(FYI: This post was written soon after I got back from the trip but I finally just got all the pictures to add to it since I hardly took any myself.. So just pretend you're reading this as if it was November 2013)
Deedee and I decided we wanted to go visit some friends, Natalie and Tom, who moved away for school. We knew now was the best time because Natalie is graduating in the spring and Deedee is starting school at the beginning of next year. Plus we figured fall is the best time to visit places that will have beautiful scenery with the leaves changing color. And Boston would definitely be one of those places.
We had been talking about doing this trip for a while, which seemed like it was all talk and wouldn't actually happen. But one day, we finally got serious about it. And after a lot of communication with Natalie and Tom, we figured out the best week that worked for everyone and booked our flights! The plan was to visit Natalie in Boston first for a few days and then fly out to South Bend, Indiana to visit Tom. And whilst in Indiana, we'd take a train to Chicago for a day or two. Sounds like a pretty awesome trip, huh?
It was.
It was.
Thursday October 17th
Our flight was scheduled to take off at 5:11 p.m. which meant I could work most of the day. Which was nice, because that's one less day I have to take off, but it sucked sitting at work trying to focus when I was so excited to be leaving. Then again, I had a hard time focusing for the whole week prior to this trip. So after what seemed like the longest busiest day of work, it was finally time to leave! I had to hurry home and do some last minute packing and then we were off to the airport! I won't bore you with details of waiting in line at security and to board our flight. It was boring and long like you'd expect. And then we were on the plane ready for the five hour flight ahead of us. And guess who just happened to be on the flight with us? Elder Holland! That was pretty awesome. Plus then we were pretty confident we'd have no complications on the flight and make it safely to Boston. :)
When we finally landed five hours later, we let Natalie know, but she wasn't quite ready to come pick us up. She had to finish a midterm. So we sat outside and were able to finish both books we had started on the plane. It was surprisingly a nice night. I had expected it to be freezing, but we sat there without jackets for a while before it started to rain. And then of course my hair went all crazy with the humidity. Luckily it was the only day out of my trip that my hair reacted to the humidity though. But anyways, Natalie finally made it to the airport and after many hugs, we were off to her apartment. She gave us a little tour of the city- mostly due to the fact that the GPS struggled in getting us straight back to her apartment, so we took the longer scenic route home. It was pretty to see the city at night, but obviously I couldn't get the whole fill for it just yet. We drove past MIT and she pointed out the place where the MIT officer got shot. Talk about putting that tragic story into reality. You always hear about these tragic things happening, but it doesn't fully put it into perspective until you actually see the place it transpired. At least for me anyway.
We got back to Natalie's and ended up talking for hours. Mind you, we had flown in at midnight. So it was a long night, but we had so much catching up to do! Eventually the need for sleep overtook us though so we went to bed.
We got back to Natalie's and ended up talking for hours. Mind you, we had flown in at midnight. So it was a long night, but we had so much catching up to do! Eventually the need for sleep overtook us though so we went to bed.
Friday October 18th
We had planned on waking up fairly early to get our day started on the Freedom Trail. But due to the late night, we struggled getting going in the morning. But we still made it out of the house at a decent hour. We had a lovely walk to the T (the public transportation). I was taking in this new city and the fact that you could rely on walking and public transportation to get where you needed to. It was very refreshing.
While on the T, I soaked in all the scenery we passed. I couldn't believe I was actually in Boston! We made it downtown and got off on the street where the marathon bombing took place. Again, totally put that tragic situation into reality. We kept walking until we found a good place to eat. I forgot what it was called, but the sandwich I ordered was delicious! We ate outside and I felt like I was in a movie. You know, those movie scenes where they get together for lunch outside and the city life is all around them. Maybe you don't get it, but I loved it. I also quite enjoyed people watching. Which I did a lot of on this trip. Especially when you take public transportation. There are some interesting people out there. Once we finished eating, we made our way over to the Boston Public Gardens. Talk about beautiful! I totally want to live there just so I could go sit on a bench and read a book. Yes, that was actually one of my first thoughts. Just like the park scene in 101 Dalmatians where Anita is doing just that with Perdita right beside her. So I'd obviously have to get a dog as well.
Maybe my brother in law is right.. I am an old spinster..
We made our way through the garden and then came to Boston Common where we bought an audio tour guide to start the Freedom Trail. Luckily Deedee brought a headphone splitter so all three of us could listen. That became interesting when we couldn't separate from each other and caused others to have to go around us. But I loved that we bought it instead of trying to do the tour ourselves. We learned a lot of cool things that I didn't know before. Or at least it refreshed my memory since history has never been my strong suit. It's funny though, because I always sucked at and hated history, but yet I loved every minute of touring this city full of history. Apparently I just learned that I need to visit the places things took place in to actual relate to what happened and remember them. Guess I need to do a lot of traveling now! Perfect excuse, right?
The last stop we made was to The Old North Church before we decided we had better get back to Natalie's. Her roommate had a birthday and that night was the party, so we had to go get ready for it. We made our way back to the T and made one quick stop at the store for a few ingredients for desserts as well as food for dinner before making it back to Natalie's. Deedee and I cleaned up while Natalie finished the cake and then it was time for the guests to arrive.
Natalie had given us an update on a lot of her friends, so it was fun when they showed up to finally meet them all. I had actually been surprised at how many people came. It definitely is a different situation out there where your ward really becomes your friends. It makes sense, it is your only source to meet others who share your same values and beliefs. Unlike here in Utah where you can probably safely assume most people you meet are LDS. And you can ward hop if you happen to not like your own ward. But in Boston, and probably most places outside of Utah, you really only have the one ward to choose from. And therefore you really do become friends with everybody in it. It certainly creates a strong unity and there isn't room for a lot of cliques. So it was fun to feel apart of this group. They accepted everybody. Even the two random girls that were there only for the weekend. I meet a lot of great people and had a blast being social. Something I had't done in quite some time. But the night abruptly ended around 10 when everyone just decided to leave. It was like a mass exodus. One person mentioned they were leaving and just like that, the party was over. It was weird. But they left, and we cleaned up and spent the rest of the night talking.
While on the T, I soaked in all the scenery we passed. I couldn't believe I was actually in Boston! We made it downtown and got off on the street where the marathon bombing took place. Again, totally put that tragic situation into reality. We kept walking until we found a good place to eat. I forgot what it was called, but the sandwich I ordered was delicious! We ate outside and I felt like I was in a movie. You know, those movie scenes where they get together for lunch outside and the city life is all around them. Maybe you don't get it, but I loved it. I also quite enjoyed people watching. Which I did a lot of on this trip. Especially when you take public transportation. There are some interesting people out there. Once we finished eating, we made our way over to the Boston Public Gardens. Talk about beautiful! I totally want to live there just so I could go sit on a bench and read a book. Yes, that was actually one of my first thoughts. Just like the park scene in 101 Dalmatians where Anita is doing just that with Perdita right beside her. So I'd obviously have to get a dog as well.
