Skipping Through the Rest

Before I start giving you all the last day's activities, I did promise an update on the cemetery - it is St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Cemetery in Leytonstone. MILLIONS of graves (at least, that's what it looks like...). See?

Day Seven

Our last full day in London. How depressing.

Once we got into central London, we headed to the British Museum and skipped around. We didn't have a ton of time in the city and I wanted to see the museums - as much of them as possible within the one day we had. We stopped at the Rosetta Stone and the Egyptian History sections, then headed over to the Greek and Roman bits.

And then we found the clocks. My life will never be the same.

Once I was able to be pried away from the clocks, we headed over to the National Gallery and worshiped the likes of Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, and Durer

. I got to see Madonna of the Rocks by Michelangelo and good ole Arnolfini.

I can't get over the sensation of being within touching distance of multitudes of pieces of art that you dedicated 5 years of your life studying (I was a humanities minor with a penchant for artwork in particular).

I could smell the paint, see the brushstrokes - admire the ludicrous amount of paint that Van Gogh insisted on having on his brush at all times.

When I die, I want God's vocabulary.

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:

1. Apparently, the National Gallery doesn't let you take pictures inside anymore. Woops.

2. One week of no cell phones.

3. Reading an entire book on the flight home. And watching a few movies.

4. I don't understand how I get homesick for London, but I do.

One Wicked Day

Day Six

We left Francis and Trevor's house and Surrey all together and made our way over to Newbury Park in London for the remainder of our stay in England.

Newbury Park doesn't LOOK far away from central London on the map. Guess what? About an hour's train ride outside the city. Luckily, our hotel there was quite nice and the train ride was fairly interesting because of this one cemetery. In fact, I'm going to try to Google it and see if I can find pictures or something online. You'll have an update tomorrow.

Anyway! Once we figured out how to ride the trains with our massive suitcases and got settled into our room in Newbury Park, we made our way into downtown London. After discovering that the two different sets of directions we got from the Receptionist in Newbury Park were dreadfully wrong, we found what I was looking for: the original Hard Rock Cafe. There was a crazy wait, but it was worth every juicy bite.

After our VERY late lunch, we headed to Portobello Road for souvenirs and so that Mum could watch Bedknobs on Broomsticks and say she'd been there! Another tip if you ever plan on traveling to London: do all of your souvenir shopping on your last day and do it on Portobello Road. Blocks and blocks of street vendors selling everything imaginable at fair prices (for fairly good quality) - most vendors will even haggle with you and are more apt to haggle the closer they are to closing down (5PM). You're welcome.

I bought presents for practically everyone in one stop. Among the gifts: scarves for 6 women, 1 pair of earrings, 2 different pendant watches, 1 necklace, and a magnet for Lizzie.

Once our shopping was done, we headed to the Apollo Victoria Theatre right outside the Victoria Station (right next to Buckingham Palace) to see Wicked!! I have no words to describe the show. I had chills from the moment the show began until the very last person stopped clapping at the end. The show was riddled with understudies and it was still that mindblowingly stellar. It is coming to LA in December, but I doubt it will live up to the high standard the London cast set.

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:

1. I'm in love with the guy who played Fiyero; what a twirling, singing, stud.

2. People watching on the Tube. 'Nuff said.

3. Shauna. You are one amazing person.

4. The best thing about being a nerd? Randomly finding other nerds through your nerdy shirt collection.

It's a Tudor (and Pirate?) Life for Me!

Day Five

Linda left early in the morning. It was NOT fun saying goodbye and was really hard to watch Mum say goodbye. These women are practically her sisters and she never gets to see them.

Francis always needed a day off the day after we had been out and about, so she stayed in Surrey while Mum and I headed to Hampton Court - home of Henry VIII and his insane court and later to George II. The place was quite exquisite, actually.

There are two different palaces on the grounds at Hampton Court - one was the original structure (Henry's palace) and the other structure was built several hundred years later by King George on the grounds. It looks a bit weird having structures from two different periods, but they were both beautiful!

