Deutschland

It was rainy on Thursday the 23rd, so Kelly thought we could take a drive to see some places. She took me to the concentration camp that was in Hamburg, on the outskirts of the city. Neuengamme was more of a work camp at the time, no gas chambers, although there was obviously still a significant amount of death due to disease and poor living conditions. After the war, evidence of most concentration camps were destroyed, so most of the buildings at Neuengamme no longer stand. The way they depict how everything looked, is by laying out rocks in different colors to depict landmarks. Informational boards stand next to each "building." The pictures aren't really entertaining because it's literally pictures of rocks, but here's the best I can show y'all.


An air-raid building was still standing, I'm assuming because of the strength that it would have needed to be built. It's kind of cool, you can still see the simulated windows.



Here are some of the memorial buildings/statues at the camp:






Then we went Ohlsdorf cemetary (Kelly, you'll have to correct me when I'm wrong... German words are hard to spell, let alone remember how to say). which is the largest cemetery in the world! Seriously, I have never seen a prettier cemetery and I regret to say, I did not take pictures. I encourage you to google image it because it's that cool. I'm not sure if pictures, again, will do it justice. We went back to her house where I crashed, again. :P

On Friday, the 24th, I got up and went into the city again by myself. I wore shorts and a long sleeve shirt because A. My only pair of jeans that I had packed, were dirty. But B. It was sunny out, but still a tad chilly. I brought a jacket, but I no longer walked around for 20 minutes and decided to go back and grab my jeans. I came back into the city again (about a 30 minute train ride), so I had already wasted a bit of time. I found the art museum I had been looking for (wasn't that hard to find) and I went inside. There was no front desk, so I assumed there was no admission cost and I started wandering around. A policeman came after me saying things in German and I was just like, "ehhh, English!?" and luckily he knew English and explained that I needed to purchase a ticket. The museum was good, however, all of the captions/information was strictly in German, so I wasn't able to read, naturally. The time was already getting late so I had to head back because Kelly asked if I could watch the munchkins while she and Matt went to dinner. It's the least I could do! :] Plus, they're cuties.

On Saturday, the 25th, Kelly totallyyyy went out of her way to take me around Hamburg all day. Matt had the day off, so the kids stayed home with him. We were considering going to Lubeck or Luneberg, but issues with the train left us in Hamburg again. She took me down to an area (again, unsure of the very German names of places) where we got on a ferry that took us all around the alster. We got off in a neighborhood where we began to walk around the city again:

((anchors for my seestersss)) +--)


The apartments above these shops ^^ were used to house seaman's widows.


Just a cute little area we were walking through...


Above is a view of St. Nikolai's church from a distance. Next, we walked to both St. Micael's church and again to St. Nikolai's. Here is St. Nikolai's, which I mentioned before, survived the bombings of Hamburg during WWII.




This time, we were able to go to the top of St. Nikolai's and see a lot of the city from an aerial perspective. Here is the Rathaus from the view from the top of the church:


Here is the "spice district." As images I have posted before show, Hamburg is built on just as much water as Venice and Amsterdam. Note the warehouses built on the bay:



After the churches, we went to Planten un Blomen, the botanical gardens in downtown Hamburg. SO PRETTY! Check the gigantic cement lillypads. :D






We then had a nice lunch at a restaurant where I enjoyed a traditional German meal, schweineschnitzel! After a late lunch, we walked around again and up through the Reeperbahn. We headed back to her house where I packed the rest of my belongings and headed back into the city again to catch the train to Vienna. Reagan, a high school classmate of mine, has been studying in Vienna all semester and we happened to facebook each other and she invited me down. Why not, when my lodging is taken care of, right!? After a 12 hour train ride, I arrived in Vienna, where Reagan met me at the train station.

Vienna Post Soon! Off to ROMAAA tomorrow!!

Xoxo
Paige

Germany update...

On the 21st...

I forgot to mention that after we got back from Bremen, I had zero energy and thought I'd take a nap... I fell asleep for 7 HOURRSSS. Unreal. I felt like I had fell asleep for like an hour or two, max. Guess I was THAT exhausted. So after I woke up, I sat and watched some TV with Matt and Kelly for a bit, but then had no problem getting right back to sleep for another full 7 hours.

On the 22nd...

