LONDON CALLING

TRAVELING!!

2009-06-13T02:16:00.001-07:00

I don't have much time but I just wanted to say that I love you all! London is So amazing and I am sad that I have to leave here. I have met so many amazing friends and have seen so many cool places. Things I will miss in London:
- my friends
- always having fun places to go and things to do
- having no worries, but having fun
- being completely spoiled and seeing shows all of the time!
- the Centre--and sharing a room with 6 girls
- walking around so much
- coming home at night and reading Mom's e-mails
- eating lots of treats
- Hyde Park--going for walks and going running there is my favorite

I will spending the last 2 1/2 weeks traveling over Europe. This is my travel itinerary so you will know where I am.

June 13-15 Athens, Greece
June 15-17 Santorini, Greece
June 17-21 Rome, Italy
June 21-25 Prague, Czech Republic
June 25-28 Dublin, Ireland
June 28-29 London, England
June 29 HOME!!!

I can't wait to see you all in just a few weeks! Sorry I've been so bad at posting lately. Our internet hasn't been very good so it's frustrating because everything takes forever to load. I can't believe that I am coming home so soon. It's wierd to think. I only have 17 more days in Europe.

I want to tell my family how grateful I am for their support and love. I look forward to my daily e-mails from my Mom and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my Dad. Thanks for all of the support that I have had. I love and miss you guys like crazy. When I get home, it's going to be such a fun summer because Erin will be in town and we will all be together. I am looking forward to seeing you all soon and I can't wait to tell you all about my adventures!

Brighton

2009-06-03T10:23:00.000-07:00

More bus fun! Today is Wednesday...another field trip! Every week we jump in the bus with Tony (our bus driver) and go somewhere completely new in England. This is the back of the bus during BUS FUN (watching Harry Potter)!! Thanks to Kylie, she is the bus fun coordinator.

...and we're off!

First we drove to Brighton and went to the Royal Pavilion. I felt like I was in India because of what it looked like. It does not fit in with anything else in England!

Then we walked down to the Brighton Pier. This was my favorite part of the day!

The entire pier

The end of the pier had tons of rides and fun arcades to play

This is the beach that the pier came off of

I seriously was in heaven today! The weather was BEAUTIFUL and it was so much fun to just walk around on the beach and in the little beach town. It reminded me of being in California.

Then we jumped back on the bus and drove to Bodiam Castle. This is truely a castle because there was a mote and only one entrance to the bridge.

This is a view from the tower of the castle. Today was a lot of fun! I really am going to miss all of our weekly field trips when I get home.

Young Women's

2009-05-31T14:16:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks I have been serving in the Mitcham Ward here in London

I have had the opportunity to work with the Young Women. Here they are--all but one! They are all such sweet girls and it has been a lot of fun getting to know them. When we were leaving, it was funny because a few of them gave me their e-mail address and made me promise that I would e-mail them. It is so fun to have these friendships!

This is my church that I have traveled to for the past few weeks that I have been here in London. The Mitcham Ward has so many great people that have influenced my life for the better. I am so grateful that I have had these experiences because they truely have taught me a lot and have blessed my life in so many ways.

Edinburgh

2009-05-30T14:00:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, we boarded a train and went to Scotland for the rest of the week! We stayed in a hotel right off of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. It was SO fun just to explore the city and get to know Edinburgh.

This is the city of Edinburgh

After we got checked into our hotel, we decided that we were sick of sitting so we wanted to go for a hike. We hiked up to King Arthur's Seat. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the top and was very steep, but so worth it when we got to the top! The view was incredible!!

A view of the city from the top
This was the big group that all hiked together. It was super windy at the top!
King Arthur's Seat is also called Pratt Hill because Parley P. Pratt (I think, either him or Orson Pratt) hiked up to the top and dedicated Scotland from up there. In the back is the ocean. It was GORGEOUS!!

This is the National Monument. I don't really know the significance of it, but we had a lot of fun just playing up there!

This is the Edinburgh Castle. We went on a tour around and through it. It was very interesting to learn the Scottish history.

The Royal Mile was our favorite road--I'm pretty sure we went into EVERY Scottish shop on the entire street. It is a mile long each way and just full of shops and restaurants.

The Elephant House is claimed to be the "birthplace of Harry Potter" because J.K. Rowling used to go there when she was writing the books and drink her morning coffee.

My favorite was seeing the bag-pipers on the side of the road! Yes this is for reals! :)

Stirling Castle

Exploring the castle

We're trapped!

The view was really pretty!

