London Done Proper

Ironically, "London Done Proper" isn't even proper English. But I'm American, not English, so I believe I reserve the right to say that it is at least proper American.

Well, it's our first post from Europe, and I'm happy to report that we made it three days in a European city without any major mishaps! Granted, it's not until today that we're traveling to a non-English-speaking country, but since the English have a few of their own quirky sayings and a unique accent, I'm still proud of how we navigated the city.

Actually, the hardest part of the whole thing has arisen not from our specifically American upbringing, but rather from our upbringing in any first-world country of the 21st century:  non-constant Internet access. Even several days into our journey, I'm still having trouble adapting. Every single time Hannah and I have a question and no answer, I think, "No worries - I'll look it up!" And then I can't. I'm more annoyed at my inability to adapt to this change of lifestyle than I am about the actual lack of Internet. Because despite its consistent frustrations, it's actually kinda nice to be forced to depart from the Internet... Until we get back to the hostel (both of ours so far have had free WiFi) and we both spend a good thirty minutes reconnecting to everything.

That's enough of a digression on my #firstworldproblems. Let's get to what we actually did!

After a smooth ten hours in the sky, a fifteen minute train ride to Victoria Station, and a quick Tube ride to a stop just two minutes walking from our hostel, we dropped our bags off and hit the streets to find dinner. My cousin Carly spent two months last summer studying abroad in London, so she gave us lots of recommendations on where to go and what to eat; her single favorite UK restaurant was Nando's, and there was one just down the street from us, so we went there for some delicious grilled chicken!

After dinner we still had a couple hours of light (it doesn't get dark till like 9 pm here!) so we walked to Kensington Palace and Kensington Gardens for a brief look around. It was a very pretty place, and it was also fun to walk through the city to get there. Hannah and I were shocked at how seemingly ancient buildings could be found literally right next to modern ones built probably in the last fifty years! But I guess that's what you have to do in a booming city with so much history!

Our first full day, we started at St. Paul's Cathedral. It was absolutely beautiful. I don't think Hannah was moved quite as much as I was, but I was just in awe of how detailed and ornate everything was - all built to glorify God. We took a headset tour of the whole cathedral (we couldn't take pictures on the inside but Hannah took a few anyway) including a trip to the very top, where you could step outside and get a great view of the whole city. Though not as tall as the London Eye, we felt it made a great substitute!

After St. Paul's Cathedral we went to Borough Market for a delicious lunch: authentic meat pies from a food truck called the Pie Minister. (No, not minster, and no, not meister. For whatever reason, it's minister.) If we had endless wallets and endless stomachs, we probably could have spent all day there!

From Borough Market we walked up the Thames to see three of London's most famous bridges: the Millenium Bridge, London Bridge, and Tower Bridge. Tower Bridge is by far the most impressive, and contrary to the belief of many Americans, London Bridge is actually this rinky dink little concrete bridge that appears to serve primarily functional, rather than aesthetic, purposes.

We finished the day with a tour of the Tower of London, which, as you might have guessed, is on one end of Tower Bridge. It had a very interesting though very gory history, and we even got to see the Crown Jewels! For dinner, we went to a pub by the name of Windsor. I had my very first plate of fish and chips, and also ordered my very first beer!

We did not, however, get to see the Crown Jewels of the current Queen Elizabeth II due to the fact that she needed them for an event the very next morning: the State Opening of Parliament. Apparently Parliament goes through a lame duck session each year kind of like the US, and it's up to the Queen to reinstate them (along with their newly elected members). To do so, she must travel from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament, and the English celebrate this brief and perfunctory journey with all the unnecessarily proper pomp and circumstance you might expect from the country that had its military dress in bright red uniforms and form nice, neat rows from which to fire simultaneously at rebellious American soldiers. Point is, it's quite a grand ceremony, and it's open to the public! So, the following morning, Hannah and I went to Buckingham Palace to watch this ceremony, and we even got to see the Queen herself - from a good distance - ride out in her royal carriage. Pretty neat, and quite auspicious since it happened to overlap with the single day of the year we intended to go to Buckingham Palace!

