Christmas Special

This week I am going to be doing a lot of blogging about my holiday I celebrate, Christmas. Sorry if you celebrate something different, but I will not be doing blogging over other holidays. I don't know them well and don't feel comfortable honestly trying to say I do. So, anyways, let's get started

Christmas time is one of the best times of the year. Without a question. For me, Christmas time really starts as soon as thanksgiving is over. Once I get back from visiting my family for Thanksgiving, and it turns into December, and snow begins to fall, it feels like Christmas. Somethings, like snow, family, food, just need to be there in order for it to feel like Christmas. I think that the main point of Christmas for me at least is that you get to do lots of thing you normally wouldn't do with your family.Think of all the Christmas traditions you have. Going to church on Christmas Eve. Singing Silent Night. Opening Presents. Meeting Family. Having dinner. Baking Cookies. Whatever you do. Think what this time of year would feel like with out those. Doesn't feel quite right does it? So, I argue, that it isn't just this time of year that is special, but the way we spend it with our families that do. Family is really important to me this kind of year, especially remembering those from my family who are no longer with us. Our family always gets together at our aunt's house and we have a big party for everyone to come and bring different things and just have a great time. I love Christmas, it is definitely one of my favorite times of the year. Just there is nothing else that compares to it for me. I get to do so many things with my family leading up to Christmas, and then as soon as it is over I have my birthday, then I go back to school and catch up with everyone that I had been missing for the past half of a month. Christmas break is going to be busy busy busy for me this year and I think I am just about ready for it. This is my last week before we are off for break and I am really looking forward to being able to sleep in, as well as I am ready for Christmas. Now if only there could be snow on the ground.

Entertainment Value of Snow

A lot of people don't even get to experience snow every year, but for those of us that do here in the midwest and out east, snow gets kind of a bad reputation. It is usually assosiated with being a hazard on the road and causing traffic delays, grounding flights, preventing you from getting to work on time. But, what about all the positives of snow? Have you ever thought to stop and appreciate it? I mean how many times have you gone outside and played in the snow over your lifetime? Hopefully a lot. And, if you have done that you would know that is super fun. You don't hate snow when you go sledding, do you? Or when you go skiing? Or make a snowman? Of course not. Because snow isn't that bad. You should stop and take some time this year to appreaciate the snow, and go out and build a fort, or snowman, or have a snowball fight! Do something fun with the snow this year instead of dredding it. I can't wait until we get snow on the ground, it is kind of sad seeing this time of year without snow. It really just doesn't feel like winter in Iowa without about a foot of snow. I am just making this post hoping we get snow soon, and if not within the next few days, at least we need it before Christmas. Christmas with out snow just doesn't seem right. Have you ever gone looking at Christmas lights without there being a fresh pile of white fluffy snow lining the rooftops and the ground? It just doesn't sound as appealing as it would if you have ever seen it with snow. Snow is really special and it somewhat magical. Ever thing about how no two snowflakes are the same? Well it is quite interesting, a single snowflake takes a path that no other snowflake before it has, and no one after it ever will. It is a trailblazer on a new adventure, making twists and turns that shape and mold it. Wind makes the decision and tells it where to go, and it creates something beautiful and unique, and then billions of these snowflakes line your driveway for you to shovel away ruthlessly.

Holiday Baking

Around the holidays my family always decides to make tons of cookies. My mom usually makes the most, but lately she has been teaching me to make some of the cookies and treats as well. We sometimes go up to MN and get togethor with our family and just bakje cookies for an entire day sometimes even an entire weekend. We usually end up making so many cookies that we actually just give over half of them away and then gorge on the remaining hundred dozen or so. These cookies aren't just fun because we get to eat the cookies, which don't get me wrong is really fun, but it is fun because we get to spend time with family and talk and get to know what is going on with eachother. These kinds of traditions are what makes winter so much fun for me. Getting to spend time with family and know that Christmas is on the way is one thing that makes me look forward to winter every year. As soon as summer is over I start waiting for winter to come, counting down the days that it will be until winter break where I will then go up to Minnesota and have a wonderful Christmas with my family. Family traditions are really important, not just baking, but other things too, like gift exchanges, going and seeing movies, staying in and making family dinners, whatever it is that you guys do, make sure you always set aside time to do it, even if it isn't that important to yourself, because it could be really important to your family that you do it for them. Just like my tradition, I don't love to bake, but I do love being able to spend time with my family, and I love getting a lot of cookies out of it.

