Blog Hopping.

I don't know about most people but sometimes, I get in a mood where I am really into blogs. So I'll start reading one of my friends blogs and then I'll read one of their friends... etc.

The other day, I did this and I ended up at this blog because I read on a different blog how bizzare their love story is. (And it really is, see?)

I then kinda became consumed by this blog. I started reading through the archives. Until I got to a post where she mentions this blog. (And their super crazy love story.)

I then read through alllllll the archives. And I mean I literally read every post she's ever written.
Because, you know, I have tons of spare time, at the moment.

And I kinda love their family. It's a super strange story but it's really cute how she was there when he really needed her. And it's interesting to see how she has really taken on the role of mother, for kids who are almost old enough to be her peers.

I think I especially liked her when she mentioned she started blogging because of nienie. And how she impatiently waits for CJane to update her blog. Love it.


And most importantly, I feel in love with her in this post.

In case you don't want to click on all these links, I'll tell you what she posted about. She mentions how she loves to travel and how one of her favorite places is here:

 In fact, the first picture she has is of the Dome.

(And to clarify, the favorite place she is talking about is Israel in general, not just the Dome.)

It's funny how I feel like I have a connection with anyone who has been there.

And you know what, I still miss it everyday.

Sometimes I feel famous.

{because I know famous people.}

Remember this day?

I mean, of course you remember when the day that I got engaged/married/whatever.

(Especially since he was 16 years old.)

But what I'm talking about is the very bottom.

Where I talk about my future grandfather-in-law.

Well, remember how I saw Victor Ludlow walking through the Jerusalem Center one evening? While I was being super studious and doing my homework?

Apparently, when I saw both Ludlow's walk into the Jerusalem Center office, they were going to to this.

When Poppa Hunts posted about this on facebook the other day, I thought that it was recent. But NOPE.

They recorded this on that October day when I saw Victor and Jared Ludlow walking through the Jerusalem Center.

The '60 sisters' that Marissa or Melia prays about?

I'm one of them.

Actually, this whole thing just warms my heart.

So great to hear their voices!

And to hear their testimonies and their love of the scriptures and the Holy Land.

And especially, their testimonies of Christ.

I love them all.

I forgot how much I missed that place.

(Okay, not really but maybe a little bit.)

And is it a coincidence that "Viva la Vida" (by Coldplay) just came on pandora?

(I love that song because it mentions Jerusalem. hahaha)

Anywho, I just figured I'd post this little thing. It's funny how famous all my Jerusalem professors are, in real life.

Love it.

I was also reminded today of Brother Skinner and his wise advice to not go on my MesoAmerica trip. Mostly because he had a bit of a traumatic experience trying to change his clothes, while in a sleeping bag, while on a hammock. So great.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) we won't be sleeping in hammocks. But if we did, I would undoubtedly think about him and his experience. haha

Jerusalem Dreaming.

I had a busy day today.

Class at 7:45.

Then print out stuff for the doctor at the library.

Which turned into a 45 minute Jerusalem talk with a girl working there who is going in the Spring. Aka she leaves in a couple of weeks. It was so great talking to her about Jerusalem and giving her inside tips and such. Makes me kinda wish I had better friends who went over there before me. But it was so fun to talk about Jerusalem with someone who is excited about it. And I gave her my number in case she has further questions. She's going to LOVE it there. I'm excited. :)

I then hurried home, ate breakfast, got all my stuff ready and then walked to the doctor.

My appointment was at 10:30 and I was out of there at 10:45. I did also get there at 10:15 because I told them I had class to hurry too but it was great. I was afraid I was going to have to go immediately to class after.

I then came home and wrote a lovely letter to Junior.

He's a funny kid. This is how he started out his letter:

" Jonah, Gen 1:21, Ezek 32:2, Ether 6:10. Like a boss."

Clearly, my whale obsession has rubbed off on him. SO funny.

I then got to go to 4 wonderful hours of class which involved talk about Jerusalem.

And I walk past a picture of the Jerusalem Center everyday on my way to class. Makes me sad. (I always want to take a picture of it, but that seems creepy. Because it's a poster about President Hunter...)

