had to study for final exams, and I ended up babysitting my niece and nephew both before and after finals were over (since my mom was out of commission). Somehow I managed to do all of that (because I'm AWESOME).
It just amazes me that even after the semester was over, there was all of this family stuff to do. It's amazing how having a family-oriented life never allows it to be boring. I also went bridesmaid dress shopping with my sister and mom. I am thankful that my sister put my comfort on wearing dresses first during the whole process. My little sister is really beautiful and looks great in everything she wears.
My brother is renewing his vows with his new wife in about 2 weeks in Arizona. I'm really excited that my brother found such an amazing woman to marry. I think she's one of the nicest people I've ever met in my life. She has a wonderful heart and I couldn't ask for a better sister-in-law. I'm glad to have her as a new member of my family. <3
In any case, I spent a lot of time in December shopping for Christmas with my youngest brother Matt. We handled most of the Christmas shopping. We did not end up starting the Christmas shopping until a week before Christmas, but we managed to accomplish a lot over the course of 7 days.
On Christmas Eve, I baked cookies for Santa with my niece and nephew. I decided on chocolate chip cookies, since they are easier to make than cookies that require chilling time (like snickerdoodles, to the dismay of my nephew). However, these cookies had a short life. They were all gone in less than 48 hours of existence. It made me feel nice to know that my cookies were so well-liked.
Christmas came and went. Since I was watching my niece and nephew a lot this month, I chose to introduce them to Miyasaki films. The only ones I haven't shown them are Spirited Away, Ponyo, and The Secret of Arriety. I don't own Ponyo or The Secret of Arriety and the Spirited Away DVD menu is written in Kanji, which I cannot read myself. Thus, trying to set up the film to play in English has been challenging. Sadly, my niece and nephew would have to read really fast to keep up with English subtitles in order to watch Spirited Away in Japanese. I might be able to figure it out eventually. I googled it and could not find the answer easily. I have high hopes, though.
In any case, another year is almost over. I'm very grateful for what I have and the people in my life. I feel like that is what the new year should be all about: being thankful for another year full of many blessings. I hope that everything works out for all the people I love and all the people who work hard with good intentions. Happy New Year!
