Family Euro Vaca!
So my friends, The Rice's (Scott and Bev, and their fabulous kids Taylor and Lauren) are in town on family vacation and invited me to join them on Sunday. I jumped at the chance to feel at home with one of my favorite families from home. Luckily I woke up feeling much better.

Scott was brave and got a rental car, so they came to pick me up Sunday morning for church. We had an experience learning the streets to make it to church. Somehow we were late, but still made it in time for the opening Hymn (this was especially challenging to me being sick...) Anyway, church was great, quite the tourist ward, and much different from my own ward. I am glad I got the opportunity to go to this building. It is the Church Headquarters in London, and the building was quite unique. Taylor was impressed with the building when he recognized that President Hinckley rededicated the building in 1995.

After church we all got changed and prepped for the ride to the Temple. We had no idea how challenging finding the Temple would be. Even with Brooke (our hand held GPS guide) and an Atlas we were pretty sure we were lost and driving into the wrong countryside. After 1 1/2 hours of driving in the middle of no where we came to a round about with a steple behind it. We had arrived. Unfortunately the gates were locked so we ended up driving around (or trying to) to find another gate. It was at this point that a girl on a horse rode up next to us (when does that ever happen next to a temple?). Anyway, lucky for us I saw a random missionary on the grounds and got him to give me his keys and let us in.





Wow. I love the London Temple. Lauren and I decided on destination weddings just to get married in the London Temple. The grounds are amazing; like a park, with benches and dedicated trees and reflection pools. We even saw this cute duck couple napping by the pond. It was such a peaceful moment to walk the Temple grounds. I loved it.








After the Temple we headed to Dover. We had a little bit of a long drive so we told stories along the way. It was great. As we entered Dover I was stoked to see the ocean and the White Cliffs! After scaling the town for food we gave up and went to the white cliffs for the white cliffs walk. However, it took us longer than expected to get there so we ended up ditching the white cliffs for the castle (sorry the castle looked way cooler than a nature walk). We explored the castle practically alone, since it was the end of the day the place was pretty empty. It was awesome to explore and especially to go to the roof and look over the city. Ah what amazing views!!! Then we went and saw this amazing movie/experience in the Castle. Even after all the castles I've been to, this was quite unique. It was interactive and kinda creepy... but really cool. We learned about the seige on the castle in the 1200s. After exploring the castle we checked out the old Roman Lighthouse, which was the original building on this mountain. We also walked along the cliffs and took in the views of the ocean. It felt like home (well ok just a little).







Now onto Rye. Rye is a quaint sea side village, with some of the oldest buildings in England. Rye has been described as "The broche of England" which Bev repeatedly reminded us of as we walked the cobblestone streets and were in awe of the old buildings and redeeming quaintness of the city. I loved the Church, ok so more than the church I loved the Hickory Dickory Dock Clock! After enjoying the town we went to dinner at this fabulous little place. It was a restaraunt that remodeled an old Tudor home, and the design of the restaraunt was an old/new blend-- using the black and white qualities of the Tudor Architecture, and using only black and white modern decorative pieces inside. Oh, and the food was fabulous! Good choice Bev and Scott.






I had such an amazing day with the Rice's. They are such a wonderful family and I loved hanging out with them in London! Thanks for a FABULOUS day!!

It's the freaking weekend baby i'm about to have me some FUN...
Ok so that wasn't exactly my attitude as I woke up Sick Saturday morning, but I was determined to get out into the city and take advantage of a beautiful day. So I got ready, put on my dress and headed out to take in the neighborhood on my own. (There's something invigorating about exploring and experiencing things on your own sometimes...) Anyway, I headed to South Kensington and walked through the shops and walked slowly past the bakeries... I found a couple cute summer dresses for my Italy trip and then totally got caught in the RAIN. Umm where did the rain come from? It was totally beautiful 20 min ago. Ah well. I'm living in London. So after shopping I hit up Marks and Spencer and got my "I'm totally sick" kit.
Minestrone Soup
Orange Juice
Pinapple Juice
Peppermint Tea

I might as well tape "I AM SICK" on my forehead with these groceries in hand. Losing my energy and feeling even more sick I headed home. Luckily the rain stopped, and the walk was somewhat enjoyable. I came in, put my pjs on, had some tea and took a nap. Since I was feeling sick I did some Laundry and hung out around the house all night. I hate being sick, it ruins everything. Sorry no pics for today.

