Wisps of Austria...

It's kind of hard at this point to deal with chronic sleep-deprivation, and all I can say is, I'm looking forward to that break of ours that never actually seems to come and save me. Still, life is good. Classes are interesting and challenging at the same time. I took a waltz test and a French oral exam, and I feel fairly confident about both of them. This week promises to be extremely busy with Star Academie (like American Idol in French for the French department -- I auditioned last Friday so I could count it as one of my cultural activities), Dancesport, a French exam and the normal stresses of life, but I know the Lord will help me through it all.

I got to see Laura twice which was really good. This weekend Ben and I attended an Austrian culture night, complete with Gulasch, Wurst, cookies, and a small music group that performed some Austrian folk songs. I really enjoyed listening to the stories I knew so well about Maria Theresa, Josef II, Franz Josef, and of course Sissi. Saturday morning Ben picked me up to watch his inter-mural team's soccer game and eat a delicious french toast breakfast with his ward. The hw rampage that followed was relatively productive, and we finished it off with a bite to eat at a small Mexican restaurant - the burritos, homemade tortilla chips and cinnamon flavored rice milk were absolutely perfect. We finished in the nick of time to get to his rehearsal for the stake musical number. The octet's run-through of "Lead Kindly Light" sent shivers down my spine. Once I dropped him off at stake conference I rushed home to assist in the creation of a marvelous apple crisp, which Hillary, McKay and I all carefully transported to the McFarland's house for our Vienna reunion. Everyone except for one girl was there, talking, laughing and eating, recalling the million memories that we had made together this past summer. The slide show, thoughtfully prepared by Danny, our program coordinator, was fantastic, capturing the ups and downs of the trip in such a way as to leave us all sighing and laughing every few seconds...

A new week. A new week... to live in...laugh in...be thankful in...