End of the Year Christmas Shananigans

Merry Christmas from Suite 220!
From left to right, Jill, Adrianna, me, and Leah.

The first semester of my junior year is officially over! Here is a little recap of the last week of the semester:
Even though finals were the main priority, my suite mates and I found some down time to celebrate Christmas and do some last-minute bonding before we left each other.  Three of my suite mates (me included) will be traveling abroad next semester, so spending time with them and my friends was much needed since I will not be seeing them for about five months.  I will miss all of my friends at St. Mike's so much, but I am excited to be traveling to Florence, Italy.
I really bonded with my suite mates this semester, so leaving them was really difficult.  (I already miss them!)  One of my suite mates even began to unpack my things as I was packing up my room!  It was really weird to move back out of my room completely after I had just moved in a little more than four months before.  I also had to say good-bye to my friends who are currently seniors since they will be graduating right after I come back from Italy.  Though saying good-bye is always sad, Italy is definitely going to be an experience.  I will be leaving on January 11, so stay tuned for later posts about my Italian adventures!
In the meantime, here are some pictures from the end of the year!  If you have any questions about my life as a student at St. Mike's, feel free to email me (emurray@mail.smcvt.edu), tweet me (LittleLizzie33) or formspring me (lizmurray3).

The first snow on campus! 

Presents from my "suities"! 

My friend Tori on Church Street! 

Church Street at Christmastime! It's beautiful! 

From left, Jill, me and Riko on a winter outing to Church Street waiting for the bus! 

Where's the Snow?

One thing that everyone seems to say when I tell them I go to school in northern Vermont is, "Ah, so you get a lot of snow, huh?"  Usually that's pretty true, but this year, all we've gotten up here is flurries that don't stick!  Well, that's a lie.  It snowed during Thanksgiving break, but all the snow melted by the time everyone returned to St. Mike's.  It's December 6th now, and there still has been no snow aside from a few cases of flurries.
I have to say I'm a little bit disappointed in the Vermont weather right now.  Not that I mind not bundling up, but I love snow on campus right before Christmastime.  It gives a pretty unique mood to the campus.  Just this past Friday, it started snowing and as I walked past the quad, I heard someone playing Christmas music out their window.  People also build snowmen, snow forts, and other snow figures all over campus when it snows.  You can hear the laughing as students have snowball fights or just go out to play in the snow.  Church Street is a beautiful sight with snow, Christmas lights, the giant Christmas tree and the church at the end of the street.
Snow brings new life to campus upon its first appearance.  I am still waiting for that first big snowfall before I go home for Christmas.  With less than two weeks left on campus, we're running out of time.  Step it up, Mother Nature!

Taking winter adventures was one of the highlights of my freshman year on campus!