After the ceremony, we walked up to Trafalgar Square with the National Gallery and those iconic lion statues. Then we walked to Leicester Square, then to Piccadilly Circus, and then to the Marble Arch at the corner of Hyde Park. On our way, we stopped and got a lunch my brother Nathan would be proud of:  a waffle from Wafflemeister and a big cookie from Ben's Cookies. Both were suggestions from Carly, and both were great! Thanks again, Carly!

After finding our new hostel that we'd be staying in that night, we walked across the Thames again to find Westminster Abbey and Big Ben, which is attached to the Houses of Parliament. Though we didn't go into either, they were all impressive sights to see. All that old, ornate architecture is so interesting!

For dinner, we went back to Picadilly Circus and ate at this little Italian cafe called Caffé Concerto. It was, again, a delicious meal! Then we took to Tube to Apollo Victoria Theatre to see an absolutely wonderful performance of Wicked. Hannah's family bought us tickets for my birthday back in January, and they were spectacular seats in the fourth row! The music was incredible, and the musical itself is a really fun story, so it was a really awesome way to end our time in London.

In short, London was a spectacular beginning to our four-week backpacking trip around Europe. We're in Bruges now, but I'll let Hannah talk about that for our next post. So for now, I'm signing off! As they say in England... Cheerio!

... Come to think of it, I never actually heard anybody say that in London. Maybe that's a dated term. Or just not proper English.

A Flight Away!

We're closing in on Europe... and schoooool's out for summer! We survived!! I have to brag on behalf of Jeremiah a little bit here. Not only did he wrap up the semester with straight A's once again, maintaining his 4.0 (amazing!!), he was also offered an internship with Medtronic. Medtronic is a company that makes pacemakers primarily and Jeremiah will be interning in their failure analysis department. Basically, he will be helping test the things that could go wrong so that the don't go wrong when they have to actually be used. How awesome is that? Jeremiah was a little concerned about going to Europe and wasting a summer that could be used to have an internship. But Medtronic liked him so much that they were willing to push back the start date of the internship until we got back from Europe. Jeremiah is so talented and I'm so excited that Medtronic recognizes that and offered him this internship! So now he can go to Europe and not worry about "wasting his summer." So awesome. As for me, I finished off my semester very well as well! I have to admit I did not get straight A's (that is very hard for me to admit to), but I still have a 3.9 overall, so I am very proud of that! Also, I found out that I received a Kinesiology Program Scholarship for next year! I apply to so many scholarships every year, it's nice to finally win one, even if it's not a big amount, any amount helps! So anyway, that's enough of the bragging, sorry! We are happy to be done with another school year and now I can officially call myself a Junior in college (what??) and Jeremiah is a senior! Time is flying!

Since our last post, I was in the wedding of my friends Stephanie and Kyle! I was a bridesmaid and Jeremiah attended as well. They are some of our very good friends that we have known since high school, so it was especially exciting to be at their celebration! The wedding was at a place in Florence, Arizona called the Windmill Winery and it was a beautiful location! It was actually a beautiful day, weather-wise as well. AZ has been having some unseasonably cool weather for this time of year and we Arizonans are very grateful! Stephanie looked beautiful, the reception was a blast, and it was just a really happy day. 

Jeremiah and I with Stephanie and Kyle right before they left!

Another happy day was this past Thursday when Jeremiah's younger brother, Nathan, graduated from high school! He graduated in the top 10% from Mountain View high school, the same place Jeremiah and I went. Since my mom works at the high school she was able to get us tickets for field seats (graduation takes place in the football stadium), so we had a great view! Their grandparents flew in and his aunt and uncle and cousin came, so it was a fun celebration as well. Nathan will be going to ASU next year and majoring in Mechanical Engineering. We are both very excited for him and his future!

Also on Thursday morning, Jeremiah and I hiked Camelback Mountain with our friend Antonio and some of Antonio's other friends. It was a great hike with of course a great view from the top!

