Winter Festivities: Part 2

Part 2:
 

We decided to go to Bobby and John’s place first, since it’s the furthest and would require backtracking otherwise. After finally getting up their steep hill, we started heading to the Burnets. As we are walking down a fairly icey hill, I told Rachel that I was going to slip and fall down the hill. She responds with “Haha oh, that man down there will just catch you” with a little nudge. I look down the hill and notice that a guy was walking in our direction. I jokingly say, “what if that was John?” In which Rachel pauses, then panickily says “WAIT! THAT IS JOHN!” Followed by us doing full 180 turns and frantically running back up the hill. Rachel’s muffled obscenities were mixed in with our screaming/hysterical laughter as we ran in the middle of the street, trying not to slip on the ice. We managed to escape and thought we were safe, only to see a guy riding a bike in our direction. Again, I jokingly say “Watch, now that will be Bobby” and of course Rachel responds with “WAIT! THAT IS BOBBY!” We ran across the road into this ditch on the side of the road until he turned a corner. The rest of our journey was pretty uneventful, but a beautiful walk nonetheless. 

I rushed home to get ready for the charity dance. It was great, I helped Charli bake cookies, then danced to music with the girls while we got ready. We went down to the church and had a fantastic night of dancing. I’m so glad I got to dance before flying home, it’s something I’m really going to miss during break. After the dance, we invited everyone to come back to the apartments to hang out and have root beer floats. Around 11:00, a small group of people came up to my apartment to watch the last three episodes of Stranger Things. However, I left around 12:30 to go for a late-night walk in the snow with Charli. As I previously mentioned, I love the snow. It’s even more beautiful and peaceful to walk in at night, where it sparkles in the street lights and makes the world feel still and quiet. We walked around for probably two hours, talking and laughing the whole time. Afterwards, we decided to drive to Walmart to get some last-minute Christmas supplies. This marks my second night of going to bed at 4:00am. I guess I was getting payback for not having to pull all-nighters with my friends during week 7 and 8. 

After church the following day, I went with Christy and Ruth to the guys apartment next door to watch eat sandwiches and watch Ladyhawke, which I 10/10 recommend. It was fantastic. Hannah and I got locked out of our apartment, so I hung out downstairs until Emily saved the day and brought us a key. Thus, began my frantic cleaning and packing. I managed to clean the entire kitchen and pack all my bags with time to spare before our Christmas party. I also was able to begin this endless blog post that night, while Hannah, Ruth, and Christy cooked an amazing dinner for our two apartments. We all gathered together and had dinner, complete with sparkling cider and Christmas music. Afterwards, we divvied out the giant pile of presents under their tree, sat in a big circle, and slowly opened all of our presents together. It was one of the best Christmas celebrations I’ve ever experienced, we had so much fun. I received boxers from Handerson, and surprised her with a kitchen timer in return 😉

Between 9:30 and 10:00, I piled into the car with Charli, Rachel, Heather, Christy, and Ruth to meet people to go sled riding. We sang at the top of our lungs while sliding around back roads to get to the sledding hill. I was expecting a decent hill but was not nearly prepared for the monster hill we arrived at. I’ve never seen such a long and steep hill for sledding before. It was extremely intimidating. It also took me ages to even climb to the top of it. Once at the top, I decided there was no way I was sledding down that hill, especially after seeing a girl leave for the ER after hurting her foot. I hung around at the top of the hill until it was time to leave. With much protest, Rachel convinced (forced) me to sled down the hill with her as we left. It was probably the most terrifying experience I’ve ever had. It was fun, but only after it was over. I clung to Rachel so tight on the way down, and I think I may have been too scared to even scream, I can’t remember. About ¾ of the way down, we got thrown off the sleds and rolled the rest of the way down, somehow managing to hurt my right shoulder and left hip, and completely cover myself in snow. 

Luckily, I was able to warm up to the best hot chocolate in the world, made by Rachel <3 Everyone came back to my apartment for this famous hot chocolate and to hang out. As with most of our gatherings, the night ended with a few rounds of freeze improv. I never take part because I am too nervous, but it is amazingly fun to watch. 

The next morning, I woke up to the smell of pancakes. I haven’t had pancakes in so long, it was the best surprise Handerson could have done. She made us a big roommate breakfast to enjoy together before her and I got picked up to go to the airport. Leaf, Benjamin, and Caleb picked us up, and before we knew it, the van was packed with people. We had every seat filled, complete with our carry-on bags on all our laps. During the hour and 45-minute drive, we played different name games and ate Cheetos; as well as laughed at Leaf’s dancing and array of foods he pulled out of his backpack (pork-chops and rice to be specific). Turned out he has fresh homemade bread and butter in there too, which he sliced and gave to us all as we hung outside airport security for an hour. 

I eventually had to say goodbye to all of my friends, and get on the first of two long plane rides home. But that brings me to now, home. I’ve been home for two days and every one of them has been filled with seeing my family and friends none stop. I’m extremely thankful that I was able to have such an eventful last few days with all of my new friends, and even more thankful that I get to have an eventful month with my well-missed family.