Let the Countdown Begin!

Nine more days.

Nine more days until I'm back in San Diego, enjoying THIS type of Christmas:

And going to visit this place:

And have a marvelous time. Yay!

PS--I submitted my first graduate school application to UCLA. All of the recommendations are in. It's going to be so great!

Funny Story

I thought you would all appreciate to hear a funny story.

Last week was filled with so many activities. I ended up not getting much sleep. Friday came around, and we had the afternoon off due to Elder Wirthlin's funeral. It seems that I'm a security hazard.

Having the afternoon off gave me some much needed relaxation. Friday night came and while I was sitting in my pajamas, crocheting, I received a text from my friend Meagan. She was going to a game night and invited me to join her. Realizing that I have become a hermit, I decided to take the opportunity. I quickly dressed in real clothes, and drove to her house. A few more people joined us and then we drove over to Meagan's friend's house.

We played the longest game of Clue known to man (seriously. One game of Monopoly has to be shorter than that game of Clue), and my team lost due to someone else lying.

After that, we watched Elf, a movie that I have come to appreciate more.



My other friend, Marianne, was at the party and was concerned that she would fall asleep and began snoring. I had promised to hit her if she began making any noises. Unfortunately, it was me who fell asleep, and I awoke to my own snoring. Luckily, it wasn't terribly loud. But enough that Marianne heard me.

So now, I have a self-imposed curfew of 11 PM. I'm not allowed to stay out after that time, for fear of falling asleep and snoring again.¹

The lesson to be learned regarding this experience is to make sure you always have a snore buddy.

¹ And of course, I broke that curfew the next night. There went that bright idea!

Christmas Music

I love Christmas music. It's my favorite part of the holiday. I think it's because my singing voice sounds really good on Christmas songs.

A few years ago, my sister-in-law, Stephanie, put together a book that counts down the days until Christmas with a family Christmas memory, a scripture, a hymn and a Christmas story. I started it today, being December 1st. It was fun to sing the song of the day, even if I was all by myself.

When I was a missionary in Spain, we would gather together the week before Christmas and have a "Christmas Conference". Each zone was in charge of coming up with a funny song, and a serious song. The funny song was always the best part. One zone changed the lyrics to "Gaston" from Beauty and the Beast to "Watson" (the name of my mission president). My personal favorite was when my zone changed the lyrics of Adam Sandler's "Hanukkah Song" to "The Mormon Christmas Song", when we sang about all the famous Mormons.

But I did love Christmas in Spain. And some of the songs I learned were so entertaining. One is my absolute favorite. It's called "Hacia Belén va una burra, rin rin". I'll post the lyrics in Spanish, but the whole song is about all of the problems going on, and everyone expects Mary to be the one to fix everything, even though she is having a baby. It's entertaining.

I've added this video of some elders singing it, with a little change. I did not tape this--Elder Buxton did, and yes... the elders were being stupid at the end. You'll have to forgive them. And for those of you who don't know, my mission president owns a Chevy dealership.



Lleva en su chocolatera rin, rin (Bring in your chocolate)
yo me remendaba yo me remendé ( I fixed it, I fixed it)
yo me eché un remiendo yo me lo quité, (I missed a patch, I got rid of it)
su molinillo y su anafre. (okay...I don't exactly know what this means...)

Maria, Maria, ven a acá corriendo, ( Mary, Mary, come here running!)
que el chocolatillo se lo están comiendo. (They are eating the chocolate!)

En el portal de Belén rin, rin (At the site of Bethlehem)
yo me remendaba yo me remendé (I mended it, I fixed it)
Yo me eché un remiendo yo me lo quité, ( I missed a patch, I took it out)
han entrado los ratones; (the mice had entered)
y al bueno de San José rin, rin, (And to the goodness of Saint José)
yo me remendaba yo me remendé (I mended it, I fixed it)
Yo me eché un remiendo yo me lo quité, (I missed a patch, I got rid of it)
le han roído los calzones. (again...my Spanish=bad)

María, Maria... ven acá corriendo, (Mary, Mary, come here running!)
que los calzoncillos los están royendo. (no clue...Help?)

En el portal de Belén rin, rin (At the site of Bethlehem)
yo me remendaba yo me remendé (I mended it, I fixed it)
Yo me eché un remiendo yo me lo quité, (I missed a patch, I got rid of it)
han llegado Presi Watson; (President Watson arrived)
y al niño que está en la cuna rin, rin, (And to the boy in the manger)
yo me remendaba yo me remendé (I mended it, I fixed it)
Yo me eché un remiendo yo me lo quité, (I missed a patch, I got rid of it)
le ha regalado un Chevy Tahoe. ( He gifted a Chevy Tahoe)

María, Maria... ven acá corriendo, (Mary, Mary, come here running)
que el niño Jesús está conduciendo. (The baby Jesus is driving.)