and then there was some historical history stuff. and good ol fashioned modern humor.

day 3. sunday, october 30. jodi, heather and i went on a free walking tour. learned some stuff, saw some stuff. heard some really bad jokes. but it was all good. and i didn't take many pictures while on the actual tour... so i went back out later when it was pretty much dark to take some! it worked out well...

hands down my all time favorite piece of graffiti art work ever.

at one point, this church was the tallest building in the world.

 st. nicholas' church

 estonia's independence monument. darn that czech glass..

 see the canon balls up in that tower? yeah. ivan the terrible can't take on tallinn.

beautiful lit up at night!

walking around on this night i was by myself and ended up behind the parliament building on the side of a giant, steep hill, on a sketchy trail with some creepy trees and stuff... it was a good time. and later that night when everyone was back at the hostel, we did princess leia braid! all we needed was a gold bikini...

i guess it's about time i get around to this.

vacation. i've been dreading blogging about this. actually doing things for 10 days straight, and then having to blog about it- not fun. not the doing though. that was fun. catch-up blogging? not so much. story of my life. where to begin..... the beginning.

day 1. friday, october 28 took 3 american girls, heather, leslie, and i, from big ol russia, to little estonia. we left the bus station in a big yellow bus, with only the 3 of us in it. we were pretty excited about that, and didn't take long to make ourselves comfortable. unfortunately tho, it only took about a half hour for the rest of the bus to fill us.

the bus had seat belts!

we got into tallinn at about midnight their time, and walked around through crowds of drunk people until we found our hostel. we dropped off our stuff, and then went out. what else would you do at 1am?

day 2. our first full day in estonia brought a lot of getting lost in mazes of cobblestone streets and medieval looking buildings and souvenir shops and everything that is old town in tallinn, estonia! 

 st. catherines passage

old tombstones

 just regular estonia ol

 one of several markets of handmade estonian goods

 in the afternoon, we headed out to an old soviet... stair.... fortress...? we're still not entirely sure what it was. but it was cool! with LOTS of graffiti

 we did some fake model poses...

the view from the steps out to the baltic. we sat here for about an hour and just watched a ship get into the harbor. it was a little magical. but cold. when we finally left, not only were my ovaries frozen, but they were numb. it was an interesting feeling.

the view of old town 

bam!

this one's for mom and dad.

so today i realized that i'm really proud of myself for doing what i'm doing and making the choices i have thus far in my life. before i was even 18, i signed up for a program to do something that i felt would make a difference in the world, even though it may be a small difference. when i signed up, i knew full well that it would take me completely across the world from everyone i've ever known. i also knew that this would be my first time ever really being away from my family, and i'd be goin straight after graduating from high school. people say going to college is hard and that you get home sick, but i was going somewhere that driving home for the weekend when i missed mom and dad wouldn't be an option. i left my sheltered little world of montana, and northwest united states, and jumped into the real world. for the first time in my life, i went out on my own, in a place where i was forced to learn and to adapt, and to do it fast. 

i'm not saying this to make myself look good, or to say that i think i'm more brave than people who go to college right after high school, because i think that that's awesome too, and that i've got absolutely nothin on missionaries. i'm saying this because i also thought, more than i have thus far, about how completely impossible living my dreams would be without everyone who's been a part of my life this far, and most importantly- my parents. they mean everything to me, and i'm so grateful to them for helping me and encouraging me to do what i've always dreamed of. i'm grateful for their constant support, love, understanding, and example. mostly, i'm grateful and proud of the person that they've raised me to be, and i hope that they are too.

i love you mom and dad. and i can't wait to see you again in 1 month and 2 days.

America, the beautiful

in honor of me having a dream about all things home related last night, i decided to finally get around to doing the post about things i miss about America. or appreciate more. mostly both. that, and i'm avoiding blogging and our vacation. cuz it's just plain gonna take a lot of effort. anyways. so, things i appreciate more about america:

 first, driving. i love driving. it's like ultimate freedom and stress relief and getting out and doing things and getting away from people and everything all at the same time. not to mention, lazy transportation. i miss driving a lot. although, not that i don't drive, and i take the metro, i have a TON of time to read. and i love that. trade off! this is what a typical russian car looks like. heather wants to take one home with her.