On the morning of the 22nd, I went into the city of Hamburg with Matt when he had to go in for work. He showed me how to use the U-Bahn train system and how to get around. He was weary to leave me stranded in a primarily German-speaking town, re-asking me if I was okay and reiterating that if I needed any help, that most people my age can speak some English. He also gave me his business card in case I needed to come find him. Thanks Matt, for all your help :]

Once I was by myself, I just wandered for awhile through shopping areas and then along the Elbe. I had a croissant and a diet coke here:







After walking around for probably about 2 hours, I desperately tried to find wifi to find out what exactly I could do next. I even asked several people... NOWHERE IN HAMBURG HAS WIFIII. How do they live?!

I soon decided to head back, but stopped at one of the stops on the way back (there were probably 15 stops on the way to the central station from the stop where they live). On the way in that morning, Matt had mentioned that this one stop, the Reeperbahn, was a trendier area where a lot of younger people are. The redlight district is there, but there's also just really cool nightlife, etc. So I stopped in on my way back to Matt and Kelly's to check it out. Upon exiting the U-Bahn, I was greeted with a strong odor of marijuana. I didn't think much of it, there's a lot of things in Europe that are legal that wouldn't be in the U.S. So I continued up the stairs of the train station, only to find myself consumed in an area with flashing signs of women's legs, breasts and illuminated signs flashing, "GAY HOMO SEX," "LIVE SEX SHOWS" and other welcoming signs of this nature. I walked awhile and it never ended, so I was like, "where the HELL am I!?" and I headed back to Matt and Kelly's.

We had decided to go back into Hamburg for dinner. I told Kelly about my experience at the Reeperbahn stop and she reiterated again how cool the area actually was. So she actually took me back through the Reeperbahn on our way in to dinner. Apparently I hadn't traveled far enough into the area to see areas other than gay homo sex. I see the potential for how cool it actually could be for a nightlife area... Just not by myself :P A bar in the Reeperbahn is actually the first bar the Beatles ever played in! Here is an image of the Beatles tribute:

After being poured on walking around the Reeperbahn, we found our way downtown and had dinner at a restaurant... Can't remember the name. I'll have to ask Kelly. :P It was a really great pizza/pasta place and Kelly thinks there is one in Rome too! After dinner we walked around Hamburg a bit, to the St. Nikolai church, which survived some serious bombings back in WWII. It's really beautiful, despite its charring, which almost makes it more charming in a way. We visited a few more sights before heading home for the night.

*I apologize for being horrible at posting... I still have several more days of Germany to blog about + a few days in Austria now!

Xoxo

Paige

Pictures posted!

Just so you know, I posted pictures within the blogs I already posted, so read backwards again!

Xoxo Paige

Continued...

When I got to the airport, I checked in and they weighed my bags. Now, I had heard that RyanAir was known for being a stickler about luggage weight. Most other airlines allow you to have a 50 lb. bag, while RyanAir requires 20 kilos or less, or 44 lbs. or less. With this knowledge, I got the bright idea to wear a bunch of clothing... A pair of shorts, a pair of jeans over my shorts, 2 bras, 2 tanks, a dress over my jeans. A cardigan, a jacket and a jacket around my waist. Oh, and tennis shoes... With my dress combination. A scarf and a necklace and like 3 chunky bracelets. I had to have looked ridiculous, but who was I going to run into in the UK? :p So my bag was still overweight 5 lbs. and they charge £20 per kilo over. Soooo, I had to pay £60 just for excess baggage. Again, Julie, my study abroad advisor, warned us about packing lightly. :p

I check my bag in, I get to the security gate and the line was huuuuge for 5:00something in the morning. I go through the security detector and BEEP, BEEP, BEEP. "Ma'am, do you have a belt on? A cell phone with you?" No, no. "Okay, can you step right through there again?" BEEP, BEEP, BEEP. Awesome. To make a long story, short, I had to a private search and strip down to my bra/jeans. Of course it took forever to find someone to search me... Then she had to fill out paperwork... Turns out, 2 sets of underwire will set off a security detector. Also, when you set off security, they have to go retrieve your bag you already checked in, to double check it. I missed my flight and they did nothing about it to help me. I had to pay £100 to get my flight back within 24 hours, however the next flight wasn't until the following morning at 6:45, so now what I was I supposed to do? Hang out in an airport for 24 hours? Horrible option. Rent a hotel room, so I could at least put my luggage somewhere and rest? Too expensive. So I decided to get a roundtrip coach ticket back into central London and head back to my hostel. When I got to Victoria station (London's main train/bus station), I'd have to walk about a mile to my hostel, like I had been doing with my 50 lb. suitcase, 25 lb carry-on and probably 20 lb purse. (Needless to say, I've packed on some muscle in these 4 days). As my luck continues, the handle on my suitcase broke off. Dragging my suitcase became even more of an adventure... A painful one.

