I'm back!

So, I'm sorry I haven't posted much over the course of my travels, but I'm sure all of these will make up for it. These are the posts I had saved in advance because I had no Internet in the last two weeks of France (some glitch in the internet server at my host parent's. There was a power outage, and since then, it hadn't worked).

Coming home was madness, I tell you. After lots of stress and many difficulties, though, I have finally made it home. I realize how privileged I was to be able to go abroad to France, but let's just face it: there's just nothing that could outrank something like "home." It's so nice to be back, to be able to go to the store and know what I'm looking for and where I could actually find the dang razor!

Airport was an absolute nightmare, but at the same time it was the greatest airport madness I've ever experienced. My flight left at 8 in the morning, which was madness in itself. The metro lines don't open until 5:30 in the morning, so my host family offered to drive me to the shuttle station. Unfortunately, the shuttles didn't start going until 6, so I already had a tight window of opportunity. Then there was traffic, so when I finally got to the airport, it was already 7. CDG airport is giant and huge, so it was miracle enough that I found my terminal and then found where I put my baggage through, so I did that; no problem. I had one checked baggage and two carry ons, so, happy as a clown, I made my way to the security check point. I didn't get past the lady who checked the tickets. She waggled her finger at me and said my bags looked a little big and told me to see if they fit in that tiny little basket that said how big your bags could be. Of course, with my luck, neither of them fit.

Great.

So with 30 minutes to go, I'm stuck in front of this stupid French dragon lady who won't let me go through security, and I'm thinking to myself that I'm never going to get home. I was already frazzled from stressing out the night before (you know, all the customary "Will my bag be too heavy" or "Will I get to the airport on time" or "I hope I don't sleep in!" and of course, "Dang, I can't WAIT to get home and see my mom and dad!") When this lady wouldn't let me through, you could hardly blame me when I had a panic attack.

The lady was decent enough to notice that I was upset (yah, ya think?) so she pointed me in the direction of a sign that had the number 3 on it. So, snotty and sobbing, I wander over there wondering what I'm supposed to be looking for when my guardian angel swooped in to rescue me. Gosh, he was the best thing that happened to me that whole day! He took me back to check in baggage, and I transferred all of the mass into my extra bag and took out my packed away purse, and I got my second bag in. It went through, but then the machine wouldn't take my card. As I'm about to have another panic attack, Angel comes to my rescue again and says that it'll go in for free. I thank him profusely, go through security (dragon lady doesn't comment on my purse or greatly reduced size of my bag), and I make it to the gate with 10 minutes to spare.

Customs at the second airport were a nightmare. There was a mob, but I got to my layover flight 30 minutes after they started boarding, which had started at 9:40 (flight left at 10:40). I'm feeling a lot more secure in the fact that I'm finally on a plane that will get me directly to Houston, and I have a little party in my head. I think of how happy I'll be when I get off the plane and run to my parents... and then the captain gets on the intercom and says that the snow (that had started falling scant minutes before) was going to be delaying our flight. So we wait... and wait... for three hours. Our captain is working hard to get permission to take off whenever there's a lull in the storm, and then he finally gets it. And... we take off!!

Nine or ten hours later, we fly into Houston with the most beautiful welcome home sunset I have ever seen. It takes me about an hour to get through customs, I get both pieces of baggage (I'd been worrying about the second one because I hadn't been sure that it would have made it onto the plane), and I run, sobbing, into my parents arms. I can't tell you how much of a relief it was to be with my parents again. I love them so much!

Now I'm filling out my mission papers - woohoo!! I made it known to Bishop Hruska the day after I got back (on the fifth of December), had our tithing settlement on Wednesday, and then he opened up my missionary application online. So technically speaking, I started filling them out last Thursday, and I'm already almost done with them! I had my interview yesterday, and tomorrow I'm having my doctor's and dentist appointment! Dang, this is moving so fast, I can hardly keep up with it. And it's becoming so incredibly real now that I'm actually, really filling out my papers.

Today, I cut Violet's hair. Well, I started last week, but her hair was so hopelessly tangled that it took a good while to get it all cut. I'm sure she hates me now, poor dear. She was just so eager to have it all done and over with, but I'm glad we finished today.

 Isn't she cute?

 Looking at me

Exhausted after a long day's work

Did I mention I got a haircut last Thursday? I must admit, I like it very much. If only I had discovered how wonderful short hair was long ago, I would have forgone long hair and chopped it all off... Ah, well, better late than never.

Also, bangs are awesome. Peace out.