 a dryer. we have no dryer here. so, instead, we generally have clothes strewn about our apartment, and then when they dry they feel all gross and crusty and they have imprints from whatever they were hung on, and they don't shrink up like they should so that they fit again. i can't wait to go home and wash and dry my clothes, and put them on, warm and soft, again.

 i think america is a decently clean place. russia is dirty. there's just not enough trash cans in all of russia . there really is a shortage of them, and they need more. remember that pot hole full of trash? yeah. pretty gross. now i'm not saying america is a clean freaks kitchen, but it's not bad.

 tap water. i miss my sink! here, we either have to buy bottled water, or boil it, and filter it, and then put it in the fridge and it's STILL a funny color. we were spoiled in sweden when we got to drink the tap water. here, it's what we say we are going to do when we want to get sick enough to go home.

microwaves. so dang convenient. i am learning to eat more than just frozen or reheated food, and different ways to heat up that food, but still. sometimes a microwave would be nice when i get home and am starving and don't want to cook for a half hour before i can eat. we were spoiled and had one of these in estonia too.

most of all.... free public bathrooms. i've gotten pretty good at knowing where a few of those are here, but generally, you have to pay if ya really gotta go. and, whether free or not, i've been in probably 95% of the nastiest bathrooms i've been in, in my entire life, in these 3 months i've been in russia. it's kind of disgusting. in america, they're not bad at all, and you can find one in every building.

these things kinda stink, but, i still love russia!

i love to see the temple...

a huge part of being in europe and in russia is seeing the churches and cathedrals. that's a huge part of who these people are and their history and culture. but, while in sweden we were lucky enough to be able to go to the temple. i've thought about this before, but going there, after all the cathedrals i've gone to, just made me realize how much more i love temples than them. it something that seems like it would be kind of obvious, and it kind of is, but i just want to explain my thoughts about it a little bit. 

first, here are some pictures of inside cathedrals.

now, here are some pictures of the temple.

let me just say that i do think that cathedrals are beautiful in their own way, and sometimes i do just like to sit inside for a few minutes and watch people and just look around. but, i kind of hate them at the same time. i like looking at them from a cultural aspect. but, as far as a religious aspect, i just... i just don't like them. i know that the icons and saints are meant to bring you to Christ in a specific way and you use different ones for different purposes, but i feel like they take away the focus from Christ himself. when Christ is portrayed, it's usually a gruesome depiction, and almost always of Him on the cross. i realize that that was a big part of His mission here on this earth, and it is important to think about his sacrifice for each and every one of us. but when thinking of Christ, i want to think of my kind, loving, happy, charitable older brother. i want to think of His love for me, His teachings, and how i can become more like Him, not just the amount of suffering and cruelty he faced. i don't want looking at images of Him to be more depressing than uplifting. i also think that all the gold and glamour and decorations in the cathedrals is distracting. it's fun to look and marvel at, and it is beautiful, but for me, it takes away from the spirit of the place, because it's just too much. also, i don't really see the point of having old coats of arms? i don't know how to do that plural. having a bunch of those old things from old rich families. i just don't see how that contributes to you spiritually in any way, even if they are cool old historical things.

but, being at the temple, i love. honestly, i think one of the only things that can compare to the beauty and peace of the temple is being outdoors, away from the world, and just marveling at Heavenly Father's beautiful creations and the love He has for us to bless us with such beautiful things. anyways, the temple is just.... ah. i just love it. it's bliss. its simplicity and purity (aside from that whole being set apart thing) contributes to it's quiet peacefulness. it's beautiful to look at, but i think the complete peace that can be found in the temple contributes just as much to it's beauty as its design. i just realized i pretty much said the same thing, but backwards. but it's true! everything about the temple just compliments everything else and it all blends together perfectly.

*disclaimer: obviously i don't know everything about the religion in these churches. and i hope i haven't offended anyone by expressing my opinion. again, i think both are good in their own ways.

bein a part of the process ♥

sunday was a very exciting day for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints  in Saint Petersburg. we'd missed church for the past two weeks because of our vacation and were VERY excited to be back and see all the people we've missed so much. when we got there, we noticed that the chapel was about twice as full as it usually is and that just seemed odd in Russia. we later realized it was because multiple branches were there. there was also some guys sittin up on the stand that none of us recognized. i've been kind of getting used to surprises like that, for a few reasons. one, we don't know everyone. two, random people just seem to show up at church all the time... general authorities, the district president, and a few other others. three, we never really have any forewarning about things like this, because half the time we don't know what's going on in the opening, even with a translator, because we don't know many people. 

