Day #4!

Today, I am grateful for my little brother! He is so cute! He is always running around and full of energy. That is how it has always been. He is so smart and always wanting to learn more. Just barely he was playing his french horn. He wanted to do really well on his assignment. I heard hi say under his breath when he finally got a good score, "Thank you Heavenly Father...". I learn so much from him every day! He is an incredible little soccer player and I love to watch him play! He's so fun to have in the family!

Day #3!

Today, I am really grateful for my mom! I was having a really rough day. She texted me and said I love you! You deserve the best! She is so aware of other people's feelings and in genuinely concerned about them. My mom is so easy to love. She makes friends everywhere she goes! I hope that when I am a mother, I can be even somewhat like her. She is incredible! She came from a difficult childhood and turned out to be an incredible woman! She is the main role model in my life! There are so many Christ-like attributes about her!

Day #2!

Today, I am grateful for my sister Morgan. Even though I am 3 years older than her, I am the one who looks up to her. She is the kindest, most loving person I know. Last year, I was really sick and she always had to put up with me. I will always love her for it. She is so Christ-like. My favorite memories with her are being in my car singing Our Song by Taylor Swift as loud as we possibly could. I can hardly bare the thought of moving out and not seeing her everyday! I love you Morgs!

Month of Thanksgiving!

So I decided that since it is the month of Thanksgiving, that I would write about one thing each day that I am grateful for. Today, I have chosen to write about my dad. I am so grateful for him! Right now, he is in Indonesia on a big trip with 12 of his employees. I am so grateful for how hard he has worked to provide for me. I remember when I was really little, he worked in our basement. He was just starting his business. He worked so hard. There were times when I barely even saw him. I have learned so many incredible lessons from him that I'll never forget! He's the best dad I could ever ask for!

Most Moving Moment of My Trip!

The moment captured in these photos would have to be the most moving moment of this trip for me. My dad and I were walking through the Old City Jerusalem. As we walked down the narrow paths, I saw a beautiful muslim woman just a few years older than me. Sitting next to her was a girl that was probably 7 or 8 years old. It’s possible this was her daughter. The woman was holding a brand new baby and asking the people passing by for money. The hard stone floor she was sitting on was filthy. Hundreds of people walked down these paths every day. It was filled with dirt and garbage. They were definitely not conditions you would want to bring a newborn baby into. I felt for her as I walked by. As we continued down the road, I could not stop thinking about her. I could not imagine caring for a brand new baby in those conditions. Minutes later we walked past her again. I felt like I needed to help her. I stopped my dad and asked him if I could go back and give her some money. He happily agreed and gave me 100 shekels. This would be a lot of money for her. I couldn’t wait. I approached the woman and she reached her hand up asking me for money. I pulled out of my pocket the money and her face said it all. She was shocked. I’ll bet people only give her coins, and that’s if she’s lucky. I got down to her eye level and told her that she had a very beautiful baby. We couldn’t communicate very well, but she understood what I was saying. I asked her if I could hold her baby. She got a big smile on her face, and handed me the newborn. The poor baby must’ve been so hot in that weather. I sat down right next to the woman on the filthy ground and held her baby in my arms. She was so beautiful. I asked what her name was and she responded by saying, “Muna.” This woman and I had come from completely different worlds, had different beliefs, different cultures, and different circumstances, however none of that mattered. We were both human beings and had a special bond. This woman helped me more than I helped her. I had come into this country so intimidated and almost fearful of these people. Miraculously, I was now able to sit next to her, communicate as best as possible, and hold her beautiful baby. The moment was so touching! As I handed the sweet baby back to her, I looked into their faces and I will never forget their smiles.

Jerusalem Day Number Two!