Henry's Palace:

George's Palace:

There were period actors walking around the grounds to help you imagine you were in Henry's court. There were different areas to teach you about each of Henry's wives (divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived) and living in Tudor England.

George's palace should look familiar to anyone who saw the most recent Pirates of the Caribbean film.

I had fun taking pictures - the weather was perfect and the grounds were immaculately kept. As if Henry would tolerate it any other way - even in death!

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:

1. Skyping with Peter (aka: Harrison Ford).

2. Snowdrops.

3. My aunt was Queen of England after Henry VIII died for 9 whole days.

4. Horse-drawn carriages.

Chaucer, Fudge, and Romans, Oh My!

Day Four

When I booked this trip, I had lots of grandios ideas about traveling to other cities around London to see some of my favorite sites. Alas, we didn't make it to all of them, but we did make it to CANTERBURY!

Francis, Linda, my Mum, and I drove passed Hever Castle (heave a brick at Hever Castle!), out to Canterbury to see the Canterbury Cathedral. There are no words. I love St. Paul's (still my favorite), but there is something almost other-worldly about Canterbury. This place is MASSIVE and was originally built in 1070 (it has had some work done - the most recent major work was in 1834). The stained glass, stone carving, and intricate sculptures are amazing. I think my favorite part, though, are the graves. Yes, I'm weird. Make peace with it - I have.

Francis and Linda had been to the cathedral a few weeks before, so they shopped while we toured the cathedral. I always love to see Edward, the Black Prince's tomb!

The thing about Canterbury is, there's this fudge shop. I have been dreaming about this fudge shop since 2005. I said I wanted to find it as a joke while we were on the way up. I honestly didn't think it would be there. IT WAS!! So, I bought some fudge. :)

Turns out that there is a Roman village underneath the city of Canterbury. (I do not remember this being here before, but it must have been!) There's this strange hole-in-the-wall of a museum with some interesting artifacts (most of which are NOT from the area, oddly enough) and even the remnants of an old house.

Pretty neat!

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:

1. Free fudge.

2. The fudge shop ships around the world!

3. I got to Skype with my Mum's other cousin, Chaz, whom I've never met. He seemed very kind - I wish I could get to know him more!

4. The delivery boy at the restaurant where we had lunch set off the fire alarm. It was LOUD.

Touring London

Day Three

Mum and I took off on our own our third day in London. We caught a morning train to Victoria Station and I fell in love British public transportation all over again. Seriously, America - what is your deal?! The trains and buses in Europe are all well-maintained and affordable - nobody drives! I wouldn't dare ride a bus anywhere around here! Anyway - I digress.

I owe an apology to my mother. I am not a patient person and I'm afraid I was curt with my mother more than once while trying to teach her about the trains/buses/tube systems. Sorry, Mum!

When we got off at Victoria, we found a group of French school children. My advice to anyone traveling to England: find a group of French school children and FOLLOW THEM!! Their schools go to England every year and they know the fastest routes to all of the tourist traps. You won't regret it. Plus, they're fun. We followed our group to Buckingham Palace, but the guards were doing a trial run for the royal wedding and it was even more insanely crowded than usual. So, we took a hop, skip, and a jump through Green Park to the side opposite the Palace and hopped on a Red Bus. Another piece of advice if you're going to England: TAKE A RED BUS! That had to be the best decision of our trip. We saw EVERYTHING and if you get on the original Red Bus Company, you can hop on and off whenever you like along the way throughout the day.

The buses are terrifying if you sit up top. We sat on the top, in the first row and I had to hold in my gasps of terror more than once. Motorcycles and smartcars disappear under the bus like you would not believe. At one point, I decided to stop paying attentiong and try to focus on what the guide was telling us (our first guide was AMAZING) and taking everything in.

We hopped off first at a little pub for some fish and chips and then headed up the street to St. Paul's Cathedral - my favorite place in the world (that I've been to). Another apology to Mum - we spent a tad over 2 hours in St. Paul's. SORRY!