Maybe my brother in law is right.. I am an old spinster..
We made our way through the garden and then came to Boston Common where we bought an audio tour guide to start the Freedom Trail. Luckily Deedee brought a headphone splitter so all three of us could listen. That became interesting when we couldn't separate from each other and caused others to have to go around us. But I loved that we bought it instead of trying to do the tour ourselves. We learned a lot of cool things that I didn't know before. Or at least it refreshed my memory since history has never been my strong suit. It's funny though, because I always sucked at and hated history, but yet I loved every minute of touring this city full of history. Apparently I just learned that I need to visit the places things took place in to actual relate to what happened and remember them. Guess I need to do a lot of traveling now! Perfect excuse, right?
The last stop we made was to The Old North Church before we decided we had better get back to Natalie's. Her roommate had a birthday and that night was the party, so we had to go get ready for it. We made our way back to the T and made one quick stop at the store for a few ingredients for desserts as well as food for dinner before making it back to Natalie's. Deedee and I cleaned up while Natalie finished the cake and then it was time for the guests to arrive.
Natalie had given us an update on a lot of her friends, so it was fun when they showed up to finally meet them all. I had actually been surprised at how many people came. It definitely is a different situation out there where your ward really becomes your friends. It makes sense, it is your only source to meet others who share your same values and beliefs. Unlike here in Utah where you can probably safely assume most people you meet are LDS. And you can ward hop if you happen to not like your own ward. But in Boston, and probably most places outside of Utah, you really only have the one ward to choose from. And therefore you really do become friends with everybody in it. It certainly creates a strong unity and there isn't room for a lot of cliques. So it was fun to feel apart of this group. They accepted everybody. Even the two random girls that were there only for the weekend. I meet a lot of great people and had a blast being social. Something I had't done in quite some time. But the night abruptly ended around 10 when everyone just decided to leave. It was like a mass exodus. One person mentioned they were leaving and just like that, the party was over. It was weird. But they left, and we cleaned up and spent the rest of the night talking.
Saturday October 19th
There is a missionary couple in Natalie's ward that set up a tour of Boston that would begin with a breakfast at the church and then we'd split into groups and go on a tour. We knew it was going to be a tour similar to the Freedom Trail that we had done the day before, but this way we were going to interact with some of Natalie's friends and have an actual tour guide instead of a recording. So we woke up bright and early and made our way to the church. Sometimes you forget that outside of Utah, there aren't churches on every street. It was interesting to take a bus and the T and walk a ways just to get to church. When we got there, we met a lot of people and enjoyed yummy pancakes. They had this coconut syrup that was sooo good. I'm normally not a fan of pancakes, I'll always eat them, but they're not my favorite. But if I had this coconut syrup to eat with them all the time, they might make their way up on my favorite food list. Anyway, we picked a tour group that had the majority of Natalie's closer friends and headed out. I got to talk to a lot of the same friends I had met the night before. Which was fun to get to know them a little more without music blaring in the background.
We visited a lot of the same places, but also some new places as well. So it was a good mix that didn't make the two tours seem redundant. Plus it was fun to get to know more of Natalie's friends. And I quite enjoyed walking around Boston even if it was repetitive from the day before. It was just nice to be outside and walking around such a beautiful city full of so much history.
When the tour finished, the group split up. We went with some to get pizza for lunch and then the three of us split off from them and went to Fenway Park. It happened to be a game day, right before the World Series started, so we got there before the huge crowd came in, but still were able to see those loyal fans that are there waiting in line hours before a game. We didn't get to go in at all, we didn't want to pay for a tour, so we just walked around the outside and did some shopping for souvenirs.
We made it back to Natalie's after Fenway Park because we were exhausted. And it showed by the fact that I passed out on the bed right when we got back. I didn't even bother to take off my shoes or set my purse down.
I slept for about an hour and then sat around reading. We were all content to sit there and be lazy. But we eventually got out of the house again to go eat dinner. We ate at an Indian food place which was so good. For some reason I have been craving curry a lot lately. So I was very satisfied with our choice of dinner. Once we finished eating, we headed over to MIT to watch Lord of the Rings. Yes, some of Natalie's MIT friends decided to watch LOTR in a classroom while they did homework on a Saturday night. Because what else would you do if you were a student at MIT?
Hah I loved every minute of it. First off the fact that I was in an MIT classroom watching LOTR. Total nerd situation. Secondly, the guy who planned it made watching LOTR soooo great. I think I enjoyed watching him watch the movie rather than watching the movie myself. I don't know if I've seen someone that excited about a movie. And I'm a Harry Potter fan. So that's saying something. Then again, I didn't love the movies like I did the books. But sadly, Natalie, Deedee and I couldn't last the whole movie. We, even after our little restful afternoon, couldn't stay awake during the movie. So we decided to leave early to go home and sleep. Which just added to and made my nerd night complete.
We visited a lot of the same places, but also some new places as well. So it was a good mix that didn't make the two tours seem redundant. Plus it was fun to get to know more of Natalie's friends. And I quite enjoyed walking around Boston even if it was repetitive from the day before. It was just nice to be outside and walking around such a beautiful city full of so much history.
When the tour finished, the group split up. We went with some to get pizza for lunch and then the three of us split off from them and went to Fenway Park. It happened to be a game day, right before the World Series started, so we got there before the huge crowd came in, but still were able to see those loyal fans that are there waiting in line hours before a game. We didn't get to go in at all, we didn't want to pay for a tour, so we just walked around the outside and did some shopping for souvenirs.
We made it back to Natalie's after Fenway Park because we were exhausted. And it showed by the fact that I passed out on the bed right when we got back. I didn't even bother to take off my shoes or set my purse down.
I slept for about an hour and then sat around reading. We were all content to sit there and be lazy. But we eventually got out of the house again to go eat dinner. We ate at an Indian food place which was so good. For some reason I have been craving curry a lot lately. So I was very satisfied with our choice of dinner. Once we finished eating, we headed over to MIT to watch Lord of the Rings. Yes, some of Natalie's MIT friends decided to watch LOTR in a classroom while they did homework on a Saturday night. Because what else would you do if you were a student at MIT?