FOR MY BROOKIE COOKIE

Ok love I saw this sign on the way to ST. PAULS Cathedral and got homesick for you. Now I am sitting here watching FRIENDS ... Just want to say I LOVE YOU!

Friday 7/20/2007 - Final Day

I hate being sick. We went to York Minster this morning, and then hung around York. After that we headed up to Yorkshire to the Bronte Sisters parsonage. Being sick I really didn’t care too much about this, and the bus was driving me crazy already. We grabbed lunch at this adorable little café called Emma’s; which was just like a small kitchen from home!! One girl (I would assume, Emma) was cooking. I had homemade chilli… YUM. Then onto the bus. Ok so let me just tell you know that this is approx 2:30. We were anticipating a 5 hour ride home, with a short stop in the middle, so ETA 8:00pm. Too bad we totally hit traffic and didn’t get back until 10:30!!! OMG I thought I was going to die with all the stop and go traffic… I even took a Nyquil so I would sleep, but that only lasted for 2 hours. Ugh. Anyway, we finally made it and I am home at last. Sigh.

Thursday 7.19.2007 - Day 4
So I had a dream last night that someone was knocking at the door. And they kept knocking and knocking and knocking and knocking. Until I realized. This isn’t a dream. I think someone is knocking at my door. Its Kim! Woopsies. She is waking me up and has been knocking at my door for 10 minutes now! The poor thing. Wow off to a great start today. We then go upstairs and Grace, our B&B host made us a full English breakfast. It was wonderful. Then on the bus we go. The Profs thought it would be great for us to spend 2 hole hours in Edinburgh this morning (wow don’t be so generous in this amazing city) so since it was raining we went shopping. I opted for the lame mall because I was cold and sick and well it was raining. Then Kim and Ashley and I found a Starbucks and had Carmel Hot Chocolate YUM. Oh, yeah, and we saw some girls with a huge cookie so we bought one of those too (funny side note: Kim asked the Starbucks girl to warm up the cookie. She looked at Kim like she was crazy! “You want your cookie warm?” Kim said “yes”. The Starbucks girl said, “I don’t even know how I would do that”, as if Kim were nuts, and proceeded to make fun of her to her coworker).





Anyway, after SADLY leaving Edinburgh we headed to Ainswick(?) Castle, apparently where they filmed the Quidditch fight for the 1st Harry Potter (Corky and Malcolm insert profanities here). It is the 2nd largest inhabited castle in the world! Oh, and did I mention future Duke George Percy is 22 and totally cute??? I must find him! Ok anyway, the castle was beautiful and we even found a cute English guy to give us a tour and the history… after which I found the giant tree house and played like I was 10 again. It was awesome.

After Ainswick we drove to York, which is a fabulous town!! Such character (which of course is due to the cobblestone streets, small alleys, low building height and quaint sense of place). We dropped off our stuff at the hostel and went into the city for dinner. It was me, Ash, Anna, Holly, Lexi, Patrice and Kim. We were exhausted and grumpy. We walked the streets looking for a good restaurant and ended up at an okay pub. Then we attempted looking for dessert, but apparently nothing is open past 6:00 here. However, we did find this great restaurant HaHa! And found dessert there. We chatted until we realized how late it was and then started the long walk home; which turned out to be even longer than expected.

See, we kinda listened when the Prof’s gave us directions. Holly even went as far as writing them down. However, we couldn’t find the hostel. Little did we know we ended up walking by it – and even walking down the driveway for it once without realizing it! 4 times!! Back and forth and back and forth. But any time we asked for directions (like when we actually were there and then turned around because it was dark) we were led astray!! After many prayers we asked for directions at a gas station and looked over and who was there washing his car at midnight? A Taxi driver. Oh the Tender Mercies of the Lord. So he drove us down the street to our hostel, safe and sound. My legs are sore. Again.

Wednesday June 18 - Day 3
So I definitely caught whatever sickness was going around, and I did not sleep well last night. (Which is a big deal for me; usually my head hits the pillow and I am OUT). Anyway, so the night was bad and the morning was worse. I had to wait forever for breakfast and the hot chocolate didn’t even console me that much. Anyway, we have a FULL day of bus driving ahead of us, so I tried to sleep as much as I could. We got to the Scotland border, took a few pics from inside the bus and moved along. We did stop at Hadrian’s Wall on the way to Edinburgh. We walked by some LOUD BAAAAING sheep... up to this wall/fortress or the remains thereof. It was pretty cool, but since I was sick I was a little out of it. Oh and we got a little bored and started taking goofy pics. Please dont judge me in these pictures today!





