Pity Party

This week has been a series of saying goodbye to my friends, either leaving for college or going on missions. Frankly I've been having a pity party for the majority of every day since Tuesday. I know, it's pathetic (and dramatic haha).

One of the things I've learned about myself is that I love planning. I love the feeling of making and having a plan that I made myself and fits with what I want to do. And I plan ahead. Waaaaay way way ahead. Like, I'll have a Christmas list ready by June and my birthday party planned six months in advance haha. What I'm saying is it's all I can do to not plan two years in advance when all my friends will come home from their missions. 

Maybe a good resolution for this next year will be to live in (and enjoy) the present. 

Anyways, I was in the midst of my pity party this week when I realized that I'm being ridiculous... Here I am, just back from four months in Europe and moping because all of my friends are serving the Lord. Or at college. 

There was a moment when I thought, "You planned it this way! Now do something with yourself". Haha ok this whole post is a jumble of thoughts so, the point: I have started making a plan. 

First, I had to wrap up a bunch of stuff from my semester abroad, such as: cancelling my card and phone plan. Second, I scheduled a bunch of appointments for my mission papers, which felt really nice (although now all I can do is wait and it's killing me haha). 

After that was taken care of, I planned things to fill up my time because I have too much! Haha I'm applying for a job tomorrow and in the meantime I've started reading the Book of Mormon in French and playing hymns on guitar. Hopefully every day brings a new opportunity to keep me busy... 

If anyone needs me, I will be living in my parents basement. Ha! Not for long, though... *fingers crossed*

Happy New Year!! 2017 is gonna be a good one... I just know it.. Mostly because It's my birth date: 2/17. Aw yeah! 

Home for Christmas

I've been back for almost a week now. I still feel jet lagged but it's getting better by the day! Let me tell you about our adventure getting home.

My flight itinerary was Vilnius to Frankfurt to San Fran to SLC. Dima (our coordinator) picked us up the night before because our flight left at 6 am and he didn't want to be up all night driving. So we stayed the night at the airport. On the bright side, we had pleeeenty of time for security and checking our luggage. We said goodbye to Paris there, because she had a different flight to Sweden. *more tears*

We landed in Frankfurt no sweat and there I said goodbye to Kenon, who had a completely different gate (she flew to JFK). *more tears* P.S. the Frankfurt airport is HUGE. Our layover there was about 3 hours. But then they delayed our flight, which was not good at all because our layover in San Fran was short as it was. I'm not too pleased with Lufthansa.. But then again I was really stressed out haha. Our flight went up over Greenland, and down through Canada. I got a peek out the window once and all I could see was ice! So crazy! Luckily Des, Cam, and I sat together and cried some more, slept, and watched movies.
At one point I asked a flight attendant if there was a possibility if the people with connecting flights could get off first. She smiled as if to explain it to a 5 year old, "That just wouldn't work. We can help you rebook your flight, though". Well, no thank you I WANT TO CATCH MY FLIGHT. Since apparently I would get no help, as soon as we landed I was in the zone. No time to take in America, I had a plane to catch! We had to go through customs, which miraculously didn't take long because a lady randomly guided me to another line and I was up front (literally she had no idea I was in a hurry).
Next was baggage claim, and I was told again that we would miss our flight but they could "help us rebook it". Grrrrr I wanted to catch my flight, not miss it and get another one. My goodness. When they told me I was going to miss it I just thought, "Watch me!". haha stressed. out. Well, I watched the clocked as our baggage was coming out. 2:22.... 2:23... Our flight started boarding at 2:30. I started to think I was going to miss it, so I texted my parents just to let them know. But wait! My roommates rushed over and said there was another baggage claim for our flight. I ran over, immediately spotted and grabbed my luggage, then made a beeline for the connecting flights terminal.
Sad to say I left my group in the dust. But then again, it was every man for himself. Plus, I was hoping I could get to the gate and convince them to wait just a few minutes. The baggage check station people were much better. I was panting as they scanned it and I asked if I would make it. They were like, "Yeah, but go! Hurry; you got this!". It took me about 2 minutes to realize I had to go through security again... So I scurried into line where the ticket guy took a long time, just staring at my passport, I swear. Eventually he explained that I had the wrong kind of ticket so he had to check it manually....? I don't know but he let me through.
I'm anxiously waiting in line for security, when a lady turns around and says, "Who you like to go ahead of me?" and then four other guys offered too. Whaaaaaaaa????? This would not happen in Europe and it was awesome!!!! But so weird. The people were so nice! I just threw everything into a bin and they sorted it for me, and instructed me on what to do. I was through in record time. (Thank the heavens). I saw my roommates back aways in line. As soon as my shoes and coat and backpack were through, I scooped it all into my arms and started running. Now, that lasted about thirty seconds because I was so parched and stiff and out of shape.. But I ended up running past my gate! hahaha luckily I caught myself at the next one and turned around.
Obviously they wouldn't hold the flight for my friends. I got on and realized how rude it was of me to leave them behind, so I was frantically praying that they would make it. Desteny did at the last minute! Turns out, Cameron wasn't even on our flight, hers was an hour later. So she called us and we said our goodbyes. I was so disappointed I could say goodbye to her. I was so exhausted and adrenalized though that I couldn't think straight.

