It's days like today that remind me why I'm ever excited to come home. I went to Caribou with Bre and Laura and then Target and Starbucks with Tori. (Yup, I had coffee twice. It was quite nice) It was nice to have some good chats with people I don't see very often. I really like the whole getting-coffee-and-catching-up thing. I'm always up for a good conversation, and it's always something new when it's with old friends. It's nice to know that even when we don't see each other or even talk to each other in over a month, it's still comfortable. There's no awkwardness or any need to rebuild trust and familiarity. I like it.

I'm so excited for the holiday season! I wish it would snow a little bit... just enough to set the mood (for now). I'm excited for lights and christmas music and movies and hot chocolate. I should make myself a good Christmas CD for the car.

I went for a run yesterday. It is not easy running outside in the cold. I might be able to run 5 miles on a treadmill with no problem, but I struggled with that 1 mile yesterday. I didn't even break a sweat; it was just hard to figure out breathing when the air is so thin. I was cold too... you'd think it'd be warmer to be moving around, but running creates an extra breeze that's really no fun. I'm still glad I did it though. I could've easily been really lazy over break and not worked out at all. I got a free week's membership at Fitness Crossroad for running the 5k, but I'm using that over Christmas break with Bre.

I think I'm going to write in this a lot more often now. I decided not to update my livejournal anymore... it's kind of pointless to update both. I really like getting my thoughts out too. It makes my brain feel less cluttered. It's like having a nice conversation, albeit a one-sided one. I guess I just have too much to say.

It still bothers me that I'm kind of trapped at home whenever I come back. It's so hard to have rules and responsibilities set by my parents when I'm so used to running my own life (for the most part) back in Winona. At school I only worry about things important to me. Not in a selfish way... I just don't generally have to do things for other people that I have no interest in. It's just a weird feeling to come back home and realize my parents have expectations for me. It's almost like I can't make my own plans or organize my own time because they'll always expect me to have a lot of time for random chores and "spending time with them," even though it's really not quality time. I'm sorry, but working across the yard from you where we can't even talk to each other does not count as bonding time to me. Anyway, this is why I don't think I'll stay at home after I graduate. My mom already has it all planned out for me: she thinks I'll graduate, move back home, get a job in the cities and do grad school close to home. Ok first of all, I was looking at grad schools for journalism and none of them were even in Minnesota. If I do go to grad school, I'd want to go to a really good one like Columbia or Stanford (assuming I got in). I would love to stay in the cities, and I'd be happy to visit my parents often. I'd still go to church at Holy Cross every Sunday... but I definitely need to move out of this house. It would be a total regression to live at home when I'm 21 and have had freedom at school.

None of this should really even be an issue yet anyway. For now I need to get through school and save my money! (which, of course, is the downside to the holidays. It's going to hurt to go Christmas shopping)