Home Sweet Home

Time is one of the strangest things ever. I can't believe how fast this semester has gone. One of my friends said of our time in Jerusalem that the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days. That is so true! We did so much and made enough memories for a lifetime, but it is over so soon. And now I'm back home in Preston. It's so nice to be home, especially for the holidays but I'm also feeling a little homesick for my home in Jerusalem.

The last week we went on a field trip walk of the last week of the Savior's life. It was a very fitting way to end our experience there. Many of the place that we went I had been to before on my own (with at least 2 other people of course), but it was nice to be there one final time in the order that Jesus was there for His last week. Our last day in the city we went to our favorite places one last time and said goodbye to the city. Thirty hours of traveling later, I was back in the States.

This was the most amazing incredible experience I've ever had. I hope I never forget it. I made the greatest friends, did the most incredible things, and grew closer to my Savior than I ever thought I would. I'm so glad that I came back during the Christmas season when I can honor His birth, remember His life and teachings and especially His Atonement and Resurrection. I have a very strong mental image of His life in my head. I love that. I'm going to miss being there so much. But I love being home with my family now, and I'm so grateful for the experiences that I had.

Floatin' The Dead Sea

Today was one of our last field trips (sad!) and the last one on a bus. But we went out with bang. We went to the Masada fortess first. All 80+ of us crammed onto a VERY small cable car (don't worry, there was a 3 foot ladder in the cable car in case something happened and we had to get down the 50 foot drop safetly) and were lifted up to Herod the Great's hanging palace. It was one of the biggest ruins we've seen. Built right on the edge of a huge cliff - pretty impressive. Hollywood made a movie about it in the 80's about when Rome attacted it after Jerusalem was destroyed. I haven't seen it yet, but remind me that I want to when I get home. I'm not going to lie though, I've seen more than enough ruins this semester to last me a lifetime.

From Masada we headed toward...the Dead Sea!!! I've offically been swimming in the three most amazing places on earth! This was one of the coolest things I've done. The sea is 35% salt - compare that to the 8% salt in the Great Salt Lake. We floated for about 2 hours in the sea and it was so fun!!! It is impossible to sink in that water and you literally just bob around. Walking in the water was pretty sweet, not quite as cool as walking on the water, but I'll take what I can get. :)

We ended the day going to a nature reserve where David hid out in the wilderness while Saul was trying to kill him. Then we went to Qumran, the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls (which I have seen) were found! Our teacher, Brother Skinner, is the smartest man I've ever met and he knows everything about Qumran. He was one that helped translate the Dead Sea Scrolls. He's great all the time but today he was especially good to learn from him. They gave us about an hour to roam around and explore the caves. I didn't find any scrolls, but I did find a cool looking sea shell. Today was so much fun! I love field trip days!!! :)

*I have to add in this funny story about the Dead Sea. So because it's so salty and toxic they told us that we can't swallow ANY of it and if you have any cuts it burns SO bad. So as I was swimming back toward the shore, a little splash came up and got in my eye. It was only one little drop but it hurt more than anything else! I couldn't even open my eyes. But I couldn't touch it because my hands had the salt water on them. They warned us that if we got water in our eyes, the best thing to do was to spit in it. So my friend Amber was next to me and she spit in my eye! Twice! It was so gross, but suprisingly it felt so much better! Thanks Amber!

Snokeling

So I realized today that when I actually come home, I think my life might seem really boring. I haven't written anything since Halloween because I really haven't had any free time. Between lots of field trips, a few classes, and a trip to the Galilee I've been going strong all month long. I'll write more about the Galilee and the trip to Bethlehem later, but I had to write a little blirb about today's adventure before I went to sleep.

We got back from the Galilee on Friday, Saturday was Shabbot, and today we left at 5:30 AM to the city of Eliot to spend the day swimming and snokeling in the Red Sea. Who am I? Seriously, how many people have been snokeling in the Red Sea of all places?!? It was beautiful there. The water was perfect and I spent all afternoon soaking up the sun on the beach (I didn't even get sunburned this time!) The fish were amazing! There were so many different sizes and colors. I saw a sea snake in the sand at the bottom, some swordfish looking creatures, and tons of fish near the coral reefs. I even got stung by a few jellyfish. Ok, so that part wasn't so fun, but it diffinately makes the story better. :)

All in a days work. Tomorrow we are going to Tel Aviv to see the sights around the city there. Oh man, what a life!

Happy Halloween!

Yay!! Happy Halloween!!! What a fun day it was this year. We have to stay in the Center every Friday until 3:00 (Friday is the Muslim holy day, and apperently it can get a little crazy). So after staying in and studying all morning, me, Heidi, and Morgan raced to the old city to buy the things for our costume and get back before the sunset. (we barley made it in time) The activities committee set up a huge Halloween party for us. Everyone dressed up so well. It was amazing to see the different costumes that people came up with using such limited resources. My costume?? The three of us were 3 P's in a Pod. It was amazing. We had matching green shirts and green fingernail polish (Morgan even let us paint his toes...but shhh, don't say anything. He'd be embarassed). We wrote the letter P on papers and stuck them to our shirts and then wrapped a blanket around us a labelled it as a "pod". It was amazing. And somehow, we even won 3rd place!!! Oh how I love Halloween!!!

