I returned from London!

Well I'm back everyone! I can't believe how long it has been since I've posted! I honestly have missed blogging extremely! I just never had the time or means to do it! But I am back! I'm looking forward to catching up on everyone's blog and getting back in touch with yall!

London was WONDERFUL! It was definately a cool experience! I have so many stories and honestly don't even know where to begin. I think I'm going to post about one day at a time. That still may be a lot, but it will limit it somewhat. I may throw in some different posts in between London posts so I can mix it up some but don't worry I will continue with my stories!

I got back on friday and STILL am not adjusted to Texas time! London was 6 hours ahead so I am VERY thrown off! I go to sleep really early and wake up at 4 or 5 every morning and force myself to go back to sleep. And it's so hot here! I come back to 95 degree weather when I was in 50s and 60s! Of course I WAS freezing there and miserable when it rained. I started back to work today and start my first session of summer school next week. Back to reality, right? I feel like I was in a dream and now I'm back to my everyday life. Quite a change! Okay, but let me get started on day one of London!

As you all know, I had a layover in Boston before flying to London! I never left the airport, I just hung out in the food court and made a few laps around the ENTIRE airport (I was sweating by the end of it..). Finally, my plane to London arrived! This is the 757 that took me to London, England!

After a 7 1/2 hour flight I finally made it there! This picture was taken when I met up with my friend Emily at the airport! I apologize for my grungy appearance, remember I had been traveling for a little under 24 hours straight.

Surprisingly enough, I wasn't incredibly tired once I got there! However, I did need coffee. This is my first meal in London at a cute little cafe! AMAZING cappuccino!

This was a chicken ceaser salad. Absolutely INCREDIBLE!

Then we went to Trafalagar Square. Very cool, lots of people but not too badly crowded. They have a monument thing here that has a countdown to the olympics, since the olympics are going to be held there.

 

This is the National Gallery. It is in Trafalagar Square as well. It is a HUGE musuem full of famous artwork. I saw original Van Goghs and Monets, very exciting for me! Obviously, I couldn't take pictures otherwise I would have!

The red telephone booth is iconic to England! I had to have a little photoshoot in it and completely be a tourist for a minute or two!

Then we went down to Westminister and saw some cool sights! This is big ben! He is probably my favorite to look at and can be seen from almost all over London.

This is some of parliament! I LOVE the architecture of it! Actually, I love the architecture of all of London! It has such a mix of old style and modern that you do not EVER see in the states!

Then here is Westminister Abbey! We didn't get to go inside because the line was incredibly long! Most likely because the wedding wasn't too long ago. It was still neat to just SEE it!

Then my last thing of the day was dinner at a local pub! I had my first authentic fish and chips! The green stuff is mushy peas that is also super traditional. It wasn't too bad! I wasn't a huge fan of the fish just because I like my fish cooked in smaller portions, but it was good overall!

And that concludes day one recap of London! I slept hard that night and fell asleep in like .5 seconds. But it was a great start to my trip!

Layover

I'm currently racking my brain and google-ing ideas for my airport layover. I've come up with a few things and seen a couple cool ideas as well. I feel like writing these down and honestly thinking about them will improve my attitude about it. I'm going to LONDON! That is worth it! Always focus on the positives!

1. Shop. 

Airports do usually have some unique shopping. Though they are usually overpriced, sometimes the deals aren't awful. Boston Logan doesn't have a huge variety of shops, but just enough. Don't over-shop at an airport though because then goes all your money!

2. Read.

Catch up on your favorite book or magazine. Bring them with you or browse the bookstore at the airport. Airports are big places so it's not too hard to find a quiet, occasionally cozy, place to relax and read. There are coffee shops usually to that would be a great place to go read!

3. Eat.

Airports are full of all types of food. Usually fast food, but sometimes a couple nicer ones. It will definitely be more food than you will eat on the plane most likely. Then like I mentioned before there are coffee shops that have coffee, tea, specialty drinks, whatever you feel like basically. I will probably eat quite a few times within 7 hours there.

4. People watching. 

An airport is a prime place for people watching. Talk about a huge variety! You can sit and imagine where you think they are coming from or going to, what kind of life they have, why they're traveling etc.

5. Chat. 

You aren't the only person trying to pass time in an airport. Strike up a conversation with the person beside you. If you find it awkward to start it, just ask them where they are going or coming from. You could end up meeting a very interesting person and learning something new from them!

6. Call someone!

This is a great time to call an old friend you've been meaning to catch up with or a family member that would love to hear your voice.

7. Surf the web!

If you bring your laptop you have access to books, music, movies and basically anything at your fingertips. I will probably download a few movies on my iPad for the airport and the plane. I google just about everything so I will just randomly surf the web learning new things about different subjects. Don't forget head phones though!