And I doodled the Jerusalem Center, the Dome of the Rock and practiced my script Hebrew alphabet during English. I'd say that was productive (although I had to look up 'chet' online because I couldn't remember it...)

And now I'm procrastinating homework.

Typical.

I'm waiting for the thunderstorms that I've been waiting on all day long.

Soon.

Chaos.

That would be one word to describe this last week.

It was a week that completely was not following my long tradition of routine.

It involved two days where I worked 12+ hour days.

It contained a drama-filled work experience.

aka tomorrow, I'll now be training my 6th (?) person at this job in two years. AND I didn't even work there last year. Let's just say, it's good they hired me two years ago.

Anyway, the week was filled with lots of babysitting, lots of rain, hanging out with old friends, working a ton, etc.

And next week is going to be even crazier, I'm sure.

Especially since I need to pack for 2.5 trips. Woot.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, when I went to the store the other day, I walked in and saw rows and rows of this:

That's right, it's Passover goodies. And I literally started laughing out loud when I saw all the 'grape juice'. I miss the good ol' days of celebrating Passover in October with these two:

I miss you, Jerusalem.

Dreams.

This morning, I woke up to my alarm which rudely interrupted a marvelous dream I was having about Jerusalem.

Such a sad, depressing feeling because there is nothing I would rather do right now than wake up in room 408 in the Jerusalem Center. It kind of took me a little while after I woke up to orient myself and realize that it was just a dream and that I actually wasn't in Jerusalem. Boo. :(

I think said dream might've been triggered by the fact that I was texting little Josh last night (which was his this morning) and Jerusalem was covered in white! So I was obviously just a smidge jealous and thinking about snow covered Dome of the Rock.

It's also ironic because I have a feeling that my Jerusalem dreamin' is very quickly going to turn into dreaming (or more like nightmaring) about 1099's, W-2's, K-1's, 1040's, the IRS/FTB, 8879's, etc.

Yep, it's Tax Time.

And I've spend the majority of my past two days assembling tax returns. Obviously a jolly good time.

In fact today I did tax stuff for almost 7 hours straight. Yikes.

Good thing about tax season: I'm busy as a little bee. Which equals money.

Bad thing about tax season: I'm busy as a little bee. Which makes me exhausted.

I suppose in this case, the positive outweighs the negative.

Get ready for tax talk from here on out. :/

p.s. I've heard from a couple of my loyal readers that they can't comment on my bloggy. is this happening for other people?!

Twins.

Happy 21st Birthday to Little Lottie Dottie!

We're basically two peas in a pod and I love her to the moon and back.

New favorite song that (I'm pretending to) relates to this:

"I swear there's a lot of vegetables out there

That crop up for air

Yeah I never thought

We were two peas in a pod

Until you suddenly bloomed

Then I knew

That I'd always love you."

"Honey and The Bee" - Owl City. :)

Plus, this is really just an excuse to post super (embarrassing yet) awesome pictures of us that haven't been seen by the interwebbing world yet. :)

Bus in Turkey. Typical.

Problematic snorkeling gear.

Before our "drunken" evening.

Just hanging out in the City of David.

King Abdullah Mosque.

JRowdy ducking out of the picture. Classy.

A smidge too close BUT we have the same color eyes (aka twins).

Bus ride in Galilee. :) We got lots of practice.

Oh, just hanging out at the Herodian.

Love you Lottie! I miss blogging/talking/venting/homeworking? with you in the Cave.

See you in approximately 5 weeks... hopefully! :)

poprocks chocolate.

I just ate half of my poprocks chocolate bar that I had smuggled home from Jerusalem and that Nicole then gave to me for Christmas (because yeah, we're cute like that).

It's been sitting in the pantry for two months, just waiting to be eaten.

And I haven't eaten it because the most memerable poprocks eating chocolate experience I had was driving through Jordan (or maybe Galilee; all our bus experiences kinda blend together), on a bus we basically lived on, and feeling carsick. And thus deciding that poprocks chocolate would be a good way to make myself feel better. Turns out, it didn't work. Not a good idea, if you ask me.

So I haven't really eaten it since then.

