Home for Christmas

I was so happy to be home for Christmas this year, I missed my family so very much! I flew into Salt Lake on December 19th which was Annika's 16th birthday! It was amazing to get to see her on her birthday. My family was all there at the airport among the millions of missionary families. There were 18 missionaries on my flight from Chicago to SLC. I got to talk to an elder the whole way home! After meeting up with my family we headed to Downtown Salt Lake to stay overnight and just be together to celebrate Annika's birthday. I can't stop smiling just thinking about how great it was to see my family again! And getting to spend Annika's birthday with her was more than I could have asked for for Christmas.

Being home I got to see so many people that I really have missed seeing all the time! I was able to meet up with so many friends and family members and I am grateful to have a home full of people that I love. The week of Christmas was packed full. I got to spend a whole 2 days with my bestest friends Siena Johnson and Anna Elkins! Wow I missed those two. We got together and watched a bunch of the musicals we have been in together. That was a funny time, we got to reminisce and remember stories from those shows. From like 7th grade to senior year we had this amazing group of friends that we did all of the shows with. Most of those people are serving missions right now, and the rest are rocking it at college. I am really proud of all of my friends and their accomplishments over the years. I am grateful to have grown up with all of them. You know who you are guys and I love you!

That same week we also had out annual Nelson-Julander-Peebler Framily Christmas morning party. I have missed Jes, Anita, and Dane so very much. We had yummy food, Dane gifted me some awesome scienc-y hand warmers that are reusable and super awesome!! We also got to play a new game called recoil, which is basically laser tag! We did a round that was adults vs kids, it was so fun and everyone was super into it!

On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I got to see all of my cousins and aunts and uncles. We are very close with our extended family so it was weird to have gone so long without seeing all of them. For Christmas Annika made me a special chatbook. She asked all of my friends and family for their favorite memory we have and she typed them all up with pictures and everything and gave the book to me. I cried my eyes out reading all the memories! Thank you to everyone who contributed to the project.

I missed living right behind my grandma and grandpa, they are the best. They had me singing karaoke for hours after family dinners all break long. Which I didn’t mind of course. One thing I have missed is being able to sing my guts out in the shower. You can’t exactly do that in a New York apartment without getting complaints from the neighbors. Speaking of things I missed; home-cooked meals. While I was home I got to eat my mother’s lasagna (my favorite!!!), my grandma's green salad, and best of all not a single package of ramen. Being in college and living on my own has really made me realize what I took for granted. Laundry, Home-cooked meals, not having to grocery shop, driving, etc. Kind of a cliche thing to say, but it is totally true.

 

The day after Christmas I got to attend Ballet West's The Nutcracker. My cousin Sophie was the cutest baffoon with the best cartwheels hands-down. I really loved getting to see the Nutcracker, I have always wanted to and this year I had the perfect reason to go. I was so proud of little Sophie, she did amazing. I went on her closing night and she was very sad for it to be over. I know how she feels, closing a show that you lover performing in is so sad. It was also really fun to see the ballet because I have been taking ballet for the last 5 months. It was cool to be able to recognize steps and see technical things while watching these professional ballerinas. I loved the ballet and I hope Sophie auditions again next year so I can see her in it again!

Also after Christmas I held a little get together for all of my high school friends to come over and catch up. It was so good to see so many people that I love and have missed so much! I got to see so many more people while I was home than I ever expected to and it really made my break memorable! I got to experience al the things that make Utah home to me. Being able to go back to Utah for the break was super fun. I love living in New York City, it really is a dream. There is truly no place like it, but there is no place like Salt Lake City either. I guess there is no place like home.