Greetings from Vienna

This is Ali and Jessie reporting from the beautiful Swiss Alps! We are so excited to be in Europe together for our study abroad. Just check out how green and beautiful it is here.

...The hills are alive with

the sound of music...

......

........

Ok ok.. so we aren't really in Austria..

Allow me to explain.. Jess and I planned to take a seven week long trip with BYU to Vienna this summer. We were going to be room mates and were SO excited to explore the other side of the world together. Unfortunately, sometimes life doesn't go as planned. This trip got included in one of those 'sometimes' and didn't work out for us. So yesterday, the first day we would have been in Vienna, we improvised a little.

We took a nice trip to "the Alps"..more commonly referred to around here as Hobble Creek Canyon. There, we set out a blanket and my laptop to sit and enjoy Julie Andrews serenading us for a couple hours.

And what would a faux European trip be without.. CHOCOLATE!?

The largest contributor to us not being in Europe for real? ............

This ROCK on her finger.

So who could be mad about that??? Not us!

So in the end.. would it have been nice and exciting to take a trip together across the ocean? Of course! But it's not like that's the only adventure out there for us. We have plenty of life to live and who says that you have to go somewhere else to do it? I mean, look how stunningly gorgeous the background of our pictures is. This canyon is ten minutes away from my house! It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of traveling to foreign places. Ironically, we are too quick to take the majesty of our own backyard for granted. America is blessed. Utah is BEAUTIFUL! And no matter where in the world we are, Jessie and I are best friends.

We've made a pact that we will go to Europe together someday. For now, I am content to soak up every moment & every memory, right here at home.