a bunch of awesome.

Our last few days in Russia, we filled with awesome things. i don't think i could ask or plan for anything better.

Alexander Nevsky Cemetery and Cathedral

I think this cemetery was one of my favorite things i saw in russia. i don't know what it is about it that's so cool, but with the cold, humid day there was just something very peaceful about it. but, it was also really sad to see that they weren't very well taken care of.

 

 

 

 and then we went on a pretty little nature walk...

and then we walked like 2 miles along the side of a river, AKA freezing, to get to the...

Smolny Cathedral

i was kind of disappointed when we got there and realized it wasn't open to go look at. we could walk inside the door, but it was a concert hall or something, so we couldnt just go look around. but at least we could sit there for a minute and get warm! that was a definite plus.

 even though we couldn't see much of the inside, this is still one of my favorite cathedrals. i just think it's really beautiful.

 

another awesome Christmas display :) 

 KGB anyone?

gotta love Russian architecture...

and.... to end the day we went to a Christmas party at the Institute building! there were videos, skits, and testimonies. and of course good food. there's always food when you're mormon :)

Russian Museum

personally, i'm not a huge fan of museums. i just get really bored after not very long. i feel bad about it, but really not at the same time. well, the russian museum is one of the few exceptions to that rule. i LOVE the russian museum. we went to the hermitage and overall i got really bored, really fast. i just really wasn't all that interested in the art there, regardless of how classic it is. the russian museum is just that, a russian museum. it's all things russian. about russia, by russians, all the good stuff. i loved it.

<3 this painting. 

 hell= waiting in line for eternity. literally.

 kinda intricate i think....

 you can't tell, but this is actually like, 2x1 inches probably. it's tiny. do you see that detail?!

 

 this picture was done in the hermitage. i've been there. and stood there. no big deal or anything.

A Dinner Date with Heather

there's a really good, but kind of expensive restaurant that Heather and i love. so, we had to go one last time before we left. remember the mint mojito and chicken sandwich? most importantly the mint mojito, same place. well, it was freezing outside so i decided to get some hot chocolate. at least that's what i thought i was getting. who doesn't love a nice, hot cup of hot cocoa on a freezing cold december night? well, that's not what i got. i got a cup of a melted down chocolate bar and a glass of luke-warm water. we were almost gagging trying to finish it all.

 but this delicious blini made it all worth it :)

 St. Nicholas Cathedral

This one looks kinda like Smolny, but i just really liked it and wanted to see it, so Heather and i went on a little excursion :)

 

there's a big place in my heart for the missionary couples in russia

These are the McArthurs. and i love them. they taught our old testament institute class while we were in russia and put on a ton of great activities. they are so sweet and i miss them!

This is most of our institute class. jodi and leslie weren't usually there because they had to teach and one of my favorite russians Alexanya is missing, but overall, this is it! our last class was great. we had a little "unleavened bread" and "bitter herbs" and wore scarves over our heads and watched a movie. it was a good time. 

i realize how big my little apartment now is when i remember my russian apartment

So, i realize that i suck at keeping up with blogging now. it's one of those things where i'm really behind and hate catching up and saw i just dont have time, when really i could make some.... mostly, ijust hate catching up on things. luckily, my college life isn't horribly exciting, so there's not much to catch on from rexburg. getting back into the blogging process, i thought i'd start with something simple- my russian apartment!

 This is our living room. there's two chairs and a horrible couch in quite possibly the worst colored furniture i have ever seen. c'est la vie.

