Lips.

I just received a mighty awkward text.

Well, not really. But it caused quite a bit of misunderstanding slash it couldn've caused some awkwardness, had I texted a response that I first thought of.

Little Josh is in Jerusalem and we text (him using Google Talk on his iTouch and me using my actual phone) and he just tried to send some emoticons to me but apparently they can only be seen on Apple products. SO I just kept getting jumbled punctuation.

He was trying to send me lips. But I just got 4 upside-down question marks.

And I was going to respond and say something about how I wanted [to see] his lips (that he was trying to text me) but that just would've been mighty awkward. So I didn't say that. But I was pretty close.

Unfortunately, we figured out that only iPhones/iTouches can see the secret messages he was trying to send. Too bad we don't support Apple in this house.

But yep. This long distance marriage is... marvelous. We are only both awake for like 8 hours/day. And in that time, we can talk for like an hour. haha so great.

Love You Like a Love Song.

Valentine's Day.

For a while, I didn't like this holiday. I just thought it was too... commercial. Which is still is. But recently, I've started to love that it's just a day all about love. What could be better than that?

Everyone loves LOVE. And having a day to celebrate that is great! :)

Sending people "I love you" texts, letting the world know you love those around you and being able to be super cute and cheesy? Yes please.

When I was younger (like middle school), my dad would get all of us girls See's candy. Excellent. And that was cute because it came from him and it was a pleasant little surprise.

Well, today I got to hang out with my mom all day (and dad and brother because they were both home sick) and then we got to have a supes presh dinner. Heart shaped pizza from Pizza My Heart and then I made a heart shaped chocolate cake. So presh.

I also had to post this great valentine on Shmackely (and then Josh)'s timeline because Jack and I have a pretend obsession with Jimmer and Josh actually loves him.

Speaking of Josh. He went and got himself a girlfriend today. What a good husband. haha happy valentine's day to me? But really, I'm fine with it. She's 16, super cute and let's be honest, this won't really last THAT long (I mean, he moves back to Provo in August...). But yes, it's super cute and I'm excited for him because I know that they've both liked each other for quite a while now. During our nightly chats in Jerusalem, he would ask me for advice/fill me in on the situation so I'm happy for him, especially because he's so happy. :) All I can say though is that those Ludlow boys really know how to do Valentine's day. haha

But yes, today was a great Valentine's Day. Even if my valentine for the second year in a row was my sister. Makes the day even better. :) You surely don't need a boy to have a marvelous day of love.

A Day of Jru.

When Nicole and I were in Vienna, we saw things everywhere that reminded us of Jerusalem. Like the falafel they had every 15 yards we walked, or the Nativity sets that were from Bethlehem at all the Christmas Markets, or all the crepes and waffle places, of the times when we were convinced people were speaking Hebrew (but most likely German) or even freakier, when we were sure they refered to us as Mormons.

Well, I thought that the days of everything somehow connecting with Jerusalem would eventually stop but boy was I wrong. And today was a big Jerusalem/Israel connection day.

Here's the deal. I babysit nanny for a couple that work with my dad. I know that the husband is Jewish. And his mom is living with them right now because she just had hip replacement surgery. So I knew there was Jew blood in the house.

Well, today, **Grandma's friend came over and they talked about Bat Mitzvahs and about their Rabbi and other cutely Jewish things (like friend's grandson going to Israel on the 25th. Oh, and his name is Daniel and I was SURE when they started talking about it, that they said Danielle. I was so jeal.)

First time I was reminded of Israel.

I then noticed that I had a text, from my dad telling me "I just had falafel for lunch."

Number two for Jerusalem.

A little while later, I was talking to grandma's friend while grandma was having physical therapy and she asked me what movies I had seen recently that I liked. I explained to her that I hadn't seen any movies recently and that I had been studying abroad for the past semester so I was a little out of the American-culture loop. (My sneaky segway to start talking about Israel/Jerusalem to someone who would appreciate it).

