Christmas Break

Christmas Break has come and gone (waaay too quickly) and I still haven’t posted. So here’s an update of everything:

I made it through my first semester of PA school, which is a pretty big accomplishment in my opinion. I did fail one final (the average was 58% and our professor refused to scale it, but that’s a long story that I’m still bitter about, so I won’t divulge)—but I passed all of my classes, and that’s what matters.



We had Christmas in Lincoln with my entire family and took a family picture in the FREEZING cold weather and snow (over a foot!). I haven’t seen them yet, but if none of us look happy and our fists are clenched in an attempt to stay warm, you’ll know why. [Really, you’ve got to feel bad for Jared, who’s still experiencing post-mission shock.] Christmas was full of Nerf Gun Wars, Clue, Caroling, Rock Band (which actually is kind of fun—I’m really anti-videogames, so this is a big deal), sledding, reading, and eating.



Our Christmas Break was absolutely divine. Jeff came back from his rural rotation and it was great to spend time together. We got ice skates for Christmas and went skating as often as we could (since the university just built a rink right next to our building and we get to go for free). We’re not very good(notice how I'm looking down at the ground because if I don't, I'll wipe out), so if you have any tips on how to skate backwards or do anything cool, let me know. What I loved most is that Jeff and I were able to do everyday things together that couples who aren’t in school might have time to do together: we went grocery shopping together, cooked together, went to the gym every day, etc. How wonderful life would be without school…



Our Entertainment Review: I read The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (author of the DaVinci Code) and it was pretty good, though I would say Angels and Demons is the best book of his I’ve read. There was only one mention of Mormonism: he mentioned Joseph Smith and the Gold Plates, but it was only a sentence worth. Star Trek was our favorite movie that we’ve seen this year (and I have never seen the tv show). Sherlock Holmes was pretty good, though we thought the plot was a little dark (the anatagonist was attempting to use Satanic rituals to take over Britain)—I wouldn’t recommend it for children. I liked Pixar’s Up, but Jeff thought it was depressing and insisted on finding another movie to watch afterwards to lift his spirits. And the new Harry Potter was surprisingly good--I think it's my favorite one of the series so far because there was better character development (though the books beat the movies hands down). Anybody have any movie/book recommendations for us to put on our list for Spring Break?