Home Sweet Home

Wow. I can't believe that I am finally home. This past week has been a blur. On Thursday night I said goodbye to Brussels and headed by train to London with all of my belongings. Suzie and Stephen picked me up and I stayed at their house for the night. The next morning we all had a delicious breakfast together and by the afternoon I was ready to go to Heathrow airport. I took the long tube ride and made it to Heathrow in plenty of time to check my baggage and take a deep breath.

I will take a moment here to explain how my anxiety had been growing day by day for the past week. Apparently an enormous snow storm was in full swing at home in Seattle and my worst fear was that my plane wouldn't be able to land due to weather conditions. Even if I could land at Seatac, the likelihood that I might not have anyone to greet me was yet another worry twirling around in my mind.

With many prayers and incredible timing I successfully landed in Seattle... we were even 20 minutes ahead of schedule! I went through customs in a blur of exhaustion after a 10 hour flight and I searched with anticipation for a familiar face. It was amazing to see my mom scanning the crowds for me and I knew that I could finally relax after a week filled with anxiety and worry. Thankfully, my mom, dad, and I arrived safely at home late Friday night.

I wasn't at home for long. Saturday afternoon the snow came flying down so I went over to Seattle so that I would not miss the Nutcracker with Hailey, Tatum, Sarah, and Derek. It was amazing to see the girls after being away for so long. We played in the snow, drank hot tea, laughed, and had a wonderful time the entire weekend. It was so much fun to be snowed in for a couple nights with people I love so dearly!

I came home before Christmas and I cannot even explain how amazing it was to see my family all together after being gone for four months. Christmas day was such a gift. Little Torsten's head of curly hair thickened considerably while his vocabulary had far surpassed what it was when I left in August. Sweet little Aadie is who has really changed! She has grown so big and her face is too precious to even describe.

Being away made me appreciate what I have even more than before. I am so grateful for the joy, love, and sacrifice that my family and friends bring to me life. What an incredible gift to have people waiting with anticipation for you no matter how far away you are!

European Parliament

Today I was able to tour the European Parliament. A friend of mine works there and offered to give me a tour before I left, so I just couldn't pass the opportunity up!

My friend met me there and he filled out some paperwork so that I could get into the building. It was quite the process just to get past security. They checked my passport, took a picture of me, and I went through a metal detector. Once inside I was able to see some of the offices and tour around the massive buildings that are all connected and make up the Parliament.

The coolest part was the huge room where they discuss and pass bills. There are 23 official languages within the parliament. High above all of the seats are little box offices where the translating is done for every language. On the outside the language is written on the window so everyone can see which language is being translated. Languages include Bulgarian, Maltese, German, Swedish, and Romanian.

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The European Parliament has two meeting places: Strasbourg, France and Brussels, Belgium. The complex in Brussels houses committee meetings, political groups, and plenary sessions (conferences where all parties are in attendence). It was incredible to go into such a massive establishment that houses one of the most powerful legislatures in the world .

Gennie's Birthday Party!

This past weekend we celebrated Gennie's 18th birthday. The party had been in the works for months. So, needless to say, Gennie was ecstatic.

Suzie, Stephen, Max, and his girlfriend Charlotte all came over for the big birthday bash. All day Saturday we prepared. The most important errand on our agenda was to find costumes. Theme: Cowboys and Indians. After perusing the big Party Store in Brussels for some time, we found the perfect warrior costume for Stephen; big Chief headdress included. We bought a matching and slightly more dainty version of Stephen's outfit for Suzie to wear. Max bought a cowboy hat and gun for his costume and Charlotte was ready to go with her costume from London. I got a cowboy hat to accesorize my cowgirl attire.

Saturday night we all got ready together. After Stephen, Suzie, Charlotte, and Gennie applied their warrior face paint we were ready to go! Our next move was slightly controversial. We entered a nice Italian restaurant clad in ridiculous costumes (shopping for the perfect outfit does create quite the appetite). We received a plethara of strange glances, several laughs, and one small child looked at us with wide eyes and called out to his mom.

After dinner we headed over to the large bar that they had rented out for Gennie's party. Gennie and four of her friends decided to throw a big birthday party together to share the costs of an open bar. Before long, a slew of about 150 highschoolers came in ready for the night.