Hah I loved every minute of it. First off the fact that I was in an MIT classroom watching LOTR. Total nerd situation. Secondly, the guy who planned it made watching LOTR soooo great. I think I enjoyed watching him watch the movie rather than watching the movie myself. I don't know if I've seen someone that excited about a movie. And I'm a Harry Potter fan. So that's saying something. Then again, I didn't love the movies like I did the books. But sadly, Natalie, Deedee and I couldn't last the whole movie. We, even after our little restful afternoon, couldn't stay awake during the movie. So we decided to leave early to go home and sleep. Which just added to and made my nerd night complete.
Sunday October 20th
Probably my favorite day in Boston. Mostly because we started our day with going to Mount Auburn Cemetery. I know what you're thinking, why would going to a cemetery be my favorite? But guys, this was a beautiful cemetery!! First off, it was HUGE. You could get lost in there. Secondly, there were way cool headstones. Thirdly, the LEAVES! Oh my, it just added this whole feel to the cemetery. It was beautiful and quite perfect for the month of October. I was in heaven. Can I say that? There is also this tower you can climb up (a little girl called it Rapunzel's tower-cutest thing to hear her say "Rapunzel Rapunzel, let down your hair!") and you could see all of Boston.
I mean, tell me, that is not the prettiest view ever?!
I could have stayed up there forever just soaking in that view if it hadn't been so windy making it cold. So we made our way back to the car and drove around some more. We got out once more to walk around a little pond that was there and to take some pictures in the leaves before we had to make our way to the church.
Natalie is the choir director for her ward, so we had to get there early to print copies of the music before choir practice started. It was going to be their first practice. So Deedee and I joined in and had a good time. Church was interesting. First off, it started at 2:30. So glad I don't have to do that every week. Secondly, they had people come up to the podium to give any announcements after sacrament meeting was over, as well as have all visitors stand up and introduce themselves. That makes sense; it's a small ward and visitors stick out, so they want to find out who you are and why you're there. And why not announce it to the whole ward instead of just in Relief Society? Although we stood up in there as well. I didn't mind it though. It was just interesting to compare their ward to my ward because they are very different.
After church, they had a mingle. I guess they have one every week. Which would make 2:30 church a little more bearable. So we enjoyed this yummy Mexican style pasta salad while socializing with more of Natalie's friends. I really did love the unity that ward has. You don't get that here in Utah.
Along with a mingle every week, they also do family dinners. So we left the church and headed over to MIT for dinner. The girls in charge that week had decided to cook up lasagna and didn't realize how long that actually takes. So we had a lot of waiting around and socializing to do while we waited. It took place in a girls dorm. It's the only dorm on campus that is an all girl dorm. And the view from the common area we were in, was beautiful.
These pictures do not do it justice. Not to mention there was a full moon that night. Again, if it hadn't been so cold, I would have stayed out on that balcony all night to enjoy the view. But instead, I stayed inside and had a good time with everyone there. We finally ate a few hours later and then helped clean up before going back to Natalie's where we, can you guess? Yep, we, once again, spent the night talking before going to bed.
Natalie is the choir director for her ward, so we had to get there early to print copies of the music before choir practice started. It was going to be their first practice. So Deedee and I joined in and had a good time. Church was interesting. First off, it started at 2:30. So glad I don't have to do that every week. Secondly, they had people come up to the podium to give any announcements after sacrament meeting was over, as well as have all visitors stand up and introduce themselves. That makes sense; it's a small ward and visitors stick out, so they want to find out who you are and why you're there. And why not announce it to the whole ward instead of just in Relief Society? Although we stood up in there as well. I didn't mind it though. It was just interesting to compare their ward to my ward because they are very different.
After church, they had a mingle. I guess they have one every week. Which would make 2:30 church a little more bearable. So we enjoyed this yummy Mexican style pasta salad while socializing with more of Natalie's friends. I really did love the unity that ward has. You don't get that here in Utah.
Along with a mingle every week, they also do family dinners. So we left the church and headed over to MIT for dinner. The girls in charge that week had decided to cook up lasagna and didn't realize how long that actually takes. So we had a lot of waiting around and socializing to do while we waited. It took place in a girls dorm. It's the only dorm on campus that is an all girl dorm. And the view from the common area we were in, was beautiful.
These pictures do not do it justice. Not to mention there was a full moon that night. Again, if it hadn't been so cold, I would have stayed out on that balcony all night to enjoy the view. But instead, I stayed inside and had a good time with everyone there. We finally ate a few hours later and then helped clean up before going back to Natalie's where we, can you guess? Yep, we, once again, spent the night talking before going to bed.
Monday October 21st
We were really lazy in the morning, so we got a late start to our day. We didn't mind though, we only had a few things left we wanted to do in Boston, and it wouldn't take too long. So when we finally got ready, we made our way over to Harvard. I quite enjoyed walking around campus. It actually made me miss the college life quite a bit. But not enough to consider going back. I'm definitely done with school. But it was fun to tour Harvard. We of course had to make our way over to Harvard Law in honor of Legally Blonde.
What, like it's hard?
After we figured we had toured enough, we decided to make our way to Little Italy for some late lunch. We ate at this little Italian place, obviously, but I don't remember the name of it, and then had to make a stop at Mike's Pastry. We couldn't leave Boston without trying a cannoli! By the time we actually got around to trying it though, we had been too full from lunch to eat it at the time of purchase, I only had one bite. It was good, but I just didn't have a sweet tooth and couldn't eat more of it. But at least I experienced it, right?
After we stopped at Mike's, we walked down to the harbor to take a few pics before heading back to Natalie's.
We felt like we had accomplished all the things we wanted to do in Boston, so we decided to spend the night with Natalie's friends at FHE. We first made a quick visit to see this new apartment two guys had just moved into. We had heard a lot about how cool this place was, so we got special permission to visit it before anyone else since it was our last night there. Perks of being a visitor. It was this little studio apartment, but it was awesome.
This little breakfast nook was our favorite part. We sat in there for a while just talking. It made for a fun atmosphere. But then we had to get going to FHE. So we said goodbye and headed to MIT.
The FHE was a lesson on family history. I've never been great about helping out with ancestry. I guess I'm just lazy. I would actually love to know more about my family history, but I just figure I'll let others do the work. At this last big reunion I had in September, I had some second cousins do some research and now I have pictures and letters from my great grandparents. It really is pretty cool learning about your own ancestors. It's those situations that make me feel really guilty for not being great at keeping a journal. And I can't even use this blog as my journal excuse anymore because I hardly post. Fail.