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Once upon a time there was a little girl who traveled to a far away kingdom. While she was there she discovered a magical land of ancient lost cities and 4-D movies... So this is the begininning of the next story that I'm going to tell my nephew Blake when he asks me to tell him a bed time story. The stories are usually about a little boy who loves Halloween and includes something with dragons and the forest, but I think this one is going to be so much cooler - because it's for real...and it's about me!!

I just got back from a week in the Kingdom of Jordan. It's for real a kingdom - there are pictures of the Royal Family everywhere! While we were there, I really did discover two ancient lost cities - Petra and Jerash - both of which were amazing!! Petra, I think, was my favorite. It's an ancient lost Edomite/Nabatean/everything city in the middle of a red rock canyon. It's huge! And one of the 7 wonders of the world (I've seen 3 of those so far!) We spent all day there hiking and exploring all the ruins. Everything was built right into the rocks. So beautiful! If you want a glimse of what it looks like, watch the last Indian Jones movie. The Temple of Doom is actually the treasury of Petra. The other city I discovered (I think it still counts as discovering if you have a tour guide that is telling you everything about it, right?) was Jerash, one of the best preserved Roman cities in the world. So I spent all of that day exploring the temples of Athena, and Hercules, and the collanades, and the amputheraters. Amazing!!

We also stopped at the River Jordan and saw the place where Jesus was baptized. The River Jordan is actually a really more of a muddy stream than the clear blue water they show in all the movies, but it was still incredible to see and to realize what happened there. We had a really neat devotional/New Testiment lecture while we were there about John the Baptist and his importance and the love that Jesus had for him. It was really neat to be there. While we were in Amman (the capital city), we were able to meet with the Branch President of the church over there. Their branch covers 3 different countries - Jordan, Syria, and Egypt - and each member of the presidency lives in a different country! But it was really neat to be able to hear stories of how the church is growing there, although VERY slowly because it's against the law to proscelite and the church isn't even recognized there yet, but there was still some incredible things that have happened there.

It's crazy though, because of all the countries that I've been to this semester (I LOVE being able to say that), Jordan is the most Western/Americanized. In our free time, we took a taxi one night to the mall where we watched a 4-D Haunted House movie, played on some blow-up toys, and ate icecream. Kind of ironic that we did that the same night we hiked all over Petra, but when in Jordan, do as the Jordanians. :)

Just Another Day in the Holy Land

I was talking to some girls at dinner last about how everyday here is such an adventure, and we talk about it so nonchalantly. Every night the first thing we ask each other is, "So, what did you do today?". Sometimes you get the answer of, "oh, I stayed in and caught up on some reading." but most of the time it's some amazing activity with a really fun story attached. And yet, it's so common place to have an exciting story here that we just expect a cool story when we ask that question. So although, I didn't do anything amazing today by Jerusalem Center standards, it was still a pretty sweet day by any other standards. So here is my "average"day that I had today. :)


This morning we had 4 hours of class in the morning (Old Testiment and Jewish History) and after lunch a group of us went into the Old City - walking along the now clean streets - and spent about about and hour or so wandering around the Old City, checking out the shops and wandering down streets we hadn't been to yet. We ended up at our favorite shop, Shaban's. He is the nicest man and loves "his mormon students" and gives us really good deals on everything. He gave us free orange juice and pitas while we were talking to him.

It's so funny how everyone here recognizes us. Everytime we walk down the street we get a ton of people call out to us, "Hey mormons! We love the mormons!" We won't even be wearing any BYU stuff but they all just somehow seem to know who we are, and they love us!

So, anyway, after we left Shaban's we went over to the Pool of Bethesda, where Christ healed the lame man that had been sitting by the waters edge for years. They have excavated down to were the pool actually was and it was beautiful. There is also a church there (of course) and the 6 of us went in there and sang I am a Child of God and I Know that My Redeemer Lives. It sounded so pretty - the accoustics were amazing. And afterwards, a Russian man who lives here came over to us and told us it was beautiful and talked to us for a while. I love being able to meet the people. There are so many different cultures and backgrounds here, but everyone is so nice. I've been able to meet some really interesting people here.

Then we came back, ate dinner on the patio overlooking the city as the sunset. Like I said, just another average day in the Holy Land. :)

Grab a shovel

Yesterday we did our first big Jerusalem Center service project. We got together with a bunch of kids from the neighborhood and did a community clean-up. We spent 5 hours picking up garbage along the streets next to the center. It made such a big difference! I can't believe how much garbage and grossness there was along the streets. In my little section, there was me, and 3 other girls along with 2 or 3 six-year olds (Joseph, George, & Julia...but I'm not really sure if that's their real names or not...they kept telling us different things) trying to clear out an area that was seriously at least a foot and a half high and full of trash and debris, and re-building the stone walls that had been torn down. Five hours later, it looked amazing. You could actually see the difference between the sidewalk and the street. Afterward we had a picnic and a water fight out on the lawn with the kids that helped us. It was so great to be able to work with the kids and really make a difference. The kids were so cute and so eager to help us. And it is SO much nicer to walk down to the Old City now!

Happy New Year...Jewish Style!

