Home for the Holidays!

When classes wind down and finals week comes to a close there is a special magic in the air that seems to whisper consistently to each student at BYU that "ITS CHRISTMAS TIME!!!" ... or something like that. The truth is, only those that have had to go through a fall semester at BYU would understand what I am talking about... another semester under the belt... and as I turn to face the upcoming winter semester, I thank the heavens for the Christmas break where I can regain my balance and warm up for the next challenges ahead. Coming up next year, an 8:00 AM Geography class Monday, Wednesday, and Friday... yuck.

But before I buckle down for what promises to be an exciting adventure I get to come home and relax with the family for a couple of weeks. I must say the queen sized, pillow-top mattress awaiting me at home added some excitement to the holidays as well... :) Life here is going well. Dad had his surgery and is recovering relatively quickly. My brother is sore from snowboarding all day Saturday and whimpers a little when he has to move but he's pretty "legit" (as he would say), Mom is getting ready for our new fridge arriving today, and I am just glad to be home for a while! :)

To catch up in general...
There has been a lot of holiday celebration already this month. We went up to Salt Lake as with a group of us and it turned out to be a lot of fun. I got to hang out with my cousin,my boy, and some good friends from my ward. We got to see the lights at Temple Square and visit with a few pioneers up at This is the Place Heritage Park. It was fun to see my old friends from the summer again. I always feel loved and accepted with Brother Brigham and his wife that I love seeing them! :)
My boy and I did get to go volunteer at This is the Place the other night. It was so much fun! We nearly froze but had quite the pioneer experience. It definitely added to the spirit of a simple, non-commercialized Christmas. I know now how fortunate I am to live where and when I do. I also got to talk with some of the little children that came through our little cabin. They were all excited with the activities of the night and all had that special Christmas glow in their eyes. I will say, it was one of my favorite things I've done (and I am very glad that my boy was willing to go with me. :] )
Now it is just chillin' with the fam and watching the snow fall outside.

I voted. Did you?

I got to vote for the first time yesterday. It was rather exciting. I drove up to Orem Jr. and found the table where my last name would be. I registered weeks ago but I still had a few apprehensions about whether it worked or not... when I arrived they looked up my name. My parents were on the list but I wasn't. The lady then sent me to a different table to create a paper ballot for me to vote on. As I took up my pencil to start voting the lady from the first table called me over because she'd found me... my name was spelled "Scibner" so when she looked under SCR she couldn't find me. So I got to use the electronic machine after all.
When I got to my apartment Megan and I watched the election results on the news, switching between Comedy Central and the real news... Exciting stuff... I was impressed with the speech that McCain gave in Arizona and I believe he is right. I received this quote yesterday as well. I thought it was good. :
Carpe Diem -The World Today, "I got into politics once...became a republican and half the nation hated me...became a democrat and half the nation hated me...then I became an independent and the entire nation thought I was weird! Now I've decided to make the best of it all regardless of who lives in the White House. I urge all to look to making tomorrow one step better than today. No 2012 talk will help, only 2008-2009, TODAY. Lets make the U.S. and the world a better place for the human race!"

In other news... Halloween was a BLAST! Ica and I decided a long time ago to dress as Elphaba the "Wicked Witch of the West" and Glinda the "Good Witch from the North." Not to go too easy we also decided that the blonde would go dark and the brunette would have to go blonde! :) We looked good if I do say so myself (which I do). Check it out! Ica's taller than me in those insane shoes of hers... and I'm still finding random green spots...
School is going well. The papers, projects, and tests are keeping me on my toes but I'm still here so I guess it could be worse right?! :)
Finally, World news. The Missionaries are working hard and it seems all around the work is progressing forward. In Japan, Josh has some pretty regular investigators whom the missionaries are very excited about. Travis in France is always telling us the church is true. We hear of baptisms happening over there as well. Jonathan in Spain just wrote to tell us about a baptism that happened this last week, and new companions. In Brazil Donny is finishing up in the MTC and will be out in Maecio shortly. Indonesia hasn't slowed Xander down any. They have some investigators as he learns the language and grows accustomed to the humidity. He says the 4:30 am call for prayer for the Muslims doesn't bother him anymore either. :) Back in the home front of the U.S. Seth in Chicago had us all send him birthday cards so he couldn't hide the fact that it was his birthday. He also told me that I sent him Jonathan's letter by mistake... oops! That means Jonathan got Seth's letter... *sigh* it was bound to happen at least once! :)

Here is my first ever blog entry. I'm not exactly how these things work, but I thought it could be fun to try it out. :) Its fun to see what people are up to and not be on Facebook. Well, here goes!