OMG. I love Edinburgh. Why we didn’t spend more time here, I’m still not sure. It is WAY cooler than Ambleside!! We went straight for the castle and explored, oh and I found out something else new about Scotland—Edinburgh is on the Ocean!! From the castle we had the most beautiful views of the city and the ocean. It was awesome. So we looked at the crown jewels, the prisons (which held American POW’s and I saw a carving of an early American flag, so cool). Kk so after that we walked down the Royal Mile (not to be confused with the Magnificent Mile, that is Chicago folks) to see the Parliament building. Let me just tell you, if I have ever seen a revolt against the traditional architecture, it is the Scottish Parliament. Wow. This building is so cool. A lot of people hated it, but I like it because of what it stands for. If you notice the architecture and vernaculars of the rest of the city, it is all similar and traditional. However, CLEARLY the Parliament building is opposing this tradition, well ok, so more like fighting against this tradition. Ok ok I’ll stop with the contextual compatibility of the buildings… after Parliament Anna and Ashley and I found this creepy old cemetery, and then headed back for the bus. With my sickness all this walking (and not to mention COLD weather) I was feeling the worst I had felt all day.











Thankfully after this excursion we headed to our B&B’s. For some reason Anna, Holly, Kim and I were the “Outlaws” and sent off to our own B&B away from the others. We were grateful for some alone time, and for the first time on this trip I HAVE MY OWN ROOM!! Our host lady, Grace, is adorable, and she even pointed us in the direction of great food across the street!! I ordered bacon wrapped meatloaf and mashed potatoes in need of comfort food, and Anna proceeded to order half the menu J The meal was wonderful, probably the best I’ve had here, and the company was even better. I could not be more blessed to have been introduced to more fabulous girls. We were all brought to this program for a reason, to get to know each other and learn from each others’ testimonies. It is amazing the tender mercies the Lord bestows upon his children. Already I have learned so much, and I can’t wait to get to know these girls better. I am so grateful for this opportunity, I am so blessed.

Tuesday 7/17/07 - Day 2 of the Excursion
This morning our Prof asked us if we wanted to walk to Dove Cottage (William Woodsworth’s house in Grasmere) or if we wanted to take the bus. He explained it was just a 3 mile walk up the road, so feeling adventurous, we chose to walk. Unfortunately there was some miscommunication regarding what time we were leaving, and as a result, I was running late (see post above) and Ashley opted to stay behind with me; assuming we would catch up to the group.

Well, we should’ve known it was going to be a long walk when we stepped outside and it was already raining. However, we toughed it out and walked on. (Now, if any of you know me, you will probably be surprised by this, considering I HATE being out in the rain. I told you, I was feeling adventurous today). Our “walk” went something like this:

As we stepped out from our hostel,
we walked around the Lake of Wonder,
through the glistening fields of enlightenment,
and over the bridge of troubled waters.

We strolled alongside the quaint cottages
And into the yakity Yorkers—
After mocking us, and praising their map,
They sent us after the porkers.

Walking along the Rothey River
Serenading the Sweds and the cows we passed by.
Hopping across the sprouting stepping stones,
I wondered, why, WHY WHY?

Then we turned and up the mountain we went
Across the grades and against the streams
Thinking “My legs better look hot after this”
It was definitely not the Orange County scene.

The beauty of Meady Lake took my breath away
Well, it was that or Ashley climbing the rocks of insanity
Over the bubbling brooks and up the gentle streams
We tried and tried to keep our spirits high and not utter a profanity.

Up the Mountainside and past Ryder Cave
We took the road less traveled by and somehow found our way.
The beaches of Lake Grasmere were different from our home
But the water is cold, we are sure, like the San Fransisco Bay.

Viewing Grasmere in the distance was motivation to keep on
However, if we only knew how long it would take
We would have jumped in and swam across
Ok ok, I was only kidding for goodness sakes.

Along the water and through the woods
Passing the ‘baa-ing’ sheep we kept trudging on
With hopes of making it there for lunch
3 hours has gone by—what took us so long?

Another ½ mile and we spot the church
Alleluiah! We’ve made it at last.
Now to find Woodsworth. his inspiration
Beauty in the present, as he described in the past.


