Adventures in Moscow, Idaho!

I aways have great ambitions to keep up our blog better, but as many of you have probably noticed it hasn't been working so well. I know there are many people eager to hear about my trip to Moscow, Idaho. All this could end up being more than one post, stay tuned. Ok now, let me see, where does this start? I'll start with Christmas break.

Curtis and Caity were home for three weeks for Christmas. We all loved having them home for more than a week! We spent lots of time together playing games, talking, relaxing, watching movies, shopping, etc. Dad, and us olders drove down to Ruidoso, NM to visit our grandma and some cousins. On Christmas day we spent the morning as a family celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, and there were joined by our pastors family for Christmas dinner and an evening of fellowship and continued celebration. New Years, though not spent in Ruidoso as usual, was fabulous. We had a week filled with dear friends, games, great conversations, lots of laughter, cooking and eating delicious foods, late nights, puzzles, and wonderful fellowship.

Early morning of January 10th found Curtis, Caity, and I loading the car and beginning our journey northward; Curtis and Caity for the purpose of returning to college, and me, well, I just went to tag along in Moscow for a while, experience the "college life" as well as a non-college student can do, and just spend time with my siblings. We split the 21 hour drive into two days, stopping the night on the north end of Salt Lake City, Utah. The long, cold, snowy miles were passes listening to lots of music, talking and laughing, listening to audio dramas, and a bit of sleeping here and there.

I was in Moscow, staying with Caity, for three and a half weeks; the longest I've ever been away from my home and family. I won't go into the detail about every single day, I'd lose your attention after day 3 (if I haven't already), not because the first three days were boring, but because 1) a lot of day-to-day things were the same, and 2) because lots of the details have all meshed together and I can't differentiate between all 24 days. =) So in stead, here are some of the highlights.

I attended classes with Curtis and Caity (music theory and choir being my favorite), heard both Pastor Doug Wilson and Pastor Toby Sumpter preach, met many wonderful friends, sang at a nursing home each week with a group of students, studied in Bucers Coffee shop (got a couple coffee drinks too, of course), One World Café, and the Tyndale Library (NSA library), went swimming with Caity twice, played soccer and frisbee, went to a swing dance =), had pinkeye for about 48 hours, passed out once, spent time with friends, stayed up with my own studies, went to a couple Bible studies, played games, watched a few movies, cooked in Caity's kitchen (mostly making cookies for Curtis), walked around downtown Moscow, and talked Caity's ear off every chance I got. =) It was an incredible trip, a highlight of my year for sure (yes, I am aware the year has just started), one that I will always have great memories of.

Even though I had such a wonderful time and so thoroughly enjoyed my time in Moscow, I am glad to be back home. I missed my parents and brothers, my church family, and the structure of a normal routine. As per request, I'll be writing another post shortly about what I love about being home which I will tie into my post-high school plans, which many people have asked me about.