This week we celebrated Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. We went into West Jerusalem and attendend a Jewish Synagouge. It was such a neat experiance. The whole meeting was in Hebrew, so I didn't have a clue about what was going on, but it was still so neat to see. There was a lot of singing, chanting, and bowing. They even blew a ram's horn at the end. That has a very...umm... interesting sound. We were only there for a little over an hour, but the Jews stay there all day in the synagouge. It's very impressive that they have such a high level of devotion to God. When we were walking there and back it was so strange because the streets, that are ususally so crowded you can't even walk down them were completely deserted. Every store was closed. The city completely shut down. I'm glad I got to experiance their New Year. It was way interesting. But I think I'll stick with our New Year's celebration of a big party while watching the ball drop. :)

When Tami went to Egypt land…

I am officially in love…with Egypt!! This was seriously one of the most amazing trips that I have ever taken. It’s so amazing to me that I was looking at structures, and even a few pharaohs, that were more than 4000 years old! I don’t know how they pulled this off, but we seriously used every mode of transportation possible while on the trip, including camels, an overnight train, and a sailboat on the Nile. This was also the biggest whirlwind trip I’ve ever had, and that’s saying something considering that my family’s idea of a vacation is to pack as much as we can into a day as possible and when you get home you feel like you need a vacation from your vacation. But this one tops them all, with the possible exception of the trip me and Kevin took to downtown Chicago last summer where we did everything in one day…hmm….nope, this one beats that day too.

*Disclaimer: This is a very long post. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I’m going to be adding to it as I get more time to get everything written down, so keep checking back.
*I’ve already taken more than 1000 pictures since I left the States. It’s so much fun having a nice camera to play around with and document this adventure. I took a TON from Egypt(about 450)but the internet here is really slow and it’s really hard to upload pictures. I’ll add the pictures when I get home, so don’t worry they are coming. :)

Day 1 – Sunday (not the Sabbath)
Breakfast was bright and early at 5:30 so that we could pull out at 6. I think I might be getting used to this early morning thing. I don’t love it, but I’m not dying like I thought I might be. So anyway we loaded all of our stuff onto the bus and headed out. We ended up taking the long way down so that we could stop at some sights on the way there. The first couple places were archeological sights that they have dug up and dated back to biblical times. We even had to wear hard hats while we were there. The first place was Tel Beersheba where Abraham used to live. It even had the well that he built outside the city walls still completely intact.

Our next stop was the wilderness of Zin. It’s an overlook where you can see the where the Children of Israel camped while they were traveling in the wilderness for 40 years. I totally understand now why they would have been complaining so much. It was insanely hot all the time, and there is absolutely nothing around. Not even any sagebrush. I think it would be hard not to complain.

That afternoon we went to another archeological sight from way back in the day called Tel Avdat. This one even had a whole bunch of arches that were still standing. It was so cool! And that night we spent the night in a Jewish Kibbutz. They are these Jewish communities where the people work together and share everything. It was really neat to see a completely different way of life like that. And the people were so nice and friendly. Staying there was so much fun because we spent the whole night outside playing games. I don’t think the other people staying there really appreciated it to much though. We tried to be quiet, I promise!

Day 2 – Monday September 22
The next day, after way too many hours of driving on a bus, we actually crossed into Egypt. Yay!!! I got my first glimpse of the Red Sea, the Nile River, and the great pyramids of Giza. They were HUGE!!! When the bus turned the corner and we were first able to see the Pyramids, the whole bus gave this huge gasp of surpise. Even though we’ve all seen pictures of the pyramids, nothing can really prepare you for seeing them first hand. They tower over everything. It’s such an impressive sight. After we checked into our hotel, we went to a sound and light show at the pyramids that told that story of how they were made and such. The pyramids looked so cool with the different colored spotlights shining on them. I haven’t figured out how to take good pictures at night though, so I don’t have very many of them at night, but the ones that I have are pretty cool.

Day 3 – Tuesday September 23
This day I think was my favorite day. We saw and did the best things. First off we went to the Great Pryamids, and got to climb up them, or at least up on the first level of stones. Like I said - these things are massive! Some of them still had some of the origianl lime stone covering on them! OS Cool!! We were even able to go inside the 2nd pryamid. It was this small little tunnel that went right into the center and opened up into the burrieal room of the pharoah. It was so hot and humid inside the pryamid with all the other people in there. It's amazing how refreshing 90 degree weather can be after you have been inside a pryamid. :)

The Sphinx is right next to the pryamids so we went there next, and yes, I got a really good picture of me kissing it.

The papyrus factory was our next stop. They showed us how they used to make papyrus, and they still make it the same way today. They just peel off strips of the plant and pound them together with a mallet, soak them in water, and let dry and wha-la, Papyrus. It was so interesting to see them actually make it in front of you. I ended up buying a really pretty papyrus picture of King Tut and his wife. It's gorgeous!

Then we went to Memphis, the original capital of the Old & New Kingdoms of Egypt. Let me just say, that these guys really knew how to build things. There were tons of scuptures in this place. Including a massive sculpure of Ramses II. (He was a little cocky I think.) It was so big that it couldn't support it's own weight and they couldn't even lift it up!

