let the journey begin.

I finally made it to Jerusalem! I already love it here! I got to the SLC airport around 9 and there were so many kids waiting in line to check in. My bag was 49 pounds so that was lucky haha. Everyone off the bat was meeting each other and everyone is super nice. Our flight to JFK was about 4 hours. I sat next to an Israeli and it was really interesting talking to him. He was about in his 30's and was going to visit home for 5 days for his birthday. He was super nice and telling us about Israel. He says he loves Tel Aviv. I hear it's party central at night...but we're mormon so yeah haha. So that flight wasn't too bad and then we had a 3 hour layover in JFK. The flight to Tel Aviv was 10 hours and 40 mins. But we were sitting on the plane for about an hour and a half before we even took off. I almost finished my movie by the time we left haha. The flight wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I slept for about half of it. I hate sleeping on planes though. They gave us dinner and breakfast. The Tel Aviv airport was super nice, it was so weird cause it was night time and we had just had breakfast. The Jerusalem Center staff greeted us with open arms. They were so happy to see us. Everyone here is SO nice. I already feel at home. The building is BEAUTIFUL. I can't get over that I'm living here. The night we got there I stood out on the patio on the 8th floor, saw the city, and right then and there it hit me that I was in the Holy Land. The rest of the night we had so many orientations and such. They finally let us free at like 10 and then we had to unpack and I didn't get to bed until like 1. I only have 2 roommates so that's pretty nice, more room. They are awesome.

Breakfast is pretty much at 7 everyday. It's early. But somehow I do it. The food is way yummy!! There are some american food and Israeli food. Some food is better than others. Most of it is really good though! There are some authentic foods and I'm just like I have no idea what that is, but it ends up being good. There are palestinians and Jews that both work here. The first picture is off my balcony in the morning. It is so beautiful, the picture doesn't do it justice. The prayer calls happen like 5 times a day, and one of them is at 5 in the morning so that's always fun...so far I have just woken up then and can't go back to sleep. Hopefully I get used to it. This Thursday was more orientation. I feel like they are just repeating themselves haha.

We got to go on a tour that morning though! We got into groups of like 10 and walked into the old city and west Jerusalem. It was so cool!! I had so much fun. Jerusalem has a lot of trash and they honk their horns like crazy. That will get some getting used to. Pedestrians do not have the right of way here so you have to be careful when you cross the street. We weren't allowed to take pictures on the tour but I snuck in a few. So that's why I barely have any. And we aren't allowed to upload pictures, so I can only upload a few anyways. I love Jerusalem already though. Basically everyone knows who were are, especially the vendors. Random people will say "Hello mormons, welcome to Jerusalem". I love it haha. These little boys on the street were soooo funny and cute and trying to talk to us. They were throwing rocks, I guess that's what kids here do? And they were doing the gangnam style dance. SO funny. I love little boys haha. The old city is really cool and is surrounded by a wall. It is like a market with so many turns, I will for sure get lost. The Holy Sepulchre is super cool. It was interesting watching them, they do things very different than us. In there is where they Christians think Christ's tomb is. We walked to the West Jerusalem where it is more modern and everything is made out of this white stone. It is very pretty. They let us roam around by ourselves. I learned so much already and have so much more to say but I just don't have time for that haha. We are not allowed to proselyte at all so that will be hard, but everyone knows about us and we have a good reputation here. I want to make friends with the vendors and people. I can't wait to go back to the city. We aren't allowed to go into the city on fridays before 3 because that's when the muslims have there holy time or something...haha. I just can't wait to learn more about the culture and everything. I have had sooo much information in my head, it's hard to think straight. After the tour we had more orientation. It never ends. We all had the worst jet lag. I was so tired. Luckily I got to take some naps. There are 82 kids here. We have more boys than girls! I think we have 43 boys and 39 girls. 8 are from BYUI and 5 are from BYUH and the rest are from BYU. I still see new faces and I am trying to memorize everyone's names. It's fun meeting new people. Thinking that we will all be so close at the end is great. Everything is just so amazing. Today, (friday) we had our first day of classes. I had old testament with Brother Woods and Near Eastern Studies with Brother Seeley. They were both super good and interesting. SO much reading though. Our schedules are jammed back. I hope I get enough sleep...so far I have gotten about 4 hours of sleep every night. I will get more though, jet lag is just the worst. But it is worth it because I am here in the holy land! I still can't believe it. I'll just be casually looking out my window and see the dome of the rock and be like what im here?! I just love it. I am so blessed I am here, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity for sure. Sorry I am babble a lot and not the best writer....this is mainly for me and my family. I love you all and miss you! See you in 4 months 'merica!

we fish you a merry christmas.

