"Here's to the backpack run."

Have you ever tried to fit five people in a photo booth? How 'bout six?

*

This is Harley and I {sorry for the confusion, but I'm on Har's account posting right now} with a few of our best friends -

the girls we spent three months with last summer while we traveled around Europe {mainly Austria}.

It was magic.

*

Last week, one of the girls {third of 17} got married, and a few of us were at the reception to celebrate.

We jump on any chance to get together and be c r a z y, as seen by the photos above.

PS Don't mind the one where I look a bit mental. Harley told me, "You kinda look like you're on drugs. Just sayin."

*

Want to hear a funny story from our summer?

*

Journal entry June 20, 2010. We hurried to get on the U-4 at Friedensbruke where the Plummers live so we could make it back to Heitzing before our 10:56pm bus left. We knew we were cutting it super close, so we stood at the doors, ready to pull the handles in unison. The subway slowed.

"Here's to the backpack run," I said.

"Here's to making our bus," Harley replied. The subway stopped, and we jerked the doors open and sprinted up the stairs and out the door, only to see our bus pulling away.

"Quick!" I shouted. "We can still make it to the next stop!" We took off running again. The road is under construction, so the bus takes a couple blocks of detour before the first stop.

My heart was bursting out of my chest and my legs felt like jelly, but we both kept running as fast as we could, our bodies being thrown off balance by our heavy backpacks. We made it to the stop, right as the cursed bus pulled up. We climbed on and sank into our normal seats in the back. We looked at each other; hot, sweat dripping down our cheeks and foreheads, and our bodies trembling from the adrenaline rush. We burst into raspy laughter. Neither of us could believe we had really just made the bus.

xoxo

Jane.

Dear Vienna.

Today I am missing a place that I kind of consider my second home.
I miss Frau Millers home cooked Viennese meals.
I miss the Schonebrunn palace.
I miss the Monks that I met from Thailand.
I miss the 45 min bus/subway ride that I took to school everyday.
I miss seeing the Opera house right outside my classroom window.
I miss taking weekend trips to Prague, Roma, and Dorfgastein.
I miss afternoons of nothing, but exploring and taking pictures.
Believe it or not, I even miss the German.
But most of all I miss spending everyday with all of these people that I truly grew to love over the summer.

It is crazy because now that we are home life is moving on. People are graduating from college, getting married, and moving away.

Maybe that was one of the nicest things about the whole experience. No cell phones. Hardly any internet. Just you and you 16 friends trying to soak up as much culture as you possibly could while trying to have as many experiences as possible. Your whole life just kind of stopped. At least mine did.

I am so thankful for the experience that I had this summer.
I am thankful everyday that this lady was my roommate. {Where would I be without her?!}
I am thankful for the generous people that allowed me to have that opportunity.
I am thankful that I was able to travel the world.
I thankful that I was able to make some of the best friends that I have ever had.
Am I allowed to be all cheesy right now and say that this changed my life?
Ok, well it did.
I know I can never have that same experience again. Things are different. I am different. But that doesn't mean I can't miss it.

Thank you Vienna {and friends} for making me who I am today.
Miss you.

love,
harley

How we became Harley and Jane {Part I}

October 2009

Harley & I met 1.5 years ago in an info meeting about the Vienna study abroad. I was quiet and let everyone else ask the questions. Harley made it known she wanted to get to Austria; everyone better sign up so she could go or else. In other words, Harley is a little ball of fire when she wants something to happen.

{Photo is before we knew we would become H&J. Thus, the sad faces.}

January 2010
Apparently enough people signed up, because 17 of us found ourselves in an old classroom for two hours on Tuesday nights. We practiced the German alphabet, learned how not to look like tourists, and stole glances around the room and wondered who we would spend the summer with as roommates.

{On our way to a Viennese club.}

March 2010
Our professor brought the list of roommate arrangements, and Harley & I were paired. I think we both were slightly relieved at the seemingly normalcy of the other, but also wondering what the summer would be like with our contrasting personalities.

{Exhausted on the train back to Vienna.}

May 2010
We still hadn't really talked before we got on the plane and flew to Europe. We got to our host home, picked which room we each wanted and unpacked. From there, we fell into a routine and it wasn't long before our classmates knew us as an inseparable pair.

{If I remember right, this is outside our favorite gelato shop where we spent much of our time and pocket change.}

July 2010
We discovered in both of us a love for all things beautiful, quirky, colorful, sparkly, and unique, as well as a need to share all that love for beauty with the world. Thus, H&J were born.

{In the Austrian countryside wearing daisy crowns made by Harley. Photo by Mika.}

To be continued...