Friends

So a couple of weeks ago, I posted about how the best time to make friends is when nobody has any friends.   I still hold that to be true, and it has been confirmed to me over the past couple of weeks.  Since being here, I have made some incredible friends.

  
Last week, I went to Brugge to go do the whole tourist thing there, and it was amazing, mostly because I had people with whom I was having fun and I made some good friends.  This weekend was extremely similar.  We ended up going to the Atomium, which is this 300-foot monument of a carbon atom on the north side of Brussels.  Who would have guessed that that was the iconic thing to see here?  I went with some friends from last week, as well as this girl from Spain and her boyfriend.  We took a LOT of pictures, and ended up having a fantastic time. 

  
Then yesterday, after work I headed over to the Palomaki's house to have dinner and family home evening with them.  I seriously LOVE their kids and how cute they are (for proof, look at the picture I have of Victoria from about a week ago).  Too, Michael and Aurelie make me SO EXCITED to be getting married, because I see how incredibly happy they are together.  I had an amazing evening with them, including delicious chicken with pickled lemons, crepes, and family home evening afterwards.  I got to give the lesson, which made me feel really at home :-)  

  
I pretty much have a lot of thoughts in this post.  Actually, this is pretty much just a post to thank all of the amazing people who are in my life.  Those friends who I mentioned, Michael and Aurelie, and then finally my mom, for some stuff that I never would have thought I would be thanking her for.  She was the one who originally set up this blog, and who got me started posting.  Granted, I was writing a journal previously, but this way I get to share all of my experiences with all you people whom I love :-)  In addition to that, she has ALWAYS been the one who says, after I have described some great experience, "Did you take a picture?"  Often, the answer has been no, in particular whenever I spend time with Rebecca (sorry about that, I'm just so distracted when I'm with her that I forget to take pictures!)  However, since I have been in Brussels I have made a renewed effort to take pictures, and I honestly LOVE having those memories immortalized in pictures of people who I care about, and me doing things with them that are truly fun.  So, thanks to all of the people who have made these experiences so wonderful of late, and thanks to a mother who pushes me to recognize and share with others those fabulous experiences!