After St. Paul's, we hopped back on the Red Bus and had the worst tour guide ever. Everything he said was complete bullocks and even I knew it. What a load of pork pies! I ignored him as much as possible as we wound our way through downtown London over to the Tower of London so that we could see some family history! Our great-great-great-great-aunt, Lady Jane Grey, was held prisoner and beheaded in the Tower. We saw the site where she was actually beheaded and the glorious monument erected those precious few who were beheaded within Tower walls. We walked through the building she was held prisoner in and saw her name etched in the walls by her ladies in waiting. Then, we went in the chapel where she is buried, also within the Tower. I had been to the Tower before and never knew that I was related to this woman from the past. What an experience!

We spent so long in St. Paul's and the Tower that we didn't do much else, except complete the cycle of our tour. We saw all of the highlights of the city, but didn't alight from the bus for all of them.

It was a great day!

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:

1. Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

2. Authentic fish and chips. YUM!

3. I wish I had words to describe standing at the grave of your beheaded relative. Talk about moving.

4. Pasties. :P

5. I think I'm the only person in the world who enjoys British food.

The (London) Temple

Day Two

The London, England temple is not in London. Actually, it is quite far from London considering it is called "The London, England Temple". The temple is actually in Newchapel and is farther from London than Surrey.

Regardless, it is breathtaking, as are the grounds. I wanted to go inside SO BAD, but, I'm not endowed, didn't have a limited-use recommend, and the temple was closed that day. Also, my cousins are absolutely NOT religious.

I was so moved walking the grounds that I had to wipe away tears more than once. There is such a strong Spirit at church sites in England; I'm not exactly sure why. It is definitely something I wish that everyone could experience.

I think I'll let the pictures speak for this post:

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:

1. Francis and Linda can be a bit catty - even with each other. Poor Francis was constantly being compared to a pirate by her sister!

2. I bought a dress in Surrey this day - it is SO cute!

3. We went to the park in Surrey for a bit also. The schools were off for Easter break while we were there and the weather was actually quite hot, considering it was England.

4. Magnum bars.

Woops!

It has been ...quite a while... since I have blogged. *shame*

So, when last I left you lovely people, the mean folks over at LDSPlanet were trying to encourage me to no longer a be a disappointment to my mother. That has not changed. (:

I did, however, go to England! (This post actually takes place BEFORE me being a disppointment was brought to light, but in case you haven't noticed, I am not the best blogger these days.) I'll break this up into a few posts so that I don't overwhelm people TOO much.

Day One:
Mum (haha) and I arrived at Heathrow airport in London a bit later than planned and Francis and Linda were worried that we had missed our flight. Luckily, they waited for us outside of Customs and there was a happy reunion in the middle of the walkway for a moment - until we realized we were in the middle of the walkway and then moved. I hadn't seen Linda in probably around six years and I don't recall ever meeting Francis, although, I know I have. None of that mattered though - instant best friends and close family.

We drove out to Francis' house in Surrey, completely in awe of the beautiful countryside. I don't know that I will ever get over how absolutely gorgeous England is. And of course, Francis and Trevor live in this beautiful little suburb that has a country feel to it with a quaint little downtown. When we got to the house, I met Trevor (again - I know I've met him before, but I don't remember). He has to be my favorite person ever - he has that naughty, cheeky Brit thing going for him and he looks kind of like Mick Jagger. Anyway! We visited for a bit and then off to bed (I didn't sleep at all on the flight over and I don't know that Mum did either).

The next day, we hung out at the house with Francis and Trevor's sons and their families. I have never met Mark or James - let alone their wives and kids (or soon-to-be kids). I was pretty shocked when I saw James; he looks A LOT like Josh. And then Mark looks like a mash up of Jereme and Josh, with more Jereme. It was REALLY funny. I love their families, too! James' wife, Meaw, was a bit sick, so we didn't visit much, but she is very sweet and keeps her kids in line like only a good mother can. She was a bit hard to understand because she's from Thailand and has a British accent on top of it all. James' wife, Eva, is from Slovakia and wonderful! She's expecting their first child and was very loving.

After a while, Francis, Trevor, and Linda took Mum and I to my great aunt and uncle's resting place - this charming little memorial park in the center of town. It is beautiful and very peaceful there.

