Home is Where the Heart is

Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you how much I love Arizona. Arizona is where I was born and raised and I intend to always call it "home". Arizona has some of the most incredible sunsets I have ever seen, the heat in summer, which as crazy as it sounds I absolutely love, the snow up north in winter and of course my family and friends! Approximately every 6 months my 6 best friends (Alex, Aiden, Jessica, Stephanie, Michelle, Katie) and I are reunited with each other and it always feels as though we have never been apart. I feel very, VERY lucky to call these girls my best friends because although our lives have taken us all across the country and even the world these past several years we continue to remain incredibly close. Social networking sites are of course always helpful with that but even once we are all together again it feels (to me) as though nothing has changed! I am truly blessed to have these wonderful, beautiful friends in my life and I don't know what I would do without them.

As for this lovely Christmas Eve Day I have been happily finishing up some last minute Christmas shopping, wrapping, and now watching a Friends marathon. I plan on watching a Christmas movie and playing some board games while eating pizza and wings (a tradition every year) before heading over to Alex's moms house to help with all the crazy wrapping whirlwind that ensues every year on Christmas Eve at their house. It's always so fun to help because there are so many children to wrap for and prepare Santa presents for and the Christmas spirit is exactly how I always want Christmas to be! Crazy and hectic with lots of laughter :) For anyone who somehow doesn't know, I consider Alex's family to be my second family and they kindly adopt me every holiday as part of their family so I get to celebrate with all the people I love through the days!

Christmas always has been and always will be my favorite time of the year! I am so excited for the next two weeks to spend time with my family, friends and as I have recently decided, to re-read Harry Potter! Every time I watch one of the movies again (such as last night) or read quotes on pinterest or see postsecret's anything Harry Potter related I get so sad that the series is over and I have to start reading them again! I LOVE HARRY POTTER! Who has an opinion on me getting a Harry Potter related tattoo?..........
While Javi is here I am also really excited to start exploring Arizona. Being abroad has gotten me even more excited about history and learning the stories that a city has to tell and I really want to know more about this great state that I love so much! I was doing a 100 question quiz in a magazine with my dad and it was all about Arizona (because Arizona turns 100 on February 14, 2012) and it was talking about all sorts of historical places and important places in Arizona that have so much history to offer and I want to see and visit it all! After I inform Javi this is what I want to do while he is here (hehe) I'm hoping that he is just as excited to explore with me! I'll keep you all updated.
A quick update on this terrible bug bite I had and cold I had- the bug bite is finally healed except for a small scab which yes, I am putting neosporin on, and the cold is finally gone except for a stuffy nose. I'm hoping to keep it that way.

Love from ARIZONA!
Kristin

Full of Surprises

Good Morning family and friends!

