the end

i've had this xanga for over 4 years.  it's retiring today.  most of my friends are over on facebook, so i've moved there.  i'll probably still look at some of your pages occasionally to see how you're doing. . .but now, i'm gone.

i am sitting inside panera on woodruff, realizing that i should be studying for a test i have tomorrow morning.  but instead i'm enjoying the ability to browse the internet at my free will as i sit in a cafe and watch rain fall outside.  there is a little over a month left of my junior year of college and it is so hard to believe that i only have 3 weeks of classes left.  next week i am going home for spring break.  (even though it's not technically spring break because most of you know my school doesn't believe in those.  however, i firmly believe in them, therefore i create my own.)  so i have this next week of school, then the next when i'll be home, then the following two weeks of classes.  after that it's exams and the final closing ceremonies stuff.  then i go home for the summer and stay there as i commute back and forth my senior year as a town student.  no more dorms for me.  i've had my fill.  it's been fun, but it's definitely time for something different. 

panera is delicious.  get their chicken ceasar salad.  thanks to mom for giving me that gift card for real food like this!  mmmm. . .

raven cliff falls

mark and i went hiking yesterday for a few hours.  it was gorgeous

the bridge up at the top of this picture is where the trail was.  we went off the trail to go down to some of the rocks.  there was rushing water all around us and more falls are behind this picture.  it's really hard to describe how pretty these falls are.  the picture only gives a hint of how many falls make up the 1000 ft descent.  and these are very choppy sentences

here's the boy :)

an awesome christmas

i was reading crystal's post about her weekend.  her talk about her awesome surprise reminded me of the surprise received on christmas day at the martin house.  i crawled out of bed late, not as excited as i was years ago when andy mark and i were younger and still in the "christmas-day-is-so-exciting-where's-my-stuff" stage.  andy and beth and mark and candy came over the saturday before christmas to celebrate.  it was fun having the whole family together.  that morning is more exciting than christmas morning here.  family is awesome.  so my parents and i each opened our gift to each other and just sat around together until mark (not my brother, my boyfriend) came over.  once he was here mom came out of her room with a present for me saying "your christmas is not over."  the card on the outside said something about how the semester was over and everything turned out ok, blah blah blah, sweet stuff, etc. . .i unwrapped the present and inside was an envelope containing 4 index cards.  each card was describing a laptop.  my laptop.  i had no clue.  like crystal, and probably like a lot of you as well, i have the tendency to figure out when something is going on, but this completely surprised me.  it was awesome!  that's 2 years in a row of completely wonderful and unforgettable christmas gifts.  christmas 2005-wicked ticket from andy and beth.  christmas 2006-laptop.  wow.  incredible.

the rest of christmas day was great.  mark and i went to andy and beth's to celebrate with them and some friends of theirs.  it was fun.  by the way, i am still enjoying my poker victory.  i'd pat myself on the back but mark already did that for me.  in case none of you are aware of this. . .andy and beth are such amazing people.  i love every chance i get to spend time with them.   just thought i'd stick that in there, because once again, they were great hosts.