lauren mae

ski the world.

2011-12-12T14:26:00.003-07:00

i love skiing. i've been skiing my whole life. by no means am i an expert, but i love it. and that's good enough for me. one of my dreams is to ski everywhere i can possibly ski. okay, maybe not everywhere but i have quite a few places on my bucket list right now. while i was on my study abroad, i HAD to ski the alps. i was a day trip away from switzerland...how could i pass up that opportunity?? my dad met me in basel, we stayed there for a day then took a train to zermatt. we stayed in a tiny little hotel with the matterhorn outside our window. the next day we skied one side of zermatt. it was honestly the most beautiful skiing experience i have ever had. we skied mainly just on gornergrat. it was early december so some of the other areas were closed. my favorite part was at the very top of gornergrat there is a hotel and beyond the hotel is a huge canyon and the whole thing is covered in snow. i seriously felt like i was in the north pole or something, it was so amazing!

i've been working on a paper all semester about civil society in post-communist eastern europe so i've had to do quite a bit of research on eastern european countries. while i was in vienna, my haus frau's son (who is a big skier!) told me that skiing in bulgaria and slovenia is awesome and really cheap! so lately...i've really been wanted to ski in those two countries.

these are pictures of bansko in bulgaria...the picture on the top reminds me of how it was in zermatt...there were no trees anywhere, it was so strange since skiing here there are trees EVERYWHERE!

bohinj in slovenia is comprised of several smaller areas. as soon as i saw this picture i was sold. this looks SO incredible! i really like the open feeling of no trees sometimes...you feel like you could seriously get so lost on the mountain.

in addition to skiing there being cheap and pretty good, i really just want to visit those countries. although i loved being in western european countries on my study abroad, my favorite were the eastern european countries we visited (hungary, czech republic, slovakia). the history of communism there is so fascinating to me. it's so crazy to think that just 20 years ago they were all living under an oppressive communist regime and now they are (for the most part) fully consolidated democracies.

other places on my skiing bucket list:
cortina, italy
stowe, vermont
banff/lake louise, canada
vail, colorado
breckenridge, colorado
kitzbuehl, austria
whistler, canada
borovets, bulgaria
levi, finland
voss, norway
jackson hole, wyoming
saas fee, austria
big sky resort, montana
courchevel, france
niseko resort, japan
kiroro resort, japan
mt. bachelor, oregon
mammoth, california
mt. hermon, israel
alpensia ski resort/yongpyong, south korea (where the 2018 winter olympics are being held)
palandoken ski resort, turkey
alshan alpine ski resort, china
gulmarg ski resort, india
las lenas, argentina
bariloche, argentina
portillo, chile
valle nevado, chile

i know it's a long list and considering how expensive skiing is, it probably won't happen but..a girl can dream right?

30 things to stop doing to yourself.

2011-12-12T00:29:00.001-07:00

i found this article while i was procrastinating of course! it has a list of 30 things that you shouldn't do if you want to move forward and progress in life. i really loved it and it made me realize how many of these i'm guilty of doing and are probably why i feel like i'm in a rut right now, so here they are (i added my insights to some...sorry this is so long...this is like my journal):

1. stop spending time with the wrong people.
2. stop running from your problems. i do this a lot. i ignore things i need to do. i ignore things that scare me. i should probably stop doing this.
3. stop lying to yourself.
4. stop putting your own needs on the back burner.
5. stop trying to be someone you're not.
6. stop trying to hold onto the past.
7. stop being scared to make a mistake. i am terrified of doing this. not that i don't make mistakes. i make plenty of mistakes. but i still get scared to make them. i think about all the mistakes i could possibly make, big or small, before i make every decision. it takes a lot of energy to do this. too much energy.
8. stop berating yourself for old mistakes.
9. stop trying to buy happiness. i think most people fall into this problem. i always think to myself "ohh when i have more than $100 in my bank account life will be so much easier!" or "oh my gosh i need those pants..my outfits will be so much cuter and therefore i will be way happier when i get those pants!" problem is...that's so not true. i definitely need to work on this!
10. stop exclusively looking to others for happiness.
11. stop being idle.
12. stop thinking you're not ready. this is something i really have struggled with lately as i get closer to graduating college and having to become a real adult in the real world. i don't feel like i'm ready to leave provo, but i also don't feel like i'm in the position to stay here. i don't feel ready to support myself entirely or have a career. but, i know that i need to be heading in this direction, so i need to convince myself i'm ready!
13. stop getting involved in relationships for the wrong reasons.
14. stop rejecting new relationships just because old ones didn't work.
15. stop trying to compete against everyone else. i'm not a very competitive person but i once heard someone say that we need to not compare our behind-the-scenes to everyone else's highlight reel. otherwise, we get a misconstrued picture of what we think our lives "should" be like. facebook/twitter/instagram/blogs so do not help with this!
16. stop being jealous of others.
17. stop complaining and feeling sorry for yourself. the month of october was one of those times when you just say "when it rains...it pours" it really really poured. and for far too long i was feeling sorry for myself instead of putting things into perspective and realizing that these trials were sent to me for a reason and that i have been truly blessed in this life and that this was just a blip in the big scheme of things!
18. stop holding grudges.
19. stop letting others bring you down to their level.
20. stop wasting time explaining yourself to others.
21. stop doing the same things over and over without taking a break.
22. stop overlooking the beauty of small moments.
23. stop trying to make things perfect. i am a perfectionist with a lot of things, not all things. this is proved to be a real challenge for me. i spend way too much time working on things that really don't need to be "perfect". this article said it best, "the real world doesn't reward perfectionists, it rewards people who get things done."
24. stop following the path of least resistance. i have to quote what this article said with this one, because it's exactly how i feel about this, "Life is not easy, especially when you plan on achieving something worthwhile. don't take the easy way out. do something extraordinary."
25. stop acting like everything is fine if it isn't.
26. stop blaming others for your troubles.
27. stop trying to be everything to everyone. this article says "narrow your focus", yeah, i need to do that. I have so many...too many...dreams for my life and instead of working hard to make a few of them happen, i distribute my effort into all of them and end up achieving...none.
28. stop worrying so much. i have always been a worrier. always. when i was in elementary school my mom got me a "worry stone" as a joke because i seriously worry that much. i stress about anything and everything, things that don't even really affect me, things that are completely out of my control, things that don't really matter...honestly it's endless. and it truly does me no good.
29. stop focusing on what you don't want to happen. two words: POSITIVE THINKING!
30. stop being ungrateful. i'm not great at this, but in my prayers i try to really express gratitude to my heavenly father and i am big on thank you notes and making sure people know i appreciate them...but, i can certainly work on this! gratitude brings so much happiness to your life and makes all your problems seem so insignificant! no better remedy for sadness, anger, frustration or hate than gratitude!

i'm sure that no one made it to the bottom. this was mostly for me. the end of the year, although cliche, is a great time to evaluate my life and decide what needs to change or what i need to work on. not to mention, this gave me a solid thirty minutes of procrastination which is always good!

anal retentive.

2011-12-06T02:41:00.001-07:00

my whole life i have been an anal retentive, perfectionist, planner, and organizer. you would think this would be good (and also prevent me from procrastination...but turns out it doesn't). instead, this really just makes me the grown up...which really is no fun. or as amber would call me, a focker.

for example, today i went to school at 10. i am so so so anal about checking the weather before i go outside. i hate going outside unprepared for whatever weather is about to greet me. i also hate going outside with an outfit that is either too cold or too ward for the day. so yes, i check the weather probably 3 or 4 times before i leave for the day. it was in the 20s this morning. so, i put on a light sweater, my combat boots (they are great on snow and ice...again, need to be prepared!) and this big parka type jacket from h&m. its sooo warm. i thought i was dressed fine. well, a couple hours later i go home to meet up with amber so we can go to the library. she has on a short sleeved shirt and a thin leather jacket. naturally, i ask if she's going to put on another jacket since it's freezing. her response "well...i'm just going from one cold place to another...sooo...no." i think she's crazy. we go to her car, i have my new gloves on even and as we are in the car she starts making fun of me. she tells me how comical it is that i am wearing gloves. so, because i'm now self-conscious about it, i take the gloves off and leave them in the car. i'm not tryin to be like michael jackson or anything...then as we are walking to the library she calls me a focker (her favorite word) because i'm wearing a big jacket. really, i could have gotten away with a lighter jacket. but, i HATE being cold when it can easily be prevented. and i hate even more to be unprepared.

another example, we had our ward christmas closing social tonight at this cabin up provo canyon. i of course google mapped it the minute i got the address earlier today. i was so prepared. once again, i really dislike being unprepared. well, we are driving up the canyon and i asked my roommate if she wanted me to give her directions and my other roommate says, "well, we can just follow people there". we probably would have been just find doing that but of course in my head i'm thinking "ummm...yeah, follow people? how do you know they're going to the same place we are? what if we get lost? it's freezing. it's dark. we all have gps on our phone. so not necessary to chance it and just follow people." granted...its like a one street town so there are only a few ways you can actually go, but my theory is better safe than sorry. i know, i'm so not spontaneous. like i said, i WORRY. i plan, i organize, i prepare. that's what i do. and i seriously do not know how to go about my life without doing those things.

last day of classes on thursday. i could not be more excited! i finally got to go skiing last saturday. it was such a fun day! we stayed with kiersti friday night and headed up saturday morning. originally i was planning to only go a half day and go to the basketball game at 3. but, after i met up with some friends and the sun was shining, i couldn't resist skiing the whole day. we didn't leave until 4 and we got davanza's after. MY FAVORITE! honestly, a dream day. nothing better than pizza after a long day of skiing. also, the second half of the day i was the only girl skiing with four boys. i'm used to that happening since none of my girl friends ski. but it's seriously the greatest because i always ski outside my comfort zone...ya know, since i'm not spontaneous or adventurous and 90% of boys are. it's definitely good for me. anyways, time to get back to my all nighter. maybe one day i'll take some pictures on an actual camera instead of an iPhone.

not the first blog post to transpire as a result of procrastination

2011-12-01T23:43:00.001-07:00

i am without a doubt the world's greatest procrastinator. seriously, if that could be a career, i'd be set. unfortunately it's pretty much the antithesis of all that is required to obtain a career. bummer. i have to write five pages by tomorrow at 9 am. i've had less time to do a lot more so i'm not that stressed about. which is sort of the problem. why do i do this to myself? i wish nothing more than to be in bed right now. i also despise nothing more than i do writing papers. i would rather study for tests all day long than write research papers. i wish that were an option.

tonight i went to carl's intramural game. they lost, no more games until next fall! it was freezing. so so cold. but it was so fun to hang out with em, ash, amb and kiersti. then ash came home with me, we stopped and got big gulps (so bad, i know...i needed the caffeine tonight though) and watched 90210 and ate grilled cheese. that i burnt. and our kitchen still smells. luckily i have these sitting next to me as i pretend to do my homework.

if you have never made orange pomanders before, do it now! they smell amazing! i want to go buy more oranges and whole cloves because i seriously can't get enough of them. also, the more cloves you put in them, the more they will dry out and the longer they last!

today i was thinking how awesome it would be to win something. and how i NEVER win anything. ever. recently i decided i was going to enter all blog giveaways on my favorite blogs, just to see if i can win anything. no luck yet, but today i had an epiphany. while attempting to further procrastinate this paper i'm supposed to be writing right now, i decided to literally enter every sweepstakes i could find. the month of october was not my favorite. i think i must have really really bad luck. either that or the adversary is just trying to get to me in really dumb ways. so i wanted to test my luck a little. see if anything cool...like winning any sort of contest...could ever happen to me. i know, so lame. but i really just want to win something...anything! it would make me feel so much better about my crappy luck and then i wouldn't feel so bad about how much i hate cars and money and computers and all these things that my luck seems to affect. so ya, i pretty much entered like 50 contests. i'll keep you updated.

i promise i love my life. that last paragraph sounded way negative. i'm so grateful to be here in provo and at byu. i live in a nice house, i have a good car, i have a job, i'm healthy, and i have wonderful family and friends. like i said, i just had bad luck this semester.

back to procrastinating again. in another attempt to procrastinate, i typed this on my phone.

i am so not kidding when i say that i legitimately have to remind myself that this has been my lifelong goal, that i've put too much hard work and energy (and $$$...thanks mom and dad!) into this to quit now. even though i really just want to drop out of all my classes. who needs to know theories of comparative politics, and the weaknesses of civil society in post-communist eastern europe when all you're gonna do is teach a bunch of 15-17 year olds that won't even remember what the bill of rights is two weeks after they learn it.

ok that was also really negative. i mean, i enjoy learning. i really do. and i know that i am so so blessed to be able to have the opportunity to go to byu. but...aren't i allowed to feel completely burnt out and so beyond ready to be done with school and homework forever? at least when i'm a teacher i'll be the one that gets to issue all the homework. hahah i can't wait. it's gonna be really fun.

tomorrow i am going up to park city to ski a half day. first day on the slopes! i'm so excited!

okay okay...i really need to crank this paper out so i guess i'll have to resume my procrastination tomorrow afternoon.

gute nacht!

