10, 9, 8, 7, 6.......

6 days

Well, vacation's almost over and the time is almost here. Less than a week before Disney! I feel like I'm just jumping around from one extreme to another right now. Hopefully things will settle down somewhat soon. Maybe? Maybe? Please? Nope. Oh well. Might as well recap break so far. Next time I post, I'll probably be too busy and overwhelmed with Disney to think about anything else other than Disney.

As I mentioned in the last post, Christmas is an extremely busy time in my family. Christmas eve we went to my grandma's house in Centralia and spent the day with my dad's side of the family. It was definitely a lot of fun. After that, we had Christmas Eve Mass. My mom played her harp (beautifully I might add). My sister played her flute, which also sounded amazing. My dad and I sang in the choir. After that, rinse, lather and repeat. Christmas morning, we went back to church. This time, my mom played the piano instead of harp. After church, we went up to Seattle for Christmas with my mom's side. Again, that was really fun.

After coming back home again Christmas night, it was time to pack for the family vacation with the new suitcase that I got for Christmas. We went to one of the Washington beaches for a week. It was a really nice place. Although I enjoyed the time at the beach, the location probably wouldn't have made much of a difference. It was very rainy all week. After being outside for five minutes, we would be completely soaked through. Most of the time was spent in the resort, with one day being a day trip into Astoria. We came back from the beach on Saturday, just in time for church again. Right after church, we went to some family friend's for dinner and New Year's eve party. I will definitely say that a 15 person, multi-generational game of Apples-to-Apples is very different and lots of fun.

New Year's Day, I was invited to join most of the same group of people to go out shooting, something I had never done, but have wanted to try for the last couple of years (sorry mom). It was a lot of fun. After that was going out to dinner to celebrate my sister's birthday. After dinner, I had to finish finish packing for California. Not fun. Somehow, it was easier packing for college than for California. I couldn't fit everything into a suitcase like I had hoped. I now have an overstuffed sports bag to pack, an over-stuffed suitcase to carry on, and an overstuffed laptop bag. I also have a couple of piles of stuff that I hope my dad can fit in some of his bags. Maybe I have too many books and shirts... I left at 6 this morning to head up to Seattle. After hanging out with Gaston, Andrew and Gilbert, I made my way over to my grandparent's house. Now I spend the rest of the week with my grandparents. Friday, I get to spend my entire morning in an airport. Good thing I have a lot of puzzles to do! Oddly enough, my dad and I are not taking the same flight down to California. If I remember right, he leaves 4 hours before me (or is it 2, with an extra 2 hours for getting through security?). Guess that means he'll just have to wait for me in California :)

Unless something extremely exciting happens this week that I'm not expecting, this will most likely be my last post in Washington. My next post will be from California, and will probably be all about airports, airplanes, and traveling in general. I can honestly say that I'm equally excited AND nervous. The only thing NOT changing is that I'm still currently the same old me. Lets see if I remain that way ;)

~Amber