Details...

I had been debating for weeks whether to go home for my brother Russell's open house. I had already been out of town for three weeks this summer, buying a plane ticket home is expensive, and I wanted to go to my friends' wedding reception in Idaho the day before Russell's open house, so I had decided to just miss out and stay in Utah.

Friday I was working before heading to Idaho and looked at delta.com and saw that with my 25,000 frequent flier miles, I could fly home the next day! That was amazing! As I looked into it more and thought about it, I realized that my flight landed in Austin at 5:30 p.m. so my family couldn't pick me up since the open house was at 7. I asked my friend Rebecca if she could pick me up, she said she could and take me to my parents' house and I would walk in right when the open house was beginning and surprise my family! I decided I had no reason not to go as I wouldn't have to miss my friends' wedding on Friday, the ticket was not expensive, and I wouldn't really miss any work as I had to come back Monday in order to get this ticket. So I got the ticket and was so excited to surprise my family!

Saturday everything was going smoothly until, after two hours of sitting in the plane at the Salt Lake airport going back and forth from the runway to the gate, we all got off the airplane and were told we'd be changing planes and that plane was scheduled to leave in an hour. I was really annoyed, since now I would probably miss all but the tail-end of the open house--my entire reason for going home! I called Rebecca to tell her about the change in flight schedule, and she told me she had to be somewhere at 7 p.m. so she could no longer pick me up.

I thought about just going and canceling my flight, but instead called my friend Angie to see if she could pick me up. Imagine my shock when she answered the phone and said, "Rachel, that is so funny you just called! I am just leaving your parents' house!" Turns out the open house was actually from 2-4 p.m.! I had never really asked what time it was at!

It all turned out for the best, because then I was able to call my mom and get a ride from the airport with her, and I got to spend time with my family, because really that was the reason I wanted to go home, not the open house! Plus, I was home for my parents' anniversary, my sister-in-law Emily's birthday, there was a chocolate fountain, and Russell had checked out Dinosaurs on DVD from the library and we got to watch it!! What a weekend! And I made it back in time to say the prayer at the BYU Devotional today (first time praying on TV) and to take the MPRE on Friday. I really need to get studying...