I'm writing this a few days before New Year's Eve comes around, as I'm not sure what my internet connection will be or if I will even have plans to post this! This year has been quite different. I guess I can say that, though nobody really expects it to be the same as the year before, I think it's pretty common to wish each year were different in a good way. 

 This year I learned a lot of good lessons, had to make some tough decisions, and made some pretty great friends. Reflecting back on the year, I don't think I would say I would regret any of it. Here are some of the lessons I have learned looking back on this year. 

People leave. Whether you have known each other for years and at one point thought you'd be best friends forever. It didn't stick. It's different when you go to college or uni, especially for me since I chose to stay at a university near home. But I didn't think I would be the one to leave the group. Honestly. It was the best thing that ever happened to me, even though it was really tough at first.

Numbers don't matter. No matter how many "friends" you can count on your facebook page. It's better to have closer ones you can count on your fingers. For me, they came later in the year, and my best friend came right when I needed her the most.

Being sincere changes the world. Telling someone "hey you make my day" can really change their life. Try it. Tell your best friend she's inspiring, tell someone "hey that thing you did just now really made me happy." Because maybe they're having a bad day and you wouldn't know, but when they go home they might smile because of that.

I learned some smaller things too like, if I want to buy a fish I can even though my parents may not love it as much as I do, though shuttling the fish to someone's home so they can care for it is not the best. (My fish's name is Latte.) I learned that with people leaving, 
people will stay. And they are the best, and you should never let them go. I learned that ice tea is very addicting and I also don't care, I love it so much. 

Along with a New Year on the horizon, I am also excited for what it has to bring. 
 I'm going to the One Direction concert in Milwaukee in August. I might be going to Chicago for a weekend (stay tuned). My really good friend is getting married. I might visit New York City at the end of the year too (stay tuned for that). Maybe since I'm ending 2014 traveling and starting 2015 traveling..it'll be the year of travel for me? We'll just have to see. 


       I hope you all are having a great end of the year and I hope your holidays were incredible as well! What are you looking to the most in 2015? 

Christmas is so incredibly close, I can hardly wait. I have my cards sent, my gifts partially finished but on the calendar to be given out and the cookies all baked. It's been different these past two years as I have really gotten into Christmas. I'm not really sure what happened, I just started getting really excited about it. It was probably watching Vlogmas last year and some of Zoe's enthusiasm rubbed off onto me (that can happen right?)

   Anyway, it started off as a regular day, I planned on finishing up my final paper, and studying for my first exam of exam week over at one of my favorite coffee shops where my friend works. Except, when my sister came upstairs to say there was something in her window well...well I had to check it out. 
 Sitting in the rocks, trying to make sense of how he had possibly gotten stuck in such a mess, was a Vole...which are also called field mice. I'll be honest, mice are not my favorite animals, though when they're separated by a glass window with no way of getting inside, it's fine. 
  This little guy was quick. He scurried around amongst the rocks and looked sort of cute. He, whether or not it was actually a male or female is a mystery, became known as Dexter. 

 Every year either a few days or a week after Thanksgiving, my dad, sister and I venture out. 
We dress in our warm outfits and drive a few miles, to a Christmas Tree Farm. 
There are many different ways people get their Christmas trees, you can either pick one up in a store, have a fake tree, or gather one from a parking lot. Where I live, it's pretty common to chop down your own at a Christmas Tree Farm. These farms are family owned, fun places to go and get one of the most important symbols of Christmas time!
 The past few years or so we've been trying out new places, this year was no different and it was just as fun!

Some things never change when it comes to the holiday season. Whether it be waking up and getting to open your stockings stuffed with gifts for St Nick's Day, decorating your Christmas tree with your family, or baking certain foods, it's something that you've probably come to love when the lovely month of December rolls in. 
 Something that I've always liked to do is make truffles with my grandma. Chocolate truffles are probably one of my favorite, closely tied with the cookies that hold the Reese's cups inside them (already planned a post about those, stay tuned!) It's a fairly simple recipe and doesn't take that much time at all! 
 If you love chocolate, then you'll love this post! At least, I think you will! 
  