This past week has been crazy, CRazy, CRAZY with surprises from yours truly. Let me start by saying I finished off my semester at King's and am very happy with how both of my final essays turned out! They aren't due until January after I get back but I would never have been able to fully enjoy the holiday if I had to worry about writing those darn papers. Because I completed every thing over a week early (yes, I am an overachiever) I began to feel very wrestles wandering around London and I knew I just needed to get myself home. I spoke with British Airways and for relatively cheap I was able to change my flight and not only come home early but also switch airports so I could go to Los Angeles for a week! I wasn't sure I would be able to make it to LA at all this Christmas season and I was very sad about this because not only did I miss all my friends/family out there but I missed the beach a lot too! Let's backtrack again....
On Monday, January 12 I left my apartment around 630 am to head to the airport. I wanted to give myself 2 hours to get there. Being that there were no lines this early in the morning I got through baggage drop and security in just 20 minutes and had over two hours to kill before my flight. I wandered around and then read a new book I got at the airport. About 45 minutes before boarding I walked over to my gate and sat down waiting for everyone to board the plane. I absolutely HATE all the pushing and shoving people do to get on the plane first. I just don't understand it, everyone has an assigned seat!! Anyways, I happened to sit down next to a lovely girl, Cordelia, who was doing the same thing! haha and after exchanging small talk about no free wifi and eating carrot cake we became fast friends. It worked out PERFECT because Cordelia had an open seat next to her on the plane and we were able to chat and watch movies the whole way home.
Now keep in mind that only a couple of people knew I was leaving London a week early. I didn't want to tell too many people because I  didn't want anyone spoiling the secret and I couldn't have that happening since Javi didn't know I was coming! Yup, that's right, Javi had NO IDEA I was coming to see him in LA. Lisa picked me up from the airport and the first place we went to was the beach. Even though it was raining a little I just had to go put my feet in the sand. We only stayed for about five minutes and then went back to the apartment to rest and shower up. As Javi got off work, his sister, Irene, let me know he was on the way home and Lisa drove me over to their house. I knocked on the door and being that he was the closest, Javi answered the door! It couldn't have been any more perfect of a surprise. He opened the inside door and saw me through the screen door and he just stared. His mom and sister had to remind him to open the door and let me in out of the cold! Then he smiled and smiled and kept repeating "this can't be real!" over and over hahaha It felt so, so good to be back in his arms and back at home. It took two days for him to realize I really was there and we were both so happy.
It was a week filled with LOTS of sun, friends, and family! On Thursday night I woke up pretty sick and am still trying to recover from a cold that won't leave my nose. On a positive note, I did completely avoid jetlag! I've never been able to completely do that but I did well with staying awake when I needed to and sleeping when I was supposed to.
The second surprise came on Sunday, December 18. My parents were having their annual bridge Christmas party and my mom had already told me on multiple occasions that she wished I could be there so I decided to show up and surprise her (and as it turns out, all of the people at the party). It was so funny to see my parents faces as I walked in the door. I think surprise number two went over well.
The third and final surprise was to my most perfect, wonderful Godson, Aiden! I asked to pick him up from his dad's since I had not seen him in over three months! When I knocked on their door and he saw me outside he flung himself at me and hasn't let go of me for more than a few minutes at a time since he saw me. I love it and although I probably shouldn't be carrying him anymore I can't help it when he asks! He has gotten so big and I just can't believe he is already FIVE years old!!
This week is already shaping up to be a good one, I am still fighting this cold but making plenty of time to catch up with friends. On Wednesday I am having all my girlfriends over to have a cookie and present wrapping party! I can't wait!

Lots of love,
Kristin

Life Is Burritoful

My favorite time of year is here and I can't explain to you how excited I am to be going home soon. I have been missing home a lot lately, more so than in the beginning of my adventure out here. That's probably because the novelty of being in a foreign country and everything being new has kinda worn off and I'm ready for familiar faces, family, friends, and fun. Today being the first day that Christina, Mariel and I all had a free day with NO SCHOOL WORK to do we went on a mission to find Chipotle and guess what. WE DID IT! It's probably a good thing that I found it now and not earlier or I'd probably half live there haha. It was nice to have a little taste of home even if it came from a quick serve restaurant (which Javi has informed me is different than a fast food restaurant). It was only a few weeks ago that I found out Chipotle was even in London and I just haven't had time to go find it. Then last week in the evening paper there was a full page spread about how burrito's are becoming a trend in London and I laughed so hard on my bus ride home because it seemed so funny to me that burritos....BURRITOS....are such a craze all of a sudden. Not that I'm complaining or anything, the lack of Mexican food out here is depressing so if it wants to pick up as a trend or whatever, hey! don't let me stop it.
After we stuffed our faces (yes, I did actually finish my entire burrito bowl with an entire bag of chips, thank you very much!) we walked off the food coma by heading over to the Victoria and Albert Art Museum. We didn't stay more than an hour but we were able to see some statues of people and stuff (sorry for that pathetic description) and also art from the Renaissance which had a lot of church icons, relics, paintings, tapestries etc...and that was much more interesting to me. We were exhausted and sleepy and decided to head home to rest before we head out for the night.

