Celebrating Together

Last Thursday, Jonathan and I finally took the time to celebrate my birthday together. It was really weird not being together on the actual day, but it nice to have another special evening. We walked down to Macy's so Jonathan could pick up a present for me. Then we made our way to Whole Foods to check out their bakery.

Jonathan got key lime pie and I got a berry cheesecake. Delicious!

We ate our desserts and enjoyed the sunset from the deck at Whole Foods.

While I had a great time spending two weeks in Europe, it feels so right to be back home in Texas with Jonathan.

Day One: Amsterdam

Even though this is labeled as our first day in Amsterdam, I'm adding a bit of the day before since it was spent in the plane on our way there. Our flight took off at 4:00 PM on Friday and landed in Amsterdam around 11:00 AM the next day. I've never been on such a long flight, but it went alright.

I was able to get some sleep and the food on the plane wasn't too bad. When we landed the excitement kicked in to help mask a certain amount of my fatigue.

After we checked into our hotel, Chris, Annie, and I headed off to a nearby grocery store to pick up some food.

After a bit of food and rest, we made our way to the Van Gogh Museum. I found a new favorite Van Gogh painting.

Wheatfield under Thunderclouds

A nice Dutch man offered to take a picture of my mom and me in front of the painting. A group of guys came up behind us and he tried telling them to move, but they didn't realize he was talking to them. He then walked in front of them and forced them to move for us. After the picture he asked if we were Scottish or Irish. Apparently we didn't sound like Americans. When we told him we were Americans, he started talking about President Trump. Mom diverted his attention and we parted as friends.

After the Van Gogh Museum, we walked to the Anne Frank House. I couldn't help but stop and take as many pictures as I could along the way there.

Before going into the attic space Anne Frank lived in, there was a presentation to give context to the rise of the Nazis and why the Frank family went into hiding. They don't allow pictures inside of the rooms and so that's why I don't have any.

This is a replica of Anne Frank's diary.

It was amazing to see how small the rooms are that they lived in. Anne Frank's father is the only person that lived there that survived the concentration camps. When he came back, the rooms were emptied. He decided to leave them that way so the visitors could have that same experience he had. There was a peaceful reverence in the rooms as we went through.

The windows are still blacked out in the upper rooms.

We went down the street for dinner at The Pancake Bakery. I got the pannenkoek spek en kaas or the bacon and cheese pancake. Dutch pancakes are thin like crepes. We also shared an order of poffertjes. Those are little bit sized pancakes that are fluffier than American pancakes.

Dinner was delicious! If anyone ever plans on going to Amsterdam, you will want to eat there. There are tons and tons of options and we went there two days in a row because it was so good.

Instead of walking back to our hotel, we decided to take the tram (light rail) back. We ended up having to wait for quite some time because the ones that we could take back wouldn't stop or would somehow get delayed. Eventually, we shoved our way in and made it back to our place for the night.

That was day one!

The Journey Home

Last Friday, I got home from Europe. It maybe weird, but I'm going to start with that crazy day before the rest of the trip. I woke up in Rome and finally laid my head down in Austin after four flights. It was a long day with more than enough stress.

Chris and Annie picked out excellent places for us to stay in.

We woke up around 5:00 AM to finish packing and take a shuttle to the airport. We had to check our carry on luggage because the weight restriction for our first flight of the day. (We were all 2 - 7 kilograms over the maximum.) Andy tried to have them transfer our bags to our second flight, but they couldn't because it was a different airline. We now had to change planes, print out our boarding passes, pick up our bags, and go through security for the second time of the day all within an hour.

Yet another miracle on this trip happened and everything went smoothly. I was chosen by the computer to go through additional screening at the gate.

This is the machine that tested the samples from my clothes and luggage.

Don't worry, I passed the additional inspection just fine. Ten hour flights are no joke. It was made a bit easier by watching a movie and a few TV shows on the flight.

The layover for me was no joke. I had just over an hour to get through customs, change terminals, and go through security for the third time of the day. I was really worried that I wasn't going to make it. The line for customs wasn't too bad, but it was rather slow. I only had about 30 minutes to make it to the other terminal and security. Naturally, I barely missed the tram to go to the other terminal. It was tough waiting and watching the minutes tick away. Apparently, the terminal that my flight used is one of the least busy terminals at SFO. There were just a few people in front of me in line. I didn't take my camera out of my bag and so it needed to be scanned separately. Even with that delay, I made it to the gate with time to spare. It was a miracle!

During the second hour of the flight, I took a nice nap. The first real sleep I had all day.

My last layover was also my longest one, but it wasn't too bad. While I was trying to figure out what snack to get, I found a familiar statue.

I saw Michelangelo's David at the beginning of the week in Florence so it was extra funny to find this card in Dallas.

By this time, I was done traveling and being stuck on airplanes. Luckily, the flight was under 40 minutes long.

Blurry Austin outside the window.

It was a crazy long day. I traveled over 8,400 miles in just over 24 hours. It was physically exhausting, but I was so glad to be home again!

I plan on posting about each of our days on the trip. It's going to take quite awhile to post all of them, but I will be glad to have all of the memories written down so I can look back and remember this amazing trip.

You Belong To Me

I am flying off to Europe today. Chris and Annie have been wanting to visit their mission's for a number of years and a few of the family are tagging along with their visit. We'll start in the Netherlands and Belgium where Chris served over ten years ago. We'll be able to go to church in one of the wards he served in. Then we'll make our way to Italy where Annie served.

With Jonathan's unexpected job change, he won't be coming with me. I'm so grateful that he's excited for me to go even though he can't. (Though Chris suggested that he just quit and come with us!)

This song will be stuck in my head during this trip.

The blog will be neglected while I am gone, but I will be taking tons and tons of pictures and will have stories to share.

Marble Falls, TX

Spring started blooming here in Texas last month. Naturally, I've been on the lookout to see fields of wild flowers. We went for a drive out in the country. While we didn't find fields of flowers, we had a great time.

There was a strong spring shower and a massive double rainbow. As we drove through Marble Falls, we saw a sign that said Mormon Mill. Naturally that peaked our interest and we drove down it.

There is a Mormon cemetery, but unfortunately it's on private property. Since our drive, I've done some more research and the area was settled by a group of 20 Mormon families that were led by Lyman Wight. All that is left is the cemetery.

As we drove down Mormon Mill Road, we saw a group of very happy longhorns. I get so excited every time I see longhorns.

Hopefully, we can find some fields of wildflowers soon!