So today is the day we've been waiting for! We are flying out tonight for London!! We both can't believe it. A month in Europe has finally come? What?? But you better believe we are so excited. In the past week or two we have checked and double checked reservations, created packing lists, purchased some last minute items, and have packed our bags. Yesterday morning we met up at his parents house, loaded the car and left for Los Angeles. Jeremiah and I booked our flights out of LAX because it was the cheapest we could find, and at only a six hour drive from home, we figured it would be fine. Also, it worked out because his family is making a vacation out of it! So now we are sitting in the LA airport with our bags ready to go, just waiting to check-in! We have a direct flight into London so hopefully we will be able to sleep on the plane. We are arriving in London around 1 pm, which means we'll pretty much hit the ground running. We plan on updating the blog primarily on our train rides between countries, so we will keep in touch with everyone. With that, we say goodbye to the U.S. And hello to Europe! Check back periodically over the next four weeks to see where our adventure takes us! 

Squeezed in the tight back seat!

We look a little tired, but here we are with our bags ready to go! 

T-Minus Three Weeks to Europe!!

Welcome back, everyone, from our six-week hibernation as bloggers! Our last post was from spring break, which feels like ages ago. And actually, it was anything but a hibernation. The last six weeks have been some of the busiest of my life, and I think Hannah would agree. For me, it's consisted primarily of meetings for the four different group projects I've been working on, in addition to an individual project for another class. It also resulted in my very first all-nighter back in late March. On a Saturday night, no less. #engineeringlifeisnolife

But here we are, having just finished our last week of classes for the year! I have two finals on Monday and my last group project due on Thursday, and Hannah has all of her finals done by Tuesday, so within just a few days we'll be completely done with our academic year. I've scheduled myself an hour-long appointment at Massage Envy for next Friday using the $50 gift card Hannah gave me for my birthday back in January. It should be a very nice way to decompress after this crazy semester.

One of the hardest things about the past six weeks has been balancing our school and work responsibilities with planning for Europe! Originally we had decided to not book hostels more than a few days in advance so that we could maintain flexibility on our trip. But after evaluating current prices with respect to our tight budget, we decided we needed to book further in advance to even have a shot at staying under budget (and it looks like that won't happen anyway!).

So, Hannah called me up one afternoon and said, "In two weeks, we need to have all our sleeping arrangements booked. You take half, and I'll take the other half." I was like, "But Hannah, I'm so busyyyyyy..." and she said, "Suck it up, Nancy!" Okay, maybe she didn't phrase it quite like that, but she got the point across. Little did she know the tables would soon turn.

I took my assignment - as I do all my assignments - and ran with it! Within a couple days I'd booked sleeping arrangements in three of our cities, and was anxious to finish the rest. This time Hannah pushed back, asking if we could postpone further bookings to next weekend since she was busy with school. I obliged, and by the end of the following week we'd finished booking our sleeping arrangements for our entire trip, all at prices that met our budget.

The next big hurdle came upon learning that the EuroStar - the train we'd be taking to get from London to Belgium and from France to London - cost over $130 for a one-way ticket. That was quite a blow to the confidence we'd built in making such conservative bookings for our hostels. We always knew that the Eurail didn't travel to the UK, but we had no idea that it'd cost so much to make up for that. So, we started looking at plane flights instead, eventually finding some pretty great deals from easyJet. Looks like our one-way travel cost for those legs of the journey will average around $80 instead of the $130 we'd pay for a train ticket, and even though that's still quite a bit of money, we're satisfied to be saving about $100 apiece in those travel costs!

So yes, our backpacking trip to Europe is becoming more rigid as we proceed, but you've gotta do what you've gotta do if you intend to stick to a tight budget. Flexibility costs a lot of money. But we're still quite happy with our plans; we believe the time we've allocated to each stop in our itinerary will be just about right. Kinda crazy to think it's only three weeks away now! Seems like just yesterday I was FaceTiming Hannah from my apartment in Orlando, when we originally came to the decision to travel to Europe this summer...

