Vienna now onto Telaviv

Well while Jenn and Deb had a quick layover in Vienna I had an 11 hour layover. At first I was so excited to go and explore the city and the forty of us that had to wait left the airport and with maps in our hands we went to explore. The group of 12 people that I went with decided to take a train into the city center of Vienna and then walk around.We saw some amazing cathedrals and pretended to be part of the statues scenes. As you can tell I am pretending to be Beethoven and the girls are pretending to be children learning. After about 4 hours of walking and going on about 4 hours of sleep over the last 2 days I was ready for sleep. We went to a palace and walked up to the top and viewed an amazing garden and I fell asleep. We had to run to the train station and then figure out what train led us to the airport. Well, after much confusion we finally got back to the airport and now we are boarding. It is incredible to think that I will be going to the Holy Land. I feel it is such an amazing blessing and amazing that I am going with two cousins. I feel tremendously blessed.

(while in Vienna we got some ice cream! Yumm!!!)

Right now I am in the Vienna International Airport just waiting to get back on a plane for another 3 1/2 hours. That last flight was hard. I couldn't really sleep because of my height and I was in the middle seat. But if I can last the day then I'll sleep well tonight and I should be able to adjust to the new time quickly.
I was up last night until 5am and then finally slept for an hour before I got back up at 6:15am to shower and get ready. We headed up to the airport with our new friend Spencer Wilcox and checked into our flight and waited to board.
The flight to Chicago was uneventful. In Chicago this nice man from Austrian Airlines, Mohammed, met us and made sure we got onto our next flight. O'Hara airport is HUGE and it was a good thing he was there to help us get on the train, etc. It was a 30 minute, walk/train just to get from one plane to the other!

This last flight was 10 plus hours and it was LONG! We are just about to start boarding for this last flight to TelAviv and then we are going to be there! We have already spend almost a day traveling and I am going to be glad for a bed to stretch out in tonight!
So, the adventures in Jerusalem begin! We'll keep you posted!

"In the last days, perilous times shall come..."

So here I am on the eve of the last day of finals...and I'm going crazy. I can't wait for these last two tests to be done. Despite my best efforts to get things done early, this semester will be yet another mad dash to the finish. But the great thing about time is that it moves on, whether you are ready for it or not. That is a frightening and yet somehow comforting thought.

All day today I have been thinking, "a week from right now, I'll be on a plane" or "I'll be in Chicago" or "I'll be in a plane" or "I'll be in Vienna!" Pretty fun way to distract oneself from studying but I can't help it! Time is going so fast and in just a week, I will be on my way to the Holy Land! This dream seems almost surreal. I remember writing my application essay. I talked about the Jewish ancestry in my family and growing up learning about the Jewish traditions from an amazing mother who recognized the importance of knowing your roots. Now I am going to be going there and learning first hand about these people and my Savior Jesus Christ. Words cannot describe the excitement and gratitude in my heart right now.

So, I need to go to bed and get ready for this last day of finals. I'm excited to share this adventure with Deb, Mitchell and any of you faithful followers! I hope it will prove to be both informational and testimony building. That is what I am looking forward to the most!
Next post in the Holy Land! Next time in Jerusalem! (they say that at the end of Passover)

Wonders of Wonders, Miracles of Miracles!

I'm going to Jerusalem to study! I'm so excited! Especially that I'll be there with my sister and my cousin! We're going to have a blast. I'm new to this whole "blogging" thing so I'm going to have to figure out an entertaining way of presenting my view of the adventures we'll have. But, at the moment I find myself completely occupied with mundane tasks, such as homework, homework, and, oh! more homework. Finals are coming up, but I'll be so glad they're over and I'm on my way to Jerusalem! It really is such a miracle to be going to the Holy Land and I'm grateful that its been working out so well. We're trying to prepare as best we can, but regardless its going to be amazing.

To be continued....

Stay tuned for another amazing entry by your favorite blogster, Deb.

Two weeks away

I recently got my itinerary for my flight to Jerusalem. I will have a 12 hour layover in Vienna- so I need to come up with what to do while I am there.

When I got the itinerary I realized that I will be in Jerusalem in just about 2 weeks. Me, Jenn and Deb all decided to start a blog so that we can share our pictures with everyone and keep everyone informed about our adventures in Jerusalem and surrounding areas.

The two weeks that are ahead of me will be very busy. I have 5 finals and then I will be walking in the graduation exercises, even though I will not officially graduate until August. I have been talking to people that have been in Jerusalem and have realized I have a lot to do to prepare and I am excited!