Anways, back to the trip... the lesson was great. The lady kept us, or at least me, interested in what she was saying by telling her own personal stories about her ancestors. Which always is easier to listen to than just a lecture about what you should be doing.
After the lesson was over, we ate some treats and hung out. The FHE leaders mentioned this "Nerdherd" dance coming up and that they should choreograph a dance to break out in. Like a flash mob type thing. But no one stepped up to be in charge. So naturally, the only two dancers in the room volunteered to help. Deedee and I decided we'd choreograph a dance, record it, and send it to Natalie so they could all learn it. Now we knew what we'd do during our down time in Indiana. Soon after, it was time to leave. So we said goodbye to them all and headed back to Natalie's. We got back and, once again, talked for a while before retiring to our beds for the last time in Boston.
Tuesday October 22nd
We had a very early start in order to make it on time for our 9:13 flight. It's rough having to wake up early. But we got all packed and got through traffic to make it to the airport on time. We said our goodbyes and then Deedee and I were off to our next city. We had a layover in Detroit and then made it to South Bend, Indiana six hours later. Tom picked us up and gave us a tour of downtown South Bend, which lasted about five minutes. Definitely a big difference coming from Boston to a crazy small town like South Bend. The scenery in South Bend was still very pretty though. Like all places can be in the fall. We made it back to Tom's apartment and got a little tour. I was surprised at how big and nice his apartment was, especially for someone living on their own. Deedee and I were tired from waking up early and travelling, so we didn't want to do a whole lot. Which is what we planned on doing there anyway. We knew it wasn't this big touristy place; we were there to see Tom, not South Bend. So after Tom made us some Mac n Cheese for a late lunch, Deedee pulled out her computer to do some work, and Tom and I tried to crack a password on a computer he had from work. And by I tried, I mean I sat by him and acted like I was helping, but really I was looking at Pinterest the whole time. I just gave him encouraging words here and there. But Tom had no luck with the computer and decided he needed to get out of the house. So we hopped in the car and drove to Starbucks for some hot chocolate. We hung out there for a while until they kicked us out so we stopped by Little Caesars to get some dinner and went back to Tom's. We ate pizza and watched Vine videos for a while until Tom had to do some work. So he went into his recording room (he does voice over work) and Deedee and I did some choreographing before going to bed.
Wednesday October 23rd
With not really any set plans or major things to see in South Bend, we took the opportunity to sleep in. This was going to be the lazy part of our ten day trip. But we did decide we were going to tour Notre Dame, so when everyone finally got up and ready, we were on our way. It worked out well because Tom had some school things to get done so he was able to accomplish them while giving us a tour. We walked around campus for a while, which didn't really feel like a campus because it was dead. Fall break comes and South Bend becomes a ghost town. But that didn't matter. We got to see the stadium, only the outside, and "Touchdown Jesus". We stopped at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes and lit some candles. We spent a lot of time in The Basilica (I may or may not have called it the Basilisk quite a few times.. all on accident..) walking around and admiring all the artwork and stain-glass windows. It truly is a beautiful building. I decided I'd really like to go to Mass there just to see what it's like.
Our next stop was the bookstore. Tom had books to buy for his next quarter and Deedee and I wanted to purchase some Notre Dame sweats. So we split up and did just that. After we made our purchases, we sat and enjoyed some ice cream and shared a huge cinnamon roll. And then with Tom's errands finished and our tour complete, we made our way back to Tom's apartment.
Once back, Deedee and I immediately changed into our new sweats. There is nothing like wearing new sweats for the first time. They still have that super soft inside that hasn't been ruined from washing it thousands of times. And we had nowhere to be, so why not be comfy?
Deedee then went back to work, and Tom and I started preparing dinner. I chopped up veggies while Tom seasoned the meat and then we put it all together in the oven. It had to cook for an hour, so we decided we'd nap while we waited. And then an hour later, we enjoyed a very yummy meal. It felt good to finally eat a nice home cooked meal. I did the dishes afterward and then picked up a book to read for a while. Deedee got back on her computer to work and I don't even know what Tom did. Not too much later, we decided we would go to a sports bar to watch the first game of the World Series. So Deedee and I changed back into normal clothes and we went to Buffalo Wild Wings. We ordered some snack food and sat in the middle of the pretty much deserted restaurant and enjoyed watching not only baseball, but soccer, football, and all the other sports that were surrounding us on all the TVs. It was a good time.
We didn't end up staying for the whole game though. We had finished our food and decided we could finish the last two innings at home, which is exactly what we did. And then Tom went to work, Deedee started a movie on Netflix, and I went to bed.
Thursday October 24th
For some reason, none of us slept well that night. I think I was finally starting to feel the effects of sleeping on an air mattress for too many nights in a row. Plus I'm always so conscious of sleeping with someone for fear that I will kick them or keep them up since I move a lot in my sleep. So at one point in the morning, I ended up on the floor for an hour to have my free space. And then there was Deedee who just for some reason couldn't fall asleep at all so she spent the whole night watching movies. She finally fell asleep around 9 a.m. only to be woken up 45 minutes later to some maintenance guy coming to check the apartment. Which then resulted in her deciding to spend the day at Tom's apartment to continue watching movies. So when Tom and I finally got ready, we headed out to run some errands for Tom without her.
We made a stop at the dry cleaners and an alteration place and then we were off to the mall to shop for sweaters. Ya know, it's a rare occasion when a girl and guy go to a mall and it's the guy doing all the shopping. The girl is hardly ever the one to help find the guy clothes and patiently wait while he tries them on. But I've never been a normal girl when it comes to shopping. And surprisingly enough, I wasn't dying to go home even when we had been shopping for hours. Apparently shopping is easier for me when I'm helping an attractive guy pick out stylish clothing rather than shopping for myself or with other girls. So we had a good time and were successful in finding a few good looking sweaters for him to add to his wardrobe.
But we had to hurry back because one, we had taken way longer than planned which left Deedee alone that whole time, and two, we had a double date planned and needed to get that started. Although, trying to plan a double date in South Bend, Indiana during fall break is hopeless. All our ideas we had- haunted house, ice skating, touring a chocolate factory- completely failed. Everything was closed. So we settled for the same activity we did the night before. Go to a sports bar and watch the World Series.
We met up with Jason, one of the few other YSA guys in Tom's ward, at a local restaurant. We figured we didn't want to have our night exactly like the night before by going to the same place. Our waitress was super friendly. She probably spent most of the night hanging out with us. Which was mainly because we were her last table before her shift ended and partially because I think she had a little crush on Tom. But who doesn't? So she took great care of us.