But today, I remembered why it was so popular and why we loved it so much. Deliciously mysterious. :)

I'm now wishing I had brought more back home with us. But it's alright, we'll just have to sustain ourselves on Happy Hippos. It's probably good that we didn't bring more though because my daily walks with Kuma have stopped. And I haven't been brave enough to get back in the pool... yet.

Maybe that will be my goal for March. :)

Two Months.

In honor of me being back in the States for two months, officially, I give you this, compliments of the Jerusalem Center Class of Fall 2011:

You know you've been to the Jerusalem Center when...

1. You get bored in church because the only thing to look at is the speaker and the bishopric. –Katie Robison

2. You think it's strange when you haven't seen your professors in their pjs. –Suzy Butler

3. You miss watching the little cars move around at the far-away intersection during sacrament meeting. –Scott

4. Bible jokes are funny. -Cortney

5. Someone says "problematic" or "reductionist" and you can't help but smile and crave some chocolate... –Kaleb

6. You don't like your new professors because they're not Huntsman, Harper or Ludlow. –Tyler

7. You see Hebrew subtitles pop up on a YouTube video in class and you involuntarily exclaim “HEBREW!!!” Like it's the coolest thing you've seen all day =) –Amy

8. You prefer to walk places over driving. –Kara

9. You know EVERY lyric of (that certain song by that certain artist...) :) –Kaleb

10. Musical numbers by normal people are painful to listen to (no joke, we had the most talented group in the world!) –April

11. You're picky about pita, like chocolate spread on everything, have an opinion on falafel or shwarma, and you're writing to international companies asking why their product isn't in the US. –JRowdy

12. ‎You have odd, involuntary reactions to anything that reminds you of Jerusalem. It's a really strange feeling to realize that you're grinning from ear to ear because someone just said "Israeli-Palestinian conflict." –AnnaLeah

13. You assume everyone should refer (and perhaps bow) to your superior knowledge in all educational questions Jewish, Muslim, or just all around, general, Middle Eastern related. –Robin

14. Someone quotes a BYU professor like Andrew Skinner and you have to restrain yourself from yelling, "Oh my gosh, I know him!" –Adam Farnes

15. You can identify random National Geographic photos of Jerusalem with their street name and whose shops are best on that street. –Adam Farnes

16. You hear someone say that all Muslims are anti-American extremists and you laugh at them for knowing nothing about the Middle East but pretending to. –Alyse

17. You're in situations like Alyse just described and you have the urge to call someone a reductionist –Katie Robison

18. Regular DOUGHNUTS just don't cut it anymore. –AnnaLeah

19. It's strange not having to wait in a line 40 people long to use a women's restroom. –Danielle

20. Your laptop says it's New Years 9 hours before everyone else's. –AnnaLeah

21. Someone mentions "imagining" the Holy Land in church and you smile to yourself and think "Yep, Yes I can imagine the Holy Land, quite vividly in fact." Followed by feeling really really lucky to have lived there. -Jared Maxfield

22. Someone mentions the Olive Garden and you think of an olive garden instead of a restaurant. :) –Tiffany

23. You question everything anyone tells you about the Bible or Church Doctrine including your religion professor. –Nicole

24. You are driving in Idaho and think you see a camel. –Tiffany

25. You get hungry whenever you hear the name Achmed. –Junior

26. You are in your D&C class and they keep quoting Br. Harper... which makes you feel special! –Kate

27. You want to honk at the car in front of you just because. –Junior

28. You get super excited when you see someone in an old school royal blue BYU t-shirt on campus. –Michael-Sean

29. Your friend has to study for his New Testament class and instead of actually studying, he goes to you for questions on things like, the Essenes and the Decapolis, and you can expertly explain it all with little personal anecdotes. –Natalie

30. You thank the heavens for American public restrooms. even porta-potties in fact. –Cortney

31. You get really excited to see someone on campus with a Jerusalem backpack… And then you realize they are a complete stranger. –Kara

