The Joys of Being a Seat-Filler

Hi, folks! Whaaaaaat's happening? As for myself, Zach has just helped me to de-Christmas my diary! Yesterday, I helped Dad to de-Christmas the family room by taking the tree downstairs while Dad sang "G'bye Christmas Tree". De-Christmasing things is just no fun, is it? I find it very sad that Christmas 2002 is over. But, at least we still have New Year's Eve! Hoo-hoo! *Does a few sommersaults then hurts her back and sits back in desk chair*
My dad's girlfriend, Terry, tore a rotator cuff in her shoulder when she fell down 8 stairs at her house a couple weeks ago. She thought her arm was getting better, and she asked my dad if the two of them could go, see a fun show like the Rockettes Christmas Extravaganza. So, my dad ordered the 250 freakin' dollar Rockettes tickets, only to find out a few days later that she thinks her arm hurts too much to go to the show. My dad was mega-dissapointed, but it was okay because I was available to go, and when I was little and a dancer, I wanted to be a Rockette.



The show was fun, but my mom thinks it was just horribly rude of Terry to cancel on that really expensive show when she can go to work and all.
My Sims are having a good time with their new dog and cat, Felicia and Paulina. Paulina doesn't seem too fond of Yves the Caterer, though. Every time he tries to pet her, she's like, "Hisssssss!" It's a good thing my real-life pets are much more polite than those belonging to my Sims. Oh yes, I did take a break from the Sims a couple of times to see some movies. With Dad and Zach, I saw The Hot Chick T'was one of the coolest, funniest, sweetest, most overall awesome movies I've ever seen! I love it, and demand that all of you go to see it. Right now! Go, go!
Yesterday, Mom and I went to see Harry Potter & the COS again with my movie passes that I got for Christmas, and I notice that I dislike the closeness between Harry and Ginny when they're in the Chamber of Secrets. This 8-year-old kid kept going, "Aw!" whenever he held her hand or something, and I would have smacked her, but Mom didn't think that'd be a good idea for some reason. I mean, the kid was glaring at me when I said "Awwww!" about Harry and Hermione in the hospital wing! *Kicks kid while Mom's not looking* Dood, speaking of Harry and Hermione, check out this awesome website I found! Kindred Spirits. It's the luffliest of the HP sites because they specialize in Harry/Hermione, Draco/Ginny and Lily/James, just like me! Hurray for me and my nerdy obsessions!


And now, here's a survey, courtesy of Ashley!
What is your favorite band?: Lifehouse. All of their songs include lots of Jason Wade's husky goodness, and lots of luffly guitar sounds and such.

What band should just die?: Although I don't wish death upon any particular band, I do wish to stop Insane Clown Posse before things get too out of hand.

Pick a song for each mood:
-Happy: "Take Me Away" by Lifehouse
-Depressed: "Somewhere Down the Road" by Amy Grant
-Excited: "Albuqurque" by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It's so exciting, what with the whole, "If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again! If you need help, hang up and then dial your ooooooperator!"
-The World Can Kiss Your Arse for Whatever Reason: "Heart Attack" by Darren Hayes.
What is in your CD player right now?: Jennifer Love Hewitt--Barenaked. It's catch-ay!
First song lyric to come to your mind: "I've been down this road before. All that I've found points me right back to you. And I've watch you move from down below. Where do I go from here? I guess I'll find out as I go."--Lifehouse's "Empty Space"
What song describes you at this very moment: "All Right" by the fabulous Amy Grant.
Holly :-D

Chistmas Eve, Christmas Itself and Boxing Day

Hi there, folks! Whew, I haven't written since 12/21, eh? That's gotta be a record! I had a lovely Christmas, so I figured I should stop playing The Sims Unleashed, for God's sake, and tell you all about it! Oh, and by the way... I'M NO LONGER GROUNDED FROM THE COMPUTER! WOOOOOOO! *Flounces onto next paragraph*

