Stay Tuned

You know that feeling, when you step off of a plane? You take your first breath of fresh air (or not-fresh air), and you go hey, that reminds me of ...

yeah, I got that feeling when I stepped off of my plane in Salt Lake City. I hadn't smelled that Utah air for almost six months. Boy, did it feel good!! It was really a great moment for me, coming home. Seeing all my family and friends at the airport, being able to hug them and talk to them without frozen voices and twitching faces (I mean, like how it is on Skype most of the time... haha). Yeah, that was really nice! However, it was also so sad. I stepped off that plane, and thought.. my journey is over. I am far from my my other home. I am far from my other friends. I am far from my other family. And then I realized, I will always be far from something I love. I can't be in two places at once. I can't bring together the incredible Utah mountains with Germany's endless fields. I wish I could, but I can't. 

However, since I have been home in Utah, I have been able to share a lot of my experiences with people I love here. I have been able to see, even more in depth, how much I have grown as an individual. If anyone should ask if they should study abroad, I wouldn't hesitate. YES OF COURSE. I would recommend, and even highly advise ANYONE to go, and to study abroad. Even if you find you can't be away from home like that, even if you find that sort of thing isn't for you. If you have the desire and the resources, GO!! There is no way you won't grow as a person.

I honestly grew in EVERY aspect of my life. But the biggest, to me, was spiritually. Particularly, coming closer to God. Because, well, at times of loneliness and confusion, God is always there. That's one of the many comforting things I learn through the gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But more than that, in times of happiness and success, God is still there. Christ can be your greatest friend, your comforter, your hope, your example, your foundation, but only if you let Him. I am sorry to turn this blog post into a testimony, but without my experiences of being abroad, I would not have this strong of a testimony to share. I would not be planning on giving 18 months of my life to serve God. I would not be the happy and changed person I am today. and...You would not be reading this.

The things I learned about myself ranged from bad to wonderful... some of them were surprising, like my change of occupation choice (which will probably change a couple more times before settling haha) some of them were sad, like realizing a medical issue I have, but the biggest thing I learned about myself, is that I AM STRONG.

I just want to take a minute to express my gratitude for all of your support throughout my journey of accomplishing a dream of mine. This wasn't just a semester of school. It wasn't even just a semester of school abroad. It was a dream. A dream that came true! It went by way too fast, and I wish I could go back already, but I DID IT!

I said earlier that my journey is over.. but it's not (: I am planning on so much more! From Romania, to Africa, to serving as a missionary of the mormon church for 18 months somewhere in the world... MY JOURNEY IS NOT OVER... It's just beginning. 

Stay Tuned

the end is near

Ohhh boy! The month of December was quite busy for me! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've written... I had an incredible christmas time with my host family and lots of adventures! Here are some photos that I will try to describe in one or two sentences (:

This is what I woke up to on December 6th,
Nikolaus filled my shoes
with treats.
(a typical german tradition)

I baked this cheesecake all by myself..
okay, with a little help from my host
mom (:

Seriously, such beautiful sights at the
Weihnachtsmarkts here in Germany <3

My first REAL tree at Christmas!

drove with the top down on CHRISTMAS

Meanwhile, this is the weather back in Utah
on Christmas... ha, looks like I got
lucky this year (:

My dad always cuts our christmas oranges that santa
leaves in our stockings each year, so
I decided to get some oranges for my host family this
year to continue the tradition (:

KUGELN SPIELEN :D It's like bowling,
but ten times greater because
the balls are small and so are the
lanes. And, there's only nine pins.
This is a tradition of my host family to
go with their fam on the 25th..
so fun.

Pool with the fam, also on the 25th (:

Typical European.. Pay to pee.

Ran into this handsome guy
at the movies after
seeing a movie with my English
Class.

Yet another sun rise <3

ICH LIEBE DÖNER

There are cool things at the dump... like a huge
box filled with old tvs and computers... yeah.

My host brother took me on a tour through the
woods... this is a huge fire pit, he said
that when it is lit, it rises about 9 meters...
i think he lied. Cuz, I checked how tall 9 meters is in feet...
it's about 30 feet.

here's a cool cave that you probly didn't
notice in the last pic (:
It's said to have led to the castle just
a 7 minute walk away.

And, here is the Castle (: 

Went to the zoo on the first day of 2014 with
a family from my church. Hannover's zoo
is THE BOMB (:

Yeah.. I was pretty excited.

Turned 18. My host family made it an amazing day,
along with my soccer team, who
showed up at my house by SURPRISE, brought me
cake and champagne, and hung out with me
for a bit (:

Got to go to HAMBURG with my host sis
and Joy to walk around the city
and to see THE LION KING!

IT WAS INCREDIBLE <3 ..even
in german (:

"The Whale" - a church that is made to look
like a whale. I went to this for a Gottesdienst with Joy
and her host parents. Pretty cool!

That was all december... plus a few other things:

- Went to the movies with my family.. it was totally like an old fashioned theater! Soft red seats, red curtains and way cool set up haha

- I helped my friend, Joy, cook Filipino food for our host families... mmmm lecker :D
- I spent New Year's Eve with some friends from my church, we ate some Raclette... Oh. My. Goodness. I had never heard of this before, but it was soooo good! It's pretty much 2-8 mini pans that fit into this mini oven/grill, which sits in the middle of the table. Each person get's their own pan... you fill it with vegetables, cheese, whatever you want, and on the top you can grill meat (: when it's cooked, you slide it off the pan, onto your plate. Then, you make another one. By the time you're done eating the first, the second one is cooked (: Then, you just KEEP GOING CUZ IT'S SO GOOD. Haha, probably one of my new favorite foods.
- I bought a second suitcase... that's right, I bought too many things here in Deutschland... I mean, can you blame me? Everything is so....well... european here (:
- My host mom and Joy joined me for a play that my church put on.. Scrooge. They did great and it was lots of fun!
- About 50 days ago, I made a list of 50 things I wanted to do before I returned home, and I have successfully completed them all....
i guess that means it's time to go...
....I leave Germany in four days... I am already having Deutschland-withdrawal haha. However, I'm very excited to return to Utah and to see my family (:
Thanks to all of you for your support and friendship <3