Merry LATE Christmas! oh and happy new year! I can tell 2014 is going to be a good one with lots of adventures. I have no idea what this year will bring but I am excited for it. It was so nice being home and with family. Here is a catch up on how I ended my year great. My dad took us rock climbing and it was really fun. i love rock climbing. my fore arms were sore the next day.

My dad took us rock climbing and it was really fun. i love rock climbing. my fore arms were sore the next day. 

Snowflake lane! Can you tell Paul enjoys my company? We then went to five guys after. So yummy.

Christmas Eve was filled with Christmas movies and games. My mom made a yummy dinner and creme brulee!

On Christmas morning I got the best Christmas gift! I got to skype David! He has been out over year. Crazy how time flies. It was good talking to him.

 I mainly got clothes for Christmas and things for Jerusalem. It was a really good Christmas and one I will never forget. We went to Grandma's and wow we were all so hyper. I don't know how grandma and grandpa handled us. We had a yummy dinner and gift exchange. We also took a traditional fisher pic.

 Fun night out at Wild Ginger! We ate out a lot haha.

 My dear friend Kaitlyn had a her farewell talk last week. It's crazy that all my girl friends are leaving on missions. She did such a great job, Virginia is lucky to have her! I'll miss her!

 We went to seattle one day and went to the pacific science center because we had free imax tickets we needed to use. We saw "the hubble" about the space telescope, it was pretty cool. We then went to get starbucks and went to kerry park for the view. We then went back to the pacific science center to see the laser show cause we also had free tickets. I don't know why I hadn't done it before. It was so cool! Then as we left we got dicks burgers. Man I love Seattle.

 New Years Eve this year was an interesting one. My family had their annual party and we went to that, played some just dance 2014 and then left to go to the ysa stake dance. Let me tell ya, it was WEIRD. weird people, awful music from 2011 and just some awk shiz. I still had fun though. It was just a weird new years. I wouldn't want to spend it with anyone else though besides my woo girls. I love them! It was our last time for a while that all of us will be together.

 Brittany, Brian and I went to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner and games. It was a good time.

 Can't visit home without going to Sammamish cafe! gosh i am obsessed with food.

We went skiing and Stevens Pass. It was a beautiful day and had just gotten 8 inches of fresh powder. It was perfect. I had a lot of fun and loved being with my family. It was really cool when it got dark and seeing all the lights in the snow.

Yesterday I took Hayley's and Tori's mission pics! They are just too beautiful for their own good. They are going to be awesome sister missionaries. I'm going to miss them so much. We had panera bread with kaitlyn before hand! Goodbyes suck!

I have now left Sammamish and I am in Utah for a couple days before I head of to Israel. It's still crazy to me that I am going. I am SO excited for the adventure ahead of me. Check this blog if you want to see what's going on with me in Jerusalem. Peace out america.

end of semester.

GUYZ. How is the semester over? It's bitter sweet. Here are a few things to sum up the end of the semester:

Well it snowed a ton right after thanksgiving break. It was very cold. negative sixteen degrees. ew.

We went sledding and played in the snow a lot.

We pranked our fhe brothers. They were all gone so it was perfect. We put all of their matresses to the front and basically just messed up their whole apt....oops.

This is my first drawing in the class and my best drawing in the class. See any improvement? haha. This class was a struggle for me sometimes because I am not really a drawer but it made me go outside of my comfort. I love my major and learning different things. I never would have thought I could draw a head haha. Classes were good this semester. I really like my major and I am excited to improve more. my grades weren't bad either.

Just some pretty snow pictures.

So we ate at mcdonalds a lot past curfew...where else do you hang out?

Last fhe! The whole ward went to fat cats for bowling and mini golf. I love and miss my brothers so much.

