Christmas 06'

What a wonderful Christmas! Well, I didn’t have time to write on Christmas day, or the many days after for that matter, but here I am writing, finally, about my wonderful Christmas experience. It basically started on Christmas Eve going into Christmas Day at midnight when my family and I went to midnight mass. We got all dolled up and were looking pretty good if I do say so myself. haha. After church we went up to my Aunt Rita and Uncle Chuck’s house for a little yearly shin dig where we chat and eat a lot of food..preparing for Christmas Day food. Us Henley’s are pretty impressive. So, I got home around 3 am Christmas Day and after taking some family pictures I got to bed around 3:30. Just before Santa and Mrs. Clause started to listen to some bad TV Christmas Music Channel while they put the presents under the Lunt tree. It was a good thing I went to bed when I did. I don’t know how long I could have listened to that channel. It was this bad Jazz Christmas stuff that sounded like Mr. and Mrs. Clause were trying to get it on. (not cool!) Anywhen…

I woke up at 9 am and laid in bed for a little bit…just relaxing. 9 is relatively later than we usually wake up for Christmas Day, but it was when Christian and Kate made it up to the house. So, we started unwrapping presents around 9:45 and didn’t get done till about 11:15 since we still unwrap presents one at a time and talk in between. It’s ridiculous but I love it. So my family was pretty happy with the gifts they got from me, even Christian and Patrick who are near impossible to shop for. My favorite present I gave was an engraved star ornament for my aunt and uncle. It made them cry they liked it so much. Yeah…I’m a great gift picker outer for people. Seriously…you should want to be my friend around Christmas. lol.

My Christmas intake on the other hand was just as enjoyable. I got some CD’s, some books, a few DVD’s, and lots of clothes. My favorites include The Beatle The White Album (LOVE IT!) from my parents, Catcher and the Rye from Patrick, and The New Adventures of Lois and Clark Season One from Katherine. I love my sibby…she knows me so well. lol. I also love all my new clothes. I got three green shirts (all different shades...) from AE. They are all SO me. haha. I also got some green pajama pants and a nice red sweater and red sweatpants too. So, I have a whole new Red and Green Christmas wardrobe. haha. It may sound like I got a lot of stuff for Christmas and the truth is that yes..I did. Every year my parents say they aren’t getting us that much, but we end up getting spoiled in the end. Not that I’m complaining or anything…but I never expect so much from them. I think mom just likes buying stuff for her girls since her boys are so hard to shop for. But anywhen…

Christmas day we all went up to grandma’s and ate lots of glorious food (specifically the dressing that just melts in your mouth) and played board games and just hung out Henley style. lol. Another enjoyable holiday and I can’t believe it’s over already. But I still consider it Christmas even though New Years is next and there is no snow, which totally sucks! Pissed about that. But anyway…that’s it for now. I’ll make the next entry shorter.

The Eleven Days of Christmas

My Christmas break so far has been very eventful and lots of fun. I will just sum up the past eleven days leading up to Christmas Day because I’m sure the entry after Christmas will be all about what I got, how much food I ate, and how much I love my mom and dad. So… on that note…my eleven days of Christmas.

Day 1- Thursday the 14th. A day full of sleepy Marissa studying for finals. John and Matt came over to study EDT, took that final, then studied FOREVER for Theatre History and wrote my 3 ½ page paper for it. Finally went to bed at 5:30 only to wake up two ½ hours later to study more.

Day 2- Friday the 15th. I got done with my last final (theatre history) around 2. That class can burn in hell! I had a horrible finals week and only got 3 hours of sleep a night I swear. So by the time 2 rolled around I was so ecstatic. You couldn’t have wiped that smile off my face for anything and I was so hyper! So, I met my family in Columbus where we saw Cats. Cats was AMAZAZING!! I didn’t know what to expect because you know..it’s not a very popular show because it’s been way too overdone on Broadway. But I loved it!

Day 3- Saturday the 16th. We went to visit my expecting cousin Tanya and her hubby Chad. They have a beautiful house and will soon have a beautiful daughter. Then we went shopping. And considering I didn’t have any presents bought yet and we spent all day shopping you’d think I would have gotten a good start. But I only got two presents out of the many many that I needed yet. Then I came home and went to Clint’s home coming party. It was really fun and it was GREAT seeing him again.


Day 4- Sunday the 17th. I accidentally missed church because of lack of sleep Saturday night and the 8 nights before. I slept in then went to see Tenacious D Pick of Destiny with Amy and Josh. It rocked my socks off!!! Then went and made hard tac at G-ma’s. Fun Fun.