This morning we got up and walked to another hotel where we met our tour group for the day! We signed up for a Old and New Jerusalem day tour. We started out by going to Mt. Scopus where we could see the whole Jerusalem valley. It was beautiful! We then drove to the Old City and walked through all 4 corners...the Christian quarter, Muslim quarter, Jewish quarter, and Armenian quarter. It was very interesting! Afterwards, we looked around some shops and ate lunch. Lunch was very interesting. They packed us all into this little tiny space. We talked to a couple people sitting by us. When I say "by us" I really should say "on top of us". There was hardly any space to move. The lady was originally from Canada, but had just moved her family to Prague, Czechoslovakia. She was there on business. The other was a man from Los Angeles, also there on business. They were very nice people. They served us pita bread with chicken, cucumbers, and cabbage inside. It was actually pretty good! I've learned to not be so picky after this trip! After, we went into the Holy Sepulchre. This was very interesting as well. Today was the hottest day Jerusalem has seen in ten years! It was almost unbearable! I drank 2 water bottles, 1 sprite, and a gatorade. It was so hot! Everyone was just drenched! We thought this was a bus tour. Well, we were wrong. We walked almost the whole thing. That is very hot in long black pants! Next, we walked to Mt. Zion and saw the church there. After that, we went and saw the room of the Last Supper. The last place we went to was the Garden of Gethsemane and the church there. The whole day was very interesting and I learned so much! We came back to the hotel afterwards and crashed for a bit. We ate dinner here which was a million times better than trying to find something safe and sanitary outside. I really enjoyed it! I feel so blessed to be able to travel to this part of the world! It is an opportunity I will never take for granted!

Jerusalem, Israel!

Today was a day I will never forget for the rest of my life. We flew into Tel Aviv, Israel at 2:00 in the morning. It is so humid here, the taxi driver had to use his windshield wipers so he could see. We slept in today then caught a taxi to Jerusalem. The driver was a crazy old man. We were going to take a bus but he talked us into him driving us the whole way. So we agreed. He whistled and mumbled to himself the whole way. At one point, he pulled off the free way, pulled into a parking lot, and peed in between two cars! We thought he was going into the gas station. He didn’t really know where our hotel was so he asked everyone in sight, reversed on a busy road, and stopped in the middle of the street. He wouldn’t listen to my dad on how to get there. He was a very nice guy! We got to the hotel and he said, “This is all Arab...you’ll be ok.” Just a little flashback, during the drive my dad gave me a little history lesson about the bombings, Arabs, and Israelis so I could understand what was happening in this country right now. He mentioned that Arabs hate Americans because we support the Israelis. Later we’d find out, he booked our hotel right in the middle of the Arab corner of Jerusalem. I said, “So let me get this straight, we’re staying amongst all the people who hate us?” Then his story changed. “Not EVERYONE hates us...” “How could anything bad happen by the Garden Tomb?” “Only a small group of extremists hate us...” I told him I was a big girl now and I didn’t buy it. I jokingly told him his old comfort techniques didn’t work anymore. He said, “You’re refusing comfort?” I said, “I refuse to be comforted by lies :)” It was a funny conversation! Haha. He finally admitted to this craziness when he said, “Ok...this isn’t ideal.” I was glad to hear him admit it! We got settled in and needed to eat because we hadn’t eaten all day. I tried to convince him we should just eat in the hotel because that is where I felt safe. Turns out there was no restaurant for lunch in the hotel. So we had to go out. I put on a pair of long pants so I could fit in better. A majority of the women here are covered from head to toe. They always walk behind the men too. We asked the lady at the front desk if I should wear long sleeves too. She said, “No, we are free. We accept every religion.” We thought that was an interesting answer. So we hit the street! I have never felt so uncomfortable and unsafe in my life. You wouldn’t believe the looks I got. People would just stare. Partially, because of my blonde hair and blue eyes. Sometimes, people would say things in Hebrew as we walk past them. My dad had me walk a lot closer to him. I was very nervous. I felt so much better when we finally made it to the restaurant. While we were sitting there, a proud dad walked in with his little 3 or 4 year old boy with a big toy gun about twice the size of him. My dad tried to get a picture of this because we thought it was kinda funny. While my dad was trying to get a picture, the little boy pointed the gun at him. I wish we would’ve gotten that picture! On the way back men would say, “Hello lady.” then give me thumbs up. A couple guys were making kissing faces towards me and my dad pointed at them like “Don’t you dare!” A little embarrassing! haha There was the weirdest feeling walking through those streets. We came back to the hotel and relaxed for a bit. We booked a tour of Jerusalem for tomorrow. Later at night, we went and walked through the Old City Jerusalem. I decided this time that I was going to have an open mind. I was going to look at these people without fear. I walked with my head held high and looked at them in the face. Most of them were very very kind. They would say hello or can I help you find something? I’m so grateful I went into that city with an open mind. We went and saw the Wailing Wall. It was very interesting! Men and women were separated and very passionately praying to this wall. All we could find for dinner was bread, a pomegranite, and coke! Yummy huh? We went into a store looking for an olive wood sculpture for my mom. I talked to the store owner for a bit. He said to me, “Are you mormons?” I was kinda caught off guard! I said, “Yes...how did you know?” His answer was that he deals with Mormons a lot from the BYU Jerusalem center. I thought that was interesting! Well, overall today I was completely shoved out of my comfort zone, but I learned so much from it and I will never forget it!