The rest is history! I made it home and now I'm just trying to get back on a normal sleeping schedule. Merry Christmas!

Frankfurt to San Fran

Boredom at its finest ;)

Leaving San Fran!

Landing in SLC

Last Day, Friday, Cry-day

Today was rather hard... I woke up with a feeling of dread, knowing that today would be filled with a lot of goodbyes that I didn't want to happen. 

It has been a marvelous, tough, fulfilling semester. The first two months I thought these kids were little punks that I'd never come to love, and then the last two months, something changed and I realized that they have the biggest hearts. If I was suddenly given the opportunity to stay here for another four months, I would. 

So we had our final performance today. The kids were so darn cute!! They all said their lines and sang the songs WITH the actions; usually they moan and groan and sit down in protest. But today was perfect. Somehow they missed the memo to dress up like a Christmas character, so we had kids show up like butterflies, fairies, pirates, cowboys, and even Zoro. I thought it was hilarious! Our play didn't make much sense anyways, so that just added to the humor of it all. 

I was giving my little man Mantvydas piggy back rides around the room and he steered me to his mom and said to her, "This is Lindsay". She smiled and said "He wants to keep you!". If only. When it was time to say goodbye, Mantvydas was frantically trying to get my number and give me his and kept asking if we were going to visit him tomorrow.. I was doing pretty good holding back tears until we found Khalil in the closet room, crying. It was all over for me after that. 

Mante was so funny, she climbed onto my lap, stroked my cheek, and said, "Oh baby, don't cry...". It was a mix of giggles and tears. 

Little Evita was probably my hardest goodbye. She started with rubbing her eyes a lot and trying to laugh it off, and then she kept unzipping my coat and pulling my gloves off. Eventually she turned to pleading as we both cried and hugged. My heart is breaking over and over again thinking about it! Urte kept begging us all, "Please don't go back to America!". I will miss these kids like nothing else. 

Even though today was plain awful, I'd do it all again so I could know these kids. Sadly, one of my favorites, Kornelijus, didn't show up today, so I didn't get to say goodbye, but his last day he gave an extra long hug.. So maybe he knew but it may have been best that I didn't. 

Little Urte, Julija, and Evita

Dmitrijos and Julija (siblings)

Mantvydas!!! (My little man) 

Sweet Paulina

Karina and Smilte

"Give me some love"

The first time Khalil let me take a picture of him.

Ainus! 

Ainus is so darn cute. He has so much energy! But once in a while I'd get lucky and get a hug from him. Today I hugged him and then he grabbed my hand and pulled me with him to his dad. And smiled as if to say, "Ready to go!". It melted my heart. 

Kornelijus

Such a sweet kid!!

Jonas!

 Funny story about Jonas, yesterday he was sitting on a desk in opening, so I grabbed his hand and slowly pulled him off, but he didn't catch himself and fell straight to the floor.... And then started bawling. I felt so bad!!! He kept calling me "Bad teacher", but by the end of the day he had forgiven me (I hope).

Sneaky selfie with Aristeja

I'm packing my laptop, so this will be my last post until I get home. I wish I could put into words all that I'm feeling, but it's a bit difficult to convey all my love and sadness but happiness for these past four months. #BLESSED 

I guess today more than ever I'm grateful that I have a memory that works rather well. And that I have a habit of keeping a journal so I can look back on this. Thanks for following along! 