In other news, Hannah and I experimented with a fun new activity in Downton Phoenix called Social Bicycles. It's a system they've recently implemented where you can go up to a set of bikes at one of probably a dozen different stations around the city, and rent a bike for just $5/hour. They're just casual, cruising bikes - nothing fancy - but it gave us a fun opportunity to explore the area and enjoy the nice weather. We finished with a ride down Roosevelt Row, a strip of the city known for its murals that decorate the sides of small buildings. It was a fun afternoon! And apparently this isn't a totally novel idea: other places around the country do this same thing, including Orlando and some other coastal cities.

Creative pictures, right? This was Hannah's idea!

Hannah and I also had a lot of fun on Easter Sunday, and not just because our families make AMAZING food! We got to play our instruments with the worship team at RMCC for all three services, and it was really uplifting and rewarding. Jessica, the leader of the worship team, sent us an email afterward that included kind words she'd received from some who attended the services, and it was really neat to think that we played a part in connecting others to God through our music. I hope we get to do that more frequently in the future!

Two weeks ago we drove down to that "school" down south to hear my little brother, Nathan, perform at the Arizona All-State Music Festival. It's an annual event that consists of three groups - band, orchestra, and choir - and it's a real privilege to be a part of; you have to audition to get in, and in the case of trumpet (Nathan's instrument) it ultimately consists of just the top 15-or-so high school musicians in the state. Nathan's been a part of it for three years, so as you might assume, he is indeed quite a talented musician. They put on a wonderful performance, as did the orchestra and choir, and afterward we grabbed dinner at this cute little restaurant whose name eludes me... It had the word "garlic" in it, so naturally, it was delicious food.

Then, last week, Hannah and I joined her family for an afternoon of roller hockey to take advantage of the beautiful weather. We played for a solid hour, and at first glance, the teams may have appeared quite lopsided. Her dad and her brother, Brian, were on one team, and the other five of us played against them. About halfway through, two little kids from elsewhere in the neighborhood came and joined our team, so eventually it was seven-on-two hockey - and they still gave us a run for our money. We eventually won on a "next goal wins" ultimatum, but honestly, I think they may have been a goal or two ahead of us at that time. But every time I play I get a little more adept at the sport, so maybe one day I'll be able to keep up with them. Maybe.

I think that's about all there is to share from the past six weeks! Should be a really great next few weeks before we leave for Europe. Our friends Stephanie and Kyle are getting married in just two weeks, and my little brother, Nathan, will be graduating high school just a few days after that! In fact, today is his 18th birthday, and we're celebrating with dinner and a movie this evening. So yeah, should be fun! Hopefully we can fit in another blog post before we leave, to wrap things up here before we start blogging about our Europe adventures!

Until next time!

Spring Break!

It's a Wednesday and I'm posting a blog! That's a rare occurrence during a school week! But yay for having a bit of spare! Though I did write most of this post on the car ride home from California. I will explain why we were in California a bit later on. So since the last post...

            We are now officially members of our church, Red Mountain Community Church! Like Jeremiah said, it wasn’t an especially extensive process, but a few classes and an interview later, we are members and are excited to have made that commitment.

            Honestly, February was pretty boring overall for us, we were just so consumed by school and work. But we managed a few fun things in there!

For Valentine’s Day, we made it pretty simple, but fun. Jeremiah gave me flowers and chocolates and a Coke Zero (he knows me so well) and my birthday gift to him doubled as a Valentine’s gift, so on Valentine’s Day I only actually gave him some candy, but he enjoyed that. For our date, we went to Chick-fil-A for dinner! You’re probably thinking how strange we are, but it was great! They were doing a special sit-down Valentine’s deal complete with a waitress, actual menus, live music, candles and a tablecloth, a free ice cream sundae bar, a carnation, and a gift certificate for another free meal. So we had a fun time and dressed up just to complete the experience. So some people may think it was odd, but we had a great time and saved some money! After our meal we just watched a movie. Another great Valentine’s Day shared with my best friend!

