What city do YOU belong in?

I have to say that I don't agree with this at all. Partly because I have a thing against French people. I know, I know, but I'm only prejudiced against the French. Just kidding, not really, I just have had some bad experiences with French people and so I don't think I would ever want to live in France. And besides that, I don't think this description describes me at all.

You Belong in Paris

Stylish and expressive, you were meant for Paris. The art, the fashion, the wine! Whether you're enjoying the cafe life or a beautiful park... You'll love living in the most chic place on earth.

What City Do You Belong In?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I hope that everyone has had a great Christmas. I thought I would take this time to share my Christmas with you, starting with Sunday, the 23rd. (Left - Every year our capitol building lights up certain rooms for Christmas to make a Christmas tree. Here is the best picture I could get of it). That was the day that my dad and older sister left after less than one day of being in Bismarck. We opened a few presents on Sunday while they were here. Then after they left around 2:30 in the afternoon, Lizzy, Sara, and I had the house all to ourselves. We decided to plan what we would do with the generous donation we received, and also plan what else we wanted to do this Christmas.
Yesterday, Christmas Eve, Sara and I ran a bunch of errands to get ready for today. We bought some food and other things and did other things that needed to get done while Lizzy worked. When she got off work, we went to see a movie: Dan in Real Life. It was a good movie and interesting considering our situation right now. But I won't go into too many details there.
After the movie we went over to Elder and Sister Johnson's apartment for dinner. They are the CES missionaries here. They also had a family over, Marilee, Dan and Zach. It was a very nice dinner and a lot of fun. Sara was feeling pretty sick so we left. But, we have a family tradition (well my mom's tradition) to go and see Christmas lights. Sara wanted to come along even though she was sick, so we drove around looking at lights. (The picture here and above are from seeing lights. First, the capitol building of course, and then Lizzy and Sara in the car, then me driving, and finally one of the houses that we saw. We also sang carols while we drove, though Sara was excused, of course.) There was one house that somehow had their lights timed to a radio station. It was really cool (see video below).
Then we came home and watched It's a Wonderful Life before going to bed.
This morning I didn't get up too early, but first thing we went to the cemetery to take flowers to my brother's and my mother's grave. (Left - my brother's grave. Next below is my mother's grave). After that we came home and Sara gave a Christmas lesson before we opened our remaining gifts. Lizzy gave some things she made, a scratch board picture and a picture that says "Families are Forever." Sara gave me a flash drive. My grandma gave me a travel kit with shampoo and the like in it. In my stocking I got a framed 4x6" picture of my family (that's the nice thing about Santa Clause being your cousin) and some treats. Gizmo got a container of grass and a feather. (Left - Sara giving her Christmas lesson). He really liked his presents. Xavier got a rawhide cane. Unfortunately, he freaked out with it and we had to take it away from him. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but Sara was over by him while he was chewing on it and he started growling. (The next three pictures including to the right, is of my sisters and me with our presents. First is Sara, then Elizabeth, and finally me. I am also with Gizmo's presents). That is unacceptable behavior, so I went over to him to teach him who is boss. He really freaked out and started not only growling, but barking and snapping. He got me pretty good on the face, but I took him down and bit his neck. He learned, at least for now, that I am alpha. But, he still didn't get his treat. We'll try again tomorrow, but if he is going to act that way when he gets treats, he won't be getting them anymore.
After that, we had our Christmas feast - KFC chicken and biscuits. We then went to see another movie: Fred Clause. It was actually better than I expected. I really enjoyed it. We also saw Enchanted. That was really good, too. Then we come home. It was a nice, relaxing, and quiet day. (Left - My battle wound. It actually bled for a long time, but the wound is superficial. But, now I know I can take a rabid dog! Just kidding, he isn't rabid). Tomorrow we will hopefully get more practical things done that I need to do before going to Jerusalem.

I'll be HOME for Christmas!

I'm not sure if this picture will work, but I thought I would give it a try. I got it from facebook, I didn't make it myself, but I thought it was cute. I'm DONE WITH FINALS!! It was a long, but quick week, and now I have a few hours of work before I will be headed home for Christmas. I'm really excited about that. It will be good. I hope everyone else has a great Christmas and New Year. I will probably write again before the end of the year, but if not, have a good one!

Christmas is coming!!!