The recipe my grandmother follows calls for: 
 45 Oreo cookies (regular or double stuffed), we use two of the packages. 
 1(8 ounce) package cream cheese softened
 2(8 ounce) packages of semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

First, you want to crush 9 or 10 of the Oreo cookies and set the crumbs aside. Make sure their small parcels, as they're going to be on top of the truffles! 

 Secondly, grab a large bowl, putting in the creme cheese and follow up by crushing the first box of cookies and a few of the other box. After you've done this, you can now mix the crumbs with the creme cheese. 

 This is when you bring out your baking sheet, setting some wax paper on top in order to keep the mess at bay. Roll the creme cheese-oreo combination into small balls, setting each on the pan. It doesn't matter in this case, how close you set the balls because you're not putting them into the oven so no need to worry about them spreading! 
After you've rolled the mixture into the balls, drop them into the chocolate. To make it a little more runny, my grandmother added a bit of cooking wax. You roll the ball in the chocolate and drop it back onto the pan, sprinkling a bit of those extra oreo crumbs that you've set aside, on top! 


Once you've done this, you can now put them into the fridge to cool for about 15 to 20 minutes. 
Then you can enjoy this excellent treat! 
Like I said, I love making (and eating) these during the holidays! And I hope you give them a try! Let me know how they turn out for you! 

With everyone doing Blogmas, I decided that I would attempt, and I do mean attempt, don't hold me to posting everyday because I just might...not do that but I will try my best to post more often this month! (Maybe three times a week?) 
 My good pal Heidi over at heidis1haven had tagged me in this tag. As it's too late to do the Autumn Tag (sorry Heidi) I thought I would dive right in and do this one. After all, it is Christmas time isn't it? 

Whether you're from the United States or not, you have probably heard of Thanksgiving. Not everyone celebrates the holiday, though most do, it's not a very religious one. If you haven't heard of the holiday before don't worry! I'm here! 

Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November every year. This came after the pilgrims (those people who came over from England to a "new world") had their first harvest in 1621. Back in 1621, Thanksgiving was celebrated for 3 straight days. Ever since then, we've been having a great time with the holiday. 

 Everyone celebrates Thanksgiving differently, especially now that we have our mothers and fathers sides of the family and sometimes we can't always get to every meal. And as much as you really think you can, you cannot possibly go to more than one meal and clear your entire plate of food off. No matter how strongly your grandparents might persist. 
Usually guests arrive about an hour or so before the meal actually begins. This is a good time to catch up with family members you might not be able to see during the rest of the holiday season. It's also when the smaller snack-type food is set out. 
A lot of families celebrate Thanksgiving by going to various meals. Brunch (breakfast/lunch), Lunch or Dinner. My first meal was at my Grandparents house. 
When you think of Thanksgiving food you might first think of Turkey or Ham, depending on what you've grown up with. Along with Turkey or Ham, we also have Green Bean Casserole, Squash, Mashed Potatoes, Strawberries and Creme, Stuffing and rolls. There's also champagne, milk, wine, sparkling apple juice for the kids and sometimes coffee. 

 You might also think of pies. Usually, Pumpkin pie is the most popular around this time of year, at least at my house. Otherwise there is also Pecan and Apple Pie. 
                                          (Pecan Pie)                                                            (Apple Pie)

The Pecan and Apple Pie both showed up at my second meal, a dinner at my Step-grandmothers house. Thanksgiving is a time when families come together, and catch up. It's nice to see everyone once in a while after you've been away at college or busy with work. 
                     It's filled with great homemade food and you're eyes are definitely bigger than your stomach is. You really can't eat THAT much, but at least you tried right? 
      And now that Thanksgiving happens to be over...It's officially almost Christmas!