We went to lunch at an authentic Egyptian resturant. It was....interesting. We couldn't eat any of the fruit, and there was lots of humas, I tried it, but not my favorite. After lunch, we went to Saqqra and saw the step pryamid. This was the 1st pryamid ever built!! The Egyptians were so impressed by it that the guy who built it for the pharoah was later made into a god of architecure (and medicine).

That night we jumped on an airplane and flew down to Luxor, the site of Thebes, the capital of the Middle Kingdom. We stayed at the nicest 5 star hotel overlooking the Nile River! It was beautiful. The hotel was so good to us. They even left the swimming pool open late for us and let us swim until 11. I'm supprised they let us in the next night too. Imagine 80 twenty year olds in a pool that late at night. It was so fun!

Day 4 - Wednesday Septemeber 24

We woke up early and after a wonderful breakfast (5 star hotel remember), we went to the Valley of the Kings. This is one of the coolest places in all of Egypt. It's on the west side of the Nile and it's where all the Kings were burried after they stopped building pryamids. (The pryamids were getting robbed to easily). So instead they burried them in a huge valley under a mountain that was shaped like a pryamid. We took a tram into the valley and we were able to go inside 4 of the thousands of tombs that were there, including the tomb of King Tut. King Tut's mummy is actually still inside the tomb. The heiroglyphics inside these tombs were incredible. They are so detailed and the color on them is still so bright and vivid. This might sound creepy, but this was probably my favorite place in Egypt!

Just outside of the Valley was the place where the papyrus of Abraham was found that is now in the Pearl of Great Price. How amazing is that!

After the Valley of the Kings we went to the temple of Ramses III. This was the most impressive temple that we went to. It seriously goes on forever, with rooms and rooms of pillars and statues, and every inch of the wall is carved with very detailed heiroglyphics. They had everything on these wall, they showed all the great battles of Ramses III and even showed images of their daily life. These people had some serious talent. I was very impressed.

That afternoon, we had a falukah ride (a sailboat ride on the Nile) where we crossed the river and went on a camel ride!!! This was so fun because we not only got to ride through the fields but they also took us through the streets and we got to see the people. I love the Egyptian people. They are so nice! They have so little and yet they are so happy and so willing to help. As we were riding through the streets the kids and even the adults would smile and wave at us as we passed by. My guide was a little flirty with me. He kept singing Bob Marley songs to me, picking me flowers, and he letting me hold the reigns of the camel. When it was over, we took a boat ride back across the Nile while the sun set. It was perfect.

That night we went shopping for the first time in the Bazar. This was the craziest experiance ever. The shop keepers are so much more aggressive than in Jerusalem. But so much more personal and talkative. Everytime we went out shopping, my self-esteem went way up. Everywhere I went, I was told that I was so beautiful and I had such beautiful eyes. I think I got proposed to about at least 4 times a night. A couple guys even offered a million camels for me. :) I was talking to one guy and he seriously interuppted me 6 times during the conversation to tell me that he loved looking at my eyes. :)

Day 5 - Thursday September 25

We woke up for another boat ride to go to the Karnuak & Luxor Temple. These were so amazing - everything was amazing there, lets be honest. I am so amazed at what these people were able to accomplish so long ago. They had a statue of a scarb that was supposed to bring you good luck if you walk around it so many times - lets hope it worked!

That night we rode on an overnight train, back to Cairo. This was so sweet. I kept thinking of Harry Potter, or Anastatia or something like that. The train was actually really creepy looking on the outside. It was very ghetto, but totally worth it for the experiance. There was a whole bunch of us that stayed up playing games and passed people through the narrow opening of the hallway. That sounds weird but it was actually really fun.

Day 6 - Friday September 26

After a very bumpy night on the train, we got back to Cairo and went back to the hotel for breakfast. Friday is the Muslim sabboth and since everyone in Egypt is Muslim, we had our sacrament meeting in the morning at the hotel. That was a very neat experiance. Everyone was in their travel clothes, and we didn't have a chance to clean up at all, but we still gathered in one of the rooms and held sacrament meeting. It was amazing to me how strong the spirit was. Even though it was a very unconventional sitiuation, it was still the same peace that I feel in other church meetings. I love how true the church is!

That morning we went to the Egyptian Museum. They had so sweet stuff in there! I have to admit though, that I didn't really love the first part of being there. We followed around our tour guide though masses of people that were smashed in really close together. But the last half we got to wander around on our own for a while, and I really enjoyed that. The treasure from King Tut's tomb was in there - holy cow - he had a ton!! My favorite part of the museum was a mummy room that had about 11 mummys lying in there. I was actually looking at mummys that were 1000's of years old!!!

For lunch we went to the Hard Rock Cafe!!! This was so fun. We actually had real American hamburgers. It made me miss Big J's food. :) It even randomly broke into a dance party when they played YMCA. The waiters even got into it. They loved us.

That afternoon we went shopping in the Bazaar again - and I got proposed to a few more times. Oh, I miss that already. :)

Day 7 - Saturday September 27

We ended our time in Cairo with a trip to 2 Islamic Mosques. They was so pretty. Probably the prettiest buildings that I saw in Egypt. One of the mosques had a minaret that we climbed to get an areal view of the city - 220 stairs to the top!

