Philipp from Germany

You know those people that have souls that just groove with your's? Yeah, that's Philipp from Germany. (Fill, if you work at Starbucks)

For those of you that don't know the funny backstory, meeting Phil wasn't any coincidence.... 

"On the boat ride I met Philip. He is from Germany, and from the second he said “Have you eaten all the cantaloupe?!” I knew we’d be friends. We spent the morning of the boat ride eating almost the entire tray of cantaloupe slices, and talking about all the cool places he has been. We spent the afternoon stealing 12 cookies and teaching me how to pronounce his last name. We’ve stayed in touch since the boat ride, and I honestly never believed I could get a best friend in 7 hours. But Phil is definitely one of the best!"

The day he sent me a picture of his plane ticket to SLC was the happiest day.  

The second I heard his fabulous accent and saw his happy smile again I knew this week would be unforgettable. So what if I only knew him for 7 hours?! This kid was awesome.

For the next month I planned a trip down South since everyone knows there is nothing to do here in the valley that would keep a German/world traveler entertained. Through Instagram messages (shoutout to my broken phone that wouldn’t let me text him) we kept in touch and created exciting plans.

We picked him up from the airport and took him to Kneaders (because even though Utah Valley is boring, we know how to do unlimited french toast the right way). Phil came on the perfect day where the mountains were totally covered in fog... So there goes the one pretty thing to see in Utah Valley :)

Phil taught me how to take selfies, clearly I'm still in training, but he has been a great teacher! 

That afternoon we went bowling and donut eating (his love for donuts sealed the deal that we were meant to be best friends). And I won’t mention who won in bowling but it wasn’t the person with an accent. ;)

I had all my friends over that night for Taco Night, and they all were really kind and open to Phil. It was a lot of fun! Some girls even took interest in this foreign boy ;) (you know who you are)

The next morning we left for St. George! Once there, the 6 kids on longboards formed the ultimate longboarding squad. I also taught Phil the proper use of the word "sick" as in "That longboarding trick is siiiick!" Lingo is different here than in Germany, I guess!

The next day we went into Zions and hiked to the top of the world! 

And we may have taken pictures like this to scare our moms. "Yolo" was our excuse.

(Don't let my smile fool you, I was absolutely terrified)

Oh look, another selfie! Wonderful. :) 

ft. random girl 

Later, when we raced to the pool, Phil made it very obvious I wasn't going to beat him in the car... Longboarding right in front of me was his "great" idea.....

That night we played UNO, and quite possibly the longest game of UNO ever played. But then we had a rematch... And during this rematch Phil had one card left. And it was the color being played. And I had about 20 cards. And he is awesome. And he gave me the victory! I never win card games. 

I like Phil.

Cliff Jumping was also pretty awesome! The water was freezing but YOLO (right mom?)! And after jumping in it was a race to the pink towel, which I regret to say Phil won. I had to settle for the orange. :)

I also became his "taxi" driver on the paddleboard. Don't ask.

Phil is a vanilla person. Can I just say how happy that makes me? I thought I was the only one. 

However, until Saturday night, he had never dipped a fry in his shake! That's what the shake is for! Well, after being very skeptical, and calling me strange many times, he finally manned up and tried it. And if you see that smile you know he liked it :) 

However, the milkshake fry wasn't a free deal. For him to try the fry in milkshake I had to try Nutella. AH! I am not a nut person, so I think I was more skeptical that he was. But we took his first trip to Walmart to buy cute little Nutella cups, which we ended up just using our fingers instead of breadsticks because it was yummier. 

And to give you the conclusion, we were both pretty happy with it :)
While we're on the food subject, Phil and I have made eating cantalope an official tradition, which is just a random fact but I think it's awesome.
Another random food fact, Phil gave his Oreo to me. If you don't know my addiction to Oreos, it exists. And giving me one of his is like the ultimate declaration of "Perfect Person" status in my eyes.

I taught Phil some piano, and we played Heart and Soul til our fingers cramped. 

I love having a piano partner :) 

The last night, we stayed up talking most of the night. I layed down on the couch and realized I didn't have my teddy bear (yes I still have to sleep with one). I figured it was down in Phil's room so I just grabbed a pillow as a replacement. But as I lay down, all the sudden a waving bear popped up! Phil did a little puppet show for me and we both quietly giggled. He handed it to me and said, "I didn't think you could sleep without this." I think that's when I realized he is hands-down the greatest person on earth. He just is.

On Sunday we took a trip downtown to a beautiful place! Good times people, good times. (PS the flowers at temple square right now are FABULOUS!)

And this is the time we were all dreading. We tried to keep positive attitudes when we arrived at the airport, but we all knew this perfect weekend was coming to an end and my best friend would have to leave on a plane and who knows when we'll see each other again... I hate goodbyes. And when he turned around and waved while walking in, I couldn't stop the tears from coming. Life isn't as funny without Phil.

(and of course there was a last selfie)

Phil gave me these "Good Mood Drops" for whenever I cry. Turns out they are so sour they just make me cry harder, but then I smile because I know he'd laugh watching me pathetically sucking on one.

This sassy, hilarious, smart, kind, german is my best friend. I honestly believe that Phil is my long lost brother. And maybe Koda (my dog) does like him better, and maybe he did steal the pink towel and longboard in front of my car, and maybe he chews the hottest freaking gum in the world, but he makes me smile and I love him for it.

#germantakesutah #chocolatemilkcows #justutahthings

Phil, du bist mein favorit. Ich vermisse dich. Danke für den Spaß

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