Day 5- Monday the 18th. I went to the Chiropractor (thank God for Chiroptractors), then helped mom out in the classroom, got ten inches cut off my hair for locks of love (that took a lot of guts), and then went to Mansfield with Josh and Will.
Before After


Day 6- Tuesday the 19th. Katherine and I woke up early and spent about 8 hours shopping. And I still didn’t get all my presents done. Jeeze. Then Tiffani and I went over to Clint’s house to hang out with him and all the boys.

Day 7- Wednesday the 20th. I went to mom’s school again and spent all day with her awesome Kindergarten class. Then I went to watch a movie and hang out with Clint.

Day 8- Thursday the 21st. Woke up very early after about two hours of sleep and drove to Put In Bay with mom, dad, and Katherine. Caught the 10:00 boat and spent all day visiting with dad’s relatives and my four adorable little cousins. Good times…good family.

Day 9- Friday the 22nd. Woke up early again after once again..little, little sleep (the story of my life) and caught the 9:30 boat back to the mainland. Stopped at Sandusky to do a tad bit more shopping. I think I finally got it done. P.S. I wonder how much in debt I am going to be for spending money on gifts when I have no money to spend. Oh well…it’s Christmas and I wouldn’t have it any other way. We were going to go clubbing with tons of people Friday night but things got messed up and instead Brandi and I went over to hang out at Clint’s with him and Grant.

Day 10- Saturday the 23rd. I woke up and did randomness around the house..you know…cleaning, wrapping presents, laundry, ran some errands, went up to clean my grandma’s bathrooms (P.S. I wonder if I will ever get over my supreme hatred for cleaning bathrooms. Because I look at my mom and even Katherine and they don’t mind it..but someday I will be a mother and cleaning my own house and what not and I HATE cleaning bathrooms..) Then we hosted a gingerbread house party with lots of candy and fun. My gingerbread house was pretty sweet…but it totally caved in because I didn’t put any supports inside. But, overall a good attempt at my first gingerbread house. Now I know better for next year. After that was over Brandi and I went out to Clint’s to hang out with all the boys. (I swear I’ve been to his house just as much as mine this break…and I’ve seen those boys almost as much as I saw them over the whole summer.)
Mine is the one on the far left in the back row..


Day 11- Sunday the 24th. Christmas Eve !!! YEA!! A beautiful lazy Sunday. Today I woke up with a stupid cold, throat so sore that I couldn’t swallow, a shooting pain in my head, feeling more groggy than ever, and a very stuffy/runny nose. I tried to grin and bear it so I went to church, but was only there for a half hour before I decided to come back home. So I slept for four hours which was glorious. Woke up and basically did nothing except random things like write this entry. I am currently wasting time until midnight mass tonight and then the annual after mass party at Lauren and Twila’s house. Gotta love those Henley’s.

So, I will write about the Twelfth Day of Christmas tomorrow and about all the glorious things that will come. Sorry this was so long and thanks for sticking with it till the end. Merry Christmas!

10 Movies to make me smile : )

I turned on the tv yesterday and the movie Groundhog Day was on. I haven't seen this movie in SUCH a long time. It's one of my mom's all time favorite movies (right up there with Camelot) and I know even she hasn't seen it is a while. This made get to thinking which movies I haven't seen in a while that I know would put an instand smile on my face. Here's what I came up with.

1. The Very Thought of You- GREAT movie, but not well known at all. It's with Joseph Fiennes (total cutie) and Monica Potter. (the girl who resembles Julia Roberts and was in Head Over Heels with Freddie Prinze Jr.)

2. Baby's Day Out- How can you not get a kick out of this movie.

3. Secret Admirer- An 80's movie with Kelly Preston as the "hot popular girl" and a young Lori Laughlin (Becky from Full House).

4. From Dusk Till Dawn- George Clooney(acting) + Quentin Tarantino(writing and acting) + Robert Rodriguez(directing) + vampires = brilliance

5. American Outlaws- Not the greatest movie of all time...and although it has Colin Ferrell (thumbs down ) in it before he got famous I still remember liking it. I wonder if it's actually decent or I just have a really bad memory.

6. Baby Geniuses- Great movie. Little kids are so adorable.

7. The Parent Trap- I'm talking about the 1961 version- not the Lindsay Lohan one. There is something so charming about Hayley Mills as a teenager and Katherine and I used to sing that "Let's Get Together" song all the time when we were little.