.

2011-11-30T23:56:00.001-07:00

okay, so maybe i will try to blog again. only because emily told me to. like i said before, my life is so not exciting. but i like it that way. this semester has been one of the hardest ever for me. not because my classes are hard, because they really aren't. but because i cannot for the life of me stay motivated to finish any homework or actually go to class! talk about senioritis. i am so ready to be done with school. today i was in the car with amber and we were talking about school and i was getting so overwhelmed thinking about all my end of the semester tests and papers and i seriously started saying, out loud, "i want to graduate college. i will graduate college. i want to graduate college. i will graduate college." i'm really not kidding about that. i have to remind myself daily that it has been my lifelong goal to graduate college. i'm so so so close. i can't give up now! even though i really want to so i can just be a ski bum all winter.

i don't really want to rehash the last three months so instead, i'll just post about thanksgiving. because it was SO great. and i need to vocalize everything i'm thankful for, really just so i can remind myself how i really have no reason to be such a brat about school. i flew to vegas for like a day last week. my mom picked me up and we ran errands for a couple hours. i love love love hanging out with her. she even brought me jimmy johns in the car! yum. she bought me christmas decorations. and we got to go to the ghetto (north las vegas) to check on a rental for her client. i made her run back to the car with me because there were random people wandering around the streets and i thought for sure we were going to get shot up or robbed at gun point. since, ya know, we're real rich and stuff. luckily we didn't. it was fun to pretend like it though. the next day we drove to arizona. and then, i got to spend four days hanging out with my most favorite people. thursday morning we did the turkey trot. my mom, dad, sister, amber and i all ran the 10k. everyone else did the 2 mile or 1 mile walk/run. i was so scared to do the 10k. but i'm so glad i did. i am NOT a runner. i hate running. i have short little legs that get me nowhere. i feel so awkward when i run. i have bad knees. and running doesn't make my knees feel very good. but, i did it! i finished! i didn't train...like at all. the most miles i have ever ran at one time is 3.5...ya, probably not a good idea. i was hating my life the first three miles, then i felt way better the last half. i was so tired. but i felt so good after! my time sucked but all i cared about was finishing. my hip flexors and quads and back were SO sore for the next three days. it was bad. but definitely worth it.

thanksgiving dinner was bomb. as usual. i didn't get a real thanksgiving dinner last year so i was so excited to be with my family this year! after we all went and saw like crazy. i was so excited to see it and then...the ending ruined it all. oh well, at least it was free.

the next day we did some shopping. we went to the scottsdale mall and it was so crowded. NOT fun. we never do black friday shopping. not worth it. no joke, we drove around for probably 20 minutes stalking people as they walked towards their cars in an attempt to steal their parking spot. although, if i had money, black friday shopping online/cyber monday is a wonderful wonderful idea. i love shopping online. i stopped by the barney's there. so dreamy in there. they had my favorite miu miu pumps. it was really fun to stare at them. if only. maybe someday when i'm makin the big bucks as a teacher. ha. we ate lunch at this super cute place called modern burger. so yum! i love sliders. after finding something for family pictures in nordstrom we were very happy to leave. i was so exhausted i napped on the car ride home. then, i went to my grandma's for the afternoon and pretended to do homework when really, i was watching extreme makeover home edition. then we had yummy mexican food for dinner! followed by a bonfire with s'mores and some hair coloring. thanks em and amy for being the best hair dressers ever :)

saturday began with a pedicure and manicure...my favorite! then, i got to take a nice long nap. followed by some time at my grandparents. my grandpa is a huge history buff and every time i'm at his house he has some new (to me) books from his gigantic library to show me. so fun! we also took family pictures. not my favorite time of the year. i love having pictures of all of us but it's always so dramatic. and really entertaining. i love my family. we all went to dinner at this italian restaurant. with 13 of us, we definitely made a scene. talking way too loud. taking way too many pictures. my grandma making friends at the restaurant (not out of the ordinary). we're quite the spectacle. after, my mom, grandpa and i spend a couple hours planning our trip to europe next summer! I CANNOT WAIT. i love love love traveling with my family. my parents are the best travelers ever. seriously, the greatest. we are spending 21 days in 13 cities. starting in frankfurt-->nuremburg-->rothenburg-->heidelberg-->lake constance-->garmisch-->vienna-->prague-->waldeck-->amsterdam-->antwerp-->bruges-->cologne-->frankfurt. we are driving to all these cities...i'm most excited for that. it's gonna be busy but so so fun. i can't wait to go to vienna and to show my family where i lived for 3 1/2 months! also, to nuremburg. last time i was there, i tried to find the family they lived with when my mom was born but got very very lost. so i'm excited to finally meet the family my grandparents lived with for several years!

sunday we left early. amber was a total nazi trying to get us out of the door. she was freaking out at 6:59 when we were on the driveway saying goodbye instead of in the car and on the freeway. ash and i may or may not have been taking our time just to spite her. i have never driven from mesa to provo. and i never want to make that drive again. way too long. we drove 5 miles out of the way just to say 10 cents on gas. amber's decision, btw. i slept like 95% of the drive. they didn't ask me to drive...i can't imagine why! (i have really bad luck with cars. that's for another post another day though) also, i learned how to read in the car without getting carsick. if i lay down and read a book on my phone, i don't get car sick. magical.

okay, well now that i have procrastinated like a lot. there's that lack of motivation thing again. time to go do homework. aka go to bed.

.

2011-11-30T14:26:00.001-07:00

i haven't blogged in a really long time. and really, i kind of don't like blogging about my life much anymore. it's too boring. however, i felt impressed to write a quick little post on someone who plays a very big role in my life. amber is my best friend, cousin, and roommate. we do everything together. tell each other everything. we love hard, we fight hard. we know each other inside and out and we've been attached at the hip since birth. she has a blog, and she is much better at writing in it than i am. she's much more entertaining to read and always has something good to say. unfortunately, some people just can't seem to accept the fact that you can be beautiful and intelligent and funny and kind and spiritual and loving and genuine and compassionate all at the same time. because that's what my best friend is. she's got a lot going for her. and for whatever reason, people don't want to see girls like her shine and succeed, so they try whatever they can to bring her down. i hope that she, and others, never forget what an incredible person she is. she is the best friend i could ever ask for. she is always willing to help others. always knows how to put a smile on my face when i'm having a bad day. she loves to make others laugh. she is a strong daughter of God who loves her Savior more than anything. she is so diligent in the gospel, i sometimes can't even believe how great she is! she is so disciplined when it comes to being healthy. she is wonderful at doing hair, makeup and picking out cute outfits. she loves to learn and is always eager for opportunities where she can learn new things. she loves her family and her friends unconditionally. she is so forgiving and accepting of others. she is always looking for ways to find the positive and be happy. she is proactive with her life and a wonderful example to me. i love her so very much and i wish that everyone had the chance to get to know her like i do, because let me tell you, you're missing out on the chance to know, without a doubt, the coolest girl around :)

outdoorsy weekend

2011-09-13T12:51:00.000-06:00

this weekend we finally did something more exciting that watch movies! on thursday night i went to a bonfire and it was freezing! but i loved the cool air. i am so excited for fall! on friday i took my cousin ashley to the airport at 4 am. so. cold. but it was so fun to hang out with her for a little bit. she is so fun and i'm so glad she's up here now. then, i came home and crashed. we ended up going to another bonfire friday night and then we went fishing in this stocked pond at sundance at midnight. i'm so outdoorsy, right?! it was so fun. partially because you're not supposed to fish there so it was a little exhilarating to be doing something you're not supposed to. its also a little embarrassing that i feel rebellious after fishing in a pond you're not supposed to fish in. clearly my life is little on the boring side. anyways, we caught two fish and then went back to provo and put them in the stream on the south side of campus. then, we finally got to bed around 5 am. saturday amber and i did some shopping and then some friends from high school, jeremy, alivia and tanner came over to make dinner. jeremy made us this really good pasta since he served his mission in italy! after, we headed over to alpine village for a random party...so weird being there now and then went back to our house to play an intense game of boys vs. girls catch phrase. always a good time! then, i played awkward 7th wheel and opted out of watching a movie with everyone and wrote my talk instead :) sunday was a really really really good day. i love giving talks because i always end up growing more than i could ever do in just my regular scripture study. the bad part is i always cry. the rest of sacrament was great and we had an awesome lesson in relief society about the law of chastity and eternal marriage...probably one of the best lessons on that topic i've ever heard. after church i made tanner's mom's recipe for shredded beef tacos for some boys from high school. they were so good! i forgot that i had had them in high school one night when tanner's family had me over for dinner...they were almost as good as sister garrett's!

here are some pictures from our fishing excursion!

jeremy being one with the fish

the boys with their prize

sitting on the dock outside one of the banquet rooms fishing haha

preparing for our adventure

.

2011-09-09T16:38:00.000-06:00

i decided to start a new goal of blogging everyday or every other day. just as a personal journal since i'm really really bad at journaling in the five journals i have sitting on my bookshelf. i'm hoping that it will be easier since it's typing...and not writing by hand. i'm gonna try to post pictures often too but seeing as i never take pictures we will see how it goes! i'm hoping that i can eventually print it my blog and keep it as a journal.

in the past three and a half months since i've blogged a lot has happened! i went to key west with my family, celebrated my 21st birthday, went to san francisco with two of my best friends alivia and mackenzie, went on a family houseboat trip and spent a month at home. oh, and i moved! amber and i moved to arlington and we love it! we share a room and since we moved in i'm pretty sure we are almost always together. we have so much fun together and we love our room! we got to paint it and decorate it (cheaply of course) so it feels a little more like home. i love my classes this semester, well all but one. i'm taking utah history (the one i don't like...its even more boring than it sounds), classroom management, history teaching methods, history teaching practicum, theories of comparative politics and american government and politics. i have two part time jobs as a research assistant to two different professors. one is in the school of education and the other is in the history department. its really nice because i make my own hours for the most part and it's great experience!

i really like our ward so far. everyone seems nice and pretty social. aaaand, i've already been asked to give a talk...this sunday. ohh the benefits of being a convert! everyone thinks you must have something great to say when really i've got nothin. but really, i'm grateful for the opportunity because i always learn so much when i prepare my talks and it helps me overcome my fear of public speaking a little more each time :)

so, first post down...lets hope i can follow through with this...

happy birthday to my forever best friend!

2011-05-26T01:49:00.000-06:00

i started this post weeks ago and never finished...but i finally logged on today and decided it needed to be posted.

so, amber and i jokingly call each other eternal best friends or forever best friends because well...we are family. and we will quite literally be together for ever! lucky for me to have a best friend that will never ever leave me.

yesterday was her 21st birthday! i love birthdays. and i love when i get to be in charge of how the celebrating goes down. i am so grateful jackie birthed amber on may 9th, my life would be nothing if this day never occurred. therefore, i had to show just how grateful i was by making amber feel like the princess she was. we started out the day at midnight on sunday. we stuck some candles in some cake someone dropped off and sang happy birthday then pigged out approximately 5 minutes before we all went to sleep. we like to keep things healthy around apartment 135. i made sure to shower amber with love texts throughout the day, reminding her it was her birthday just in case she forgot. in the late afternoon she opened her presents and cards from my parents and i. i was soooo excited to give them to her. i think she liked them a little bit :)

then, for her glamorous birthday dinner i made a quesadilla with beans and avocado and we split it. a couple hours later the real party started. sadie and i made a rainbow...yes rainbow cake. and it was sooo fun! i'm going to do this every time i make a cake! here's how it turned out (it looked better in person):

we had some friends over to serenade her happy birthday and then watched the memphis/okc game. it was a fun fun day.

at 2:15 am, i received a text from amber (she has a knack for waking up in the middle of the night with a need to satisfy her outrageous sweet tooth) that said "i love you. you are perfect. you are the most amazing person. i love you so so much". that might be the left over rainbow cake and delirium talking, but i think that means she had a good day.

amber is a huge bright spot in my life. we have been practically inseperable since we moved to provo and i wouldn't have it any other way. we definitely have our moments when we get on each others nerves, but the best part about our relationship is that we snap out of it real fast.

am & sades joint bday dinner at malawis!

i hope she never forgets how wonderful she is. happy 21st birthday to my favorite person alive!

bookworm

2011-05-19T17:44:00.000-06:00

i've always loved reading. ever since i learned how to read i've had my nose in a book. back in elementary school, we had to make some sort of "relic" in GATE, that would serve as an artifact that represented our "graduating" fifth grade class 50 years from now, assuming the area was destroyed and archaeologists came to dig up the area. what would you want them to find? i made a mosaic of a book that said 'read'. books are the greatest escape. summer time is always my favorite because i can just lay outside and read. all day. on countless occasions i have finished a whole book in a day. that is always my favorite. but since i've been in college, i haven't read nearly as much. i generally stick to the quick, on the edge of your seat, reads (james patterson, dan brown). which are great, but i have such a long list of books i want to read. so, i'm going to start. the other day i didn't feel like doing homework so i laid in my bed, with the window open, listening to the rain, and read a book about secret societies. don't judge me i love that kind of stuff. its so entertaining. and historical. hahah. i learned about the origin of assassins. from the middle east! crazy story. yesterday while i was at the library doing homework i decided to check out a book i've been wanting to read for a really long time. brave new world, by aldous huxley. i also checked out a book about the english language by bill bryson. if you have not read anything from him, you most. he is hilarious. on my study abroad we all switched books because we had so much time to read and my friend emily lent me the lost continent: travels in small town america. any description i give you won't be enough to explain how great this book is. so just read it. more often than not, i caught myself on the subway with tears of laughter in my eyes wishing so badly i could muster up some amount of grammatically correct german to express to someone around me how outrageously funny this man is. anyways, i checked out his book the mother tongue: english and how it got that way. i'm so excited to read it!

while i was in california over christmas break i raided the bookshelves of my english & history teacher grandpa and found a really old copy of animal farm and anthem by ayn rand. i haven't finished animal farm yet but i read anthem in a day. it was fascinating. i encourage anyone and everyone to read it. its only 100 pages. incredible look at the results of totalitarian collectivism and ultimately the importance and significance of the individual. anyways, after reading this futuristic novel, and LOVING it, i decided it was time to tackle brave new world. i've heard it's amazing. i started it the other day and i already love it. i'm currently in the middle of way too many books. i'm a couple chapters into my book on the congress of vienna, 1816, halfway done with all quiet on the western front, in the middle of my secret societies book, a couple pages into brave new world, and a couple pages into animal farm. maybe i'll finish one eventually?

i really want to start a book club. seriously. so...if you want to join, let me know, currently the membership consists of me myself and i.

mommy dearest.

