A Family Affair

I was on Temple Square with the fam yesterday morning. It was some 22 degrees outside.

Mom and Dad were walking arm in arm.
My sister's fiance had his arm around her.
I tried to snuggle up to my 17 year old brother for warmth. He just looked at me and said, "Don't even think about it."

Hmm, I never knew I could feel lonely in my own family.

Nonetheless, it is a Merry Christmas, a White Christmas, a beautiful, glorious day!! I love this time of year. I think I'll go sing Christmas carols on the treadmill.

What should I call this one?

Dang it. I wish I was more witty. This is the 4th time I'm attempting to start a blog. Hopefully I don't end up deleting this one too. I think this is good practice in writing things that other people could find interesting because lately, the only things I've written are mindless papers for school or my journal, which no one else reads, thankfully. And for those of you in my FHE group, you know that letting other people type up excerpts from your journal is always risky. At any rate.....
Christmas is a good time for writing letters. Our moms frantically write family newsletters and mail them off to everyone. You always hope the little paragraph they include about you makes your life sound more exciting than it really is. So here is my Christmas letter, my yearly summary and reflections etc.

Dear family and friends,
Howdy! I hope that 2004 has been as challenging and rewarding for y'all as it has been for me. It's funny how unpredictable life is and how much everything changes in just one year. I feel like quite a different person than I was a year ago. For example, a year ago, I didn't know how much I love the Spanish language, or that organic chemistry is my favorite subject, or that living at University Villa would be one of the best experiences of my life so far, or that my sister would fall in love with Reid Schellhous. I turned 20 this year. Being a teenager is no longer an excuse for my behavior. I now have a major: molecular biology. And I think I'm going to LOVE it. It's so nice to have something to be passionate about. Life is meant to be that way, I believe. I love surrounding myself with people who are excited about life and what they are going to do with it. Umm, this letter might get boring now, so I think I will close and address further more personal letters. Enjoy.

Dear Reid Schellhous,
Thank you for falling in love with my sister and marrying her. She is so happy...and definitely "borderline stable." Which is why we all love her. You are the most patient person I have ever met. You have taught me a lot in the few months that you have been a part of my sister's life and thus a part of mine. I'm thrilled to spend Christmas, birthdays, and lots of crazy time in between with you. Welcome to the Williams Family...there's no turning back! Watch out, we're CRAZY!! A little whacked out of our gourd :) Seriously though, I know you will love Beth forever, and nothing could make me happier.

Dear Nama Klein,
You are such a funny funny girl. I love it. And you look like me. Perfect. You've been such an amazing friend to me this year. From the bread party to late night talks about testicle size and promscuity, it has been a great semester. Thanks for listening to me talk about organic chemistry and Chris...my two new loves, haha.

Dear Squishies,
ummm, do y'all know how much I love you?? you guys are the cutest group of girls. Amazing beautiful burnettes and hilarious to boot. Thanks for all of the love notes and late night talks and for letting me exploit your mistletoe. I love being friends w/ you and getting to read your blogs. I read them all but don't comment much because I can't ever think of any witty quips to reply with. So just know that I enjoy them immensely :)

Dear Jon Harmon,
umm, can you please teach me how to be more witty? Help me obi wan kanobi, you're my only hope. I am truly in awe of your talents. I don't think there's much more to say.

Dear Romantic Mystery,
thank you for trying to rescue me from the snakes and save all of the rabbits, even though I was so ungrateful for your heroicism. thank you for snatching my booty. thank you for making molecular biology all the more exciting and letting me sit in the left-handed desk. I don't know if you will read this, but if you do, just know that I can't wait to dance with you in the dark to Christmas music again.

laught it up

Funny things

1. walking on campus and overhearing:
--Dude, how's that girl?
--Dude, I dropped the L-bomb on her yesterday.
--holy crap...

2. myself running around as Captain Blastocyst

3. waking up in the middle of the night realizing that I'm on my knees in the middle of saying a prayer in Spanish

4. my sister watching White Christmas 4 times since she got it on Saturday. And she got it because she registered for it on her bridal registry.

5. the fact that my screen saver says "bootie snatcher pirates: we'll snatch your bootie." ask chris why

6. Chris

ummm, that's about it for now...

The match...if that's what you call it in pool

So my sister is getting married. My dad has reservations about it...to put it lightly. Last weekend, the tension between my dad and his soon-to-be son in law Reid came to fruition in a most unexpected way: an intense game of pool.

The pool playing began innocently, or rather pathetically, enough. Chris and I played 3 in a row. I aimlessly hit balls around until, inevitably, Chris would scratch on the 8 ball. I won by default. It was the worst of both worlds.

Then somehow, the next players up were my dad and Reid. Reid broke, the game began. And I can't remember a time when my dad looked that nervous. He was literally biting his fingers between each turn. Reid won the first game; my dad was visibly agitated. Dad won the second. Reid won the third. Beth, who had been only mildly interested in the games, looked over and said, "That's my baby!" Dad walked out of the room.

My dad has some issues with letting go. He has all of these dreams and aspirations for his daughters. I guess Reid doesn't live up to those dreams in my dad's head. So he feels like he's losing the Beth he has envisioned to some other version of her. He loves his daughters. But sometimes I think he forgets that love and control are not synonymous, and that ultimately, everyone has to make their own decisions. And yes, you really do love them anyway. No matter what they decide, even if they don't always choose what you think is right. Because really, I think he's wrong in this case. So what he's really losing is a chance to be happy for his daughter, to embrace his new son, and to enjoy the progression of his family.

And I wonder how it will be when my turn rolls around.