I got to the hostel and explained what had happened to the owner. The people there were seriouslyyy soooo nice! They let me check my bag in and lock it up all day. They let me take a nap and asked if I wanted to take a shower or anything... All free of charge! It was raining pretty hard again, so I just hung around the hostel for the most part and talked with a guy I met there, Tyler. Tyler had to head back to Victoria station (London's main train/bus station) around 11 PM, so I decided I'd walk with him so I didn't have to pay for a bus. (Didn't want to walk in the dark by myself, obviously). So he had to leave, but I just hung out at Victoria Station until about 1:00 AM when I took my coach bus back to the airport, which arrived around 2:15. I had about 2 hours before I could check in and things went smoothly this time.

On the flight to Bremen, I sat next to an American girl from California, who is getting her masters in Bremen. She was telling me about her stressful day, getting on her flight and I, in exchange, told her my troubles. She proceeded to tell me that I seemed so calm for all that had happened. Although it was stressful as each incident happened, the truth is, I am actually really glad I got "stuck" in London for a few days. Had none of this happened, I wouldn't have been able to visit London or meet some really cool people.

I arrived in Bremen, Germany, where Kelly picked me up from the airport. ((Thank you!)) Had anything gone wrong here, the language barrier would have made things 50 times more stressful, so I am thankful she was able to pick me up. We stopped in Bremen and she showed me around some of the city. Here is a picture of the Rauthaus, or Town Hall!

Here are some pictures I took of the town, while we were walking around. They have these cute "pedestrian streets" all over the shopping areas.

The Town Musicians of Bremen, a Brothers Grimm folktale, is based on the city of Bremen, Germany. All around the city are statues, souvenirs, etc. with images of the Town Musicians of Bremen, a donkey, dog, cat and rooster.

Mr. Brett (Matt and Kelly's son) with the statue!

In this last picture, this specific statue, you're supposed to rub the legs of the donkey for luck. Lord knows I needed some of that!

**All of these pictures, I took on my phone. Pictures from London are on my camera, but I have to buy a new uploading cord. Until then, I'll keep posting pictures from my phone! More soon!

Xoxo

Paige

Appropriate and funny for my current location...

Day 3 -- Sunday June 19th

First off, happy daddy's dayyy. A big shout out to both of mine; Dad Scott, I'm very proud of you for a year's sobriety and what you're doing. Dad Chris, thanks for everything you do for me!

This post is a continuation of where I ended on yesterday's post. After I got up super early (5:30 AM) and sat outside and blogged, I decided it was actually entirely too frigid outside to be sitting in a dress and sandals. I was just enjoying sitting outside... IN LONDON... looking over the Thames. I went inside to grab a jacket and I met up with Gavin again at about 7:30, to take a walk. A couple hours had gone by and we found ourselves completely lost and had walked through all of Westminster, Pimlico, Chelsea and probably a few other districts as well.

We decided to stop at a McDonald's (or "Mackers" as Australians call it) for fuel and wifi access. On our walk again, we came across Hyde Park, which is absolutely massive and beautiful. I should have taken more pictures. At this point, we think we had walked at least 3 miles, maybe 4 and my gladiators were giving me blisters. We took a bus back to Victoria again, because we wouldn't have made it back to go see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace if we had just walked. The changing of the guards is literally... Guards walking back and forth for an hour... An occasional outburst of parade type drums and music... And that's all! For an hourrr. I'm glad I went just to be able to say I've seen it, although after only a few hours of sleep, I probably couldn't have attended anything more boring in all of London. Here is the palace:


In the middle of the courtyard at the palace:

So like I said, I was very tired and as we were trying to figure out what we were doing next, we just sat down at St. James Park, next to the palace. Gavin wanted to show me "how cool squirrels are." Apparently there are no squirrels in Australia and after telling him they're everywhere in the states, he still insisted on finding some squirrels. Really? They're completely useless and boring, right? Not in the UK! The squirrels seriously come right up to you and eat out of your hands... They'll climb on you and stretch on you like a damn cat! So weird and actually cute.