She asked where and I quickly told her Israel.

She kept asking more specific questions to get me to tell her Jerusalem, Brigham Young University on Mt. Scopus, etc. She was excited. We then talked about it for quite a while. I want to say it was like 20 minutes but it was probably at most like 10. We talked about what we both liked about the area, the coolest things we saw, what our specific group did, etc. It was lovely.

Jerusalem/Israel: 3

They then went out to lunch and while they were gone, I flipped through a couple of magazines (because little nino was napping) and in the Mental_floss magazine I was looking through, they had a whole little section about Turkey. And I knew most of the stuff that they were trying to inform me about. And the stuff I didn't know, I felt even cooler learning because I could imagine the places where it all took place.

Jerusalem (ish) number 4.

When the little grandmas got back home, they told me that they went to a little Mediterranean resturant right down the street "by the Chase bank" which doesn't help me because I have no idea where the Chase is... But they said that they had falafel and shwarma. I'm sure they only told me that because of the conversation we had previously had about Israel but it was funny.

Jru: 5.

Grandma's friend also told me I looked like I could be 16. Which I guess is supposed to be a compliment but I'm not sure I agree. Although, I guess it does show that I'm aging proportionally to how time is moving... because last year, around the same time, someone thought I was 15. But the good part of this is that my future husband is 17 sooooooo, if I look 16, that's working with our plan perfectly!

[insert picture here of Josh and I where we look like we're the same age.]

And that brought back Jerusalem again: Six. (Although this was a mental connection... I didn't tell grandma's friend about Joshie, surprisingly.)

I also talked on the phone with/texted Jerusalem people a significant amount today. As in, more than ever-ish.

Charlotte (who's mission papers are IN!)

Junior (who's less bored than me but still bored, in Provo)

Suzy (whose voice sounds just as lovely as the last time I heard it, more than a month ago.)

I'm supes excited to be reunited with them all in a couple of weeks. It'll be marvelous!

Cuddle sesh in Suzy's bed like the good ol' days? Yes please.

Fighting with Junior like normal? Of course.

Being connected at the hip with little Lottie? YES.

Ahhhh. I've never in my whole entire life been excited to go to Provo.

But yes, it's been a much better day than yesterday, which will go on record as one of my worst days babysitting, ever.

**Whenever Grandma is mentioned, it isn't my grandma, it is the grandma of the kid I watch.

So. many. pictures.

The fambam wants to see pictures from Jerusalem.

Which is understandable.

But we have more than 7500 pictures from the 117 days we spent not in California.

And looking through the pictures and finding ones that they would care about is becoming quite the task.

Seriously, there are SO many pictures. Plus, it doesn't help that there are so many duplicates from Nicole and I taking pictures of the same thing, but with different cameras and at different times.

But it has been really fun to look through all our pictures that seem like they were taken so long ago. There are so many pictures though. Ahhh. It's overwhelming.

And I haven't even tried to upload them to facebook. Oh gosh, this is going to be dangerous. haha

But it's funny because Charlotte and I have SO many pictures together. And we are so attractive in all of them. haha so I've decided to dedicate this post to Charlotte and our marvelous pictures. :)

Miss you Lottie Dottie! :((

As a little bit of a sidenote (and sorry for stealing all your glory Lottie),

I also found this great picture:

I miss this kid, especially after our skype date yesterday. :(

Long distance marriages are really tough, let me tell you.

Oh Jerusalem. :(

A list for you. (First Edition).

Things my brain hasn't fully put together, about being home from Jerusalem: First Edition, Clearly.

1. When I see Israel in the news, it takes me a while to realize that I don't live there anymore and thus it isn't as big of a deal to me (still a big deal, but not as personal).

2. I keep forgetting that in just a couple short hours (well, 33), I will be flying back home to California... not Israel.

3. Being out at night, with just two people, and no boy, is not a problem.

4. Late night chats with my **hubby are NO MORE. Infact, I might not ever see that kid again, at the looks of things which is even sadder since we didn't have a proper goodbye (or any goodbye at all...) :( Which also reminds me that there is a potential I won't see half of these friends again. Not okay.

