Christmas break = applications + weird bus rides

Well I am back at it, back at Dordt after a wonderful, but MUCH to short Christmas break! I think I probably made it feel shorter by writing essays for the first week and a little bit of the break, but I have sent all but one of my applications in (the last one is due in March and requires me to send in a video...I should make that soon!) It is weird to think that I am in my last semester at Dordt, and that I have submitted applications to graduate schools. It is like my life even though I am busy is hanging in limbo because I don't know where I will be even four and a half months from now. Even in high school I didn't have this feeling because I was so determined that I was coming to Dordt and I "knew" I was going to become a Doctor...funny, I came to Dordt, but the Doctor thing sure isn't happening (at least not how I had first planned it to happen!)
Well Christmas break was eventful, I got to see my brother and sister-in-law, and my Uncle Dave and Margaret for the first week. They arrived a few short hours after Karlynn and I got home on the bus. During that first week I split my time between my computer/grad school essays and spending quality time with all of the people in the house. It was a major temptation to just not write the essays, but knowing that they had to be mailed in by 5th 10th and 15th helped keep me motivated, though I must say I felt like a self centered brat after spending over a week writing essays about myself and how good I am (blech). Now that they are in I get to begin the wait. I am kind of hoping that my school will keep me busy enough that I don't have to much time to think about it, but also be easy enough that I won't have to much trouble if I have to leave for a graduate school interview. Ok, now I am going to stop writing about this as I think it is raising my blood pressure--I should just quit worrying about it, I can't do anything about it right now anyways (that is driving me nuts, not having any control!)
Wow, sorry for that scatterbrained section on grad school. After the first week all the relations left, I submitted applications, and then our family was soon joined by three young rambunctious boys. They stayed with us while their parents went to Manchester, England. It kept the house lively and at a higher volume than normal, but it was still fun! They were still there when Karlynn and I got back on the bus to come back to Dordt.
Our bus ride was long and tedious, so I will spare you some of the details, lets just say it was freezing. With outside temperatures being -40ish plus windchill (sometimes colder!) the engine didn't heat up very well meaning the bus didn't get very warm. We spent two nights on the bus plus two days on the bus and in a cold depot. When we got to our 22 hour layover in Winnipeg when friends picked us up we realized it had been over 30 hours since we had been warm. Oh, and you don't sleep very well when you are that cold and on a bus!! Our buses also got hit twice. Once we got hit by another bus in Prince George (we hadn't even left the garage) and the second time we got hit by a purple car between Brandon and Winnipeg. It was weird, my bus has never been hit before and on this trip we got hit twice. I have had a drunk try to drive away with the bus, someone get arrested off the bus or out of a depot from right beside me, but I have never had my bus get hit until this trip.
We spent out 22 hour layover in Winnipeg playing with our babysitter from when we were little and her two kids, a 1 1/2 year old boy and a 9 week old girl. Both very cute. It was a lot of fun, we warmed up and we got to stretch out, and sleep in a BED!!! The next day we got on another bus, but in Grand Forks they switched us to another bus, on which the heat didn't work...I never warmed up again until Sioux Center, even though they fixed the heat a little bit in Fargo...bus rides can be kind of miserable and exhausting at times!!
Now I am back at Dordt after spending the weekend with relatives, and classes have begun. I am at the fewest credits I have ever been at (HURRAY!!) Two of my roommates aren't returning this semester as they graduated at Christmas, so it feels empty in our apartment...we miss those two!
Well, this is already horrendously long, so I will stop now. I would love to hear about all your guyses holidays!!