back!

ok. so. i've just gotten back from 2 years in ENGLAND! and i need to continue my journal writing. i'll start from when we got back to the united states...

mom and i stayed up all night in riga the night before we left. the taxis came at 5:30 am to pick us up and take us to the airport. i was so excited!! we got unloaded and into the looooooong line to check in. the guy that checked us in did not know what he was doing and almost made us get back in line but luckily someone helped us out. our flight was delayed in leaving because there was no crew for our plane!!! talk about budget airlines. anyway we finally left and arrived in vienna like an hour late. mom and i left the terminal and met ahmet (he's going to university there) and got to talk to him for about an hour. then it was back into the airport. we found our gate and boarded for our 10 hour flight to chicago! luckily our seats were comfortable and the plane wasn't completely full. we also had the luxury of seat-back monitors, several movies to choose from, and delicious food. yay for plane food. at one point on the flight i was getting my contacts out of the overhead compartment and i heard someone say "hey elder!" and i looked around but only had my glasses on (the prescription is old) and couldnt see anyone talking to me so i went back to getting my contacts out. then i heard it again! it turned out to be 2 sister missionaries returning from a mission to armenia! anyway the flight passed with little out of the ordinary. however, during all of our travels, we all reached the point of total exhaustion so that one second we would be awake and the next second it was an hour later! kind of like when i took the caffeine pills. once we got to chicago we had to go through customs and it was a good feeling to be back in the good old united states of america. we got our luggage, had nothing to declare, and re-checked it...however, when we got to the other terminal before security, we realised we weren't sure if we had picked up one of our bags! so dad went back and checked and couldn't get it or anything but was pretty sure someone had sent it on. our plane left chicago late as well, arriving in cedar rapids about an hour late. one cool thing that happened was when we were going to the 2nd terminal i randomly ran into joslyn siems!!! she was on her way to ireland. talk about coincedences!

i had feared no one would be there to welcome us home but was excited to see robert, melanie, jacob, joshua, and jonathan all waiting for us! jake and josh gave great bear hugs and it really was great to be home. luckily all of our luggage arrived as well! the drive home was fun as i rode with rob and mel and they told me all about the floods and tornadoes and all else that had changed in the last 2 years.

we stayed at matt's house that friday night (20 june) and then stayed at the swindler's from the 21st to july 2. our homecoming talks were the 22nd, and as i was getting ready i realised i had left my new white shirt at matt's! so i had to dash over there and finish getting dressed before i went to church. as i was going, i got lost--i completely forgot most of my cedar falls geography! i turned left on university ave off of college street and saw cop lights behind me. that was the last thing i needed!!!! anywho i pulled over. they asked for license, registration, insurance, etc. which i was luckily able to find. then they asked me some questions: "do you know why we pulled you over?" "not really [i hadn't been speeding]" "well are you from around here?" "yeah but i've been gone for 2 years" "well do you normally drive on the left side of the road???" and then i realised that my worst dreams of culture shock came true!!! i had driven all the way down college street on the left side of the road! they had thought i was drunk but luckily trusted me and only gave me a warning after i had explained i'd been in england for 2 years and driving for 8 months there. so they directed me to clay street, i got there, finished getting ready (i have to say i looked good in my new NEXT suit, purple tie, wide collar shirt, and cufflinks!) and zoomed off to church, arriving about 3 minutes before it started! yay. all of our talks went well and i had a bit of extra time but i filled it ok. sis. swindler also did a musical number called "shine on" and that was a great addition. the only fink i was sad about was the fact that none of my friends came. oh well. that afternoon i had my interview with the stake president (pres. johnson) and was released. how weird! it was good though. i'm still getting used to it... that night was our fireside and it was pretty good although the projector messed up our pictures a bit. my friend julie b. came and that was nice to have her support.

ever since then i've been busy with dentist/optometrist appointments, seeing friends (i got to spend time with julie, amanda, suzanne, kayla, and sarah), catching up with family (that was probably the best part), packing/sorting, and sturgis falls. oh and also reading harry potter 7! (great book) and listening to my old favourites of music and watching some movies that i'd missed. we were in cedar falls for about 10 days and it was really too short but great. we left july 2 for denver/utah/idaho/provo. we now drive a VW beetle and its nice but pretty small and its kinda a crazy car for people like us to drive. oh well! so now we're in denver at emily and drew's and having a good time. it is really good to see emily again, especially since she is my best sibling (like best friend). tomorrow we leave for utah/idaho and on monday i move into my new apartment. then i just need a job!

til later...