Goodbye Europe

I boarded a plane four months ago with one of my best friends Jordan Murray.

We landed in London and moved in with 36 girls and 2 boys.

I was scared to death but had also never been so excited in my entire life.

I missed my family and friends back home, but soon realized that I had some of the most incredible people I had ever met living above me, below me, and all around me.

I went to Paris for the first time and ran around the city of lights in matching shirts with Molly Jane.

I hiked through the Lake District and read Wordsworth's poetry in the woods.

I went to Wales and experienced "Welsh World" while uncovering Jordan's hidden talent of harpooning apples off trees...

I went to a fashion show on a boat and had a dance party on the Thames.

I ate Thanksgiving dinner in Brussels and listened to Jay-Z in Amsterdam.

I saw the entire cast of 'Harry Potter' after waiting 15 hours in the rain for them.

I snuck to the top of the roof of the London Centre and watched fireworks for Guy Fawkes day.

I cried in the first LDS chapel in Gadfield Elm.

I spent over 100 hours on a coach discovering the English countryside.

I served in an LDS ward where I was the only White person and fell in love with black children with English accents.

I did the wave on Hadrian's Wall.

I went on a Beatles tour in Liverpool.

I participated in a "Gallon challenge" with a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke...

I had a conversation with Joshua Radin and got a picture with Bruno Mars.

I saw the Pope in Rome and climbed the duomo in Florence.

I ate margarita pizza in Pisa and fed the birds in Venice.

I had one of the best conversations of my life with some of my best friends on a night train.

I witnessed the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen in Salzburg and was part of the biggest pillow fight I've ever seen in Prague.

I went through an actual concentration camp in Munich and discovered in Frankfurt that if a huge black guy ever comes into your room at night, Jordan's first instinct is to fight him.

I returned home to London and waited for my family to meet me there while their plane got delayed again, and again.

I had the most magical Christmas in my most favorite city in the whole world, but I missed all the people that had made London so special to me in the first place.

I visited Paris for a second time and found that it is still one of the most incredible places on earth.

I made friends on my study abroad that I will have for the rest of my life!
I'm excited to have Gossip Girl nights with them and plan bachelorette parties for them. I'm excited to attend future weddings and concerts and movie premiers with them.

I'm excited to see my friends at home that I haven't seen for four whole months!! I'm excited to meet their boyfriends and see my friends that have come home from their missions.

I'm excited to eat Cafe Rio again, and move into an apartment with Rachel Nixon, and go skiing.

I have loved my life during the last 4 months, but tomorrow,
I'm going HOME.