Ok so it’s a dorky poem/story/whateve but it is what it is. After Woodsworths we realized that the group that left us still wasn’t there. Come to find out that they got lost on a mountainside, and we were the lucky ones! We then grabbed an amazing lunch at Williams Café and then went out on the lake (they one we knew so well from our hike) and Ashley rowed us around the island. Then back to Ambleside where the group went on a Ferry ride. Exhausted and beginning to feel the signs of sickness Anna Kim and I opted to take a nap; which was our best idea yet. After the nap we scaled the town and ended up at Pippins for dinner. After which I went by the lake and read my scriptures—what a fabulous way to end the day.





























P.S. Kelsie: I totally know its your birthday but we have NO internet access up here in the freaking boondocks and I don’t have your cell phone number with me…sorry I’m such a terrible friend but I LOVE you!

I know you all have been missing my daily blog posts ... sorry I should have warned you I was traveling across the entire United Kingdom!!! These blogs are longer so you can catch up on my week... starting with Monday :)


Day 1 of the Week Long Excursion to Northern UK.
Sounds fun, right? Well just think about taking a COACH across the island!! And by coach I mean BUS. Ugh. At least this time our seats reclined slightly. Luckily I was so tired from the lack of sleep last night that it didn’t take much for me to sleep the first 3 hours. After a brief stop we headed up to the Preston Temple. On the way to the temple the back of the bus (aka the cool kids … haha ok ok just kidding) were singing favorite songs. However, as we saw the Captain Moroni we realized we needed to be reverent. In true BYU form we started singing primary songs: I love to see the Temple, A Childs Prayer, Love at Home, As sisters in Zion/Armies of Helamen. Its so cool to be able to be such a dork sometimes! It really did bring a sweet spirit to the experience though. When we got to the Temple we realized the grounds were closed…but the gates were open, and we were super reverent and got to go up and take pictures. I love this temple! The grounds were beautiful!! They were so big… the church has an MTC and a bunch of other buildings on that property. It’s amazing how peaceful the Temples grounds are.






After the Temple we headed up to Preston to visit Rubble River where Orson Hyde and Heber C Kimball came to preach the gospel for the first time in England (where they had immense success by the way). Preston is beautiful, and the River is so serene. There was even a rock explaining the significance of the spot, and about the Mormon Missionaries that came to preach there. It was really cool.








So then we were off to the Lake District, where we would stay the night. The Lake District is beautiful! Its in the country and has all these lakes … with sheep and goats and cows everywhere oh and small villages and towns dispersed in between all of that. We had a bit of confusion figuring out our hostel situation. First we stop at this adorable hostel on the lake, and get super excited. But then we head up in the countryside to the other hostel; and realize that the bus cant take us up to where the hostel is at and it’s a MILE walk up a couple switchbacks to get there! (With our luggage), and approx 40 people are staying there (which is most of the group). Anyway, totally disappointed we get off the bus, but then they say that 8 people can stay at the lake hostel. Of course us GIRLS decide that we aren’t about to hike up to get to our bed, so we opt for the lake… and of course we get our way. HOWEVER, then the Prof’s decide that we should probably take the bus back into town so everyone can get food. So we head back.





Ok, so here’s the scary part of this story. On the way to town we ALMOST DIE. The roads are super tiny, right? (we are driving in the English countryside!) So we are driving along, and then all of a sudden the bus comes to a halt! (and we all jerk forward). We look up and see a bus directly in front of us! (as if it were about to hit us!) THEN the bus in front of us decides to realign, and pass us! I honestly don’t know how this even happened, but see the series of pictures below. The bus was INCHES from us!! This picture is from my window...






So after that tragedy, I had a total clumsy moment and hit my eye on the seat in front of me. It was directly on my eyelid and I even left a mark on the chair! I think my eye is bruised.

So We get dinner at this little restaurant and stock up on our protein –we order salmon, chicken and lamb. Ahh it was amazing!! Then we finally get to our hostel, and after a few musical rooms get settled. We decide to go on this hike to the waterfalls. Although the waterfalls were slightly disappointing, we had a great time taking pictures and getting our energy out. On our way back we try to ask some locals what there is to do in this town. They respond “Drink!” (ok so maybe that’s because we were asking people outside of pubs?…) We opt out of the alcohol invite and grab smoothies and milkshakes, which definitely weren’t like what they are in the states. Disappointed we head home. Now I’ve got my music going and the girls are all appreciating me bring my lap top. After a couple episodes of the office we will go to sleep.

Here are some pictures of our hostel, and views!

Could I have GONE to any more church today???