This is the National Wallace Monument. We hiked up it and then climbed the 246 stairs up to the top. Once we got up there...the view was totally worth it!

This is the view from the top! The pictures don't do justice of how pretty is was!

Our group!

After climbing the tower, we were told that we were going to a Priory. We all were like, "oh great...another Cathedral." But it was NOTHING like we expected! It ended up being my favorite place in Scotland! It was GORGEOUS!!

We were at a lake and it was seriously killing me because it made me want to go water-skiing so bad! That is one of the things that I am most excited to come home for! Dad...you better get ready to go WATER-SKIING!!!

We took a boat to a little Island

This is Inchmahome Priory. It was cool to see, but it was over-rated compared to how beautiful everything around it was!

We were just walking down the Royal Mile and then all the sudden some Scottish Parade started! It was so great!

This is on our train ride home. It was such a fun week and I have so many fun memories from Edinburgh! It was so beautiful everywhere and so different from any of the other places we have been so far!

PARIS!!

2009-05-25T15:06:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday to Saturday I went with 7 other girls to Paris. It was somewhere that I have always wanted to go, so I decided that I was going to make it happen...and we went!! It was such an incredible experience and the most fun trip I have ever been on! Everything was the biggest adventure and we were there to figure it all out. The whole time we were laughing and having a good time! From the second we got off the train and saw that everything was in French (none of us spoke any French), getting lost on the Metro, being at the top of the Eiffel Tower, and enjoying every minute we were there!! I loved the girls that I went with. I am so grateful for the friends that I have made here. They are friendships that will definitely last forever! Paris is such a BEAUTIFUL city, and I am so grateful that I was able to go! I had no idea what I was missing out on! Here is my trip:

Thursday

2009-05-25T14:16:00.000-07:00

This is leaving to catch our train

We made it safely! The chunnel was not as cool as I thought it was going to be because only 10 or 15 minutes were under water and the rest was like a normal train ride. It was fun though and we made it! The fun begins...

I really was in PARIS!!

This is at the top with a beautiful view behind us!

The first night that we were there, we went to the Eiffle Tower and spent a few hours there. We took pictures there while it was light, watched the sun-set, and then went to the top! We went up there while it was dusk, so while we were at the top the tower was lit. It was GORGEOUS!!! Wow! The Eiffel Tower is so much bigger and more incredible than I thought it was going to be. Seeing it at night and the view from the top was definately my favorite thing that we did all trip. I could have gone home that night and been happy with my trip. Although, I had no idea of all the amazing things that I had ahead of me!

Friday

2009-05-25T01:15:00.000-07:00

Hmmm...well I don't really know where to start! This whole day was SO amazing! We first woke up, grabbed breakfast quickly in the Metro Station, and then were off to Versailles. We got on the right Metro, but going the wrong way and didn't realize for a while. Haha! So it actually took us an hour and 15 minutes to get there, when it could have only taken us 45 minutes. It was fun though to laugh about it and sit there and relax for a bit.

When we got there, we waited in line to get our tickets for an hour, and then another hour to get in. It was so worth every minute we had to wait in line though!

The entire Palace was spectacular! I have never seen anything like it in my entire life! It was so incredible and so detailed everywhere you looked. I really enjoyed walking through it.

Doesn't this look like a painting? The gardens at Versailles were GORGEOUS!

This is the back of the Palace

After Versailles, we headed over to the Louvre for a few hours. It was really neat to see. I have been to SO many museums in the past few weeks, so I don't think I appreciated it as much as most people do, but I still loved it! It is always really neat to see the "originals" of everything!

Yes I really saw the original "Mona Lisa"

We made our own Louvre Pyramid

In the Tuillerie Gardens, just outside the Louvre, we all bought paintings. I can't wait to come home and frame it so I can hang it up!

After the Louvre, we walked through the Tuillerie Gardens on our way to the Champs Elysees. We stopped on our way at these fountains and just relazed for a little bit. As we were sitting on the side of the fountains, we noticed this couple on the other side that was just kissing. We naturally all watched them for a minute and then the guy knelt down in his knee and proposed! It was SO cute! It made us all really happy and it was fun to watch them be so happy together.

After that, we continued walking down the Champs-Elysees. I was in HEAVEN!! It was perfect temperature outside, it was beautiful, the sun was setting behind the Arc de Triomphe, and we were in Paris! How could things possibly get any better?

I really was on the Champs Elysees

The Arc de Triomphe

These pictures don't show it very well, but as we were walking towards the Arc de Triomphe, the sun was setting behind it and it was INCREDIBLE!! Everything just felt perfect and we were having such a wonderful time! The whole day was so much fun and we were able to see so much of Paris!

