In the End is a New Beginning

So I am at the end. I have exactly one day left in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the German town I have called home for the last 13 months of my life. And boy, has it been a roller-coaster! I started out HATING it...and now I'm a little bit scared to leave. Over the past year I have learned a lot about people, and even more about myself. I have learned some of my weaknesses, and also some of my greatest strengths. I have seen a lot more of the world, and I am much better for it. I thought I would make a short list of the things I will miss, as well as some of the things I will NOT miss. I'll start with the things I am going to miss the most-

1. People-I have made some incredible friends here, and I hope that I can stay in touch with all of them for the rest of my life. I have been truly blessed by their friendships here in Germany!

2. Food-Bakeries especially, but also chocolate, Schnitzel, and many other European delights!

3. Walking everywhere- Colorado Springs and most other big cities in the west have very little public transport, and it's impossible to walk everywhere. I have loved being able to get anywhere without a car!

And now some things I will not miss-

1. Drunk People- I'm pretty sure it's a German hobby to see how drunk you can get at any point in the day.

2. Beer- the smell of it, how it transforms people from normal to stupid in one pint flat, how it is such a huge part of the culture here.

3. The two hour commute to church- Woof.

I am so grateful for the experience of living in Europe, and getting to travel so much. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to broaden my horizons a little bit more, and learn so much. I hope that the next chapter in my life will continue to help me learn and grow, and that I can be an influence for good wherever I might be!

Funny Story...

So as I was reminiscing over my three years at BYU-Idaho, I came across a random memory from one summer semester when I worked at the BYU-Idaho catering bakery. I was a sophomore, and loved my job. I got to go to work every day and make hundreds of dozens of cookies for the meal plan buffet as well as all the catering orders for school and community functions. This particular summer we made a lot of extra rolled sugar cookies that required icing, and no one ordered enough to deplete our supply, so we decided to decorate then and send them out to the buffet line. Because there was little supervision and my coworkers and I had some extra time, we decided to have a little bit of fun and write our phone numbers on a few of the cookies. We figured it was harmless, and we might get a funny phone call out of it. What we didn't account for was the large number of EFY kids that ate every meal at the buffet. Oops! So the next day, I had a message on my cell from a seventeen-year-old, asking if I could meet up with him!! Ghaa! I figured I could just ignore it, but then I answered the phone the next tome he called without realizing it! He asked me how old I was (at the time I was three years older than him) and if I could meet him by the dorms at midnight. Of course I declined, but he was persistent. Little bugger. He called me every night that week! I never met up with him, and he eventually got the hint, but it was my first lesson in thinking through my ideas before acting upon them. It is still a really funny story, and one that I reflect on fondly, just becuase it was such a funny situation! How could I have forgotten about EFY with hundreds of teenagaers on campus making my life difficult? Getting in my way? So funny!

To Do List

I think maybe I'll make a list, half for myself and half for you three readers, of things I still want to do and places I still want to see. Read on if you're interested, or just skip this post for the next one, also done today!

Things to do:

-Go to a really fancy restaurant

-Wear a really gorgeous dress

-Skydive

-Paraglide

-See several more Operas, Broadway shows, Symphonies, etc.

-Surprise someone

-Have a grown-up dinner party, with grown-ups

-Drive a really nice car


Places I want to go:

-Maldives

-China

-Australia

-New Zealand

-Israel

-Morocco

-Turkey

-Egypt

-Canada (yes, Canada.)

Things I would like to buy-but I don't really need. (I know, I need to be less material. )

-A real cashmere sweater

-a power suit

-a nice camera

That's it. My to do life list. Somewhere in there I want a husband and kids. But they will want to do all that stuff too, right? I hope so!

Four Weeks!

It's truly amazing how quickly the time passes. Just Twelve short months ago I arrived here in Garmisch, Germany, and now I am preparing to leave. Of course, at the time, I felt that a year was an intolerably long time. But looking back, it was an incredibly short amount of time. So, being one month from my leave date, I decided to do a quick recap of the past year.

From August 10, 2009-August 10, 2010 I have:

-visited nine countries (Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, England, Scotland, France, and Spain.)

