First Few Days of My New Life

Well the plane was definitely an adventure in itself. I was a bit nervous but this opportunity doesn't come around for everyone so I am taking the bull by the horns. On the way to New York I had to pee for so long. I think I held it in for 3 hours because I did't want to wake up my friends sitting next to me so I held it. and when I couldn't take it anymore I woke them up and headed to the back of the plane where I sat down to go to the bathroom, and of course, right as I sat down the plane started shaking and the seatbelt sign turned on which freaked me out so badly that I couldn't comcentrate enough to be able to actually go. So, I went back to stop and everyone said "Wow! That was fast!" and I told them I couldn't do it and everyone laughed. So I waited a couple hours, crawled over my friend sitting next to me and headed back there. The plane didn't shake but I did break my zipper. So I had my pants unzipped the entire day yesterday. haha great stories already right? Rome is UNDESCRIBEABLE. The word "amazing" does not even do it justice. In the airport in New York, my friend Mindy and I ran in Lapo, who is a very famous fashion designer, and we talked to him for about 20 minutes. It was really great to have a civilized conversation with someone famous as people waklk up to him for his autograph. And unfortunately, regrettably, we did not get a picture with him! I know...I know... you can be disappointed in me. On the plane to Rome as man asked my friend Jennifer and I if we would switch spots with him so he and his wife could sit by each other and he would pay us 5o dollars. We both agreed but did not let him pay us that money and he was very grateful! During the middle of the plane ride, he found us both and wrote a note saying "thank you for switching us spots" with a 50 dollar bill inside for each. So my time on the way to Rome has been great so far! haha Well I am going to go! I will write later! Ciao!

1st Day in Rome

Let me say first off that I cannot believe it is 1 in the afternoon at home and I am breaking curfew at 10:45 at night to write my blog. The computers here are a little different so it has taken me 10 minutes just to figure out. I only have 4 minutes left on my card so I will write A LOT more tomorrow when I have time. I cannot believe that I am in ROME! I. AM. IN. ROME. It still has not hit me yet, or anyone else really. I had gelato 2 times today and it is definitely what everyone says it is to be. I have had pizza and pasta which were outstanding! I am learned SOOOO much already and I cannot wait to tell y ou all about it tomorrow! I am not homesick anymore which is great! I feel like I could live here... maybe in my future plans... sorry mom haha I would love to live here though for a couple years! Well I have to go but I will write a lot more tomorrow! Ciao!

Countdown: 2 days until I am in Roma, Italy!

Well I only have two days left until I am on my 13 hour flight to Europe. I am really excited... more scared though. I am pretty sure that more people tell me to be careful than to have fun. Haha. Which is OKAY. But it freaks me out. Seriously. Tomorrow is my last day in class. I have spent the last two weeks in class from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and we are all pretty exhausted from that but we are all very excited. The other students I am going with are fantastic! They are all wonderful and very Christ-like and amazing people. I am super excited to be with them and be able to share these amazing experiences with them. I will write later and update some more! X.O. E.

Class Begins Today

Sorry it has been so long since I have written. My Grandma Gini brings it up whenever I am with her haha so I figured I would start writing when class begins. We had class today. Everyday from 8 am to 5 pm. LONG day that's for sure. I am also in the process of deciding whether or not I need to transfer. I have to make a decision by tomorrow and I am not sure what I am going to do yet. Can you tell I am a bit irritated and frustrated? It actually felt good going back to the school, which is making my decision even harder than it was. So anyways. Europe is in 13 days and I am very excited. My instructors are absolutely amazing people and extremely humorous (which will be a good trait to have while we endure irritating times on the trip). I am pretty much living out of my car...something new to me. I am sure that I would make a great homeless person if I only had my car. But life is good. I just have a hard time making decisions that I know need to be made and thought about. But the weekend is coming up and I am thrilled for that. I will write soon. I love you all. X.O. E.

Hospital Visit.