2011-05-10T20:12:00.000-06:00

okay, so my mom is nothing like mommy dearest, but i always call her that...jokingly. if you've never seen that movie, you should. because it will make you really really really really really grateful for your mother. i was sad i couldn't go home for mother's day last weekend. the last two times i've been home i've only seen her for a couple hours. since i've been at school, i have grown to appreciate my mom so much more. and i feel bad that i never appreciated her in high school.

i have the best mom. hands down. she is literally superwoman. she does EVERYTHING. i still and shocked at how she gets it all done. when i was growing up she always had little side projects/careers going on. pampered chef, stationary business, substitute teaching, real estate. and she is amazing at all of them. not to mention, she was at every dance performance, never complained about having to drive 30 minutes to and from dance almost every day of the week. our house was and is always perfectly clean. always. and its not because my sister and i are really good at doing our chores (because we aren't). eventually she got too busy and we had to have a cleaning lady come. even then, she only comes once a month and our house is still spotless. and it's perfectly decorated. my sister and i have had immaculately decorated rooms since...forever. every room has had a theme. and everything matches perfectly. and we've decorated our rooms at least four or five times. she made us the BEST lunches while in school. pb&j? HA. please. homemade soup in a thermos? fancy sandwiches on sourdough? pasta salads? homemade croutons and tortilla chips? that's more like it. every. day. never once did i have to get "hot lunch". she dropped me off and picked me up from school almost every day. she never once made me ride the bus. she was at every swim meet. volunteered at every school i've attended (even if i was a little embarrassed of that in high school) she was PTO president at our elementary school for at least 7 or 8 years. she made our elementary school years SO fun. all the teachers and staff knew us and they all loved my mom. they still do. she goes to lunch with my fifth grade teacher every now and then, and still talks to and sees our librarian, art teacher, and p.e. teacher. that's another thing she is really good at, she keeps in touch with everyone. and she never forgets birthdays or anniversaries. she knows everyone and loves everyone and they all love her back. she is the best friend. she has a couple really close girl friends and it amazes me how thoughtful she is, even to those she has been friends with for over 30 years, and those who never reciprocate. she never expects anything in return. it's nearly impossible for anyone to be truly altruistic but if there is anyone that's close it's my mom. she will do anything for anyone. she potted her best friend's plants while she was out of town after finding out she had had a hard week. just because she loves her! anytime i would frantically text or call my mom because of a forgotten homework assignment or project she was there in a second to drop it off. sometimes i would walk out to my car after school and inside there would be a balloon, a "thinking of you" card, and occasionally a little gift. just because she wanted me to have a good day. i think i might be the only one with a mom who does that. i still get "thinking of you" cards in the mail all the time, and sometimes its a surprise package with everything i ever needed. she is so good at listening. if i mention anything i might need while i'm cooking, two weeks later it's in a package on my doorstep. all of these things are perfect examples of why i love and appreciate my mom. but, there is one thing that has stood out to me recently. my dad came from a family of five kids, both parents were teachers. they all paid for everything themselves. my mom came from a family of 2 kids, and though they did okay financially, my mom paid for most of what she wanted, specifically while she was in college. they both come from great families, and both had great lives growing up but, my entire life, my mom has worked especially hard so that my sister and i can have an even better life than her and my dad. my dad works very hard to provide for our family. and he does a great job at it. and thanks to him, our family has never struggled financially. but, my mom, especially since i have been in college, has done everything possible to make sure i am able to have a wonderful life. she has given me the opportunity to pursue so many dreams, and do so many things, all of which i know would not have been possible without her. she works so incredibly hard so that my life will be easy, she gives everything she has to my sister and i. she is truly selfless. and without a doubt the most incredible woman i know.

a speech every american high school principal should give

2011-04-25T08:57:00.002-06:00

"I am making these changes because I am convinced that most of the ideas that have dominated public education in America have worked against you, against your teachers, against your parents, and against our country.

Therefore: First, this school will no longer honor race or ethnicity. I could not care less if your racial makeup is black, brown, red, yellow, or white. I could not care less if your origins are African, Latin American, Asian, or European, or if your ancestors arrived here on the Mayflower or on slave ships.

The only identity I care about, the only one this school will recognize, is your individual identity -- your character, your scholarship, your humanity. And the only national identity this school will care about is American. This is an American public school, and American public schools were created to make better Americans.  If you wish to affirm an ethnic, racial, or religious identity through your school, you will have to go elsewhere. We will end all ethnicity-, race- and non-American-nationality-based celebrations. They undermine the motto of America , one of its three central values -- E Pluribus Unum -- "from many, one."   And this school will be guided by America 's values. That includes all after-school clubs. I will not authorize clubs that divide students based on any identities. This includes race, language, religion, sexual orientation, or whatever else may become in vogue in a society divided by political correctness.

Your clubs will be based on interests and passions -- not blood, ethnic, racial or other physically defined ties. Those clubs just cultivate narcissism -- an unhealthy preoccupation with the self -- while the purpose of education is to get you to think beyond yourself. So, we will have clubs that transport you to the wonders and glories of art, music, astronomy, languages you do not already speak, math, carpentry, and more. If the only extracurricular activities you can imagine being interested in are those based on ethnic or racial or sexual identity, that means that little outside of yourself really interests you. Second, I am not interested in whether or not English is your native language. My only interest in terms of language is that you leave this school speaking and writing English as fluently as possible. The English language has united America 's citizens for more than 200 years, and it will unite us at this school.

It is one of the indispensable reasons this country of immigrants has always come to be one country. And if you leave this school without excellent English-language skills, I will have been remiss in my duty to ensure that you are prepared to compete successfully in the American job market. We will learn? other languages here -- it is deplorable that most Americans only speak English . But if you want classes taught in your native language rather than in English, this is not your school. Third, because I regard learning as a sacred endeavor, everything in this school will reflect learning's elevated status. This means, among other things, that you and your teachers will dress accordingly. Many people in our society dress more formally for a meal at a nice restaurant than they do for church or school. Those people have their priorities backwards. Therefore, there will be a formal dress code at this school. Fourth, no obscene language will be tolerated anywhere on this school's property -- whether in class, in the hallways or at athletic events. If you can't speak without using the "F-word," you can't speak. By obscene language I mean the words banned by the Federal Communications Commission plus epithets such as the "N-word," even when used by one black student to address another, or "bitch," even when addressed by a girl to a girlfriend. It is my intent that by the time you leave this school, you will be among the few of your age to distinguish instinctively between the elevated and the degraded, the holy and the obscene. Fifth, we will end all self-esteem programs. In this school, self-esteem will be attained in only one way -- the way people attained it until the state of California decided otherwise a generation ago -- by earning it. One immediate consequence of this is that there will be only one class valedictorian, not eight. Sixth, and last, I am reorienting the school toward academics and away from politics and propaganda. No more time will be devoted to scaring you about smoking and caffeine, or terrifying you about sexual harassment or global warming. No more semesters will be devoted to condom-wearing and teaching you to regard sexual relations as only or primarily a health issue.. There will be no more attempts to convince you that you are a victim because you are not white, or not male, or not heterosexual, or not Christian. We will have failed, if any one of you graduates from this school and does not consider himself or herself inordinately lucky -- to be alive and to be an American.  Now, please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America . As many of you do not know the words, your teachers will hand them out to you."

I just got this in an email from my grandma. It's from an article by Dennis Prager who is a columnist in Southern California. he wrote this as his ideal "speech every american high school principal should give".

as i find myself on the verge of having a career in a field which, i think, is perhaps one of the biggest failures in america, i can't help but find this to be especially true at the moment. back in january, condoleeza rice came to speak at byu and i loved her emphasis on education. i believe with all my heart that education is the only path to success. granted, there are other things that can help along the way but education is without a doubt the most important thing we can do with our lives. one thing in particular stuck out to me from her forum. don't quote me on this, but during the q&a after (i think) she said one of the biggest problems with our school system is the self-esteem issue. our schools, and in fact our whole society is so focused on making everyone feel good about themselves even if they really aren't doing anything good for themselves or society. we reward students (and people in general) for simply trying rather than actually doing which, essentially defeats the whole idea of the merit system. instead, we need to reward for students for doing things well, not for simply trying. prager's fifth point talks about this exactly. america has become too afraid of hurting people's feelings. and as a result, americans have become WAY too soft. life is not fair. you don't always win for simply trying. sometimes we lose. and thats how we learn. i also could not agree more with his arguments about the clubs and institutions schools have created to essentially divide the population. we hear about "oppressed" peoples and their desire to have equality. by emphasizing your differences, you're simply making everyone else aware of your "differences", something that most probably would have never recognized in the first place.

i grew up in a home, and in a family, where loving america was not an option, it was mandatory. both of my grandfathers and two of my great-grandfathers served in the military. my dad's dad fought in wwii, and his dad fought in wwi. my entire family on both sides, are ardent patriots. we love america. and we are grateful for all that this incredible nation has to offer. so it shouldn't surprise anyone when i say that seeing americans feeling ashamed of being american, or patriotic, more than aggravates me. there is not one nation on this earth that is perfect, including america. we have had our share of mishaps, but we are learning, and for the most part, we are doing great things for this world. so why on earth does anyone feel the need to un-americanize any aspect of this nation? american does not equte to white males. my sister and my cousins from my dad's side and i are the first white kids on that side of the family. my grandma is full chinese, her parents were immigrants from china that didn't speak english. my grandpa is full italian, his grandparents were immigrants from italy that came through ellis island. part of what is great about america is that there are literally ALL kinds of people here and ALL kinds of religion and thats not just okay, its encouraged. and i agree with that. i love being around other peoples and cultures. the world has so much to offer, and lucky for us, we can experience much of that...in america. but, in order for a nation filled with all kinds of people, there has to be something that binds us. prager's use of "e pluribus unum" is perfect here. there are many of us here, but we are all one we are all american. and that is something we should be proud of. INCLUDING speaking the english language and not deferring to every other language spoken here. while i was on my study abroad, i went to, and learned about, several different countries where there were many official languages (switzerland, austria, slovakia). these places were all beautiful and wonderful places to visit. but they were severely lacking any sort of unity. and in some cases, language causes major issues between peoples. in the end, we are all AMERICAN and like prager says at the beginning, that is the only identity that we should honor.

as much as i love america, my generation is significantly sloppier than previous generations and it gives americans a bad name. i loved living in europe because i never once wore sweatpants in public. that doesn't mean being comfortable isn't allowed. we are told our bodies are temples, so we should treat them like one. i'm fairly positive wearing immodest clothing or overly-baggy/poor fitting clothing isn't considered treating our bodies like a temple. as much as i would have hated a dress code in high school, it would have done our school a lot of good. i would have focused much more on school rather than what i looked like and what everyone else looked like. the way we dress translates into the way we act. if students were to dress well, their attitudes and behavior would improve ten-fold.

now that i have written a novel, i'll stop. i'm sure most probably won't read this but i couldn't pass up the opportunity to share this article, and to share my thoughts. i think this guy knows what he's talking about and if i ever work my way up to be a principal, i will certainly be sharing something similar to this because every student in america needs to hear this.

