Even though Winter Break is officially over, I clearly did not get enough sleep because at 8:00PM Monday (the first day of classes), I realized that I’d been wearing my sweater backwards all day. What a warm welcome back!

Now that I am done laughing at my silliness, it’s time to get back to my Loyola blog. Since my last post, we’ve had Christmas, New Years, holiday parties, and snow (well, kind of). Here are the highlights and lowlights of Winter Break 2012-2013:

Highlights:

1. The Saturday before the New Year, I was lucky enough to say goodbye to 2012 with my mom at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin, where we went snowboarding/skiing. The slopes were awesome, and I was ecstatic that for the first time in my life, I didn’t fall once while boarding. I started getting very tired by the end of the day, so unfortunately we left earlier than either of us hoped, but I didn’t want to end my streak with one of my classic dramatic falls that, though they tend to come out quite graceful, give me a headache and turn me into a five-year old with a bad mood.
2. New Years Eve was one of my best ever. I spent it with my best friend and my boyfriend, along with a bunch of other friends (and people I didn’t know). We began by listening to the B96.3 music countdown (is anyone surprised that “Call Me Maybe” was number one?), and when we got home, we turned on the New York New Year’s countdown on TV. We welcomed the New Year with lots of hugs and laughs before falling into a deep slumber for the first time in the New Year.
3. Though some may find this highlight not so fun, being able to consistently go to the gym was a huge highlight for me. I kept up with my workout routine, even when cookies were a great temptation, and for that, I’m really proud of myself. I credit my workout regimen as the reason that I didn’t fall when I went snowboarding because my strength, flexibility, and balance have all gotten better in recent months. Don’t agree that this is a highlight? Then clearly you don’t work out enough.

Lowlights:

1. One lowlight was the fact that I didn’t get to work more hours during Winter Break. Though it gave me plenty of downtime, I was looking forward to logging more hours while I could because we all know it’s not fun to be a broke college kid (not that I’m broke…).
2. Another lowlight was that there were several activities that I didn’t get a chance to do during break. I wanted to go sledding and ice-skating and build a snow fort, but the weather was uncompromising. Chicago’s lack of snow this year meant that the snow fort and sledding ideas have been put on hold, but I’m still holding out hope that we’ll have a nice snowfall before the winter season ends.

This winter break was a short one, done before I could even blink, but many great memories have been created from it. Let’s cheer for a great end to one thing, and an even greater beginning to something else, our Spring 2013 semester!