Christmas Eve has always been the day that we spend at the grandparents Shoup's house with my mom's side of the family, which means we're in for a fun-filled day of presents, party-sized Blimpies subs and plent o' criticism from my judgemental cousins! Grandma has this awesome tradition where she fills out stockings full of apples, tangerines and nuts, like her family got in their stockings during The Depression. This year, while carrying presents into the house, I tripped over Carrie's shoes and went flying head first into the Christmas tree, surprisingly without getting injured. Then we sat down for subs and Zach entertained us by spilling six subs and a glass of pop on the floor. *Grins innocently* Zach and I just felt the need to bring some Zintel grace into the Shoup home. That night, I tagged along with Mom and Mike to my step grandma's house, and got yelled at for doing things like sitting on the piano bench and trying to sit on the couch without putting a towel down first. We sat and listened to Michelle sing opera before we could escape to church.

On Christmas morning, Zach came home from his 3rd shift job as a security guard, and woke Dad and I up at 7:15 frickin' A.M.! *Pats his head* I can forgive him for that because it was Christmas and he was excited. While we opened presents, I endured the sounds of my least-favorite movie, A Christmas Story since Zach and Dad love it so much. From Dad, I recieved the following: Michelle Branch--Spirit Room, Jennifer Love Hewitt--Barenaked, Faith Hill--Cry, Spider-Man, Someone Like You, Chocolat, Kate & Leopold, Charlie's Angels, The Sims Unleashed, Sim Coaster, three lovely new outfits, a might-ay comfortable desk chair and a Virgin cell phone. I found it rather humorous that my cell phone is Virgin brand because it's my first time having a cell phone. Zach gave me Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for Gameboy, Shrek for Gameboy, the Daria--Is It College Yet? DVD and a stuffed Hedwig! She's luffly.

Christmas afternoon, we went to Aunt Barb and Uncle Don's house where we watched their digital cable--*pauses to drool*-- and ate Christmas dinner, then opened presents. Grandma & Grandpa Z. got me The Wedding Planner and Beauty and the Beast special edition DVD, and Aunt Barb made me a beautiful fleece blanket that I absolutely adore.

Aunt Barb, Uncle Don, Lindsay and Jennifer have this adorable 10-year-old Yorkie dog named Corky. He's from a puppy mill (remember, never buy a pet from a pet store!), so the poor little guy has a lot of problems. Right now, he's got a horrible skin irritation problem, and he's been chewing through his fur, and making himself bleed, trying to scratch his itches. Poor doggie.


I spent Christmas night at Mom's house, and in the morning, Zach and I exchanged gifts with Mom and Mike. From Mom, I got all sorts of fun Harry Potter merchandise--two calenders, a big gift-package of HP stuff including a Hagrid doll, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, a Hermione toothbrush... I also got a beautiful, warm pink pair of pajamas. *Beams and pets fluffy new pajamas* Our pets, Chyna, Daria and Amy all had fun going through their stockings, and I think we all had a wondermous Christmas. I heart my family, and I also muchly heart soy nog. *Rubs stomach in a full-like fashion* I think Mommy and I are going to have to make a lunch date with my pals, Sarah and Samantha so I can give those two crazy kids their presents, and so I can go shopping with my new bunches of Christmas money! I just realized that, before Christmas break, I saw .:::ECHO EFFECT:::. Dave at school, and he gave me his E-mail address and told me we should get together and cook sometime, in all our vegetarian splendor! *Shrieks and throws Hedwig into the air in celebration*
*Hugs for all*
--Holly :-D

I'm So Family-Oriented

'Ello, folks! 'Appy Christmas and g'day to you and yours! *Drops the corny British accent* Look, I got to sneak on the computer while my dad was on his date! Hey, look, I even had enough time to fill out this luffly survey about my family! Check it out.


Back in the day, from left to right: Grandpa Shoup, me, Dad, Mom, Zach, Grandma Shoup, Grandma Z., Jen, Grandpa Z., Uncle Don, Lindsay and Aunt Barb.
1. What are your immediate family's names and ages? Mom--Wendy G. Killbreath--47, Dad--Kenneth William Zintel--47, brother--Zachary Kenneth Zintel--21.
2. Which one of them do you most get along with? Mom. She's my best friend, and she absolutely rocks in every way.

