Happy New Year!

Pickled Out

Today I went to pickleball. It was probably my last time there for quite a while. I played really well, probably the best I have ever played. I was tired the rest of the day though after 4.5 hours of nonstop pickleballing.

Path Wrath

Today my sister, father, dog, and I went to a local trail where people walk and jog. We thought since it is under trees, there wouldn't be much snow on the ground. We were wrong, there was a couple inches on the ground. We hiked through the snow for a little bit, then headed home. It wasn't exactly like we thought it was going to be, but it was still fun.

Movie Making

Today my brother, sister, father and I went to a movie. It was fun even if it wasn't my first choice of movie to watch. It took several days to be able to watch a movie. At first we couldn't get out of the driveway, and then the showings were sold out that we could go to. At least we could finally go to one, maybe we will go to another one soon.

Mountain Man

Today it didn't snow. The snow has been fun, but it wasn't fun being stuck at the house since we couldn't get out of our neighborhood. My sister and I were able to stand on the top of the igloo, it is that strong. It was a great view for watching the 'snowplow' go by, even if it only did one loop. The next two hours were spent helping neighbors shovel off their driveways and our own.

It was nice to get our driveway clear and road so we could leave our house. Our neighbors treated us to a Chinese buffet, it was interesting. I tried a bunch of foods I didn't even really know what they were, how to eat them, or if I even would like them.

SnoWii

Today it continued to snow. It was a nice day of relaxing and hanging out with the family. We borrowed a Wii from some neighbors. It has been a lot of fun playing. My little sister is pretty good at it, she evens beats me at times.

Merry Christmas

Today my family would normally go down to Oregon for Christmas. But with how the weather has been and the condition of the roads, we stayed home for Christmas. Last night, as is custom in our family, we opened our presents. We had a nice breakfast this morning. We played games and had a good time together the rest of the day. We got in the igloo together as a family to Skype our relatives. We had lights put up in the igloo and were able to connect to our wireless network, it was fun and will be a holiday memory. Merry Christmas everybody.

SnowMAN

Here is an early Christmas present from me to you. It is a sculpture of a man (not graphically gender specific) my brother and I carved out of the snow today.

Snow Wars

Today I added another thing to the long list of things I have done in the snow during this storm. At my father's school, snow piled on the flat roof and collapsed part of it. The damage wasn't widespread or massive, but the rest of the roof needed to be shoveled off. It took a long time, and was quite a bit of work. Thankfully, there were quite a few people shoveling. Tonight, my family ventured out to do some Christmas shopping in Olympia, the roads were really bad and in the parking lot I had to walk outside the car to push us when we got stuck.

I Iglood

The past couple days, it has snowed over a foot at my house. So therefore, the past couple days have been spent outside playing in the snow nearly all day. As you may have gathered from the previous picture posts, I've gone sledding and been turned in to a snowman/monster. I've also helped build a snowman, gone on walks through the snow, and been in a miniature snowball fight.

But nothing I had ever done or constructed in the snow compared to what was built yesterday. For the longest time, I wanted to construct a fort in the wilderness and sleep in it. Even better, an igloo on a mountainside. While being on my front lawn is a far cry from being stranded on a mountainside, I finally fulfilled a wish of mine.

My father, brother, sister and I constructed an igloo on our front lawn. It was finished around 2:00am this morning, is over 9 feet tall, has 18 inch thick walls, weighs over a ton, and took the four of us over 8 hours to complete. It looks quite impressive, neighbors we have never met stopped by to talk about it, the UPS man drove by and gave it a thumbs up, and numerous comments have been said about it by people going by.

We decided to sleep in it. This may have been a mistake. It was 3:00am in the morning when my brother, sister, dog, and I went to bed in the igloo. My brother and sister left at 6:00am in the morning to go inside, leaving just the dog and me in the igloo. Contrary to what I thought, igloos can be very cold inside, so cold you may as well be sleeping outside in the snow. It was a bit worrisome to read about the risks of sleeping in an igloo after we had already decided to sleep in it, about how an igloo that is too tall (like ours) can have all the heat trapped at the top which causes the snow to melt and the structure to collapse while you are in it. Not a great thing to fall asleep thinking about, wondering if I would even survive until morning.

I got a decent nights sleep in the igloo, the entire process of constructing and sleeping in it is something I will remember for a long time. Today my family went sledding down a steep hill at a friends house. It was a bunch of fun once we finally got there. It took around 45 minutes for us to get our car out of the snow once it got stuck on our way to sled. This snow has been amazing and it appears will be around for quite some time.

Abominable Snowbunny

Coming Down

Today the snow is really coming down. It may snow up to a foot. I blog now because the power may go out later. I can't wait to go sledding and play in the snow later.

Brother Back

Today my brother came home. It is nice to have the entire family together. It has now been one week since my break started, which means I only have two weeks left. Tomorrow it is supposedly going to snow a lot. I hope it does, but I have learned the hard way to not always believe what 'the man' says.

Sledding

Snow Day Of Fun

Today my sisters, father, and I played in the snow. We went sledding and built a snowman. I accidentally took out half of the snowman's face with a snowball, but it was rebuilt. We had fun playing in the snow, maybe there will be more tomorrow.