Jason turned out to be just like Tom had told us- a very friendly fun guy. So of course we all became instant friends. He fit right in and he and Deedee hit it off. Not really anything romantic, but there was never a dull awkward moment between them. So we had another great night eating, talking, and watching sports. I was sort of glad everything else we had planned to do fell through. I quite enjoyed the atmosphere and the fact that if conversation ever faded, there were plenty of sports to keep you entertained. Plus the food was great, so that's always a plus.
When the night came to an end, we invited Jason to tag along with us to Chicago the next day. He accepted and we went our separate ways. We got back to Tom's and decided we should probably plan out our trip to Chicago before we went to bed so that we weren't scrambling around in the morning. We found a good deal on a hotel and decided that we'd drive halfway to Gary, Indiana in order to be safer with more options for train times. Plus Tom wanted to be able to say he's been to Gary, Indiana. Music Man anyone? So with that all settled, Tom went to work while Deedee and I went to bed.
Friday October 25th
After a few days of being able to just sleep in and not worry about waking up at a certain time, it made it a little rough to get going when we did have to wake up to an alarm. So we had a little slow start to the morning and then we were rushed to get out of the house on time. Jason met us at the apartment and after we finished packing lunches, we were on our way to Gary, Indiana! The drive was beautiful!! We wanted to just pull over and have a picnic on the side of the highway to enjoy the scenery. Seriously, it was a great decision to drive halfway there.
During the drive, we of course had to listen to the song Gary, Indiana. We listened to it probably 50 times. And then it was stuck in our heads for the next two days. It's a very catchy and unforgettable song. But it was fun to learn all the words and belt it out in the car.
We made it to the station with about ten minutes to spare. The guys gathered our things while Deedee and I went ahead to buy our tickets. The train ended up being late so we had to wait a while which gave us the opportunity to get a look of Gary from the train station. I must say, the only thing that city has going for it, is the song. It's a pretty sketchy looking place. The train then arrived and we were off to Chicago.
You can tell Tom was very excited about this part of the trip.
We made it to Chicago and when we walked outside, I was in awe. The buildings all around us were huge! Nothing like Boston. We made our way through streets and this underground road to finally get to our hotel. We checked in and decided to eat lunch and watch TV for a bit before heading out to explore the city.
View from our hotel room
We decided our first stop would be Millennium Park since it was right by our hotel.
It was so interesting coming from a place like Boston that is filled with older historical buildings to a place like Chicago with so many newer tall skyscrapers. They are so different from each other. But I loved them both. New favorite thing: exploring new places! Gotta do it more often.
We made our way to the "Bean" and had a lot of fun there. That is an amazing piece of art. And quite a perfect place to people watch and see what they do for pictures around it. Very entertaining.
After hanging around the Bean for a while, we weren't sure what to do next. We looked up some geocache places and found two. That was a fun experience, I had never done it before. And now my name is on two little pieces of paper hidden in Chicago. After that, we just decided to walk wherever we wanted. Tour the city with no destination in mind. We walked by the Clarence F. Buckingham Memorial Fountain, which probably would have been super cool if there had actually been water in it.
We moved on and came to a little stage area and requested Tom to give us a performance.
After his performance, we did a little tap dancing, some pirouettes and fouettés before deciding to walk around and do some shopping. We made it into DSW where it was mostly Deedee and Tom who shopped. Deedee looked at boots but ended up purchasing high heels, and Tom purchased a very nice pair of dress shoes. By the time we left DSW, it had gotten dark outside which meant the city really lit up. It was a beautiful sight. We made another stop into the Gap before deciding it was time to find a place for dinner. We looked up restaurants and picked a pizza place- we figured some Chicago deep dish pizza would be appropriate. When we got to the restaurant, we had to wait a while for a table, which was fine due to the fact they had the BYU game playing. Yes, it was another sports restaurant. But I was obviously fine with another night eating and watching sports, especially since this time it meant I could watch BYU football!
When we got to our table, my first thought was that this restaurant didn't make sense. It seemed like it was trying to be a romantic Italian place with dim lights and candles on the tables, but yet there were sports blaring all around us. I didn't mind, it was just weird. The food we ordered was very good. I ended up eating way too much, but it was worth it.
We ended up taking too long with dinner and had to change our plans for the rest of the night. We were going to go see a comedy show, but it was just far enough away from the restaurant that we knew we wouldn't make it on time. So we decided we would go to Navy Pier to walk around and go through a haunted house they had going on there.
It was very windy and chilly once we got to Navy Pier, but goodness, the view looking back at the city was amazing! So much love for this new city I was exploring.
The pictures don't do it justice.
We made it to the end of the pier, purchased our tickets for the haunted house, and after a lot of waiting, we finally went through. It wasn't the best haunted house, but I did jump a few times here and there. And like most places, it was over too quickly. They charge so much money for those things and half the time it's not even worth it. But yet, I still go through them. Every year.
The exit of the haunted house was right at the very end of the pier. So we went and looked out into the darkness of Lake Michigan as well as back at the city. If it hadn't been insanely windy and cold, I would have wanted to stay there a lot longer soaking in the beautiful view. But the cold got the best of us. So we left the Pier through the inside to escape the cold and found a lot of cool stain glass art to look at on the way. When we made it to the end, we decided to find a Starbucks to get some hot chocolate. But when we got there, it was closed. Luckily, there was a 7-Eleven right across the street. Which I was actually glad for, because I like 7-Eleven hot chocolate way better than Starbucks. So Deedee and I purchased hot chocolate while the boys decided to go with slurpees instead. And then we made our way back through the city to our hotel because our feet had finally had enough walking.
We got to the hotel and turned on the TV while we got ready for bed. We found a station playing Ghostbusters so we settled for that. I had never seen it, and we only watched the middle part of it, but man, that show is weird. Too weird. So I just got ready for bed and went to sleep without caring to finish it.
Saturday October 26th
We woke up around 10 and got ready to check out by 11. Then we were off to find a place to eat breakfast. We came to a place we had looked up the night before and found that it was packed! Which was a bummer because then you knew it was going to be great food, but we didn't have the time to wait. We had to catch a certain train to get Jason back in time for a big YSA thing he was going to. So we settled for a little coffee shop with bagels and pastries. We ate and hung out there enjoying our last moments in Chicago before we walked back through the city to the train station.
I joined him in sleeping this time around.
When we got to Tom's car in Gary, we drove through some streets and saw how run down that town is. There were a lot of abandoned buildings that would be sort of fun to walk through if you weren't terrified of being killed by whomever seeks refuge in them.
