Emily Visits Seattle.

I know you've all been waiting so long for an update, are you ready for this?? Okay, good! So, my mom and I had been toying with the idea of sending my sister Emily up to Seattle to stay with me while I was there to A. visit moi and B. see what dorm life is like. We kind of bagged the idea when I went to Utah for...30 hours (or whatever it was). Well, we got chatting about it again and decided if the price was right, Emily would visit. Well, the price was right! She got a great deal and came during my final week of school. Honestly, this really wasn't the most ideal time (as I had class each day), but it was our only option, and it worked out perfectly! I was able to meet her at her gate when she flew in late Monday night and then she flew home to Salt Lake only 30 minutes after I left for Anchorage! It seriously could not have worked out any better.

I was so excited for her to come, but was stressing at the same time - I mean, I was trying to play host and go to school at the same time and study for my final test and show her a good time. I felt bad leaving her at my dorm with nothing (NOTHING!) to do; good thing she brought a couple of books with her. I was grateful that Delta allowed me through security to pick her up. She for sure could have made it to me if I was not at her gate, but the Seattle airport is pretty big, so I was glad that I could meet her at her gate.

We are not allowed to have guests in our classroom period, so she came over to the school with me one afternoon, hung out in this hole in the wall and watched a movie or Facebooked or something while I was in class for three hours.

So my sister is a freak. Yes, I said it (and she knows I love her, but seriously). She dug up a silly hot pink fanny pack from our costume box at home and has been trying to make it fashionable. Ha! Well, we went to this awesome secondhand store and she found "upgrade fanny packs" = bigger than her pink one at home. Oh boy. We had to take pics, but I had to get her out of that store PRONTO to avoid any tragic fanny pack purchases.

One afternoon we went kayaking on Lake Union. The rental price was incredibly reasonable and it was a gorgeous day!

We went with Jessica, Dominique, AJ, and Eric (her fiance).

That night we went to dinner at, you guessed it, the Cheesecake Factory. Emily had never been there. It was yummmmmy. Believe it or not, I have not had cheesecake there, I am always too full after dinner, so we ordered our cheesecake first!

Lisa, me, AJ, Dominique, and Jessica. Jessica wasn't our roommate, but we sure would have loved having her as one!

She learned how much fun riding a bus can be haha. Ewww it was crowded, but we survived. Even better, it was only $.75 for her to ride!

On Thursday after school Jessica took us to The Locks. I was a little apprehensive because I had a test I needed to study for, but decided I probably would procrastinate annnnnyway, so why not do something fun in the meantime. Definitely worth our time!

So these locks connect Lake Union and Puget Sound (I'm pretty sure). This picture and the next one show the difference in water levels pretty well.

Kind of like a mini Panama Canal.

After our visit to The Locks, we made a stop at the beach. I can't believe the beach was so close and we had no idea! It is not really my kind of swimming beach due to the freezing cold water, but I definitely would go there again!

Check out the gazillions of sailboats in the background!

We were all up studying rather late for our final test on microbiology.

After my last test on Friday morning, Emily and I headed downtown again. Our first stop was the market.

I love this sign!

After seeing fish and flowers and flowers and fish, we walked over to the Space Needle where they were offering free admission to the first 10,500 people.

After waiting in line for about an hour, we were able to ride to the top. I don't feel that riding to the top of the Space Needle is something I need to do again, but it was fun to see everything from that angle. For free. Definitely worth waiting in line and saving $40.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon eating and shopping. Shopping is something I am NOT good at (but eating is). I was glad to have Emily there to convince me to buy things! We actually scored some cute clothes and some great deals!

We got home rather late and started packing and cleaning. I was so thankful to have her there. She was so helpful - vacuumed, packed, anything and everything. I seriously did not think I accumulated so much stuff there, but I did. Mostly new clothes and NOTES. I had a TON of paper to bring home. So much that I had to buy another bag to check through to Anchorage!

We headed to the airport at about 5:30am. My bags are on my back, to my left, and the blue bag with the Cheesecake Factory bag on top. Emily only brought one bag. Someday I will learn how to pack lightly! However, I think I did pretty well for living there for 6 weeks!

I waited in her terminal until I absolutely had to go to mine to board. It was easy peezy. I got over to my terminal right in time to board.

Interestingly enough, I stayed awake for most of my flight. Ask Andy, I usually am out as soon as I fasten my seatbelt and I don't wake up until the wheels touch down. It was such a beautiful day so I just watched out the window.

Probably one of the most exciting flights ever! I can only imagine how missionaries, soldiers, or anyone that is gone for a long period of time feels. I was only gone for a relatively short time but so so so thrilled to be coming home! You can see Anchorage in the distance. Home sweet home.