Saturday

2009-05-25T00:14:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning came and we were up early again and ready for our last day in Paris! We got up and headed over to Notre-Dome. We have been to tons of Cathedrals in England, but it was neat to go to this one because it was so famous and I have heard lots about it.

Notre-Dome has the coolest architecture on the outside. It is very detailed in many ways. Personally, I enjoyed looking at the outside more than the inside. It is cool how many gargoyles are on the edge of it to "keep evil spirits away."

This is the side that you enter through

This is the Upper Room of Sainte Chapelle. The stained-glass windows were GORGEOUS! It was so amazing to see!

I loved how each of the windows were about a Bible story because we were able to follow along and understand the different windows. It looked so pretty up there. I can't believe how the entire thing is stained-glass windows! Wow!

This is the National Opera House (L'Opera-Garnier). It was huge, and had really cool rooms inside!

As our last stop before we returned back home, we stopped in a little town called Montmarte and walked around. It had so many cute little shops that we went in and it was way fun to walk around.

The entire little town had shops, venders, and people selling art all over

The Sacre Coeur church was also in Montmarte

It took us quite a while to figure out the Metro when we first got to Paris, but by the end we had it down! It was fun to stop and listen to the differen people playing in the tunnels for money. This was my favorite!

I can't believe that I really went to Paris!!! The whole trip still seems so surreal to me! I absolutely LOVED the city and I had such a fun time. It was such an exhausting few days, but totally worth every minute of it. I am surprised of how much we saw just in three short days, but I am so grateful for the chance that I had to go there. I feel so blessed to be here and I am so happy for these experiences that I am having! I LOVED Paris, but it felt so good to return back home to London! :)

Watch out for bikers!

2009-05-20T12:53:00.000-07:00

Today we jumped on a bus and went to Oxford University

It was way neat because a British girl that goes to school there gave us a tour of the Oriel College. She explained to us all about the school and how the system works there. It was really neat to learn about because I had no idea that it was so different from ours! It made Harry Potter make a lot more sense! Haha

This is one of the biggest colleges within Oxford

These are the stairs that are filmed in the first Harry Potter movie and used in the main entrance of Hogwarts.

We are being Harry Potter-like

See this bike coming straight for me?...yup! I got hit by a biker today. Straight on! It was hilarious, but the scariest experience! I was walking down this little alley-street and my friend says to me, "look at that dead bird over there." So of course I walk over to look at it and I hear my professor from the back yell, "look out!" Next thing I know, I am thrown off balance and my bag was caught on the handle bars. Good thing I didn't fall over, but I definately got hit! Haha!

After walking around Oxford, we went to Blenheim Palace and had a tour inside. It is gigantic and was cool to walk through.

The gardens were SO beautiful! We had fun walking through them and even climbing trees!

Me in the front of the Palace

Mamma Mia!

2009-05-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the London Aquarium. It was HUGE and way fun to walk around in!

It made me so happy to see all of the little kids so excited!

Tonight Jenny and I went to see Mamma Mia! It was SO amazing and I absolutely loved it! It was such fun music and dancing! I was so jealous that I wasn't up on stage though.

Tower of London

2009-05-18T11:50:00.000-07:00

Today we went as a group to the Tower of London and got to go inside.

We are doing archery

Some of us walking along the upper walkways into the different towers

The Bloody Tower is behind us

Standing in front of the torture weapons

Young Women's

2009-05-17T08:43:00.000-07:00

I absolutely LOVE being in Young Womens here! The girls are so cute and fun!

We have the best Young Women's Presidency to work with. On the left is Aujoa, who is 22 and our President, and then 19 year old Barbara is next to her on the right. She is the counselor. Every week is such an awesome experience! I love it!

Bath

2009-05-16T15:38:00.000-07:00

Today we spent the day in a charming little town called Bath. We took the train there early this morning.

The town is famous for the Roman Baths that are here. They were way pretty and something that I have always wanted to see.

There were 6 of us that went

After spending a few hours at the baths, we got to taste the natural bath water straight from the spring. It was really nasty!

The Bath Abbey

The Royal Crescent

The Circus

Today was such a fun day! I love walking around these cute little English towns here!

Cornwall...the coast of England

2009-05-15T12:57:00.000-07:00

This week we went on such a fun trip down to Cornwall! We left on Wednesday morning and got back on Friday night. We all loaded the coach and drove several hours south of London. Cornwall is the South-West part of England.