-ridden the train to Munich approximately 50 times (1 and a half hours each way.)

-Sledded down a mountain at midnight.

-Purchased two Dirndls (traditional Bavarian dresses-think bar wench.)

-Been to three traditional German festivals-Frühlings Fest, Garmischer Fest, Partenkirchen Fest

-Seen BMW World-and sat in a brand new BMW-5 series.

-Seen more churches and cathedrals than I can count!

-Been to a Monastery where the monks spend one month out of every year extremely drunk.

-Done the majority of my grocery shopping at Germany grocery stores-which is more difficult than it sounds!

-Eaten five Doner Kebaps-if you've had one, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, that is the reason you have that empty feeling in the pit of your stomach sometimes.

-Eaten at least five pounds of the finest European chocolate.

-Seen at least four castles (Schloss Linderhof, Buckingham Palace, Edinburgh Castle, and the Rezidence.)

-Seen two Operas (Jenufa and Il Turco in Italia)

-Seen one West End show in London (Wicked)

-Had more amazing Italian food than is strictly healthy...oh well.

-Had at least two gallons of Gelato. Per summer. Mango is my favorite.

-Discovered Stroop Wafels. Thanks Angela. They are Belgian waffles with caramel in the middle. 'Nuff said.

-Had two dinner parties.

-Tried Buffalo Burgers. Yum!

-Started charcoal all by myself! It doesn't matter that it went out...

-Befriended some incredible people in Munich and Garmisch. Just to name a few: Munich-Angela, Melanie, Kay, Andreas, Nate, Elodie and Isabel. Garmisch-Ben, Tyane, Katie, Kelly, Emily, Ryan, Renee, Jen, and Zack.

-Had some incredible days and nights with amazing people!


I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to meet so many awesome people an see so many amazing places. Not many people have had the luxury of traveling so much so early in life, and I am so very thankful that I have had this experience. I hope to continue to travel, as theer are many more things I would love to see. But for now, I am ready to see what kinds of adventures I can have back in th good 'ol US of A!

A Car and Castle

The other day, my friend Ben and I decided last minute to rent a car and go up to Crazy King Ludwig's summer Palace, Schloss Linderhof. I had been before, but it was winter, so the beautiful gardens the Palace is known for were dead, and the incredible fountains were all boarded up. I was so excited to see the gardens, and to ride in a car! It is funny how much I am getting sick of traveling by train. The freedom of jumping in the car and just going is something I dearly miss!
So we went down to the local car rental agency and rented a brand-spankin' new VW Passat. It was SWEET! Of course Ben drove, as my 6-speed skills are severely lacking. We headed up to Linderhof and walked around the beautiful gardens, saw the fountains and statues, and just had an all-around great time. After we had taken in the gorgeous gardens and scenery, we headed to Oberammergau to see the Passion Play Theater and walk around town. We stopped at a bakery for breakfast, and I had a really good plum torte. Ben had almond cake and some coffee to get him started for the day. I had some of his Almond cake and it was divine! I am really going to miss German bakeries! After breakfast, we walked around the little town, stopping to get Ben a authentic Bavarian sweater vest, which he had wanted for quite a while. He looks very sharp in it, if anyone is wondering ;) We went and looked at the theater where the Passion Play is performed every ten years, and saw some of the history in a picture presentation set up in the lobby of the theater. I had been to the play already, but Ben hadn't seen it yet. When we left, he was vowing to find a ticket to the play.
After Oberammergau, we headed down to Ettal, a tiny little town that houses a huge monastery known for their liqueur and cheese production. We saw the ornate Rococo-style chapel, and toured the grounds when we accidentally got lost. It was so funny, because we couldn't figure out how to get back out o the front of the monastery, so Ben decided to try to jump the wall that surrounds the back of the place. He gave the woman on the other side of the wall quite a fright! He stopped trying to jump the wall after that! We had a good laugh, and did eventually find out way to the front of the monastery. We had a wonderful lunch at a local restaurant, and then headed back to Garmisch. But the day was FAR from over!
When we got home, we went to Post (the U.S. Army garrison) and ran some errands. Then we went to watch a softball game which ended up being canceled. Earlier in the day we had looked at movie times at the English theater in Munich and saw that Inception was playing at 10:15. We thought it would be fun to go and see it, as I hadn't seen a movie in theaters since before I came to Germany. We asked our friends Ryan, Emily and Zach to go with us, and we headed up to Munich at around 8. When we got to the theater and picked up our tickets, we had about an hour to waste time so we walked around downtown Munich. The movie was great, (although I had really weird dreams the next morning) and we just had a great time in general. My favorite part of the night was driving home, because I convinced Ben to go really fast on the Autobahn. We got up to 200 kph (about 124 mph). It was awesome! At this point it was 2:00 in the morning, and I was ready for bed. But it was such a fantastic day! I hope I can have some more great days like that before I have to leave this dreamworld I live in!