After another enjoyable road trip back to South Bend singing along to music while enjoying the beautiful scenery, we said goodbye to Jason and headed inside. Deedee went straight to her computer, Tom turned on the TV to watch the Alabama football game, and I got in the shower. After I got all cleaned and dressed, I joined Tom. He may just make an Alabama fan out of me. Hah yeah right.. I didn't even become a complete fan of the school I attended for four years.. We hadn't planned on watching the whole game, we were going to go to the YSA activity and meet up with Jason again, but we became too comfortable and decided to be lazy and stay home. So we re-heated some leftovers for a late lunch and enjoyed watching football all afternoon.
Once the game had ended, Tom wanted to go to the store to look for some fake glasses and a new wallet. Deedee decided to stay home again, so after I changed out of my sweats, Tom and I left. We made it to the eye glasses place only to find that it was closed, so we moved on to our next stop; Target.
We wandered around the store for quite a while. We had found the wallet and then just had fun looking at random things. We found a book that I can't think of what it was called, but it was something along the lines of tips for men. What a weird but funny book. I was dying reading some of the things in it. We moved on and looked around at their sweater selection and made our way through the rest of the store before purchasing the wallet as well as a pizza to cook up for dinner. In the car ride home, we listened to some musical songs in which Tom sang along with. Man it's attractive when a guy can sing like that. Just sayin.
Once home, we cooked and ate the pizza and then I helped Tom measure himself for a custom tailored suit.
Tom then went to work and I started to organize and pack while Deedee continued watching her movies on Netflix before we went to bed.
Sunday October 27th
It's always depressing when you wake up on your last day of a vacation. I didn't want to go home. I couldn't believe how fast it went by and I wasn't ready for it to end. But no matter how much I wished that time would stop so I could keep enjoying my vacation, I knew it obviously wouldn't. So I made myself get out of bed to get ready for church. We had to go early because Tom is also the choir director in his ward and they were performing. Deedee and I didn't join in this time, we sat down and watched/fell asleep on the benches instead. Tom joined us once the practice was over and sacrament meeting started.
After church was over, Deedee and I were introduced to a few members of the ward. Of course the Bishop and missionaries wanted to know who the newcomers were. I think they were bummed when they found out we were just visitors and not new investigators.
There wasn't enough time to stay for the whole block of church, so we left to go home to finish packing and clean up. Tom made pancakes while Deedee and I got all our stuff together and after we ate, we were on our way to the airport. The trip was finally at an end. We said our goodbyes and Deedee and I found ourselves once again going through security and waiting at a gate. And after a long day of waiting in airports, we had a layover in Detroit, and long flights, we finally made it back to Salt Lake.
At the airport waiting to go home. Not sure why I'm not looking at the camera...
To sum it all up: I had a BLAST. I already want to go back. And go to many more places around the world. I have been bit by the travel bug. It is just too much fun exploring new places. I'm in love.
And for those who actually read this whole post, I applaud and thank you.
:)
xoxo
What, like it's hard?
After we figured we had toured enough, we decided to make our way to Little Italy for some late lunch. We ate at this little Italian place, obviously, but I don't remember the name of it, and then had to make a stop at Mike's Pastry. We couldn't leave Boston without trying a cannoli! By the time we actually got around to trying it though, we had been too full from lunch to eat it at the time of purchase, I only had one bite. It was good, but I just didn't have a sweet tooth and couldn't eat more of it. But at least I experienced it, right?
After we stopped at Mike's, we walked down to the harbor to take a few pics before heading back to Natalie's.
We felt like we had accomplished all the things we wanted to do in Boston, so we decided to spend the night with Natalie's friends at FHE. We first made a quick visit to see this new apartment two guys had just moved into. We had heard a lot about how cool this place was, so we got special permission to visit it before anyone else since it was our last night there. Perks of being a visitor. It was this little studio apartment, but it was awesome.
This little breakfast nook was our favorite part. We sat in there for a while just talking. It made for a fun atmosphere. But then we had to get going to FHE. So we said goodbye and headed to MIT.
The FHE was a lesson on family history. I've never been great about helping out with ancestry. I guess I'm just lazy. I would actually love to know more about my family history, but I just figure I'll let others do the work. At this last big reunion I had in September, I had some second cousins do some research and now I have pictures and letters from my great grandparents. It really is pretty cool learning about your own ancestors. It's those situations that make me feel really guilty for not being great at keeping a journal. And I can't even use this blog as my journal excuse anymore because I hardly post. Fail.
Anways, back to the trip... the lesson was great. The lady kept us, or at least me, interested in what she was saying by telling her own personal stories about her ancestors. Which always is easier to listen to than just a lecture about what you should be doing.
After the lesson was over, we ate some treats and hung out. The FHE leaders mentioned this "Nerdherd" dance coming up and that they should choreograph a dance to break out in. Like a flash mob type thing. But no one stepped up to be in charge. So naturally, the only two dancers in the room volunteered to help. Deedee and I decided we'd choreograph a dance, record it, and send it to Natalie so they could all learn it. Now we knew what we'd do during our down time in Indiana. Soon after, it was time to leave. So we said goodbye to them all and headed back to Natalie's. We got back and, once again, talked for a while before retiring to our beds for the last time in Boston.
Tuesday October 22nd
We had a very early start in order to make it on time for our 9:13 flight. It's rough having to wake up early. But we got all packed and got through traffic to make it to the airport on time. We said our goodbyes and then Deedee and I were off to our next city. We had a layover in Detroit and then made it to South Bend, Indiana six hours later. Tom picked us up and gave us a tour of downtown South Bend, which lasted about five minutes. Definitely a big difference coming from Boston to a crazy small town like South Bend. The scenery in South Bend was still very pretty though. Like all places can be in the fall. We made it back to Tom's apartment and got a little tour. I was surprised at how big and nice his apartment was, especially for someone living on their own. Deedee and I were tired from waking up early and travelling, so we didn't want to do a whole lot. Which is what we planned on doing there anyway. We knew it wasn't this big touristy place; we were there to see Tom, not South Bend. So after Tom made us some Mac n Cheese for a late lunch, Deedee pulled out her computer to do some work, and Tom and I tried to crack a password on a computer he had from work. And by I tried, I mean I sat by him and acted like I was helping, but really I was looking at Pinterest the whole time. I just gave him encouraging words here and there. But Tom had no luck with the computer and decided he needed to get out of the house. So we hopped in the car and drove to Starbucks for some hot chocolate. We hung out there for a while until they kicked us out so we stopped by Little Caesars to get some dinner and went back to Tom's. We ate pizza and watched Vine videos for a while until Tom had to do some work. So he went into his recording room (he does voice over work) and Deedee and I did some choreographing before going to bed.