This is the first place on the coast that we went to. It is a little town on the Harbor called Polperro. We hiked up these huge rocks and grass hills so we could have a view out into the Ocean. I was blown away with how pretty it was, but I had no idea what was ahead of me!

Annie and I on the top!

Going for a walk in the rain

This is in the back of our hotel. We stayed at a hotel on the most beautiful beach in Falmouth, England! It was SO much fun! We had a deck from our room that over-looked the beach.

On Thursday we went and hiked up to Tintagel Castle. The legend of this castle, is that it is the birth place of King Arthur.

Brooke and I--we made it to the top!

Looking over the cliff into the Ocean. It was BEAUTIFUL!!

Eating pasties from the famous "Pasty Place" in Tintagel. They were actually pretty good. It was fun to try one, because I have heard about them in movies. They were nothing like I thought they were! Haha

This is the beach in Porthcurno. It was GORGEOUS and my favorite out of all the different beaches and coast-lines we went to.

We LOVE the beach!

Fun friends :)

This is from the top of Land's End. It is a famous look-out point over the Ocean.

On Friday, we made a stop on our way home at Jane Austin's house in Chawton. We also went to some Cathedrals, but those pictures are boring!

Mom and Erin...there is a little surprise for you in that bag! You'll just have to wait and see when I get home :)

This week was a lot of fun getting away from London and going to different parts of England. We had many LONG bus rides, that allowed us to see a lot of English countryside. It amazes me how green and pretty everything is here!

Welcome to Hampstead

2009-05-12T22:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to Hampstead and is was BEAUTIFUL!!

Hampstead is a little town just outside of the city

In Hampstead, you can walk to the Heath and it is SO pretty! The walk is through the forest on these paths.

From these paths, you can also hike/walk to these lakes. Pictures don't give it justice of how pretty it was!

The gardens at the Kenwood House--we walked/hiked to the Kenwood House through the forest

To end the day just wonderfully, we went and saw The Lion King

Little Venice

2009-05-11T13:46:00.000-07:00

Talking to my Mom last night was SO wonderful! I always look forward to Sunday nights so I can say hello to my family! :)

Today we went to both the National Portrait Gallery and the British Museum

Tonight we went for a little walk in this neighborhood called Little Venice. It was so pretty with the sun setting.

There was a river with boats on each side that people live in as their houses

I absolutely LOVE how much a walk around here. By the end of each day I am so exhausted and it feels so great!

Greenwich

2009-05-09T13:39:00.000-07:00

Today has been a really good day! I woke up and had a WARM shower! I emphasize the warm because our broiler has been broken and finally got fixed, so that was the first warm shower I have had in two weeks! It felt just lovely! We went to Portobello Road and had breakfast there and then we got on a boat at Westminster Pier and went down to Greenwich. It was about an hour boat ride and it was really neat!

The queen's house in Greenwich--it is amazing inside!

Greenwich Park

This is a view of Greenwich behind us, with the Thames and City in the back--it was BEAUTIFUL!!

Standing on the Prime Meridian

Jenny and I are on different sides of the Prime Meridian, so we were both in different time zones! Where I was standing it was noon, and where she was it was 1:00pm. It was crazy!

This is walking out from Greenwich, we went through a tunnel that went under the Thames River. It was really neat, but kind of scary!

Going to Greenwich was a really fun day trip today! I feel completely exhausted physically, emotionally, and mentally so I'm glad to be home. I am excited to go to church tomorrow and then it will be nice to be able to relax afterwards!

London is beautiful!

2009-05-08T14:17:00.000-07:00

Today was a busy day planning and getting things done. We bought several tickets that we will be using in the next few weeks that will allow us to go places and see things. I'm very excited for them all!

For our British Fine Arts class, we have to go to several museums a week. Today we went to the National Gallery. I am not a huge fan of museums, but I really enjoyed walking around this one!

My favorite part about the National Gallery was seeing Monet's "The Water Lily Pond and Bridge" painting. It reminded me of my own house because it is hanging on the wall. It was amazing to see the original!

Can I just say BEAUTIFUL?!? I love it here so much!

Tonight we went and walked around Westminster Pier and the sky was beautiful against Big Ben and the London Eye

We decided to venture to St. John's Wood to find the famous "Beatles Cross Walk" that is also in lots of movies--"The Parent Trap"

Don't I look famous walking across it?

"Then we'll go get lost in Harrods..."

2009-05-07T15:59:00.000-07:00

Harrods has always reminded me of the movie "The Parent Trap" because the mom tells Annie that they will go get lost there.

Jenny and I went there today and had a lot of fun looking around! It's gigantic! After Harrods we walked down Oxford Street and LOVED seeing all of the stores. We also did a little shopping! :)

We especially liked their chocolate caramels! Yum!