Well here is the newest update for everyone! My ward went to the Palisades reservoir in Wyoming and we all went tubing and wake-boarding. We had soooo much fun! Brother Floyd is pretty much the most amazing leader ever. He is crazy and a very funny and spiritual man but he knows how to have fun. We went tubing first and swam in the lake we caught so much air it was crazy. Brittney ended up flying off the tube and doing a back flip into the water (that's how fast we were going). We went wake-boarding after that (which is struggled greatly with) and then I decided I wanted to go tubing one more time before we had to leave. As we started to gain speed, we hit a huge wave and I flew into the air and came down onto my friend, Joel, knee. I almost passed out and my mouth was bleeding a lot so they stopped the boat and I felt a hole in my cheek, where I bit through. I started to feel better and kind of be tough and so I drove home. When we returned home, I was completely fine but my head and my mouth were hurting a lot. I tried to sleep and I took some medicine but all of a sudden I had extreme pain in my ears and my head and I could not move or get up. It freaked everyone out (especially Brittney because she balled her eyes on on the way to the hospital) and we drove to the hospital. I found out that I had a minor concussion and I would just be really sore for the next few days. I am feelings a lot better and now I just have a lot of sores in my mouth from biting through my cheek. So everything is really great here. It is pretty much my last REAL week of school and then I will be on my way home. I am really ready to leave and have a great summer. I miss my family and friends so much. I love you! X O. E.

Surprise!

Just to catch everyone up, I tried to surprise my family by going to California last weekend. Too bad I cannot keep my own surprises if my life depended on it. I told too many people in my extended family and in my immediate family that my mother found out and when she called me last Thursday to see what I was doing...well our conversation went a little like this:
Mom: Hey Erin, what are you up to right now?
Erin: I'm in class.
Mom: You are talking on your phone in class?
Erin: Yeah. I will call you later.
(an hour later)
Mom: What are you doing? It sounds like you are driving on a highway.
(And by the way, the whole time this is going on Ammon keeps repeating "Erin she knows. She knows.")
Erin: Yeah, I am driving to Ammon's house....
(here is where it gets good)
Mom: Erin... I know your secret.
Erin: What secret?
Mom: I have my sources Erin, I know you are driving home this weekend.
DANG IT. Yeah.. It went down like that. I am so bad with surprises. When Ammon and I decided to drive home, he told me not to tell anyone because we were going to surprise them! And of course I am so excited to surprise everyone... Every SINGLE day Ammon and I would have this conversation: (This is not an exaggeration)
Erin: Ammon... I told Crystal we are coming. But don't worry I won't tell ANYONE else.
Ammon: Erin you might as well tell your mom. She is going to find out.
Erin: No.. She won't! I am not going to tell anyone else.
NEXT DAY: (literally)
Erin: Ammon...
Ammon: Let me guess, you told someone.
Erin: Alright so what, I told Jordyn. She won't tell anyone, don't worry.
Ammon: Erin. Why don't you just tell everyone. It doesn't have to be a surprise.
AGAIN... NEXT DAY:
Erin: (breathing)
Ammon: Who did you tell?
Erin: I told my grandparents. But don't worry! I told them to swear not to tell anyone!
Ammon: Who else do you plan on telling? I guarantee your family already knows.
This literally happened every single day for a week until we arrived in California. The only person that was completely oblivious to me arriving was my father (no surprise). Haha. Great weekend though! I am done with school in exactly 12 days! I will write more later! X O. E.

Sarcastic Gratitude

Let me just express my gratitude sarcastically and then accurately.
1. Sarcastic: I LOVE how it is 91 degrees outside and our apartment is hotter than the temperature outside due to the fact that my manager very much dislikes my apartment and will not fix our air-conditioning.
2. Sarcastic: I LOVE that I have done the dishes and cleaned the kitchen over and over again. Brittney and I vowed not to do anyone's dishes but our own, but since they don't do them, I get sucked in because I hate a dirty kitchen. So I am facing the dishwater peeking over my laptop and debating whether or not I want/should/need to empty the dishwasher. Good thing there is only 22 days left in Rexburg people!
Enough of the sarcastic remarks. I truly am grateful for the weather! It is so hot and beautiful outside but I need air-conditioning. I have so much respect for those people in the world that have never had that. Let me mention how grateful I am that I live in California. Wow. CALIFORNIA. I hope that will always be my home. I miss my family so much and I am ready for this semester to be over. School is still going good. I am still reading Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and I still recommend it to those people who love classic stories about affairs. It's an awesome book. Hard to get in to but after the first 26 pages, you will get sucked into a world of dramatic, suspicious, and unsatisfied love affairs. Well I guess I need to go finish my homework. Ammon's birthday is tomorrow! It's the big 23 birthday! woo hoo! And it's fourth of July this weekend!! yesss.. X O. E.