Wednesday October 23rd
With not really any set plans or major things to see in South Bend, we took the opportunity to sleep in. This was going to be the lazy part of our ten day trip. But we did decide we were going to tour Notre Dame, so when everyone finally got up and ready, we were on our way. It worked out well because Tom had some school things to get done so he was able to accomplish them while giving us a tour. We walked around campus for a while, which didn't really feel like a campus because it was dead. Fall break comes and South Bend becomes a ghost town. But that didn't matter. We got to see the stadium, only the outside, and "Touchdown Jesus". We stopped at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes and lit some candles. We spent a lot of time in The Basilica (I may or may not have called it the Basilisk quite a few times.. all on accident..) walking around and admiring all the artwork and stain-glass windows. It truly is a beautiful building. I decided I'd really like to go to Mass there just to see what it's like.
Our next stop was the bookstore. Tom had books to buy for his next quarter and Deedee and I wanted to purchase some Notre Dame sweats. So we split up and did just that. After we made our purchases, we sat and enjoyed some ice cream and shared a huge cinnamon roll. And then with Tom's errands finished and our tour complete, we made our way back to Tom's apartment.
Once back, Deedee and I immediately changed into our new sweats. There is nothing like wearing new sweats for the first time. They still have that super soft inside that hasn't been ruined from washing it thousands of times. And we had nowhere to be, so why not be comfy?
Deedee then went back to work, and Tom and I started preparing dinner. I chopped up veggies while Tom seasoned the meat and then we put it all together in the oven. It had to cook for an hour, so we decided we'd nap while we waited. And then an hour later, we enjoyed a very yummy meal. It felt good to finally eat a nice home cooked meal. I did the dishes afterward and then picked up a book to read for a while. Deedee got back on her computer to work and I don't even know what Tom did. Not too much later, we decided we would go to a sports bar to watch the first game of the World Series. So Deedee and I changed back into normal clothes and we went to Buffalo Wild Wings. We ordered some snack food and sat in the middle of the pretty much deserted restaurant and enjoyed watching not only baseball, but soccer, football, and all the other sports that were surrounding us on all the TVs. It was a good time.
We didn't end up staying for the whole game though. We had finished our food and decided we could finish the last two innings at home, which is exactly what we did. And then Tom went to work, Deedee started a movie on Netflix, and I went to bed.
Thursday October 24th
For some reason, none of us slept well that night. I think I was finally starting to feel the effects of sleeping on an air mattress for too many nights in a row. Plus I'm always so conscious of sleeping with someone for fear that I will kick them or keep them up since I move a lot in my sleep. So at one point in the morning, I ended up on the floor for an hour to have my free space. And then there was Deedee who just for some reason couldn't fall asleep at all so she spent the whole night watching movies. She finally fell asleep around 9 a.m. only to be woken up 45 minutes later to some maintenance guy coming to check the apartment. Which then resulted in her deciding to spend the day at Tom's apartment to continue watching movies. So when Tom and I finally got ready, we headed out to run some errands for Tom without her.
We made a stop at the dry cleaners and an alteration place and then we were off to the mall to shop for sweaters. Ya know, it's a rare occasion when a girl and guy go to a mall and it's the guy doing all the shopping. The girl is hardly ever the one to help find the guy clothes and patiently wait while he tries them on. But I've never been a normal girl when it comes to shopping. And surprisingly enough, I wasn't dying to go home even when we had been shopping for hours. Apparently shopping is easier for me when I'm helping an attractive guy pick out stylish clothing rather than shopping for myself or with other girls. So we had a good time and were successful in finding a few good looking sweaters for him to add to his wardrobe.
But we had to hurry back because one, we had taken way longer than planned which left Deedee alone that whole time, and two, we had a double date planned and needed to get that started. Although, trying to plan a double date in South Bend, Indiana during fall break is hopeless. All our ideas we had- haunted house, ice skating, touring a chocolate factory- completely failed. Everything was closed. So we settled for the same activity we did the night before. Go to a sports bar and watch the World Series.
We met up with Jason, one of the few other YSA guys in Tom's ward, at a local restaurant. We figured we didn't want to have our night exactly like the night before by going to the same place. Our waitress was super friendly. She probably spent most of the night hanging out with us. Which was mainly because we were her last table before her shift ended and partially because I think she had a little crush on Tom. But who doesn't? So she took great care of us.
Jason turned out to be just like Tom had told us- a very friendly fun guy. So of course we all became instant friends. He fit right in and he and Deedee hit it off. Not really anything romantic, but there was never a dull awkward moment between them. So we had another great night eating, talking, and watching sports. I was sort of glad everything else we had planned to do fell through. I quite enjoyed the atmosphere and the fact that if conversation ever faded, there were plenty of sports to keep you entertained. Plus the food was great, so that's always a plus.
When the night came to an end, we invited Jason to tag along with us to Chicago the next day. He accepted and we went our separate ways. We got back to Tom's and decided we should probably plan out our trip to Chicago before we went to bed so that we weren't scrambling around in the morning. We found a good deal on a hotel and decided that we'd drive halfway to Gary, Indiana in order to be safer with more options for train times. Plus Tom wanted to be able to say he's been to Gary, Indiana. Music Man anyone? So with that all settled, Tom went to work while Deedee and I went to bed.
Friday October 25th
After a few days of being able to just sleep in and not worry about waking up at a certain time, it made it a little rough to get going when we did have to wake up to an alarm. So we had a little slow start to the morning and then we were rushed to get out of the house on time. Jason met us at the apartment and after we finished packing lunches, we were on our way to Gary, Indiana! The drive was beautiful!! We wanted to just pull over and have a picnic on the side of the highway to enjoy the scenery. Seriously, it was a great decision to drive halfway there.
During the drive, we of course had to listen to the song Gary, Indiana. We listened to it probably 50 times. And then it was stuck in our heads for the next two days. It's a very catchy and unforgettable song. But it was fun to learn all the words and belt it out in the car.
We made it to the station with about ten minutes to spare. The guys gathered our things while Deedee and I went ahead to buy our tickets. The train ended up being late so we had to wait a while which gave us the opportunity to get a look of Gary from the train station. I must say, the only thing that city has going for it, is the song. It's a pretty sketchy looking place. The train then arrived and we were off to Chicago.
You can tell Tom was very excited about this part of the trip.
We made it to Chicago and when we walked outside, I was in awe. The buildings all around us were huge! Nothing like Boston. We made our way through streets and this underground road to finally get to our hotel. We checked in and decided to eat lunch and watch TV for a bit before heading out to explore the city.