Downstairs at the monument of where Princess Diana was proposed to

Tonight we saw "Romeo and Juliet" at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. It was really neat to watch a play from there because it seems like I have been learning about that place for years! I remember being in Mr. Gill's ninth grade English class and learning about it.

Waiting for the play to start

The set up in there is really neat how there are so many different levels. The play was really good and I enjoyed it. It was a little long right before intermission, but then the rest went by fast!

Taylor Swift Concert!!

2009-05-07T01:14:00.000-07:00

Today has been such a wonderful day! We first has three hours of school, but then we were off to explore the city. We went on a long expedition and found many cool things. The British Library is way cool! I don't have a picture of it, but it was fun to see!

After we found King's Cross Station, which is where Harry Potter goes on his way to Hogwarts.

My cart is already half way through and I'm on my way!

Platform 9 3/4 was fun to see! It wasn't as exciting as I thought that it would be, but it's something that was on my list of things I wanted to see while here in England.

Tonight we found out that there was a Taylor Swift Concert here in London. We got so excited and decided that we were going. We didn't have tickets, or even know where it was, but we were determined to get in! While some of us were doing kitchen duty, others were looking on Google for tickets. Pretty sure we found some!! Seven of us went to the concert and it was such a blast. My throat still hurts from screaming and singing so loud, and my body is exhausted from dancing so much!! There was a section of people standing in front of the stage, and then there were seats. We were on the forth row behind the people standing!! We had such AMAZING seats and it was so worth our money! Our tickets were only 14 pounds, which is about $21 American dollars.

Taylor Swift

The concert was seriously SO much fun!! It made me miss my roommates and friends though. I have so many funny memories of listening to Taylor Swift with my friends. Some of them include:

1. Breaking wooden spoons while dancing in our backroom (aka. dance party room) and screaming at the top of our lungs to "Our Song"

2. Burning pictures while screaming "Picture to Burn"

3. Listening to Madilyn scream her favorite part of "I'd Lie" because it applies to her life

4. Driving around singing and dancing to "Love Story"

5. Listening to the John Schmidt version of "Love Story" on Sunday mornings

There are so many other fun memories I have with my roommates! I miss them all and I hope they are all having a wonderful Summer. I can't wait until we all go back to Provo and will be together again.

Hairspray

2009-05-06T01:29:00.000-07:00

We went and saw the show Hairspray. It was such a fun show and I loved it so much! It made me want to just get up there and join them! It was such a cute show! :)

An early start lead to a wonderful day!

2009-05-04T13:12:00.000-07:00

Today has been a really long day, but SO worth it!! We started out by waking up at 5 so we could be down in the kitchen to pack our lunches by 5:30am. Then we loaded on the bus and drove 2 hours to Stonehenge. We had to go so early because we got special approval to go inside the ropes and actually touch the rocks and take pictures up close. It was such a cool experience!

Stonehenge is something that I have heard a lot about, but I never though I would see it in person. I am so grateful that I was able to actually see it in person and have the chance to study it.

Me and Katherine

After Stonehenge, we drove 1 1/2 hours to Wells Cathedral. It was very elegant inside with simple designs.

Next to Wells Cathedral was Bishop's Palace.

The gardens at the Bishop's Palace were incredible!

We jumped back in the bus and drove to Stourhead. It is the most GORGEOUS place I have ever seen! Notice the bridge in the background. It is the bridge filmed in the movie "Pride and Prejudice."

We walked the two miles around the entire pond and tt was so beautiful!!

The Temple of Apollo--this is where the proposal scene in "Pride and Prejudice" was filmed

In front of the Temple of Apollo

For our last destination, we drove a half hour to King Alred's Tower

We climbed the 205 spiral stairs to the top

Today was such a fun day because we were able to spend it with everyone in the group! I have met so many wonderful girls here and I am so grateful for their friendship. It's amazing how close we all have come to one another just in the first week. I am excited to continue to become closer to everyone here! I love it here so much!!

Mitcham Ward

2009-05-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday night we met with the Stake President of the London wards. All of us girls from our study abroad have been split up into different ward assignments of where we are supposed to attend church. I have been called to attend the Mitcham Ward, which is about an hour and a half away from my house. To get there, we ride the tube for 20 minutes, board a train for 40 minutes, board a tram for 15 minutes, and then we have a 15 minute walk from the station to the church. Altogether it takes us about an hour and a half to get there if everything goes smoothly and it costs $15 to go to church each week.

