Viva Las Vegas

In October Justin and I went with all the Norwegians to Vegas. It was Cecilie, Lene, Kjersti, Fredrik, Aleksandra, Tormod, Erik and Terje who went with us. Cecilie and Lene stayed with me and Justin while the others stayed at another hotel. We would meet up with them from time to time but we were on different parts of the strip and had different agendas. The Norwegian guys dint bring any dress shoes so we couldn’t get into any clubs so we went to a “classy” strip club, or at least that’s what the limo driver said, and Cecilie left her cell phone there so we had to go back in the morning to get it…blah. I do have to give Justin some major props for getting the limo driver and strip club to give us a discount or a free ride back to our hotel. At least we got that after pretty much being forced to get table service (DON’T EVER DO THAT!!!) Vegas was fun and we had a good time but of course we were very tired by the end of the weekend and just wanted to go home.

Me and Justin

nothing like morning cocktails!

The Norwegians Invade!

So lucky for us the friends we had made in Norway were going to study at Texas Tech for a whole semester! The ones that came that we knew or took classes with were Cecilie, Fredrik, Aleksandra, Tormod, Erik and Terje. And the two people that I didn’t know were Kjersti and Lene but we became close friends. We were so excited to have them! Amanda, Cecilie, Lene and I became a tight foursome; we would all go out together and end up in the hot tub after….we occasionally would meet up with the others. They all lived in different apartment complexes around the city of Lubbock but we never had any issues with picking them up.  Justin lived further away so he would swig by and pick up Tormod, Aleksandra, and Kjersti when we were all meeting up. It’s so fun to have people from other countries stay with you and you get to show them your home! We took them to football games and all the nasty fast food places…and the good restaurants in Lubbock (if you can really say they have any) and of course all the bars ;)

Pumpkins!!!

Charlotte also came to visit us for Halloween! She also happen to be there for the Tech (TTU) vs. Texas (UT) football game. Not only had she never seen an American football game she picked a great game to go to (this coming from a person who doesn't like football). Tech won by just a few points (39-33). While she was there all the Norwegians carved pumpkins and we also made Charlotte a traditional Thanksgiving dinner! YUM! Big props to Amanda for her sweet cooking skills!



Charlotte and Cecilie with the wishbone



Where should I go next?!?!?!

So after I came home I was sitting with my best friend by her pool and telling her about my trip and my travels and she was so into it and wanting to do something like that too. Well her dad was sitting out there with us. Let me give you a little background with Ashley’s dad, I have known her since 6^th grade and I haven’t spoken more than 10 words to him my whole life! And he himself has also traveled a lot in Europe, mainly Germany. Well he said that if we planned it he would pay for it! Ashley and I go into the house and I am like, “WHAT?!?!” am I under the impression that he is going to pay for us to have an adventure for us? Yes! So with my experience with traveling in Europe and trying to navigate foreign cities I suggested maybe trying to find a tour to take that could show us more in a short amount of time. After some Googling   we found Trafalgar Tours. We decided that the ‘Best of Italy’ tour would be the best choice for us since it was the right length, price, and let us see the best places in Italy. The only time I could go was over Christmas since I was still in school. So we would be spending out first Christmas away from our families…in ITALY!!! So it was a good trade. As the date gets closer the tour gets booked, the flights are booked and before we know it, it’s time to take off!