8. Swiss Family Robinson- A Classic oldie! I was obsessed with this movie at one point in time because my ultimate dream is to live in a huge tree house! Who wouldn't? And this tree house is AMAZAZING! Plus, I remember the oldest brother, Fritz (James MacArthur), being very rugged and handsome. lol.

9. Happily Ever After- My sister and I just happened upon this movie in a video store once. It is like Snow White 2 except that I don't believe it's Disney and it's about the 7 Dwarfs cousins (all girls) and Snow White has to save the prince. It's interesting but we loved it! And it has random people's voices like Zsa Zsa Gabor and Carol Channing (whom I am convinced has the worst voice in the world- especially when she plays Dolly in Hello Dolly).

10. Hackers- A brilliant movie that is becoming more popular with time I believe. Many many years ago (it came out in 1995) when I first saw it not many people had ever heard of it. Then I was shocked to here Sam had seen it, and then all the band people saw it on their way to Disney or something, and just recently I found out it is one of my cousin, Josh's, favorite movies. SWEET! I'm glad people are actually finding out about this movie. It has a young Angelina Jolie with short short hair that might actually be a wig and her first real life husband (yes...before the Billy Bob Thorton incident and the Brad Pitt shocker) Johnny Lee Miller (who in my opinion is much better looking than Billy Bob).

So, there are the ten movies that came to mind. I would pretty much LOVE to watch any one of them right now- especially since what I have to do is study for more finals. If you have not seen some of these movies I encourage you to rent them and then invite me over

5 Relationship Resolutions for 2007

I was wasting time on msn.com and came across this article. I pretty much LOVED it and so now I am sharing it with everyone who cares to read it. It sounds like a great idea. So, maybe if I try it I will have better luck in my relationships.

5 RELATIONSHIP RESOLUTIONS for 2007
by Heather Hunter for iVillage

At 27, I found myself standing on a Manhattan sidewalk, staring into the scruffy face of yet another huge dating disaster. Lied to, mistreated and cheated on, I'd been publicly humiliated. My ego was crushed. Having loved and lost and lost again, I felt frustrated, beaten down and so very tired of this thing called love. And I was full of the why-me's. Why didn't he love me? Why did this happen to me? Why does this always happen to me?

Several weeks after my breakup, the pity party was still in full swing. Lying on my living room sofa, in a mess of soggy tissues and gooey Fudgsicle sticks, I was spending the umpteenth consecutive night communing with Netflix and my misery. It was ugly. But then, right in the middle of all that feeling sorry for myself, something pretty amazing happened: I heard a song. Actually, it was just one line from a song:

"It's not going to stop 'til you wise up."

It was a line from Aimee Mann's "Wise Up," and after hearing the song just once, I made it my anthem. I downloaded it to my iPod, hit repeat and then commuted to it, cried to it, showered to it... until the day I was ready to do some actual wising up. I had learned from my experience, but it took my listening to those lyrics, articulated in just the right way, before I understood it.
Bad relationships didn't just happen to me. I allowed them to happen.
And it was time to put a stop to it. I would set boundaries - a set of relationship resolutions - for myself and for those I spent time with, and I would stick to them.

1. I will learn to say "next!"
Plain and simple, the world is full of men. Everywhere you turn, there's a man. Look - there goes one now! A wise woman once told me that men are like city buses: If you miss one, there will always be another. I decided that, from now on, I would not assign any man too much meaning too early on. I am not going to worry that I won't find "it" again. I will not worry that I'll end up in a rocking chair surrounded by cats and empty wine bottles. I will remember that there will always be another.

2. I will expect more and tolerate less
Not all men are self-loathing, egocentric, cheating bastards. In fact, most people have a lot more good to them than bad, and by and large, will live up to the expectations you set for them. Not since junior high have I worried that a friend would hurt or disappoint me. But with men, it's been a constant fear. I realized that this was all because of expectations. If I did not expect - or even demand - that a man treat me right, he probably wasn't going to. I'm not talking about princessy stuff here, like buying me dinner or calling by Tuesday if he wants to see me on Saturday. I'm talking about basic good treatment. Like following through with plans. Or being aware of my feelings. Or not leaving his cell phone on another girl's nightstand and telling me he'd lost it. You know, common consideration. And when common consideration is breached? Next!

3. I will get busy
Because men are wired differently and may as well live in a different time zone, playing the "why hasn't he called?" game is a guaranteed express trip to Crazytown. Why hasn't he called? Who knows? But I do know that I should be too busy to worry about it. Untapped potential was like my emotional saddlebags - unattractive even if no one noticed it but me. I resolved to make plans, resurrect my hobbies and spend my time doing and thinking and being. If he calls, great! If not, I will be way too occupied with all my fabulous self-fulfillment to notice.