Alright - that's it for this post. More to come!



Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:
1. The guys on the flight to London who played cards THE ENTIRE FLIGHT. I kid you not - the ENTIRE FLIGHT from when they were first seated until we landed and they HAD to put the deck away.
2. James is almost as cheeky as his dad!
3. I think I watched 3 movies, 2 episodes of Big Bang Theory and one episode of IT Crowd on the flight over.
4. Trevor making everyone a cuppa before visiting the Land of Nod.

Vacation - FINALLY!

I'm taking a real vacation and I can't believe it. I know, I know...I went to K-Town to visit my Stella in September, but that only involved ONE DAY of no work. (An AMAZING trip, but not really a "vacation".) A few amazing things about this vacation, though. Are you all ready?

1. I'm going with this wonderful woman:

MY MOM!!

2. We'll be gone from 08 April though 18 April.

3. We're going here:

LONDON!! (AKA: Home <3)

4. And quite possibly, here (for one day):

PARIS!! ('Cause Momma's never been and I wouldn't mind a delicious gyro from that one place that Andrew and I ate at every day we were there. And yes, I still remember it is and how to get there).

"I love Paris in the spring-time..."

la-di-da-di-di-da...

5. My work loves me, so they're giving me and my mom tickets to see ANY STAGE SHOW we want while we're there, which means:

WICKED!! (At long last!) - Not just Wicked - FREE Wicked! IN LONDON!!

6. Family. We're staying with my mom's cousin, who lives just outside of London, in Surrey. I have only met Frances once and am SO excited to see her again, and meet her husband and the kids of hers that I have not yet met. AND my mom's other cousin, Linda, is coming from Germany for a few days, as well!

I am SO STINKING excited it isn't even funny!

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:

1. Uh, this ENTIRE post. Happy 25th birthday to me!

2. Shauna's home!!! Congrats on a mission well-served.

3. My 2 countdown widgets for my phone.

4. Replacing those 2 countdown widgets pretty much the day they expire with other exciting things!

5. SALISBURY, HERE I COME!!!

6. Portobello Road.

7. Oxford.

8. A glorious 9 days free of work.

Nicole's Bridal Shower

Nicole is getting married on January 8 (holla, KP!) in the LA temple to Ben Hansen. Heaven help him!

Chelsea threw Nicole a very relaxed bridal shower/get together. And what is a bridal shower without a stripper? ENTER BRYCE! (I was excited.)

A picture is worth a thousand words, so you go, a few thousand words:

I also have a video, but it's too huge to upload. One day, I'll figure out a way to shrink it so the joy can be shared!

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:
1. Skype-ing with Kyle all night long. He's the best friend I've never met.
2. Jereme and Christy just brought me 2 three-packs of my favorite gum from Missouri! They're the best!
3. I made pan cookies. I miss Shauna.

Trip to See a Friend

I needed to take a vacation before work spiralled out of control. So, I packed up and flew to Klamath to see my Stella!

I flew right in to Klamath and guess what? NO ONE WAS WAITING FOR ME!

*guilt trip*

It turns out, my flight arrived like half an hour early. So really, I was only alone for approximately 3.8 minutes and then Alli and Nic were there to get me. With a sign. Hahaha!

I cannot thank Alli and especially Nic enough for letting me come and crash at their place. I don't think that Nic knew what he was getting himself into when he agreed to let me come for the entire weekend.








We went hot tubbing at Alli's parents house.

Nic had coupons for free 15 minute fabulous water massages (I don't think I've been more relaxed since before Gramps died).

We, of course, made treats, treats, and more treats.

This is just scratching the surface. Needless to say, I was SUPER depressed to come home. I can't wait to go back one day.

Thank you again, Nic, for letting me steal your wife's attention for a few days. I love you both!!

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:

1. United screwed me on my flight home. BUT, I got a $150 certificate to use on any flight in the US. Now, I just have to decide if I want to use it to go to Shauna's homecoming (HOLY COW she'll be home soon) or go to Seattle to see my sibs/nieces.