Me and Mommy

3. Which one do you least get along with? Dad. He's usually pretty angry about something, and I usually get yelled at for whatever it is.
Siblings
4. Do(did) you have any of the same friends as a sibling? Yup! In elementary school, Zach was my best friend, and I was also friends with (and had a crush on) his best pal, Tim. And Zach was usually pretty good friends with my pals as well.
-did it ever cause any problems? Did it?! In high school, Zach dated my best friend, Sarah, on and off for about four years. They had a horrible breakup involving lots of terrible insults and such. Zach still is quite vengeful toward Sarah, but she's still my best friend, and so... well, it creates some problems.
5. Do you look like them? I don't think so. Do you?

Me and Zach

6. Do(did) you ever go to school with them? Yes. I was in elementary with him for most of the time, and I went to the same high school as him his senior year. Plus I go to the same college as him now.
-were teachers always comparing you with them? Comparing and contrasing, yes. In 3rd grade, when we were learning to write cursive, we wrote "Zachary Zintel" for the letter "Z". That was neat-o. *Chortles*
7. Out of you and your siblings who is the best at?
-academics? Zach.
-athletics? Heh... uh, I think we both suck equally at that.
-manipulating? Zach.
-being lazy? Eh... I think we tie! We're both sooooo lazy.
8. Describe a fight between you and them? In 2000, Mom and I wanted to go to Vegas to meet Mom's online dude, Mike (not the same guy she's married to now). Zach thought the idea was ridiculously proposterous, and tried to forbid us to go. However, it was Vegas, and by Fred and George, we were going.
9. Have you ever dated any of the same people? (not at the same time, of course) Um... well he's a guy, and he's straight, and I'm a girl, and I'm straight. So... no.
10. Truthfully, who do you think gets the most love from the parents? They both love us equally. Seriously.
Parents
11. Do(did) they embarrass you going up? In high school, my dad pulled this thing where he made me write down all my assignments, then have my teachers sign the assignment sheet, and that was ridiculously embarrasing. My mom has never embarrased me.
12. What is the most prevailing quality(personality and looks) you get from your dad? We both stand with our feet out to the side, like a penguin and we both tend to quote The Simpsons in everyday conversation.
-mom? Our eyes are quite similar in all their bluish green glory, and we're both all nice and such. *Beams*
13. Do you get along with them? With my dad--not usually. With my mom--always.
14. What is the biggest thing you have in common with your dad? We both think it's funny on Funniest Videos when people walk into sliding glass doors, and animals beat up people.
-mom? Our animal rightsiness. *Holds out arms for birds to perch on*
15. If you don't get along with them, how come? I don't get along with Dad very often because he's usually in a bad mood.
16. What are their tastes on music? Dad listens to oldies, and Mom listens to good music (ex: country, pop, etc.).
17. What kind of car does your dad drive? A silver Chevy Impala with a luffly sun roof and such.
-mom? 1994 white Buick with the trunk smashed in (thanks to Mike).
18. Do you think their cars describe their personality? Dad--absolutely. He all thinks he's Mr. Cool, and the car just screams, "I think I'm Mr. Cool!" Mom--absolutely not. Because... well... just no. Some sort of awesome red convertible would suit her personality much better.
19. What do they do for a living? My dad councils drug addicts and alcoholics at GM, and he's all a big shot there and crap. Mom's a 3rd shift stock worker at Target.
20. Are your parents happily married? Em... I'd say no, since they're not married to each other at all anymore.
21. If they aren't married, how would your life be different if they were? It would probably suck. When they were married, and Dad would get in his yelling-around-for-no-apparent-reason moods, I had to sit there and listen to it. Now I can just go to Mom's when he does that.
22. If you still live with your parents and they spilt up tomorrow, who would you go live with? Well, they're already split up, so... yup. But if anything happened to them (God forbid... seriously *crosses heart*), I'd live with my grandma and grandpa Shoup.
Holly :-D

The Jingle Cats Are My Favorite Band

I'm sorry, I lied. Lifehouse is my favorite band. But the Jingle Cats are a close second! Check it out, they're playing on my diary description! *Happily meows along with their song* Zach and I met all the people from my theatre practice class for dinner last night, except for Monica, who apparently had better plans than hanging out with her classmates at a mediocre restaurant the week before Christmas. We all went to Luigi's, the 5th dirtiest restaurant in Flint (I'm not kidding, it said so in the paper a while back). I really wanted to get everyone in the class a Christmas present, so I spent $30 on 14 frames with group pictures of us all inside, along with a bunch of candy for everyone. They all seemed thrilled with the gifts, especially Morgain and Jason, since I included Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans with their presents.