Although it's exhausting just to get to and from church, the minute I walked into church I knew that it was going to be the neatest experience in my life. Everyone in that ward is so warm and welcoming! It is by far the most diverse ward I have ever been to. It is about 70% African from Ghana, 20% Asian, and 10% white (which include the two Elders and the one couple missionaries). As white BYU girls, we really stuck out! The chapel is the smallest chapel I have ever been in--with two medium sized benches next to each other and about ten rows of benches.

Sacrament Meeting was so spiritual and it was the best meeting I have ever been to. The spirit was so strong and those people are amazing! I bore my testimony in both Sacrament Meeting and in Young Womens. I actually got called to be a Young Womens teacher so I am really excited about that! There are ten girls in there and they are all way cute! I am so grateful that I have been called to this ward because I know that it will be such a life-changing and learning experience for me!

Markets...and more markets!

2009-05-02T14:21:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to a London Singles Ward Stake Dance. It consisted of us crazy American BYU girls all dancing in the middle of the dance floor, and about 25 people that were actually in the stake. It was a lot of fun!

Practicing our dance moves in our room before the dance

This morning we started off at Borough Market and wandered around there for a while. It was similar to a huge farmers market with tons of samples. Our breakfast consisted of samples of all kinds of food. It was fun! After that we went to Portobello Road and spend time there looking around. This is a picture of the road. It was so crowded of people! It was quite the adventure!

Enjoying looking around at Portobello

Tonight we went to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. It was SO yummy!

After dinner we started at the Tower Bridge and walked along the Thames for a few miles. It felt so relaxing!

The Thames River at night

Westminster Abbey

2009-04-30T13:25:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Westminster Abbey and went on an audio tour on the inside. Wow! It was so incredible! It's hard for me to comprehend how old a lot of these buildings are and how much history is in each one of them. London is full of awesome history!

The outside of Westminster Abbey

After, we walked over to the Parliament and went inside to watch the house of commons. It was really neat to go inside because it made the Parliament seem more like a real building than just a tourist site. I loved it!

In order to go in the Parliament, we had to go through security, get our pictures taken, and wear name badges around our neck.

I absolutely LOVE the Thames River and all of the different bridges that go across it

Tonight we went to Trafalgar Square and were in the filming of a T-Moble commercial. There were thousands of people there that were singing karoke and being filmed. One of my friends and I actually got interviewed and asked questions about the big event that was going on. We had to sign a paper saying that we give them permission to put our clip on the news tonight!

These were all the girls that went to the filming of the commercial. Pink was the live guest that was performing. It was so fun because it was a mini concert by Pink! We had a lot of fun belting "So What" into the microphones that they had on us!

The Church is the Same All Around the World

2009-04-29T13:47:00.000-07:00

Today was quite the experience! I went with two friends and traveled an hour and a half on the tube, train, and then a taxi to find the London, England Temple. It was beautiful and such a neat experience, that it was worth every minute of traveling we did to get there.

The temple had such beautiful grounds

All of the temple workers were so kind to us and were so grateful that we were there. I don't think they get many people there to do baptisms.

Jenny, me, and Rebecca

Quite the Day...

2009-04-28T15:49:00.000-07:00

Today was such a fun day! We had such a tourist day and I loved every minute of it!! I started it off great with a run in Hyde Park. Every morning it is so fun to get away and go for a run and see Hyde Park. It is so beautiful and I absolutely love it there! Then we left and went sight-seeing.

Big Ben and the Parliament

The London Eye

Am I as tough as one of the guards?

Buckingham Palace

Kensington Gardens--it has the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen! It also includes the Palace that Princess Diana lived in.

A Typical Day in London

2009-04-28T15:03:00.000-07:00

I never knew rain was so fun! Rain in London is so adventurous! On Monday, we walked all around the city enjoying wet feet and our umbrellas! The Tower of London Castle

We went and saw Les Miserables. We got tickets for only 15 pounds and it was SO incredible!! I loved it so much! I think I have a problem, because I love seeing broadway shows so much. There are so many here that I want to see and we can get student ticket for so cheap!...Hopefully I can see lots!! Haha!

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS!!

2009-04-25T14:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I made it here safely this morning at about 9:45 London time. We all got our luggage and went to go meet our groups that we were going to travel to the Centre with, but they were no where to be found. We also couldn't find our bus driver that was supposed to meet us right out of security. It was a nightmare! But, after searching and praying for about 45 minutes, everything fell into place. Half of the girls came walking up a ramp from the underground train that they had to take from another terminal, and the other two girls shortly followed. Luckily we spotted our bus driver holding our sign and it was such a relief! We jumped on our bus and he drove us to the BYU Centre where we will be living for the next 7 weeks.