8. Pedicure

The airport I will be in has an Xpress Spa that offers a few services and a hair salon! I will most likely take advantage of the pedicure at the spa. I love getting pedicures and do not remember the last time I got one! I'm excited about this option!

9.Consider Outside the Airport

I haven't decided yet if I am going to venture outside the airport or not. I do have plenty of time, I'm just not sure if I have the confidence! If I do, I have a few ideas. I know the Boston Aquarium is close. I'd also like to go to the Franklin Park Zoo. (Remember I am a animal freak..) Of course I'd like to eat more authentic food as well. Maybe just enjoy being outside at a park or cool place downtown. I most likely will not decide until I am there and see how I feel about it and how easy or difficult it will be.

You may have noticed that sleep is not on that list! I do NOT feel comfortable sleeping in an airport. Mainly just because of my bag. I will save sleeping for the plane ride, though I don't sleep well on planes either. But my trip will be amazing! Every minute of it!

Repeat of previous post! (Blogger trouble!)

So to start off the luck on Friday the 13th, I come to find that blogger decided to delete my post from yesterday. It was a good post too! At first I thought "I do not feel like talking about the same thing all over again today.." but then I decided that as a matter of fact I do!

Exactly one week from today I will BE in London, England. I'm leaving on Thursday and arriving on Friday. That consists of a flight to Boston first with a 7 hour layover, then finally my flight to London. 7 hours. What do I do in a airport for 7 hours? I've had pretty lengthy layover's before while alone, but not 7 hours. If anyone has any suggestions PLEASE throw them my way.

So the friend I'm going to visit, Emily, has started planning our adventures while I am there. I'm so excited! I gave her a rough draft list of things I wanted to do/see while there.

-national gallery
-Tate modern
-British museum (maybe)
-west minister abbey
-west minister hall
-tower of London
-st Paul's cathedral
-Buckingham palace
-Harrods
-London zoo... :)
-highgate cemetery
-have afternoon tea somewhere
-go to a pub
-Camden lock market & east end
-shop at really cool places..
-have a picnic at a park

Purely just a rough draft. I will be there for 7 full days, so hopefully I have enough time to do as much as possible. We already have a small trip planned to Bath, England! We are going to spend two nights there! One night will be in a hostel and the other in a bed and breakfast. We are kind of cheating at the hostel. Instead of a dormitory room, we got a twin! Here are a few pictures of Bath:

This is the bed and breakfast we will stay in!

The ancient Roman Baths

The hostel we will be staying in!

Thermae Spa! We are going to spend a day here!

I'm so excited! Bath was home to Jane Austen as well, just fyi. That will be cool to see! I should read some Jane Austen on the way to get myself in the mood. Possibly cheesy, yes.

This is irrelevant but I have to say it. I've been looking around for new outfits because I feel like I should be stylin when I go to London. Emily said she hardly ever see's people wear jeans. WHAT!? I wear jeans DAILY. That will be interesting. But oh well I guess, I'm just being a girl.

SIDE NOTE: While I am in London I am not sure how often or if I will able to post at all! I am looking for a couple guest bloggers to keep my blog moving! If you are interested please let me know!

Anticipation..

My blogging has been less than perfect this week. Today is my last final and then it is summer! I'm so excited! Although I am taking 12 hours of school during summer, that's fine because they won't start till June!

WARNING: EXTREMELY EXCITING NEWS!

At this time next week, I will be on my way to London! Right now I will be on the plane to Boston where I have a 7 (yes, you read that correctly), 7 hour lay over before flying to London! If anyone has ANY suggestions on things to do during a layover or particularly at the Boston Logan Airport, please let me know!


I am super excited for my trip! I have been distracted while studying for finals because this is all I can think about! Emily & I have been talking a little about what we will do during my stay there and have come up with a small list! This is the list that I gave her kinda as a rough draft so far..

-national gallery
-Tate modern
-British museum (maybe)
-west minister abbey
-west minister hall
-tower of London
-st Paul's cathedral
-Buckingham palace
-Harrods
-London zoo... :)
-highgate cemetery
-have afternoon tea somewhere
-go to a pub
-Camden lock market & east end
-shop at really cool places..
-have a picnic in a park

Those are just things that I thought of that I know for sure I want to see or do. We already have a 2 day excursion planned to Bath! We are going to go stay 2 nights in Bath, England and see the sights there and go to the ancient roman baths and spend a day in a really cool spa! Here are a few pictures of bath!

Thermae Bath Spa!

The ancient Roman baths

During our stay at bath we are going to stay at a hostel one night and a little bed and breakfast the other!

We got a twin room in the hostel!

This is the quaint little bed and breakfast!

This trip is going to be so amazing & I can't believe I'm actually getting this opportunity! Especially with my best friend of 16 years! I will have so many stories when I get back it will be unreal.

