November Update

So I am horribly at keeping this thing up to date. I can't tell you how many I mean to write something and then something else comes up or I forget.

Anyways, things don't seem to change much. School, home, church, etc. And because of the weather, it feels like the same day repeats itself. I feel like it has been July for a really long time. I can't believe that it is November and I am still wearing capris, tank tops, and sandals. The only thing that is changing are the early mornings and nights. It does get cold here, but they days are still scorchers.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I think that it will be one of the days where I feel homesick. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday, even better than Christmas. Our family always has a lot of people over for Thanksgiving, we eat, and then we play lots of board games. It is the perfect way to spend the holiday. This year, I am still celebrating, but this time with my Dominican family.

I feel so incredibly blessed to have so many people, after only three months of living here, to celebrate Thanksgiving with. We are going to have sixteen people at my house. It is going to be as close to a true American Thanksgiving as possible, but even with all of our trying, I don't think it's going to be very American! I am in charge of pies, and could not find a pumpkin to save my life. So we are having squash pie. I made one yesterday to make sure that it is edible. I think I might like squash pie better than pumpkin pie! We are also having turkey, cranberries, mashed potatoes, green been casserole, salad, and apple cider (apple juice with cinnamon sticks). I am super excited!!

My theory on Christmas has always been that you can't start preparing for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. Here, since they don't have Thanksgiving, it seems that rule is: Christmas preparation starts shortly before Halloween. Lots of people have lights up. The stores here have had Christmas trees up for weeks now. It's odd. A couple weeks ago, I got to listen to the Spanish version of the Little Drummer Boy on highest volume from my neighbor's.

I just finished my second set of midterms. So far I am still passing my classes! I know that it is going to be hard to keep up my motivation. I have four weeks left until I go to the States for vacation and three and half weeks until finals. I register for classes next Monday. I am hoping to get a better class schedule.

Libby is growing like a weed. We are still working on potty training. She knows that peeing on the floor makes me upset (she hides under my bed every time I catch her), but she hasn't figured out where she can pee yet. We've only been doing this for a month. I'm hoping to have her trained by the time I leave for vacation. Thankfully, I have found someone to housesit for me. That is such a blessing.

Felipe escaped the apartment yesterday. I got home from the store and I couldn't find him anywhere. Libby was no help. I looked under all the beds, in all the corners. I even looked in the trash can (I found him in there the other day). Then I started looking out the windows to see if he had jumped. I was getting really worried, when the lady that works in my building knocked and asked in Felipe was here. When I told her that I couldn't find him, she said that the people on the floor below me had found him meowing outside of their door. Evidently, Felipe has a love interest and now uses every opportunity to escape and see her.

I was looking back at my livejournal account (I haven't update that since 2008). Sometimes, as we mature, we cannot see a marked difference. After reading over what I wrote back then, I can say that I have matured substantially. It was incredibly eye opening to read how emo and disturbed I was. I would now like to apologize to everyone who was victim to my emotional instability. I think that might be one of the only reasons to keep a journal, so we can see how far we have come.