breaking up

I have horrible news.  Big Ben and I aren't going to work out.  The affair was amazing whilst it lasted, but I am leaving today without any plans to return in the near future.  I have such mixed feelings about leaving.  I am so excited to see my family and friends, but I am leaving my dear friends who have been my family for the past three months.  I will return one day though, that is for sure. 

the final countdown

If thought finals were bad in Provo until I came to this magical wonderland called London. Essays papers and study guides keep me locked in the library and tease me through the open window to the world outside. Does it really matter? I often ask myself. Last night it did not. The lads at fulham tore me away from the stress induced coma I have been living in for days. Chanting and standing then swearing and sitting, it was unlike any BYU game I have ever or will ever experience. Now I must cram dates and events into this small memory of mine until four o clock when I will never care again.

life as of late

This is my last week in London.  I leave in approximately 3 days and 23 hours.  So sad, yet so exciting.  Last week was a rough one, and this week is going to be surprisingly worse.  Finals are rough and I've only taken one-the two hardest ones are still coming(one tomorrow, one on Thursday).  The following pictures are just a bunch of randoms from the past week. Ah!  I'm gonna miss this city!

Annie and me in front of 27 palace court London, England.

Last week, before it got cold, Caity and I went to see parliament and big ben at night!  It was beautiful!!

We went to the London Temple!!!!  So fun and an amazing experience!

There were like 100 of these eggs hidden around London for the past month.  Luckily, at the end of last week they brought them all to Covent Garden and we got to see them all up close!  THey were all unique and hand painted/created.

Caity left the room to do some homework the other night, so of course the only thing we could do was put her bed off the floor.

Finally, Drawsomething is the coolest/worst app for the iphone/ipod touch EVER.  So fun, but SO addictive.  Ah!  The following are some of my favorites from the last couple of days:

flowers and sunshine

Last week we got to visit Kew Gardens!  Kew is one of the biggest botanical gardens in the WORLD! It was beautiful weather and the flowers were just starting to bloom on some of the trees/bushes/plants/etc.  Luckily, we survived an intense duck attack.  We also went to Regents park here in the city last week while the weather was BEAUTIFUL.(now it's back to being cold and cloudy and gray:(-even the weather is sad about finals week.)

(I looked out the window and what did I see? POPCORN POPPING ON THE APRICOT TREE!!!)

(Daffodils are EVERYWHERE!!  So fun and springy!)

(Taylor and me reading about Mrs. Dalloway in Regents park while in REGENTS PARK!!)

Last week I also went to see the play Mousetrap with EMMA!  It was way cool!  As you will read on the blue plaque(or the picture of the blue plaque) below, the play has been running for 60 YEARS this year!!  Crazy!  If you are in London, see it.  Tickets were cheap, but bring a jacket as they will try to freeze you out of the theatre.

I can't believe I come home in LESS THAN A WEEK!  So crazy!  Well, if I survive two more tests from H*** then I will be home in week.  Prayers sent my way will be greatly appreciated.

york and other places around good olde England

Our trip to the land of the North ended with a night in York and a stop at Fountains Abby.  York was a pretty cool medieval town where we got to actually walk along the old wall build hundreds of years ago.  Walking along the wall I had a very interesting experience though.  It was the first thing we did in the morning and it was cold and foggy.  I turned to my friend and commented on how sad it is that I would rather still be in my warm bed than walking around on a wall older than my country.  Looking back I can't say at what point I was desensitized to old things, but it is so interesting that only just a couple of months ago I couldn't wait to see medieval ruins, and now I wanted to be done as quickly as possible.

I did really enjoy York Minster Cathedral though!  It is HUGE!!

Outside... obviously.

The five sisters windows.  Each one is medieval stained glass and 16 meters high(don't ask me how many feet that is-I'm taking English and History classes here, not math.)

Fountains Abby was BEAUTIFUL!!!  Sadly, we only had ONE hour to explore this amazing place, but it was an hour well worth it!  The ruins of the abby were so magnificent and then the gardens were wonderful! 

As you can tell from the pictures, everything is starting to get green here!  Spring has come to England and it is like a new place in London!  People are starting to come out of their caves and play in the parks(or for some, make out in the parks;)) Flowers are starting to bloom(daffodils!)  It's perfect!

the land of bagpipes and rugby

edinburgh scotland.  Sadly, I did not enjoy my time here.  Unless you will be spending a disgusting amount of time in the UK, my advice would be to pass up edinburgh.  Below are the few highlights of the city:

Sir Walter Scott memorial

The birthplace of Harry Potter(The Elephant Cafe)-sounds a lot cooler than it actually is.  

The city.

The castle. 

I have to admit that the castle and the view from the castle over the city was beautiful, and even better was the view from the city up to the castle at sunset.

We were also given the very rare opportunity to visit New Lanark.  Think Industrial Revolution + Disneyland.  Exactly-a horrible mix.  Stay away.

the many lakes in England

Ambleside, England=happiness.  

The first day we got to go to the William wordsworth museum and work with first edition books and original manuscripts.  It was way more fun than I thought it would be, all 8 hours of it.  Still not going to be an English major though.

The second day we went hiking around the lake district!  Below are gems in a sea of beauty.

William Wordsworth's second, better(bigger) home just outside of ambleside.

The home of Beatrix Potter(peter rabbit, Miss Potter anyone?)