Hello Bloggers.... I have been home for a month from Vienna. I know way to update. I would now like to update everyone on the last 2 weeks of my trip. We took a group/class trip to Hallstaat and Salzburg and Dorfgastine. It was so great. So here comes the update.



On the way to Hallstaat we stopped at a concentration camp, it was a very quite and moving time. I got to walk and stand in the same places as people that were in prison there. We saw the tiny bed rooms, the work areas, and the cremation kilns. It was hard to look at. The beds were so small that my nieces would barely fit, let alone a grown man. The work areas were of course the largest parts of the camp. Then the room with the kilns was horrifying. To this day there are pictures and names on the walls of the rooms from family of the ones that died. While we were there it began to rain which darkened the sky, ti was almost like the sky was just as hurt as we were looking at it. We saw pictures of the dead bodies and of people fading away from abuse and hunger. There was also a cemetery for women and children that we saw. It was sad to say the nicest part of the camp.



After this stop it was of to Hallstaat. I LOVE this place. It was like living in a postcard for a couple days. We went to the salt mine while we were there. It is the largest in Europe. It was cool, we got to slide down the miners slides. LOL so much fun. Inside the mines it also had a salt lake. To get there we took a ski gondola and then hiked up in the Alps. The most amazing thing you could ever see, hands down. The view form the top at the mines was so unbelievable. We got allot of time to walk around the little Hallstaat. I got some souvenirs. We went to the Bine Haus which is the BONE HOUSE...ahhhhhh so cool. It is a little building that has skulls and body parts, it sit in a cemetery behind a church. We also at 10:30pm did a polar bear plunge into the lake..it was freezing but so worth it. I mean how many people can say they jumped into a lake in the Alps. Also while walking around we ran into some people in full on lederhosen. It was crazy..of course pics are up on facebook.

Next we went to a small church in ST. Wolfgang..which is a very small town with some shops and the church, ti was on the way to Salzburg.

When we got to Salzburg we rested up and started the tour the next day. We went on a guided tour, we saw sights from Sound of Music, Mozart's birth house, and the 1st coffee shop and many other 1sts in Salzburg. It was cool, our tour guide was a funny little old guy. He made the tour allot more fun then it would have been.

After the tour we had a group dinner and then Anne and I went back to the hotel and dyed our hair pink. Ok it was really just like highlights but still fun. Then the next day we headed to the ICE CAVES just outside Salzburg. It was a long hike/walk after the gondola ride but so cool.

While we were walking up again in the Alps we were higher then a little prop plane. The ice caves was made totally out of yes ice and stairs. We went straight up then back down. The ice was shaped like bears, elephants and other stuff. It was cold but so much fun. When the cold fun was down we got ready to go to Dorfgastine. On the way we stopped at a little pull off and took some pics with the Salzburg castle in the background.

We spent the last 8 days in Dorfgastine..which is also like a post card. It took about 30 minutes to walk to width and length of the town. We stayed in this little B and B and the family that ran it were so cute. While there we hiked the Alps..like hard core hiked the Alps. We took the same path that the Von Trapp family took to escape. From the top we could see the back of the Italian Alps.. which I thought was so amazing. It started to rain on the way down but to me that just made it so much better. We had some great little group dinners and a town BBQ. They knew what they were doing to cause the food was so good. I got to watch a shooting star shower over the Alps. I don't think I have ever been in such awe before, it was beyond breath taking. And yes of course when started to rain Anne and I went outside and danced in like there was no 2mro. So cold but come on who goes to the Alps and doesn't dance like an idiot in the rain? lol We also got to go the the church there. which was a mass, it was very different but nice to see how other people choose to worship. We also hiked up to and Alm which is a mountain farm for lunch..wasn't my favorite meal but the experience was fun and I got to share it with my group.

