Christmas break has been awesome. I love having Mom and Garth here. We weren't quite sure what we were doing for Christmas dinner until Christmas Eve. We called a bunch of restaurants to see if they were open, and when we found that most weren't, we decided to cook at home. Off to the store we went to buy the most simple and stress-free Christmas dinner there ever was. We bought frozen veggies, already cooked turkey (that we heated up) and other Christmas food staples: mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing. Christmas dinner took all of one hour to cook, which was pretty cool. And also, delicious!

We've spent a lot of time just relaxing, which has been really nice. I like just hanging out at home, talking, watching t.v., playing online. That's the best kind of Christmas!

The day after Christmas, Joe and I took Mom and Garth to the Hermosa Beach pier. We grabbed some Starbucks treats, then headed down to the strand. As we walked toward the beach, we thought we saw something in the water. Once we got to the end of the pier, we got a much better view. And that's when we realized what we were watching -- dolphins! That's the first time I've ever seen dolphins out in the ocean before. It was so peaceful and mesmerizing watching the tiny (from our perspective anyway) grey dorsal fins pop up and back down into the waves. I stood there in awe, just watching them for a while, while I sipped my eggnog latte. The warm drink felt good on such a cold evening. We laughed as the pelicans dove straight into the water, because it sounded like they'd hit so hard. But then they'd bob back up like it was nothing, before taking flight again. Being out there was simply wonderful.

On the way home, we stopped to see Christmas Town. I wanted Mom and Garth to be able to see all the crazy decorations. It was a great night to go, because it wasn't as crowded as it had been before Christmas, and we still got to see a bunch of the very brightly lit homes and take in the Christmassy glow.

Today I showed Mom and Garth around UCLA, which was pretty cool. The sky was dark and threatening to rain, while cold winds blew all around us. Campus was empty. I've never seen it like that. I found street parking really easily, which never happens. We were able to take pictures with the Bruin bear, and see a lot of the beautiful buildings. I even showed them the sculpture garden, briefly. Right as we decided to go, it began to rain. Perfect timing! We grabbed a bite to eat at a diner before heading home.

Right now, the t.v. is on and we're waiting for pizza to arrive. An evening of Futurama and World of Warcraft awaits!