SPLAT. And then a Christmas Miracle.

Today was probably one of the most stressful days 

of my entire life.

I stayed up entirely too late last night

working on a Christmas present for 

my dear friend and beloved roommate, Erikka

who I will not see again for a very very long time :(

(Even though she says we won't see each other ever again, I refuse to believe it!)

Around 4:30ish (a.m) I was done and I went to sleep.

This is what the final product looked like:

Surprise! Erikka, if you're reading this...I'm going to get a real copy for you real soon :)

I still had a lot of packing/odds and ends to do 

so I knew I was going to need to get up pretty early.

I got up around 8:30 and then actually got out of bed around 9.

I started packing.

I returned some stuff to work (keys, etc).

I sent my collage for Erikka to the printer so I could pick it up later.

I continued packing.

And packing. 

And packing.

But no matter how much packing I did, 

no matter how many suitcases I stuffed

or boxes I filled,

the amount of stuff that still needed to be packed appeared to be never ending! 

Around 1:30 I started getting frantic.

My grandparents were coming to get me at 2:00 to take me to the airport

and I wasn't nearly ready.

Who knew packing would take SOOO long?! 

Obviously, this packing took much longer than the typical

I'll-just-be-home-for-two-weeks packing.
Since I won't be returning to Provo after Jerusalem 

(I'll be coming straight home to California) 

I needed to have EVERYTHING packed that I want at home for next summer!

Plus, I was trying to get mostly packed for Jerusalem at the same time. 

Just take my word for it...it was crazy.

And stressful.

I asked Madi to pick up my picture collage for Erikka,
she agreed to do so (she's the absolute BEST!)
but of course the printer was down and they said they wouldn't have it ready until tomorrow!
(Which doesn't do me any good because now I'm already gone...)

At about 1:50 p.m.

I remembered that I still had to turn in my application 

for the Elementary Education Program.
The application is due while I'm in Jerusalem but they told me to turn it in before I left to go home. 

(...in 10 minutes.)

My grandparents came and by 2:10 we had the car loaded.

But I still had to go turn in the El Ed application!

I ran as fast as I possibly could to the Mckay Building.

Upon arriving, I realized to complete my bewilderment

I needed to be finger printed.

Faaaantastic.

I whizzed through the paperwork faster than humanly possible.
Then I waited...

(for what seemed like forever)

for them to process the paper work, enter the information, 

and then call me back to be finger printed.

First the right hand: index finger through pinkie all at the same time.

then right thumb.

Then left hand: index finger through pinkie.
left thumb.

Then....each finger individually:
left pinkie.
left index finger.
left middle finger.
left pointer finger....
. . . .

...SERIOUSLY?! I have a plane to catch people!! 

Fiiiinally I was done.

I ran upstairs to turn in the application 

and was out of there quick as a whip.
As I was running back down the stairs...

I lost my footing for a split second.

 "Wouldn't it just be so perfect if I fell right now?"

I thought to myself cynically.
Luckily, I didn't.

I caught myself and used the stumble as an opportunity to propel myself even faster forward.

I burst through the doors, 

feeling like a rock star, all I have to do is make it back to the car
so we can get to the airport when

SPLAT.

 I'm on the ground.  

Apparently, my over-confidence in catching myself on the stairs inside

only set me up for failure when on the stairs outside.

...So I fell. 

And I fell HARD.

I didn't take a lot of time to look around

I know at least four people saw it happen.
They all stopped dead in their tracks,
watching. 
One guy letting out an audible "woah! what the?!"

Another guy was standing with in two feet of me,

struggling with difficultly not to burst in to laughter asked,

"Are you okay?!!"

I couldn't blame him....if I had seen someone do what I had just done
I would have laughed until I cried. 
No joke! 

Under normal circumstances, I would have laughed too.

But these were not normal circumstances.
I had a plane to catch.

I did not laugh.
I didn't even smile (weird! I know, right?!).

I inhaled a barely audible "I'm fine thanks." 
And. I RAN.

Adrenaline pumping, 
hair raging,
I ran all the way back to the car.

...Finally we were off,
about 40 minutes behind schedule.
It was now 2:38. We had an hour's drive ahead of us,
and my flight was scheduled to take off at 4:00 p.m.,
sharp.

The odds were looking grim.
My grandma said that she'd looked up other possible flights
and since I was likely going to miss mine,
the next one was leaving 6:00 a.m. the following morning.
She suggested that if I miss the flight I spend the night at my Aunt an Uncle's in Bountiful
and then take the flight early the next morning.

 Now, there is something you should know about me:
I am not a crier.
As a matter of fact,
my roommates often tease me about my heartlessness/lack-of-crying.
Granted, there have been times in my life when I was 'more prone to cry',
but recently this has not been the case.
However, as stated previously,

today was not a normal day.

And so the tears came

...and came they did indeed.

Just as I was ready to admit defeat and positive I was going to miss my flight

I got a text.

From

645-53

Huh? That's not a number I have in my phone...

"SWA Flight 2003 from SLC is delayed. The new departure time is 4:20 PM. Flight times are subject to change. Please check airport monitor for update." 

 

A Christmas Miracle.

You may say it was just a mere coincidence,

but it was more than that.

I know it was more than that.

It was a tender mercy.

Heavenly Father was looking out for me. 

From that point on...the day got a million times better. 

I made it to the airport just in time.

Checked my bags (they were each 47 pounds...another miracle!)

Went through security (there was no line...that never happens) 

and got to the gate just as the B 1-30s were starting to line up. 

(I was B 27.)

Even though I didn't have time to shower and I looked quite scary...

even though I lost my lucky penny when I took my boot off before going through security...

even though my arms were losing circulation and felt like they were going to fall off because my backpack was so heavy...

even though all I had eaten the whole day was a few chocolate chip cookies from my home teachers (thanks guys!)

even though I had to throw away my favorite pair of scissors because I forgot they were still in my backpack...

It was a GREAT day.

A miraculous day.

It only got better when I had the privlege of sitting next to the most adorable little boy and his mom.

(Who I randomly found out is twins with a girl that works in Helaman...gotta love connections!)

Pictures are necessary:

Sadly I couldn't find my camera so I had to take pictures on my phone...Obviously he was shaking his head. Lol.

Even though it has been extremely stressful, 

today was a wonderful day. 

I am so grateful for the knowledge I have that Heavenly Father is mindful of each of us.

I am 100% convinced He was watching out for me today.

Now, I am home.

And SO happy to be here :) 

 It is truly a Christmas Miracle.