oh hey.

i live here.

that is what i think every night before i go to bed.

i am so grateful to be here.

the dome of the rock.

I am not going to lie, I didn't come here with a lot of background knowledge about Jerusalem. I did know what the Dome of the Rock was. It's lovely golden dome graces the skyline of the city, and can be seen from almost every window of the center. I have secretly tried to place it in every landscape photo I have taken so that people will know I actually live here. And they only let outsiders in for a few hours a day, making the place even more mysterious. So, I was pretty excited to go...

The place is beautiful. Words can't describe... especially my words. I am suffering from a lack of eloquence at the current moment. The combination of the blues, greens, and golds of the tiles is amazing. Being a minor architecture fanatic I am kind of obsessed. The dome is plated in gold... crazy.

Unfortunately we are unable to actually go in the dome, kind of a bummer.

What is amazing is that the temple mount, the place where the Dome of the Rock resides, is considered holy by the major religions. This is the place that Abraham was sent to sacrifice Isaac. This is the place that Solomon built his temple, and another temple was later rebuilt by Herod the Great. This is the place that the Jews, Christians, and Muslims consider sacred, and I can see it every morning from my bedroom window.

Keeping it classy in the Holy Land

(ps. hey look Talia... Jud and I are friends!)

hello holy land.

I am bringing back the blog, and for good reason. I now call Jerusalem home. I am obsessed with this place. Its foreign, and slightly scary, but surprisingly I feel so at home.

This week has been crazy. I have finally slightly normalized my sleep schedule. Jet lag brought me in into multiple afternoon comas this week and I would find myself suddenly wide awake at four in the morning. The naps not so weird but the 4 am wake up calls... completely out of character. The mosque down the road also blares the call to prayer every morning. I thought this would be slightly more exotic and appealing... waking up to middle eastern prayer and chanting. Not so. Especially when running on 10 hours of sleep in a 36 hour period of time. Jet lag aside I love this place. SO much.

Thus far I have oriented myself in the old city. We have walked around the walls, through the winding streets, and basically all over. I know which streets are disgusting meat markets (very sketch) and which house friendly merchants who will stop at nothing to gather your attention. I am going to become a professional haggler by the end of the semester and will be very good at avoiding eye contact in order to evade the unwelcome comments and glances that are thrown out on a daily basis. We have seen most of the major sites. I can't wait to come back and take the time to really learn and experience these places.

Bekah and I in the Old City. This picture reminds me that I am glad that I get 3.6 shekels to 1 dollar and that sometimes I feel like I am in the movie Aladdin.

I have learned that it is socially acceptable for me to dress like a 52 year old woman at Disneyland. I repped it one day and still have friends. Please note the fanny pack is strictly utilitarian.

The BYU Jerusalem Center is everything that it promises to be. The building is beautiful and offers impeccable views of the Old City from almost every window.

The building is behind me and Bekah. Its the pretty one, of course.

By far the most amazing thing about being in this place is that I am so close to the sites of the most important events in human history, the atonement, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. I live a walks distance from the Garden of Gethsemane. From my home I can see the city that he lived in, and the places he spent his last moments in. One crucial thing that I have realized during my brief time here is that the growth that I have already felt here didn't come from proximity to these places. It is such an amazing blessing to be given the opportunity to walk where he walked and live where he lived, but the I know that most important moments of my experience here will be during the small quiet times of reflection. This place offers the catalyst for growth and change... I am constantly being reminded of the importance of this place and the events that occurred here, but being here will not miraculously make me grow. I am responsible for what I bring back from this place, and I hope that I can make this most of this once in a life-time opportunity.

a spoon full of sugar...

Twice a week for a few hours a day I am happy to take a break from the studying to work. Yeah, I am happy to go to work and thats because I work at the cutest/most adorable/most delicious cupcake bakery on the planet... The Sweet Tooth Fairy. 

I get to enjoy all the broken cookies, lick my fingers after frosting cookies and cupcakes and other delicious treats (and then wash my hands of course). It is delightful and I love it.  My favorite treats...

