Merry (late) Christmas!

Oh boy. So a week ago exactly, I left cold, frigid, windy Iowa to come to a slightly less cold but much less frigid Utah to spend Christmas with some of my mom's family. I've hardly been on the computer, but I figured I should probably update on here while I have a down moment. :D

So what have I done since my classes ended almost two weeks ago?

-Skiied in Utah (and was ran over by a kid on a snowboard)
-Played countless hours of the Sims 3: World Adventures
-Ran approximately 49 miles (not all at once!)
-Made friends with my cousin's dog
-Read 2.5 books (The Time Traveler's Wife, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and am reading People of the Book)
-Had two Christmases
-Been on two airplanes
-Spent way more time with my family than necessary ;)
-Bought text books!
-Daydreamed about next term
-SLEPT A LOT

So I hope everyone is having a nice break and had a good Christmas/winter holiday! I'll try to update at least once more before spring term begins! :D

Yay winter!

Yay winter!
Boo finals!

This weekend all I am doing is running, updating my blog and STUDYING LIKE CRAZY. I might eat a few meals. ;)

I am moving to a new room the day after my last final (last final: 11 am Monday, moving at 1 pm Tuesday), so I am double packing. Packing to go home for break and packing for moving all the stuff I don't need to bring home. I've also had to go through all my books from this term decide what to keep or get rid of and decide if I should sell them to the bookstore or sell them on Amazon. It seems like an obvious solution, since everyone rants about how the bookstore gives you no money back. But sometimes, the books you get at the bookstore are in the such bad shape that you can't sell them worth anything online OR the books just sell for cheap on Amazon (like... 64 cents) and aren't worth the hassle. I listed about 8 books on Amazon. No takers yet. ;P

I have found a great alternative to treadmills, however, though. No more Eby cardio room for me! There's an indoor track in Clark. I run in lane 3, which is 230 meters. I ran 4 miles on there today (28 laps). Tomorrow, my dad and I are going to run 9 miles on the track because the streets are too gross to run on. That's 63 laps. We're crazy. We know. But it beats the slush and the hot, hot, boring, boring treadmill! I currently worship that track. It's the only place I've been able to run all week thanks to the blizzard.

Now off to study important dead guys from Western Civilization! Yay!

SNOOOOOOOW!

IT IS SNOWING! Just in time for lots of indoors-time while I study, study and study some more for finals. It is the really nice, light, fluffy December snow, too. There's no wind thrusting snow into my eyes, there's no dangerous ice, it's just fluffy, nice snow. It's not even an "OH MY GOD I AM FREEZING!" temperature out yet, so it's a very pleasant walk to and from the library. :)

Here are some pictures. The first ones, I took last week. The second ones, I took this morning. Enjoy!

Dear Eby Weight room/Cardio room...

Dear Eby Weight Room/Cardio Room:

Please turn down the heat. I know it is nice to walk into a warm building when it is cold and blustery outside. But honestly. Running in a room that has basically no air flow when the heat is turned up to probably 70+ degrees? It's nearly unbearable. I prefer not to be drenched in sweat after running a mile and a half, nor do I enjoy having to stop my run 2 miles short because my calves are cramping because it is SO DARN HOT.

Thanks,

Kristine Gift

In other news: FINAAAAAALS! AAAAAAAAAAAGH!

WHERE DID THE TERM GO?!

Thanksgiving Break is over. It was nowhere nearly long enough. It was constantly go-go-go(!) between family and friends and work and running and sleep... but it was nice nonetheless. I got to see a few friends I haven't seen in (what feels like) forever, with promises to see them again come Winter Break, so I'm excited.

But now that I'm back, I have been thrust into the horror of what we call FIRST FINALS OF FRESHMAN YEAR!!!!!!!!!!! It's scary, I know. (Though one friend of mine gets to leave almost a week earlier than me because she doesn't have finals. I'm green with envy!) This week and next is totally crammed with papers, final review sheets, speeches/presentations... ack! I've taken to making step-by-step schedules for every day, including classes, meals, running time/showers, and homework run downs. It's worked pretty well so far (I'm managing to finally blog because it is on the schedule!).

Two weeks from now, and I'll be back home for a month. It's going to be awesome! Christmas is right around the corner (and between study sessions, I'll be doing a lot of online shopping... eek!) and it's supposed to snow tomorrow. :D Winter is almost here!!

PS: If anyone cares, I managed to win National Novel Writing Month! 50,067 words! I finished the 15th of November and neglected my novel the rest of the month. Can you say Decemb-o-wri-mo?