gingerbreadless graham cracker houses

I am done! My last final was on Thursday. As I was walking to my apartment from the bus stop, feelings of accomplishment, joy, and a little bit of angst swarmed in my head. I had done it.I had finished my first semester in the Elementary Education program! Now I'm just waiting to find out my final grades. (That's where the angst comes in).

The rest of the day was filled with Christmas music, Spongebob episodes, and gingerbread house making.

WARNING: Photo overload!

      

 Ammon's house

Matt had the idea to put Ammon's house on top of Mark's tower. Of course we all jumped out of our seats in amazement. The best part is that when it fell, Ammon's house survived.

 My house

 Nephi's house

Becca came a little late and so she worked with what she had.

I think she said this was an Indian reservation, but I think it looks like a prison. :)

Rachelle's house. 

I can't think of a better ending photo for our gingerbread making evening.

The next day we went Christmas shopping at Walmart. It was really foggy and cold. 

Here's me waiting for our dumb bus that was running 10 minutes late. The bus driver must have been new to the route because he was holding a map in front of him while he was driving the whole time! We were relieved when we finally got off the bus.

That night we went and saw the Hobbit with my family and Ammon's friend Doug. 

And because I forgot to take pictures at the theater, I figured I would just take a picture of my ticket. 

But I think ticket pictures are kind of boring, so I improvised.

 I mean, which one is more exciting, this one:

or this one:

I think this one's a keeper for sure. 

He ain't the leavin' kind

sometimes while riding the bus to UVU i like to listen to random songs on my i-pod.
i happened to fall upon this song right when i was feeling kind of down
it wasn't until i was about halfway done with the song that
i decided to actually listen to the lyrics.
at first i thought the song was talking about a random person
and i thought:
"is this guy for real?"
and then i realized that he is indeed for real. he is as real as you let him.
this song is about God.
and how he never leaves us. 
i got a little emotional :)

He ain't the leavin' kind- Rascal Flatts

the bus ride home

every thursday i ride the bus home from school
same bus
same time
and same bus driver

as i was listening to ingrid's new album, human again, (which by the way, is AMAZING!) i was able to observe people in a different light. there's just something about drowning out all the noise around me and replacing it with a song of my choice that makes me look at the world and the people in it differently.

suddenly, the girl sitting 2 seats away from me was no longer just another girl on the bus. as i inconspicuously observed her happily conversing with another girl across from us (who appeared to be new at the whole "bus" thing) how i viewed her changed. she became friendly, knowledgeable, even inspiring! and i felt really good sitting next to her.

my bus driver was no longer just a bus driver, but a friendly, heart-warming human who had feelings too. i watched him point outside the window or nod his head and smile when people talked to him. he put his hand high in the air and waved when another bus passed by. he pretended to shut the door on someone and laughed as he let them back in. he's always been more than a bus driver, but for the first time i SAW it.

after i got off the bus and started walking the 3 blocks ahead of me, the song: blood brothers was playing in my headphones. this got me thinking. too often, i find myself viewing the world from a "me" standpoint. the one where anyone different than myself starts to bug me and it's all their fault. but when i take a moment, and view people from a "them" standpoint and see where they're coming from, we're incredibly similar! what they want, i want too. we all crave food, water, shelter, and love. people will always do things we don't understand. but if we just remember that we all have that in common, then maybe we wouldn't rate people. and maybe just maybe they might not even bug us. (that's the one that's really hard for me)

 as ingrid so beautifully said, "we're all the same, under a different name."