*Looks up* Oh look, there's the picture I handed out to everyone! Yuuuuup. It's downright depressing that I don't get to see all these lovely people again for two whole weeks, but I guess I'll live. It really sucks, though, that some of the theatre practice folks will not be signing up for theatre again next semester, like Jim and Pat. I may never see those two again. *Cries* And that's just wrong. I tell ya what, though, I love these folks! Last night, Jason kept handing various unsuspecting people nasty-flavored Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and telling them stuff like, "Have a jelly bean, it's chocolate!" and then it'd turn out to be dirt or something. When it was time to go, there were hugs and goodbyes all around, and I think we were all horribly sad to see Pat and Jim go, and it was hard for me to leave. Everyone urged Zach to join theatre practice next semester, so he's going to think about it. Hurray!

[picture not found]

From left to right and back to front: Larry, Don, me, Monica, Jim, Leah and Nick, taking a bow.
Dood, there is a mouse in the freaking house. Ah crap, I wish that sentence didn't rhyme, it makes this sound like it's a humorous turn of events, and it's... just... not. I'm not afraid of mice or anything, but I would rather that they wouldn't hang out in my family room. I was just sitting on the couch last night, writing my fic, "Harry Potter--The Bachelor" when I saw something run by really fast. At first, I figured I'd just had too much garlic butter with my breadsticks at Luigi's, and thought I must be hallucinating. After all, their food does have a pretty bad rep, and I could have had food poisoning or something. But then I heard scampering coming from behind the plants, and figured I'd better get the heck out of there if I didn't want a mouse climbing up my leg. Huh. Maybe I am afraid of mice, and just never knew it, but now I'm scared to go into the family room. *Peers anxiously around the corner*
Zach and I took our dog, Chyna, to the vet this afternoon because she's been scooting around on the carpet like she had worms. She must have heard us talking about how the vet was going to stick her finger up Chyna's butt to feel around for worms because she would not stop shaking and cowering under the bench at the vet's office. It turned out she just had some kind of infection in her butt, and she'll be better soon, so that's good.
Well, I've gotta go, and I don't know when I'll be able to write again because my dad is off of work for two weeks starting tomorrow, for Christmas break, and I'm still grounded from the computer. *Cries* Oh well, hopefully I'll be able to sneak on here soon! Later!
*Hugs for all*

--Holly :-D

Let's All Try to Smile For the Picture

...and we'll hold it as long as we can. May it carry us through, should we ever get lonely... till the season comes 'round again."--Amy Grant's "Till the Season Comes 'Round Again"

