Christmas

The dogs
My dad's basement
Tahnee and Nick
Matt and Carri
Briana, me, Tahnee and Autumn

December 29, 2009

I am currently sitting at the Fargo airport awaiting my flight to Los Angeles. It was nice to be home for a while and I got to spend some quality time with my family. After a few days at the Scott’s in San Diego I flew back to North Dakota and spent the first week in Langdon at my mom’s house. I went in to help out with basketball practice a few times because the high school team is severely hurting for players this year having only eight girls on the varsity, one of whom is an eighth grader. I also went in to play with the pep band and met up with Mr. Kram to play some saxophone duets.

I spent the next two weeks at my dad’s house in Bismarck. I ran some errands during the day and went to my sister, Tahnee’s house in the evenings to workout. The rest of the time was spent relaxing in front of the TV, sitting in the hot tub or working on paperwork for the Army or Navy. For those of you who don’t know I am planning on joining the armed forces in order to pay for my medical school. I was supposed to have a physical done with the Navy over the break as well as a physical fitness test. Unfortunately this didn’t happen and I am now forced to wait until the end of May to get started on the Navy application. The Army, however, has been very accommodating. I finished up some paperwork for them right before I left home and should be good to go with them.

Christmas brought a little bit more excitement. The original plan was for my three sisters, my stepbrother and me to meet in Bismarck for Christmas Eve. Early Christmas morning us four girls would head up to Langdon to open presents and then go to Munich for a big family gathering. Mother Nature had other plans.

Matt made it to Bismarck early evening on the 23^rd. Briana had flown into Minneapolis early that morning and when Tiffany got off work they started the long drive. They got out of the city late and ended up stuck in traffic for hours. A little bit after Fargo they hit the ditch. Luckily a policeman was close behind them and called them a tow-truck. They finished the drive going a whopping 45 mph and got to the house around 3:30 in the morning.

We spent the next two and a half days stormed in at my dad’s house. I’m just glad everyone made it to at least Bismarck. On the 26^th we all went our separate ways. Matt headed back to Fargo and Tiffany back to Minneapolis. Briana and Tahnee rode together back to Langdon while I took a detour and stopped in Rugby for the night to see some old friends. The big family gathering in Munich was held that day but unfortunately we did not leave Bismarck in time to join. Tahnee, Briana and I opened our presents on the night of the 27^th. The next day Tahnee drove back to Bismarck while I finished packing before heading to Fargo for the night with Briana. We ate at Applebee’s (thanks for the gift card dad!) and went to see Avatar. We spent the night at Matt’s house and after a few errands and a stop to see our uncle Russell this morning; she dropped me off at the airport.

I am not as nervous about traveling this time. I think this is partly because I’ve now done an extended trip in a foreign country by myself and partly because Warren is coming with me for the first week and a half. We will spend the first week in Auckland. On January 4^th I will meet with the employment agency and hopefully by week’s end I will have a job. I will be in New Zealand for 11 weeks. On March 22^nd I fly to Santiago, Chile where I will spend the week. On March 28^th I fly to Lima and then up to Cuzco the next morning where I will start my four weeks of Spanish lessons. The last four weeks I will be doing a service project in Cuzco with mentally and physically disabled children.

It was really good to be home for a while but I think I am ready for the next phase of my trip. Keep tuned for more updates!