On a side note: I feel like I need to be stylish when I go to London. Emily says she hardly ever sees anyone wear jeans! What!? I wear jeans on a daily basis. So I'm trying to come up with a way to get new outfits before I go. Kinda pathetic yes, but I'm a girl. Any suggestions on outfits or places to look?

Weekend Recap

I'm so sad I didn't get to spend time with my mother on mothers day! I did send her a present and card and will see her this next weekend when I go home though. I have finals this week so my blogging may be sparse, we shall see. Friday night I had my Sigma Alpha formal! It was a lot of fun and I was so excited that my boyfriend was able to come in to go with me! I received the "gator queen" award for raising the most outside money for Sigma! We all also get silly awards. Mine was "most likely to miss her own wedding to stay home with her cats". That makes me sound like a loser but I'm being honest with yall! I promise I'm not as lame as that makes me sound.

Then Saturday night me friend Whitney & I went to a Jason Alden concert! I love all types of music but I do love country! The concert was so much fun and he was an awesome performer! My favorite song of course was "She's country". It is always fun to just watch everyone around you at concerts. My favorite was a older man, who no doubt was a dad, who was just enjoying himself to death. It was so cute to watch him do his little dance and his wife sit down and just laugh at him. Here are a couple pictures from the concert! 

& I almost forgot to show all of you! Have you seen the commercials for those "Sally Hansen Salon Effects"? They are nail polish strips that you just stick on your nail and file down. Well they really work well! I got some leopard print ones to wear to formal because it was animal print themed. I put them on on Thursday night and they still look perfect! It wasn't difficult at all to put them on. It did take a little longer than normal polish but that was just because I'm not talented with a nail file. 

Thank you!

Yesterday morning I woke up to read two comments about two awards I had been given for my blog! It was a great start to my day and made me so happy to think that people really enjoy reading my blog! The first award was given to me by Lulu at lu3luscrossing. Thank you so much!

With this award I am supposed to say 7 things about myself and then pass it on to 7 people! Here are my 7 things:

1. The majority of my blogging is done while I'm at work. It is usually where I write my posts and catch up on every one's blog. I swear I'm not a bad employee and slack off! I work in a student accounting office at my college and sit at the front counter all day on a computer. The majority of the time I'm not busy at all so I have to keep myself entertained.

2. I love pickles. A lot of people I know HATE pickles! But I love them! I always have ever since I was little! I even love pickle juice snow cones! Weird? Possibly.

3. My first job ever was at a snow cone stand. I was and still am very close with the owner and got a job my junior year of high school. I worked there until I graduated and even came back in the summer and winter break occasionally. She gave me a key and still lets me go by and get a snow cone at night when its closed whenever I'm in town!

4. I also worked at Victoria's Secret for 3 years. It was only during the summer and winter break times. I loved it and loved the people! And of COURSE I loved the discounts and free bras!

5. I love love love cheese. However, I'm slightly lactose intolerant. Oddly enough, I only became that way within the past year of my life. I was very very sick for awhile and that turned out to be some kind of result.

6. I'm an insomniac. For example, I went to sleep at 4 last night and woke up at 7 this morning! I've always had this problem but since I got depression it got worse. It doesn't affect me too much now since I've gotten use to it but it does stink laying in bed for hours just trying to wish yourself to sleep.

7. I love being outdoors. LOVE. I was the kid that you had to find from outside when it was dinner time. The majority of the time you could find me in a creek, no lies. I even "ran away" once and packed a backpack and went to the creek beside my house. My idea of running away was apparently leaving a note that said "I'm running away. I'll be in the creek.". Seriously!

Okay now the next 7 people! I follow these blogs and love reading them! Check them out!

1. fairy tales are true
2. you guess how much
3. heartmade handfelt
4. if ands and butts
5. miss southern prep
6. my whole life is sparkly
7. spark.

The next award I received was blog of the month from the great Shar at Shar's Daily Ramblings! I felt so honored to get this award! I get featured by her and get links back to me all month! How cool is that! Her blog has lots of cool blogging tips that yall should check out!

Thank you for featuring me!

Thankful Thursday!

Today on thankful Thursday, I'm not going to provide a link list at the bottom anymore. I don't have very many participators so instead you can just link up with the button and comment me letting me know so I can go read your list! I'm not feeling too well today so this may be short.

What I am thankful for today:

1. so many awesome followers!

2. my beautiful cat Paisley who is sitting on the couch beside me! 

This was when it actually snowed in Texas and I took her out on the balcony!

3. having a relaxing day like today

4. my amazing parents!

5. still having one grandmother here

6. sweet tea. I drink it everyday! 

7. our loyal troops

8. my best friend layna! she is such a trooper! 

