Home for the Holidays

I'm writing this post instead of finishing up my law school personal statement. You can tell that I really have my priorities in order right now... not!
 
I've been using this break more to relax and de-stress than to catch up on the million things I'm behind on. At the very least, though, I feel like I'm a little bit better equipped to handle winter quarter - or at least I will be if I can get some law school apps submitted this week! (Literally the only thing I have left to do for my apps is finishing my personal statement, which has been a major roadblock for me the past five months.)
 
Some highlights from my winter break:
*Seeing my friends from home again, including going out for a 21st birthday and then heading up to Windsor for a wine country getaway a week later
*Lots of family time, especially getting to see everyone for Christmas
*A few lazy days in bed reading books - Battle Magic by Tamora Pierce, Autumn Bones by Jacqueline Carey, and Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews (all three are new releases by some of my favorite authors)
*Spending way too much time looking up possibilities for a post-grad Europe trip next summer
*Great gifts, ranging from pearl earrings from my parents (that match a necklace I inherited from my grandma) to an emergency phone case from my brother (since my year-old original case from last Christmas finally died on me this month - at least my phone is still in mint condition!)
  
I'm sad that winter break is almost over. I still have a week left until the new academic quarter starts, but the stress is starting to kick back in and I know that it's crunch time. I really need to tackle things on my to-do list so that I can start the quarter with a (mostly) clean slate, instead of letting the mess from fall quarter continue to follow me around. However, as much as I need the next week to slow down so that I can get everything done, I'm still ecstatic to have a fresh start in 2014, with amazing travel opportunities and my 1L year of law school ahead!