Hello Finals Week

Sarah, Stephanie, Mika, and I out Black Friday shopping.

Somehow, finals week is already here. In this past month, school has been crazy with all the final papers and end of the semester finals. It was great to be able to go home for Thanksgiving break and spend it with my family. And yes, I even went out to go Black Friday shopping at 11 PM Thanksgiving night with my friends from church. However, it was definitely our last year as it was freezing and we are well, getting old. (I normally try to be in bed between 11 and 12 pm!)

Morgan and Kate visiting Heidi and I
at Celebrate Christmas!

Somehow, I ended up celebrating my 21st birthday. I felt as if my birthday had just snuck up on me. I legitimately did not realize that it was my birthday until my friend reminded me a couple days beforehand. Normally I'm all about celebrating my birthday. I ended up being stuck in the car driving back from Northern California back to Los Angeles for 8 1/2 hours. Normally it takes me about 6 hours, but of course with the holiday traffic, it took much longer.

All last week, it was crazy with Celebrate Christmas rehearsals, but overall, the performances this past weekend were great! We had 3 concerts and although it was tiring, it's hard to believe that it was the last Celebrate Christmas concerts I would ever be a part of.  Celebrate Christmas is probably my favorite choir concerts of the year.  My family comes from out of town to hear us all perform and the production is something that you would not believe!

Before I close out this post, I just have to share 2 things! This weekend when my family was all in town we headed out to Little Tokyo in Los Angeles to go to the Japanese American National Museum where a couple of my relatives work. It was really cool going through the exhibits and hearing my own relatives talk about their experiences.  While we were in Little Tokyo, we were able to go walk through the little shops and we came across a Macaroon shop! Look how beautiful these are!

Via Instagram

Oh, and can we talk about how awesome this birthday cake my family got me?!

Via Instagram

Finals Weekend

Alright, I know that I haven't written in a VERY long time, so I thought I'd take a break from studying and write a little.  It always seems as if the second you get back to school after Thanksgiving break, you go on auto-pilot.  Believe me, I loved being home for 4 nights, but at the same time, I was ready to get back to school so I could finish the semester and put it behind me.

My parents and I at my 20th Birthday Party!

Here's a little rundown of why my life has been crazy the past two weeks.
When I get back to school late on Sunday night after a wonderful few days at home, I had to hurry and finish my bibliography for a huge paper and submit it that night, before 11:59pm.  Luckily I had finished the paper a few days before it was due.  Even if that meant I worked on it for a few hours while at home.

That Monday began the craziness of "Celebrate Christmas".  My school's School of Music puts on this huge production with many of the ensembles and it runs for a whole weekend.  Well, we had crazy rehearsals starting Monday, and Wednesday and Thursday were the long ones, where we would be at the church where we were performing for 5-6 hours, both days.  Friday was the night of the first concert. We had a total of 3.
That concert my whole family was there.  They took up the first two rows in one of the front sections.  It made me so happy that my family had come out for it. Some had traveled about an hour (okay, maybe two with this LA traffic. And the rain.) and some had traveled six plus hours!  It was great to just spend that weekend with my family going to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. And if you haven't been there, you NEED to go.

My roommates & friends celebrating my birthday with me!
So blessed by them all!

The following day was my 20th BIRTHDAY! Weird, I know. I'm very young for my grade. Aside from wandering Downtown Pasadena while the Apple store worked on my computer, it was one of the best birthdays ever.  My parents treated my whole family, my roommates, and a few other friends to the Universal Hilton Buffet. I don't think I've eaten that much in such a long time. In fact, right now I wish I had that food in front of me.  It was a wonderful evening, having my friends and family surrounding me.





Of course, Sunday was a very long day, since we had two concerts and we were at the church from 12:30pm-8:30pm.  However, although it was a long time just sitting and performing, I did get the opportunity to talk with people I haven't talked to in a long time.

My awesome D-Group and I at
Celebrate Christmas rehearsal.

Well, after that crazy weekend, it began the final week of classes. And let me tell you, I am exhausted already.  Yesterday, I studied for 13 hours. With maybe a few occasional food breaks. I honestly am very ready for the semester to end and start a new semester.  I'm excited for new classes, and new schedule, and of course, new school supplies!  I love that it's like the beginning of the school year, without having to move into a new apartment or adjust to anything.  It's a new fresh start, and of course, by the end of the semester, we'll determine if it was a good semester or not.

Alright, enough procrastinating from me. Good luck to everyone else out there who is busy studying for finals! Let me know if you have any tips to surviving the week of finals... I need it!