Hello, there. Welcome back to my blog. I'm finally publishing this post you see below. I've been working on it in increments because I hate typing for hours on end. I apologize if you're one of the many people I got to see during the holidays and I forgot to mention you here. I might come back and add more if I remember something else fun that happened. But my brain has been working hard enough trying to remember what went down and I'm sick of working on this post, haha. So, I'm not going to do the link things this time. Do any of you actually click on them, anyways? This is a bit jumbled. Enjoy.
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I got home from our trip on the 9th, but I've been putting off updating my blog because... well, because I'm just really good at procrastinating, I guess. It's been about a month since the previous post, and that was just a brief note. Sorry you didn't get to hear about December, but from what I remember, it was kind of a sucky month. I spent my days stressing out about having to study, as well as a little bit of actual studyin, haha. It felt like all I ever did was study, though. Not to mention writing papers and other homework. I think there may have been a few enjoyable excursions on occasion in December, but I can't really remember them. Oh, wait. One night, I went out with Mom and Dad to see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. It was pretty. But it was also freaking cold outside. Let's see... if I can remember anything else, maybe I'll let you know.
As for our trip to Tucson and Utah, I'll tell you some of the highlights. Mom flew to Tucson about a week earlier than Dad and I, because she could. Dad and I left on December 22nd (the very next day after my last final exam) and we had to wake up at like 3:30 AM to be able to make our early flight. Holy crap. Mom picked us up from the Tucson airport when we arrived, and before heading to our good ol' home in Oro Valley, we stopped by Josh's/Elaine's place for a visit. It made me so happy to see my family again! Later, we went out to eat and brought my brother Danny along. Then, when we arrived at our Oro Valley house, Danny and I put up the Christmas tree in the family room. We all had some quality family time, and later, Danny's wife Emma came by for a little and I was so happy to see her. That about sums up that first day. Wow, I'm surprised I remembered so much. Don't expect the rest of my account to be like that, haha. It won't be so chronological.
It felt good to be back in my hometown. I thought it might feel weird to go back there, with our house being nearly empty and all, but it felt like the most natural thing. I got to sleep in my old bedroom and take warm baths in my old bathroom. It was a comforting environment to be in, and just what I needed as a retreat from the emotional turmoil I have undergone during the school semester. I appreciated the quietude of Oro Valley more than ever. I enjoyed visiting my favorite stores and restaurants. Most of all, I loved spending time with my old friends.
One day before Christmas, I went out with my friend Ashly to the good ol' Foothills Mall, which is the very place she and I met. What I love about her--besides her sweet adorableness and quirky sense of humor--is that she is so easy for me to talk to. We never run out of things to giggle about together, and she's also open to some good serious conversation. So we did a little of that, and a little Christmas shopping. Well, she did some Christmas shopping, and I sort of helped, haha. It was great to spend time with her.
I first got to see my best friend Kristina on Christmas Eve Eve. I headed over to her (parent's) house in Copper Creek, rang the doorbell, and she opened the door and gave me a big hug. I gave her a Christmas present (Adam Lambert's album) and we went up to her room to chat late into the night. We caught up on a lot of things. The next week, I went over to her apartment where she's currently living with her boyfriend. We talked for a bit, had some pizza, and watched the movie Pleasantville, which was a lovely movie I thought. Our time together was all too short, but it certainly felt like old times. Hopefully I'll get to see her more next time I visit!
I had very little time to get into the Christmas spirit in New York, so it felt like Christmas came pretty suddenly when we went to Tucson. My family had our main Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve. We had the whole family over and ate a delicious holiday-style dinner. We opened most of our presents after that. Then some of us went to Winterhaven to see the elaborate Christmas light displays in the neighborhood. They were pretty. Christmas day wasn't as exciting. Just Danny and Emma came over to visit me and my parents, and later I saw Sherlock Holmes with Mom and Dad. It was good entertainment.
One fine evening, I met up with my old friend Courey at Barnes and Noble, I think it was the first Sunday I was in Tucson. I got to meet his girlfriend, and she was very sweet. We browsed the manga section before going to see the movie Avatar, which was a highly entertaining and visually stunning movie experience with a derivative story and flat characters. Jake Sully in his Na'vi form was strangely very attractive. That's all I'll say about that movie because it's pissing me off. After the movie, we all went to good ol' Applebee's to eat and chat. Very fun times. I was glad to see Courey again. He's a very special person to me.
