Metamorphosis: Home for the Holidays

Well hello there!

I guess I'll start where I left you guys off... Have you ever seen the show Survivor? I have recently decided that that is the only way I can describe the past three and a half months at college. Except it's kind of twisted because instead of competing for a million dollars, I'm paying an arm and a leg to make it to the finals. While I love the academic side of the school, there's not much I can say positively in regards to the rest of it and quite frankly I'm ready to be voted off of the freaking island. But, the good news is, I made it through my first semester and even managed to pass each of my classes with a fairly good grade in each!

As for home, it has been great. I got home on the 14th of December and have been catching up with friends, family, and sleep for the most part. The day I flew home, Mom and Dad flew out to Texas to catch Binky's graduation from Hardin-Simmons University with a B.A. in Psychology (Good job, Bink!). While they were gone I had my annual Christmas party with a few close friends and emphasized on trying to regulate my sleep schedule while catching all of the Christmas movies on Abc Family. I couldn't wait for Mom and Dad to get home because those two are basically my two best friends in the whole wide world! (I'm not being sarcastic, they really are!) Once they got home, we were tuned into full force "Get Ready For Christmas Shenanigans" mode. Two days later we had our annual Ornament Exchange with a group of family friends which was tons of fun! Chrissy, Cameron, and Marcus even made it out to the party so I definitely got my Marcus fix in too. The next day, Grandma and Papa came to celebrate the holidays with us. Chrissy (and family) had to leave on Christmas Eve so we had "Christmas Morning" with Chrissy, Cam, and Markie on Christmas Eve morning followed by Mom and I venturing out to Auburn to spend the afternoon with Shirley and Grandma Staudinger. After leaving Auburn, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Papa, and I hit up a Christmas Eve service at Calvary. It was a beautiful service that really got you in the spirit of the true meaning of Christmas (sometimes, when all of the Christmas chaos hits a reminder is helpful). Then came Christmas which was a day of practically nothing aside from opening the gifts that Santa had left us and pigging out on Christmas dinner. (We did a whole lot of lounging around!)

The day after Christmas, Mom had her tonsils removed and we were told by the surgeon that her left one was "horrifically infected" he also said that she should have gotten them out years and years ago (we're talking when she was around eight years old) and that she wouldn't want to even move for the first three or so days of recovery. His estimation was... incorrect by far. While she was in quite a bit of pain, I found her sweeping the floors and doing dishes on day two. (Needless to say, I put an end to that really quickly!) But anyway, she is recovering well and what seems to be quickly but prayers for more success in healing without complication are still appreciated!

Tomorrow (Dec. 31st) we head out to Chrissy and Cameron's house to celebrate 2012 and welcome in 2013 as a family. I head back to school on January 6th and quite honestly would rather have my teeth pulled out one at a time than go back there but I am going to keep telling myself that it'll be worth it in the end. Besides, for Jan Term I am taking a Psychopathology in Film and a Snowboarding class, it should be a fun month!

I hope you as a reader are having a wonderful holiday season and a very happy new year with your friends and/or family. Thank you for taking the time to catch up via my blog!

Much love,
Ashley

Here are some pictures I've taken since my last blog!