Christmas

Merry Christmas, everybody. This year we had a total of 8 or 9 presents under our tree. We decided about a month ago that we were going to have a small Christmas this year, and I am so glad that we did, because this has been the best Christmas I have ever had. We (and by 'we' I mean the extensive collection of my immediate family -- my mother, my brother, and I) decided to put a large part of the money we normally would have spent on presents that would go largely unappreciated towards a local or national charitable or non-profit group. I have decided to put my ~$100 towards the Sierra Club, an organization I have immense respect for, and a personal connection with given my parents extensive participation in the Club during their younger years.

In addition to that, I spent a wonderful day in New York City the day before Christmas Eve with my girlfriend, Sarah. I have not written about her yet, and am hesitant to, not because of some strange feeling of setting things in stone that may be only temporary, but because I feel I can not do justice to how amazing a person she is. Like a painter attempting to recreate or describe a perfect scene, I cannot hope to articulate how perfect she is -- not as a person, but for me, perfect in the way she fits who I am as a person. She is subtle and understated and largely quiet...things that I am not. She is strikingly intelligent, and yet is so personable and so approachable and so humble -- all things which I find trouble doing. And while she is in many ways the complete opposite of my extrovertive, overcompensating, and highly excitable personality I find myself irrevocably attracted to her. Best of all, I feel as if she appreciates the way that I complement her own personality.

And if that wasn't enough, I have a wonderful selection of books to read over this break including finishing up my second reading of my all-time favorite epic 100 Years of Solitude, War and Peace, and The World Without Us. To top it off, Sarah got me, for Christmas, A Moveable Feast my Ernest Hemingway. My love for Hemingway is rooted in the very core of my appreciation for and fascination with the English language and literature in general. That book is also featured in City of Angels, which is one of my favorite movies. I cannot imagine a more perfect gift.

Until next time (and with more updates from Oregon),

Andrew