On life and hobbits

Christmas break is finally here. I'm reveling in doing absolutely nothing in the coming weeks.
Well, nothing as in, no homework to work, no papers to write, no tests to take, no lectures to listen to, and no Latin quizzes to grade! I do have a few projects I'd like to complete and books I'd like to read. But it makes all the difference in  the world simply because I want to and no is telling me to do it.
Isn't it funny how that makes a difference? We're stubborn creatures. Or at least I am.

Within the last couple of weeks, I've successfully taken the ACT (and am still anxiously awaiting my score), turned in my first college application (and barely made the early deadline), and completed my last midterm (my very last ever big test for that class). Sleep is a sweet, sweet thing, friends.

Although he's been my brother from the moment he stepped through that door, Jeremiah's adoption was officially finalized on Friday! And despite a "minor" incident that sent Jamie to the ER - he stepped on a pitchfork while playing hide-and-seek outside in the dark . . . barefoot - all is well at the Crampton house.  The whole family - all nine of us! - are finally under one roof. Joseph got in around 3:00 AM last night. The house is loud full again.

My house is filled to the brim with people, laughter, homemade goodies, and Christmas everything! There are so many reasons to be thankful.

As you hear/sing carols this Christmas season, it's easy to simply skip and skim over the words. Don't. There's a reason these old hymns are still being sung. Read the last verse of Hark the Herald Angels Sing:

Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

And on an entirely different note, The Hobbit comes out in December of next year and they just released the trailer!!! This makes me one excited fan girl.

Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.

It still hasn't quite hit me yet that school is out for 2010. I guess it's because I still have "THE test" to take.

These past few weeks have been draining. Physically and mentally. It's over now. So, yay.

It's Christmas time and I'm (basically) out of school. This is good.

You know what else is good? The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Go see it.

More good stuff: I got to play hide-and-seek twice this week with two different sets of awesome kids. You know you're growing up when you can't find [fit in] good hiding places anymore. (I also got to watch Snow White and the old Rudolph claymation! Yes!)

How cute is this?

I watched It's a Wonderful Life tonight with my family. I still have mixed feelings about it. So much of the movie is oppressively sad, but I've finally decided that even the few happy moments at the end make the whole movie worth it.
"Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives."

Some random and completely unrelated thoughts.

I live next door to a U.S. Congressman. This makes me famous.

Toy Story 3. Watch and weep. For real.

Synecdohes are my favorite figures of speech.

I'm listenin' to my Christmas music. Thank you, Caroline, for the lovely vintage Christmas playlist. Who cares about the after Thanksgiving rule? Besides, they're already decorating with lights and trees all throughout the mall and outlet stores. . .and basically everywhere else. So, I know we haven't even had Thanksgiving but 1) who wants to decorate with turkeys and pioneer people? That doesn't make me want to buy anything. Sorry. 2) Christmas decor transforms ordinary shops into magical places. Makes you feel happy. And buy more - which is a brilliant marketing strategy, just not so great for us consumers. Well, the heck with the After Thanksgiving Rule. It's a free country.

As you may have already figured out, I kind of love messing around with this blog and changing little things a lot. Well, I just went through one of those phases today. Check out the pages! (Which would mean the 'home,' 'de moi,' etc. buttons, for you "technologically challenged" readers. ;) I also added links to some awesome blogs - check them out!

Why is it so cold? What happened to Fall?

I have to wear make up every day this week. Way too much effort.

You may have already, unlike me, jumped on the Pioneer Bandwagon, but if not, check out Confessions of a Pioneer Woman. She never fails to crack me up. The woman is hilarious. Now I'm gonna lose hours of my life flipping through page after page.

This is kind of a must-see.

I just watched The Young Victoria. It's probably one of my new favorites! Good stuff. And it's available on 'watch instantly' on Netflix!

Rupert Friend is in it. Yeah, that name meant nothing to me five minutes ago, either. Until I looked him up and found out he's Wickham in the new Pride and Prejudice and co-star in this lovely film, as well! I know now why his face made me so curious as to who he was. I knew I had seen it before! Turns out, there was a reason. Who knew?