Woo! We did it! We made it through all 3 performances! Well... at least, most of us did. But we'll get into that later.
Thursday, the first night of our play, The Elvis Monolougues, we were all extremely nervous. We got into costume and Monica did everyone's stage makeup, but everyone was eerily quiet. Finally, it was 7:50 and we all stood in a circle & held hands so Lori could give us a pep talk. She started with me, saying, "Holly has come a long way since she started theatre. She told us stories about skipping her classes because she thought her teachers and classmates looked down on her. Now she's one of our most confident actresses." She's right. The students in this class have been awesome for my self-esteem, and I love all of them for that. *Tear* When Lori had said something about all of us, Leah lead us in this prayer-- "Dear God, thanks for all these great people... and let us KICK ASS tonight! Amen." Heh, a little different, but helpful all the same. We all did really well that night, and I was thrilled to see Mom, Mike, Dad, both sets of my grandparents, Zach and his friend, Lindsay all there to see me! My dad gave me flowers. *Beams*
The second night of our performance was... *thunder and lightening effects*... Friday the 13th! None of us were very nervous because we'd already performed without a problem the night before. Regina flushed the toilet during our prayer, there weren't very many people in the audience and Larry's aunt couldn't keep her insane outbursts to herself throughout the show. Most of us forgot at least one line (that includes me) and it was clear that we'd lost our focus. However, there was one major upside to that day-- my FOD pal, 'Drea came to see the show w/ her dad and I was thrilled to meet her! 'Drea rocks! *Hugs for her*
Our last performance was Saturday, and the nervousness and focus were back! We all acted our arses off, but two people had been written our of the show that night. Regina (the pregnant woman) was in the bathroom, puking up bodily fluids until Monica's mom took her to the hospital, and Chris had to skip Saturday's show due to a bad case of laringitis. At the end of the show, we surprised Lori by calling her up on stage & giving her the flowers we'd bought her. Then most of the class went to Applebees, along w/ Mom, Mike & my grandparents. Afterwards, Mike informed me that he thinks I should marry Jason (*rolls eyes and hits Mike*) and Mom told me that Don had told her I was the class' best actress. *Blushes and denies it* Mom gave me Harry Potter merchandise, since flowers die and The Boy Who Lived never will, and my grandparents bought me a cake that says "Good show, Holly!" and gave me $10. Hurray!
We took a butt-load of pictures, but we haven't picked them up yet, so you all shall see them later! *Hugs for all*
--Holly :-D
Oh yes, and since we don't have the pictures from the play back yet, here's a picture of my lovely dog, Chyna.

Not only is "I Breathe in, I Breathe Out" a lovely song, it's also, more of less, the instructions Lori gave us for the day. That's right, tonight is opening night for our play, The Elvis Monolougues and everybody is freaking out. Lori told us that, until 8:00 tonight, we all just need to chill and let out hair down because the majority of us have been on edge all week.
People have been so nervous that heated (or shall we say... ridiculously loud) arguments have broken out amongst us. For instance, on Monday, Lori told Regina that she didn't want her to wear a certain dress that Lori thought showed (and it did) way too much cleavage. On Tuesday, Lori and Regina were screaming at each other till they were blue in the face because Regina was offended by what Lori said on Monday, and thought Lori was insulting her body. Then the entire class sat in the auditorium while Lori stood on stage and demanded to know if we thought Regina should be offended. *Shakes head awkwardly*
As stressful as it sounds, this week has actually been a lot of fun. For the past few days, we've been having dress rehearsals, and this means practicing our .:::ECHO EFFECT:::. STAGE MAKEUP .:::END ECHO EFFECT:::.

We decided that we should do the guys' makeup first, since they were so resistant. *Cackles evilly* We were jerks, heh. Lori told the bois that the lighting was best in the girls' bathroom (muahahaha!), so that's where we did their makeup. I brought a camera, and Morgan and I took pictures of the guys getting their makeup done in the girls' room. We all agreed that Kyle looks like a doll when he's all made up, and I think he may be plotting our deaths at the moment. Jason, on the other hand, is having a little too much fun with the fact that he "gets" to wear makeup, and bought himself some mascara, which is something not required for stage makeup.
But even during the usually fun putting-makeup-on-resistant-guys-time, things are a bit tense between some of the girls. For example, Leah said, "I want to do Jason's makeup so I can make him look like a whore!" to which Morgan replied, "Don't you get enough practice doing that on yourself?" Um... so Leah wasn't too thrilled with Morgan for a while. *Laughs extremely nervously*

Another thing that's freaking us all out is the fact that people keep forgetting their lines. Leah was so upset after a fight with Morgan that she went on stage and forgot entire paragraphs of her monolouge. Jim did the same thing, and even Don, our best actor, forgot a line. Gah! I think it's time for a prayer now. God, please don't let any of us forget our lines tonight, tomorrow night or the next. We're all under a bit of stress, and could use some guidance. Thanks a lot. *Hugs* Amen.