5. The next time I'll have to live out of a suitcase, besides now, is April. No more random week-long field trips.

6. It isn't as fun to take pictures with our digital SLR because taking random, creepy pics in a giant city are just that... creepy. No more Brother Ludlow paparazzi or funny random shots of the Jru happenings.

7. No more pita lunches. (JOKES, my brain has FULLY accepted this one.)

8. French toast made from pitas and my favorite cereal are no more. This one is actually distressing.

9. No more messy roommate, or favorite Canadian roommate. Or people walking in randomly to hang out.

10. Not needing to check the weather for Jerusalem... but doing it anyway because I care.

We'll keep it at that.

I miss you Jerusalem. This separation is harder than I had anticipated. :(

And ignore the super happy picture, I just thought the world like might like to see this jem: jumping over the Dome.

**Special HAPPY BIRTHDAY shoutout to the best husband in Jerusalem, Josh Ludlow! You're finally 17 years old! All the lying for the past two months is no longer a lie! :) I hope you have a marvelous day, even though I'm not there. Good thing you already got your birthday kisses (except not from me....). HAPPY BIRTHDAY STUDLOW... number three! :)

D.O.N.E.

Guess who's done with finals? And school until April?

This girl. :)

Oh gosh, it's been a rough week and there has been much mayhem but it's alllllll over now! :)

And my last test went pretty well, if I do say so myself. Hopefully I'll get it back soon and for it being worth 300 points, I'm actually pretty excited to get it back and see how it went... because I feel pretty good about it. Obviously there was stuff I didn't get right but overall, I was pretty prepared for it. Even though I didn't start studying until this morning. haha

Tomorrow is our last Sabbath here which will be a little sad. But it'll be super great, obviously.

And then we are on field trips or have free days the rest of the time here. How crazy.

I am getting super sad to leave! Especially since the Skinners left us tonight. Supes sad. :(

We did have our Christmas concert pt. 1 tonight which went.... well I would say. Hopefully we can polish it off a little bit before Sunday. haha

And on that note, time to go and... not be productive because I don't have to do that anymore! Woo. :)

(Also, I wrote this entire post in two, 3 minute breaks from having my nightly chat with my hubs. haha I'm so sneaky.)

Rumor Mill.

The Jerusalem Center is fun for so many reasons.

One of them being the constant rumors that fly.

All the couples, all the other various drama, etc. There isn't a day that goes by where we don't talk about a couple that has broken up/gotten back together/looks cute together/seems complicated/etc.

WELL. Today, someone started a rumor about me. And now, it's payback.

Here's what went down:

I was walking around the Oasis (our cafeteria), and Thomas comes up to me and says "I hear that you and Josh are hooking up." To which I respond "Oh, really? Who has told you that? haha" He tells me that it was infact Jared Ludlow. aka Junior. (Sidenote: I'm not really sure exactly what hooking up means in this context. As in, I don't know what Junior/Thomas meant when they said this).

Thomas then sits at our table and we start talking about it and Nicole mentions that while in Galilee, Junior told Nicole that he thinks I'm only after Josh for the physical aspect of the relationship. WHAT? haha

Apparently what he (or she) meant is that I'm only after him for his looks. When I heard that, I thought something else but something was obviously lost in translation. haha

So he thought it was his duty to spread this rumor around. That's fine, we can handle it. This is obviously forcing Josh and I to work as a team to get him back. And we've already come up with something... potentially wonderful.

Oh these next few days could get rather interesting. :)

Rumors are the best.

ALSO, despite popular belief, (including younger teenagers within the building), the whole Josh-and-Danielle thing is a joke. Some people might be taking it a bit too far... But it's fine, we can play along just fine. See, just a joke:

(And last post of November. Where has the time gone?!)

Catching Up.

Blogging right now is completely overwhelming because I am so far behind.