Ok, so let me just explain to you, it takes us an hour and a half to get to church. And so far, for the past 2 weeks we have been 0-2 (partly kinda my fault...I know you may not believe this but i'm not exactly the MOST punctual person in the world...?? As Karah would say, "always late but worth the wait"). Ok, so back to my story. So today I took the alarm from Ashley and woke up at 7am--so I was definitely ready by 8:30am. too bad the rest of my group wasnt ready.... poor Kim was sick and Hilary was practically ready. But when we called Sean... umm yeah he totally slept in. Good one Sean. We are leaving without you. So not only did we make it to church on time, but we got there 10 min early. I was so proud of myself. Church today was great. We watched the Lamb of God in Sunday School and then talked about how I worship other Gods before my God (ie: My Shoes, bags and clothes??...ok so maybe thats a little dramatic). Ok.

So after church Sean and I (he made it to church) decided to go to Evensong at St.Pauls Cathedral. It was BEAUTIFUL!! But a lot of standing up and sitting down and singing songs that we totally didn't know. But the Cathedral was beautiful and the songs were as well. The sermon was totally weird (it was a "goodbye" to 12 year old boys??).

After St Pauls we came home for dinner, and then Anna and Lexi and I decided to go for a walk. We ended up next to the Kensington Chapel, where they were having their evensong. So what did we do? We walked in of course!! it wasn't as dramatic as St Pauls but still beautiful, and this time it was kneeling and sitting and standing. Oh and more singing. I love catholic mass. They keep you your toes.
So as if this wasn't ENOUGH church for me I ended my night with Family Home Evening with one of my Professors. Totally random to have FHE with your professors, but Dr. Mason's family was awesome!!

So lets break this down:
1.5 commute to church
3 hours at church
1.5 commute back
1.5 St Pauls
.5 Kensington
1 hour Fhe
________________
9 Hours of Church.

Beat that.

"Everybody likes when the girl shakes somethin"

So after a somewhat lazy day we decided it was time to go out on the town. However, of course this couldn't happen without something going TRAGICALLY wrong first. So let me just tell you that this is the first time we've gone out dancing since I've been here (I know, you all must be shocked it took me this long to get out, but seriously being a tourist is exhausting!! Oh, and the Bomb scare thing kinda freaked me out as well). Anyway, so I'm getting all cute (also one of the first times for me to actually get ready and put on cute clothes since I've been here). And I slip my foot into my leopard print stiletto .... OMG ... It feels FOREIGN to me!! HOW COULD THIS BE?? Then I realize: This is the LONGEST period of time I have gone without wearing stilettos. I mean, I am pushing 3 weeks here! How is that even possible?? Before this trip I don't think I could go 8 hours without wearing something at least 3" high (and those of you that know me well enough can attest to this). Sigh. However, no worries, my feet got reacquainted with my fabulous shoes and we had a night out on the town.

Ok, so really we should just call this night a trial run... supposedly we heard from some Americans that this club SOUND is the place to go for hip hop music. Umm yeah those people must be (a) clueless in the clubbing scene or (b) so ghetto that they didn't notice EVERYONE else totally ghetto in the club. they also must have been used to the 100 degree temperature in that place. It was like a sauna!! However, despite the aforementioned terrible reasons to stay at this place, we stuck it out and had a good time (as we always do). Oh, and finding the Americans to dance with us helped with that as well.

End of the night pics...





Oh, and Sean was totally hilarious this night!! He was wearing WHITE shorts so he refused to sit down-- on anything!!! Everytime we had to wait for a bus he would complain about being tired, or his legs hurting, and we would tell him to sit and he would adamently exclaim "I'm WEARING WHITE PANTS!!" haha it didn't matter if it was a stool, bench, seat, bus, etc etc. Finally he relented and settled for my lap :)

GIRLS DAY!

Today was one of my favorite days...ok so is that bad that my favorite day was the most mellow and least touristy? i hope not... anyway, the group went on a hike through the countryside with one of the local Bishops (actually, to tell you the truth he is my bishop and I probably should have gone, but oh well). Ok so the group was gone, minus a few of the girls, so we decided to hit up Camdentown where supposedly there were fab markets ... unfortunately the only cool thing about Camden were these awesome T-Shirts. So bailing out on Camden early, we hit up Portabella... much more our style. We grabbed lunch, some produce and then headed home. We put our pajamas on, and in my true girlfriend form, watched FRIENDS and took naps. It was amazing. Then we ran to the store to grab some snacks for our upcoming Scotland trip, and then made dinner. Which consisted of:
Homemade Guacamole
Hummus
Nan
Peaches and Cream.

Ahhh yum!!! Such a diverse and amazing meal with some amazing girls.