12 Days of Christmas 2012

At the beginning of the season a group of my friends decided to play 12 Days of Christmas on some of our other mutual friends. It was lots of fun picking presents for each day and delivering them as a group. I'm not shocked to report that each day didn't really go as planned.

Day 1: Some porridge in a Charlie Brown tree. We pretty much got caught on the first day at Cameron's house. His dogs are VERY attentive to visitors at the door, regardless if you ring the bell or not.
Day 2: Two Colorful Socks. There was some confusion in the group as to what kind of socks we were giving. The final gift was extremely fuzzy and slightly feminine. Since both of the recipients were boys, I was a little nervous how they would receive the socks.
Day 3: Three Caramel Peeps. The day it rained. I was the one to drop it off at Kevin's house and I tripped and fell right in front of the door. My hip and knee are still purple, but I wasn't caught!
Day 4: Four Bubble Toys. Delivered by Bryce.
Day 5: Five Candy Rings. Cameron later told us that day five was his favorite.
Day 6: Six Cans of Soda. Laura and her sister stacked Cameron's soda in a Christmas tree formation and successfully escaped without getting caught.
Day 7: Seven Packs of Gum. Delivered by Elisabeth,
Day 8: Eight Brownie Squares. Everyone headed over to Tori's to make the brownies after the seminary BBQ. Most of us were helpful.... ;) We raised around her hard wood floor on rolling chairs and watched Studio C. I didn't go to the delivery since I was on adventures with Batman.
Day 9: Nine Candy Bars. I was in charge of this day and found the smallest candy bars I could. (hehe) It took three lights (if I remember right) to turn onto Cameron's street. The car in front of us was terrified of left turns. It probably would have taken less time to run there. That was on the way to Brianna's Sweet 16 and the day the world was suppose to end.
Day 10: Ten Cupcakes. Saturday was crazy and I felt bad that I forgot to buy the cupcake mix. After a quick trip to Fry's, we were making two kinds of cupcakes and improvised frosting while drinking Martinelli's from fancy glasses and listening to classical music. #class Delivering was successful. We wanted to see Cameron at work, and car caroling was born. Next time you pull through a drive through during the holiday season, I dare you to carol to the employees. It's so fun.
Day 11: Eleven Candy Canes. They were purchased the day before during our adventures at Fry's.
Day 12: Twelve Yummy Cookies. Christmas Eve! I was late to cookie making at Tori's, and their cookies were suffering. ;) Dinosaurs were missing tails, but they were delicious just the same. Cameron was at Laura's house when we went caroling. He had no idea we were the ones playing it on him. Success! I swear he almost caught us everyday. He and Laura joined us for caroling at Kevin's, but Kevin wasn't there and the candy canes were still on the doorstep from the previous night. A message was left on his voicemail of us singing our parodied song and then we went to spread more Christmas cheer. Half of the cookies were consumed, but we dropped the rest off at another choir friend's house.
Mission Complete (even though we talked about it everyday in choir and added Cameron to the facebook planning message on accident)

The holidays have been an emotional roller coaster. I'm glad first semester is over and we can keep moving forward with the adventure School Year 2012-13: Seniors! I received a camera. candy, clothes, and money for Christmas. It's so wonderful my family can spend so much time together. Especially after the tragedy in Connecticut, I don't know what I would do without Valerie. Merry Christmas to all! It's time to go watch Les Mis, round 1!

Siblings

It always shocks me a little bit how different family members can be. Even within our immediate family. For example, Megan is completely content with not finishing her homework. I, on the other hand, am much more of an overachiever and perfectionist. Bryce still struggles with reading and we like to call Kevin a punk. Out of all my siblings I think Valerie is the most similar to me. She's only six though. I'm sure we'll all grow up to be individuals and that is what makes families so interesting.

Kevin ~ Age 9

Recently, Kevin has been surprising all of us. He won the raffle at his elementary school for a new bike and then learned how to ride it the day before a cub scout bike rally  He also placed second in a multi-school run club meet for his age division. Finally, on December 20, 2012 Kevin will be receiving an award from the Mayor for being student of the month. He was picked to be student of the month because he is an outstanding citizen. What?! I'm really excited to go watch him receive this award. My mom thinks the principal just really likes Kevin. How else do you stand out as an outstanding citizen?  Especially when you steal candy from the primary closet with your friends during cub scouts? *coughcough* ;) Well Kevin must be doing something right and I'm proud he's my little brother. Now if only we could find a way to make him and Bryce stop beating each other up in the car and end Valerie's screaming. I guess we all have a vice. Mine must be being awesome, creative, smart, and gorgeous! haha jk

Cast list posted today for "Still Life with Iris." I hope everyone is happy with their part. It's not easy casting such a talented group of people. ;)

Christmas Time At Last

Even though I've gone to see Christmas Lights, performed at concerts, and jammed to Christmas music on 99.9, it's not Christmas time until the house is decorated. :) Now the tree is up and trimmed. I must admit it's a little weird spending Christmas in the house I grew up in. Yes, I always think of Gigi's house as where we celebrate Christmas, but this year we won't have to stop by on Christmas morning. We'll already be here.

Putting up all of Gigi's decorations made me miss ours. There isn't a family of singing snowmen or a fireplace or an advent calendar city. It's my last year at home too. I think Mom and Gigi both know I am little bummed, so they let me pick which decorations are show cased. Some are the ones that have been around since before I was born like the bear bell band and animatronic carolers. Others are ones that have been purchased much more recently like the 36 inch Santa reading to children and Santa's office scene. I love Christmas so much! There is no other time of the year that brings people so close together and brings so much magic. Let the Christmas movies begin! I'm wishing for a few Christmas miracles just like the characters in movies this year.


Oh and story time!
A Walmart employee has never stopped to talk to me. Personally, I think they are the most unhelpful people ever. Saturday night I was participating in a video scavenger hunt and our group decided many of the tasks could be completed at Walmart. After finding a celebrity look alike and marching in unison, we decided to choreograph a twenty second dance number with the bikes at Walmart. I'm not sure what was different about this trip to Walmart with my energetic friends, but the manager came to talk to us. He informed us video taping was not allowed in the store and then insisted we put back all the merchandise. I felt really bad. We weren't being that crazy though. The rest of our scavenger hunt took place in the parking lot and I almost fell out of a cart. Got to love creativity.

Assistant Director

The Christmas Choir Concert is tonight and I have homework so I'll make this a fast one.

On December 5, 2012, during zero hour, I logged onto my email and read these words:

CES Admissions
to Emily Codling
Your application is now complete.

AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! At last! After a little bit of research I found out I made priority registration. Take that stupid official transcript that got lost in the mail! Now I just have to wait till February 28th. Notice will be given by then on enrollment. Yeah, I'm freaking out. Now all that is left is to wait.

On a lighter note, I was chosen to be the Assistant Director for our spring show, "Still Life with Iris." I'm excited to work with the Performance Theatre on this production. First day of auditions was today and I can already tell it is going to be good.

Well come to the choir concert if you want to hear some festive songs and eat a cinnamon role.

Love, Emily