so lucky

2011-04-23T01:48:00.001-06:00

my parents are out of town until tomorrow so I'm sleeping in their huge bed. i went to lunch with amy, a friend i grew up with. i love her. and her family. saw her mom today too...shes like my second mom. today was my childhood best friends birthday. i miss her. and her family. her mom is my other second mom. in a couple weeks we will all be home and i cant wait to reunite. I laid out today. and read...for fun. for the first time since December. and I watched secret millionaire. and cried. for the whole hour. then watches the food network and felt inspired to cook. but didn't. then I watched the best of will Ferrell. and laughed. a lot. then I got to talk to my bestest of all best friends. and remembered how great she really is. I've only been away for two days and I already miss her. she's giving a talk in church this Sunday. I'm pretty much the worst best friend ever for missing it. she will do great. because shes great at everything. I decided just a few minutes ago that I really miss my roommates. and I really love them. (when I say roommates, honorary roommate mc is included) I for sure have the best roommates in all of Provo. they make life so much more fun. can't wait to see them in a few days :) thats all. I'm tired. my family comes home tomorrow finally!

almost done

2011-04-20T13:20:00.000-06:00

WITH FINALS! i'm taking my last real test today then heading to vegas with carl and emily. then, i'm taking a final online tomorrow morning while i'm at home then i'm DONE. but only for a week until i start school again. i finished my two hardest tests today and i feel much better about them than i thought. i love history but this major has made me really start to not like it as much. i'm tired of writing and reading to no avail. spring term i'm taking stats and pl sc 150. i'm kind of excited to take stats and have something different to do. fall term should be significantly easier. i'm taking 12 credits. one credit is this food science class that i'm really only taking so i can be full time still. i'm also taking utah history (required...NOT looking forward to it), pl sc 110 am. govt & politics or something i think?, then also my practicum class for the education part of my major and a classroom management class. one class is a block class and besides that i have a pretty light schedule. after this semester it is much needed.

last night my roommates (and mc, who is basically a roommate/a future roommate) and i had a bad girls club goodbye girls night. jenna loves the bad girls club show so we named ourselves the bad girls club. even though nothing we do could even remotely qualify us to be a part of the real bad girls club. its was a huge love fest basically. jenna and i came home from the library and amber and sadie had decorated the apt witha welcome home banner, really weird looking balloons, popcorn, and dinosaur party hats. it was so cute. then we got domestic and made breakfast for dinner. i was starving and IT WAS SO GOOD. we made eggs, shredded hash-browns (and went to great lengths to flip them), pumpkin pancakes with homemade buttermilk syrup and maple bacon (which by the way is the best thing i've ever had...and i don't even like bacon. its bacon with brown sugar all over it baked in the oven. mmm...tastes like candy). of course we added a little greys in and it was the perfect night. we're acting like we're not going to see each other for a long time when really jenna and i are just going out of town for the weekend and mc will be back in two weeks. we just can't get enough of each other. we have girls nights at least 3-4 times a week. cute, right?

in the three years i've been up here i haven't made hardly any close girl friends. its mostly been me and amber. and then, in the last four months i've made three really really great girl friends that i love to death. it wasn't until recently that i realized i really needed this...and them. i'm so glad i moved in with jenna and sadie and met mc. us 5 get along so well and we have so much fun together. by far the best roommates i've ever had :)

i wish i had cute pictures of us but...most of them are ugly/weird/inappropriate for such a public place. here are some okay ones mostly from my phone.

our amazing feast from last night

me and little j!!!!

this is mc the unofficial roommate. isn't she pretty? amber and i are trying to convert everyone to the middle part. no one's buyin it.

this is so not attractive but at ward prayer last sunday we walked in late and were standing by the door and somehow the four of us were standing there just loving on each other for at least 10 minutes. we were in some sort of weird knot and we were all holding hands and hugging. it was really entertaining.

this is jerry. amber dog-sits for her friend occasionally and we all get so excited when he comes over. i am NOT a dog person but this dog is ADORABLE. he can fit in my hand and he doesn't shed and he loves to sleep on you whenever he gets the chance. i've fallen asleep with him on many occasions. in the words of sadie blasucci "jerry has warmed my icy heart". it's a miracle really.

pretty mc again. mc does not like dogs. or animals in general. so it really is a miracle that she is not only holding jerry but LOVING it.

one night i had to stay up really late to finish a paper so i made sadie stay in my room to keep me company. she passed out shortly after she came into my room.

sweet little jerry!

again, not a very cute one but this is generally what we are doing on any given night. laughing at ourselves because no one but us thinks we're funny and taking ugly pictures. ten bucks says the tv was either on bravo, lifetime, food network or oxygen.

the queens of instagram pictures

we're a catch.

on the 2 year anniversary of my baptism my roommates surprised me by coming into my apt singing feliz navidad (not sure what the connection is) with cookies on a plate with candles. hahah it was adorable.

i wish i had more pictures of the 5 of us but...we don't really take pictures. i'll work on that.

ok enough with all the love. too much. time to finish studying for new testament so i can take it. come home, clean, and make my way to the land of SUN!!!!!!!!!!!!

food snob

2011-04-11T13:43:00.000-06:00

i have finally realized and embraced the fact that i am a food snob. it's not my fault, my parents raised me that way. they both worked in the food business for a long time and my dad still does. i am officially anti-chain restaurant. outback, pf changs, applebees, sizzler, etc. not a fan. i love good food. while i was home a couple weeks ago my sister and i went to mon ami gabi for breakfast. las vegas' best kept secret. i felt like i was back in paris the whole morning it was amazing. also, grimaldi's=best pizza in vegas. settebello's is second best pizza. even though provo is chain restaurant capital i have found some favorites over the past three years: guru's, cafe trio, slab pizza, pizzeria 712, and communal.

mmmm i've also finally started actually cooking again. when i was home my mom made this amazing steak that was marinated in dijon mustard and garlic so i tried doing that my chicken. it resulted in the best chicken i have ever tasted. today i made homemade soup. without a recipe. i just made it up myself with stuff i had/needed to use up. vegetable broth, spinach, zucchini, asparagus, onion, diced tomatoes, garlic, cannellini beans, sage and basil. it's so so so so good. and my kitchen smells really really great right now. i cooked my own beans instead of using canned beans for the first time. i am officially in love with cooking my own beans now. they taste a million times better!

it's the last week of classes and i found out today i have strep. and an ear infection. and i was sick all last week too. horrible horrible timing. all i want to do is sleep but i have too much work to do. 9 days and it's all over!!!!!!

oh...

2011-04-05T02:30:00.000-06:00

also really really really really really missing this place....

this was my go to place for a cheap dinner. two slices of pizza for 2 euros. can't beat that! also...that guy in the stand, served me pizza when i was there almost every time. and i didn't even take this picture.

this is my favorite building in all of vienna. i was lucky enough to go to school right across from here. the inside is equally as beautiful. and the operas it housed were incredible.

my favorite place to wander. resselpark & karlskirche. sun shining, grown men racing water boats in the fountain and a charming old many playing the accordion. dreamy.

i used to hate cemeteries when i was younger. i love them now. history will do that to you. vienna's cemetery is by far the most beautiful i have ever seen.

i am dying to live here again. seriously, i will do anything to go back to this beautiful city. sooo...any males interested in a career path leading to the un or some sort of diplomat/spy position (i've been told vienna has more spies than any other city in the world), come find me. that's not a joke either. added bonus if you speak german and love semmel and spätzle.

currently..

2011-04-05T01:45:00.000-06:00

listening to bon iver and joshua radin.
wanting to go to sleep.
wishing i had nyquil.
waiting to muster up the drive/energy to finish this never-ending paper.
wishing i wasn't sick.
happy that the semester is almost over.
excited to start a new term.
glad that winter is coming to a close and spring is near.
ready for a change.
ecstatic to be leaving alpine village and moving somewhere we will actually have space.
grateful for my roommates.
needing badly to do laundry.
craving vegetables.
loving my mom's advice...even if i don't actually take it until months later.
living by the motto: c's get degrees. oops. senioritis has arrived a year too early.
confused about whether or not i'm excited to be done with college and entering the real worldsooner rather than later.
wishing i was at the beach. sleeping. and tanning. instead of sitting in my cubicle using every ounce of energy i've got to keep my eyelids from covering my eyeballs.
feeling inspired by holocaust survivor accounts.
exhausted. & burnt out.

great news.

2011-03-17T10:09:00.000-06:00

we have a place to live next year! and we are all sooo excited! jenna, amber, sadie, mc and i got a place in arlington and i cannot wait to have SPACE to live!

i love my roommates

the most exciting part is that me and amber are sharing a room...possibly a bed. hahah, most people do not like sharing a room. and normally, i probably wouldn't either but amber is the only person in the world i would share a room with. when we were in middle school we had this dream that when we went to college we would be roommates and we would paint each wall a different color, one wall yellow, one wall lime green, one wall orange and one wall pink. we would have beads hanging from our door and bright flowers everywhere. thank goodness our tastes have changed. but, we finally get to live out our dream of sharing a closet together. and let me tell you, after living in a shoebox with a 3 foot wide closet (that fits maybe half of my clothes) this closet is a DREAM! and amber and i share pretty much everything, especially clothes so this is going to be GREAT.

there is a real kitchen with drawers wide enough to hold a silverware tray!!!! i never knew i could be so excited about something like that. granite counter tops, wood floors, a deck from the living room and me and amber have a balcony in our room! the basement has a half-kitchen. and we have a LAUNDRY ROOM!!!!

we still have four more months here but i can't wait to move! also, me and amber might share a king size bed. two 21 year olds sharing a bed...what could be cuter? amber doesn't like sleeping alone anyways so this is ideal for her.

i love my best friend.

more exciting news, i'm going home this weekend! can't wait to see my family and some warm weather!

great day

2011-03-16T01:52:00.000-06:00

after having a not so good day yesterday, today was a complete turn around. i woke up late for class this morning but we ended up just watching a movie. it was SO good. bobby kennedy's voice sounds like a rat. extra plus, we got out 20 minutes early! i love when that happened. so, i went and sat in my cubicle in the grad lab. no one was in there, the lights were off and i just sat there. it felt so good to just sit there and think about nothing for a couple minutes. i grabbed some stuff to work on, went home and took a nap on the couch for an hour. then i went to work and hung out with nine year olds for 40 minutes. i love them. i stopped by alivia's place for a little, we talked then went to pita pit. i love her. even though we don't see each other a lot, she will always be my best friend. and it's always so good to see her and just talk.

i went back to work at 1 and hung out with 9 year olds again. some of them are pretty feisty and DO NOT want to do math. they always try to trick me by telling me the wrong names. but then there are some who get so so so excited about improving on their math and reading and it just makes my day.

after work i went to campus for class. in new testament today we talked about the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son and lastly the crucifixion. it was such a wonderful class. i love having the opportunity to learn about the savior so in depth.

my last class of the day in 2.5 hours. some days it seems to drag on forever. luckily my professor is seriously brilliant and so great. not to mention the topic is so interesting. i knew when i signed up for jews & the holocaust that i would probably have to watch/hear some difficult things but today was especially moving. i cried. in class. who does that?? actually, if you watched the video we did and didn't tear up, i would think something was seriously wrong with you. we talked about resistance groups within nazi germany and the one we focused on was the white rose group. the movie follows sophie scholl, her brother and a friend in their quest to spread the truth about nazi germany and the many atrocities they have been committing. what made this story especially touching is that sophie and her brother aren't more than 1 or 2 years older than me. and they had the courage and the will to spend time and money producing leaflets, risking their lives to spread them throughout munich. they ended up getting caught while leaving some in the university and all three and several others were guillotined in the end. it was so moving to watch this 21-year-old girl stand up against these powerful men in court. she didn't yell or scream at them like they were doing to her, she calmly and maturely explained that what they were doing wasn't right. it wasn't germany, germans didn't want this, massacring thousands was in no way moral. they wanted peace and stability. as she says goodbye to her parents, her father tells her he is proud of both her and her brother. her mother sweetly tells her to remember jesus. it was such a tear jerker. i want to watch the whole movie. after watching this, dr. kerry went on to explain to us why he showed us this movie as opposed to the many other resistance stories. because they were college students, it hit closer to home for us. many of us hope to think that we too would do the same as the scholl family in this situation, but often times, we lose sight of what is right or what is important and end up doing nothing. he emphasized that we may think we can't really do anything to help anyone, we're college students in provo, ut. how can we be of any help? it doesn't matter if what we do is big or small, but rather it's that fact that we do something that matters. we can always do something.

i left feeling so grateful for everything that i have. and for the opportunity that i have to serve others. i really need to work on finding opportunities to serve. i am especially grateful and excited for the fact that my career is based on helping people. i am so lucky to have that as a permanent part of what i will do.

i love byu.

