Dylan came over after school. We ate chicken and rice soup for supper, and he polished his off with a bowl of ice cream. He and Ams commenced to hurl hair gel in my hair, and I got back at them. Amanda was shrieking and Dylan was hacking in the bathroom. Such good times. I love those guys.

Dad made a joke, "Let's open a gift tonight," and since it was the fourth time he said it, we had vowed he'd have to honor it. Mom was just shaking her head, and Ams said, "But you promised! Next time he said it we were supposed to open presents!" I added, "Your steely resolve is falling apart. I can't trust anything you say anymore." She succumbed after those words, and I was muching a Christmas tree of Ferrero Rochers before Mike Box swung by.

Mike and I went to Starbucks, drinking coffee and talking about God, postmodernism, modernism, college and life. He is in the process of writing a possible book, and it sounds really interesting. For you bloggers who've been into his blog, you know he's been considering this for some time now. He has connections to push it through and get it "out there," and it would be so awesome if he were to accomplish this. So we shared laughs and stories and insights and discoveries in our journeys, and he is letting me borrow some very interesting books that I plan to dive into over Christmas Break (it is here! Hallelujah! Yes!).

I hope you all enjoy the new picture on the sidebar. The candles were nice, but I tried to add some festive Christmas cheer. It's Doogie. I hope you like him. He's my little Eisenhower.

The A Beautiful Mind theme is playing over and over in my head. Awesome movie. True story.