And usually I tell funny anecdotes about the crazy happenings in the Jerusalem Center.

But at this point, I don't even know where to start. I want to upload lots of fun pictures but I don't even know where to begin.

Argh. This is so frustrating. hahaha I'm so sorry.

So here are a couple of quality shots to give you a little taste of the good times in Galilee.

With Lottie and Robin in front of the Sea of Galilee. :)

Reenactment of this picture (the one at the very bottom of the post) but this time in Megiddo.

p.s. look how spouse-y we are: Josh is wearing my jacket (and he wears it better than I do...). What's mine is his. :)

With our chameleon friend, Pascal. :) SO cute.

Ben, the kid in the orange shirt behind me, found him and Pascal became our new friend. He even changed colors a lot. So cool.

First roommate picture ever! Nicole, Danielle, Jessica, Catie. Taken in Akko/Acre. And we coordinated pretty well I would say. :)

Hello Mediterranean Sea! With Lizzy and Devin. :)

Okay, that is all. For now. More to come later.

Peace & Blessings.

Oh yeah, and I love Christmas.

<3

Question. Or 10.

I've reached the point where I don't want to do homework anymore.

And I think I know why:

My brain is used to a 13 week semester. And they are trying to make me work for a 16 week semester. I should be basically at the end and yet, we have 5 weeks left (really we have 4 but that seems too close to the end so I'm saying 5). Aka I am doneee with school. But we're really not. Infact, we JUST started New Testament. Ohhhhh Boy. I can do it, I can do it.

Instead of studying today though, I've blogged way too much, watched way too many videos on Youtube (see, the world doesn't want me to study because it let me unintentionally hack the system!), pinned everything I saw on pinterest, etc. And Little Lottie should be up here in about 6.54 minutes and we're going to watch Modern Family. Finally. Juuuuuuuust kidding. It isn't working! :( Boo. We got it to work! No worries! Although we couldn't watch episode 1... but we watched a couple quality episodes. :)

Have I really studied for my Judaism final tomorrow? Nope.

Have I even read all the prompts for the Islam paper due Sunday? Nope.

Does BYU Library think I'm currently not a student and won't let me search the library for books for my site report? Yep.

Have I seen my husband at all today? Nope.

Have I done my reading for New Testament on Thursday? Yep.

Have I even started thinking about what I'm going to write my New Testament paper due Friday about? Nope.

Have I played more basketball in the past 5 days than I have in the past 5 years? Yep.

Did I wash my hair with body wash instead of shampoo (on purpose) today? Yep.

Do I need to start being productive with my whole life? Yes.

Have I figured out what to do with my recent life? Nope.

Basketball Showdown.

I don't even know where to begin with the basketball story...

Maybe I should give a brief update on my injuries first?

-My eye is becoming a pretty nice green and purple color now. It has been noticable before and I've been showing it off a little bit but today, tons of people have asked me if I had a black eye. They thought that it was from our intense game last night but nope, it was from my abusive husband/fiance(?) on Friday. It's cool though, I secretly (or not so secretly I guess) love war wounds.

-My finger is.... well, it's getting better. Haha it was feeling much better on Sunday but then we had another super intense practice and guess what I did? I rejammed it. hahaha so it was in a lot of pain on Sunday night. I had the doctor wrap it up last night before our game and it worked beautifully. And it's still pretty purple (as in my entire finger) and a little swollen but it doesn't hurt that much. Which is good. And I played basketball again this afternoon without reinjuring myself. Woot.

Okay. So our team did pretty well last night. There was a major injury in the first half of the game. My roommate Catie had a tooth to forehead collision with Lizzy on my team and it ended with a pool of blood on the floor. And stitches for Catie. Poor girl. So that was a pretty exciting incident that caused.... mayhem. Catie is doing pretty good (based on the circumstances) and Aubrey subbed in for their team for the rest of the game.

