Rainy Days // by Ashley

This weekend was great for Ashley Shelley Grossman. My dorm was on ski trip in Tahoe, so all the other athletes in my dorm and I had it all to ourselves!! It was so nice and quiet, I got SO much sleep and a lot of work done. Yippee! The only thing I didn't like about it was that the lights in the hallway kept turning off because they're motion sensors and nobody was walking past them! Anyway, it was pretty rainy this weekend so I made sure to stay dry with my hand dandy shower cap/bike seat protector... I know, I'm so cute ;) Think it will catch on??

Winter Break // by Kate

Over the break I spent a lot of time with my family. Family dinners, family movie nights, Christmas shopping, etc. It was so nice to be home without the worry of schoolwork and to just relax for once! I took my brother to the gym/pool with me a few times... I thought it would be a good idea for him to get a good work out in! :) We spent Christmas with my stepmom Mary's side of the family in Laguna Beach and then had Christmas day at my house with my cousins from Colorado, my grandparents, and my aunt and uncles. It was so great to see everyone! After the Christmas festivities were over, I began to look forward to New Years Eve in Los Angeles with Jillian and one of our friends who was abroad in Florence, Italy last quarter. I was able to catch up with her and hear all her stories from the trip. Then it was New Years Day which meant it was time to travel to Arizona for the FIESTA BOWL!!!!! My dad, Mary, my aunt and uncle, Jillian, and two other girls that I live with (Liz and Hannah) joined me on this trip. We stayed in a house in Scottsdale, Arizona and spent the first night playing board games and jacuzzi-ing! Although the Bowl game ended in a tragic loss for our team, it was great to see all my friends and all the fans there supporting them. We spent one extra day in Arizona before Jillian and I journeyed back to Stanford to start the season! We're looking forward to working hard to prepare for our first games at the end of the month. Go Stanford!

Winter Break // by Monica

My winter break was full of family, friends, and food. Here's a recipe for one of
the winter treats my family had.

Easy Fudge:
In a sauce pan over low heat, melt 18oz of semi sweet chocolate chips with 14oz of
sweetened condensed milk. Remove from heat and stir in 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (or peppermint extract to make peppermint flavored fudge!). Spread evenly into a wax paper lined 8x8 inch pan. Chill 2-3 hours or until firm. Turn onto cutting board and remove wax paper to cut into squares and enjoy!

Winter Break // by Alexis

After having survived a very stressful and jam-packed finals week, I went to Hawai’i with my family to enjoy some peaceful R&R. We were back home in time for New Years Eve, so I kicked off the New Year in my cowboy boots by going to a country dance bar. Despite my lack of line dancing knowledge, I had a ton of fun in this crash course to country.

The next morning, I flew out to Arizona to meet my freshman year roommate (an AZ local). We got dressed in our best Stanford swag and put our game-faces on to cheer on the Card in the Fiesta Bowl. Despite the close loss, this trip was still the best part of my break. After a whirlwind of a winter break, it was time to pack up my bags and head back to the Farm.

Winter Break // by Emily

This Christmas break I spent a lot of time with my family like most people. We had our annual Pride and Prejudice viewing (the A&E like 6 hr version, ya buddy) and the usual shenanigans such as christmas shopping, baking, and making gingerbread houses. My friends and I actually made these s'mores chocolate chip cookies from a recipe we found on Pinterest and they were all kinds of wonderful.

On christmas eve, my family went to church at 9pm and they had a really crazy cool candelight vigil that looked something like this. It was unreal. For the rest of break my family worked on a ridiculously hard puzzle of Van Gogh's Starry Night and finished it a few days before break ended. I had a wondermous New Years Eve with friends in San Francisco and just made a bucket list with some of the other freshman of things we want to do before the school year ends!

Winter Break // by Pallavi

This winter break I was reminded of my unparalleled sleeping skills. I clocked in 12-14 hours of much needed sleep every night!! During my waking hours I spent time with family and friends, celebrated a birthday and topped my break off with an unforgettable adventure to Arizona to support our football team at the Fiesta Bowl! Break is fun and rejuvinating, but nothing is better then being back on The Farm!