2. I love having my sister-in-law (future) live with me. She's a constant buddy and I adore her. She fits right in with all of us. And John commented on how close we are last night. (Yes, John is back...brace yourselves for future posts.)

3. I've started going to choir practice with my boss from work and I am in HEAVEN. I can't comprehend how it is that something as simple as singing is relieving so much of my stress...

4. I have so much going through my head 24/7. I can't think...

Chelsea's birthday party

I don't know how - and I don't WANT to know - but Bryce knows about this little restaurant in Hollywood that does a nightly drag show, Hamburger Mary's. We went there to celebrate Chelsea's birthday and had a BLAST!

The queens:

Chelsea got to participate in a booty shaking contest with all of the other birthday girls. Chelsea didn't win, but we had a blast cheering for her!

I know its weird, but it was SO fun and we're going to go again soon.

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:
1. Jereme's girlfriend Christy came for a visit. She's tons of fun - I like her!
2. Enchilladas. YUM!
3. I'm not going to San Diego to see Alli. I know you're all wondering why this is on my happy list. I'll tell you: I'M GOING TO OREGON!

4. Mockingjay comes out on Tuesday! I'M SO EXCITED!!

5. Chelsea got hired at the place I work, SQA!

6. VH1 Classics.

GUESS WHAT?!

I bought a car!

I got the 2010 Nissan Rogue SL and I am in LOVE!

Its front wheel drive and has a 2.5-liter, 4-cylinder engine and 170 horsepower. I got the premium package, so it came with a Bose sound system, 6 CD changer, 3 months of free satellite radio, a ridiculous amount of air bags, a freaking huge glove box and center console, bluetooth, and its entirely keyless. I mean, ENTIRELY keyless. As long as the remote is within a certain range, I don't need to use my keys or remote to get in or start the car. (There are a lot of other features, but I'm not going to list them all here. It's too time consuming.) And quite possibly my favorite feature: it has a moon roof!

I spent quite a lot of time researching cars to buy before I made a final decision and this was definitely the best deal. It's 4 star government rated in front crash safety for both driver and passenger and rollover safety and 5 star government rated in side crashes for front and rear seats. It gets around 22 MPG (city) and 27 MPG (highway), which is practically nothing next to Phoenix, but let's face it: Phoenix was special.

Speaking of Phoenix, my mom, Jereme, and I took him over to Carmax to get him appraised and they only wanted to give me $750. Seriously? For that awesome car??? We decided to take it to the Nissan dealership and see what they would offer -turned out to be a really good idea! While we were discussing the car I wanted to buy I mentioned the [potential] trade-in and they quickly offered to appraise it. They came back and offered $800 (SERIOUSLY!?). My dad said that wasn't enough, we needed at least $1,000. So they obliged. :D! So Phoenix helped me put $5000 down on my car! See? I told you he was amazing!

The total cost of my car: $26,020. I got a better interest rate if my dad cosigned with me, so we did that and then as we're signing the papers with the finance manager, she starts talking about warranties. They have the standard 3 year limited warranty and then there's a special warranty deal with 3 options. I chose the TOP most option (for a mere additional $24/month) and when I did that, she gave me 0% interest for the life of the loan AND my payments don't begin until November 5, 2010.


Moral of the story: Research pays. Or, in this case: saves!

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:
1. My car also comes with "Mood Lighting" - I have yet to figure this out. Hahaha!
2. Fat Guy across the street saw me come home from work today and when I got out of the car he yelled, "Congratulations!" I said thanks and then he said, "And you look REALLY good driving it!" ...awkward...
3. I can't believe the crap Beetlejuice is pulling.
4. I GET TO SEE ALLI IN 17 DAYS!! Although, if I count the way Alli's family counts, its more like 5 days. Hahaha!
5. I'm super excited to take Rogue to San Diego in a few weeks!
6. Jereme's girl friend is coming in like a week and a half! I better start cleaning...
7. I have a massive crush on Ron Weasley.

100th Post and Good News!

What a better way to celebrate my 100th post than with some totally awesome, rocking, good news??