Traveling from Santorini to Tel Aviv, Israel!

Not a lot has happened today! We got up and got on a ferry back to Athens. From Athens we went straight to the airport. We flew directly to Istanbul, Turkey! We now have a 2 hour layover here. The people are beautiful here! I love seeing all kinds of different religions and the clothing they wear. In a little bit, we will fly to Tel Aviv, Israel! I'm really excited to get there!!

Santorini, Greece!

This morning, we got on a ferry headed to Santorini! It took about 4 hours and I slept most of the way. We arrived to the port and everyone rushed downstairs to grab their luggage and get off the boat. We got outside and it was unbelievably hot! It was chaotic! There were buses and people everywhere. My dad and I just jumped on a random bus. By the time we got on the bus, there were no more seats. So we stood in the aisle. Almost 20 minutes went by and people kept filing onto the bus! Everyone was almost touching and the entire bus was jam packed. We finally started driving and it was a crazy ride! I'm surprised we weren't like dominoes in the aisle! We finally made it and got off that bus as soon as we could! We walked outside and began to hike the white washed paths to our hotel. I can't even describe to you how hot it was! We hiked around forever, finally made it to the destination the Iphone gave us and figured out it had led us the wrong way! So we spent more time hiking back down to our hotel. I wasn't very happy! But once I got cooled down, I was in a much better mood. We went swimming down at the pool. I don't know why, but I haven't had that much fun swimming in a long time! Maybe because it was so hot outside! We played in the pool all afternoon. I taught my dad a little game we like to call "Hands up! Stands up!" The first time he tried it, I don't even think he got his feet out of the water. He'd kick his legs and splash everywhere. I think he missed the point! :) By the end of the day, he smoked me every time! One time, I came up and went down 3 times before he fell down! I was impressed! We played other games like "Who can push off the wall the furthest without moving your legs or arms?" He killed me at that game too. Now that I think about it, I can't beat him in any game. That's why I don't play games with him very often anymore. :) After the pool, we got ready and went shopping through Santorini. Wow, it is gorgeous here!! It might be my new favorite place! I know I say that a lot, but I really mean it! All the building are white-washed and perched on the cliffs of a little island. It is such a beautiful spot! We bought a couple souvenirs, but the best part of shopping was finding some shoes! I have been looking for these shoes since Italy! They're very European, and I love them! Afterwards, we got some dinner which was delicious. We also got a scoop of gelato and walked back to our hotel! What a great day!!

Athens, Greece!

Man, today has been such a great day compared to yesterday! We woke up and the first thing we needed to do was to solidify our travel plans to make sure we can reach our goal. I’m not sure if I have mentioned our goal. It is to travel from Barcelona, Spain to Jerusalem, Israel with just the backpacks on our backs...no flying. We spent hours this morning trying to make sure we could arrange ferries and end at our final destination. We walked through Athens, Greece and stopped in every travel agency in sight. To our disappointment, we discovered that it was almost impossible to reach our goal. No ferries went to Cyprus and onto Israel. We possibly could make it happen if we traveled all through the night and day and going through Syria. I did not want to do that at all. Knowing my objective-driven dad, he would like to do that. However, he is so kind and thought he would make it a better trip for me. Quite frankly, I think he just didn’t want to deal with me losing it like I almost did the day before ;) I’m just teasing. I really am blessed with the most incredible dad. I’ve been asking him to give me advice about different topics such as college, work, dating, marriage, finances, church and other life in general advice. I’ve been video recording it so I can have it forever and it and pass it down the generations. I would definitely recommend it to people my age, or anyone as a matter of fact! It has been so amazing. Anyways, what we have to do is spend a few days in Greece, then fly to Tel Aviv, Israel. We’ll spend a few days in Israel then fly home. I’m glad we made that decision. After we had that all figured out, we boarded a “Flying Dolphin” boat to Aegina...the closest Greek island to the mainland. It was beautiful there! We walked to a beach. The water was INCREDIBLE! The water was so clear and warm! I loved every minute of it! We met a very nice man at dinner and got our picture with him. We took a little stroll down the street and stopped at a little fruit and vegetable stand. They sold everything out of the back of their boat. It was interesting! I have been wanting to buy a watermelon from one of these stands since Bosnia and we were finally able to do that here! I was so excited! We got on a ferry back to Athens. Tonight the plan is to relax, watch a movie, and eat our watermelon!