anyways, focusing. so, we had one of our weekly friendly missionaries sittin behind us like always, and opening exercises for sacrament meeting began. who we found out to be the mission president got up and starting speaking to the congregation, with a translator. he started out speaking in russian, then said what he had to say was important, so he would say it in english. score. i love it when the speakers in church speak my language :) he started talking about changes. and how changes can be difficult, but that they're a good thing and bring about growth. he talked about how these changes have been thought out prayerfully and approved by the area seventy, the quorum of the twelve, and the church presidency. my mind instantly started hoping that we were about to be made the first stake in st. petersburg! something everyone here has been hoping and working for. but, the more the mission president talked, the less that seemed to be the case. he talked about how blesssings come from obedience. at about this point he'd been talking like this for about a solid 5 minutes, plus having a translator. and ya know how like in general conference when they're about to announce the new temples they take forever to explain how they decided where the temples were needed and everyone (and by everyone i mean myself) starts to get REALLY impatient because they just want to know where the temples will be? 

yeah. it felt like that. i realize now that i really need to work on patience... 

so finally, the mission president announced the changes. my branch, which i still don't know the name of, was to be split. they were changing the boundaries of the other branches, and ours was joining the others. i think it was 84 of the farther south members would join one branch, and everyone else to another. and then the two branch presidencies were realized followed by everyone in those branches. everyone was released at the same time. it was pretty sweet. the mission president went on to talk about how important it was for members to go where their records are and to be obedient and that he realizes that our ward/branch in the church becomes our family, but that everyone needs to reach out especially now to the people in their new branches and make them their family, and still remain close to their friends, and the people they became separated from. 

when the changes were announced, it wasn't hard for me to see why. it completely made sense. make the branches bigger, so that they seem more like wards and are fuller. it didn't seem like a big deal to me and i didn't understand why the mission president seemed so worried and spent so much time encouraging people to be obedient. and then i started thinking about my home ward. everyone has always said it will never happen, that the corvallis ward will never split, but it's been gettin bigger and bigger lately. all i could think about at that point was how hard it would be if that ever happened. i couldn't imagine my corvallis ward family without everyone in it. and then i realized that our branch had become another ward family for me, and i started thinking about all the people i had already come to love and care about there and wondering if we would still be in the same place. and then i started to understand why the mission president was concerned, and why it could be hard for people to be obedient. 

and so what's the point in all this? why am i so excited about it? because in order for st. petersburg to become a stake, first the branches have to function like wards. you can't have wards, until you have a stake, and you can't have a stake until you have wards (or at least branches that function in the same way). makes sense, right? well, making the branches bigger, and more like wards, helps the people prepare spiritually and physically- a gathering of israel i guess you could say. and although i was disappointed to realize that st. petersburg wouldn't become a stake while i was here, even though they seem to be getting close, i've still gotten to experience being a part of the process. i've gotten to see the church grow, and transition, experience an aspect of the church that i haven't seen before. and for that experience, i'm very grateful, and my faith has grown in knowing that the Lord is always mindful of His church and people, and knows far better than we do of what is needed to help it grow. maybe someday we'll have one of these in russia!

tennis holds a special place in my heart, which gives it the ability to always make me happy.

FYI: i'm really starting to suck at blogging in order. just sayin. because the match that i went to at the st. petersburg tennis open (no big deal) happened on monday and the halloween party was on friday.... alright. anyways. leslie and i, we love tennis. and one day we were walking home from somewhere and saw a billboard advertising the open. of course we immediately looked it up online and bought tickets just about as soon as we could. we headed on over to the stadium after a long day of teaching for that wonderful game. sidenote: we had to walk around to the back of the stadium for our entrance and as we were walking we passed some like 12-13 yr old boys. they heard us speaking english and whipped their heads around and after we had passed them they started shouting some pretty vulgar profanity at us. oh russia.... and then there was the match!

 this guy, we picked to lose from the beginning. but, as the game went on, he started to seem like a really nice guy, like that best friend kinda guy and we kinda wanted him to win a little bit....

 this russian guy's got a studly serve if i've ever seen one

workin the backhand 

 shazzam!

 what!

 takin it easy,

 then takin a break

 look at that form...

 i really just love his leg in this picture...

and.... the russian wins. but the ukrainian put up a dang good fight!