32. You see an unattended backpack in a bathroom and get unnaturally concerned for your own safety. –AnnaLeah

33. You start giggling inwardly (or outwardly) when someone uses the phrase vis-a-vis. –Nicole

34. You pick out words like problematic in research articles you have to read. :) –Kara

35. You meet someone named George George and aren't that phased by it. –Maddy

36. You realize that you feel really homesick for Jerusalem, shawarma, the Dead Sea, and camels. –Jared Maxfield

37. You have Chaco tan lines in the middle of winter. –Tiffany

38. You're disappointed that your organist during church isn't world renowned. –Daniel

39. You have lots of GREAT slides and notes to find information from for a Sacrament Meeting talk. –Suzy

40. They hand out Holy Land maps in Sunday School and you just pass them on because you "already know everything." And then you proceed to explain to your dad, on HIS map that you were too good for, exactly where it was that you snorkelled. -Jessica

Perhaps more to come/I'm too lazy to do more right now. I hope you enjoyed! :)

Airplanes in the night sky.

Since being back from Jerusalem for almost two months, there are still some things that happen that take me off guard.

One of those things is seeing airplanes.

Which I realize sounds really strange. But here's the thing: Jerusalem is a no fly zone. Airplanes can't even get close to flying over the city. Because there is so much tension and that land is the most coveted soil on the planet, to protect everyone, airplanes just can't fly over. Makes sense.

But now, I see airplanes all the time and I get a little freaked out. I guess after not seeing airplanes in the sky for 4 months and then living in between 3 international airports would cause a little bit of a worry for some people. People like me.

It's funny because I'll see an airplane and I'll be like "Whoa, that airplane seems really close" or something along those lines and my mom will just laugh at me. And it also probably doesn't help that there is an airfield within 10 minutes of my house. So we have airplanes flying into and out of San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland and also all the Moffet Field traffic. It's overwhelming, to say the least.

I think I've semi-gotten used to the fact that these airplanes are all safe, although for a while I thought they were going to crash into things. haha And it's not as weird to me when there are moving lights in the sky now.

It's taken me two months but I think I'm finally getting used to the airplanes.

Back from P-town.

Well friends,

I'm no longer in Provo which is sadder than I imagined it being.

The 6 days that I spent in Provo were some of the funnest and craziest times I've had in ages.

(And by ages, I mean in the past 6 weeks or so).

Provo successfully landed me more first dates in the 5.5 days I was there than I've had in the 4 semesters in Rexburg.

And technically, I had a three day- date marathon (three dates, three days in a row.)

Although one of them was a second date? haha

I also got to hang out with my favorites from Jerusalem lots and lots.

Ice cream, tennis and class(es) with Suzy.

Lunch dates, grocery shopping adventures and sleepovers with Charlotte.

Bean Museum, Bowling, movie at the grandparents, apples and peanut butter and the Provo Temple with Junior. :)

It's funny how I didn't really have any plans going into the week, besides JC reunion at the Ludlow Cabin on Saturday night but by the end of the week, every second of my day was planned out.

And it was fun seeing Mark & Danielle and hanging out with them for a couple hours. Oh cousin bonding. :)

I think I'm going to give a full run-down of my activities and adventures in another post (or 2) but I just figured I needed to update this little blog for now.

Take me back.

Can't wait to see the full movie in Imax 3D.

It's fun seeing this because I've been to all those places and churches.

Take me home.

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.

Feeling Homesick.

Read this article tonight.

BAD IDEA.

Seriously. It was a tough read. And now all I really want is to go back home.

I didn't like the fact that I could imagine every single place he was describing. And I could smell the streets he was walking through. And I miss all the people who I walked through that city with. And those who lived in that gorgeous building on Mt. Scopus with me. I'm going through SERIOUS withdrawals.

I've officially been gone for more than a month. I don't like that.

Take me back home, please.

:(

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. :(

Another list.

Things that are going to seem strange, in the States.
1. Having a top sheet. I'm going to miss the european duvet. :(

2. Driving. And the lack of honking horns.

3. Suburbia. First time not living in a capital city since August (okay, September...)

4. Free public bathrooms!

5. Cleanliness of the world.

6. English as the dominant language. And not getting strange looks when asking people to speak english...

7. Lack of falafel/shwarma.

8. Not having to mentally convert prices to dollars.

Tis all for now. More to come, I'm sure! Homeward bound now! :))

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! :)