Rough Day!

This trip has been incredible! It has been full of such great experiences. However, not every day is picture perfect. Today, was one of the hardest days I've had. It all started yesterday morning. We woke up in Dubrovnik, Croatia and boarded a bus. We drove on that bus for 16 hours. The bus was full of people. There were a couple big arguments. It was uncomfortable and hot. It was so hard to sleep. I slept quite a bit, but my neck and my back hurt so bad. We stopped and stretched our legs and used the restroom only once through the journey. Let us not mention the bathroom was a hole in the ground. There was a lot of traffic and windy roads. We drove through Croatia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Macedonia. The biggest joke of the whole thing was dealing with the border police and customs of each country. It took so long! Luckily, I maintained my patience. I never thought the moment would come, but we finally made it to Macedonia at 7:00 this morning! We got tickets for the next train to Greece and had only a small wait. While waiting, I looked down at my feet and they were completely swollen! My calves and my ankles almost blended together. My dad and I think it might be from the altitude change or from sitting for so long. We boarded an old train which should've taken 5 hours to get there. There was no air conditioning on the train. I can't even describe how hot it was. On top of that, It was so humid. We laid down and slept for a bit. We woke up and approached customs and the border police. This is when the heat really set in for me. This stop ended up taking 2 hours!! One man from Italy had troubles with his passport. A film of sweat covered my whole body as I baked in this train. My feet were super swollen and I felt so weak. I literally thought that I was going to have a panic attack! I laid down to sleep for a bit and woke up drenched. I've never felt like that. I thought that when the train got moving again, I would feel so much better because of the breeze. Turns out, the breeze was not what I expected. It was air blowing on me that was almost hotter than the heat itself! Next on the agenda...put on a 20 pound pack and speed walk through a train station. I was so close to reaching my breaking point! Luckily, I was able to tough it out! We finally made it into Greece and found a little air conditioning. My dad got me a coke with ice. I thought I had died and gone to heaven! It was the coldest drink I've had in weeks. I've grown so used to room temperature drinks with no ice. So that is how a couple of days have been! Im just praying tomorrow is a better day and grateful I got through today!

Dubrovnik, Croatia!

Well, we survived the long journey to Dubrovnik! I didn't think I'd make it at times. It was a full 24 hours of travel! We got in late and slept so well! Today was definitely our reward! We got up early in the morning and headed to the beach. It wasn't the beach I was expecting. It was white rocks with little places to put chairs. The water was crystal clear and a greenish blue color. It is GORGEOUS here!! I love it!! We laid in the sun for hours! It was so hot that we'd frequently jump in the ocean. The water was pretty cold, but that is what made it feel so good! We got to wash our clothes today which was amazing! I've never been so grateful to have clean clothes! Tonight, we're going to get cleaned up, and go to old town Dubrovnik. We'll do get a bite to eat, do some strolling and shopping, then hit the hay!

Trieste, Italy to Zagreb, Croatia via Sleeper Car!

