Le Noel

Don't you just love Le Noel, Christmas time? I cannot say that I'm as devoutly Catholic or even as religious as I should be, but I do love the time of gift-giving. I love how everyone scurries around to stores, buying up cheesy reindeer sweaters and lots and lots of wrapping paper. I love drinking un chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) and listening to Christmas carols ("Adeste Fideles" is my favorite) while wrapping presents and decorating le sapin Noel (the Christmas tree). Admittedly, it's why I kept putting off the introduction of my blog.

Don't you just want to be in that picture right now (vote for it in ourdolls.net's holiday photo contest, if you want) ? I got an early start on decorating this year, mainly because my teacher didn't exactly want to study for her own exams, but I prefer saving my wrapping and tree-decorating for Christmas Eve; it just seems so magical. Watching a Christmas movie while wrapping presents, then dressing up to attend Midnight Mass? We haven't done the Midnight Mass thing for a couple of years, but I'd love to be able to do it this year. I know I just said that I'm not that religious, but mass on Christmas Eve? There's nothing better.

Another holiday favorite of mine is ice-skating. Okay, it's a new favorite. I've been getting to know one of FHSG's newest students, a girl named Nathalie Caroline Thibodeau. Nathalie's from Montréal, Québec, so she speaks French, too, with a very strong Canadian accent. She loves history and reading (mainly Anne of Green Gables), but also has a passion for wintry-type sports like figure skating. So, a couple of weekends ago, Nathalie was getting her skates on for practice and persuaded me to try it. I was like, "What? I don't even have any skates, let alone the skills to skate," but I decided to borrow Isabel's skates for the heck of it. And I still can't say I'm the best skater, but once I got on the ice, I really, really enjoyed myself. I didn't fall down much, at least.

Nathalie's such a pro; she can spin, jump, do anything on ice!