 This was my bed. a couch. and that's how it usually looked too

 red, white, and blue streamers from our American birthday party for Bekka!

 a lovely hallway complete with a lovely tinfoil quote wall

tine bathroom. tiny tiny bathroom. complete with washer. 

it was sometimes difficult to get out of the shower due to lack of space 

 our kitchen.

try fitting 9 girls cooking in here. a tad crowded. a tad claustrophobic. 

 such a beautiful view we had...

and a beautiful street.....

so here's the thing....

i'm finding it increasingly harder to blog, because now i have nothing exciting to talk about. yeah, college. it's there. i go. it's pretty cool. that's about it. russia? past tense. and as much as i love being home....ish, i still don't like that my life's not incredibly cool anymore. also, i have a long list of things still from russia that i need to blog about. oh, the joys of getting behind on things. so, this is me saying that i will try my best to do a new, real blog post sometime soon. but, after i get done with russia, no promises that they'll be interesting from here on out. don't say you weren't warned.

FINALLY BACK HOME!

I'M IN AMERICA!!!!!

and then i did some more stuff

russian YSA dance

so awkward. since i've been to russia and adult activities, i've realized that church activities (and dances in particular) are the same everywhere... awkward! it did become fun after awhile tho. mostly because we got russians to do the chicken dance to a random techno song, do the cotton-eyed joe dance to a random techno song, and do the dance that i taught my 5 year old children to waka waka. they're not doing their best in this video, but they do alright. 

yeah we're dancin the night away!

gummy art

me and heather are artists. gummy artists. i know my mom tried to teach me not to play with my food, but i'm not so sure the message made it all the way through. exhibit a:

 KGB. in russia.

 that's neville slaying the basilisk

 reppin MT!

vampire butterfly.

boy meets world. it's become an obsession.

boy meets world was the best thing that ever happened to the '90s. real tv that teaches about life, love, and how to be a good person. if you want to watch one of the best things that ever happened to tv, you can watch it here:

the best thing ever

 

the bronze horseman and nevsky lights

one night, me and heather randomly decided to go out and do something. and it was a good time!

 alcoholic starbursts! only in russia

 i love the lights!

 the tree isn't lit up yet in this picture, but it sure is pretty when it is!

fountain of lights!

 i love that russia puts up christmas trees EVERYWHERE! it's so wonderful!

 the bronze horseman with st. isaacs in the background

and there's me all nice and dark!

chamber of curiosities.... AKA anthropology museum!

the first museum in not only st. petersburg, but all of russia! apparently peter the great took weird things pretty seriously and held them in high esteem because he felt it necessary to open this awesome museum that actually made me happy. which, is a weird combination for me and a museum. because i'm not generally a big fan.

 this day was a beautiful day- a rarity in st. petersburg

 an eskimo!

 chinese toy

 japan

 india

apparently this is what african toothbrushes look like...sticks!

after 4 months, we finally went inside

church on spilled blood. remember that guy?

 well, our last day with sveta was our 2nd to last saturday and we made pelmeni in the morning and then went inside the church of the savior on spilled blood.

i love her! she's so wonderful!

 all these "pictures"? yeah, they're mosaics. the entire interior of this huge building is covered in mosaics. crazy!!!

 it wouldn't be russia if they didn't have an awesome floor

 these 2 are my favorites

 sorry about the dark, for some reason the pictures aren't coming on edited. oh! and this is the place where alexander II's blood was actually on the street

during WWII a bomb fell into the building. it crashed through the ceiling and landed on the floor... without exploding. during a very hard time in russia, that one incident brought many people back to faith and hope that there was a higher power watching over them.

i was on a russian tv show!

so after going to spilled blood i met up with one of my russian friends and we made blini together and it was fan-tastic! but she had to go after a little while because she had a concert to go to....  but not long after she left, she called me and said they had an extra ticket and asked if i wanted to go. russian concert? heck yes!!!

 i'd say it was a decent sized crowd

 complete with multiple crazy outfits...

 and occasional stage dancers...

and wonderful russian friends! natasha, me, and ella!

and videos of course...

this girl doesn't have any ropes on her at all! i literally thought i was going to record her death on camera! luckily though, i did not, and she did not die. but the story of the woman singing the song is really cool but very sad. apparently her husband used to sing her songs, but he was killed and they still don't know who did it, and now she sings them. 

this is all i can do for now. more to come soon. also! deep thoughts and reflections on my time in russia. that should be interesting....