Wow! It has been quite a couple very interesting days! We woke up in Grado, Italy and bought bus tickets to Monfacone. We ended up missing the bus by a few minutes because we were on the wrong side of the street. So we put our backpacks up against a small wood post and sat on the ground by the side of the road for almost 2 hours. We were eaten alive my mosquitos. We got the funniest looks from people driving by. We finally made it to our destination only to find out there is only one train to Croatia and it leaves at 11 pm. We decided to get as close to the Italy, Croatia border as we could and then see what we could do. So we got on a train and headed to Trieste. Once there, we spent a few more hours trying to figure out what to do. We decided to book a hotel room for the day in order to get some rest. We try and book hotels that are close to train stations so that we can walk if we need to. We have been really struggling because we are low on cash since we were pick-pocketed. So my dad said, “Let’s see how far the hotel is. 1..2..3..4..5..6..7..8..9..10..11..12..13..14..15..16..17 blocks.” With each block he counted, my body hurt a little bit more. It was quite the walk! What made it seem so much longer was that we were exhausted, frustrated, and it was super hot outside! I can’t even explain how good it felt to lay down on a bed and take a nap for a few hours in that hotel. I take so many things for granted! From then on the day flew by. We walked back to the train station and boarded a train back to Monfacone. From Monfacone we boarded a train to Zagreb. Luckily, we got tickets in a sleeper car. Or so we thought... :) The man opened the door to our sleeper car, turned on the lights, and 4 heads popped up. We were the 5th and 6th addition to a little room about the size of a walk-in closet. The beds were tiny! I felt almost as if I were in a concentration camp. I’m not sure why, but I did. I felt even more like that when dozens of police came around pounding on the doors saying, “Police, passports.” It could’ve been a lot worse and I was definitely grateful to sleep! It was an adventure I’ll never forget! We then made it to Zagreb at about 4:30 am and our next train to Split, Croatia didn’t leave until 8:00. People lined the hallways dead asleep. A few people who had sleeping bags were sprawled out on the grass. We killed the time by traveling to the bus station looking for better options, getting some breakfast, and walking around the area. We are now on a 6 hour train ride to Split, Croatia. Following that, we’ll get on a 3 or 4 hour bus ride to Dubrovnik, Croatia! Wish me luck because it’s going to be a long haul!

Grado, Italy!

This morning, we got up and rode a gondola through the canals of Venice! It was beautiful! The guy rowing our boat thought we were together at one point. It was pretty funny! He was very nice though. We then headed to get on a water taxi to go back to the train station. It was so hot and dozens of people were crammed onto one boat. To make matters worse, the guy in front of us decided to balance himself by putting his arm in the air. I almost passed out it smelled so bad!! We finally made it to the train which was exhausting! We were headed for Grado, Italy...a little beach town. Turns out, we missed the place we were supposed to get off by about 5 seconds. We got off on the next stop which was Monfalcone, Italy. As usual, I hopped off the train and almost in a daze followed the big yellow backpack in front of me. I heard my dad say, "Hey!" I thought who in the world could we know in this tiny little town. It was the missionaries! I was so excited for some reason. Maybe because we had something in common with them or because they spoke English. It was a little piece of home. They both ended up being from Utah...Riverton and Spanish Fork. They were very nice and helped us figure out where to go next. I'm glad we saw them! Well, then we walked a few miles to the bus station and then were on our way to Grado. It is beautiful here! We went to the beach which was so relaxing! If you walk from the beach into the ocean, you'll go for about 1/2 a mile until you can't touch. It's beautiful! The people on the beach are a completely different story. Most of them shouldn't be wearing the swimsuits they're wearing. What a great day!!

Venice, Italy!

We are making progress! Early this morning, we walked super fast to the train station in Zermatt. We made it just in time for a 7 hour train ride to Venice! It was very comfortable. The only problem I usually have is that I get motion sickness pretty easily. I haven't had a lot of problems with it on this trip, but on this long train ride I did. Sleeping it off wasn't a problem! :) Well, we finally made it! I love Venice so much! It is one of my favorite places so far!! It is such a charming place to be! We got settled in and did some shopping through the little cobble stone streets. I made sure we had plenty of pictures! There are dozens of stores who sell authentic masks here. I really wanted to get a picture with one! So we went into a store and my dad told me to pick up one of the biggest ones. I picked it up and accidentally knocked over the stand. The owner of the store came running over and said, "You ask me!" Then he went off in Italian for a bit. Then, he held the mask out and said, "Did you want a picture?" I hesitatingly said, "...yes...can I?" and he said, "NO" Haha sooo note to self and anyone who plans on going to Venice...don't pick up the masks! And if you're going to anyways, don't make a BIG scene! Walking back to the hotel, I got hit on by an Italian man...woo woo! Nope!! 1. I was with my dad 2. He was so drunk he couldn't even see straight! Well, we ended the night by getting some gelato which was delicious of course! On this trip I've learned that I take a lot of things for granted. Here are some of them:

- friendly people from Utah
-a washer and dryer
-churches every block and a half
-everyone speaking English
-feeling safe and not worrying about being robbed
-my straightner


I feel so blessed to be able to see the world like this! I'll never forget any of it! Tomorrow morning we're going to catch a gondola ride through the city and hopefully get some more great pictures! I love it here!!