Winter Break // by Kaitlyn

My New Years Resolutions for 2012:

Every year I write my new years resolutions down in my private journal, stashed away in a secret hiding spot for most of the year I hardly glance at them and pretty much every year forget about them until it is two days before New Years and I realize I haven't accomplished anything on my list. So this year I am trying something new, I am posting my New Years Resolutions for all of you to see making them more public in hopes that I might actually finish some if not most of them.

- Get good grades
- Win NCAAs
- Get a paying summer job
- Learn how to golf
- Read all of Chelsea Handler's books
- Start photography again
- Go to a concert
- Do 8 minute abs 4 times a week (click here for the video!)
- Keep my room clean
- travel to a new state
- learn how to cook
- visit the beach more often
- Go to a Giants game
- Visit more museums
- Keep in better touch with high school friends
- Get more sleep

Winter Break // by Kelsey

Coming back to SoCal for winter break is probably one of my favorite parts of the holidays. I get to spend time with everyone in my family, something that only happens this time of year. AND I get to go to my favorite Mexican places: Don Gustavo's, El Adobe, and of course Pedro's Tacos.

This year, after spending time at home I traveled to Arizona for New Year's Eve with some girls in my sorority, and we stayed for the Fiesta Bowl. Even though the seating in the student section was random, a bunch of us polo girls ended up sitting together which was SO much fun!

The game was a heartbreaker, but the experience as a whole was definitely a positive one. Here's a video that I think sums it all up the best. My favorite quote is towards end when the commentator talks about how far the team has come. An 11-2 record used to be unattainable for Stanford Football, and now it is a "disappointment." Regardless of the outcome of that game, I know I speak for EVERY Stanford Football fan in saying that we are so proud of this team!!

Now that I'm a few weeks into Winter Quarter and football season is officially over, we are just about to start playing OUR games. I could not be more excited. We are all chomping at the bit to get some real competition going and begin what is going to be an EPIC season. Here we go girls!

Winter Break // by Alyssa

This past winter break was filled with a bunch of new experiences and lots of travel. Right after training camp I went to Tahoe with my family. My grandparents own a house at Northstar on the North Shore and we just recently renovated the house. Because we added on to the house we were able to fit the ENTIRE family into the house….. 15 people! Needless to say I got absolutely no alone time and was constantly interrupted during the skype sessions I tried to have. At one point I was talking to my boyfriend Tommy and my grandmother (Nonnie) came downstairs, stole my computer and proceeded to talk and introduce Tommy to the cousins. Luckily he was a good sport and totally went along with it, and it ended up being an amazing Christmas. Unfortunately there was no snow but it made it a lot easier to swim in the outside pool.

After Christmas, we headed back down the mountain to Marin. Kaitlyn and I spent all of the gift cards we had and a little bit of our own hard-earned money within a two-day shopping spree. Once I had spent all of my money it was time for me to head south to the land of the sun (Orange County). Tommy is from Mission Viejo and I was able to spend New Years with him and his family. I am proud to say that I learned how to play Hearts over Christmas and challenged Tommy, his brother, and Tommy’s roommate Mickey to a match…. And I won!!!!The next stop on my winter break journey was to Arizona for the Fiesta Bowl. It was my first time driving to Arizona and it was my first Bowl Game ever! On the day of the game, Stanford hosted a free concert for Stanford Students and Alumni. It was the first concert I have ever been to! I was able to be first row for Brett Michaels, LMFAO and Kesha. It was an amazing experience and I really look forward to going to more concerts in the future.

 

The game itself was exciting and the atmosphere was electric. I don’t think I have ever been in an indoor area with that many people. On the way back to socal from Arizona, Tommy and I stopped at
a small town at the edge of Arizona called Quartzsite. Amazingly we ran into Kelsey, Cassie and Ashley (literally in the middle of nowhere). What are the chances of that??? Then it was time to head back up to Stanford for training camp.

For training camp, Kelsey and I both stayed at a club family house in Los Altos. The Richards family was extremely kind and generous. Kelsey and I fully enjoyed the monster TV they had set up in the room we were staying in and we had an epic TV night where we watched the newest episode of Revenge. Other than that I just moved back into my sorority and I am excited to start winter quarter and to finally start our season!