4. I will not play it cool
To keep myself from feeling exposed and vulnerable, I'd gotten very good at using the phrase "that's okay" when it was really, really not okay. There were so many times I didn't get angry when I should have, for fear of coming off as too emotional or unhinged. Well, you know what? Unhinge this! If the situation calls for it, and the difference between sucking it up and having a bit of a blowup could be months of festering in a foul mood, I'm going to let him have it. The same goes for positive emotions. If a man does something to delight me, I'm going to act delighted. Forget cool sophistication! And if he gets weirded out by all of my emoting? You guessed it: Next!

5. I will lighten up
The pursuit and maintenance of coupling may have made me do surprising things, but even more astounding was what it made me forget. I am pretty damn awesome. I am funny and talented, and I look pretty smokin' in jeans and stilettos. Getting caught up in the worry of trying to please a man, and working overtime to postpone an inevitable breakup is a huge time-waster. And a killjoy. A man's opinion of me is not more important that my own opinion of myself, so I shouldn't take it so seriously. I will remember to laugh more, worry less and like who I am - man or no man - and to redirect some of that energy into pleasing myself.

Unlike New Year's resolutions, which last only as long as my dieting attention span (six weeks max), my Relationship Resolutions have become ironclad. They've become a safety net and are a constant reminder that I don't need to second-guess myself or feel insecure. By wising up and following my resolutions, I might spend more time by myself than I did in the past. But on the upside, I've discovered that I like the company a whole lot more.

I Need Your Opinion!

Okay people! I need help! I haven’t had a new watch since my sophomore year of high school. That’s a really long time…about three and a half years! Now, the reason I haven’t gotten a new one is because I really love the one I have now. Sure it’s scratched and kind of rusting underneath the links, but it’s still holding strong. I’m sad to get rid of it. But I just decided that it’s time for a change.

So, usually I am REALLY picky when it comes to my watches. I don’t like digital ones. I prefer classier/dressier girly watches. And also, the faces have to have numbers on them. Not all 12 of the numbers, but at least the 12, 3, 6, and 9. (I know…I’m ridiculous!) And I really like watches that have dots, or marks, or something to show where the missing numbers would be. So I don’t have to guess when I’m looking at the time. (Which I do about every 15 minutes- especially during boring classes and when I’m studying)

So, I got on Fossil’s site (my favorite watch brand and the only brand I’ve ever gotten) and picked out three watches. But I CAN NOT make up my mind…! So, please help me out! Tell me what you think! Which watch is more “Marissa-like”? So, just comment or IM me and let me know please. Option 1, 2, or 3? (P.S. They are all the same price)

1. Silver Textured Dial 2. Emma 3. Pearlized White Dial

It's Beginning to Feel a lot like Christmas

December 4th!! Less than three weeks to Christmas!! If you can’t tell I am in a slightly better mood than my last entry, which was this past Friday (before I went home). Well, Friday totally sucked and I almost didn’t get to go home, but then I just decided to drive home by myself instead of waiting for Twila so I could have more than six hours at home. Instead I stayed until Sunday! Yea! I had a fabulous weekend filled with Christmas! And that, that makes me happy! So, this was my Christmasy filled weekend that put me into a glorious mood!

I pulled into my driveway Friday night around 10:40 and began to smile as I saw the lights my dad had put up on the house and garage. It’s been SO long since we’ve had Christmas lights up, because we didn’t want to ruin our “new” siding, which is actually about five years old. But my dad worked around the siding and our house is Christmasy again! YEA!! Then I walked into my house and saw our big tree all lit up and it felt like Christmas…for the first time this year!

Saturday I woke up to go run errands with mom. We picked up a bunch of Christmas things to decorate our truck with for the Christmas Parade. My parents had to be in it for Academic Boosters, so I decided to ride in the back of the truck with my mom and throw candy. It was actually fun. We had wreaths and decorative tinsel strings on the truck and mom and I wore reindeer ears as we threw the candy. Very Christmasy. Then I helped mom decorate our front porch with an abundance of random things that she has been collecting over the years. We sure stuffed a lot of stuff out there. I regret that I can not be home to finish helping her decorate the rest of the house..but she is saving us the other tree to decorate the day we get back from school. Thanks mom!