Hey, look everybody! I changed my name for Christmastime. I'm now "Hollylujah". Excitement, excitement! *Admires new name* Oh yes, and before I go, I should mention that my stepdad almost got electocuted the other day. A pipe in the basement had a leak, and the guy at the pipe-fixin' place told him to hold a hairdryer to the pipe... but well, Mike was standing in the water and... *makes horrible electricity-gone-bad noises* But he's okay. Well, as okay as he ever was.
Wish me luck, kids! I'm off to get ready for the play! *Crosses fingers*
--Holly :-O

BTW, we were in the paper! Next to a Harry Potter ad, even! And you know what the Newsies say... if you're in the papes, you're famous! *Shrieks*

Countdown to Showtime & the Sucky Dream From Hell

*Cries incessantly* I don't like being grounded from the computer. I haven't been online for 5 days! 5 days! Forget being drawn and quartered and all those various horrible forms of torture... being grounded from the computer has got to be the worst. Oh yes, and "periodic" cramps. I've had those for these past 5 days too. *Shakes fist at no one in particular*

Oh man, I had the suckiest dream I've ever had the night before last. In the dream, my mom was still living here at Dad's house. (In reality, my parents are divorced, and I alternate between my mom's house and my dad's.) Zach and I were sitting at the computer when Dad came back from his bike ride. Oh yes, and Mom had gone for a walk. Dad grimly explained to Zach and I that the Taliban guys were out front, and that they were taking random American families to live in a concentration camp, and that we had been chosen.

At the concentration camp, Osoma Bin Laden told us we could go back home for one hour and say goodbye to whoever (I know, doesn't sound like Bin Laden, does it?). Mom was still out for a walk, but my grandma and grandpa Z. showed up and drove us around the neighborhood until we found Mom. I told her what was going on, and she said, "Oh, now that just doesn't make sense. Why would they let you come back home to tell everyone where you were going? I mean, we could alert the media!" Mom had a point, but Dad, Zach and I still had to go back to the concentration camp. There, the American prisoners were running a college course on how to break out of there. However, one of the Taliban guys caught me reading the textbook, and was about to kill me when I woke up.

When I woke up, I was thinking, Okay, how long do I have until I have to go back to the concentration camp? Eventually, I realized it had been a dream, and calmed down. Oh yeah, but I did want to point out that during the dream, I kept thinking how greatful I should be that God let me have the time that I did with my family and friends, and how I'd taken my freedom for granted all this time. When I woke up, I was kind of like Scrooge on Christmas morning (especially since my mom's house it decorated like a Winter Wonderland). I hugged Mom and all my pets and told them how thankful I was to have them. So, as scary as that dream was, it actually taught me to really count my blessings. *Nods contentedly*.

Zach, Mom, Mike and I all kicked off our holidays this past Thursday! For those of you who don't know, my mom found this lovely Christmas tradition idea in a magazine when Zach and I were little. It's called "kicking off the holidays." What you do is put presents under a big, white blanket or towel, make it look like snow, and tie ribbons to the presents that are underneath the towel. Then each person grabs their ribbon, and pulls their present out from underneath the towel. My present this year was a Make-Your-Own-Snowglobe package, and it's awesome! You put your own pics in them. And we got Mom the new Shania CD. *Beams*

Me, Mom and Zach at Carrie's open house last summer

Mom and Zach came to theatre practice with me last Thursday! It was so much fun, and I think I did a better job with my acting, knowing they were watching. I was backstage with my "co-workers" most of the night, but Zach brought his camera, and we both took a few pictures of everyone acting out their parts and such. I shall have to scan them later, so you can all see my theatre pals that I never shut up about, heh. My mom agrees with me that Don has a sooper touching monolouge. She said, "I just liked having an excuse to look at him for a long period of time." Heh, so she agrees with me that he is one of the hottest guys ever, too. But he is taken. *Pouts* I'm actually getting kind of nervous now that showtime is in sight. Thursday night at 8:00 will be our first performance, and I think we're all a little anxious. Well, I s'pose I'd better be going so I can get ready for dress rehearsal tonight. *Freaks out*