2011-03-10T23:28:00.000-07:00

maybe not so much the athletics, but i love the university. after this whole brandon davies debacle i realized what an incredible university byu is. people make fun of the honor code and the word of wisdom and think it's ridiculous but i know that it's inspired and i know there's a reason we have it. i have never been more proud to be a student at byu, and to be a student at a university that puts honesty and honor above all other things.

besides my realization of love for byu, life is great. i love my job! being a research assistant is so much fun and there's always something new to do. it's great experience in the field of education. not to mention its so fun being around kids all day!

school is kicking my butt as usual. soo much writing to do this weekend. and a lot a lot of reading.

my roommates are great. even though they harass me daily i love them and we have way too much fun together. sadie is all grown up and on a work trip in maine/boston until sunday. amber is going to vegas (along with evvveerrryyyyone else in provo) this weekend. so it's just me and little j this weekend. hopefully a movie and a trip to slc!

two weeks ago i spoke in stake conference and it was one of the scariest things i've ever done. i get stressed and nervous really easily and before tests or speaking or big events my heart rate is through the roof weeks in advance. so when i found out two weeks before stake conference that i would be speaking, it was like a 14 day panic attack. but, it felt SO good when i was done. it went by so fast and i accomplished something i would have never thought i could do. i definitely didn't say everything i wanted to or speak as smoothly or as well as i wish i could have...but, i did it!

tonight amber, jenna, mark, justin and i played this really fun game called in your face. you think of something in a certain category. for example, i picked lyndon b johnson. so, you tell everyone the category, in this case presidents, and everyone guesses and whoever gets it right gets a cup of water thrown in their face and then it's their turn to be "it". hahah it was seriously SO fun! afterwards we jumped in our pool with our clothes on. it was so nice especially since our pool is heated AND its practically summer time in provo! happy day.

i can breathe!

2011-03-01T22:11:00.000-07:00

but not for long. remember how i said i was excited for a calm rest of the semester...well, that didn't last long. i got restless after two days with nothing to do. and, i have a job. and an internship.

a professor from the department i used to work in offered me a job working with positive behavior support initiative. explaining it is nearly impossible for me. but, i get to work in the schools, one school in specific, and i mostly will using the research two professors and the dean of education have done to help bring up test scores in a school that is seriously struggling. i am so excited! it's going to be a great opportunity and way different from all my other jobs! it's a lot more hands on and i'm excited to get to work with the faculty and especially the dean in the school of education.

i also have a one credit history internship. my jews & the holocaust class is the internship coordinator for the department and now i am going to do an internship for 2nd block. i have to do 50 hours of historical work. i'm not sure what, yet. i think i'll be working in special collections in the library. can't wait!

so...once again, my schedule is packed. i just can't help it. i get bored. i blame my mother.

almost done.

2011-02-24T17:16:00.000-07:00

this semester i had this class for the education part of my major that was four hours. every day. which equates to 20 hours a week. luckily it ends...TOMORROW! i learned a ton in the class, my instructor was amazing and i met some really fun people in the class but wow am i glad to be done. when you taking 16 credits and you're a stress case like me, a schedule like this is no good. for most of the class periods we were observing at schools and i finally got to go to a public high school (i had been at a charter school, elementary school and middle school previously) and I LOVE IT! granted the kids are all the same size as me...and only a few years younger than me so it's a little weird..i still love it so so so so much. i love the level the students are at at this age. and i love the subjects i get to teach. i cannot wait to be a real teacher with my own classroom and my own students!

i moved apartments. just next door :) which knocks up my number of moves to 6 hahah. i live with amber, jenna and sadie. honestly, i couldn't ask for better roommates. they are always SO much fun and we are so stupid together all the time. and i love it. seriously, it's always a party in apt 135.

i am in love with my jews and the holocaust class and the professor. it is so amazing and so depressing, but in a good way if that's possible. dr. kerry is brilliant. i have never had a professor who cares so much about his students. he emailed me just to talk to me about my plan for grad school. he told me about some grad schools i should look into (IN THE UK!...but that's another story for another time) and it got me so excited to go to grad school which hadn't really happened before.

us in vietnam is also a great class. kinda hard but still amazing. dr. johns is also a genius and totally knows his stuff. i love love love the vietnam war. it's so interesting and complex and completely misunderstood by 90% of america. everyone needs to relearn what they know about the vietnam war. it has been so misconstrued over the years. not to mention there are so many factors that you just don't learn about in high school history or in the movies or whatever. so many layers. so many issues. so many wonderful things to learn.

i need a job. really bad.

this sunday i am speaking. in stake conference. saying that i'm nervous doesn't even begin to explain how i feel. i've had permanent butterflies since i found out three weeks ago.

time to end my procrastination and get back to work. so much to do so little time. i just have to keep looking towards the light at the end of the tunnel that shall be reached no later than 3 pm TOMORROW!!!!!!!

i want to go back.

2011-02-24T02:24:00.000-07:00

i want to go back to riding the u-bahn and taking (and missing) bus 64a everyday. i want to eat lunch in the volksgarten. i want to get fresh bread from down in the subway. i want to walk down kärtnerstraße and graben every day. i want to go to billa and get fresh semmel and bell peppers and tomatoes. i want to walk on charles bridge in prague. i want to go to the old jewish cemetery. i want to eat baguettes, tomatoes and camembert on the seine. i want to watch the sunrise from the sacre couer and take endless walks around the versailles gardens. i want to go on a gondola ride and run around in flooded st. marks square. i want to watch the lighting of the frauenkirche for christmas. i want to spend my days drinking jugendpunsch and walking the aisles of the christkindlmarkts. i want to walk along the danube and sit in the thermal baths in budapest. i miss vienna. a lot. and all the places i was able to travel to. this was has been rough and i can't help but keep wishing i was back in vienna/paris/prague/hallstatt/salzburg/budapest/venice/basel/nuremberg doing anything other than studying for three tests i have to take in the next two days, writing my church talk and writing my research paper that's due on friday. life was much too good to me last semester.

i have the best mom

2011-02-10T00:10:00.001-07:00

i got this email tonight. seriously, she is amazing. and i can't wait to have a ski weekend wither her, my dad and my sister!

when i got this email i was researching places i want to go as soon as i'm not a poor college student. while also browsing style.com in preparation for fashion week aka the best time of the year. it was a good good night.

2011-01-14T23:36:00.000-07:00

"a good teacher is a like a candle...it consumes itself to light the way for others"

i just finished watching freedom writers. amazing story. this is really embarrassing but ever since school started i get so emotional when anyone talks about teaching. i have never been more sure that this is what i'm supposed to do with my life. on the first day of school my experiences in teaching soc. science teacher told us that 30% of teachers don't make it past their first year. encouraging, right? still..i know this is what i want to do and i am so excited to be a teacher. sure, the pay isn't great and it's hard, really hard. but having the opportunity to change the lives of teenagers as a career will be beyond worth it. education is so important and i not nearly enough americans understand that. condoleeza rice came to speak at byu this past week and she told us that the our biggest threat to our national security is the education crisis. she said that we don't hold students to high enough standards. too much emphasis is placed on making sure students have high self-esteem, instead of ensuring that their self-esteem comes from doing something well not just from trying. through byu they have a program that allows students to student teach in houston and dc, in inner city schools. i really want to student teach in washington dc. not only do i LOVE the city but i think the opportunity to teach low income/disadvantaged students would be an amazing experience. i am going to have the best job.

on a less serious note...my new skis just got a hot wax and i am so ready for tomorrow. park city, i've missed you!

it's been a while.

2011-01-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

i feel like i have nothing to blog about anymore. my life isn't nearly as exciting as it was. although, my classes are keeping me very busy and it's only the third day of school. i already have a little over a hundred pages of reading, i turned in a paper yesterday, i'm presenting my FIRST lesson plan today (i'm half excited/half scared out of my mind for this), turning in a resume tomorrow, and we start field experiences next week...i can't wait!

i'm taking sixteen credits but i'm actually in class for 32 hours a week. i'm exhausted already. i have one class that is four hours. every. day. luckily i LOVE the class. it's the entry class into the teaching part of my major and my teacher is AMAZING. she makes the class so fun and i hardly even notice that i'm sitting at a desk for four hours straight. the people in the class are really great too. i have never been so excited to be a teacher. i seriously almost started crying tears of joy when our teacher was telling us all the things we would be doing this semester and later in the major.

i'm also taking two history classes, jews & the holocaust and the u.s. in vietnam. the second one is going to be so good, i can't wait! i love the professor, he's brilliant and sarcastic. perfect combination. i haven't had jews & the holocaust yet...our teacher never showed up on tuesday and our class is only one day a week...so...who knows. but i'm sure it will be interesting. especially after visiting a bunch of synagogues and other jewish sites in europe. yesterday i had my first political science class. my teacher is crazy! in a good way. he's so funny and the most relaxed guy i've ever met. this is how college professors should be. he doesn't have many rules, which oddly enough made me respect him more...and want to do better in his class than if he would have given us a 5 page syllabus filled with a bunch of nitpicky rules. i'm way excited for this class! my religion class this semester is new testament. my teacher is so cool! on the first day he spend most of the hour telling us about how he's doing excavation work in EGYPT!!! and he told us about all the places he's visited. he is so my idol. my dream. my last class i haven't had yet, today is my first class, it's about technology in the classroom. it's only one credit so i imagine it won't be too hard. which is good...because i need an easy class. i've already had one panic attack and a breakdown and it's only the third day. that's a bad sign.

...but, i think it's also a foreshadowing of what's to come. since one of my teachers just told us that when we do our student teaching we will have no life...it's overwhelming and a lot of work so just plan ahead that for 16 weeks, you pretty much do nothing but grade papers, make lesson plans and teach. oh joy. haha...really though, i couldn't be happier about my major and being a teacher!

last night my best friend AMBER came to provo early and surprised me!!!! i was so excited. i hadn't seen her since september. i cried. and we screamed and hugged for a good fifteen minutes. it made my week! best part about being best friends with your cousin: no matter how much time has passed, it's like nothing has changed. i feel like i never left! it's great. i missed her and i'm so glad we are both back!

ok that was my quick break from homework. i'm going on 4 hours of broken sleep (waking up every hour...not cool) and ready to get this lesson plan presentation over with...go home and pass out!

last few weeks in vienna...

2010-12-08T04:24:00.000-07:00

...in picture form! we have been really busy lately trying to get last minute things together, studying and doing homework for the first time all semester so we haven't done much that is too exciting sadly...but we've been having fun nonetheless!

we went to the UN building and learned about the CTBTO. i loved it.

we went to sigmund freud's house...it was weird.

we went to the cemetary. it was so beautiful!

this says "see you later" in german :)

they had a whole section for musicians...

beethoven

schubert

the church in the center of the cemetary

inside the church...the ceiling was amazing!

the mormon section...with four graves haha

i have been going to christmas markets almost everyday. i love love love them. this is the rathaus, my favorite building in vienna. in front of it is a huge christmas market! it's kind of commercial and always crowded but the lights and the music and the smells make it feel like christmas every time i go.

so adorable...they even had a bagpipe player. ps he is standing in front of the largest living advent wreath!

jugendpunsch!

sadey and i spent a day in the hofburg quarter. we went to the sisi museum, the silver collection and the royal apartments. of course, we made a stop at the starbucks across from the hofburg for our vanilla steamers. this is heldenplatz which just so happens to be the place where hitler announced the annexation of austria into the third reich.

same place, behind hitler is the building we're standing in front of.

we went to this amazing pakistani restaurant where you pay whatever you think the meal was worth and you eat however much you want.

it was SO good! they had curry and lentils..my favorite! for once i love something thats really good for you.

sadey emily and i went to cafe central. its near the hofburg and has a really cool interior. its famous for a lot of intellectuals, artists and writers coming here to socialize and work.

the hot chocolate was so good!

then...KYLIE CAME TO VIENNA! kylie is my roommate from freshman/we met on the church history tour and she was in europe for a model united nations conference. it was soooo good to have a familiar face around. i took her to 12 apostles..love love love.

and we went to see the vienna boys choir. it was standing room only. and kind of long because a mass was included too.

but...the boys were adorable and the music was amazing.

me and kylie in front of the opera house! i met up with her and two others at cafe mozart...i was sad to see her go..

one of the best parts about vienna is that EVERYTHING gets decorated for christmas! this is graben, a big shopping street. i love walking around at night and finding all these pretty streets.

we went to the royal crypt. this is the empress maria teresia's sarcophagus and her husbands too...they share.

we also had thanksgiving dinner!!! actually our school, the AAIE, organized a dinner for us at this restaurant in the suburbs. it was a real thanksgiving dinner! it was so fun and a little piece of home on a day when lots of homesickness set in haha.

bekah and emily...i love them. bekah played come thou fount on her guitar while sadey sang at the dinner. it was amazing!

me and em. so glad i met her...we love almost all the same things...books, cooking, blogs, clothes...match made in heaven.

becca and i at dinner!

sarah and autumn

whitney and katie reenacting the first thanksgiving

our whole table plus some...the bald man on the right is my german teacher. aka the coolest guy alive! he is so funny and an amazing teacher...we LOVE sebastian!

another byu table. the old guy in the middle on the right is my art history teacher, professor kröll. he's the one that makes all the good jokes...this was right before he started explaining to me that las vegas is how the roman empire fell.

amanda, frau alfons and i!

on our second to last sunday (last one with sadey) hollie and avery gave out superlatives/awards. it was soo funny. on girl got the movie vault award for knowing every movie quote, one girl got the "i can't i bought a guitar" award...because that was her excuse anytime anyone asked her if she wanted to do something, someone else got the "i kissed a sheep and i liked it" because...well, i'll let you use your imagination for that one. i got the clark kent award...because they think i'm a secret planner and plan group outings and surprises without anyone knowing hahah...i am my mother's daughter...

as of about two weeks ago we have had endless snow and NO sun! this is my street post-big snow...so pretty!

karlskirche christmas market at night

this is what i have to walk..usually run, because we're late...in every day. i have yet to fall this winter which is surprising considering this sidewalk is straight ice!

sadey and i on snowy kärtnerstrasse

avery and sadey

this is what happens when its freezing at school...or you get bored and can't study anymore.

emily and avery at la bol!

we love la bol...its a cute little french restaurant with a big communal table...its so fun and the french onion soup is sooo good. makes me feel like i'm back in paris.

goodbye sadey dinner at vapianos...which i really really wish they would bring to provo!

i went to the motherland.