As we were sitting in the park, I managed to fall asleep for like maybe 30 minutes and was able to revive some energy. We got up again to start walking... Walked a few more miles throughout Victoria and Piccadilly again and then had a few mile trek along the Thames to get back to the hostel. At one point, we found a staircase access to go down on the beach. Above the staircase was a big sign that said, "Children MUST NOT play on staircase." I said, "Aww, Gavin, you can't play here... Children can't play here." With that said, BAM, he falls down the entiiiire set of stairs. I thought he would stop, but he seriously just kept sliding and sliding. SO FUNNY. Turns out, there was a thin layer of moss all over the stairs. Yikes!

Gavin had to catch his flight back to Australia this night, so once we got back to the hostel, we said our goodbyes and I headed to my room to pack and take a nap! Boy, was it much needed. I slept from 6-8 and then got back up for about an hour and fell asleep again until 2:30 AM. I got up and grabbed my stuff that I had already packed, to catch my bus to the airport. I waited at the bus stop starting at 3:05, (buses come at :15 and :45 after) and the bus did not come until 3:50. I got on the bus, still not worried at all about my flight. We pulled into the airport at 4:45 and I still was not worried at all about making my 6:40 flight.

To be continued...

Xoxo

Paige

Day 2 -- Saturday, June 18

I'm surprisingly not as jetlagged as I thought I'd be... I took a decent nap after I first landed at 8 AM on the 17th and also went to sleep about 2 AM London time (8 PM central). I had set my alarm for 4 AM because I needed to get up and make sure I could get ahold of Kelly and Matt. My phone was still on central time and hadn't adjusted to the London time zone. When I went to bed, I was afraid it would correct itself over night and not wake me up in time. Sure enough, it did correct itself and I woke up at 5:30 AM, frantically thinking I had somehow slept until 5:30 PM and had missed my checkout and getting ahold of the Giltner's.

I had some unforeseen circumstances in which my flight to Hamburg did not happen on the 18th. This is why I so desperately needed to get ahold of Matt and Kelly. Once I was able to contact them (thank you Elayna for calling their vonage phone for me :]) I was much relieved although still a little stressed, wondering how I was going to spend my next few days in London. I went back to my room and slept for a few more hours to try and better my sleep schedule (I don't plan on being up at 5:30 every morning :p) and I slept until about 9 AM. I got ready and went downstairs, ate my continental breakfast and stole a few crescent rolls and oranges to go. Like I said, I wasn't for sure what my plans would entail for the next few days :P

I was staying at a hotel near the Stansted airport, but Stansted is on the outskirts of the city, plus I can't afford a hotel room by myself for 3ish nights. So I checked into a hostel on the Thame River in Victoria, Central London. I'm now flying out onMonday morning to Hamburg, so I'll spend a few days in central London. I'm not going to complain about being in London, although I think it's fair to complain about my bank account :p It's all an adventure, right?

--Side note--I've been writing my posts during transportation (airplane,walking, bus, etc) so I can keep up with posting. I think it'd be harder to keep up with posting if I didn't do this. I apologize if my tenses don't make sense, since I'm writing everything as it happened, but adding stuff at the end as well--

Anwayyyy, as I pulled into the city, it was raining pretty heavily. When I got off the bus, it was bright and shiny, so I didn't hesitate to find someone to ask for help with directions. I found a police officer and he got out his map and chatted with me for awhile. I find that some English people just really really hate Americans... Where others are intrigued by my accent and ask where I'm from and what I'm doing. The ones who talk to you are soooo friendly. So I started on foot with my 50 lb luggage, carry-on and huge purse... It was only about a 1 mile walk, but it was on cobblestone roads, which was just so lovely for dragging luggage. (Julie, you warned us about this :p) When I felt like I was getting nowhere near close to the river after about a mile of walking, I found myself in a commercial area and stopped in a wine shop to ask for directions. The man was very nice and got online and printed a google maps route for me. At this point I was about 2 miles away... And it started pouring. I took cover for awhile for it to subside and I started again. I had to have looked absolutely ridiculous, drenched in rain, dragging these suitcases, holding a wet map in front of my face, like "WHERE THE HELL AM I GOING!?" But I arrived at the hostel at 2:00, perfect timing for check in. Turns out, I booked my stay for the 19th... Which was fine, because I neededit for that night too, but a hostel on a Saturday night in London is almost straight impossible to find an open room. I think the man could tell I was a little exhausted and "rained out" and he told me just to take a seat and got me a diet coke. He said he'd call around to other hostels to check availability.. He also said there may be cancellations and I could possibly get a bed. In the meantime, I got on the free internet access and talked to some people online (my momma on skype, grandma Jillie on facebook) and checked my email, etc. He later approached me to tell me a cancellation was made in a male room.. Or I could stay in the basement linen closet, which has an extra bed. I asked an American worker here what she thought about it and she said definitely stay in the boys' room.. It's not sketchy. And I had no problem at all... It was just smelly. :p