We left on Friday morning on the train to head back for our last hours in Vienna. Anne and I ran some last minute errands and went to the out reach to say goodbye to everyone. That was the hardest part of the trip, I grew to love those people and leaving them hurt. I got my hugs and hand shakes after being there a few hours and we went back to the hostel. My plane home left around 11 am Sat. Aug 15, the ride the airport was filled with I don't want to go's and has it already been 3 months. After some delays and re-routes through Denver I got back to AZ about 4-5 hours later then planned. Even though the airline lost one of my bags I was happy to be back. Just cause I know people are thinking about it..yes I cried the plane ride home. Sad day I know, I just was not ready to leave Vienna or Europe for that matter. I love the people and the country more then I ever thought possible. Vienna will always have a place in my heart, and I hope to return back one day. Thank goodness for facebook and e-mail so I can keep in touch with my new friends and who am I kidding family. I love you guys and I will always miss you.

Just in closing all in all everything I did was life changing and everything I saw was mind opening. This was a summer that will never be topped, I had the best time of my life.. Thank you mom and dad for giving me the encouragement to go and making it financially possible for me to go. Thank you BYU for the opportunity. Thank you Prof. McFarland and Isaac for being so amazing, and making the trip memorable. Thank you to everyone in my group for all your help and the laughs we shared. Thank you to the outreach for becoming a home away from home and my new forever family and friends. Thank you Vienna for welcoming me in and giving me the summer of a life time. Words can not express what I felt and the memories I will always have.

day started out good. did my last minute packing and bought some more stuff to take home. then i met up with some friends to go swimming in the daube river..it was great until i got home.

my host mom..the one i don't like got home early from her trip.booooooooooooo!!!!!!!! i really dislike this lady. well anyways, she meets me at the door with nothing but complaints. about our bathroom trash being to full and blah blah blah. megan and i had gotten everything ready to just take out when we left in the morning but i guess that was not good enough for her.

then she starts crying about her flowers looking sad and un watered. so i told her they had been watered everyday since they left. she laughed and said not possible and i said well they were and she said well not this morning. so i came back with no i watered them for 30minutes this morning, she then called me a liar. which if anyone knows me knows that pissesssssssss me off. i said fine call me a liar and walked off.

then only good part about leaving is that i will never have to see her again...way to ruin my last day in vienna.

made it through my last sunday in vienna with almost no tears..i know i am such a cry baby. i made it all the way to the closing song, then came the tears. so i got out my goodbyes and then some pics, with 2 of my favorite elders ever. and yes some of my fav people on the trip with me. pics to come at a later time. they are on anne's camera, so you all will just have to wait.

loves ya

last night was the talent show. it was a blast!!!!!!!!!!!! their are so many talented people here and well to be honest so not so much. ahhhhhh but a forever remembered night. so mckay a guy in my group is an amazing cello player, i do not think i have ever heard someone so good. he played and helped in the first 3 numbers, he was a talent show stud. so a really funny number was a group missionaries got together that morning and decided to do a number. being that elder gill the head guy told them they had to. lol so they all wore these reeeee-dic-u-loussss hat and sang the cold play song via la vida. to the music of an guitar and a cello and a accordion. oh that's right you heard me and yes it does sound a bad as it was.lol no they did a good job it was just so freakin' funny. elder coleman had me record it on his camera for him and you can hear them singing but more so you can hear me laughing.

then my friend bryce was gonna sing and play lets get it on, but decided to add a twist to his act. a while back he found out i could stick my fist in my mouth. so he was like i'll play if you do it with me, i agreed. it was weeks ago and he forgotten until anne reminded him. so when it was his turn he pulled me up front with him and announced it to the room. he then said he would only sing if i did my trick while he did so. oh course i freaked out and started giggling in embarrassment. so yes i caved in and did it. and it was funny cause like every missionary there pulled out their cameras and recorded it. so yeah in like 6months to 2 years i will be in like 10 different states and or countries. :)

then anne and i sang our duet. it was bosssssssss. we did really good well at least that is what people told us. we also got mega recorded, i guess people kinda like us here. it was fun. then anne did a broom trick with hillary which was cool to see, but even better was them trying to teach other people how to do it.

