Pre-week.

Wow (Wow Wubzy). haha

Hello friends!

I am currently in Jerusalem, Israel and things are going swell (at least for us!).

But before I start in on my crazy adventures thus far in the JC, I feel like I should start the story out at the beginning (and I realize that this is INSANELY LONG so if you don't feel like reading it all, I've included a shortened version at the end!):

Last Friday (8/27) Nicole and I flew out of SFO at 6:30 in the morning (which involved us waking up WAY too early). We flew to Vegas and then to Salt Lake. Luckily, I slept a little bit on the plane (unfortunately, I don't remember which flight it was but I did sleep! haha) We then got our bags and headed to Temple Square (taking the courtesy shuttle) and we met up with (Sister) Erin Fine and (Sister) Echo Palmer who Nicole served with in Georgia. We then went to lunch where Erin (Alpaca) met us and we all hung out for some quality time. We then went back to Temple Square where we met up with tons and tons and tons of Nicole's missionary friends. It was a little ridiculous because they were all freaking out and they were so stunned that she was back so we felt like we were hanging out with The Biebs (Justin Bieber). Erin and I should've used our time better and gone to the temple but I suppose there is nothing we can do about that now. (Next time.)

Our grandma then picked us up and took us with her as she ran a couple errands, we dropped our big bag off at her house and then we headed down to Orem! We got to Orem for dinner and then we hung out/helped Becca-boo pack and then off we went to bed because we were exhausted. I slept in Annie's bed and it was delightful.

The next morning, we got to sleep in a smidge which was nice and then we got all ready and then off to Logan we went! We stopped first at Best Buy to buy Becca her new laptop and then at our standard Hires Big H for the family lunch which was presh. We then started back up to Logan. We got to Logan in the middle of the afternoonish and we brought all of Becca’s stuff into her apartment and then we headed to the USU Creamery for some ice cream. Nicole has a super awesome experience when some guy practically proposed to her with all of us watching. Absolutely awesome.

After ice cream, grandma and grandpa left and we Annie and I unpacked/organized Becca’s room while Becca, Nicole and Elsa went to the grocery store. We were basically done unpacking and setting up before they were back. And they were super impressed because of how organized it was. (I credit that to the fact that I’ve had to do it so so so many times. Thanks track system. Haha)

We then went to Chick-fil-a for dinner even though we weren’t really all that hungry so Annie and I got kids meals which were delicious. We then went back and dropped Becca off and started our long drive back to Highland. It was actually pretty interesting because Nicole and Elsa had a pretty insightful conversation and I sat in the back and listened. They then dropped us off at the Bement’s house (after we got a little lost….) and it was fun to see them. It had been almost two years exactly since Nicole had seen them so to her, they were huge but it had been less than a year for me so they hadn’t really changed all that much. Ryker was super shy and scared of me at first and he even asked to go to bed after we had been there for a little bit. Millie was adorbs and she liked me a lot. J Brianna was on a date so she got home a little after we got there and she flew through the front door with her posey in tow. It was cute. J

We just hung around there for the evening and then we went to bed but as we were brushing our teeth and such, the power went out from all the thunderstorm-ing which was definitely an adventure.

The next morning, we went to church and luckily it was Laurels-are-in-Relief Society week so Brianna (and Maryn) were both in there with us. After Church, Ryker really wanted to walk home so Brianna, Nicole, Ryker and I walked home from church. And Ryker and I obviously held hands the entire walk home. After church, we just ate lunch and hung out and then had some delicious homemade pizza for dinner and then they (Brother Bement and Ryker) drove us to Elisa’s house in Provo.

We dropped our stuff off at the house and then we walked down the street and waited for Julie to come and pick us up. We walked around/sat on campus talking to Julie which was quality times. Basically the entire trip I was Nicole’s shadow and we just hung out with her friends which was actually pretty fun. After we hung out with Julie, we went and hung out with Marcie (who should’ve been my friend long ago….) and that was quality. We were supposed to hang out with Markus and Danielle but they were too tired and jetlagged or something haha. So then Marcindra dropped us back off at Elisa’s house were we then hung out with Elisa and her roommates and her other guests.

Oh yes, fun fact, Elisa lives in a HUGE house with two other girls. The night we stayed there, they took in 5 hobos (ourselves included.) We got the entire living room in the basement, they had two girls in the real living room (one on a therapist couch turned twin bed and the other on a fold out couch) and then one in the extra bedroom. It was a hoppin’ place.

We finally went to bed (a little later than we should have) and the next morning, we woke up and went off to the Y again. We hit up the bookstore and then we went to the Tanner building to wait for Mark. After he got out of class, we went to lunch with him and his wife (who had nothing else to do since they couldn’t move into their new apartment like they were supposed to…) and it was presh to see them since I haven’t seen them since they got married (in May ’09) and I haven’t spoken to either of them since Mark found out I was dating a Georgian and called me when I was in Idaho (and it also happened to be their 6 month anniversary) Hahaha so yes, it has been a super long time. Lunch was good but we had to unfortunately cut it short so we could head to our orientation meeting.

I don’t even know where to start with that. Oh geeze. Such a long meeting and nothing was really all that new. But it was probably for everyone to get on the same page and such but yeah… waste of four hours. We did get our shmackpacks though (that’s what we call our new Jerusalem Center backpack, in honor of Shmackely). After that we quickly headed to the Wilk where we met up with Emily, Nicole’s friend from the mission/a JC alumni and where I saw Melissa for about 30 seconds (because she had to rescue her lost husband). We then went to dinner at Bombay House with Elisa and it was yummy. After that, we went home (and we thought we were late) and waited for Grandma and Grandpa to pick us up. They were rather late so we hung outside watching her famous neighbor’s and their super cute house. (Seriously though, her neighbors across the street actually are famous. And I saw one of them!)

Once the grandparents arrived, we headed back to Salt Lake. We took showers, got all packed and ready and went to bed. I wish I could say we went to sleep but neither of us really slept…. Hahaha which was a bummer.

….Mostly because we were up at 3:30 the next morning for a loooooooooong two days of traveling.

Sparknotes Version:

-Left home at 4:50 am on 8/27.

-Arrived in Salt Lake (via Las Vegas) shortly before noon.

-Spent the day at Temple Square.

-Drove down to Orem with the grandparents.

-Ate dinner with the cousins.

Saturday:

-Slept in.

-Headed to Logan (with a short pit stop for a family lunch in Salt Lake plus a computer buying break).

-Moved Becca in.

-USU Creamery.

-Unpacked B's room with Annie while Nicole, Elsa and Becca were grocery shopping.

-Headed to Highland to see the Bements.

-Hung out with the Bements.

-HUGE thunderstorm knocks out our power.

Sunday:

-Went to Church with the Bements.

-Nicole, Brianna, Ryker and I walked home.

-Had a super relaxing Sunday afternoon and delicious pizza for dinner.

-Headed to Provo to visit more of Nicole's peeps.

-Hung out with Julie and then Marcie.

-Went home and hung out with Elisa and the gang.

Monday:

-Went to the bookstore.

-Lunch with Markus and Danielle

-JC Orientation meeting (for four hours)

-Met up with Emily for a brief second and then Melissa for even shorter.

-Dinner at Bombay House with Elisa (yum).

-Drove to Salt Lake/Holladay.

-Finish packing before leaving super early the next morning.

Tuesday: to be continued...