The live music was actually really good!

Also in February we celebrated my mom’s birthday by getting the whole family together for dinner at Sauce and frozen yogurt for dessert. It’s always fun (and a little crazy) to get the whole family together. My whole family was planning on going up to the cabin the weekend after my mom’s birthday, but Jeremiah and I had to stay back for a few different reasons. But at the last minute, my brother and sister-in-law and their kids stayed home too. So on that Saturday night, Jeremiah and I went over to their house to babysit while Brian and Terrisa went out on a date. We had a fun time with Paisley and Parker, as we always do, just playing around! Then after we put them to bed, we watched the movie “Gone Girl” for the first time, and really enjoyed it! What a strange movie! But I would definitely recommend it. So besides that, there really was not much to report from February. It flew by, and we are thankful because it was hectic!

So before we knew it we are now here in March! But ask any college student what March means to them and they will most likely say- Spring Break! Yes indeed it was our Spring Break this past week. We just had to get through the first week of March, which was full of midterms. But we did, and then were so excited to be free for a week! On Friday, the 6^th, we met up at our old high school to watch a track invitational. Most of you reading probably know that I was on the track team in high school, primarily as a pole vaulter, and Jeremiah was a dedicated supporter, coming to many of my meets.  He says he always enjoyed coming, and of course, I love anything track, so we decided that we should do our best to attend some track meets throughout the year. So we sat by the pole vault for a few hours and cheered on Mountain View pole vaulters! That was a fun way to start our Spring Break.

Then we both returned to our parents’ houses for the rest of the week. Throughout the week we did some fun things both together and individually with our families. On Saturday morning I went to this event called the Phoenix Flea with my sisters, mom, and Grandma, and we had Pizzeria Bianco for lunch- yum! Then Saturday evening I met up with Jeremiah’s family for dinner at Oregano’s (yes I ate out twice in one day, but for the record, I got a salad for dinner) and then Jeremiah and I went to the Phoenix Symphony. At the symphony they played a beautiful cello concerto and a couple other pieces. Sunday after church, I went with Jeremiah and his family to watch Jeremiah’s brother, Nathan, in his Sonic Brass concert. He had a couple of really beautiful solos on the flugelhorn and overall it was a great concert! He is a very talented musician and it’s always fun to hear him perform. After the concert we all went over to his grandma and grandpa’s house for dinner. They are heading back to Kansas for the next few months and so we wanted to see them one last time before they left. They have a house here and in Kansas that they switch off between. Anyway, dinner was great and it’s always nice to see them! After dinner I drove over to my friend Stephanie’s apartment to hang out with her and some of our other friends. Myself and the other girls that were over are going to be bridesmaids in Stephanie’s wedding in May and her other bridesmaid who is from Virginia was in town and so Stephanie wanted us to meet her. We had a nice time getting to know her and just hanging out and chatting for awhile! Stephanie is a good friend of both mine and of Jeremiah as well, and we sometimes go on double dates with she and her fiancé. They both met in marching band in high school as well, so we have a good amount in common with them! Anyway, I’m sure you’ll read about the wedding in May via the blog as well! Monday through Wednesday we did a few things, mostly just enjoyed our time at home. But Thursday morning we left for, guess where! Where else but Disneyland!! Yep, you heard right, we went to Disneyland over our Spring Break. This trip was with my family for my niece, Paisley’s fourth birthday! So early Thursday morning Jeremiah and I drove up with my sister, brother-in-law, and niece Madeline. We stopped at a place called Matt’s Big Breakfast on the way, which was delicious. Once we got there, we didn’t do much, mostly just settled in. Jeremiah and I went to a nearby mall for a couple hours and got Paisley a birthday gift; then we all got hotel happy hour and just hung out around the hotel! Friday morning we got out on the shuttle to Disneyland by 9 am, which is quite a feat with 12 people (including two babies)! We spent all day in the California Adventure park and had a blast! It was fun to do more of the kid attractions and take the time to watch some shows. There is always more to explore at Disneyland and this trip, Jeremiah and I definitely had some new experiences! For Paisley I think the best part of the day was meeting Elsa and Anna from Frozen! We got to go into their castle and get their signatures, and Paisley looked pretty excited. We also watched the Aladdin show, spent a lot of time in Bug’s Life land, and did plenty of walking. And don’t worry, we managed to find time for Tower of Terror, California Screamin’, and Toy Story Mania a couple of times each! Oh yeah, and for dinner we went to a restaurant called Ariel’s Grotto. It was so cute! Under the Sea themed and five different princesses came out during dinner and visited each table. Also, the food was delicious! Needless to say we were exhausted by the end of the day, but on Saturday we got up and did it again! Except Saturday we spent all day in the actual Disneyland park. Saturday was Paisley’s birthday and we had made her a shirt that said, “It’s my 4^th birthday” on it. She reminded us throughout the day that it was her “special birthday.” In the morning we visited the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique where Paisley got her hair and makeup done! It was the cutest thing and she looked like she was really enjoying it. Cutest princess ever! Even with the painfully pulled back hairstyle! After that we did a few things in Fantasyland, watched a show, went on Space Mountain, and some of our other favorites. The day flew by! For dinner we went to this place with Monte Cristo sandwiches, and I don’t understand how those things made it on to the entrée part of the menu. That was dessert. If you’ve never had a Monte Cristo, you’ve got to try one because it was delicious, but man I’m sure it was terrible for me! I can’t believe Paisley is four now!! I’m so happy we could get everyone together to celebrate at Disneyland! What a fun way to celebrate!