2010-12-07T09:40:00.000-07:00

literally. i went to the city where my mother was born: nürnberg, germany! which just so happens to be the home of the world's best christmas markets/the most adorable town ever!

lorenzkirche

our first taste of lebkuchen aka heaven on earth

yayy gothic cathedrals

sundials on the wall...so cool!

pre-our picture getting ambushed by loud german men

children's market

the frauenkirche

schönner brunnen

the opening ceremony of the nürnberg weinachtsmarkt. little kids sang "stille nacht" with the whole square completely dark, then they lit up the church and the nürnberg christmas angel told the story of christmas!

i am not a fan of meat, i could easily be a vegetarian...but i was told the bratwurst in nürnberg was the best and that i had to try it. and...i loved it! i was so glad i tried it!

this is on the other side of nürnberg, just inside the city walls on our way to the imperial castle!

they had this well that was 60 meters deep, and really old!

the candles get lowered down into the well so you can see how deep it is.

the lookout tower we walked up

view from the top!

it had just snowed everything was so pretty!

the castle complex

i don't know why but it was so amusing to see real armor suits!!!!

not sure how an indian band made their way all the way to germany...but they were hilarious!

i loved loved loved nürnberg. it was such a charming city and the christmas markets surpassed my expectations. i tried to find the house my grandparents lived in when my mom was born...the family they lived with still lives in the house. i had the address, i found it on a map, got directions and we left early saturday morning to go find it. it was pretty far...almost an hour and a half away. after getting of the subway we couldn't find the right bus...problem: no one spoke english there and german from germany was harder to understand. so we got on a bus that we thought was the right one with iffy directions in hand. after about 10 minutes on the bus we were essentially in the middle of nowhere. every no and then we would pass through little villages but a minute later it would be nothing but snow covered fields and pine trees. it was the most beautiful bus drive i have ever been on thats for sure! we got off on the stop we thought we were supposed to get off on...which happened to be the end of the line. our bus driver was really friendly and tried to be helpful but didn't speak much english so we communicated with a combination of charades and denglish (deutsch+english...so creative i know). he also had no idea where the street was we were looking for. we got off the bus, mind you it's FREEZING outside...probably 25 degrees, and have no clue where to go. there was a mailman at the top of the street so we walked up to him and asked if he knew where the address was. of course, he too did not speak very much english but he basically said we were in the village of cadolzburg, but there is no cadolzburgerstrasse 37 (the address of the house we were trying to find) in cadolzburg, but there is a cadolzburgerstrasse in two other villages back the other way. soo...we decided it was going to be impossible to find where to go so we went back to the bus and sat there...for an hour until it left again. and then rode the bus for 45 minutes. and then rode the subway for 30 minutes. hahah...it was an adventure for sure. i was bummed i couldn't find the house but it was worth a try...next time.

5 hours until i leave for basel, switzerland to meet my DAD!

the end is near.

2010-12-05T15:31:00.000-07:00

just 7.5 days and i will be landing at mccarran airport ready to give my mom and sister the hugest hugs (i didn't include my dad because i will have just spent five days with him). i am having serious mixed feelings about this whole thing. i am so excited to come home. and sleep in my sisters big bed with 983243 thread count sheets. i can't wait to walk into a house that smells like mulling spices every day instead of smoke. i can't wait to drive my beloved nissan xterra. i can't wait to eat salads. i can't wait to work out and go to a gym. i can't wait to have ice water for FREE at restaurants. i can't wait to wear the other 95% of my wardrobe.

but. i'm going to miss the u-bahn and all the crazy people you see on it. i'm going to miss not having to pay for gas. i'll miss going to school in a mansion across the street from the opera house. i'll miss starbucks trips with sadey whenever we are so cold we can't stand to be outside any longer. i'm going to miss going to art and history museums. for free. i'm going to miss streetcars. i'm going to miss having something to do every second of every day. i'm going to miss sunday dinners at the holman's. i'm going to miss all the beautiful buildings in vienna. i'm going to miss frau alfons, and her dinners. i'm going to miss 12 apostles and salieri. i'm going to miss billa's on every corner and all their amazing food. i'm going to miss the yogurt. and semmel. i'm going to miss the pastries. and zanoni and zanonis. i'm going to miss the christmas markets. i'll miss the flea market at naschmarkt. i'll miss my school and dr. janda and professor kröll who are some of the best teachers i have ever had. i'm going to miss hearing german everyday, it's such a beautiful language when spoken correctly! i'm going to miss the parks, and eating outside (when i was warm). i'm going to miss the sandwiches at the bakeries. i'll miss pumpkin soup everywhere you go. i'll miss mine and amanda's sprint to the bus stop every morning and the way they say the bus stop names before each stop. i'll miss goldhammergasse and my home on that cute little street. i will miss vienna. a lot.

i don't think i really knew what i was getting into when i signed up for study abroad. but it was more than i could have ever imagined and without a doubt on of the greatest experiences of my life thus far. vienna feels like home to me and i would do anything to live here again one day. i'm sad to leave, but for now, provo is calling........and so are those salads and the gym.....

just one of those moments.

2010-11-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

tonight as i was doing homework (weird, right) i had one of those moments where i couldn't believe i was actually here. and that i have now been to six different countries. and that me plain old me is living in vienna. in austria. in the heart of europe. i spent this weekend in the city my mom was born in. walking through the best christmas markets in the world. earlier this week we were walking through the royal crypt where all the habsburgs are buried. a couple days before that i was sitting cafe mozart next to the opera house. sometimes i have to stop and remind myself that this is really happening...that i'm really here. because its pretty surreal. i am so grateful to be here. and now, i only have two weeks left. two weeks and one day. two weeks from monday i will be home. i miss my family and my house a lot. but i fell in love with vienna. and it's going to be hard to say goodbye. but, for the next two weeks i'm going to keep on lovin vienna. tchüss!

p.s. today we got lost...in the middle of nowhere...in germany...where no one spoke english.

the most cliche post. ever.

2010-11-25T02:31:00.048-07:00

everyone and their mother posts on what they are thankful for on thanksgiving. so naturally i'm hopping on the bandwagon and doing the same.

1. skype. so i can see my dear fam and pretend like i am eating thanksgiving with them. or as my grandma says, "its like you're right here! but really you're 5000 miles away! it's a miracle!"
2. family. i just love them. a lot. and i really miss them.
3. byu. sans the athletics. i miss walking around campus from class to class. i miss the hbll.
4. vienna and the opportunity to live here. it is the greatest most perfect city on earth.
5. the church.
6. laptop computers. so i can skype. and blog. and email. from anywhere in the world.
7. food. because it tastes so good.
8. jobs. because i like money. but mostly because working makes me feel good.
9. books. i love reading. i have read 9 books this semester.
10. school. i have come to love learning again! its great.
11. music. it reminds me of home. and it soothes me. and keeps me from thinking too much. or makes me think too much.
12. a clean home. oh how i appreciate cleanliness like i never have before.
13. cleaning supplies. refer to above statement. i wish i had a vacuum and windex here so bad.
14. a car. public transportation is nice but not when your whole day depends on it. and if you miss the bus you cant just be five minutes late. you are at least fifteen minutes late...or sometimes 30 minutes late on weekends and after 8 pm.
15. a healthy body. i like have the immune system of a horse. i dont really know if horses have good immune systems but it sounds good.
16. clothes. i miss the rest of my closet. i am grateful to have too many clothes. they keep me warm on frigid winter days.
17. america. i love europe. but i love america more. sometimes i have to bite my tongue when we talk about social welfare programs in europe, and when my haus frau talks about how stupid bush is and how great obama is, and how america needs to help the poor more and blah blah blah.
18. cameras/pictures. i have become very good at taking pictures. and also very good at not breaking my camera. mom-its because always in the case :)
19. european bakeries. hello european bread/pastry bakers you will be the death of me and my goal of beach body by march. but, you taste soooooo good!
20. internet (thanks al gore!!!!). really though, it makes me feel like i am not entirely disconnected from everyone in the u s of a.
21. pilgrims. the mayflower. and indians. for gathering together and creating this blessed holiday.
22. my family. did i mention that i love them? and i miss them? all of them. parents, sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins...even our adopted relatives the mcternans and treadwells.
23. learning a new language. my brain currently hurts from all the new german i am learning but i really really really love it.
24. trains. and planes. and automobiles. because they let me travel. and i love traveling.
25. ireland/greece for being really bad at debt management and making the euro suck a little more! just in time for me to leave in three weeks.
26. snow. only for skiing though. ok and those early mornings when i leave for school and its snowing so beautiful and peaceful!
27. home cooked meals. i really miss those. and can't wait to cook myself some really good dinners.

that is all. we have thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant an hour away. funded by our school. traditional. american. thanksgiving. dinner. in vienna. life is really great.

this week

2010-11-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

which is now last week. so this will be about last week. and this week. i have no idea what i haven't blogged about but here's what i've been doing lately.

integration house: our poly sci teacher operates this govt. organization that helps to integrate immigrants into vienna/austria. we got to participate in some of the german classes being taught to some immigrants. they were from all over the place, including but not limited to, afghanistan, iraq, iran, congo, chechnya, turkey and sri lanka. amazing experience.

tour of the un building: can i work for the un? even if it's essentially ineffectual i like the un. take a tour of the building and you will too. the atmosphere is so great. we learned about the ctbto. i love vienna.

freud's house: holy obsessive. and really just not informative like i'd hoped it would be. but, we got to take a picture on the couch.

flea market round 2: i love flea markets. i got some great things this time around. i love vienna.

central friedhof cemetery. i love cemeteries. especially when they look like forests! and have beautiful churches in the center! and free bathrooms! seriously though, the cemetery was amazing. we got to see where beethoven, strauss...and others were buried. sweet. also, there is a tiny mormon section hahaha.

discovery of easy, convenient access to pumpkin soup: the billa down the street has pumpkin soup. hot. every day. take out. for 3,90. i love vienna.

discovery of french restaurant with communal table: la bol. mmmmm. baguette with avocado, tomato, lettuce and mozzarella. my name was written all over it and i loved it. i wished it never ended. communal table was cool. even if sadey and i felt like we were sitting in a gay bar with a lesbian couple glaring at us every five minutes.

hofburg quarter: sisi museum=EXCELLENT. best museum so far. dislike her as a person. self-absorbed, obsessive, depressing, selfish, immature. but i learned a lot about her. it was fascinating. silver collection was cool to look at but porcelain plates and serving dishes can hold your interest only for so long. royal apartments...schönbrunn was better, but still fun.

central cafe: gothic arches you had me at HELLO. really really great.

christmas markets: i am obsessed. and i could go there every day. for real. so many ornaments. so much good, unhealthy food. so much jugendpunsch. it makes the cold so worth it.

harry potter 7: mom, find our hp books i'm hopping on the bandwagon ten years late.

rigoletto: saddest opera ever. i loved it. i almost cried. the jester...if you weren't so old, i would want to marry you.

movie night at the holmans: the third man is a really great movie and if you haven't seen it, you really should.

natural history museum: i don't like animals. even if they are fake/taxidermied (is that a word?) however, dead animals make for a really fun time if you play a game of 'who can imitate the frozen alligator/mammoth/antelope/bear/squid best. yes, we really did that.

crown jewels: i swoon at the sight of old stuff. especially when its hand stitched ceremonial garb circa 12th/13th century. also, we got to see a unicorn horn. okay, really it was a narwhal tusk but when they found it it was believed to be a unicorn tusk and was associated with christ. long story. wikipedia it if you want to know more.

augustinian church: where the hearts of the habsburgs are buried. need i say more?

vienna boys choir: they may or may not have sounded like women but as soon as i saw their faces it was totally worth standing for 1.5 hours and listening to a latin mass. adorable. also good news: they read a bible passage in german and it was printed in english in the program. i was able to follow along in the english part by listening to the german. ich liebe deutsch...manchmal.

pakistani restaurant: hello amazing food. buffet. pay what you think its worth. so going there again. curry makes me happy.

mexican restaurant: i miss american mexican food. i miss spicy food. i got a burrito with jalpenos on it. never before have i so loved the feeling of my taste buds being burnt. i also learned that when you eat spicy food your taste buds are literally being burnt, like a sunburn moreso than a fire/singe them black burn.

