Lifes Basics in Switzerland

The rental units and I took a break from running around London like crazies to visit my cousin and his family in Switzerland. I mean when you have family living a few countries away you HAVE to take advantage of the opportunity to spend some QT with them. Let me just say that Rocky and Sarah are the best vacation planners ever. The trip exceeded my expectations and while Switzerland is the probably the most expensive country I've been too it may also be one of the prettiest. Check out the view from our hotel room.

And if that didn't make you jealous enough this was the view from my bed.

The theme of the weekend was Life Basics: Family, Cheese, and Chocolate. We may have had multiple meals that consisted of the these life essentials. I am not a huge chocolate lover like other members of the Smartie clan but Switzerland may have made me a convert.

Trip highlights include road tripping through the Swiss alps, taking a James Bond tram to the top of Schilthorn, Interlaken, seeing the Eiger (Switzerland's highest point), seeing the temple, church in German, and seeing E milk EVERY cow. I can't decide which is prettier the Swiss mountains or lakes.

Our tour guides did not disappoint--now if I can just convince them to come to London. If any other cousins want to move abroad, I promise I'll visit!

Road Trippin' with the 'Rents

When I got into U of London, my parents "volunteered" to help me move across the Atlantic. After dragging 6 suitcases (a girl's got to be prepared:)) from the airport, to the the hotel, on the tube station, to my flat, and then kettle balling them up four flights of stairs; I think they were rethinking their volunteerism. If that wasn't bad enough I forced them to scrub my flat including my toilet which appeared to have NEVER been cleaned. In an effort to allow them some fun on their "vacation", we decided to road trip through the "Kingdom". As we pulled out of the rental car company's parking lot into oncoming traffic, I was rethinking that decision. But with Handsome Rob at the wheel and the Human Compass as the navigator, driving on the wrong side of the street could not deter us. We almost dies 10 times in the first three minutes but we finally got the hang of it...on the last day. Lucky for us the middle finger means the same thing on both sides of the pond and driving the wrong way on a round about doesn't end in immediate death.

Between rounds of whiplash we were able to see some pretty amazing sites. Scotland is beautiful and Edinburgh is becoming one of my favorite cities even if they eat blood and sheep intestines for breakfast. We hit the follow sites: Windsor Castle, Stratford upon Avon, Lake District, Glasgow, Stirling Castle, Edinburgh, and Warwick Castle.

We covered a lot of ground in four and a half days and have the seat belt bruises to prove it. Highlights include seeing the house where my great grand father was born and the cemetery where my five great grandpa was buried.

The scenery was amazing and we passed the time by engaging in political debates and listening to JB.

"Handsome Rob really did a great job getting us to and fro and will gladly provide his services to anyone willing to make the trek. I'd suggest you bring your own neck brace.

School of Life

Things I have learned so far since living in the UK:

1. When the menu says steak and kidney pie, it doesn't mean kidney beans.

2. When you've slept in 9 different beds in the last 10 days you're bound to make friends.

3. If you have have to take short breaks from typing to scratch your entire body, those friends may not be the kind you want.

4. There ARE worst things then starting graduate school with bed bug marks on your face. (I'm not sure yet what is worse but I'm working on it).

5. Having a cold while trying to combat bed bugs is not a good combination.

6. Having my mom here to take care of me makes everything better!

The start of my new life in the UK has had some bumps but I am still really excited to be here. I'll be even more excited when I wake up in the morning and my body doesn't look like small vampires got to it. Travel log coming soon!

Super Nanny

I am alive. I survived. The last week I spent at the Burnett house playing nanny while K-man was in the hospital getting another round of chemo. Let it be known I feel neither super nor like a nanny. In fact I'm not really sure if I'm really cut out for this line of work. I'm pretty sure the only reason Brent and Darc asked me to help out is because the grandmas were otherwise engaged. Call me crazy but asking the single, non child bearing sibling to care for your children was probably not the best idea. I guess desperation makes you do crazy things. I have watched the kids by myself for a few hours but never all day, every day. Let's just say we survived...barely. Everyone was dressed (C only wears pjs so getting dressed for him doesn't really happen) and fed daily and we even made it to the hospital each day.

My urban car was turned into a mommy on wheels and now has cheetos and string cheese all over it. By 8pm I was pooped and ready to call it a day. I learned a lot about being a mom during my three day stint as sister-mom. I learned that moms are innovative, patient, flexible, creative, selfless, kind, and loving. It was so fun to hang out with the kiddles however I think I'll wait awhile before having any of my own. Good thing they are so cute or else I might not have made it through the week:)

Home

After 15 days, 4700 miles, spending time with every cousins, grandparent, aunt, uncle I have, I finally made it home. When I saw the view above, once I crossed over into WA, there may have been some tears. I miss DC and my peeps on the east coast like crazy, but there is nothing like the pacific northwest. It feels good to be home. I have been spending my time getting to know this face,

Spending time with my favorite returned missionary,

Celebrating the birthday of my favorite BYU co-ed,

And squeezing these little ones.

Summer vacation is the best--why don't adults get a 2 month summer break? It is so wonderful. Thanks so my self imposed summer break, I have finally reached my summer tan goal. Unlucky for me I am headed to the land of overcast skies so it won't last long but it will do for now.

New York, New York

A DC Bucket list would not be complete without one more trip to NYC. I have loved living so close to NYC and tried to take advantage of his proximity. It makes it easier when you have generous people that will let you crash at the last minute:). One of the best things about NYC is you can go a million times and always find new things to do. On this trip we went to Brooklyn where I had never been. We saw the Cosby house, a park that doesn't allow dogs (I knew I liked NYC), ate amazing food, and saw great views of Lady Lib and the financial district.



Another reason I love NYC is you never know what you are going to see...case in point.

SICK!

Next we headed to the New York Public Library. I love libraries and this one did not disappoint. The architecture was gorgeous!


We capped the night off we a Broadway show, Jersey Boys. What NYC trip is complete without a show?

The next morning we headed to church and Melissa and I hit a singles ward that meets in the same building as SMIKAH's ward. Let's just say it made me grateful for my DC ward. At one point I leaned over to Melissa and asked her if we were in the right place. There were some definite crazies one of which was dressed like a homeless terrorist and paced in the back of the chapel--conveniently by me the whole time. It was an experience to say the least.

After church we took a walk through Central Park and had a delicious meal prepared by SMIKAH before heading back home. As usual SMIKAH proved to be excellent tour guides and hosts. I have loved having "family" so close and I hope that the cheap plane tickets from NYC to London will encourage them to cross the pond! Thanks guys for a great weekend!

The Final Countdown

The countdown has begun...this is my last weekend in DC and over the last few weeks I have been knocking out my DC bucket list. A Legwarmers concert was at the top of my list. They are a local 80s cover band that is a DC must do if you have any appreciation for the greatest decade of music. Their concerts are maybe the greatest concerts I have ever been too. Plus any excuse to bust out the blue eyeliner and leggings is a good enough reason to attend.

Have you seen anyone with better 80s hair then Melissa? The cobra just comes naturally for her!


As luck would have it, I convinced some friends to come along and it was a magical night. We caught many a guitar picks, lost our voices and hearing, and even got a wink or two from the lead singer. I couldn't have asked for a better final concert from them.

I will be planning future DC trips around these concerts. Ever since the concert this song has been stuck in my head:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jK-NcRmVcw

The DC final countdown has begun and I am in total denial. Even though I've quit my job, my worldly belongings are currently in boxes, and I've sold my spot in my house; it still doesn't seem real. I still feel like I will live in DC forever. I know change is good, I just don't know if I'm ready for it.