Welcome Home!

Two weeks ago today, I was on the flight home, writing that last, massively long blog post. It seems like that was sooo long ago, because SO much has happened since!! I really can't think of much to write about though (although my days have obviously been too busy to write, and I haven't gotten more than 6 hours of sleep any of those nights...maybe that's why I can't think of anything?)

I was happy to be on ground in Utah. Right when the plane landed, it felt nice to be home! It was the moment I had been waiting for for a long time! But then I knew that I was a long ways away from all my new friends that I had made that summer that I had been with just earlier that day. It was really a weird feeling. I didn't know when I would see them again. And I still don't. Hopefully soon. It was still good to be home though. It was super late though, and all I wanted to do was go home though. I had conveniently forgotten to eat however, so I was really hungry, too.

I got home. My brothers were there. They unloaded all my bags for me. My dog didn't remember who I was. I was heartbroken. My dad waited on me with everything I could ever imagine food wise because I was so hungry. Basically I was getting the royal treatment. And it looked like I was crying because my eyes were watering due to a mix of dry air and me being so tired. It really was a bizarre night kind of. But soo good. Both of my brothers, my sister in law, and my newphew were there. It was so great. I loved seeing everyone!

That night, when I looked up into the sky, I saw the stars. Legitimate STARS. It was the first time that I had seen the stars since MAY!! I couldn't contain my joy (I know...that's cliche, but it's the truth)!!!

The next day, I tried my best to sleep in. As in, I slept until 7. Which is 9am eastern time. That's not bad considering that's way past when I would normally wake up when I lived in Baltimore, but it's pathetic for a Utah "sleeping in" time. I didn't know what to do with my time. So I started unpacking. Later that day, I went out to lunch with my aunt and uncle.

One of the biggest traditions in my family is to have everyone over for Sunday dinners. When I say "everyone", I mean all of my siblings and their spouses (if they're married), and they're kids (if they have any), and my Uncle Jim and Aunt Angie and their kids Colby and Carson. Over the summer, I missed all of these dinners. This was by far one of the things that I missed the most about being home. Since I came home on a Sunday night, I missed the dinner by a couple of hours, and I was moving up to Logan later that week, so my parents postponed the dinner to Monday night! So everyone came over for dinner that night. It made me sooo happy :) Being with everyone in my family is one of my most favorite things things in life.

I got to spend time with my friend Julia the next day. We went out to lunch. It's sad that I missed the whole summer with her, but I'm glad that I got to spend one day of it with her!

One of the crappy things that I found out when I came back was that my car got sick over the summer :( I didn't take my car out to Baltimore for obvious reasons, so it sat in my driveway at home. Therefore, it got....ill. It now makes funny noises. My brother Darren fixed it up for me a bit before I came home. There was a hornets nest in the passenger side door, and he cleaned it out for me a bit. But it still sounded awful. My driving skills came back automatically, but my poor car... :( Basically we had to change the oil in it, and then we still added in more lubricating stuff into it and it still makes some weird noises. Whenever I first turn it on, it sounds weird. And, unfortunately, I can't rely on public transit in Logan like I can in Baltimore ;) It will be okay though. It still works.

The Thursday after I got home I got to move my first car load of stuff up to my apartment in LOGAN!! Never before in my life have I been so excited to take the drive from Kaysville to Logan.

I forgot that it's construction season in Utah. So the road in between Willard and Brigham City was awful. And I wasn't very smart when I packed my car. I still go there safe though. Driving into Cache Valley almost made me cry! Okay. Not really. I don't want to over use that statement. Last time I used that statement (when I saw Wicked on Broadway), it was true, and I didn't cry this time, but it was still a super happy moment. I am in LOVE with Cache Valley!

It was minutes after I got there until I began starting to see my friends. I love Darwin! (that's the name of my little neighborhood of apts). It's such a friendly place! I went out to lunch with a bunch of my friends to Firehouse Pizza. I can't really explain how happy I was to be with them! There were even some new friends there, but most of them were ones that I had been missing all summer! I was totally grinning the WHOLE entire time!

That night, I talked my friends into going star gazing. All last summer with my old roommates and friends I would go star gazing, and that is by far one of the activities that I missed the most this summer. I had been dying to go! We drove about 20 min. out of Logan and found a spot out in the middle of nowhere in the dark. Well...we were stupid and didn't look up the weather. It was mostly cloudy :) There were still some stars though! I was pleased! Most of my friends though were just happy to be outside in the dark I think. And then, lightening started! We watched a lightening show! So. Epic!

The next day I drove back home to Kaysville. I had lunch with my dad. We went out to Applebee's.

That's night I went to Lagoon with my brother Darren. It was pretty fun. Actually...kind of boring. Well...the Lagoon part was boring I mean. I have been to Lagoon so many times before that it was pretty redundant. It was a BLAST being with my brother though. Is anyone sensing a theme of this post yet? I don't really care what I do. I just love being with the people that I haven't seen in a long time!

The next morning I got to spend with my brother Alan. Alan is the one who helped me to get the road bike (see my upcoming post on my new road bike!!!). Alan and I went to various bike shops in order to buy me some biking shoes and some other biking accessories that I will need. I'll go into more detail on my other post.

Then I got to go to lunch with Alan and my sister in law Raquel and my little nephew. They have been faithful blog readers of mine over the summer, and caught onto my love of Indian food...so they took me out to the ONE Indian restaurant in Davis County. Taste of India. It was pretty expensive (seeing as it's a monopoly of Indian Food there). But let me tell you. It was DELICIOUS. My nephew even liked it I think!

Then I got to make my final trek up to Logan before the school year started. It took my whole car full of stuff, and Alan's car full of stuff, plus my bike on his bike rack. I seriously have too much crap.

I LOVE Logan. Have I said that yet? Because I do. It's my home! All my Baltimore friends say that Baltimore is my home. And it is, too. I think a part of me wants to not stay in Utah my whole life because it really is in this bubble, and I don't know if I really enjoy that. But I really really love Logan. It's my home for now. And I'm so glad to be home right now.

That's basically it for my first week home. Kind of all just a blur. Most of it was just all filled with unpacking from Baltimore, packing for Logan, and then unpacking once I was in Logan. Then all the other time was spent with all the people that I haven't seen all summer.

Oh, and getting my dog to remember who I was. That small story did have a happy ending. Buster DID remember who I was, no problem at all, the NEXT day. I just had to pet him how I did before after I had played frisbee with him for a while. And then I got to cuddle with him and life was good. He knows me now :)

Anyway. I'm glad to be home in Utah. I hope that I can go back to Baltimore SOON! Part of my heart was left there. I was only there for three and a half months, but that's still long enough to gain a love for a place, and especially people like I did.



I currently have SIX word documents open (no joke) drafting six blogs to come. So stay tuned!
1) Day in the Life in Baltimore (LOTS of pics)
2) What I Miss About Baltimore (list)
3) What I Learned In Baltimore (list)
4) Summer Highlights (list)
5) My New Road Bike!!
6) First Week of School