Ok - I need a break... I'll write more later...stay tuned!

Egypt or bust!

Tomorrow morning I leave for Egypt!!! I'm so excited!!! I don't think I'll be able to get online very much while I'm there, but when I get back I'll put up a huge post about everything we did. I've decided that keeping a blog is really good for my journal habbits. I think this is the best documented trip I've ever been on. Thanks for getting me started Amy! Here's a little hint at what I'll be doing though. Hiking Mt. Siani, Riding a Camel, Touring the pyramids including King Tut's, a boat ride on the Nile, and lot of other really cool things. Whahoo! I can't wait!

Today I finally made it over to the Garden of Gethsemene. It is amazing there. It's a close 2nd to the Garden Tomb. There is the main area for all the tourists, and then there is another section where they only allow catholic priests and students of the "Mormon University" to enter. So today for Shabbot, about 6 of us went there and had the whole area to ourselves to read the scriptures, and write in our journals and such. I'm supprised at how close it is to the city wall and the Temple Mount/Dome of the Rock. It really makes the scriptures come alive when you are right where the events took place. Especially the Atonement. I think my overwhelming feeling was one of gratitude. I'm so grateful that Jesus Christ was willing to go through what He did and suffer all that He did for me. It's more than I could ever pay back, and yet all He asks of us is to follow Him and keep His commandments. Yes, I was very very grateful today.

Well, I only have about an hour to get packed up and then we are watching "The 10 Commandments" tonight to get ready for Egypt and we leave at 6:30 tomorrow morning!!

Scrolls, Zoos, and the Beach

That pretty much sums up my week so far. A few days ago we were able to go to a muesum in West Jerusalem and see the original Dead Sea Scrolls. They were so sweet! It's even cooler because at the end of the week they are going to lock them away in a vault and not have them available to anyone, even researchers/translators because they are deteriorating so fast. So we were one of the last people EVER to see them!! We had a forum about them the night before we left and I learned a ton about them. One of our professors here actually worked on translating some of the pieces. So he knew everything about them. The Isaiah scroll was the most impressive. It's about 8 feet long and was written about 150 BC - that's almost 1000 years older than the oldest copy of the Bible we have!

The afternoon of that same day a bunch of us went to the zoo! It was so much fun and I took a ton of pictures (most involved us acting like the animals behind us). They even had a replica of Noah's Ark - becuase everything here relates back to the Bible. :)

Yesterday we all went into Tel Aviv and spent the whole day at the beach. It was amazing! I have now swam in the Pacific, Atlantic, and the Mediterrainian! The beach was by far my favorite one that I've been to. The sand was so soft and fine (but REALLY hot) and the water was actually warm! We stayed at the beach all day and ate the best ice cream ever! I think the life guard might have been yelling at us a few times to not go so far out, but none of us could understand him so we did it anyway. (There were some really cool rocks out there that we HAD to go see) The only bad part is that I didn't bring my camera because I was worried about all the sand and water getting into it. So I didn't take any pics but hopefully I'll be able to get some from others that had theirs. Oh, and I got really sunburned. My back hurts so bad today. But those are just minor details. :)

Go Cougars!

Today I woke up to the best news ever. BYU destroyed UCLA 59-0!! Oh how I love BYU Football. I'm so sad that I'm missing the games this year. Luckily I was able to go to the first game this year before I left. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will continue to win so that I can watch them play a bowl game when I get back. Go Cougars!!

Walking where Jesus walked

This week I walked where Jesus walked. (That is so fun to say!!) Earlier this week there was a group of us that decided to walk the Via Dolorosa ("the way of pain/the way of the cross"). It's the path that the Catholics believe that Christ walked through Jerusalem while He was carrying the cross. When Catholics do it they have wooden crosses they can rent and carry through the streets too (we didn't do that). It was really neat. There were about 13 stops through out the city where Christ did certain things, and everyone of those has a church built over the top of it by different churches. It started at the gate where He enterered, and walked pass the place where the Virgin Mary was born, and even included places where he stubbled, and where the servant was asked to carry His cross. My favorite place was the spot where Jesus was tried, whipped, and had the crown of thrones placed on his head. There is a really pretty courtyard in front and it was very peaceful, despite its non-peaceful history. It ended at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This is where they believed He was actually lifted up as well as the place where He was burried. It was by far the most ornately decorated church on the route. It was very beautiful.

But my FAVORITE spot was...not even on the Via Dolorosa. It was at the Garden Tomb. Today is Shabbot, so after Chruch (and another amazingly spiritual sacrament meeting) a few of us walked to Garden Tomb. This is by far my favorite place that I've been to so far. The Garden is owned by a Christian Organization that for some reason decided to be the only ones to NOT build a church over this site. And it is spectaular. The spirit is SO strong there. I can't even describe it. We were able to actually walk inside the tomb and as I walked through the door, tears started streaming down my face. They have benches scattered throughout the garden and I sat and read the 4 accounts of the Ressurection in the Bible. I sat there and looked around in wonder at the place where I was. There was about 15 people that came there from the Center and after we had been there for a while we started singing some Hymns. We sang about 5 or 6 and ended with "How Great Thou Art". There were quite a few other people at the site as well and many of them sang along with us at the chorus. It was amazing that there were so many people there from so many different backgrounds and religions, but we were all connected and united while we sang this great hymn. It was very powerful.