For Angela

This weekend I spent Sunday and Monday in Munich. Sunday was for Church and YSA activities, and Monday was to spend time with my good friend Angela. Angela has really been a blessing in my life here in Germany. She works as an Opera singer for the Bayerisch Staatoper in Munich, and she is truly gifted. I had the opportunity to sit in on a few of her practice sessions, and it was such an incredible experience! We had such a great day. After the first couple of practice session, we went to Olympia park for Tollwood, only to find that it was already done and over with. So, we improvised, and went to BMW World. It was so fun! We took some fun pictures in our dream vehicles, and let me tell you, they were sweet! I love BMWs!!! After drooling over the beautiful German machinery, we went to the Olympiaeinkaufzentrum, which is the biggest mall (with the longest name) in Munich. We had some fun trying on clothes and looking at home furnishings. We also ate four scoops of gelato. Each. Yep.
After we were finished trying on expensive clothing, we decided to go somewhere we could actually afford, so we headed back into the city center and went to a little dress shop to look around. We tried on more cute clothes, and Angela even found a great summer dress! Then we went shopping for postcards and a key chain for me, as I hadn't gotten anything in all of my days in Munich. so we did that, and then went back to the Operahouse for a final practice session. After that we went back to Angela's apartment and relaxed for a few minutes before meeting her opera friends for a birthday dinner. Angela's birthday was on Sunday, but they waited until Monday to celebrate. It was a wonderful time at a small Mexican restaurant. After dinner was over, I needed to catch the last train out of Munich to Garmisch. I said goodbye to Angela, letting her know it was definitely not for the last time, and then began the long journey back home. I loved spending so much time with a good friend, and I had such a great time seeing the career she has chosen with her incredible talent. I am so grateful for good friends, and I am blessed to count Angela as one of them. So this one's for you, Ang!

Can I make it?

I don't know! It has become increasingly hard to concentrate on being in Germany when all of my thoughts are of the future. I know I am always one to worry, but I am going a little bit crazy thinking about what I have to do when I get back to Colorado. Get a job, get a phone, get health insurance, get a car, car insurance, etc. I am pretty much freaking out. Luckily, my amazing parents are going to graciously let me stay in their home until I get everything figured out, so I don't have to get an apartment yet, but somewhere down the line I am going to have to do that too. It feels like I have been avoiding life in a dream world where nothing matters except having fun and getting to work on time, and now I have to suddenly grow up and deal with real life. I am ready (I think...) to take that step, but at the same time, I'm afraid of failing at it. But onward and upward, right? I think I am coming off a little bit sad, but that is not the case at all! I am super excited, and cannot stand having to wait the month and a half I have 'til I come home! I am excited to have a real job, drive a car (finally!) and be able to start living a fulfilling life. But it is all a little bit terrifying at the same time. I am so grateful for having parents who prepared me for being a contributing member of society, and I hope I can live up to what I know they expect from me. I am also grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who watches out for me and lets me know when I am going he wrong way, no matter how much I wish I wasn't. I am grateful for the knowledge of the Gospel, and for Joseph Smith, a prophet of the Lord, who was faithful enough to stand up for what he knew was true to bring the truthfulness of the Restored Gospel!