Thankful.

I'm a little late with this post but at least I'm doing it! That's a lot coming from me. :) This Thanksgiving was my first away from home. It was really weird. It didn't feel like Thanksgiving at all. We all chipped in and made something Thanksgivingy to eat for dinner after we had parent teacher conferences that day. We had stuffing (Stove top, of course. Thank goodness for Marci), mashed potatoes, rolls, jello, pie, and juice. No turkey :( sad, right? We had no idea where we'd find a turkey and the only meat I could really find at the store was weird salami stuff. Also it feels kind of like you're cheating on Thanksgiving if you have anything but turkey, so we just passed on the meat. We had a moment where we all said something we were thankful for. I only said one thing then but I'll just list all the things I'm thankful for now :)

1. My Family. 

There is nothing more important to me then my wonderful family. I have been so blessed with the family I was given. They're supportive, loving, and hilarious. My Dad is the funniest person I know. Whenever I Skype with him, my roommates all listen and laugh at all the things he says. He is also very wise. He gives the perfect advice and always says what I need to hear. Plus, he has the most amazing singing voice. I could listen to it all day. I have a recording of my Dad singing Belleau Wood by Garth Brooks on my phone that I listen to all of the time. It's been so comforting to me on hard days. My Mom is my best friend. We've Facetimed a lot while I've been here and I love just chatting with her. And making funny faces at her. Plus, she's the classiest lady I know. She's definitely my role model. Janglin, I love me some Janglin. I think being away had made me appreciate my sister so much more. She's amazing. She's going to BYU, has crazy awesome style, and has swaggy up the wazoo. :) I can't wait until I get home and get to sit in her room and just talk. I've missed being able to talk to her whenever and laugh over the millions of movie quotes we have stuck in our heads. "She made me a present! I AM AN A HOLE!" :) BROTHER. I've missed Cam a lot more then I thought I would. He's such a good kid. He's a great example to me to be a good person. I've gotten a lot of life advice from him even when he was just talking, not meaning to give advice. He's a person I look up to, literally and figuratively, the kid is taller then me... Speaking of that. Meg posted a picture of Jonny, he's taller then her! Say it isn't so! My baby can't be growing up. Poor Jonny, he'll never stop being the baby. I know he loves it deep down, very deep down :) Jonny is such a good kid. He and some friends made this group called We Are Hungry because he didn't like that they were serving so little of food at lunch at school. Pretty cool, right? He's pretty bad a. Even if he is kind of brat sometimes, I love him a lot. I really did luck out with my family. I love them so much.

2. Life.

I'm so thankful that with the life I was given, I've done things that I am proud of. When I'm an old woman and people, family, friends, whatever ask me about my life,  I'll be able to answer, "I lived my life to the fullest. I really did." 

3. Travel.

I'm so thankful I am and was able to travel to such beautiful, amazing places. There's been moments that I'm standing in a place I just set my eyes on and I've wished that my eyes could drink. So I could literally drink in the beautiful sites around me and never forget exactly how they look. The moment when you first stumble upon something you've waited your whole life to see should be bottled. It's a beautiful feeling. 

4. Friends.

I've been blessed with some truly wonderful friends. Some I've met on this trip, some I've had for years and all of them have had a profound effect on my life. Always having to move around has made it so I've acquired such an awesome collection of friends. I'm a very lucky girl.

5. Technology.
With technology being the way it is, it's so easy for me to just call up my Mom or sister or Dad or best friend on Skype or Facetime and just chat for a while. Plus I think I would go crazy if I didn't get to see Josh's crazy hairdos or hear my Dad's Fwwwhat? for 4 months. Thank goodness for technology.

6. Music.
In the past, I've never really been such a huge fan of music. I loved the way silence was, how in that silence, I could imagine something in my mind without any distractions. I could go away to my happy place and not worry about anything. It was just me and my thoughts. I'm kind of in my happy place being here though, so I've come to appreciate music so much more. It makes that silence a lot warmer. Plus, when you're listening to the part in The Dark Knight Rises when he climbs out of the pit , it just makes everything you do seem so much cooler.

I've had a very good life and I'm so thankful for everything and everyone in it. :)
All right, well, see ya later!

Schweeeeeeeden!

Our next stop was Stockholm, Sweden. It was amazing! It felt a lot like London. Very posh and with the times. Everywhere we went felt very swanky. It was really cold too because it's on the water. A downside about Sweden was it was SO expensive. We had a 120$ cab ride. Ouch. But it was a beautiful city. I want to go back someday! I probably will because Syd is dead set on living there, so I'll just head over and visit her. 

My first steps on Swedish soil! ... actually pavement. 

My comrades. They know how to make the windblown look look great :) 

Stockholm, at night!

Old town Stockholm.

So beautiful.

I loved this. We found it on a bench in front of a shop in Old Town.

 Teacher Jessica, Katya, and Ty. 

Ty, Katie, and I.

Jess is a great impersonator of naked athletes. 

A cool science museum, I think.

The Vasa! This was such a cool museum. This ship sunk in the 1700's on it's maiden voyage. So everything was really new inside it. In the 1960's, they decided to resurface the ship. This museum had the ship in it and most of the artifacts they found inside. 

Katie and I manning a cannon.

Katie, Jess and I in a wonky mirror.

Katie was mimicking a man working in the fields. She's a wonder. 

Next we have, FINLAND.

Lithuania.

Our next stop was in Vilnius, Lithuania! It was such a beautiful place. It rained the whole time we were there, which stunk, but we still loved all the sights and such. 

See those bags Marci and Syd have on? We wanted to die with those on our backs. I'm pretty sure I will have back problems for the rest of my life because of carrying my bag for a week. 

The Orthodox church in Vilnius! 

Marci's face kills me in this.

We're nice.

Sydney is straight up raunchy. 

The Hill of Three Crosses.

Gediminas' Tower. This tower is at the top of a hill, and you can see all of Vilnius from the top. While we were trekking up the hill, the crows wouldn't shut up and it was all dark and gloomy, we felt like we were going to Shutter Island. And would never come back... But the view made the mini heart attack at the beginning all worth it.

The view!

The View!

St. Anne's Church! This was my favorite building we saw in Vilnius. 

St. Anne's. 

Next up is... Sweden! 

Riga, Latvia!

Well, I'm the worst blogger in the world. My apologies! It's been awesome over here in the Motherland! I still never want to leave. Last week, we went on our week long vacation. Our first stop was in Riga, Latvia! Riga was probably my favorite place we went. We met a lot of really fun people through our hostel and it was such a beautiful town. 

 In front of a lovely statue.

Latvia!

Latvia! 

Jess, Sydney's eye, and I at the top of the St. Peter's Church Tower.

Inside St. Peter's Church Tower.

House of Blackhead's. Lovely name.

My girls. I sure do love these tards. :)

Their freedom monument!

We locked our love! This was on our bucket list of things to do. 

We went to the Ethnographic Open Air Museum. It was a bunch of really old buildings situated in a big park. I played How to Train Your Dragon while we walked through it. It felt just like a huge viking village.

Sydney doesn't know how to sit spider on a swing.

Obviously :) hahah 

House of Blackheads... At night. Ouch! I burned my hand! ... At night. :) 

Up next is, Lithuania!