9. movie theaters! I love going to the movies!
10. being able to go to the grocery store and get fresh flowers, love them.
11. going to london in 2 weeks!!!
12. my free iPad I won, I love it.
13. having a great support system.
14. being able to call my family whenever I want.
15. being educated.
16. being able to have dreams that don't seem too farfetched.
17. my understanding boyfriend!

18. dead week this week!
19. the weekend coming up soon.

20. owning a computer.

Book Review #2

It's time for another book review! The last one was about Redeeming Love. I hope some of you picked up the book and read it! If you have since then, please comment me and tell me if you enjoyed it! Today my book of choice is... drum roll..

Captivating By John & Stasi Eldredge

This book is very well known and some even consider it controversial. However, it is still a great book to dive into and create your own opinion about! Here is a small synopsis:

This book is a follow up of John Eldredge's book Wild at Heart, basically the men's version of Captivating. John & Stasi try to speak to the deep down tired Christian woman in this novel. They write about the design of a woman by God and their purpose. They focus on what they believe to be women's three main desires; to be romanced, to play a role in her own adventure, and to unveil beauty. They also encourage men to discover the secret of a woman's soul and to delight in the beauty and strength that women were meant to offer.

I personally LOVED this book! I heard of it through my small group at church back when I was in the youth group. This book really did speak to me and I think John & Stasi are right in their beliefs. They bring scripture and biblicial stories into each theory they present and even relate them to popular movies or stories so we can better understand. I've read this book probably 5 times and still want to read it again. I have things underlined, highlighted, etc etc. I've loaned this book to my friends and my mother and even have given it to my boyfriend so he could read it and better understand me! After reading this book, I picked up the men version, Wild at Heart, and feel like it did help me understand God's meaning and creation of men as well. If any of you have not read this book and can't find a copy of it please let me know and I will be happy to mail you mine! Let me know if you read this and how you like it or if you have already have!

I'll leave you with a small quote from the book:

"You really won’t understand your life as a woman until you understand this: You are passionately loved by the God of the universe. You are passionately hated by his Enemy. And so, dear heart, it is time for your restoration. For there is One greater than your Enemy. One who has sought you out from the beginning of time. He has come to heal your broken heart and restore your feminine soul." Pg. 91

Ten on Tuesday Link up

I feel very scatterbrained today, mainly because I am just extremely tired. I never sleep well at night so my hours of sleep usually come from sleeping in or long naps, but that hasn't happened the past few days. So today I am deciding to participate in a link party, Ten on Tuesday! I like this link up because it is very broad! You just list ten things of whatever you choose! Ten random thoughts, a list of top ten things, ten pictures, etc, etc. My ten on tuesday is going to consist of then items off of my bucket list. I do have a very long bucket list written down in a spiral, but these are just ten! I am one of those people who wants to do everything and go everywhere, knowing it may not be realistic, but believing it will happen anyways! So here it goes! These are not in any particular order, just a random ten.

Ten items from my Bucket List:

1. Do mission work in Africa! I've been on a few mission trips already, but the place I'd like to go most is Africa! I've told my mom since I was in middle school that I was going to go to Africa one day to do mission work and remind her of it yearly!

2. Swim in a shark cage with sharks! I know this sounds crazy, but number one I LOVE sharks! (I'm strange and obsessed with animals) I always have! I used to have shark books as a little kid and can quote you every line from the movie "Jaws". I've swam in a tank with sharks at disney world, but I want to be out in the ocean with big sharks!

3. Visit ALL 7 natural wonders of the world! That is a pretty big thing I know but I really would love to do it! I love seeing God's AMAZING creations! The only one I have crossed off my list so far is the Grand Canyon! I've been there once with family and once with my boyfriend! My boyfriend and I actually camped there and hiked down into the canyon!

4. Skydive! I've planned on doing this for years with my older brother and think I may really do it this summer, hopefully!

5. Have an outdoor wedding! I've always wanted my wedding to be outdoors ever since I was little and dreamnt of it!

6. Sponser a rescued exotic animal, most likely a tiger! Tigers are my favorite animal, by the way. I know this is a random goal but like I said, I'm obsessed with animals.

7. Be successful in selling my paintings! I've sold a couple to people I know and people I don't, but I'd like to one day be semi-successful in selling them. I don't mean as in LIVE off that profit, just I'd like to be able to sell one easily if I wanted too. I don't know if this makes sense to anyone, but I get it.

8. Make a profound difference in someones life. Possibly by being a mentor towards them or even if it is toward a stranger. I just want to do something or be something that someone needs.

9. Go see Starry Night in person. It is in the Museum of Modern art in New York City! I've been to New York before but it just looks like I will have to make another trip! (Which is fine by me, I loved it!)

10. Be completely fluent in ASL (American Sign Language). I took 3 years in high school and will have taken 4 years once I complete college. I can carry on a conversation alright, but I want to know it like the back of my hand!