Telling you all about my adventures in Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales this past month will take longer than the time I actually spent there...but regardless I'm going to give it a go. I'll only post about it a few days at a time, because I have lots of pictures to share, and lots of fun memories to store. I hope you're patient with me, and if not, I would suggest simply buying the next plane ticket to Dublin so you can experience the adventure yourself! It will probably take less time than it would to read and wait for all these posts anyway...I spent the month of August at home, enjoying a very short but very fun summer break from school.
One of my favorite evenings was on the last day of the month, when a rare 'blue moon' filled the night sky. Not only was it a beautiful sight (and quite impossible to capture on a camera), but it was also the evening of Neil Armstrong's funeral. It was a fitting farewell, and such a miraculous man will surely be missed. But if anyone is at home in the Heavens, it's sure to be that guy.
September started out with a lot of light packing (I had to fit everything I needed for the next 6 weeks into one small carry on suitcase and a purse) and a road trip! Paul found us a ride back to Rexburg with a girl named Tran from Vietnam, who turned out to be really awesome. We stopped quite a few times at some prime photo spots, and then spent the night at Gr Gr Gr's in Bountiful. The next day we stopped in Ogden to have lunch with Tran's friend (one of the missionaries who baptized her while she was living in Texas a few years back) and then drove the rest of the way up to Rexburg. It was a beautiful drive, but we sure were glad to get out of the car.
No sooner had we arrived in Rexburg than Brittany invited us to a fun bonfire activity for her summer wards closing social. It was not only a great excuse to be out of a car, but also to be out and about and NOT unpacking - which is never much fun after a long journey. Since I was going to be living out of a suitcase for the next few weeks however, I didn't even have any unpacking to do, so I quickly agreed to come with Brittany and her friend Jasmine. Paul took a little more convincing, but in the end we all went and had a really great time! Of course, it's nearly impossible to have a horrid time when smores are involved.
Those two weeks in Rexburg were perhaps the most pleasant weeks I've ever spent in that town. Probably because I didn't really have the whole semester to worry about, or the pain of moving in, or the stress of new classes. I did help tons of other people move in, so my arm and leg muscles still got a great work out, and I did go to classes that second week (when school actually started) - for almost the entire day even! But still, it was a very stress free environment that I quite enjoyed. I stayed at Brittany's new apartment the entire two weeks, with a fun weekend visit from Becky, her friend Syd and our friend from last semester Seth. Becky and Syd spent one night on Brittany's floor, but since I was already an added guest, found some other friends to stay with for the next few nights. Brittany's new roommates - Bethany, Stephanie, Amy and another Brittany - are all awesome, and not only did they welcome me very graciously into their temporary home, but made me almost wish I wasn't going to be leaving in just a few short weeks. You have to be pretty awesome to make someone not want to go to Europe...and awesome they were.
As mentioned before, I spent pretty much all day on campus as soon as classes had begun. In the morning we would all meet as a tour group on the 3rd floor of the MC for morning devotional and instruction. Then we would break into classes. As my next classes weren't until after lunch, I usually just brought my homework and other stuff with me and stayed in the common room area on the 3rd floor to work. Then I would meet up with everyone again around 1 or 2 for more afternoon classes together, until about 4. My class met at 4 until around 5 or 5:30 (depending on the day), and then (again depending on the day) I would either head back to Brittany's for the day, or we would meet one more time as a group for an evening activity. It was a pretty crazy schedule, that changed from day to day, but I loved getting to know the girls (and two boys) in our group better, and part way through the week they even made me a group leader! But more on that later.
I should probably start telling you about our trip. As I've already written a bunch already, I'll just go through the flight and then leave the rest for later.
On Monday the 17th of October all 50 of us headed for the Salt Lake Airport. Kay Shaeffer and I had caught a ride down to Utah that previous Friday afternoon from a few really cool African guys we found on the ride board. We spent a fun weekend hanging with my cousin Rachel in Kaysville, and then Monday morning her mom dropped us off in Salt Lake. As Kay was on the later flight, we parted ways and I headed with half of the group to our terminal. We left the Salt Lake airport around 11:30, and landed in Chicago around 3. It was a beautiful landing amid the clouds, and despite my hatred of landings I couldn't help taking photos out of the window.
The only thing that could possibly compare to such a beautiful landing was the following decent into the Dublin airport, 8 hours later.
It was morning the next in Ireland already, so we got to land with the sunrise. Even though we were all exhausted beyond belief - every eye was glued to the window. Many of us were even jumping up and down in our seats with excitement....Okay, it was me...but hey - can you blame me?! I mean - look at this view!
Until next time! Cheerio!
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