Winter Fun Ideas

Hey everyone, even though there isn't any snow here I thought I would make a series of blogs about things that you can do only in the winter and why winter is the best season. Okay, so this first blog is all about fun things that are exclusive to winter.
#1 Sledding
Sledding is probably one of my favorite activities to do. Like ever. I really mean it though, sledding is so much fun and I hope all of you will take some time out of your winter to go and sled on a big hill. I will for sure when we get snow here finally.
#2 Skiing and Snowboarding
I have tons of fun going to ski with my friends in the winter even though i am actually terrible at skiing. Being good isn't what makes it fun though, it is just being surrounded by the white snow and being able to hang out with some awesome people and have an excuse to drink tons of hot chocolate.
#3 Snowball fights
If you haven't ever been in a snowball fight you are missing out on a big part of your life. Snowball fights are pretty much the only way I spent my childhood winters, but they got spot three because now that people actually are bigger you could get hurt by their snowballs :/
#4 Holidays
There isn't another season that has as many holidays as winter. I celebrate Christmas and have a great time every year with my family. I go to MN and have a blast seeing my cousins that I don't normally get to see.

Those are my top reasons for why winter is the best season, and I hope you guys have a snowier winter than I am having!

Woodworking

Today, I have another fun hobby for you to maybe explore. I have never personally done this, but none the less it is still very fun and rewarding. Woodworking is something that is going to take quite a bit to get into but the rewards can be great. People not only woodwork as a hobby but also as a job in some cases. People who
Really get into the hobby have shops where they woodwork. But for now I'm going to start off with the basics

So, the concept of woodworking is quite simple. You take wood, and craft it into anything. Really anything you want, a chair, a table, a bench, a sculpture, a toy, anything! But there is quite a bit more than that when you get into it. It is very intricate and requires an insane amount of precision. One mistake can cause you to have to trash the piece you are working on.

Selecting the wood is a big part of the process, you have to pick something that will have enough support for what you are trying to do and something that had the color you want. The wood selection takes quite a bit of time because there is simply so many types to choose from. But this part is much less time consuming than the other steps of this process.

The design is something that takes quite a bit of time and thought. You have to pick something you are about to dedicate tons of hours to so choose wisely.

So, all in all woodworking is really cool and a hobby I would eventually like to get into, but it is quite expensive and time consuming. Thanks for reading!

Cooking for Fun

Hey everyone,
Today I am going to be going over something that I have gotten into recently. I began baking over this summer and ever since I have loved it. Starting out is pretty easy because you can choose how difficult of things you want to make. I personally love making sweets, and make anything and everything. Recipes have a wide array of difficulty so no matter your experience, once you pick up the hobby you will be able to find something you can do. The best part about baking is not only do you get to do something fun, you get to eat afterwards. Also, lots of people compliment you no matter how hard it was to make as long as the food tastes good.
Starting off, cooking desserts is relatively easy and low stress because if you mess up, it's not like you just wasted money on a whole dinner, it was just for after. I make probably way too many desserts, but that allows me to bring them to people who will always appreciate the fact that you made something for them, even though they might not realize you just don't want to eat so many sweets.
Cooking dinner is something that can be both fun, and healthy. If you live alone, learning to cook your own dinners rather than having a take and bake pizza, going out to eat, or eating a frozen dinner, can help you start eating a more balanced diet. You get to choose from a much wider array of foods when you cook for yourself and that gives you more chances to be healthy. But, cooking isn't all about health. Once you get more skilled at cooking you are able to start eating delicious food that you made yourself that is cheaper than going out. It is quite a rewarding experience all in all. Self satisfaction + tasty food = Lots of happy nights in

So, if you are thinking about learning how to cook, either for yourself or as a hobby, check out some other sources on the internet so you are able to get off on the right track and start to make yourself treats, snacks, dinner, anything you want. Cooking will be able to let you have people over more often if you want to for fancy dinners, and also will let you have a better night in. But, don't think just because you learned how to cook you have to eat  every meal in.

👻 Emojis 👻

In the most recent update of IOS software on iPhones, there was an improvement to iMessage. There was the addition of tons of new Emojis 
Picture from http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/here-are-new-emojis-available-ios-9-1-1519269


There are over 90 new Emojis that were released, most of the ones above are new, some have been around however.

Faces - There was the addition of a hurt face, with bandages around the head, a zipped shut face, a nerd face, a money face, and a detective face. Also some faces now include hands.

Clothing - There was no new clothing added, all of it had been there

Animals- The turkey is new, probably here for Thanksgiving, a unicorn, a scorpion, and a crab

Food- Had the addition of cheese, taco, burrito, wine, popcorn, the plate,

Weather - There was the addition of some new weather based Emojis, including a shooting star

Religious Structures - Various religious buildings were added

These emojis are nice to see and fun to have. Many of them won't be used quite often but some will be more of a success than others. Emojis are really cool and are fun to use when talking to friends. I myself have lots of contacts in my phone with Emojis in the name as a sort of run on joke between me and friends. Emojis are also great for helping express what you mean by a text, as text can be perceived various different ways depending on the mood of the person reading. Something like "We need to talk" could be perceived as there is a problem with out the addition of an Emoji, but with the addition of a happy faced emoji, the whole mood of the text is altered and makes the other person realize you want to talk to them more often, as you haven't talked as much as you would like. Make use of Emojis in your texts with friends, but make sure you don't use them with the wrong people. They do not belong in texts to your boss or other formal texts/emails!