Pictures

Home again, home again. Dan and I left from my parents around noonish this afternoon and spent the afternoon moving back in. Dan left to go on auxilliary and I took out the very dry and dead Christmas tree. Chloe must have moved around a lot today because she just zonked out in her new crate location (now that the tree is gone). I'm trying to figure out how to post pictures so here it goes...

This is Dad and his new digeredoo that Amy bought for him from Australia. I can see it getting annoying since he has to practice playing it every morning.

This is Amy and her new boyfriend Joel. He lives about 15 minutes away from where we've lived most of our lives but it took a meeting in Australia before they found eachother. Crazy eh?

This is Dan playing guitar. I thought I would add this picture for Sarah Rutherford since she appreciated it so much. I love it when he plays.

And here's the Puppy!!!

(the pictures of me aren't so good but the puppy is cute)

Today

It's about 11:00. Dan is in St. Catherines because he was so set on driving the 2 hours there and the 2 hours back, all tonight, so that he can play a hockey game from 10:30 - 11:30. Well, he's motivated. I'll give him that. I'm sure he'll enjoy it. Me on the other hand... I actually had a really enjoyable night tonight too. It started with a busy morning making two batches of cinnamon buns to bring to my Wesselson family Christmas. We have a Christmas breakfast together instead of a Christmas meal that we're all sick of eating. It was a wonderfully satisfying meal and we all chatted and nodded off for small naps here and there and eventually played our traditional Christmas gift exchange game. Instead of real presents we all wrap up whatever junk we want to get rid of and pick out presents that we want. Anyways it was fun. Dan and I left a bit early and got in some good quality hot tub time before everyone else wandered in. First we went to the Sinke's with Chloe to see how she played with Owen and how Owen would play with her. It was so cute. I'll have to post some pictures of it later. I'm glad she didn't draw blood though. Anyways, the point is that tonight I went to the movies with my mom, sisters, a sister's boyfriend and Danielle and Paul. We watched the first of the Narnian series, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It was really good but the imagination is much better. I was impressed that the kids could act but they weren't that amazing. My favorites are Mr. Tumnus and the White Witch. They were great! I definately have to read the series again. It's off to bed now. Have a great night, all. Muah.

Merry Christmas!!!

It's Christmas time in the Zomer household!!!
On Thursday night Dan and I went to the Wikkerinks to hang out for the night. What a drive!! It wasn't snowing and it wasn't even that cold but it was sooo windy and everything on the road was ice or snowbank. Chloe ended up puking in the car on the way there. Great. It was okay though. Another learning experience. On Friday I worked for 7 hours and then we went back to the Wikkerinks for Christmas meal and presents!! oh so much fun. Caleb got a discman right away and so had that on for most of the night. We all got new socks and I got money for a manicure... i'm really happy about that and dan got hockey stuff. Good thing too because that stuff is so expensive. All of us kids went in together and bought mom and dad a dish washer!! That was the most exciting gift of course and we think she liked it because she shed a tear or too... and then so did Larissa. It was sweet. We all slowly went to bed around midnight and woke up around 9:00 the next morning. Dad made us all a breakfast that couldn't be beat and then we all sat around as the boys installed the dishwasher. We got to Ingersoll around 3:30 and snacked for a few hours before we went to a Christmas Eve service. Melanie and Melisa Gomez were there since they are at the Pippel's for Christmas!! It was so good to see a connection to Honduras again. After church we set out every kind of cheese possible and snacked all night while we opened presents. After Amy gave Dad a digeeredoo and he started trying to play it mom figured that we were missing too many photo opportunities so she passed out a digital camera for each of us!!! So I will now be posting a lot of pictures on my blog.
Right now we are in the middle of what I have been looking forward to all exam time: We are sitting downstairs, the fire has just been started, drinks are all passed around and we're just chatting. I love it. I'm really starting to relax now. Sigh... and its only going to get better.

right on time

Every semester, without fail, as soon as it is over... WHAM... a cold and everything else that can make you feel like crap. I'm still trying to hold it off for one more day but that means that I'll be sick over Christmas. Great. Well, I'll enjoy it anyways.
Chloe sees her reflexion on a piece of plexyglass that is on the floor and she is going crazy!! She thinks there is another puppy here so she is attacking it like crazy. poor thing... it looks funny though. maybe it'll tire her out.
I still have one more paper to write. I was hoping to be finished all this by Monday but I'm not. So pray for me. I have this wonderful study buddy who happens to be in a few classes with me. Her name is Sonya and we do work in the exact same way. Both papers that I have been really late on this semester she has been late with me. In fact, hers are later. And she's got another paper and an exam yet tonight so pray for her too. It feels really encouraging though, to talk to her about how we can't get started and how we're both late. Tomorrow we are going out for tea when we are both FINISHED! finally!!
Here is my Kierkegaardian prayer for the day:

Let Us Feel Thy Presence

Thou who art in all places, when I meditate on what I will say and how I will say it, Thou art present; when the individual has resolved to come into Thy house, Thou art present, but perhaps the thought is not truly present to him: Bless then this worship in order that each one of us individually will in this hour feel Thy presence and know that we are before Thee.

