Christmastime.is.here

It's a very quiet day at work. In fact, right now, I'm the only one in the building. No wonder, finals were over last Friday. The whole university is still, peaceful, empty. All the students are gone for Christmas vacation. Most of the faculty are as well.

But even though everything is so quiet around me, my mind is spinning out of control. We are officially closing on our new house TOMORROW! We have our final walk through this afternoon and a moving party on Friday. I'm so excited, but it's still extremely surreal. We bought a house! What?!?!

Last night, I spent the evening packing. I already have 13 boxes stacked up in the living room and I haven't even started packing the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom closet! Where is all this stuff coming from?

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I've been trying to stay busy and not go crazy thinking about my new house. I've been reading, working on some graphic design projects for church, and looking for some yummy new recipes. Here's a preview of some of the recipes I've found: Puffy Oven Pancakes (sounds good for Christmas morning), Pear Blackberry Crisp, and Mint Fudge. I just might be making that last one on Monday for a Christmas party. Yum! I can't wait to try them all.

And yes, I finally finished The Hunger Games series. I finished the third book, Mockingjay yesterday. I was an emotional wreck. Although it ended the way I wanted it to, I was still unhappy with the way it was executed. I feel like the ending was rushed with no emotion. And there wasn't even time for me to say goodbye to the characters. It just ended. And now my heart has an empty spot where Katniss, Peeta, and Gale once existed in my life. I feel like I knew them; they were my friends. Okay, I'm being a little dramatic. But give me a break, I just finished the book yesterday. I need a chance to recover. But for any of you who haven't read it yet, I strongly suggest you do. These books are amazing!

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I love the Christmas season: Christmas music, yummy treats, lights, and parties. On Sunday evening, our life group went to see some Christmas lights, then had a little Christmas party at Wes' parents house. I wish we would have been moved in our new house, I really wanted to have it there. Anyway, we had lots of finger foods, a white elephant game, and a special round of Christmas pictaphone. To me, Christmas just isn't Christmas without wassail. It tastes so good and makes the whole house smell delicious. It's a tradition in my family. I had to make it.

Summer's Family Tradition: Wassail

4 cups cranberry juice

2 cups orange juice

2 cups apple juice

1/2 cup maple syrup

4-5 cinnamon sticks

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. ground cloves

a few orange slices

whole cloves

Combine all the ingredients except oranges slices and whole cloves in a pot. Bring to a boil. Turn down to  warm. Place as many whole cloves in a few orange slices as you like. Drop the orange slices in the pot. Serve warm.