I Am GRATEFUL for CHRISTMAS (and EASTER)!!!!!

So, I have heard (from many sources) that they feel that the Thanksgiving Holiday is ignored because of the Christmas hype. I understand their argument, but...I have to respectfully disagree. I see Thanksgiving as the beginning of a wonderful time of year. People are nicer, happier, and more pleasant to be around (well, most people). Thanksgiving is a time of year when people are more likely to recognize things they are thankful for, blessings they have received throughout the year, and miracles that have happened. It also is a time when people begin to recognize how important family and friends are. This is very similar if not identical to the Christmas Holiday. As with Thanksgiving, families come together, friends realize how important their friendships are (old and new), and people recognize how their lives have been blessed. The major difference I see between Christmas and Thanksgiving is the celebration of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Now, for those of you who share in the ideology that Christmas must wait until after Thanksgiving, please understand I respect your decision and this post is not meant to be demeaning or disrespectful. This post is merely an explanation as to why some people enjoy Christmas "a little too early". In my mind, Thanksgiving is a great time to allow the Christmas Spirit to begin to grow. Additionally, can you think of a more appropriate time to express gratitude for family, blessings, opportunities, protection, and above all, the birth of our Savior. The only thing I see missing is a little Easter celebration, recognizing the Atonement, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the greatest gift and miracle given to the human race!

I now step down from my soap box and give thanks to those of you who read this post. As a prize, you get to vote for your favorite Christmas song! (I know, I know...I'm so generous :)).

Newsflash

Unfortunate news...my good friend Celine is dealing with a nasty bug and has had to reschedule her Salt Lake concert until Feb 22 (so far away!!!) To everyone out there anxious for a detailed description of the concert will have to wait just a bit longer. The silver lining in this terrible news...there might be more tickets available for those unable to attend the later concert. More good news...you still have time to save money for tickets :). Good news for me...the concert is now more of a prelude to and celebration of graduation instead of motivation to help me get through school and stupid papers (as I do not foresee this next semester to be extremely difficult).

As for me, I will be viewing Celine's A New Day DVD to help me endure yet another long period of waiting.

Too Much to Contain

It is official...I can no longer contain the excitement (that and it has been awhile since I wrote a post and I figured this would be a good one). Yes, yes, as those of you who know me well, you know of my little crush on Celine Dion. Also, as you may know, she is finally coming to Salt Lake City! Being Mr. Prepared and Mr. On-Top-Of-Things, I signed up for tickets last November (like I said, it's just a little crush) and have been holding on to them since that time. I bought two because I wanted to take a date...and I had no idea who the lucky girl would be (double lucky...she gets to see Celine Dion live and she gets to see her with me!)

I had a couple of options of finding a girl to go with me. The most creative way that was suggested to me (by my internship supervisor) was to put a listing on KSL, Ebay, or Craigslist for one free ticket to the concert (and a free date). After much deliberation, I figured I'd be safest and most guaranteed to have a fun time if I chose who I took.

Anyway, the big day is November 21 at the Energy Solutions Arena and it's going to be amazing!