This Christmas...

♪This Christmas, I gave♪ up my life!
This Christmas, was the first year I actually had to grown up, being 20 now. So, not only did I have to spend actual money that I don't have (although, I suppose that is the expectation), I had to book my own flight, I had to work and still I spent a lot of time by myself.
That first week, December 8th through the 14th. A lot of people left campus. It was supposed to be finals week but nearly everyone got there's done early and by the end of the day Tuesday, everyone I knew had gone home. I spent that week, doing and redoing my hair, working out, writing, doing some volunteer work, oh, and watching an abundance of NetFlix. But for the most part, I spent nearly 8 hours by myself everyday. And don't get me wrong. I don't mind being alone. I can get a lot work done when my boyfriend isn't singing at the top of his lungs, or when my friends are pushing me to go out with them. But I was kind of used to it. And I quickly got pretty lonely... If I had known it was going to be so empty up here, I would have scheduled flight for earlier. But if I had, I would had to leave my car at the airport and spend upwards of $200 on parking. But because I decided to wait, my boyfriend's father was back in town - from Missouri where they went to see his sister graduate - and said I could leave my car at his place. His father also said that I could stay the night before the flight, in my boyfriend's old room, so I don't have to wake up at the ass crack of dawn to get there on time. His parents are so nice. I ended up getting them Christmas presents. His father is a lot like him with all the jokes and goofiness, so I got him a gag mug with yo mama jokes on it. For his mother, who LOVES to cook, I got her a cutting board. Or a cheese platter. I could be interpreted a couple ways. But I got her name inscribed into it so that it was personalized. But when I got it back, they just cut her name into it, which left gaps that food and bacteria could get stuck in. So I choose to fill it in, sand it down smooth, and add a waterproof sealant on it so that she could actually used it. It was process that took about four days, but it filled my week. I hoped they liked them.
The morning of December 16th, my boyfriend's father dropped me off at the airport to catch my 9:38am flight. But when I got on the plane, it was delayed. And delayed again. And delayed some more. I spent probably two hours on that plane, just sitting in the runway. Apparently, the guys they got to come check it were not qualified and didn't fill out the proper paperwork. They checked off a few random boxes and they had to have someone else come in and really check the plane. The plane wasn't at all qualified for takeoff! So, they made us get off and get on a different plane that left at 12. But by that point we were flying into a snow storm and I was definitely going to miss my connecting flight. So I rescheduled it 6:30, which then meant that I wasn't going to get to North Carolina until 9:30. But finally, I was back with my mom.
That first week wasn't eventful. My brother was still in school and my mother was still working. So, again, I spent a lot of time at home alone. I thought about maybe going out and exploring but I din't have my car. So I resorted to walking around the neighborhood. It was nice. North Carolina is a lot more humid than Arizona but at least t wasn't cold. Small victories.
​The next week, my mom had off and we did a couple of different things. We went to the Christmas light, had a mini Christmas party. And I finally had a crab boil! Yum! I loved it. And, we went to Jumanji 2: Next Level.I was told repeatedly not to see it but my love of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson pulled me! And I loved it. Which is why I often ignore the opinion of other people. Well, for that and a mix of other reasons. And on Christmas morning... I slept in until noon. My brother as well. But my mom had gotten up. When I finally a woke she and I made a last minute trip to WalMart for some crab legs. Yep, we had a seafood boil for Christmas dinner! It was so delicious. Just thinking about it now is making my mouth water. Boy, I wish I took leftovers. But after dinner we finally opened the presents around 6:30. My dad got me calligraphy pen! Oh my goodness, it's so beautiful! I love it so much! And my mom got me a, well needed, printer. Let me tell you how many times I have been late to class trying to print something off last minute at the library. Now I can be later for trying to print something off last minute in my room. BABY STEPS! I got my brother a toilet light for his 3am bathroom runs. The kid seems to never sleep. And I got my mom a personalized necklace. It was a good day. I had a lot of fun. 
But I would be remiss not to mention that I was immensely happy to be back in Arizona, in the arms of my boyfriend, the next day. Yep, my flight back to the AZ was the next day. There were a series of miscommunications and I left a few days earlier than I originally intended. But I did have a lot of fun. I hung out with my boyfriend and ALL of his extended family. I won't say that that it was a tad overwhelming. I will say that it was very overwhelming to meet all of his family all at once having that ask me what I was doing with my life and what I was planning. They were very nice and probably didn't have any idea how I was feeling but boy was I drained by the end of the day. 
That night was fun though. We had a massive dinner and played a plethora of Christmas games and made many jokes at the expense of my boyfriend. It was a good time and I'm glad I went. 
The very next Monday, though, I had to leave my boyfriend again. I had to go back to the summer camp to work. Or winter camp as it were. It was just for a week, and oh so fun. I had a lot of the same kids I had over the summer and some new ones. It was just two of us working at any given time and a lot of times just me, with ten sometimes fifteen kids but they were well behaved. They just wanted to play and talk and I did too so the week ran smoothly. Most of the time. The day after New Years, where all the kids stayed up the night before, was kind of hard. They were cranky and tired and a little hard to manage but after lunch they regained their energy. And the snowy fun resumed.
When that week ended, I decided to drive back up to campus on January 4th. I thought I had to be a work that next Monday (today) at the elementary school and I kind of wanted the Sunday to get settled in. But turns out I had another two weeks to settle in. So I stayed a few more days and left today. Now I'm back on campus. And my boyfriend decided to come up with me. But there is no one up here but us and a few other students. Classes don't resume until next week. So maybe I'll get some work done though. Maybe flesh out the cover of my next book. Hehehe!
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I will say though, I did have a lot of fun in the chaos. But I'm ready to get back to a routine!

Also, I'm sorry that my post frequency has slowed down. When the last semester began, I didn't really have time to write a lot. But I'm hoping to be better this semester. Happy New Years everyone!