So for those of you who don’t know too much about Disneyland, there is a place called Club 33 in New Orleans Square that it infamous to Disney-goers. It is a restaurant/bar type thing that is impossible to get into unless you have a lot of money just sitting around. You have to be a member which costs something like $10,000 a year I think? You should look it up if you’ve never heard about it. Anyway, we were all talking about it and my dad and brother-in-law George decided to go look at the door where you get into the place and a man came out and asked what they were up to and if they wanted to go in!! So the two of them actually went in to Club 33! Of course, we didn’t believe them when they first told us, but they took pictures to prove it so we had to believe it. The rest of us were extremely jealous. So that was an especially exciting part of our trip.

 On the drive to Disneyland.

 Shuttle to the park. 

 Obviously having no fun at all!

 Dreams really do come true at Disneyland!

Paisley after the Bippity Boppity Boutique!

So Sunday rolled around, and now we made our way home. No fun, but necessary I guess! Back to reality, back to school, back to work!

We have officially purchased our Eurail passes! So we are now going to be able to get around Europe. Our next step is to look into hotels and hostels for sleeping arrangements! Also, I think I mentioned this before, but if any of you reading have been to Europe, feel free to comment or email us with suggestions on places to visit! We’d love to hear! We are going to start compiling a list of some of the top things to see in each city that we are going to be visiting. This way we can have a tentative plan in each city and just pick a few things we want to do when we get there. At least that is the plan for now!

Have a great week everyone! I hope the weather is warming up for those of you who live in cold-winter climates!

Consistently Inconsistent

Well, this is awkward... I guess this whole "posting every two weeks" thing just isn't happening. Instead of starting off every post with an apology for a lack of consistent posting, I'm just gonna take this moment to officially announce that our posts will occur on an irregular basis. But really, we're doing you a favor. Life is incalculably more fun when you don't know when to expect your friend/relative's next blog post.

So what's happened since January 4th? Well, for one thing, Hannah and I have begun our busiest semesters to-date! This semester Hannah added to her already overloaded plate of extracurricular activities a job doing research in a lab that studies the exercise habits of pregnant women, if I'm not mistaken. So far it's been a great experience for her, and certainly a great step on her path toward PT school. Meanwhile, I've scooped a couple extra helpings of engineering coursework onto my plate, and it's now dripping with delectables like thermofluids, mechanical design, and control systems. Certainly a well balanced engineering diet!