This is my new house! 27 Palace Court

Yes I really am in London!!

After we arrived at the Centre, we unpacked and got everything settled. Can you believe how little of stuff I have? I say it's pretty amazing for me! This is my closet.

This is my bed on the top bunk! I live up on the top floor of the building (over 67 stairs to get to my room) and have 5 other roommates. After unpacking, we went out and did our first "London Walks" assignment for one of our classes. We basically had to follow a map around the neighborhood and find certain things just to help us learn this area. Then we went home for lunch and they had a really good lunch of crossant chicken salad rolls and fruit. Then we left for a few hours and went on a walk through Hyde Park and then to the store to buy a few things that we each needed.

This is us walking through Hyde Park, just enjoying the beautiful day

Then we went back to the Centre for a little bit before we left on our exploration of the tube. We decided that we would go find the Tower Bridge. It was so pretty at night and there was such a beautiful view!

Jenny, Nicole, and Brooke

Today was so much fun! It still seems wierd that I am actually living here for 2 months. It still feels like I am on a vacation and will be back home in a few days. I am reallly excited for all that I have ahead of me to see and to learn. I know that it is going to be such an amazing experience for me and that I will grow in so many ways! I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to be here. I already love London and I have only been here for 1 day!!

2 more days! :)

2009-04-22T18:55:00.000-07:00

I leave for London in two days and I can't wait!! My flight leaves Salt Lake at 1:30pm. It kind of stresses me out thinking about all I have to do before I leave. My mom is awesome and is helping me get all ready. I got home today from Provo and it feels so good to be home and done with finals! It's always the best feeling when I walk out of the testing center after I have finished my last final! I have had such a fun school year and I am definitely going to miss my roommates, my apartment, and our awesome ward! But I also feel like it's time for me to move on. I am so excited for this new adventure that I am going to have and I can't wait for it to start! Two more days!! :)

DAVID ARCHULETA

2009-04-13T16:40:00.000-07:00

David Archuleta Concert!!

My roommates Michelle, Hannah, and I went to the David Archuleta Concert at the E-Center. I was the best concert I have ever been to! It was full of screaming girls that all got their hearts melted the second he started singing. The entire concert was such an adventure because so many exciting things happened! After the concert was over, we went backstage and tried to meet David Archuleta. We got so close, but we never succeeded so we decided to stalk him anyways. We became friends with every member of his band, we found the private door that he would exit from and waited outside it, we went and found his limo hidden by the side of a building in a parking lot just down the street, but after all of this effort, we never were able to meet him. :(

The stage

While we were there, we noticed that David Osmond from American Idol was sitting just a few rows down from us. We were destined to meet him!! So when we saw him leave his seat and go out, of course we got up and followed him. We asked if we could get a picture with him and he was so nice! He was all for the picture and talked to us for a while. It pretty much made our night.

Friends

2009-04-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

I love this picture so much because it reminds me of how blessed I am to have such great friends! This displays all of our different funny personalities, but that is what I love about us. We are all so different from one another, but when we get together it is so much fun! This summer we are all going our different ways but it will be fun when fall semester begins and we are all back here together again. I am going to London, Michelle is going on a study abroad to Mexico, Mckelle is being a nanny back east, Kelsey (not in picture) is working up in Heber for the forest services, Mikelle is going home to Bountiful and traveling with her family, Talia is working, Andrea--I'm not sure...maybe staying in Utah and working, Jessica is going home to be with her family, and Madilyn (not in picture) is working back home in Arizona. Thanks for being such great friends! I love you guys!! :)

My Mom

2009-04-07T09:14:00.001-07:00

My mom is incredible!

Last Thursday was my Mom's birthday so I went up to Salt Lake and showed up at my brother's baseball game to surprise her. I had so much fun talking with here there and trying to stay warm! After the game, Mom, Dad, and I went to dinner at Cheesecake Factory. It felt so good to just be with my parents and to be able to talk to them. Everytime I see or talk to them it reminds me how amazing my parents are and how grateful I am for them. Sometimes I take them for granted, but I want them to know that I realize and am so thankful for all that they do for me. Since it was my mom's birthday, I want to let her know how much I love her. I admire so many things about her and I hope that as I continue to grow that I will be able to become more like her. She is the most incredible person I know--so selfless and generous. I love you so much mom and I am going to miss you more than anyone while I am in London.