Another evening, I met up with my lovely friend Isabel at Keva Juice. I was excited to see her because I didn't connect with her before I moved to New York. We enjoyed some delicious smoothies, stuffed pretzels, and shared a vegan cookie (I think it was a chocolate one, because Isabel decided that their snickerdoodles weren't "snickery" enough). She and I had some good conversation and good laughs together, but she had to go home all too early. I didn't get to see her again while I was there. Sad face!
I got to see my friend Kellie, who I met when I worked at Pier 1 before, for a few hours at her apartment. We hung out, talked about stuff, she cut and styled my hair, and we watched TV. It was a fun, relaxing time. Kellie is just so cute and fun to be around, so I didn't care what we did, as long as I got to see her I was happy. She had been at work all day too and she was tired, so we just hung around at her place. Good times. And she gave me the best haircut and styling. Of course, I cannot for the life of me get my hair to look like she did it. Gah.
The best part of my brief Utah excursion was seeing my Aunt Debbie. I bought her Allison Irheta's CD for Christmas, and we listened to it together at her place. We were also excited to listen to Adam Lambert's album together! We even had a goofy little dance party in her living room while we gushed to each other about how amazing he is. One day we also watched his performance on "So You Think You Can Dance," which Aunt D had recorded on her DVR. That's one of my favorite performances of his single. Yeah, Aunt D and I are kind of addicted to Adam. We love sharing his music, rockin' out and dancing along--especially in the car! Such good times. Another night, a group of us (Grandma Valene, Mom, Dad, Debbie, and I) went out for Japanese food at Mikado restaurant. Delicious! Debbie and I ate some Japanese food the next night too actually, after we went to see Where the Wild Things Are with Uncle Aaron at a dollar theater. I love that movie. It was good to see Uncle Aaron and talk to him for a bit. That last night in Utah was special because Aunt D and I put on a mini concert in my Judd Grandparents' living room. She played the piano and I sang along. We did a bunch of songs, starting and ending with my favorite one to sing for Grandpa, "Smile" by Charles Chaplin. I made Grandpa cry with that one. How sweet is that?
Anyways, back at the ranch...
I saw my friend Crystal twice while I was in Tucson. I went over to her place both times. We played with a bunch of cute kittens that she's fostering, we caught up on life and such, we had a bite to eat, watched silly YouTubes vids, and stuff. The second time we hung out, I drove us to In N Out Burger (the only fast food place I trust), because I wanted to have some of that tasty business before returning to New York (we don't have In N Out here). It was great to see Crystal. She's always fun. We enjoy looking at gay porn together. Just kidding. ;-)
I got to hang out for a little while with my friend Jose one afternoon. It had been a while since I talked to him. We went to Starbucks, caught up a little bit on our lives, listened to music in the car, and did a quick trip to the Tucson Mall.
When my best friend Mike came over to my house the first time, it felt like a reunion but also felt like old times. We exchanged Christmas gifts, caught up on movie discussion, and watched an episode of an anime series he recently bought, Trinity Blood. It seems like a cool show, I'm sad we didn't get to watch any more of it while I was there. But one night we did watch some episodes of "Family Guy" along with the "Family Guy" feature Something Something Darkside for some good laughs. We also went out along with our buddy Royce (it was great to see him, as well!) to our favorite Chinese Restaurant, Linh Nam. So delicious, and inexpensive too. That's a Tucson favorite of mine. On another day, I joined Mike and Royce at Sushi Garden for a quick bite of sushi. I had just a few rolls, as I watched them enhale plate after plate of sushi goodies (they did the all-you-can-eat deal). Another day, Mike took me out to Panda Express and then to our main destination R-Galaxy, my favorite store in Tucson-- the best source of geek merchandise (comics/manga, anime, action figures, etc.). We browsed through their extensive anime rental section, excited by all the shows and movies we wish we had the time and money to watch. But maybe my favorite time with Mike came at the last minute, the night before I had to fly back home to New York. Mike had just gotten off work late, and I had to wake up early the next morning, but I decided it would be worth it to stay up and go out to spend more time with him. So he drove us to IHOP and we had a late-night meal. It was yummy, and our waiter was a super-sweet guy so that made it an oddly memorable IHOP experience. Mike and I got engaged in a deep conversation, which we continued back at my house in my room, sitting on the floor. We talked until the AM hours, so it was a good night, but needless to say I was very tired the next morning.
The flight back home to New York felt too soon. I wanted to stay a while longer and hang out with my friends. *sighs*
PS: Sorry there's no pretty pictures. My camera battery was dead and I kept forgetting to buy new ones. Plus I just didn't feel like it.
