Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Home.

I'm HOME!

The last little bit of Vienna was great/stressful. I had so much to do before I left with finals, getting souvenirs, and fitting in last minute things. It was crazy at the time, but coming home was such a relief. I think I got a couple of A's and the rest A-'s/B's.

Before I left, I went and saw the ballet, Giselle in the Staatsoper. It was amazing! I definately recomend seeing it. We also had our ward and school christmas parties. I loved the ward christmas party. The ward has been so kind with trying to make us feel at home. It was fun mingling with all of the great friends we had made during the past 3 months.

We flew home on the 15th. We left our apartment at 8 in the morning, Vienna time. The flight from Vienna to New York was almost 10 hours long and I got a head ache an hour into it and I had a headache for 9 hours until we got off and Marinda gave me something for it. Then we had our layover in New York. We went through customs, got our luggage and then we had to figure out where to check our luggage again. I decided to ask at this desk. At first, I was trying to figure out how to ask it in German and then I realized...HE SPEAKS ENGLISH! He said he could help us and then asked us how we were I replied, "I'm just so happy you speak english!" We found we were happy to be back in a country where we all speak english and it is perfectly okay to smile at complete strangers!

Our flight to Salt Lake was delayed a bit. We sat on the runway for an hour. We finally got going and I managed to kind of sleep the whole flight. We arrived in Salt Lake City about midnight. That's 9 am Vienna time. We traveled over 24 hours! My parents picked me up at the airport. They went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert and stayed the weekend. On Tuesday we drove home and I FINALLY got home Tuesday night.

Being home has been nice. I've just spent my time with family. Last week Aubrey and Darrell went out to San Diego to help Brenda move so I watched Jamie, Courtney and Whitney. They are adorable. I can't believe how big Whitney has gotten! Then Brenda came with Jonah and Jemma and right now I'm babysitting them while Brenda finishes up her Christmas shopping.

I'm happy to be home for Christmas. This is my favorite time of year...cookies, great movies and of course, remembering the birth of our Savior.