1. Peach Cupcake

2. Iced Oatmeal Cookie

3. Orange Roll Cupcake... Lemon Cupcake... okay just all the cupcakes.

It's too bad I don't like chocolate (for those of you who were unaware, I know I am crazy and not a woman and everything else, but I do like Christmas and puppies and babies, so does that make up for it?).  If I did like chocolate I am sure these little babies would be at the top of my list.  They are called cakebites and even Rachel Ray is a fan.  

So come visit me at work! And try a treat... I'll warn you though. You'll probably get addicted. 

Oh and if you want to check it out click here thesweettoothfairy.com

thoughts from a desk at the harold b. lee library.

Okay so I have been a very poor blogger. But as I sit here in the library utterly miserable from being stressed by all the midterms I have procrastinated studying for I thought I would turn my procrastination into something a little worthwhile and write something on my blog that nobody but myself and my mother read.  So here goes. 

Update on Life: 

For those of you who aren't aware I am going to be an elementary teacher.  I decided this semester and I am quite excited about it (despite the fact that I will be getting paid next to nothing for a job that is difficult). 

It seems like a good fit mainly because I kind of act like a 7 year old a lot and I figured I should probably hang out with kids my own age.  I think the fact that the nickelcade is one of my favorite provo hangouts is evidence of this, and my adoration of the dinosaur stickers I am able to win by obsessively playing games and winning tickets also proves that point. 

Also the saying "those that can't do teach" can be kind of true in my case. Its not that I can't do anything its just that I can't do any one things well.  I can however understand everything at about an elementary level, so no fear future parents your children are in good hands.  I can handle the addition, subtraction, and times tables... I might be a little iffy on carrying over for big numbers but I'll work on it. 

Plus I like teaching and I like children. So why not teach the children? And I'll get to decorate my classroom and color. And I am really excited to make a difference someone's life.  I would love to teach inner city kids or something like that.  We will see.  For now I had better get back to studying human development so that I can stay in college. 

check it...

So. I have this assignment to start a blog about history, and religion and all the things we are learning in my Honors 240 class (aka... American Heritage but we get to do fun stuff).  So I started a new blog because some of it could be potentially boring, but some of it is cool too. So I might put the highlights on here, or you could check it out... 

click here!

So if you are a blog stalker, or if you just want to read about my thoughts on history (really riveting I know) take a peek... if not it's okay, I am getting points for it anyways.

Back to Life in the 801

So here I am. Back in Provo.  I can't say it's lovely, but I am loving it.  It's weird to be back and this whole week has been a massive learning experience.  So since I like lists here is a list of all things that I have learned this week.

1. Change and I had a very big battle this week. I learned that I don't like change... and then I learned to like change, because it's definitely not going anywhere.  Every semester is going to mean new friends, new classes, new places.  This semester is going to be so different, I mean it already is so different, but its up to me to decide whether its a good different or a bad different. 

2. The snow really can be my friend! I don't really like living in the cold or living in the snow, but I'm going to be here for awhile so I decided to like it.  And now I do! I just get nice and bundled up an book it to class. Plus I got a snowboard pass to sundance, which helps to eliminate the seasonal depression. 

3. I can't live in the past.  I have had so much fun the past year and a half.  I have met people I care so much about and I have spent four months in London, I mean really, how is Provo supposed to compare? But I know that I have so much to look forward to, its just up to me to find it. So I am going to. 

4. My dad always told me about this infamous weather phenomenon called the inversion, where this gray smoggy air gets stuck covering the valley.  Well its here, and its kind of disgusting. 

5. Being social can be tiring... actually it is tiring. I wish I could just be a homebody and sit at home, oh wait, I do... that's called studying. So the combination of studying, playing, and making new friends is tiring. In a good sort of way. 

So aside from odd weather patterns this new year is shaping up to be a good one. I have been making lots of new friends and spending time with lots of old friends. My classes are great and I am really excited for my new major. 2009 is going to be a good year.