life is great. i miss home. my old roommate kylie is in vienna for a couple days. and it makes me homesick. however, i still love vienna. sometimes i just get anxious for my own bed. and my car. and a house that doesn't smell like smoke.

budapest

2010-11-22T09:52:00.001-07:00

was interesting. it was a beautiful city. but there were some areas that made it very obvious we were in a post-communist country. it started with a train ride that was FREEZING so we added every layer of clothing we had so we could try and sleep.

hero's square

the fake castle thats actually a museum.

st. stephens basilica!

parliament building...so beautiful!

synagogue in the jewish quarter

sadey me and emily...love them!

inside the synagogue. it was really different because the inside of this synagogue felt like the inside of a baroque church...it was beautiful!

the cemetery. usually cemeteries are not built next to synagogues but during WWII a lot of jews were killed in this area of the jewish ghetto. they didn't really have the means to transport all the carnage to a regular cemetery so they just buried them right here where they had been killed. all the graves are from just that one year.

in the back they had this amazing monument to holocaust victims. its a weeping willow and all the leaves have names of someone who was killed during the holocaust.

so this is really creepy and i was definitely not intending to take a picture of the picture of dead bodies. i was actually trying to get a picture of our guide in the jewish museum because he is a holocaust survivor! he was kept in one of the many swedish safe houses and thats how he survived. his dad was killed in a russian labor camp. amazing, right? i wish i could have talked to him more!

another synagogue.

we went to this indoor market and they had really really good food. this is becca...she is really great. and so is the food she's eating...fry bread pizza!

katie!

i had really really good crepes with this cream/cottage cheese stuff in it and cucumbers and tomatoes and melted regular cheese. i would do anything to eat those again.

we ate at mcdonalds way too much. total cop out, i know. but we didn't really find a whole lot of food in budapest that we liked that wasn't expensive and was actually good.

emily becca and whitney on the bus of death. i seriously thought it was going to blow up or something.

sadey and i. taking one last picture to document our lives before we are blown to pieces on the bus. hahah just kidding, we survived.

view of pest, from buda!

part of the buda castle

more of the buda castle

really old gardens. can't remember how old...i just know it was really old.

if you look closely at the picture you can see pock marks on the facade of the building. they are all from the war! so cool!

just a pretty building.

st. matthews cathedral

fisherman's bastion

the whole group!!

really really creepy falcon and man dressed up in medieval garb. the falcons eyes are covered, basically so that it won't attack anyone.

garlic cream soup in a bread bowl. divine.

we went to this tiny little cafe called ruszwurm. it hasn't changed since 1824, all the decor and furniture are original! their apple strudel was soooo good!

the terror museum. amazing. it was about hungary going from nazi occupation to soviet occupation. and how soviet occupation was just as bad as nazi occupation which is interesting since technically the soviet union was part of the allies. it talked about how poorly the people were treated. it was really depressing, but in the best way possible.

we went to this ice cream place that serves your ice cream in the shape of a flower! so cute. plus, it was really good. i got pumpkin and cinnamon!

the opera house

inside the opera house...we went to see the gone with the wind ballet!

along the danube there is a monument to the jews who were shot into the river by members of the arrowcross party. it's said that when they were shot off their ledge, their shoes were left there...hence the iron shoes on the ledge.

buda!

katie and i on our way to the world famous gellert baths! it was an experience i will never forget haha.

the rock church!

budapest was really great but we were so glad to be back in vienna. we missed our home!

paris day 6.

2010-11-21T14:27:00.000-07:00

lots and lots of rain. like torrential downpour. not really, i just wanted to use the word torrential. it was raining pretty hard actually. and emily and i wanted to go inside sacre coeur so we hurried up the hill. and of course encountered some men trying to sell us stuff on the way. and they would not leave us alone. they even grabbed our arms in an attempt to get our attention. a little sketchy. we finally made it inside and it was beautiful! big and peaceful. we decided to wait out the rain for a little so we walked around inside then just sat in the pews for a little and analyzed the art :) we got to hear a little of an organ concert of some sort it was really quite scary. the music was not joyful or spiritual. it actually sounded like it should be the theme song for dracula or something. great experience, nonetheless.

thirty minutes later it was sunny outside! that is where i would like to live one day. its about the same level as sacre coeur. which means you have to hike up lots of stairs every day. so worth it.

emily decided to be like a real french person and stuck her whole baguette in her bag. cute.

this is em and i being immature on top of a fan in front of moulin rouge. this was the first thing we thought to do when we got jumped up on the fan. and we wonder why we are both single? we act like we're five.

THE WINDMILL! so seeing the moulin rouge was incredibly underwhelming. i was expecting to see the elephant room. or nicole kidman walk out in a can can dress with the green fairy or something. no such luck. still, i love the movie so it was entertaining enough.

yet another church we saw in passing. so beautiful!

reading in the park yet again. what you dont know is five minutes after this picture was taken i fell asleep with my face in my book. emily got a really great picture of it but i dont have access to it yet. one day i'll share it.

tuileries! the carousel warms my soul.

so do bright orange leaves in parisian parks.

then...we headed off to the airport. it was a much needed vacation from my vacation. how on earth am i going to handle a whole semester without one break? not even spring break? winter semester will be a huge struggle. yay. i love paris.

paris day 5

2010-11-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

began with the eiffel tower. emily and i didn't want to go to the top but amanda did so em and i took that opportunity to read in the park/take pictures.

the following pictures were a result of boredom/us being realllllyyyyyy bored

after seeing the eiffel tower we went to angelina's. the most expensive cafe ever. BUT it was totally worth it. its right next to the tuileries and all the french designers used to come here. my hot chocolate was 7 euros. it was so rich but so so good. we sat there forever and talked and drank hot chocolate. it was great.

then...we went home. and crashed, again. sans smelly roommates.

paris day 4

2010-11-21T03:36:00.000-07:00

began with musee d'orsay. i am pleasantly surprised at how much i have come to love museums, especially art museums. musee d'orsay was incredible. best part: i got in free! it pays to have a visa...i was considered a 'long term' resident of the eu between 18-27. cool right? they had some amazing rodin's, degas, van gogh, matisse, renoir, and my very favorite, toulouse lautrec! after musee d'orsay we ate our lunch on a bridge over the seine.

baguette, camembert, tomato and an apple. we followed lunch up with a dessert of course, a coffee flavored eclair. mmm mmm good!

after lunch we headed to notre dame, saint chappelle and the latin quarter. i could sit in gothic cathedrals all day long. notre dame was...everything i imagined and more. it was grand, and intimidating, and peaceful. saint chappelle has the most amazing stained glass windows. we wandered around the area a little more. we went to the pantheon, didn't go inside...we're too cheap. we found another church around the corner. st. etienne. another gothic cathedral. we ate dinner at a restaurant down the street from the pantheon. it was then that i fell in love with the latin quarter! its so perfect. we had french onion soup. again. it was really great. then we went to luxumbourg gardens. and sat in the park. and read. and i fell asleep in my book like i always do. it was perfect. then we wandered around. and found another gothic cathedral. st. severin. love love love.

notre dame

rose window in notre dame

inside notre dame

gargoyles on saint chappelle!

the most amazing stained glass windows.

the oldest wall painting in paris (inside saint chapelle)

luxembourg

pantheon

st. etienne

st. severin, inside.

st. severin outside!

we ended the night walking along rue rivoli and being loud and thinking we're really funny. i love paris.

paris day 3.

2010-11-20T16:56:00.000-07:00

began with an early morning walk to the sacre coeur with a croissant and hot chocolate to go. emily and i woke up extra early to watch the sunrise from the sacre coeur. but, like the previous two days..what's paris without a little adventure? while sitting on the steps in front of the park waiting for the gates to open an old drunk guy came over to us and started trying to talk to us in french. when he realized we couldn't understand him he started using a strange mixture of french and english. frenglish as i like to call it. we looked at each other and got a little freaked out so we walked away as quickly as possible. we found another set of stairs and started walking up them. when we were almost at the top a man stopped us to ask us where we were from...we said the states and in response he shook both our hands and said "ah, miss america!" to both emily and i. so odd. we finally made it to the top. it was BEAUTIFUL. so worth the early morning. we watched the sun rise, soaked it all in. and for a moment, i couldn't believe i was in paris, watching the sun rise, with a perfect view of the city, and a beautiful church behind me. who am i to be doing this? it was perfect.

sacre couer on the walk up

view of the city!

after the sacre couer we got ready and headed to the arc de triomphe. we spent about ten minutes trying to figure out how to get across the insane traffic circle and over the the actual arch. we ended up right back where started...turns out the tunnel is right by where we got off the subway. oops. it was altogether not that exciting. cool to look at but somewhat underwhelming. we walked along the champs elysees after. also a little underwhelming. it was beautiful outside so it was great to be outside, in the sun, walking.

champs elysees.

we stopped to eat lunch/read books in a park. our favorite thing to do in every city we go to!

this is a rare occassion, my apple is eaten almost to the core. i had to document it to show sadey that i actually can eat a whole apple.

emily....always reading :)

view from the madeleine church

inside the madeleine

outside of the madeleine! which by the way was amazing inside! we had fun analyzing the frescoes trying to decipher the meaning. we have become quite the art history experts thanks to professor kröll.

after dinner we went to the tuilieries! again...solo pictures are incredibly awkward. but the park needed to be documented and pictures without people all the time sometimes gets boring.

then we made our way to the....

LOUVRE!

to meet bekah and her sister sarah for dinner! we had sandwiches from a street vendor. they were so good! we talked and then headed to the louvre.

we loved the louvre. but holy cow is it exhausting and overwhelming! we were tired.

but, i got to see vermeer. it was great. i love his work. so...mysterious and vivid and just altogether great.

missing the kitchen...

2010-11-12T14:12:00.000-07:00

i really really really miss cooking. my packaged chicken noodle soup and toasted sandwich do not count as cooking. i miss really cooking a good meal. i know my mom and dad probably never thought they'd hear the day that i actually liked cooking let alone missed it. it's true though, i have followed in the foot steps of my parents and i am a foodie. if you don't know what that means...well, look it up in urbandictionary or something. another girl in my group also loves to cook. and as it turns out, we have pretty much the exact same taste in food. we love anything with lots of vegetables. especially italian food. good, fresh mozzarella. basil. tomatoes. zucchini. balsamic vinegar. peppers. grains and good pastas. we decided that we are going to try a bunch of new recipes together next semester. i can't wait. our list of things try is quickly growing. my own list of recipes i want to try is ever-expanding. unfortunately, my wallet is not so we'll so how i manage. because things like quinoa and bulgur and fresh mozzarella and fresh vegetables are not cheap when you want to eat them every day. also, healthy food is not cheap. and i like healthy food. a lot. don't get me wrong, i love sweets and everything that's bad for you as well. but i really really really like my vegetables. anyways. i'm anxious to get home and cook. a lot. especially since my taste buds have grown to like a lot of things i never liked before. which opens up far too many doors in the world of cooking.

some things on my list to cook:

barley-stuffed peppers
kale-goat cheese frittata (dad, i'm sure you would love this hahah)
chilled cucumber chickpea soup
vegetable stew with cornmeal dumplings
edemame veggie burger
cucumber and red bell pepper raita
letil and split pea dip with garlic naan
miso soup with sweet potato dumplings
pumpkin müsli
artichoke risotto

plus about 200 other recipes...that's not an exaggeration.

until then, i'll keep making packaged soup in this pot...

...circa 1970 (if i pretend i can't see the stains/scratches/dried food inside it, it's actually really cute). on my cook top that is approximately the same age.

tchüss!

i love prague.

2010-11-09T16:36:00.003-07:00

i think that's all we said the second half of day two in prague. after touring the jewish quarter sadey, ariel and i headed to billa to get some groceries to make sandwiches for the next few days. its amazing how difficult things like grocery shopping can be when you have no idea what anything means. we went back and made sandwiches and fresh rolls with peppers, sandwich meat that we think was turkey, cheese, tomatoes and cucumbers. so incredibly good. after a quick lunch at the hostel we headed back out into the city and every ten minutes one of was would say, "i love prague!" or "prague is so beautiful!". we went back to charles bridge and the havelska market and just wandered a lot. we had so
much fun. we took lots of pictures on the bridge and stopped at all the little stands with jewelry and pictures. we made it all the way to the other side of the bridge and wanted to head to the lennon wall and we thought we kind of knew where we were going but then realized we didn't so we stopped in a store and asked for directions and he told us about some love locks bridge too. it was getting dark so we decided to save it for tomorrow because we were so excited. on our way back to charles bridge we stopped in a marionette shop. it was really cool. they were all handmade and so detailed! i felt like i was in pinocchio. we headed back over to the bridge and for dinner we stopped at the festival of cheese and
spices. ummm AMAZING. we got roasted potatoes with cheese on them and then this really good cinnamon pastry dessert. they wrap dough around a metal rotisserie type thing and then roll it in brown sugar and cinnamon and roast it over stove. delish. i could have easily eaten everything at the festival. they had chicken skewers and scones with nutella and other yummy things and crepes. but instead of eating everything in sight we took our time heading back to the hotel. we were so tired and passed out. it was great. i love prague, really though.

making our veggie sandwiches that were SO good.

so this is what happens everytime sadey and i eat apples. the leftover of sadey's apple is on the plate. if you can't find it, its the little tiny brownish part next to the knife. yes, she eats that much of her apple. mine is the one in sadey's hand. i was done, so sadey at the rest of it to the core. this is pretty much a daily occurrence. i love apples but i just barely learned to eat them whole...i used to only be able to eat them in slices. until i came here and i couldn't slice them. i'm still learning...

baroque church in old town square

the most overpriced gelato that didn't even taste good. if you see a sign for zmrzlina in prague...don't get it! wait until you're in vienna.

castle hill in prague. so beautiful.

sadey, me and ariel. we spent hours on charles bridge.

sunset over the moldau.

so i discovered all these different settings on my camera and had way too much fun taking way too many pictures...so sorry for the immense amount of photos of the same thing. i have to show my mom i'm actually using my camera instead of breaking it...

three headed marionette!

the owner of the shop was in there making more marionettes. adorable.

this guy was playing the water glasses! with sheet music! it was amazing!

potatoes. taken with the food setting on my camera obviously.

cheese and herbs..mmm so good.

this cinnamon sugar dessert being made!

the video of the guy playing isn't uploading so i'll try it later...

czech it out.