Shortly after school began, my 20th birthday rolled around. It's pretty nice having my birthday at the start of every semester, to keep my spirits up even as my schedule becomes busy again with classes and clubs and work. To celebrate, my family and I (and Hannah, of course) went to Top Golf in Gilbert. We had a great time, and I felt like I improved considerably thanks to the tips of my grandpa!

Hannah and I celebrated my birthday just last Friday. Yes, that's February 6th, and yes, that's 2.5 weeks after my birthday, but we didn't have many opportunities to celebrate because of our busy schedules! (Busy with skiing, that is, but I'll get to that later.) We went to Pane Bianco in Downtown Phoenix to pick up a couple sandwiches, then drove out to Las Sendas for a sunset hike and dinner on Spook Hill. Pretty creative/romantic, right? I have the best girlfriend!

Speaking of celebrations, how about Super Bowl XLIX? I suppose that's a pretty controversial thing to say, actually, depending on which team you were rooting for. But regardless of your allegiance, you have to admit that was a pretty amazing game. Hannah and I visited Super Bowl Central Downtown on Friday; on Saturday we went to a viewing party in the Cronkite Building on the Downtown campus, where they broadcast the game on a huge screen compiled of four smaller-but-still-pretty-big screens. There were probably over a hundred students there, and just about everybody seemed to be leaning hard toward one team or the other, so it was a fantastic atmosphere. The neatest thing, though, was that they brought in a different catered selection of food each quarter: first Corner Bakery, then Papa John's, then Chipotle, and finally desserts from Corner Bakery. So great food, great company, and GREAT game. Especially if you were pulling for the Patriots. Which Hannah and I were.

It's not that I like the Patriots. It's that I really dislike the Seahawks. And for Hannah, it's that I really dislike the Seahawks.

So, about the skiing. This winter I've been skiing three times! Considering I hadn't been skiing for two years previous to this, I'd say that's pretty good. The first trip you've likely already read about - that was our Warren family trip to Beaver Creek in Colorado. The second was just me, Hannah, and her parents; we went up to Sunrise in late January and enjoyed a relaxing weekend at their cabin.

The third (and likely final) trip of the season came just last weekend, on a turnaround trip up to Sunrise with about 60 other ASU Barrett students. Last November we paid $40/person to register for this trip, which included charter bus transportation, snacks, a lift ticket, equipment rental, and a half-day lesson. Oh and a really sweet Barrett beanie. Hannah and I brought our own gear, and we didn't need a lesson, but since a lift ticket alone is usually over $50, this was still a screaming deal.

Our day began at 3:30 am, when the buses departed from Downtown campus. We pretty much just napped on the way up, which was good because we skied from 9 am to almost 4 pm, with the only breaks coming from the lift rides and lunch! Hannah and I spent most of the day with our friend Patty, who snowboards (she also came on the Havasupai hike with us, if you remember that). I was easily the least experienced of us three, but they were patient with me as I made my long, slow S-curves down the steeper parts of the slopes. We also spent much of the day with Hannah's brother Brian and some of his friends, who were staying in the family cabin in Pinetop that weekend. Brian eventually convinced me to try my very first blue (the medium level of difficulty). It was slow going, and I ended up falling in one of the steeper sections, but ultimately I did alright, and it felt like great progress! Certainly a good way to end the ski season.

I guess the only other points of interest are that Hannah and I are currently going through the process to become members of Red Mountain Community Church! It's not an especially intensive process, but we had our first class last weekend, and it seems like membership will really help us grow spiritually and become a stronger part of the community at RMCC. So we're looking forward to the rest of it.

I'm ashamed to say that we have no developments in our Europe plans... Due to the business of the semester, we haven't gotten around to purchasing our Eurail passes like we hoped we would have by now. But with any luck, we'll have that next step complete by the time Hannah writes our next post. Which, as I expressed in the opening of this post, could really be any length of time! Haha.

Well, that's all for now! Enjoy your next two weeks. Or months. Whatever it ends up being.