View from our hotel room
We decided our first stop would be Millennium Park since it was right by our hotel.
It was so interesting coming from a place like Boston that is filled with older historical buildings to a place like Chicago with so many newer tall skyscrapers. They are so different from each other. But I loved them both. New favorite thing: exploring new places! Gotta do it more often.
We made our way to the "Bean" and had a lot of fun there. That is an amazing piece of art. And quite a perfect place to people watch and see what they do for pictures around it. Very entertaining.
After hanging around the Bean for a while, we weren't sure what to do next. We looked up some geocache places and found two. That was a fun experience, I had never done it before. And now my name is on two little pieces of paper hidden in Chicago. After that, we just decided to walk wherever we wanted. Tour the city with no destination in mind. We walked by the Clarence F. Buckingham Memorial Fountain, which probably would have been super cool if there had actually been water in it.
We moved on and came to a little stage area and requested Tom to give us a performance.
I was going to upload a video I took, but it keeps getting an error. So you just get a picture instead.
When we got to our table, my first thought was that this restaurant didn't make sense. It seemed like it was trying to be a romantic Italian place with dim lights and candles on the tables, but yet there were sports blaring all around us. I didn't mind, it was just weird. The food we ordered was very good. I ended up eating way too much, but it was worth it.
We ended up taking too long with dinner and had to change our plans for the rest of the night. We were going to go see a comedy show, but it was just far enough away from the restaurant that we knew we wouldn't make it on time. So we decided we would go to Navy Pier to walk around and go through a haunted house they had going on there.
It was very windy and chilly once we got to Navy Pier, but goodness, the view looking back at the city was amazing! So much love for this new city I was exploring.
The pictures don't do it justice.
We made it to the end of the pier, purchased our tickets for the haunted house, and after a lot of waiting, we finally went through. It wasn't the best haunted house, but I did jump a few times here and there. And like most places, it was over too quickly. They charge so much money for those things and half the time it's not even worth it. But yet, I still go through them. Every year.
The exit of the haunted house was right at the very end of the pier. So we went and looked out into the darkness of Lake Michigan as well as back at the city. If it hadn't been insanely windy and cold, I would have wanted to stay there a lot longer soaking in the beautiful view. But the cold got the best of us. So we left the Pier through the inside to escape the cold and found a lot of cool stain glass art to look at on the way. When we made it to the end, we decided to find a Starbucks to get some hot chocolate. But when we got there, it was closed. Luckily, there was a 7-Eleven right across the street. Which I was actually glad for, because I like 7-Eleven hot chocolate way better than Starbucks. So Deedee and I purchased hot chocolate while the boys decided to go with slurpees instead. And then we made our way back through the city to our hotel because our feet had finally had enough walking.
We got to the hotel and turned on the TV while we got ready for bed. We found a station playing Ghostbusters so we settled for that. I had never seen it, and we only watched the middle part of it, but man, that show is weird. Too weird. So I just got ready for bed and went to sleep without caring to finish it.
Saturday October 26th
We woke up around 10 and got ready to check out by 11. Then we were off to find a place to eat breakfast. We came to a place we had looked up the night before and found that it was packed! Which was a bummer because then you knew it was going to be great food, but we didn't have the time to wait. We had to catch a certain train to get Jason back in time for a big YSA thing he was going to. So we settled for a little coffee shop with bagels and pastries. We ate and hung out there enjoying our last moments in Chicago before we walked back through the city to the train station.
I joined him in sleeping this time around.
When we got to Tom's car in Gary, we drove through some streets and saw how run down that town is. There were a lot of abandoned buildings that would be sort of fun to walk through if you weren't terrified of being killed by whomever seeks refuge in them.
After another enjoyable road trip back to South Bend singing along to music while enjoying the beautiful scenery, we said goodbye to Jason and headed inside. Deedee went straight to her computer, Tom turned on the TV to watch the Alabama football game, and I got in the shower. After I got all cleaned and dressed, I joined Tom. He may just make an Alabama fan out of me. Hah yeah right.. I didn't even become a complete fan of the school I attended for four years.. We hadn't planned on watching the whole game, we were going to go to the YSA activity and meet up with Jason again, but we became too comfortable and decided to be lazy and stay home. So we re-heated some leftovers for a late lunch and enjoyed watching football all afternoon.
Once the game had ended, Tom wanted to go to the store to look for some fake glasses and a new wallet. Deedee decided to stay home again, so after I changed out of my sweats, Tom and I left. We made it to the eye glasses place only to find that it was closed, so we moved on to our next stop; Target.
We wandered around the store for quite a while. We had found the wallet and then just had fun looking at random things. We found a book that I can't think of what it was called, but it was something along the lines of tips for men. What a weird but funny book. I was dying reading some of the things in it. We moved on and looked around at their sweater selection and made our way through the rest of the store before purchasing the wallet as well as a pizza to cook up for dinner. In the car ride home, we listened to some musical songs in which Tom sang along with. Man it's attractive when a guy can sing like that. Just sayin.
Once home, we cooked and ate the pizza and then I helped Tom measure himself for a custom tailored suit.
Tom then went to work and I started to organize and pack while Deedee continued watching her movies on Netflix before we went to bed.
Sunday October 27th
It's always depressing when you wake up on your last day of a vacation. I didn't want to go home. I couldn't believe how fast it went by and I wasn't ready for it to end. But no matter how much I wished that time would stop so I could keep enjoying my vacation, I knew it obviously wouldn't. So I made myself get out of bed to get ready for church. We had to go early because Tom is also the choir director in his ward and they were performing. Deedee and I didn't join in this time, we sat down and watched/fell asleep on the benches instead. Tom joined us once the practice was over and sacrament meeting started.
After church was over, Deedee and I were introduced to a few members of the ward. Of course the Bishop and missionaries wanted to know who the newcomers were. I think they were bummed when they found out we were just visitors and not new investigators.
There wasn't enough time to stay for the whole block of church, so we left to go home to finish packing and clean up. Tom made pancakes while Deedee and I got all our stuff together and after we ate, we were on our way to the airport. The trip was finally at an end. We said our goodbyes and Deedee and I found ourselves once again going through security and waiting at a gate. And after a long day of waiting in airports, we had a layover in Detroit, and long flights, we finally made it back to Salt Lake.
At the airport waiting to go home. Not sure why I'm not looking at the camera...
To sum it all up: I had a BLAST. I already want to go back. And go to many more places around the world. I have been bit by the travel bug. It is just too much fun exploring new places. I'm in love.
And for those who actually read this whole post, I applaud and thank you.
:)
xoxo