Our last night in Rexburg we went to mckydees. obvi. Leo came over after and idk what happened after that. let's just say I got no sleep finals week.

Okay so y o l o moment here. I drove to salt lake with leo to catch my flight on thursday. we were at lunch before my flight took off and then I got a text saying my flight got canceled. and i'm like uhhh how am i getting home. So I ended up just driving to california with leo and then flying out of ontario on saturday. There weren't any flight until monday out of salt lake and cali sounded fun so YOLO. We stopped and hung out with one of leo's mission buddy's and then left salt lake at 5ish, which means we didn't get into california until 3am. haha. It was a long drive but it was fun. A midnight we were in vegas and leo took me out to the strip. it was a cultural shock and so fun.

California was so nice and warm. It was too short of a visit. leo's family is so nice and gosh i love his nephew and niece. Leo took me to chicken and waffles for breakfast, i know it sounds weird but it was so good! It was in the ghetto and all the blacks were looking at me haha so funny. We hung out at his house and played with his niece and nephew. We went to their spanish ward christmas party, it was a fiesta! haha I love the mexican culture, everyone is so nice. too bad i cant speak spanish...they were probably all talking about me...Saturday morning we went on a hike. It was really pretty. So nice not to wear a jacket for once. I was really sad to leave. This semester ended up being so different from what I thought it was going to be. no regrets though. I have learned a lot and met some amazing people. Big shout out to leo for doing anything for us, like taking us to the store or just hanging out with us. haha he was our only friend basically. I'm going to miss my leotard! I already miss this semester, I didn't think I would but it's weird that it's over. I can't believe I leave for Jerusalem in just 14 days. I'm freaking out just a little bit.

let's eat.

Happy Late Thanksgiving! I got to go home to Seattle for thanksgiving. It was very relaxing and fun spending time with family. I am so grateful my parents fly me home! I am so full of thanks this year. I am so grateful I get to go to Jerusalem for a semester. I can't even wait. I am so grateful for the gospel, my family, my friends, and my education. Here's a little about my week. I flew home on Saturday night. My parents took me out to dinner at a place called the keg. It was very yummy. Sunday we went to church and then my mom made yummy chicken fajitas. I love how my mom always cooks for me when I come home. I love free food! And best of all home cooked meals. Monday morning my dad wanted to spoil me and he took me to sammamish cafe! Oh how I love the californian omelet! Then my mom and me went shopping. We got chipotle on the way home and then watched a movie.

Tuesday my dad spoiled me again and took me indoor skydiving because he has cheap tickets. It was so fun! The guy said I did really good. I wish we could have done it longer though. It was a really cool experience. 

Wednesday the kids ditched school and we went to seattle. We went to pikes place. oh how i love that place. I never get sick of it. Then we went to the pacific science center. There was a butterfly exhibit which was really cool. I'm pretty sure it was my first time going to the PSC. Which is weird cause we have a family pass. haha. Then we saw the imax movie Jerusalem. My dad really wanted us all to see it since I am going. It was really cool how they talked about all the different religions that live there and it's history. The whole time I was watching it I was like OH MY GOSH I can't believe I am going there! It's going to be the best experience ever. Then I went to visit the Doty's! It was fun visiting them! 

On Thanksgiving we took the boat out! It was a gorgeous day! I love lake Sammamish! We took our cousins out. It was so fun. Then we had our yummy meal. We had our Aunt and Uncle, Grandma and Grandpa, the sister missionaries, the lewis's, and a guy from a ward. It was weird not having the morrissey's and my grandma and aunt over though. I sure did miss them. Ah i love thanksgiving and being with friends and family.

Friday was a relaxing day. I went to take pictures for a project, I have to take a self portrait with a tripod. SO hard. I don't know which one I will use but my mom helped me with that. It was such a foggy day out but it was still so pretty on the lake. Then we went to go see captain phillips. such a good movie! Then later that night hayley and tori came over. It was so good to catch up with them!

Today I flew to Utah and my sister and brian picked me up and we went to city creek, saw temple lights and then went to olive garden! It was a good day! I love seeing the temple lights. I leave tomorrow for rexburg. I'm excited to go back, but only to see my friends. Not for the homework...

Happy December! Let the Christmas festivities begin!