Okay, well I got home shortly after midnight on Tuesday the 20th. I had two surprises waiting for me when I got off the plane. Firstly, I see all five members of my family dressed in ridiculous Christmas themed turtle necks waiting for me. Even Papa Clouse, the big, strong daddy that he is, was in one of them. He looked like a goober, which is really difficult for him to accomplish. I still love him anyway though! And then out of the blue, Makayla disappears and then comes back with my next little surprise: my best best BEST friend Erin Timothy. In an ugly turtleneck too, mind you! It was fantactic to see her face after three months of absence.
So then we all head down to the baggage claim to pick up my little suitcase that only weighed 30.5 pounds. Can you say light packing? Yeah I did a good job with packing, watch out! Anyway, so we were all talking and catching up and finally I got my suitcase and we started out to the car in the parking garage. I see the big blue Suburban and then out of no where this guy in a brown shirt says "Here I got that for you" and opens the back door of the car for me. As you can guess, I was slightly confused by the stranger. But then I realized. That was no stranger...and that not stranger had another not stranger in a black button down with him.
I screamed and hugged my bestfriend Zachary Jacob Burton and my other bestfriend Caden Lee Alexander oh so very much! Didn't see that coming? Well, neither did I. (Insert shoulder shrug) See that was the point, duhh. I later found out that my little sister was keeping them aware of my whereabouts at all times via texting. Oh and that they were basically shadowing my every move. They were very discreet and covert about the whole operation. And there you have it! My third and very unexpected, but nonetheless appreciated surprise.
Moving on to Christmas Vacation? I should mention that I was going on a date with Caden only a mere five hours after I got home from school. Yeah, I guess I like jumping straight into the fray, it's cool. I finally ended up heading to bed at two AM and fell asleep an hour after that. Two hours later, I got up and threw on some sweats to go on a hike to watch the sunrise at Usary Pass. It was good fun and as we started down, the group decided that it was a good idea to race down the side of the mountain off of the trail and across cactus and rocks and such. Caden and I were very good at this. We actually were in first place for a good five minutes of the decent. That is until I took a major spill and sort of skidded at the bottom of the mountain. Ouch. I bruised up my knee and hit my boob really hard on a rock. And I was tough and walked it off even though my knee could hardly take any weight. I even started jogging again after the pain died down a bit. Stupid idea? Yes, but whatever, my knee is fine now and it makes for a good story. I even told Caden that I injured my right boob. Guys, just realize, I tend to freely give out that sort of information, soo yeahh...
Christmas Eve was spent a mere five minutes away from my house at Grandma and Grandpa Clouse's house. Needless to say, the food was spectacular as always! It's my goal to be as good of a chef as Grandma Dorothy one day. It is going to happen, you'll see! So we have this tradition of getting new PJ's every Christmas eve and this year was no exception. I love our tradition and plan on continuing it with my eventual future family. We all went to bed by midnight and then got up, opened presents and then my personal favorite part, went to church for Christmas services down at my ward's building/ the stake center. I love it when we have Christmas on Sundays because it just adds even more meaning to an already spiritual holiday. We then went to the Clouse's again before getting a break to make rolls for the Flaws Christmas dinner. That was loads of fun too! I love both sides of my family.
I got to spend a lot of time with my amazing Mesa friends over this break! I adore them with my whole heart, I really do. These people know me so well. They love me even if I sass them or make fun of their hair (Jon and his hobbit hair..) They know how to make me laugh the hardest and they see me at my most embarrassing moments, whether it's Michael and I acting special together, or my attempts to creep on Scott, Zach and I being ourselves, Erin and I being sassy, Jon and I acting awkward and Caden and I writing silly stories and me collapsing to the floor from laughing so hard. There are a bunch of you others that I didn't mention, but I promise that I'm thinking of you too! Seriously Mesa, Arizona has the best people in the ENTIRE world. No joke. We have Jones Night and play all over. Mostly late at my house though... Michael, one day, we will find you a suitable helmet with blue sparkles and everything!
I got to go snowboarding with my Daddy and sisters after about three years of avoiding the slopes. Last time we went to Sunrise, the wind chill had the temperature down in the negatives! For all you non Arizona natives, yes I know you must be in denial about it right now, but Arizona is not just cactus and dirt. That would be about less than half of the state, my friends. We have snow and trees and mountains and lakes too, mmkay David? But yes, I live in the actual desert part.