So all in all it was a great week (despite the fact that one of our field trips got cancelled because of security and were in lock down mode agian for a day)and a wonderful Shabbot. So until next time, Shabbot Shalom (Have a peaceful Sabbath)

Shopping!

Yesterday was another first. I went into the old city, (that's not a first though, I've done that every afternoon since I got here), and I bought my first souvenirs. A skirt and some Christmas tree ordaments! The skirt is so pretty. It's designed so that it can either be worn as a tube top dress or lower for a long skirt. It's so pretty! The Christmas ordaments are hand carved olive wood with different scenes of Christ's birth. And the best news - I only spent 60 Shekels on everything (that's about $17)! I'm pretty impressed with my bartering skills. I was looking at a nativity set and I talked the guy down from 900 shekels to 450! I didn't end up getting it though, I told the guy at first that I wasn't ready to buy anything yet. The people here are a little pushy though when it comes to shopping. I guess this will teach me to say no to people a little easier. I hope! Otherwise I might come back with a TON of souvenirs.

Celebrating

Happy Birthday to me! I'm now officially 22 and I got to celebrate by being in the Holy Land. How amazing is that? It was such a fun day. Everyone sang Happy Birthday to me at breakfast in the cafeteria (and many times throughout the day.) I feel like everybody knows my name now, I just have to work on remembering thiers! Unfortunately we couldn't go into the city because it was the 1st Friday of Ramadan. That's a big deal because not only is it the Holy Month for Muslims it's also their Sabboth day, so there was tons of extra people in the city and they didn't want us out there for it. Although it would have been really cool to see and take pics. We had class in the morning and hung out in the center all afternoon. The Relief Society Presidency gave me a beaded bracelet from Bethlahem. It is so pretty! I also got to call home for the first time. A call home, and a bracelet - two really good presents on top of being here. What a good birthday!

Today was our first day of church in Jerusalem. They celebrate Shabbat, the Sabbath, on Saturday along with the Jews here. It was so amazing. We hold Sacrament meeting in the big Autitorium at the top floor of the building that has huge windows that overlook the city, and even more impressive, the Garden of Gethsemane. It makes the Sacrament so much more meaningful when you can see the place where the Atonement took place while your taking the bread and water. It was even better because it is Fast Shabbot today so every one was bearing their testimony of the Savior and the Atonement. The Spirit was so strong during the meeting. It made me feel so grateful that I'm a member of the church. As much as I felt the Spirit today, it was the same Spirit that I have felt all my life. Another testiment to me that this church is true. And it's true no matter where you are in the world. Jesus Christ is my Savior and he suffered for me. I know that's true, whether I can see the place where it happened or not. But I LOVE being able to see it.

I Made It!!

Aaahhhh!!! I can't even believe it, but I'm here in Jerusalem right now!! It is amazing. The Jerusalem Center is so beautiful and the view is incredible. It took us 27 hours of travel to get here, with layovers in Denver, Chicago, Vienna, and finally Tel Aviv before we made it here. I was completely exhasted but so excited. I can't believe I'm in the Holy Land!

They kept us really busy last night with dinner, a welcome meeting, and a tour around the center. I finally got to bed around 11 after unpacking and then we had to be up by 6:30 for breakfast. Apperently, they sound an alarm all across the city at about 4 in the morning to call all the Muslims for prayer. I didn't hear a thing. Hopefully it will stay like that for a while until I can catch up on my sleep. One really cool thing is that they are celebrating the holy month of Ramadan (I don't think that's how you spell it). It lasts for 30 days and celebrates when Mohammad was taken up into Heaven. It's pretty much the Muslim version of Christmas. They even have Christmas lights hung up all across the streets. It started 3 days ago and last night there were fireworks and partys going on all night. It was really fun, but kind of scary at first because we didn't know what was happening, and fireworks sound a lot like gun shots.

This morning we took a tour of the city. It is so interesting here. The center is right next to the Mount of Olives. So we walked down the Kidron valley and into the old city though Damascus Gate. The old city is amazing. It kind of reminds me of Aladin with all the street markets all up and down the streets. People have all their merchandise out in the open with a tarp covering them up and try to sell you scarfs and stuff when you walk by. It was a quick tour just to get us oriented, but they pointed out all the spots where they think Jesus was. It turns out the Garden Tomb is only about a five minute walk from the center. Me and my roommate are going to try to go there on Saturday (the Sabboth day here). I can't wait until I can go back in and explore around a little bit more. There is so much to see!

Which Princess??

I Am Ariel! (I always knew I was a Princess.)

Headstrong and fiesty. You have a mind of your own that's full of romantic dreams about the world around you. Exploring exotic places is your ultimate dream, and although you can be a little naive you'll realize that there is something to be gained from your family's wisdom.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Yay!! I love Ariel!! The Little Mermaid is my very favorite Disney movie. When I was younger I decided that my husband's name would HAVE to be Eric because Ariel married Prince Eric and I wanted to too. Even now, whenever I meet or hear of someone named Eric it always gets my attention.