I got a job!

...okay, so it's a paid internship, but let's not split hairs, shall we?

I am now a part of the content team at SQA Services, Inc. SQA stands for Supply Quality Assurance, and let me give a bit of a run down of what we do. A major corporation like GlaxoSmithKline will hire SQA to send an auditor out to a manufacturing plant somewhere in the world. The auditor will examine the plant based on our standards and the standards of the corporation that hired SQA to make sure the manufacturing plant is up to par and doing everything correctly. The auditors then write up their reports - and here is where my role comes in to play. I will then edit the audits (that's fun to say out loud - go ahead, give it a try...) and after they're checked out and some revisions are done as necessary, they go back to the corporation that hired us and then CAPA (Corrective Action/Preventive Action) takes place, and everyone is happy.

I'm so excited to be getting into my field. I was applying for pretty much everything under the sun, hoping that somewhere down the road of life, I would get into editing like I've wanted to. But this is just perfect. The office is only 10 minutes away from my house, I already like the people I'll be working for (that I've met so far), and can't get over the fact that I was chosen. After the internship is over, they are hoping to hire at least one intern. Last I heard they wanted 2-3 interns - AND I'M ONE OF THEM!

...Again, I'm super happy.

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:

1. I can't believe I got such a lucky break. This just goes to show the power of prayer and fasting. God blesses those who have faith enough to ask.

2. The first thing I did after I told my family was email Brother Allen and tell him the good news. I also thanked him. I had so many teachers in Idaho that I absolutely adored, and taught me so much. I miss them, but I miss them just a little less today.

3. Jereme is super sweet. He keeps running errands with me. I have such a great brother!

4. Peasant pasta tonight. :D YUM.

5. 100 posts and still blogging. I'm impressed I kept it up. And I'm sorry for all of you that I bother. hahaha.

I'M GRADUATING!!

Alli challenged me to make a announcement.


So I did one on InDesign for kicks and giggles during finals week, cause let's face it: everyone needs a kick and a giggle during finals. It took me 10 minutes. Literally.

I think I'll miss parts of this town. Mostly Papa Kelsey's...but some other things too. Every time I go on a walk now I study everything I pass, trying to commit it to memory.

Elliot and I were talking about graduation and how it's going to suck not seeing each other anymore. Luckily, there's a facebook for that!

I've made so many good friends here, and I'm going to miss them all so much!

Love to you all!

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:
1. Thinking up new responses to the question, "What are your plans for graduation" for every new person who asks me.
2. They finally plowed the roads after 2 days of snow. It's about time.
3. Peter Pan.
4. I found a website entirely dedicated to quotes about reading. I'm in heaven.
5. I finished my educational portfolio and it rocks.

Graduation

I graduate in one month.

ONE MONTH!!!

I'm excited. And terrified.

hahaha.

I keep getting emails from the school - Grad Night is on the 1st with President and Sister Clark, and then Grad Fest (where you pick up your cap and gown and can have your picture taken and order announcements) is the next week and then the week after that is finals and ...GRADUATION!

I'm excited because this is kind of a huge mile stone. I'm terrified because this is scary. hahaha. I have NO idea what the heck is going to happen. I've been looking for jobs in Arizona or jobs that I can "do from anywhere" because they're done through e-mail and phone communication. I've found one to do from anywhere, which is good because I can do that and save money and when I have the funds, be able to move to AZ. (AMI!)

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:
1. I love all of my family. I have the best brothers and an amazing sister. The in-laws are amazing - love each one. My parents are so supportive and full of wisdom. And I'm lucky enough to live with all of my surviving grandparents. I can call any one of them any time for anything.
2. KP telling me about her wedding dress.
3. Elliot. He's one of my favorite people and I'm super sad I have to leave college and all of my friends up here - like Elliot and Quincy and all of the roomies that I love. I feel like I didn't get enough time with Elliot.
4. My PR teacher actually said the word "WOOT!" on my final exam. I had to stifle my giggle in the testing center because I'm pretty sure that any show of cheer or happiness in the testing center results in an automatic fail.