As it was my first time staying in a hostel, I was a tad skeptical, however the atmosphere this one has specifically, is really cool. So many international students and people just so friendly and helpful. The downstairs is a pub, so you can just hang out in awesome leather chairs, sitting around antique tables, doing whatever! There is free wifi and free drinks (coffee, tea, water, soft drinks, milk, juice) to guests. I thought there was free food as well, but there is only a restaurant available within the pub, which is fairly inexpensive. As I was sitting there, two guys about my age were sitting at couches next to the table where I was sitting. Conversation got started after the dog that stays here at the hostel, snapped at me while I was trying to plug my computer in near him. Ralphie is a rude, rude, old pup.

Meet Gavin and Tony.



Gavin is from Melbourne, Australia, is almost a spitting image of Zach Galifinakes (and almost as funny too!) and has been traveling in Europe for 3 months. He hates being called "Allen" and "fat jesus" so naturally, I took stabs whenever I can. :P Tony is from New Zealand and has been traveling for a few weeks. They have both mainly been "camping out" in London and traveling to other cities when they could. The two met in Dublin one weekend, realized they were both from "down unduh" and had both been staying in London. Their birthdays are one day apart and they were both leaving to go home on the exact same day; Today, the 19th. They were absolutely best friends, meant to be. They sat and chatted with me about everything under the sun and we got a few drinks along with Steph, a girl my age from Germany who works at the hostel. We made plans to venture to Piccidilly for dinner and to possibly go out. Gavin and Tony were hilarious, mocking my accent, talking about how our government sucks and saying how worthless of a sport American football is with all of the protective gear. Rugby is the way to go, I guess?

Anyway, we walked down the the Thames and saw some sights along the way. I took a photo in the traditional London phone booth... I think someone had been using it as a toilet.


I got to see Westminster Abbey, the Parliament building, Big Ben and a couple other sights.





They wanted to eat at Angus Steakhouse... Really? I didn't come to London to eat at an American chain restaurant. Sillies. After dinner, we ventured down to a bar where they were selling shots for 1 GBP. Straight, no chaser, horrible whiskey. A man gave us free entry tickets to a club called Bar Rumba... It was normally 10 GBP! We got in the club and it was actually soooo much fun! Europe loves Gaga, so I love Europe even more. The club played all of the pop/hip hop music I know and the atmosphere was just really cool. We walked back, down the Thame and returned to our hostel for bed around 2 AM.

Here it is 6:45 AM now. I woke up again at 5:30 after going to bed around 2 AM. This rhythm I'm in has got to stop. Today, I plan to venture into Victoria again to watch the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace and maybe sneak a picture with one of the guards. ;D I don't know what other plans I have except to walk around with Gavin and Tony again.. Their flights are at 10:30 PM so we have all day. I have pictures to post as soon as I get a camera cord, so check back!

This is me this morning... 6:45 AM. It's about 55 degrees outside. BRR!

Xoxo
Paige

A Day In The Life Of Only Me

Getting to the airport was an interesting story in and of itself.  I woke up early to get everything in line and run last minute errands. I had left my debit card in the ATM the day before and had to go get it. Genius. Another errand was going to mom's store to make copies of my  passport, ID, debit card, etc. Of course I left a billion things at home.. And once I was home grabbing my belongings to head to the airport, I realized I had left all of my copies at the store, along with my ISIC ID and my camera. Of course. Don took me back to the store "on our way" to the aiport, although it's very out of the way and I made it to the airport 30 minutes before my flight. The whole "arrive-60-75-minutes-before-your-flight-rule" is for retards like me. Turns out, I left this holographic sticker (seems official and important) at home, that I was supposed to apply on top of my photo on my ISIC card... Goooood.

