Update: I did watch episode 21 of season 4 of Gilmore Girls and I almost quit watching the show after that. I told my sister I needed a serious break. I wouldn't even touch the show until...later that day.

Well.

If you want to know, I'm now on Season 5 Episode 19. Embarrassing? Hey. I feel justified in my reckless binge-watching behavior because it's been over two years since I've been hooked on a TV show. So there.

Since chilling at my parent's house in Lehi, I have access to my brother's car, aka the Johnny Moses, when he's not at school. So when I drive, I make use of our aux cord and jam out to my tunes that all my family hates. Brushing up on my Young the Giant lyrics. I'll drive in my car Just tell me we are going somewhere
Where the stars meet the sky. Preparing to go see them play in February. This girl is absolutely ecstatic about the concert, and she normally hates concerts. So that's saying something.

The main reason I'm writing this post is so I can record about the absolutely LIT time my family and I had in Florida and Idaho during this Christmastime and New Year celebrations. Being with my family is one of the best ways I get to spend my time. My siblings and I have a pretty solid relationship, I'd say. I always know what to expect--a fight is going to spring up at some point. But I can also count on the fact that we'll forgive each other and get along like old friends again. We loved frolicking together through the streets of Universal Studios, past the cute buildings, past Megatron, through the land of Dr. Seuss. I avoided the Hulk at all costs, not because he scares me, but because he's a roller coaster and those things hurt my head. Aaron and Mom said it was AWESOME though. I personally loved getting sloshed from the three overpriced yet delicious butterbeers I drank, and I also loved the "multi-sensory, multi-dimensional" experience in the Skull Island Reign of Kong ride. I got to see King Kong tear open the jaw of a creepy dinosaur and was sprayed by giant leach-like water plants. Good thing I was wearing 3D protective eye wear.



 My favorite night of our whole Universal/Island of Adventure whirlwind was Christmas Eve. Gabby and I explored Hogsmeade, just the two of us, in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Mom, Dad, Aaron, and Thanny were hitting up rides I'd already ridden. I bought my Hufflepuff sweater that I'd been pining for ever since I saw some random girl wearing a Gryffindor sweater of the same design. We took cliche pictures in front of Hogwarts. We entered the secret way into Honeydukes; the same entrance Harry and Ron took while wearing the Invisibility cloak. We were mystified by the magical ambiance that surrounded us, and there was something so nice about both of us having a simple, joyful time together.





The guy holding menus outside of The Three Broomsticks saw my sweater and said "Hey! A fellow Hufflepuff!" and from there, Gabby and I were carrying on with this guy named Drew like we were pals. We were pals. We talked about Ravenblaw, Gryffinsnore, and Slythergrin. We talked about how he liked working in the food service at Universal, and he said the customers make or break the work day. Some people are mean, but the nice ones make it all worth it. I asked him if he'd ever tasted a pumpkin pasty. He said he hadn't, but that if I bought one and it wasn't very good, they'd give me a refund if I complained enough. (I liked the pumpkin pasty that I bought later, so there were no complaints from me.) When the rest of the fam finally came to meet up with us, it was dark outside and we were all hungry. Christmas Eve dinner was a feast from The Three Broomsticks, meat excluded from my plate, of course. Everything was made even lovelier with music from the HP scores playing in the background.



We also went to the beach. My sister told the Instagram world that her "siblings are beaches." Whatever that means.






The most meaningful part of our trip involved volunteering at Give Kids the World Village, a colorful place where children with life-threatening illnesses and their families get to eat all the ice cream they can stomach. It's the resort where Make a Wish families stay when their child with an illness wishes to go to Disneyworld. Nathanael wished to go to Disneyworld in 2011 when he was battling cancer, so we stayed at GKTW then. I'm grateful our family was able to give back, in a way, by serving breakfast and helping put on parties for all the village's residents. And since we are an alumni family, we were able to go and enjoy the amenities there as well. Thus, we ate too much ice cream.


We flew home from Florida and drove to Ashton, Idaho for the best New Years ever. My grandparents own a cabin there so we and my cousins and aunt stayed there for a few days. Snow, freezing cold beds, T25, way too many Martinelli's, candy bars, One Night Ultimate Werewolf, and a whole lotta laughter sum up our time there pretty well. If you know me, you'll be playing Werewolf with me soon because I insist that it is the funnest game and I daresay it's better than Mafia so I want to share it with the world. Ask me about it.



School is starting on Monday. Goodness. That means I'll be heading back to Orem in a couple of days and starting something big again. I don't know if I'm actually ready yet, but hey. I have a truckload of memories to think back on and a boatload more to make. I'm blessed. And ever grateful.