 

{Again with the play button, sorry. It's the best I could do. Use your imagination. Pretend it's not there.}

I just saw the newest Emma, the Masterpiece Theatre version, and I must say, that was the best version I've ever seen. (I cheated and watched the last episode on youtube.) I loved all the characters and they stayed very close to the book. It was great!

P.S. Emma's my favorite Jane Austen. Maybe that shocks some of you, I don't know. I even prefer Mr. Knightley over Mr. Darcy. Just saying...

Today Katie and Sydney left for Italy. Today my tear ducts were quite active. Gosh, I love them both. I already miss them. Please keep them in your prayers while they're...up...high...in the sky.

On a happier note, we watched Breakfast at Tiffany's in the car on the little portable dvd player. And I have to say, I felt quite high-tech and sophisticated.

"Looking unto Jesus...Looking beyond man, beyond circumstances, beyond the thousand causes so rightly called secondary, let us ascend as far as the first cause - His will: let us ascend even to the source of this very will - His love."

Return to Cranford

 {Yes, it has a play button. Give me a break. There weren't any better pictures.}

Yep, it's the sequel to Cranford (never could've guessed, right?). Yay! I just watched the first episode online here. Episode 2 won't be out January 18. Sad.

A lot of the old characters aren't in the sequel. But there are a lot of new ones. Bessie's back and still in flannel! It's really cute...and of course, sad. Elizabeth Gaskell must have been a bit morbid. Even so, I highly recommend you watch it.

Christmas break

Wow. Thank goodness for Christmas break. Mine has consisted of:

-belting out Christmas carols as often as possible
-decorating the tree, hanging lights, and wreaths everywhere (can I keep the Christmas tree in my room up until...March? Is that okay?)
-making and decorating cookies
-watching White Christmas way more than once
-seeing Bourne Ultimatum for the first time with Katie and Savannah (that's intense stuff right there)
-wrapping presents
-laughing around a game of Balderdash with the family + Savannah
-waking up Christmas morning to a "spider web" (a.k.a, colored yarn wrapped all through the house)
-having our annual brunch with the Moellers and the Robbins
-playing Catchphrase with all the kids
-trying to make some progress on an impossible puzzle
-reading Mansfield Park (I'm still not finished. But I'm getting there!)
-dominating Kelley and Jonathan in a game of Monopoly
-catching up on the scrapbooking I've neglected

(This was the only remotely good picture of all the kids)

P.S. Can you believe we're only about a day away from 2010? 2010...wow, that looks so strange.

This is just about the cutest movie.
Ever. Period.

It's also super sweet.

Seriously. Now go watch it.

Just a few random thoughts:

1. Singing in the Rain never gets old; Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds - pretty great stuff right there. We watched it tonight and afterwords Kelley, Catherine, and Jonathan were putting on hats, creating their own tap shoes, and inventing choreography.

2. My parents left for Sante Fe, New Mexico Thursday morning, so it's been an interesting couple of days. We've managed fine so far. Jamie, Katie, and I have taken turns at being mom/dad. We turned it into a fun weekend with snacks, movies, and a trip to Smoothie King. None of which are regular occurrences at the Crampton household. This has been a treat. The kids have really enjoyed it...mainly because of the junk food, though. You can tell they don't get much of that around here. I'm still definitely ready for my parents to get home. We all are. But everyone needs some time away...even parents. Especially parents. So we'll just have to put up with it for the time being, at least.

3. I'm loving this weather. Fall is incredible. This is the beginning of my favorite month of my favorite season. Everything about Fall makes me happy; the colors on the leaves changing, the smells, the air, the temperature, the cool nights, hats, scarves, coats, hot cocoa, reading by the fire, hot cider. Ah. :)

4. AND, we're not allowed to run in the Myrtle cross country meet tomorrow. I know I should be sad, but I'm not gonna lie - I'm not. Jamie told me this this afternoon and I was literally jumping up and down when I heard the news. Yes, for the first Saturday in FOREVER I can sleep in, no pressure about chugging water, going to the bathroom a ridiculous amount of times, or pushing myself to my death in the morning!! I can stay up as long as I want (but I should be getting to bed now) and sleep in!! You have no idea how happy this makes me! (Sorry Mrs. Heather - I hope you're not reading this.)

Like I said, random. No, I'm not going to attempt to tie these thoughts together. I leave that skill to Dr. Grant. Goodbye and goodnight.