Peking Acrobats!

After not having posted since the first week in October- there is so much to post! (Funny how that works, huh?) Actually, technically, there really isn't much to post, but here it is!

1. Christmas- Going home was so nice (aka- getting out of Provo was SO nice!). I loved being back in Boston and away from school. Last semester was a rough one so getting a break was perfect! Here are some highlights from the break. I will warn you though- lot of the pictures came out bad. It's been a long time since I've taken my camera out and really used it like I used to. It's amazing how much less confident I am using it since I don't very much right now.

The freshly "decorated" (aka lit) Christmas tree!

Betsy was super excited about getting the Hunger Games (so am I since I currently have her third book!)

True to form, Jamie hid his present in a random place. This time Michelle was sent to the fridge for her Christmas present from a trail of yarn!

(When I say I didn't take many pictures, I really mean it. Like for real. I didn't use it much- these were the good ones.)

Tyson and I were super excited about BYU's win in the Tulsa Bowl (Michelle- thank-you for this picture!)

2. Shelby is back!! My good friend Shelby (who was also my roommate last year) got back from a mini mission about a month and a half ago and she is back in Provo. It's been so fun to get to see her again. She's crazy and fun and makes Provo a much more fun place. Seriously, it is so easy to get in a rut here and not really do much outside of the usual. However, Shelby is one of those people who just attracts people and fun everywhere and so having her back here has brought a little bit more of excitement and adventure. Last weekend we went to the nickelcade in Orem and it was soooo much fun. Basically, it's like a Chuck E Cheese for adults and I looooved it! I didn't realize you could get so into winning tickets as I did. I scoured the entire place for abandoned tickets and nickels. It was so fun and the people we went with were fun. Fun fun fun! (I realized I was using the word "fun" alot- it is a good word.)

- I don't have any pictures documenting any of this fun. sorry!

3. School has started up again. That has not been so fun. I don't know what it is about me, but my goodness, I cannot focus for the life of me!! I felt like last semester I was really focused and moderately efficient, but also stressed all the time. This semester, though, I've been like a little 5 year old- I cannot sit still! I've been a lot more personable and happy, but way less able to focus. Seriously, I'll have 3 hours to study and in that time maybe get in an hour of studying because I'll sit down in one building, decide I don't actually want to study in there, move to a different building, start studying, remember about someone I wanted to Facebook stalk, and an hour later, remember I was studying, then decide I actually am hungry and want to go to my apartment to eat. I want to be a diligent and hard working student, but man, I make it hard on myself!

4. Work. I decided to stay with Chinese Flagship this semester and I'm really glad I did. Work has been great and let me cut back on my hours. So now I'm only working 15 instead of 20. They also hired a new clerk in the office so now there are 3 of us instead of just 2 which is so so great because it means that the work load isn't so bad anymore, which also means that it's a lot less overwhelming. I am all about that! There are also alot of really great people there that I have been able to get to know through Flagship which has also been great.

5. Peking Acrobats! Yet another reason, I am happy I still work at Flagship. Today we had a Mentoring mini conference for high school students in the area. It was a big event. The idea was to get high school students to meet with students in our program so that they can mentor them and explain to them how the program is helping them. They had classes and other activities for the students before and then a dinner and program. Part of the program was having high school students from Bejing perform, which was really fun. We've also had the Flagship director in Nanjing here this week along with some of the people that we work with in D.C. One of the women from D.C. was the woman that hired me and I worked with her for a few months when I first started working there. I loved working with her and so it was sad to see her leave. It was fun to see her again today and to see her new baby.

The major highlight of the night was that as part of the mini conference, we got to go to see the Peking Acrobats performing at BYU. I brought Andrea with me to celebrate her ability to hear again (she recently has surgery on here ear)! It was INCREDIBLE!!! I loved loved loved it. I am amazed that anyone can survive the stunts they do. The show was amazing and I still cannot get over it. This is definitely not to say that I have taken Cirque Du Soleil off my bucket list, but I was super impressed. I have no idea what brought them to BYU of all places, but I'm glad they did.

Alot of the stunts on this video are ones that they did in our show (including the chair one)!

This is a picture of the Lion Dance they performed. I've seen a couple of these before at some of our events, but haven't ever seen one this intense. It was really cool.

Apparently there was quite a bit to post (just kidding to the comment in the first paragraph!).