2010-11-09T16:36:00.002-07:00

i know thats a totally lame joke but i think it's really funny. and, it was on like every shirt in every tourist shop in prague. day three in prague included a trip to the prague castle and st. vitus' cathedral. i would say it was the highlight of the trip but there were like 6 highlights of the trip so...ya. however, it was pretty amazing. unfortunately i forgot my camera. actually (mom, you will cringe at this story) i accidentally left my camera at the computer desk at the hostel and didn't realize i had left it there until i got back to the hostel to look for my camera, turned our room upside down, couldn't find it and thought maybe i left it somewhere...then remembered i was looking at pictures before i got on the computer. luckily someone was nice enough to turn it in to the front desk because it was there! i would have been devastated if i had to go pictureless the rest of my trip. back to day three. after getting off the streetcar we walked through a royal garden and then to the castle. the castle was a little boring. we did get to see the changing of the guards...not really that cool. st. vitus' cathedral...amaaazziinnngg. i love gothic anything. and the stained glass windows were great. ah i died. i could sit in gothic cathedrals all day long. i also went to my very first norman church. no one ever talks about the norman style but thats because its kind of boring and just an offset of romanesque. it was cool though because it was really old...like 11th and 12th century old. after sadey and i headed back to make sandwiches. veggie sandwiches are even better in europe. after we went to charles bridge and to the market again. i bought some photos of prague...i love them! and i cannot wait to hang them in my room when i get back! we also went to the lennon wall which is this random concrete wall with tons of grafitti on it. it changes from time to time and a majority of it is related to john lennon or the beatles. lots of lyrics and things like that. just down the street from the wall is a bridge over a little creek with a bunch of locks on the fence. when you find the one you love, you are supposed to carve both your names into the lock, lock it on the fence and throw the key into the water to symbolize that you will be together forever! it was soooo cute! unfortunately i have yet to find someone deserving of a love lock on a bridge in prague. some day...some day...anyways after we ate dinner and then walked back and crashed. but not before some late night delirium and craziness.

the next couple pictures are from hollie's camera because i temporarily lost mine during this excursion.

view from prague castle.

walk to the castle.

harassing the guards who can't talk/move like every other tourist in the world.

spires of the st. vitus cathedral. GOTHIC! oh how i love.

isn't it great?

gothic arches. love even more.

rose windows. love love love.

thanks to amanda and hollie for letting me steal your pictures.

so i don't like solo pictures, i feel so awkward in them. but when there's only two of you and you're too scared to ask people to take a picture of you its the only option.

fall in prague!

cute old men playing jazz music on charles bridge. perfectly charming.

awkward solo picture #2. prague castle in the background on charles bridge.

apparently if you rub this statues it makes you fertile. sadey's getting married in december....you know what that means! hahah

other side of the charles bridge.

worst parking job ever.

all of these are of the lennon wall...

this is the newest addition to the wall!

i love this quote underneath where it says imagine..'have no fear, it's just death in the end. love is near, it's just faith in your hands'

the love locks bridge

we felt the need to leave our mark on the wall so we each wrote our name on a part of the 'love'. cute, right?

and after dinner and the wall we went crazy in our room...

this is what late night delirium ended in.

i actually had to do homework for a couple days.

2010-11-09T15:44:00.001-07:00

yes, it's true, there is some studying involved in a study abroad. although it may seem like i have been playing for the past two months (its because i have...) we had a mini reality check when we got back from budapest. today we had a midterm for our european integration class. we studied hard and stressed about it for a couple days. it was one of the easiest essay tests i've ever taken. if there is one thing my major has taught me, it's to write a lot and fast. i came out fine and the rest of the day was cake.

i've mentioned herr kröll before. after today's class he is officially my favorite teacher ever. he started the class off by saying that he has been doing everything wrong for all the years he has been teaching. he read in an article that the human brain can really only pay attention for 5 minutes at a time, and then it needs an intermission. so, he was going to try to give us an intermission every so often so we would be able to pay attention but he wasn't really sure what to do during the intermission. "do i tell a joke?...i mean sure i could do that but the problem is 50% of my jokes are dirty, 50% of my jokes are racist, 50% of my jokes are sick and 50% of my jokes are sexist...so that means 200% of my jokes are unusable." hahah what? then he went on to say how european and american humor is very different and how his foster brother (that he lived with in america) tried to tell him a knock knock joke and how unfunny it was (which, i totally agree with. knock knock jokes are an embarrassing part of american culture). i love his class. it's so entertaining and he really engages all of us every time we meet. today our class was two hours long. TWO HOURS! and i loved every second of it. towards the end of class he was describing to us the bombing of dresden by the british during wwii and how the frauenkirche was practically obliterated. in fact the whole town was obliterated and 35,000 people were killed. it was one of the most controversial air raids of wwii. once the soviets occupied the city (it was in the eastern part of germany) the pile of rubble was left there as a memorial to the horrible bombings that happened in dresden and it fostered a lot of resentment towards the british. years later after communism fell, they had to decide what to do with the pile of rubble and the little of what remained of the original church. instead of replacing it with an entirely new version of the church, they rebuilt it upon the two small portions of the walls that were left. they incorporated all of the still usable original stone into the new church and left them uncleaned and painted so they were easily distinguished. the church was finished in 2005 and it is amazing. on top of the original church was a gold cross. it was lost in the rubble. to replace it, a charity called the dresden trust was created to help with the restoration of the church, especially the gold cross on top. the new one was created by a goldsmith who's father participated in the dresden air raids and had always felt it was an immoral act. the original gold cross was eventually found. it had melted as a result of the heat from the air raid and it now sits in the center of the church, just under the new cross. i loved this story. i had chills the whole time he was telling us about it. and writing about it is bringing tears to my eyes. there is so much good in this world...if only we could focus on that more often than all the negative. i loved that herr kröll shared this story with us...and the most touching part was to see him get choked up about it. he is great. i love history. i love art history. i love learning about art history when its right there in front of you and when you get to meet people who lived through it or even just near it.

here's a picture of the church pre-air raid, post air raid during soviet occupation and then the restored church...

all the dark stones are from the original church. there are two sides that are all original.

amazing.

my five day search for the sartorialist.

2010-11-09T15:43:00.005-07:00

*i started this post three weeks ago....life abroad can be stressful sometimes and blogging takes a backseat...but, better late than never, right?

i may or may not have spent my entire paris vacation searching for scott schuman and/or sartorialist worthy parisians. ok, so not the entire vacation but my eyes were definitely peeled. you don't have to look too hard for well dressed people in paris. they are everywhere. and i really like it. so much so that i really would like to live in paris. i have actually scoped out three possible places i would like to live. one option is the cute little salmony red building up by sacre coeur. an unobstructed view of paris. second option is the latin quarter. charming, but not too incredibly touristy. plus, its name comes from the fact that its an area with several universitites/higher educational institutions and latin was the language of learning in the middle ages. meaning, i would fit in perfectly seeing as i am quite the intellectual. third option is near the tuilieries/rue rivoli. this area is probably incredibly expensive but who knows maybe if i hang out in the tanner building long enough i can marry a future rich businessman and we can live in paris and he can buy me things from paul smith and john galliano. ok ok i'm kidding, i'm not that shallow. but really, if you know of any single, young, dashing, future (or current) businessmen/anyone pursuing career that takes you abroad, i am single and ready to mingle. and live abroad. in a big city. anyway, back to paris. paris is amazing. and i am fairly positive i ate my weight in pastries. oops. i justified by saying that i had been really good in prague and in vienna (which is 99% truthful). it was also part of the cultural experience. you cannot go to paris and not eat pastries. its basically a crime. remember how i said zanoni's gelato will change your life. WELL, guess what else will change your life? parisian eclairs and mille feulle. no doubt the most divine and heavenly things i have ever tasted in my 20.4 months of earthly life. yes, they were that good. i shall not divulge the exact amount of pastries we ate but it may or may not have exceeded the 1 dessert per day rule. anyway day two in paris was far less stressful. i feel like all of my posts are becoming far too long winded...but for once in my life i have exciting things to talk about so please just humor me and pretend like its interesting.

freshman year of high school i did a report on versailles. i fell in love. and i made sure to add to my bucket list: VISIT VERSAILLES! and here we are 6 years later and i get to cross it off my bucket list. it feels good. we got a little bit of a late start which stressed me out a little (there has to be at least one thing every day that stresses me out...i feel like i haven't really lived if there isn't) but we made it to versailles and it was a beautiful clear day. we had to wait in really really long lines to buy our ticket and then get in but the 15 euros was totally worth it. if you have never seen pictures of versailles you must look it up. it is absolutely ridiculous. emily described it best when she called it disgustingly extravagant or something along those lines. gold, everywhere. we toured through the rooms and they had these obnoxious fiberglass sculptures from a japanese artist that were supposed to be all artsy fartsy juxtaposed with the baroque rooms. it was just awful and ruined the feel of all the rooms. still, it was SO cool! the hall of mirrors...ridiculous but i loved going in there because that is one of the main things i remembered from my project. the gardens were perfect. one of my favorite things about being in europe are all the gardens and parks and eating lunch and walking in them. emily and i spent quite a few hours walking around there. we walked around the whole grand canal plus some, we deviated off the path quite aways...so much so that we weren't even sure we were in the versailles gardens still. we got ice cream and ate lunch it was so great. afterwards we headed to the center of the city and stopped in a cafe and got french onion soup. it was heavenly. we were freezing so it warmed us right up and the CHEESE on top. ohh what i would do to be eating that right now. after we walking along the seine and then all of a sudden we found ourselves right in front of the louvre looking at the obelisk, the champs elysees and the eiffel tower. we literally stumbled upon 'paris'...we really had no idea where we were walking it was great. we then walked all the way back to our hostel and stopped for our very first parisian pastries. we each got two, chocolate eclairs, coconut torte and apple torte. i felt sick after but it was sooo worth it. we justified it by the fact that we probably walked 10 miles that day.

sometimes i feel like i should create a better way of incorporating the pictures into the words to break it up but...that's too hard. soo...here's the pictures.

imagine walking into a house like this every day.

hugest fireplace i have ever seen

hall of mirrors!

gardens!

lunch in the garden with emily.

i'm really cute, i know.

walking through the leaf blower

the middle of our never ending walk around the gardens

french onion soup mmmmmm

the seine.

i'm going to be a teacher!!!!!

2010-11-08T14:35:00.000-07:00

who knew it would be so exciting to tell people that i'm taking two teaching classes. it's the little things, ya know? but really. since we just recently registered for classes everyone asks what classes you're taking. and its so fun to say "well, i'm taking blah blah blah blah blah...and explorations of teaching soc. sci and technology in the classroom". as much as i love fashion and the idea of pursuing a career in the business end of that world, i really do want to be a teacher. and i really do love history. maybe i'll be a fashion history teacher? ya right. although i have thought of some careers that will get me teaching abroad permanently :) as much as i love it here i am not so secretly excited to return to real school, and classes in my major, and a normal bed, and the rest of my closet, and cooking real meals in my own kitchen, and normal showers, and my car and a gym, and bright, energy-wasting light, and skim milk. and salads...lots of salads. did you know they don't really eat salads in europe?

anyways. back to the here and now. well, sort of. i bought my train ticket to venice! and i have a midterm tomorrow. that i'm procrastinating studying for. and i figured out my trip to nürnberg and lastly...the greatest trip of all...meeting my dad in basel, switzerland for SKIING in the ALPS! my lifelong dream. about to be fulfilled. i am the happiest girl alive.

although..thanksgiving is around the corner and i'm kind of sad to not be there with my family. however, i am really excited for a big fat skype session with my mom, dad, sister, grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, and three pretty cousins.

my life is pretty dang good.