PS - Kevin took this quiz right after I did and he got Ariel too. :)

The Olympics

I'm so addicted to the summer Olympics this year. I have been staying up watching it every night the whole time. And all I can say is Michael Phelps is amazing!!! I can't believe how fast he is. It's so much fun to watch him. His race on Friday that he won by one one hundredth of a second - WOW!!! And I'm really into women's gymnastics too. I don't even understand how those girls can move like that. (Pretty much the only gymnastics I can do is a cartwheel.)
It's funny that I'm watching it so much this year. I've never really watched the summer Olympics that much before this year. Don't get me wrong, I still watched it for the highlights and such but I didn't follow it nearly as much as I did the winter Olympics. I still like the winter sports better, but I think it's safe to say that the summer games are growing on me.

Congrats Matt and Nicole Cragun!

One of my very best friends, Nicole just got married last weekend! She is seriously one of the most beautiful brides I have ever seen, and she married one of the greatest guys ever. They are so perfect for each other!

Me and Nicole have been roommates for the past 2 years. She is one of the very best people I know. She is such a good example and I learned a ton from her about how to live and how to balance school, friends, randomness, scripture study, and sleep. (She even got me in the habit of flossing my teeth every night!)
Me and Annie & Cody drove down to Cedar City on Saturday for her reception. Annie was roommates with us too and we had SO much fun together. I don't think I've ever laughed harder than when I was with them...one particular night comes to mind...but I don't think I can talk about it here. :)

It was a hard fight when Nicole threw her bouquet. But thankfully, I was wearing Amy's shoes (mine got left in Preston) and they were two sizes too big. So not only did they give me extra height, they also made me a little off balance, which comes in handy when your fighting for flying flowers.

Look at those petal flying!

I Won!!!!

When Annie got married in January and threw the bouquet it broke, and Nicole and Tamara both caught some of it...and now they are both married....

Congratulations Nicole!!! I love you!!!!

Rodeo Weekend

Yep it's that time again. The time when my little town of Preston comes to life. Rodeo Weekend! All growing up it was seriously my favorite time of the summer...and I have to admit, it still is. It's 3 days of That Famous Preston Night Rodeo, carnival, parades, sidewalk sales, and rodeo burgers. Preston about triples in size because everyone comes home that weekend.

I went home right after work on Thursday, picked up my neice Rachel and headed north. Four hours of rush hour traffic and construction later we made it just in time for the start of the rodeo. Rachel helped out in the Lions Club stand with my Dad and they hooked me up with a couple the of the best burgers ever. (I think the rodeo burgers are my favorite part of the whole thing!) I watched the rodeo that night with Lance, Brad, Nick, and Kassidee (friends from high school) and then me and Nick got Rachel and went to the carnival afterward. It was so fun to see Nick again. He just got home from his mission and his family moved to Texas while he was gone so I didn't think I would see him until after I got back in January. But like I said, EVERYONE comes to Preston for rodeo.

Friday I went out on the resevoir on Lance's boat with his parents and Brad, Nathaniel, and Rachel (lucky Rachel got to hang out with a bunch of college guys all weekend). It was so nice. I am for sure getting a boat sometime. We went waterskiing and it was so much fun. I was actually able to stand up this time. My first time ever! I had tried a 4 or 5 times when I'd gone before with friends, and although I can get up just fine wakeboarding I have never been able to do it skiing...until now! Yay! Thanks so much Lance!!

That night after getting decked out in my cowgirl shirt I went to the parade and then me and Lance went to the rodeo again. This time over the shoots! I've decided that's really the only way to watch the rodeo, when you're close enough to hear the cowboys swearing. :) Thanks so much again Lance!!

I Love to See The Temple!

I was looking through a bunch of the picutures on my camera and computer the other day and I realized that I have a lot of pictures of the temple. I love to see the temple and I can't wait to go through someday! One of my favorite places to go in Provo during school and stressful times is on the hill overlooking the temple. It's so pretty and peaceful there. It's so amazing that even simply seeing the temple and walking around the grounds can give me so much peace and comfort.

Here are a few of my favorite pics that I've taken.


SLC Temple at Christmas time.


Manti Temple


Mt. Timp Temple - It looks like the temple is glowing. I LOVE these pictures!


LA Temple

Road Trip

Last weekend me and Amy took a spur of the moment road trip and traveled across the country. Well, with three kids in the car we made it as far as Denver. Pretty good if you ask me. Steven just moved there a few weeks ago and we wanted to go visit him. They were here during the 4th of July and wanted to take Blake back with them to play with Miles. This worked out great because it gave us an excuse to go out and see them. We made the decision to go on Tuesday and on Friday we loaded up the car with snacks, goodies, pop, movies for the kids and a tabloid magazine (so we could read all about Jennifer Aniston when we got bored) for us and we were off!



It was such a fun trip! We took I-80 to get out there and drove through the mountains. It was so pretty. We had to take a few more rest stops along the way then I thought we would which made the car time longer but even that wasn't too bad. The kids were pretty good about being in the car that long. (I just won't mention the fact that on the way home Ali decided to get sick and threw up and Blake had diarrhea and had to stop every 20 minutes.)
Me & Alli at one of the rest stops.

