Adios Provo

Adam and I loaded up the Uhal and started our 1900 mile journey from Provo to Pittsburgh. We were excited, we were anxious, we were praying to make the journey safely.



We said goodbye to our charming summer apartment and started the drive!



We said goodbye to "SPAS" sign and yelled it for the last time.




On our way out we stopped by and said bye to Stephanie. She is the best and has been the greatest friend/cousin to us while we've been in Provo. Then, we stopped by Garret and Karli's house to say a very tearful goodbye, meet Mom and Dad, and do some last little traditions. As you can see...one of those traditions is the BabyFood Tradition that Garret, Steph, Amanda and I love.

So, after all those sad goodbyes and a stop at RadioShack and Best Buy for Dad, and Whole Foods for Mom we officially started our 3 day journey. Thanks to Mom and Dad the drive was a whole lot easier and more enjoyable than we imagined. It was so fun to have a few days just the four of us while we drove across 9 states. We stopped and saw Uncle Tim and Aunt Laura in Illinois and also stopped to eat at Quaker Steak and Lube (http://www.quakersteakandlube.com/main.html) for Mom's Bday. We stopped there 6 years ago and still remembered how great it was so when we passed it in Ohio we HAD to stop.

Anyway, we pulled up to Pittsburgh too late to move in and stayed the night in a hotel and got one more free continental breakfast. YES! Free continental breakfasts make the entire drive worth it, for sure.

2 years. 2 months. 8 days. 11 hours. 39 minutes. 12 seconds.

Yes, it has been that long since my last blog post.

sorry family.

Obviously there has been a lot that I should catch up on. So, how about I only catch you up on the last 3 weeks rather than the last 2 years? I can manage that. Deal? Deal.

When we went to the Elah Valley to reenact David and Goliath, our Old Testament class built a giant Goliath out of water bottles and 'our Goliaths' for us to knock down with slings.

At the 6 Day War Museum. Great group of people and beancy little museum. Love it.

Kayla, you'll appreciate this pic. We woke up at the crack of dawn to go to early morning religious services. This is in the center of the Old City. It completely caught us off guard because these roads are normally covered with vendors.

Okay, catch up...

I'm going to just put up a smattering of pics from the past couple of weeks.
here is a cave that goes under the Old City. Zedekiah's Cave:


And this kitchen is life size and made completely out of tiny beads. It was inspirational to stand in front of this art work.


And these are our favorite kids across the street that are amazing. We love to play futbol with them.

CATastrophe!

Happy Birtday Meg Megsicle Megara!!!! So I love birtdays! and it was my roommate, Meg/Cat/Catherine's (all the same person) birtday a few weeks ago. She has been my roommate for 2 years in Provo,So Didi and I loved to celebrate it. It was super fun so I wanted to tell you all about the weird parties that a building full of 80 college students have. It was incredible. It was CAT themed. We had bobbing for sardines, kitty litter refreshments, pin the tail on the cat, cat dance, cat limbo, cat beat boxing, ~30 definitions of Cat around the wall, cat burglery (which included turning and entire play room into a burglery obstacle course). The best part of the night is that we actually surprised her. It was incredible. I almost cried. The second best part of CATastrophe is that Didi and Russell and everyone distributed the most ridiculous assignments that everyone carried out. We assigned one kid - Mason - to gather stray cats and put them in boxes as gifts. He did! He caught a cat and gave it to Meg as a gift. Hilarious. While he was catching the cat, there was a formal concert going on at the center, so our guests watched a man dressed as a cat, catching a cat....I find much humor in that mental image.

so here is a taste of her joy when she first arrived.
the fliers that Russell made
and Cat receiving a cat as a present

Anyway, we love meg and birtdays!

ps. It was especially hilarious because Cat hates cats.

Finals Week Explosion

READ:
I did not write this blog. A hilarious girl in the group wrote it. Lisa Foote. I am very privileged to be balcony neighbors with her. and yes, we have had slumbered on the balcony and it was the greatest night's sleep. almost as incredible as the night on the train. Anyway, this blog is hilarious and completely true. I love the JC. and finals season at the JC is unreal.

"This post is pictureless, because these words will paint the picture at the Center that a camera could never capture. Imagine this: (but don't close your eyes, because you need to keep reading...)

79 highly intelligent people (or at least 60) all in the same building, all competing for grades in the same classes, all taking 5 finals in one week- finals which are not like normal hard tests where success is possible if you study long and hard, but the kind where you have no idea what is going to be on the test and it will be impossible no matter how long you study, but you study anyway, for hours, because you have to keep your grades up for Med school or Law school or because your parents still care or because you need to get into the nursing program or because you're a perfectionist or whatever.

In this situation there are several ways to react, and we've seen everything:
- There are people bartering study guides based on how long it took them to make it, with vows to not share it with anyone.
- There are people singing hymns at the top of their lungs in the study rooms, and people outside of the study rooms getting angry.
- There are people crying like I've never seen before.
- There has been a lot of hypervenilating.
- Everyone is gaining weight because the intake of pita and peanut butter has at least doubled.
- Some girls made a music video in the midst of all the studiers.
- A list of countries bordering the Red Sea, Dead Sea, and Persain Gulf was erased from the board when we walked in with the explanation "I'm not allowed to share that with anyone; I got it from someone else and she'll kill me if I share it."
- At the Old Testament review the tear filled question was asked "IS IT ACTUALLY POSSIBLE TO SUCCEED?"
- Russell turned 25 today and is begging everyone to go get gelatto with him, but no one will.
Ilike2learn.com is the most visited website of the week as everyone tries to learn the countries and capitals of the Middle East by playing matching games.
- The dinner conversation is: "Tell me the 2 mountain ranges in Iran." "No. I'm not talking about that right now." "Okay, then let me tell you a joke... What's the capital of Lebanon?" "That's not a joke Brent!"

The tension in the building is escalating by the minute. Anyone who is not stressed out is shunned and yelled at for being happy. Jokes have to be used very sparingly and only with other non-stressed individuals when not in the presence of the temporary psycho-paths. My stress level is approximately 0% so it has been a hilarious experience for me to see everyone explode."

hence why I have not posted a blog about Jeru since Egypt. Sorry fam. I'll catch up soon. Love you all.

EGYPT!

Egypt is the greatest! I love it there. All around, the greatest trip. So for Egypt there are a million stories and facts and things I want to show you all. Since pictures are worth a thousand words I figure it might be best just to show you a smattering of pictures with minimal commentary. Good Idea?

oh keep in mind that all the Egypt posts go in backwards chronological order because I don't know how to work technology and didn't think ahead of time. sorry.