My airplane ride to Chicago from Decatur was an 8 passenger plane. One 3-person family was on it and also a businessman by himself. Our pilot was reading and writing in a notepad the whole time he was "flying." Perfect. Good news though, we made it there safely. :p

After spending a few hours waiting around O'Hare, I was actually really exhausted. To my favor, luckily I somehow missed the time my seat section boarded so they moved my seat... To a window seat! Previously I had asked for one and they were all taken. It was perfect because I was able to sleep against it. Running late is in my favor sometimes, I suppose!

The plane took off about 30 minutes late because of congestion in the area, so I just hung out and got situated. My seat-mate was pretty shy, so needless to say, he wasn't very entertaining. Soon after take off, the attendants delivered our meals and I ate... Well, I don't know what I ate really. Some form of mashed/shredded chicken with maybe some marinara type sauce mixed in? It was very mysterious and very cafeteria-esque. I just ate the bread and peas and carrots. I soon fell asleep from about 8:30-10:00 central time, but woke up to some mild turbulence. It was a decent nap, but I wasn't able to fall asleep again for the rest of the trip. I got out my headphones and watched the movie "Hall Pass" on my personal television, which was alright. Breakfast was served and I downed some black coffee (gross!) preparing for who knows how long I'd be up getting to where I was going. 

Passing the UK boarder was, of course, interesting. Only me, I swear. They almost didn't let me in the god damn country! Their reasoning was because I didn't have a hotel booked and that looks suspicious, although I'm planning on flying out of the country tomorrow. I get that it doesn't make total sense, but that's just how I roll. Don't they get people coming through here all the time with "no plan" but to backpack!? After asking a billion and one questions, even asking what my parents do for a living... the man said if I had gotten any other employee on the boarder patrol, they would have "shipped me right back to the U.S." Now I'm of high suspicion to the UK and the next time I enter the country I will be closely watched and need to be able to prove every step of my plan, including my bank statements to prove I have the funds. Good god, what's this little American ginger gonna do!?

I got to a hotel and checked in and had to pee soooo bad, I was dragging all of my luggage to my room and literally just dropped it as soon as I got inside and jumped over it, trying to flip light switches on the way. Turns out you have to have your room key "plugged in" to turn on the electricity.. When you take the key out, it turns off all of the electricity in the room... Kinda cool!? So I peed in the dark. I still haven't figured out how to flush the toilet. Good thing it's just meeee. :p

Other news, I forgot to buy a Mac converter in the states and my regular converter isnt powerful enough, so I'm posting from my phone and therefore, unable to post the few pictures I have. I also only have wifi in the lobby, so I'm going to head back up to my room now as soon as KIMBERLY MESSAGES ME BACK. Clearly she's a concerned mother :p

More soon!

Xoxo
Paige

Packing...

I told myself I wouldn't overpack, but alas, I think I have. Thank god for space maker vacuum bags...

Can you believe there are 16 dresses in there? Can you believe that I think I need 18 dresses?? There are two more in my carry-on. And to think I was considering only taking a carry-on, like Aunt Amy had suggested.

An update on my plans... I'm actually flying out of Decatur to O'Hare, instead of driving. Who knew a flight from Decatur to Chicago was only $25!? So I guess that makes more sense. It's officially 36 hours until my flight and I can barely contain my excitement!

Xoxo

Paige

WANT.

BIRTHDAYYYS

Happy birthday to two of my favorite peoplllle:

My beautiful baby sister is turning 19!

And my bestie Kiefer is turning 21! Too bad he's stuck in Afghanistan. :[

And the countdown begins...

4 days and 3 hours until my flight out of the United States. I will be flying out of O'Hare on the 16th, arriving in London. I will spend an evening in London... Plans on what I'm doing/where I'm staying when I get there? Not so sure. But I'm not going to complain about being stuck in London for 24 hours. After my London trip, I will be venturing to Hamburg, Germany where I will stay with my mom's friend Kelly for about 10 days. Kelly's husband Matt was transferred to Germany, working for ADM. I also babysat a few times for Krista and Bret, her kids! Kelly says the cuties will be out of school, so we plan to take some day trips for her to show me some sights. I'm so excited and grateful they are willing and able to host me!

Trenee' and I drove down to St. Louis last night where she hung out with some of her friends from STLCOP and I enjoyed my last weekend in the United States with some friends from school as well. Today, I plan to begin packing... Hopefully. I'm absolutely dreading it. More to come!

Xoxo
Paige