We got there on Friday night, went into the city and toured around on Saturday and drove home Sunday. On our down time we rocked out to Guitar Hero. Steven is SO good at it and he totally got me hooked. I was pretty proud of myself that by the time we left I ended up getting 5 stars on a medium song!



Denver is such a fun place. Me, Amy, and Katie left the two girls with Steven and went into the city with the three boys to do some shopping. We went and saw the Denver Temple, ate lunch at a cute little sandwich shop, and then hit the stores. My big purchase....New flip flops! (I'm such a big spender) I put them on right then and walked over to the nearest garbage can and threw away the old ones I was wearing. That felt so good!

Aren't they cute?


I had such a fun trip! Thanks so much Steven and Katie for letting us come and thanks so much Amy for taking me with you!

Fun Day with Fun People

Another reason I love summer time - On the weekends I get to play ALL day! Yesterday was one of those days. I spent the whole day doing fun, random activities and came home so tired and sore. It was wonderful! :)

First off, I got to sleep in...well sort of, sleeping in for real would be more like 10:00 than 8:00, but I'll take what I can get. I woke up and drove over to my brother Todd's house to go running. We have a strange tradition with running. We'll go for a really long hard run and then go eat donuts and chocolate milk right after. We get some weird looks from people at the store who see us wearing sweaty exercise clothes and chowing down on junk food. But, honestly, we really get together to eat donuts...the running is just an extra perk.

We went back to Todd's house and his kids helped me wash my car...and then I helped them wash Todd's car. We took the radio outside and and blasted country music while we were cleaning. The country music somehow turned into the Pirates of the Caribbean Soundtrack and me and the kids ended up dancing around on the front lawn. I'm pretty sure his neighbors thought we were crazy.

I raced home from Todd's house in my now very shiny clean red car and got back just in time to shower, talk to my brother Kevin, and leave again, this time for a hike. Me and my friend Greg drove up American Fork Canyon and hiked the Silver Lake Reservoir Trail. It was SO pretty!

This is me at the beginning. Little did I know, we would still be hiking four hours later!


This is Greg, about to fall off the cliff and into a raging river!


So Pretty!



The hour long hike that we thought it was going to be actually turned into about a four hour hike, right in the middle of the afternoon. My skin definately got some sun! Neither one of us had hiked this trail before though, so we really didn't know where we were hiking to. The path just kept climbing higher and higher. We considered turning around multiple times but we are both so stubborn that we just kept going. But it was definately worth it when we finally got to the end. We climbed over the last set of rocks and the scene opened up into a beautiful glacier lake. We had our swimming suits with us so we threw off our clothes and jumped into the lake. It was FREEZING! The water was so cold that it burned. But yes, we jumped in three times, because we are that cool. :)

You can see the snow falling right into the lake. Burrr!

When I got home that night, I was so tired and sore. I grabbed my nephew Blake and we went and soaked in the hottub until it got dark. Well, I soaked, He swam around and tried to splash me with cold water from the big pool.

It's days like this that I want to remember most. Nothing spectacular happened, but I was able to fill my day with friends and family...and that's what matters most in life.

Addicted

I absolutely LOVE summer time. I love that its warm...but hopefully not too warm...I love being able to go swimming and running and being outside. I also love the break from school and stressing about tessts and studying and such. That may make the next thing I love sound a little strange, but I LOVE summer because I actually have time to read. Wait, let me clarify that, time to read FUN books, not so much text books.

But I think I might like reading a little too much. Once I start into a book, I'm hooked, and I can't stop. I block out everything around me and I get completely absorbed in the story. It's a little out of control really. For the last few days I've been locked into Stephenie Meyers new book "The Host". I haven't been able to put it down. Last night, I stayed up reading it until 2:00 in the morning. I talked to my Mom the other day and she was asking what I've been doing. All I had to say was, "Well, I just started reading a new book.." She stopped me and said, "Never mind, I know EXACTLY what you've been doing." :)



The sad thing is, I don't know if I really even like the book that much! It's very sci-fi with aliens taking over people's bodies and then taking over the world. Definately not the kind of book I'm into. But I can't stop reading it. I'm completely addicted! I have to give her credit though, Stephenie Meyer is a really good writer. While I'm reading I don't think the story is strange at all. The way she writes it makes it seem like it's perfectly logical for aliens to come down and take over (kind of like it makes sense to have a crush on a vampire named Edward). It's only when I've taken a break and come up for air that it seems so dumb and I wonder why I keep reading. But then I always pick it back up again. I have to find out what happens! Speaking of which, I'm probably going to go read agian. I've almost finished it now though, and then maybe I can catch up on some sleep...then again, there is this other book I want to read...

Starting Out

This is a momentous day - my first blog post! I've been wanting to start this for a while. I'm already addicted to all my sisters blogs and I check them ALL the time and everytime I do, I think, "How fun. I want to do this too." So I finally did it! Special thanks to Amy for helping me set it up.

Life is an adventure in and of itself. I love it! My life has been full of adventures so far. But as I start this blog I'm definately one little girl about to set out on a BIG adventure. In a little while I'll be heading out to Jerusalem to live for four months at the BYU Jerusalem Center! Hopefully this blog will help me to write down and remember my biggest adventure so far, and help me keep in touch with the people I love.