it was a great and fun night. but it was also kinda sad. i had to say goodbye to a lot of people that i was not ready to leave yet. so after all that stuff, we hung out with our friend lloyd and played games.

today i took my last final. my art test. i think i did great on it. now i just have to wait for the final grades to post. and i have to start packing today..boooooooooooooo. i don't want to. 2mro will also be a sad day. i have to say goodbye to everyone else that i don't want to leave.

then monday get final things done and tuesday morning head to slazburg.

today was the last day of german class. and yesterday was the last day of art class. the thought of leaving is becoming to real and i can already feel the tears starting to build up. yesterday in art we had a salon, to present the poems and art pieces we had made. it was fun i think my stuff went over good. i really enjoyed this art history class it was a blast. ps katie isaak the teacher is the bomb.
today we had the 2 german finals. i think i did rather well on them both. at least i don't think i am in any danger of failing but i will keep my fingers crossed just in case. so please also keep good thoughts for my grades with you guys.lol
today is the last group meeting in vienna. then sunday is my last one here, i already know it is gonna be a tear filled day, the people here are amazing. i am just not ready to go. this summer went by to fast.
i said good bye to my host family on tuesday, they left to go on vacation. it was kinda hard to say bye to the dad but everyone else it was ok. they are a nice family that i will miss.
2mro is the talent show at the lds institute and i am kinda excited and nervous to be in it. i am singing with anne so this should be fun and interesting.
tuesday it is off to salzburg and dorfgastein. i will be there the 4-14 of august. then back to vienna for about half a day on the 14th. then my flight back to az is the morning of the 15th.
love you guys

back from budapest.....

i left thursday night for budapest with anne and chloe two of the most amazing people on this earth. we got there at about 11pm as the train from vienna was about 1 and 1/2 hours late. we got a taxi and headed to monique's house. she is a friend of annes. her family is there because her husband works for the embassy. on the way to her house a whole new world from aladdin came on the radio.

chloe and i turned the backseat into a stage, and it was fantastic!!!!! anne thought it was the funniest thing ever and the driver didn't really seem to care. lol after we got to the house, we mapped out the next day and then it was off the bed.

all 3 of us shared a queen sized bed, it was cool we had our own bathroom and so much space, so much better then a hostel. :) friday morning the real fun started.

we had real american cereal it was great...ymmmm kix and cheerios. mo and the kids took us to a park where we got to see about of stuff about the communist fall and such. it was cool. her kids which are 6,4,2 years old got cranky so she dropped us off to take them home.

we walked around for about 4 or so hours before we were gonna meet up with mo. we saw the coolest stuff ever... budapest is a great city. while walking around i saw my friend from high schools little brother who is on his mish right now. so crazy random so we talked to him and the companions for a little then went on our way.

about 20 mins after that chloe's sandal broke, and we fixed it with a plastic bag handle to hold i ton her foot. it was the funniest yet sad thing i have ever seen. we got ready to cross the chain bridge and turned the danu into a wishing well. it was so funny and american but, hey when you have a big wish you need a big wishing well.

we meet mo at a church and headed off to the mall so chloe could get new shoes. we had some lunch, then it was off to get ice cream. not as good as vienna but it was delish. then it was back to the car so we could see the city by night.

we went to heros square and saw roller bladders practicing their tricks..it was cool.
then back to the car for some more night time tour. got some more pics then it was back home.

shower then to bed we were all so tired. the next morning we had breakfast then watched some movies with the kids until the cab got there.

on the train we had to get ready for a wedding party. our train got there 1 hour before it started and the station was about 45 mins away. people had a fun time watching us do our hair and make-up while in our seats. but the best was when i had to shave my legs in that tiny dirty train bathroom..so funny!

the wedding was fun good food and friends so all-n-all a great weekend.

this is the last week of classes and then it is off to salzburg for a few days.

PS i did see harry potter. it was good but i though they left some great parts from the book out. also yesterday i went to the leopold museum. so freakin' strange, i was happy to get done and go. they just have a very interesting selection.