Love from London,
Kristin

Ich Liebe Bremen!!

Hi family and friends! 

I'm writing this with a happy heart as I just had a wonderful weekend in Bremen, Germany! It was a very busy weekend with lots of new friends, tons of sightseeing and general Christmas cheer! I left for Germany on Thursday evening after my class got out and after minor (ok annoying major) delays at airport security I was finally on board and ready for take off. I landed in Bremen around 930pm and found Thorsten right outside of customs. Although I'm officially fed up with Ryan Air I'm glad that they have their own little section of airport so no wandering aimlessly through terminals and baggage and what not for me. We headed back home via the "scenic route" aka we hopped on the wrong bus haha and were back at the apartment in about 45 minutes. After trying gluvein (mulled wine) for the first time and catching up a little it was off to bed! 

Friday morning I was lucky enough to sleep in until a little after 10am! For those who know anything of my sleep habits that is LATE for me. Thorsten was already off to work and I decided to have a lazy day watching movies I hadn't seen (Avatar) and eating what felt like 5 pounds of Christmas cookies his mom made me. They were unbelievably good and I even got to bring some home with me! I'm telling you....these cookies were serious Christmas cookies. Friday evening we were off to the Christmas market to meet up with friends. I got to try a few different types of gluvein AAAAAND I was even allowed to keep the cups I drank out of! I have a lovely collection of 3 cups now haha The Christmas markets were so magical, you guys. A cold evening, a hot drink, and everyone happily spreading Christmas cheer. This really should take place in the states. After the Christmas markets we bar hopped a little and ended up at one called the heartbreak hotel and another that looks like a real life cave when you walk in! It was SO neat. 

We handmade sushi for lunch on Sunday!

Saturday was very eventful as well and although all the sightseeing was SUPER awesome I think the funniest part of the day was the pajama party we went to that evening. It was funny to see so many people in so many different types of pajamas from footie pajamas (yes, like the ones I have) to slippers and boxers. Any excuse to wear my pajamas I'm not going to say no to! I made lots of new friends and even talked to a fellow Californian. It took us a while to be friends because he cheers for UCLA and I cheer for USC but we managed to be friendly enough hahaha

Swinging at the Science Center

Sunday afternoon we headed over to this really awesome interactive science center! We played around like kids for a couple of hours and even got to see the new laser show that recently started. Exhaustion was starting to kick in at this point so things like the maze you had to walk/crawl through in pitch dark seemed extra fun AND funny to me. I could have stayed there for hours....days even....so much to see and I can't wait to be back in the spring to go again. 

I feel very lucky to have been able to stay with Thorsten in Germany because traveling is so much fun when you have an insider perspective and get to do more than just typical touristy attractions. Not that I'm against that because who are we kidding, I LOVE being a tourist sometimes haha but it's fun when you have someone who knows short cuts through the city and how to use the buses and I think it takes a lot of the stress out of traveling. So thank you, Thorsten for showing me such a WONDERFUL time in an awesome country! 

I got caught taking just a littttttle nap while
 skyping after the pajama party hahah

On another note, I am getting very tired of London at the moment and can't wait to come home. Don't get me wrong, I've come to love this city but I miss having the simple pleasure of customer service. No one here cares about customer service and it drives me insane. I could go on about this for hours, especially after a few situations Thurs going to bremen and Monday coming back to London but I've dwelled on it enough and need to let it go. But as long as I'm on this topic....other things I desperately miss back home: I miss eating Mexican food 3 (ok 4) nights a week. I miss driving. I miss calling friends to catch up frequently. I miss the beach. I miss each and every one of you reading this. Before this post turns sad I'm going to sign off but I can't wait to catch you up soon on my brief time left in London this term. I am back to the states SO SOON! 

Love from London,

Kristin