Okay onto New Years! Haha..well it started out with Makayla and I making cream cheese brownies and lemon bars. Oh and a giant two foot pizza from Venezia's which was delicious even though I kept on thinking about how Caden and Michael told me they did the Venezia's Challenge and Caden puked up all of his pizza after they finished. FUUUNNY! So around nine, Caden and Danielle picked me up and our night began! Eventually we ended up at a fun party where most of the college freshmen were and Danielle and I had this brilliant idea to go to Wal-Mart to pick up some Mardinelli's sparkling cider! I mean, it was New Year's after all! So we found sparkling grape juice instead..but it was still delicious! Eventually, Erin, Danielle and I ended up snuggling together on a hammock and made some fantastic memories. Wiggle. Yeah. I love you girls dearly, by the way. Just going to make that known!
Sadly, the break had to end. And with the end of the break came Zach's farewell. He gave an excellent talk and made me tear up a little. Zach was seriously my best friend. He still is, he's just sort of in Uruguay and I'm in Hawaii. Anyway, so I went to his open house and spent time with everyone. A lot of faces (the boys) are going to be gone when I come home in April. Michael will be in Jamaica and Scott in Idaho. I'm going to miss them a lot, some of my closest friends and you know what, I'm going to be honest. It really sucks that they're leaving. But I do know without a shadow of a doubt that they're doing the right thing by leaving everything they know behind and serving the Lord and His purposes. As much as I will surely miss them, I am so very proud of my friends for making a choice that will effect them only for the better for the rest of their lives. They'll be blessed for their two years of service and I know that when they return, they're going to be even more brilliant and fantastic than they already are.
It was really sad saying goodbye to Zach though. I'll be the first to admit that when the time came, I cried. He's was always there for my senior year, and even after when we headed off to our respective BYU's. Elder Burton, you're going to be a phenomenal missionary and I can say that with the utmost confidence! Your first letter is on its way bud! I can't wait to hear from you!
I cried a little when I got back to Hawaii and thought of how I can't talk to Zach, or skype him for the next two years. Shut it. He's my bestfriend, mmkay?
But I've been reunited with my Hawaiian family and we have been nearly inseparable since we've all been back! I was the fashionably late one seeing as I got back to school on the 9th. AKA the first day of Winter Semester. Whoops. But I had to see Zach's farewell and there isn't anything wrong with being fashionably late, yeah?
We've been to the beach several times together and boy has it been fun! We also eat every meal together and at least one of them is with me at night. I love these people so much. And they're slowly but surely getting to know the Haleigh that my Mesa people know. I don't know if this is a good thing? Oh well, they haven't let me in the dust yet! We're going on a hike this weekend. I am sort of really really stoked for it. And also, of course we'll be spending a great deal of time relaxing on the beaches near school. I WILL come home with browned skin this time.
Did I mention I have a jogging class two days a week at six in the MORNING? Well now I have. Whoot whoot. Sike. I hate it. I would kill it if I could. But I like to think of the class as the means to blasting the fat off of my legs. I'm going to have sexy track legs again minus the attractive shorts tan line. This morning, we ran 4.5 miles. That is the most I've ever ran! I am very proud of this accomplishment. And guess what, I only stopped twice for a few minutes each..soo yeahh I'm not as terribly out of shape like I expected to be. I get to do this all semester ladies and gents.
I should mention also that I am addicted to Vampire Diaries. Even though I swore off everything with fangs three years ago. Whoops. Damon Salvatore is just too handsome for me to resist, mmkay? But that's fine, because since I caught up to the present episode, I can focus on studying in the library agian. Ughh. I hate that place passionately. Stupid library people and brain melting books.
Okay, this is picture time:
First night with some of the group of the Mesa kids! We got naked guys...
Sike, getting Naked costs too much, I got hot chocolate instead. So did Michael annd not Scott and Spencer
Sun's game with my bestfriend Zachary!!
New Year's Eve with Erin and Danielle! We had good times on that hammock
Snow boarding with Papa and my sisters! We look like marshmallows, I know it...
Caressa's birthday on the beach! World War Sand occurred on those shores that day.
I wish I had an iPhone.. they come in handy for moments like this one.
And here when Sumner and I were preparing ourselves to be stealthy scary intense intimidating and fearless bouncers. Yeah that's right, we are tough.
Well, I should promise to update more, but as you can tell, I don't do well with updates and such.
Peace out and I hope you enjoyed reading about my life, you dirty little stalkers
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