My Kids!!

I'm back to fill your life with adorable children! You can be sure that I'm really going to post all week long.

Where was I? Ah. I remember...

The girl with the glasses is Karina. She pretty much has the cutest giggle you've heard! Not to mention she's the sweetest little girl. The other girl is Mante (Mantay). She is so sweet as well! She always shows us videos of her kittens and it makes my day. Yesterday when I told her we had to say goodbye on Friday she put her head down on the desk and moaned, "Teacher noooooooo!". I thought she was kidding but then she lifted her head and there were tears in her eyes. Sooo that is a topic we are avoiding until we have to face it. 

I'm changing my plan and telling you about the highlights of this week as we prepare to say goodbye. Above is Montvydas... who is probably going to be my hardest goodbye. He gives the best hugs and even though he is such a trouble maker he is so lovable. At the beginning of the semester I moaned every time he walked in, but now everyday I hope he walks in! 

A funny moment with him: I was leaning over him and hugging from behind so my hair was in my face and he said, "Teacher, your hair smell good". Hahahaha he is so cute!!

This is Ougnius (I have NO idea how to spell it). He's four, his twin sister's in the back left, and they started about two weeks ago. They were super shy and adorable at first, but now he is craaazy! This pictures shows the tiniest hint into what it's like with him in class. He kept biting my skirt and dragging me around. He bit Cameron on the arm as well. He's cute but he is a handful! Montvydas came to my rescue once and tried to pry him off of me! hahaha these kids..

Here's Smilte (Smiltay)! She has been here since day one. It took me about 2 1/2 months to figure out how to handle her. She is a ball of energy with 0% focus! My first tactic was a stern voice, which turned into pleading, which turned into ignoring, and then I embraced it. As soon as we showed her we loved her, she suddenly turned into the sweetest girl. Yesterday all the kids wanted to draw, but she wanted to play musical chairs so she and I played. She insisted on controlling the music. Every time she would sit down, and then pause it. She laughed hysterically at her own cleverness! 

How we feel about this week

This is another kid I would rather not say goodbye to. I distinctly remember the first day, I was certain I was going to hate this kid the whole semester. He kept crawling under the desks and paid no mind to me. I'm glad I was wrong! He always runs in yelling "My teacher!!!!" and gives me a huge hug. He's so cute and doesn't intentionally cause problems. I'm going to miss this kid! 

Anyways, I know these might be boring but it's a good way for me to cope with this week haha. See you soon! 

My Last Week?!?!

No no no no no no no no no this day came TOO SOON! I'm not ready to face reality... or in other words I'm not ready to say goodbye to the kids. Or Kaunas. Or my roommates.

But speaking of the kids, I'll just talk about them and how much I love their faces.
And also we're suspicious that only one student can't be mentioned, so you get to put names to faces. Yay!!

I'll just mention of few of my favorites.

Ha! Jk they're all my favorites. But here are some highlights!

This little girl (pictured above) is Karina. She has days when she's super shy, but lately she demands to be picked up and swung around like crazy. When I do this she giggles hysterically and it melts my heart! Sometimes I let her sit on my lap and she give me hugs and kisses. She just has the brightest smile and cutest face. 

The girl playing guitar is Julija (remember j's are pronounced as y's so really it sounds like Yuliya). She's our oldest student. Everyday she pops her head in our classroom and says hello. She is so smart and sweet! Her English is practically fluent, and she likes to translate for us when Rasa comes in and talks to the kids. The girl in the purple jacket is Migle (Mig-lay). Everyday she would say, "Teacher what are we doing today?" and always respond with "Ugh that's boring". But really she's fun to have around. 

A few weeks ago, we were devastated to find out that Migle was hit by a car crossing the street. She's very lucky and only broke her pelvis, but that means she's in the hospital for a month at least. We wish we could see her again but I don't think we will. 

Aristeja (Arist-ai-ya).... Disclaimer: I did not take this photo. She doesn't smile for me. Ha! She has some serious mood swings. For a while we had a good relationship going... But that burned a while ago. Whether she hates me or not, I still love this girl to death! Sometimes I can make her laugh and those adorable dimples will appear, but most of the time she likes to express her feelings by flipping the bird. (lol?)

