Highlights!!

First of all, This is where I live. Its the nicest housing complex I have ever been in. :) Im on the 4th level of the 8 levels there are.

I have only been here for less than a week and I have learned so much. I can not even believe it. Its such a rich, historically, and amazing city. There have been so many things that I have learned and embraced while I have been here. WOW. Its astounding.

#1 My view is amazing. We are Mount Scopus facing the west. It is so pretty to look out my back porch and see the "Old City". The sunset is gorgeous everyday and the weather is like the Arizona winter and cools off at night.

#2 The markets are amazing. I love looking at them and exploring them. The people are wonderful. They are so nice once they stop trying to see you something. :) The markets are something that I have never seen before. One of the things that is extremely hard, is that in America you are supposed to make eye contact when walking down the street. But here the women are very subservient and are not supposed to make eye contact. I am having a very hard time with not.

#3 Okay ignore my frumpy clothes and that my hair is back but this is a little handicapped boy in a shop that sells antiques. We were walking down the Via Del Rosa and we stopped by this family, they owned thier fathers shop. They were the cutest family they toke such good care of their brother. His name is Jat. He wanted to take a picture with me because he liked being able to see himself in my camera. The men were so nice.

#4 This is the Temple Mount, it is located in the Old City. It is currently owned by the Muslims. We went there today and toured around. It has beautiful mosiac tiles. I was thinking about how "touristy" it is and how I really wouldnt appreciate it if someone was taking crazy pictures and being loud on our grounds. So our group tried to refrain ourselves but then I also thought about the SLC Temple and how it is similiar. But I hope I wasnt disresepcting thier holy temple. Because it is extremely important to them. I hope that I can make friends with a Palestine women and then I will be able to enter.

Arrived!

Hey Everyone,
So I am extremely jet lagged and really want to go to sleep but I thought I would let you know that I made it safely to Jerusalem. It is basically the most amazing experience of my life and I have just barely begun. I started technically yesterday at 6 am. And did not stop until 4:30pm today. Our flights have been delayed everytime!!!! It was crazy but I was never scared that we were going to miss a flight, partly because I knew I was being protected and I was with a group of about 20 people and it is not very likely to be left with that many people. :) They divided us up into groups to catch our flights. The people in my group are amazing and I love being around them so much! The planes we were flying on were huge, I have never flown on such huge planes but it was so fun. And the best part was running through the Chicago Airport with basically "Sister Missionary" Tags on to the opposite side of the terminal. Gotta love the airport. So every flight was delayed because of weather, mechanical problems, or who knows what. But it really doesnt matter. I love being around the people aboad the aircraft and the people in my group. On the flight to Vienna there was a Chex Mix that was called Happy Mix. It made me laugh, I toke a picture of it but I dont want to upload it here. So I dont know how many pictures you will get to see but dont you worry you will see them eventually. The people around the world are so amazing and the people at the center have amazing spirits even though they are not LDS. The food here at the center is very different but it is good. I am willing to try anything considering we didnt get to stop anywhere for food in the airports because of the rush. Today right when we got here we ate, and then we to the auditorium. Oh my hannah, it has the most amazing view of the city I have ever seen. WOW! Then we got introduced to some of our classes, they will be rough but for sure worth it. But I am safely here and love it so much! No worries :)
P.S. I will try and get pictures because I know they are more exciting but because of the internet here in the Center it is hard to upload them. (Sorry!)

Merry Chirstmas!!!!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope the true meaning of Christmas rings true in your heart. But as for the superficial part....I got a new laptop. Finals week my hand-me-down laptop decided it didn't want to work anymore. For Christmas I was just hoping for a "fixed" laptop, but my wonderful parents went above and beyond and got me a Netbook. It super light and convenient, I am super excited to bring it to Israel with me because it won't take up a lot of space in my luggage and it has a webcam, (although I do not know if I will be able to Skype). Nonetheless I have the ability!!! Merry Christmas, don't forget Christ in your Christmas this year!

Survival and Conquer

I made it through finals and am now back at home for Christmas! It hasn't felt like CHIRSTMAS till now when I can admire the beautiful chirstmas lights, see the elegantly lit christmas tree and smell of the delicous sweet treats constantly being baked. Before I came home I was able to visit my Aunt and Uncle in Saratoga Springs and their 4 kids! This is Rachel, she is the cutest little girl! It was really fun to hold her and play with her.

6 down, 3 to go!

Taking 19 credits is killing me its FINALS Week and its probably been the most stressful week of my life. Not to mention my laptop broke and is not fixable, the computer nerds in the nerd lounge said that I was screwed and that I should get a Mac. So therefore I have been living in the library for the past 4 days, literally, I should be paying rent, but I guess thats what tuition is for. :) I have finished 6 finals and I have 3 more to go. My brain is fried. But it will be good to be home for a couple weeks and then I am off to Israel, its coming so quickly, 18 days!

Bad Sign....why do I live in Rexburg?

Oh my hannah! I don't know if you can see the writing, but it says "Frigid". When it says that on your thermometer, you start to wonder... anyways, while I freeze in "The Burg", I still have been able to do some way fun things.

This past weekend, was an awesome one. I celebrated one of my friends birthday, at Red Robin. We took many detours to get to Idaho Falls, but successfully made it before the rest of the group was seated. I had never been there so that was a new experience with the bottomless french fries. Yum so good! Red was even able

to be there

on his special day. :)

After the delicious lunch, I had to rush off to a blind date, that was set up by my awesome roommate.

We were going to Craigo's. (the only buffet in Rexburg) Too bad I had just eaten! But that was okay, I just watched. The date was way fun!

Right after the date, my apartment decided to host an "Ugly Sweater Party" and drink egg nog and hot cocoa. We didn't know how many people to expect, so we just made some goodies and put on our ugly sweaters, which were purchases at D.I.!

Ya thats right! There ended up being tons of people that showed and at one point it was like sardines, no one could

move. It was a way fun party! These are some of my roommates, Alicia, Melissa, Me and Corrie. I love them so much, they are awesomazing!

Finals are next week, so I better stop procrastinating and get to studying! :)

Paper Work Finished!

This week during Thanksgiving Break, I had the chance to get the last of the preparations done and turned in. I am fully processed and on my way. Now if I can only focus on finals, as they are coming up in a few weeks. I had wonderful thanksgiving break, I was able to go home and visit my family, I hadn't been home for 8 months! It was fun to be home, without an alarm clock, free food and siblings. But I was definitely ready to come back up to school. haha. It was weird to have a week off, because I have not had any days off since April.

As of right now I leave for Jerusalem on January 5, 2010. Thats so weird, that it is 2010 already. Wow! I will be home for a couple of weeks for Christmas and then off for the Holy Land. I am so excited!!! :)