Sunday I left home around 11:30, got to Miami around 3:30 and Katherine and I went to a Corridor Christmas Party. It was SUCH a surprise. Our RA wrote to all of our parents and asked them to send us a gift with a memory of one of our past Christmas’s. It was soo sweet…mom wrote a lot of hints in our memory so that we would be able to know it was our present when the other girls read them. After most memories no one knew whose it was because it was so broad, but because of mom’s 10 thousand hints I could tell it was my memory after the very fist line. Lol. Thanks mom..you’re too cute. And my present was glorious! It was the complete works by Jane Austen. Mom is trying to get that Book Collection of mine started. Lol. After the Christmas Party Katherine and I spent about two hours (maybe I’m exaggerating) decorating our room. We put up our little fiber-optic Christmas tree, white Christmas lights all the way around the room, red tinsel streamers on the outside door and around the TV, and paper snowflakes on the door. P.S. I SUCK at making snowflakes! I am incapable of it!

So, although I went to bed feeling completely bombarded with the thoughts of how far behind I am in all of my classes/hw because of my lovely procrastination skills, I went to bed feeling Christmasy. Then I woke up this morning to an array of Christmas lights and very cold weather and snow flurries!! Finally! A form of snow! Now all we need are inches! I LOVE Christmas and just the simple fact that there are less than three weeks till Christmas and that it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas is enough to make me calm down about finals and enjoy the my glorious surroundings. Thank you Christmas!

Ranting

So, today is December 1st. The beginning of the most glorious month. That's right! It is officially Christmas Time. So you'd think that I would be in a super duper good mood. Well, I'm not in an absolute TERRIBLE mood because I'm totally going home tonight till Saturday night. (only basically 24 hours but it is much needed) But at the same time, I'm not as happy as I should be. Maybe it's because those finals are lurking around the corner and I still have a quiz in Greek, a workbook in Stagecraft, and a 6-8 page term paper due in Antiquity. All due before finals week. AH!!! Or maybe it's because I was a complete lazy ass this week and did not go to the rec! er!!! Dang you Thanksgiving Break and all your glorious food and relaxation that made it so hard for me to get back into the "swing of things". sigh...

Anywhen...as I am sure that you are tired of me ranting...but you are going to have to hang in there for a few more paragraphs because this entry is not over and I have some venting to do. So, my list of things that are pissing me off today.

1. For the whole semester I have created a permanent study spot and position which is on my bed laying on my stomach and elbows. Well, due to this position my elbows have become red, dry, and sore. But I can't seem to be comfortable studying in any other way or any other position. Which sucks because this position also screws up my back really bad. So, my back hurts, my elbows hurt, and I'm dreading finals week when I will be fixed in this position for basically 5 days straight.

2. Every time I have a Physical Science Exam I study and am pretty happy with my knowledge of the material. But then I end up taking the exam and realize that this teacher SUCKS! She tries to trick you on the exams (even though she says during every class "if you know the material you will do fine- I lay it out exactly as it is in notes) Bull crap Dr. V! And not only does she try to trick you, but she won't answer any of the questions you have. Every time I ask her a question she answers "you need to know that". Duh! I know I do..but I don't understand your stupid question! Like, she won't even explain if by 'and' she means 'and' or 'plus'. And they are very different. ER!!! So, out of 60 questions..I probably guessed on about 7 or 8 of them..and that's not good.

3. My phone, after a week and a half of working perfectly fine and normal, has no decided to be crap again. WHY!!!??? I thought it fixed itself by some miracle or maybe because God actually does like me..but no..he was just messing with me. ha ha. Funny God...very funny...So, yeah..my phone is on the fritz again. sigh..

4. I am so behind in Greek and Antiquity. I don't know how I let it happen. I guess it first started by me procrastinating over Thanksgiving Break, and then having a two hour conversation with Matt (which maybe wasn't the best addition to my already depressed mood) instead of doing my homework. And then I don't know why I put it off the other days. So now, I have to read about 100 pages of stupid stuff about Nero and The Fall of the Roman Empire. Man...

5. Did I mention I haven't been to the Rec all week? Yeah..I suck...

6. The weather is nuts! I'm glad that it is not sunny and hot and I'm glad that it's not rainy and humid. But seriously if it's going to be this windy the least you can do, Mr. Weatherman, is MAKE IT SNOW!!! Come on..just an inch or two. Come on...come on...

Well, that is it. I don't know if I feel exactly 100 % better after getting all this down on "paper" but it'll all work out I'm sure. Just 15 days till Christmas Break. That's it! Hang in there! Atleast I have those amazazing friends of mine. Especially Brandon, Josh, and Tiffie right now.

(hey...atleast I ended this rant with a smiley face!)