Well, finals are half over, at least time-wise. I only have one final left, so for me I am almost done, but I have to wait until Friday morning at 7 am for that final. That is too bad because otherwise I would be able to leave earlier and hopefully get into Bismarck that much earlier, too. But, as it is, we will be leaving sometime after 5pm on Friday to drive back to Bismarck. Before that time, I have to pack everything. I am not looking forward to that at all.
Yesterday I went with my roommate, Heather to see a friend's band perform at the Muse. (Right- me at the Muse. There was a very distinct atmosphere that is hard to describe. But I think this picture captures it well). We got there on time and learned that no one shows up on time, not even the band! Just kidding, most of the band was there, just not my friend who got out of a final late. But we listened to music, took pictures, and had fun. She (Jenna) showed up about 30 minutes late. She sang one song and then someone else performed for a few songs. Then it was her turn. (Left - Jenna and her bandmate, Sabrina? I don't remember her name). It was very good. Unfortunately, all the music was very soft and had a slow tempo. Add to that the fact that I was very tired, and towards the end I was ready to go to bed. We left after 2 hours. But still, it was very enjoyable.
Today I took my only really difficult final, Russian 321 (grammar). There was so much information. I felt like my head was jammed full! But, I took it and that is what really matters; it is over. I think I did alright on it, though not as well as I wanted to. Still, I can't complain.
Also something unexpected happened today. A friend from work gave me a Christmas present. I was very surprised, but happy to get it. She gave me a photo album with scrapbook pages in it. It is very cute, and I really like it. It made me happy.
Tonight I am going to the TRC at the MTC to listen to missionaries teach in Russian. I haven't been to the MTC in over 2 years, so that should be very interesting. I'm excited about it.
I guess that is it for now. In case I don't get a chance to write, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

Dancing, shopping, sushi, and . . . ballet?

This weekend has been an interesting one. I don't know where to start, but, I guess I can start with the beginning, which is Friday night. Last night was our ward's Christmas party/dance. I was a little hesitant about going because so many bad experiences are associated with (church) dances. But, my roommate is on the activity committee, so I figured I should go to show my support. (Pictures here are of my roommate, Heather, and I wearing our name tags). Plus, there was a free meal and I never turn down a free meal. So, I caught a ride up to the UVSC institute building where it was being held. The meal was delicious, soup bowls and salad. After dinner, the bishop talked a little and then the dance began. Everyone was given a name tag with a Christmas-type name on it, or rather half of one. The girls had one half and the boys had the other half. For example, a guy would have "Jingle" written on it and then a girl would have "Bells" written on even feel like I know where to start. It was supposed to happen that for the first slow dance, the guys were supposed to find a girl with a matching name tag and ask her to dance. I had "North" and so I was supposed to dance with a guy who had "Pole" written on his name tag. You can guess what happened during the first slow dance. Basically most guys just found a girl with whom they wanted to dance and it didn't matter what was on the name tag. I didn't dance with a single "Pole." Part of the problem was that we had more girls than guys, the other part was that a lot of people left before the dance even though they had a name tag, so the balance wasn't even, and the other part was just that most of the guys weren't willing to put any effort into it. Still, it was fun, at least during the fast dances, and I danced two slow dances.
Then today, I went shopping with my new friend, Mindy (See right), who is going to the Jerusalem Center next semester, too. We went up to the American Fork DI. There was a lot of good stuff up there and I was able to get basically all the clothing that I need for next semester (See left - me with everything that I bought). It was a lot of fun. We also stopped at Seagull book to get some undershirts.

After that, I went up to Salt Lake with Kalia, a girl who served in my mission. We met up with some other old mission comrades. (Picture to the right - Valoree as a sushi master). I tried my first eel. It was very interesting. We made sushi, which was great, and had some Asian drinks. (Picture to the left - Kalia and I rolling Sushi, though you can't see it, with Jon standing by the eel in the background). Then we were supposed to go see The Nutcracker ballet. (Right - Tyler and Valoree - Val got a hold of my camera and was taking pictures at our Sushi party). I was really excited to see that, but wasn't looking forward to spending the money on the ticket. (Left - Kalia and I eating our Sushi rolls that we made. I made mine with eel, of course). Unfortunately and fortunately, we were late and then couldn't find the theater, so we decided to just go around Temple Square. (See following pictures)

Me and ValoreeMe, Valoree, and Kalia watching the Nativity

We saw the lights, the tail-end of the Nativity show, the Christus, candles, and nativity scenes. It was great. (To the right, even though I didn't get to see the ballet, I still got to see the Nutcracker!) We also went to a place called the Lamb's Grill (or something like that) near Temple Square for hot chocolate. We got them with a scoop of ice cream in it, and that was really yummy.
(Picture below- me, Kalia, Jon, and Valoree in front of a Chrismas tree).
After our hot chocolate (Picture below: me, Valoree, Jon, and Kalia), we literally ran back to Temple Square to make it back for the Joseph Smith movie. That was my first time seeing it, and it was really good. We then headed back. It was nice to see some people from the mish, great to see Temple Square with all the lights, and just fun to hang out. Oh, and I learned the hard way that used shoes still have to be broken in. I wasn't expecting to do so much walking . . . and running, so I wore a pair of shoes that I bought today. Now I have blisters on my pinky-toe. You probably can't tell from the picture here (see below), but one of the blisters in heart shaped. Its pretty weird.