 I've decided if I try to tell you everything right now it'll be too long and you won't want to read the whole thing. So guess what? You get daily updates this week! Stay tuned... I love these kids. And I have lots of pictures/stories.

A Day in Denmark

Ooook our last vacation!!!! We got up super early Saturday morning and took a taxi to the Kaunas airport. I know, it took us four months to take advantage of the airport in Kaunas. Geez. BUT it only flies to London, Copenhagen, and a few other places.

First of all, Danish people are so nice! And everyone speaks English. Hallelujah! We got there around seven in the morning, so we chilled at Starbucks. Turns out, they don't use the euro system, so I had to exchange my currency to crowns. I'll tell you what- it was very confusing. A euro will get you seven crowns. What an awkward number! I misjudged the price of everything I bought (lol). It did look cool though. My first instinct was to freak out at the price of everything in the stores. Talk about the struggle!

After a while we decided to head out and see Copenhagen. We took the metro; luckily the city is small enough there were only two and they were straight forward. As soon as we emerged from the subway, we were blown away! It's so beautiful! The architecture never gets old. As we tried to find a Christmas market (apparently there are multiple), we stumbled upon a cathedral and saw some cool alleys. We went in a circle and realized the market is right by the station- we just went the wrong way! 

In the market I decided I was hungry, and someone said Belgian waffles so I picked that one. The vendor offered me some pancake balls. I asked if they were filled with anything and he said, "Just with love". Well how could I not buy it after that? Also he said they were a Danish tradition so I wanted to "experience the culture". Yummy! 

Pancakes, jam, powdered sugar. YES

There were two things I wanted to see here. A pier that is all over Pinterest and The Little Mermaid. To our surprise (and fortunately), it was right behind the Christmas market! The buildings were so colorful. I loved walking down the pier and just enjoying the view. But also I took a TON of pictures so you are seeing the filtered version.

Ah man it was just so cool!!!! We walked back through the Christmas market and ate before deciding to find the Little Mermaid. Google maps said it was a half hour walk, but it definitely didn't feel that long. I also think we were super lucky because I was leading the way even though I had only checked the map once... Hehe but we found it no sweat! Of course, the path is straight until you turn to get to the park with the statue, so maybe it can be considered a simple path. We somehow got on an island in the park right by the statue and ended up taking a scenic route, but it was so worth it! I was reminded of Ireland, a little bit. Also we're gonna pretend that we saw Sweden. 

I don't know if you guys know this, but.. This is the original, inspired-Disney's-Little-Mermaid, authentic LITTLE MERMAID. I remember watching a video about this in High School and thinking, "I wish I could go there but probably never will". Check it out! *high five-ing myself* 

I wanted to see this and I also really wanted to pose like it, because there is no better way in my mind. 

"But Daddy I love him!" ;)

Beached whale or mermaid? We may never know...  lol

We just walked around and enjoyed Copenhagen after that. At one point we did find our hostel, which turned out to be really really really nice. Paris surprised us with a hotel and paid for the majority of it! How sweet is she?? I'll tell you, the sweetest!!! The beds were so comfy.... 

We took naps and then decided to go get dinner at the giant mall next door. Well, everything was super expensive, so I was going to sit out. But then Cameron said she wanted to pay for me as a Christmas gift! I can't even explain how grateful I was. If you haven't guessed it I'm pretty much broke at this point haha..... #NoRegrets

Anyways, after dinner we went in search for a journal for Cameron. We stopped in a bookshop and I found a "Wreck This Journal", which I've wanted for a long time now. I was admiring it and then Desteny bought it for me, as a Christmas gift! I probably sound like a spoiled brat right now but I'm only saying this to drive a point that my roomies are such sweet, caring, and awesome people. I'm so beyond grateful that I've been able to spend these last four months with them. They are the best!!!!!!

We went out to find more Christmas markets. The city lights were breathtaking, and we stumbled upon Tivoli, an amusement that was decked with... boughs of holly. hahaha ok no they were decked out with Christmas lights! Desteny and Cameron went in, but alas it was twelve bucks that I didn't have. Plus, I hadn't had water all day so Paris was an angel and went back to the hostel with me. Water never tasted so good. 

We're all super nostalgic and sad that our last vacation is over but it has been a good time! 

Now we are back in snowy Kaunas.