Nogged in the Noggin

Today I had my first taste of eggnog. My sister and I were tossing a ball in my dad's class while the students were gone. We were at my dad's class for a Christmas party. My sister threw the ball and it hit a full cup of eggnog. The eggnog went flying everywhere, all over me. Some of it went in my mouth. I am not sure if I liked the taste. I didn't like being covered in it though. Good thing we were able to clean it up before the kids and my dad got back; it would have been a good lesson on what not to do.

On Brink of Rink

Today I had fun playing outside in the snow/ice with my sisters. The snow was powder, and the streets were like a skating rink. We also had a good time having a family movie night.

Undefeeted

Today my sister had a soccer tournament championship game. It was over an hour away at a nice soccer park. There was snow on the ground, and it was freezing outside. With the windchill, well below freezing. So cold in fact, I eventually wore some sweatpants over my shorts.

The game was exciting. My feet were freezing. My sister played well, and even had an assist. Her team ended up winning the game and therefore were the tournament champions. Not a bad way to finish your last soccer game of your high school career. The ride home was scary, but thankfully we made it home safely.

Wons Gnillaf

Today it felt so good to be home. I must admit though, when I woke up, for a split second I thought I was still at college. I didn't even have to wait for the dining hall to open to get breakfast. It has snowed a little bit tonight, and there is possibly more on the way.

Home at Last

Today has been a great day. I was so happy to be going home, I didn't even care when I was up at 1:00am this morning, had been studying for hours, had a final that was 45% of my grade to take, and my alarm was set to go off in less than five hours.

I felt like my final went well, to be honest, I was just happy to be done with the quarter and be able to go home. Not even textbook buyback could get me down. After a walk to the bus station, a bus ride to a train station, a train ride, and meeting my family for a car ride, I finally reached home. And boy does it feel good.

Trying My Worst

Today is my last day at Western for quite some time. I wish I could say it was a really fun day filled with amazing adventures, but that would be far from the truth. I even wish I could say I spent all day studying for my last final, but that isn't true either. I spent most all of today trying to buy and sell textbooks for next quarter and trying to study for my final tomorrow. The keyword in both these statements is trying. My final is at 8:00am tomorrow, so thankfully it will be over soon and I'll be headed home.

Two Down, One to Go

Today I had a final at 3:30pm. I studied practically all yesterday and all this morning. I was more than prepared, and just wanted to get it over with. The test was two hours of nonstop writing. I feel like it went really well. Two tests down, one to go.

The past two days, I have had someone on the other side of a door right when I opened it. Both times, the people screamed and looked really scared. Hopefully, they weren't scared of me or my looks, but just that a door got opened right in front of them. I'll hope the latter.

Bad Feeling

Today after breakfast I studied for my next final. After a couple hours of studying, I took a much needed break and went with some friends to walk around the waterfront. I had a good time. When I got back, I studied for an hour and then went and ate dinner. After dinner, I studied for a couple more hours. I needed a break, so I went to the Rec Center and worked out. I got back and need to start studying again. The past few days have felt like ages, and it feels like finals will never be over. It is not a good feeling to have.

Two To Go

Today I had my philosophy final. I had been doing really well in the class, so I wasn't that worried about the final. The test went fine, and I knew I did well on it, which I did. The rest of the day, I tried to study for my next finals, but it wasn't easy. One down, two to go before I go home.

Taken Down

Today brunch closed at 1:30pm. I got there at 1:27pm. It was a sign of bad things to come in the very near future. Dinner closed at 6:30pm. I thought my roommate and I were going to make it on time, but we got to the dining hall just in time to see the door close right in front of us. This was the first time all year I missed dinner on accident. I have missed breakfast before on accident, but never dinner.

I didn't really feel like eating Top Ramon or a microwaveable pizza for dinner, so I went to a Chinese restaurant near campus for takeout. I was able to get there, order the food, and get back to my room in 26 minutes. The food was good. It wasn't really my plan to celebrate the start of finals week by eating a nice meal because I missed dinner, but it just worked out that way.

In the Neighborhood

Today my sister came to Western. It was really fun. I enjoyed showing her around, where I hangout, study, my classes, etc. I probably enjoyed it more than she did. We ate a meal in the dining hall, and got drinks at a coffee place. I am really glad she got to visit, and she (and the rest of my family) is invited any time.

Thankswinging

Slammed

Today one of my classes had our final meeting before the final. It feels good to almost be done with my classes. What didn't feel so good was getting destroyed at ping-pong and pool. To make matters worse, I was losing money in the process.

Final Classes

Today I had two classes. I now just have each of my classes once, and a final in each class before the quarter is over. I am excited for winter break and new classes, but also a bit nervous about finals. I don't think they will be that hard, but that may be the problem.

Drag Race

Today I had one class. In it, we learned about our neighbor to the south, Mexico. It was interesting, even for the entire two hour lecture. I planned to, and even tried to, finish the required reading for my class tomorrow. I got sidetracked, and then busy, so it still isn't done. I don't really feel like completing it, but I just keep reminding myself how close I am to the end of the quarter. No reason to drag myself across the finish line.

Classes Resuming

Today I returned to the classroom. To be honest, I am more than ready for this quarter to be over. I bought a train ticket home, so at least I know how I am getting back for winter break. Now if I could just figure out an easy way to get my TV home with me.