The Holiday Season in Upon Us

Oh wait, I guess the holiday season just ended. I feel like my life has been a blur every since Thanksgiving came around. Here are some things that have been going with me:

For Thanksgiving, my mom, dad, Josh and Amy came out for a week! It was awesome! And for once, it didn't rain while my parents were here. Amazing! We had a fabulous, fabulous time.

Then, a couple of weeks later, my semester ended at school and I flew home. Jeni flew home a few days before me and we got to spend almost three weeks at home with my mom and dad. It was, of course, an amazing time.... but also really busy! Oh, and did I mention COLD?!?! For some reason, the cold affected me more this year than it did last year and I felt like I never really warmed up until I landed back here in Hawaii. And it didn't help things out much when we went up to Tahoe for new Years! I really wanted to take a picture of all the Elson girls (including Amy) with their Ugs on and me with my Converse. Sidenote: Converse are not made for the snow.

I flew back here to Hawaii on January 7 and started school this past Thursday. Only ten weeks until Spring break! :) (thanks Jill for helping me to count my school year in weeks!). As for life here in Hawaii. As you might know, the beginning of this year was really rough on me in a lot of ways. But God is so faithful and I literally just clung to Him for my every breath at times. And He has brought me out of the dark times and into a glorious period of rest. Its amazing to experience God's peace and restoration even in the midst of what should be difficult times. I wish I had exciting news to report, but life is still pretty same ol', same ol' around here... which is ok too. I have learned to appreciate this time that I have to spend with God and learn more about Him. I know it actually is a blessing to have so much time on my hands, even though sometimes it feels like my worst enemy :). I also started going to a new church a while back and have started to go to a Bible study. It's been really cool to start to meet people and fellowship with likeminded believers. Its been a real blessing. I am praying about what ministry God wants me to get involved in. Anyway, that's just a basic rundown!

Here are some random pictures of both Thanksgiving and Christmas.