Chloe

Merry Christmas to me!!! Dan gave me a puppy for Christmas. A Golden Retriever. Her name is Chloe. Really, i think she is a a gift for himself. He loves her!! And good thing too because having them play together makes them both tired. :) She is a bit of a distraction though. I have a take home that is due today as well as a paper for that class and then i'm DONE. Finally. I wrote two psych exams on Saturday and was exhausted when it was all done. The first one I aced but the second one I didn't feel prepared for at all. I ended up having a lot to write but that doesn't mean that I did well. We'll see how it all turns out.
On Saturday evening Dan and I went to his mom and dad's. Frank and Alisha are home so it was good to see them. And they were all happy to see Chloe. She'll be good entertainment during Christmas.
I haven't gotten any of my Christmas presents yet. (yikes). For my family, I know what I'm going to get and Dan's already got something for someone (?) so we're set that way. For Dan's family both him and I have to think of something and buy it yet.
I think I'm going to go to the school and check my mail and get some books for my paper. Maybe I can put Chloe in the crate without her waking up too much. huh. Mission accomplished.... and she passes out again. :)
I am writing a take home for my Kierkegaard and Derrida class. The class was interesting and boring at the same time. The topic is really interesting but I think it is something that I have to study and live in my own time. So I got a book out of the library to go through over the holidays: The prayers of Kierkegaard. This is the first one I found while flipping through it:

Father in Heaven! Thou has loved us first, help us never to forget that Thou art love so that this sure conviction might triumph in our hearts over the seduction of the world, over the inquietude of the soul, over the anxiety for the future, over the fright of the past, over the distress of the moment. But grant also that this conviction might discipline our soul so that our heart might remain faithful and sincere in the love which we bear to all those whom Thou hast commanded us to love as we love oursleves.

laughing

Still writing papers.... well.... I'm still writing the same paper. That's okay though. If I don't think about it I won't freak out.
I saw Coryn again yesterday. It was a nice break. She ended up staying over for supper so we order take-out Thai food. mmm.. Afterwards both Dan and Coryn convinced me to forget about writing papers for the night so we all rented "Old School". I watched the movie at the guys place on Sat. night and it was soooo funny because of how funny they thought it was. Really though, was it funny? I guess so but I have a hard time laughing out loud. Both Dan and Coryn have had talks with me about how i have a wierd sense of humour, i don't laugh. ??? Maybe I just don't think those things are funny. I know that I laugh when I'm with Sarah Rutherford but that's just sarah. hmm.... i think it's too much to think about now. I'll just watch whenever I laugh over the holidays. My holidays study.
I'm listening to Sigur Ros. Interesting music. I like it, not in English though so it's hard to sing along.
Back to the paper.

AAAhhhh, papers!!

So most of my papers are finished but the two biggest ones still have to be done and they were both due on Thursday. Why o why do i do this?? and yet i still have time to go to my aunts and make christmas cookies. sigh.... in a week and two days it will allll be over.
I'm listening to Christmas music, drinking eggnog and trying to stay festive through all this.
The paper that I am working on right now is for a class called Papal Encyclicals. Since my major is psychology I decided that I would trace out the history of the relationship between psychology and the Catholic church. I figure this is a really appropriate topic since my other major is religions. I believe that they are inimately connected but I get a lot of people thinking that they are a bizarre combination. The research is interesting but, like every other time, I wish that I a gave myself time to really enjoy learning about this stuff. The thing is, if there is time to do the papers, I don't feel motivated to do it.
Dan is coming home late from firearms training so I'm going to have to postpone cookie baking since I don't have a car to get there with. ggrrr. So that's it for today.
I hope you all have a merry advent weekend.

Mate Poaching

Here's a great picture that I got of Dan and Lily (Kieth and Ellen's baby) this weekend when we went home to see my sister Amy who came home from Australia!!

So I just handed in one of many papers to be handed in in the next two weeks. That feels good, if anything it's good motivation to start another one. This one was on Mate Poaching. I used the movie Closer (aaalllll about sex and cheating) to support the findings of a study done on mate poaching (cheating), personality characteristics of cheaters and tactics for getting people to cheat with you. Isn't that uplifting. Speaking of lifting, I pulled something in my back today. Not a nice experience!! I was working at the Beer Store yesterday and must've done something funny because this morning, all of a sudden, I couldn't move or breath. I thought I was going to die. When I managed to make it to the couch I called Dan right away panicing. Isn't that silly? I've never pulled a muscle in my upper back, it was scary. So now I'm hobbling around but still able to shoot out papers.
*by the way, I just heard a song by Holly Cole "Baby it's cold outside" Nice!*
Before I start on the next paper I'm going to pick up some chocolate (knock off Toblerone), some eggnog and maybe some rum. 'Tis the season!!!

Houses

Dan and I have known for a while that we are going to have to move out of our apartment here by this summer so for the last couple of weeks we have been considering when to buy a house. AAcckk!!! Really, i haven't given a whole lot of thought to buying a house. I mean, I always figured I would sooner than later but, really, Now? But I guess this does make good sense for Dan and I. Dan found a few listings that we liked and decided to have a look at them. To make a long story short, we actually found a house on the first day that we went out looking. It was a spur of the moment look since we thought that this house was a little high on price considering our financial situation. But we loved it! It's really a great house, slightly small but we can handle small since it's just the two of us. Now we have to figure out if we really can afford it.
So this is what I've been learning for the past year and a half being married. Growing up I've always had my parents take care of me. I'm sure my parents didn't start off their family with a nice house and nice furniture and nice food but the last 5-10 years that I have been living with them I have had those things and so that is what i've grown comfortable having. And now what do I have??? Debt and a small apartment? ack... how materialistic is that? I'm learning about having to start from scratch. Well, that's it for tonight. I'm off to my night class called Papal Encyclicals. Tonight we are talking about the Roman Catholic churches position on the legalization of homosexual unions... interesting.