--Holly :-D

Germans From Russia is the Part-ay of the Year

On Sunday, I went to the annual Germans From Russia Christmas party with my grandma and grandpa Z. My brother, Zach and my cousins, Lindsay and Jennifer used to come with us, but they all think they're too cool for it now. I, on the other hand, simply love Germans from Russia, and look forward to it all year long. We buy raffle tickets, eat a huge, delcious and extravagent meal, then sing Christmas songs and wait to see who won the Christmas gifts in the raffle. I sat across from a 9-year-old boy who really reminded me of Zach when he was 9. This kid, Alex, was an aspiring cartoonist (like Zach), seemed to enjoy trying to set his program on fire with the candle at the table (like Zach and Jennifer used to do) and could remember only the German number for "six"--"Sex" (like Zach). After we ate, 3 women introduced themselves as our entertainment, and began playing instruments that were said to be over 1,000 years old. The music was awesomely Christmasie, despite what Alex said about it. I had never won anything at Germans From Russia in my life, but this year, I sure did! I won 4 prizes, which is ridiculous, considering there are only about 12 prizes, and roughly 100 guests at Germans From Russia. I won a huge Christmasie table center piece containing aromatherapeutic candles, a Jesus tree ornament, a box of delectable chocolate praline seashells and a loaf of homemade rye bread. I think Grandma was kind of mad that I won all that stuff, as she usually wins a ton of stuff there. She said, "Holl, you won too much; I'm taking this loaf of bread you won." And she did, heh.

Zach and I at Bronners when we were littleYOUR HOLIDAY FAVORITES

1.) COOKIE: Peanut butter with a Hershey's Kiss on top. My mommy makes these lovely creations.

2.) CANDY: Reeses Christmas trees.

3.) MAIN COURSE: The Chic Max sub from Blimpies. The grandparents Shoup order us subs for Christmas Eve, and the veggie max that is fake chicken is simply delicious

.4.) STORE: Bronners in Frankenmuth, all the way.

5.) COLOR OF OUTDOOR LIGHTS: Pastels. We have the white icicle kind, but I wish to have pastels. *Pouts*

6.) TYPE OF TREE: Absolutely artificial!

7.) COLOR LIGHTS ON TREE: Numerous white ones, and they must be on that slow twinkle setting that looks like falling snow.

8.) TREE TOPPER: Angel! The one here @ Dad's has fiber optic wings, and she's simply luffly, but the one Mom's online friend made for her is full of angelic fun as well.

9.) ORNAMENTS or BALLS: Both. My favorite tree decoration is my first pair of shoes. They say "Holly Rachael" in fancy gold letting on the soles, and they're gnarley.

10.) GARLAND or TINSEL: Tinsel, all the way! Tinsel was my very first kitty cat, and I loved her muchly.

11.) HIDNG PLACE FOR GIFTS: Dad's closet.

12.) BEST TOY YOU EVER GOT FOR CHRISTMAS: My Belica doll, Rachael. Her hair was the prettiest thing I've ever seen.

13.) THING TO WEAR TO BED CHRISTMAS EVE: My new pajamas! For as long as I can remember, my mommy has given us our new pajamas on Christmas Eve, and she has excellent taste in comfy bed-wear. *Hugs Mom*

14.) TIME YOU GOT UP CHRISTMAS MORNING AS A KID: Around 5 or 6:00 A.M. I actually don't remember ever falling asleep on Christmas Eve, but I definitely remember waking up with my stocking in my arms. Mom always snuck into our rooms and put our stockings in our beds so we could go through them right when we woke up.

15.) TIME YOU GOT UP CHRISTMAS MORNING LAST YEAR: 6:30, but only because Zach made me. He got out of work and decided everyone should get up. *Makes an angry/sleepy face*

16.) DO YOU ENJOY SENDING OUT CHRISTMAS CARDS: Absolutely! Haven't done it in a while, though...

17.) HOW DO YOU DISPLAY THE CARDS YOU RECEIVE? We tape them up around the big wooden-frame (door substitute) that leads into the family room.

18.) HOT CHOCOLATE, EGG NOG or APPLE CIDER: Hot chocolate and Soy Nog with apple cider for desert. *Nods happily*

19.) ALCOHOLIC DRINK: I'm a proud no-alcohol girl.

20.) DO YOU HAVE A NATIVITY IN YOUR HOME? Indeed we do!