We won 26-20 which was pretty good for our first game. There are obviously things that we can work on but we're pretty happy with it. Our coach did an outstanding job. And it was almost more fun being on the sidelines watching the game and listening to Josh and JJ's commentary on the game. They were really fun.

After the game though, another team decided that they needed a coach too (unfortunately, I was afraid this would happen...) So they persuaded Josh, our assistant coach to switch teams. We were obviously a little upset when he told us that he resigned. And I gave him a pretty hard time about it because he's leaving his wife's team... But he says he'll still cheer for us... he's just their coach. Or something. It was pretty upsetting because it was really helpful having both of them as coaches.

I'm going to try and recruit someone (Charlotte!) to be our team photographer and take pictures of our game and team so hopefully in a couple days, I'll have some pictures of our very professional team. :)

A bunch of the basketball loving girls wanted to play this afternoon and so they recruited me to play. It's funny because no one knew about my basketball past. haha so I was a little bit of a surprise yesterday. I always knew I had it in me. The only issue was that in basketball, you aren't really supposed to be super aggressive and so... physical. But it's hard to switch from playing whole-D in water polo to playing good basketball. I might be a little too touchy but people keep telling me it's alright. We played 3 games to 11 and it was really fun to play with a bunch of people who knew what they were doing and we got a pretty good work out.

I went and took a cold shower and just let the water pour over my face and when I got out of the shower, my face was still red. I'm going to get into good shape from this. haha

Our next game is tomorrow and it should be intense.

We also have about 4500 papers and finals and such. It never ends.

Oh, and did I mention that next week we'll be in Galilee? Time is going by so fast!

Olive you. (part 2)

Whew. What a craaaaaaaazzzzzzzzy day Monday was.

Sunday was our Eilat trip, which in itself was a crazy day. (See blog about that here.) Then after getting home at 10 or so and then getting all ready for bed, we didn't get to sleep until approx. 11. Except it was really later than that.

Then Monday, we had a field trip to go on. Which involved us waking up super early. Let's just say we were exhausted.

BUT the field trip was the bomb. Hezekiah's tunnel and the City of David. Soo swell. Probs my favorite field trip of all of them... thus far anyway...

We did Hezekiah's Tunnel and we saw the ancient rocks, obvi. And, Brother Harper was sick so Brother Ludlow was our leader. And the kids are still out of school so his whole family joined us! :) Quality bonding time with the Ludlows. :)

Before watching our super exciting 3D Movie about the City of David: Where it all began....

dun dun dun.

Bathsheba's rooftop. Super Scandalous.

Preparing for the tunnel! (Me, Charlotte, Katie, Katie).

In the super fun tunnel! :) But really, it was supes fun.

Standard after tunnel pose. With The Suze and The Lottie.

The Group. More or less.

We then got back to the Center for lunch-bunch and then after that, we got to make our olive oil! Woot.

That was super exciting. We first mashed up the olives and then smashed out all their oil. And we did it on biblical presses. And I wish I had some cool pictures to show you but my camera died pretty soon after we got there and Nicole didn't bring one. Plus, we didn't really do all that much to contribute. hahaha but here is one!

Nicole, Me, Charlotte, Suzy, Cali. :)

And our olive oil has been sitting outside separating for the past week. It's going to be exciting to see our final product. I will post about that in part three. hahaha

Monday was also the day that Josh (Ludlow) and I decided to get married. Let me tell you, it was quite the day.

And that's a wrap.

Big News.

This is Josh Ludlow.

He is almost 17 years old.

And we decided today that we should get married. No big deal.

I figured the blogging world might like to know.

Three years age difference is not a problem at all.

And I might be slightly biased but I think we're pretty cute together.

:)

Too bad it might've been a joke.... at least for now! haha

Actually, today was good bonding time with the Ludlow Fam. Love them. :)

Oh! And Victor Ludlow was just in the building. He is a major celebrity in the Mormon world... apparently. He even has his own Wikipedia page! That's legit. But he is Josh's grandpa. haha super exciting. I saw him walk past me. Basically made my entire life.