21.) HOLIDAY SONG: "Welcome to Our World" by Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith.

22.) HOLIDAY MOVIE: Prancer, The Santa Clause 1 & 2 and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

23.) BEST HOLIDAY EPISODE OF A TV SHOW YOU EVER SAW: One Life to Live in 1995.

24.) HOLIDAY TV SPECIAL YOU EVER SAW: Garfield's Christmas but I also love Charlie Brown's.

25.) DO YOU WRAP THE GIFTS YOU PUT IN A STOCKING: Nope.

26.) HOW OLD WERE YOU WHEN YOU FOUND OUT THERE WAS NO SANTA CLAUS? Alright, now it's just a lie that there's no Santa Claus.

27.) HOW DID YOU FIND OUT? Well, Zach and Mom kind of sat me down and tried to convince me that there was no Santa Claus when I was 11.

28.) HOW DID YOU TAKE THE NEWS? I thought they were B.S.ing me then, and I still do. There is a Santa Claus, I tell you!

29.) DO YOU GO TO CHURCH ON CHRISTMAS EVE/CHRISTMAS MORNING? Christmas Eve night. It's always the highlight of my year; we have a beautiful candle-lit service where we all stand and sing "Silent Night" and "O Holy Night" for half an hour, then hand out hugs instead of our usual "May the peace of Christ be with you" handshakes, and everything seems right in the world. *Beams*

30.) WHEN DO YOU TAKE YOUR CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS DOWN? After New Year's.

--Holly :-D

The Town is Somewhere Under That Pile of Snow

We have just a bit of snow here. A tall guy might be able to go outside and keep his head about snow-level... maybe. It's nice to have a butt-load of snow, though, if you ask me. If you ask all the people driving 2 and a half miles an hour on the express way, however, they might not think it's so great.

Remember last week when I wrote about that house around the corner from mine where they had that standoff with police about how that guy threatened to kill his wife? Well... apparently, they didn't keep him in jail long enough. Friday night, Zach and I followed a couple of ambulances home. My dad had a date that night with a woman in Detroit, and Zach had to go to work. So, it was 11:30 at night, and I was sitting in the family room, watching Everybody Loves Raymond reruns and eating peanut butter crackers when the phone rang. I was nervous anyway because I don't like being home alone, and when the phone rang, I jumped 12 feet into the air and broke the remote control to the Christmas tree. My grandma Shoup was on the phone. She said, "Holly, is your dad there with you?" I told her he wasn't, and she said, "Well, there was a murder in that house that's right by you, and they haven't found the guy who did it yet."

To say the least, I was a bit freaked out beyond belief. I paged my dad, and he called me back, saying he was on his date in Detroit, two hours away, and they hadn't even ordered their food yet! I told Dad what was happening, and he didn't think there was anything to worry about. He said, "Holly, people don't just go on random killing sprees. You'll be fine." Well, geez, I'm sorry, but I don't know how a psycho's mind works! Besides, those sniper guys did go around, killing random people! I went to spend the night at my grandma's house, 'cause I sure as heck wasn't sticking around. The police have caught the guy who killed his wife by now, but I'm still kind of weirded out.

Well, to lighten this entry up, I'm going to take a song survey and show you all this Christmasie Harry Potter fan art! Woo!

Name the song that...
Makes you think of happy things: "1980 Me"--Darren Hayes
Makes you cry (or gets ya close): "Sweet Jesus"--Gary Chapman
Makes you laugh: "Albuqurque"--"Weird Al" Yankovic
Makes you want to dance: "The Macarana"
You never want to hear again: Every song by Eminem
You love that you wouldn't have known about if it wasn't from a movie: "You Belong to Me"--Jason Wade (Lifehouse) from Shrek.
Makes you think of being alone: "I Love a Lonely Day"--Amy Grant
Makes you just feel good: "Take Me Away"--Lifehouse
Makes you feel Christmasie: "Welcome to Our World"--Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith
Makes you feel sexy: "I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt"
Makes you get shivers: "Two People Fell in Love"--Brad Paisley
Strangely Relaxing: "Naked"--Avril Lavigne

--Holly :-D