The Capitol

2009-03-31T09:34:00.000-07:00

Utah State Capitol

This semester, my roommate Hannah Lockheart did an internship up at the State Capitol. She is our little politician of the apartment! We went up to visit her and it was a lot of fun! She took us on a little tour and showed us how everything works up there.

Hannah's desk

In the House

Hannah it was so fun coming to visit you! While you were up there we missed you so much down here in Provo. We're glad that you're back!

Nothing Like a Girls Night

2009-03-25T17:05:00.000-07:00

Last Friday afternoon my girl friends and I went up to Midway for the night and had a girl's night. It was such a blast! We first went to dinner at Breadsticks and had to "catch up" with everyone's new stories since we last had gone to dinner. Then we went to Jessica's families house there and spent the night. We had many fun adventures while we were there!! Some include: laughing so hard about everything that happened, a little dancing, piling in Mikelle's car and going to Smiths get Twilight when it came out at midnight in our pajamas, watching the special features of Twilight, and then all cuddling and falling asleep during the movie right after we started it! That was such a fun weekend and we should definately do it again soon!

Dinner at Breadsticks--Mckelle King, Michelle Cole, Jessica Reese, Talia Finley, Kelsey Berg, Mikelle Petersen, Andrea Spencer, Madilyn Nelson, Nicole Lindsley, Sarah Nilson

At dinner I told the singer that it was Madilyn's birthday...sorry Madilyn! I don't think she thought it was very funny, but we all enjoyed the entertainment of him singing to her. We love you Mads!

Rascal Flatts

2009-03-25T16:42:00.000-07:00

When I heard that Rascal Flatts were coming to concert, I knew that I was going to go for sure this year. The day after the concert last year I got a call from my mom "confessing" that my family had gone to the concert and not invited me. After this phone call, I knew that the next time they were coming...I was going to go! This year me and three of my best friends--Mckelle King, Michelle Cole, and Hannah Lockheart bought tickets and went to the Rascal concert! Our seats were very high, but it was worth every minute of it! It was such an AMAZING concert because they played all of their best songs (my favorite ones)!!

Dinner at The Dodo before the concert

Waiting for the concert to start!

Do we look excited?

The concert

That was such a fun concert! I am SO glad we went!

Go Jazz!!

2009-03-25T16:31:00.000-07:00

Last night Mom, Dad, Spencer, and I went to the Jazz game against the Rockets and had such a fun time!! When I pulled out my camera to take a picture of us all, of course my family all laughed a little because I take my camera EVERYWHERE! The Jazz played very well and won! We had such a fun time watching the game, cheering with our neighbors at the game (especially for Kyle Korver), watching Yao Ming, and eating ice cream--thanks to Dad for the treats! But besides the game, I think I had the most fun just being there and talking with my Mom. My cheeks were cramping up and my abs hurt so bad from laughing so much! Everyone and everything we saw last night seemed to be funny! I love my mom so much and I admire her in so many ways. She always seems to make everything in life so happy and fun no matter what it is. She is so positive and optimistic in everything she does!

The four of us on the 12th row! Thanks Dad for such a fun night!

Only 31?!?

2009-03-24T09:08:00.000-07:00

Every Monday night I have a class from 5-7 that is a prep course for my study abroad to London. Every week it makes me even more excited to go! We learn all about where we are staying why we are there, what we are going to be doing, and everything else we want to know! I am sitting here in class right now and can't believe that I leave in 31 days! Time is going by SO fast I can't believe it!! Sometimes I wish I could just leave right now for London! It's going to be such a fun new adventure and I can't wait to get started!!

Martin Luther King Jr.

2009-01-21T16:40:00.000-08:00

Well, since we had a day off of school, my friends and I decided that we wanted a little break from the cold. We headed out on Friday afternoon to Las Vegas. We spent Friday night in Vegas just playing, walking around, and riding the rides on the strip. On Saturday afternoon, we headed to St. George and spent the rest of our weekend there in my roommate Kelsey's condo. It felt so nice to get away and just play in the warm weather.

We went on the Stratosphere--this is the view from the top!
Michelle, Mckelle, me, and Kelsey

I love the water show--my roommates!

Enjoying the show

On Sunday we went to church at the Dixie State College institute ward and then went to the temple and walked around. These are my roommates!

We went exploring in these caves at Snow Canyon National Park...it was so cool!

Grace's Blessing

2009-01-05T15:17:00.000-08:00

On the Sunday after Christmas, Erin and James blessed their little Grace Elizabeth Thomson. She was so good during the blessing and James did such a great job! It was so fun having them stay at our house during the Holidays. Grace has the cutest little smile!!

Grace looked so cute in her little blessing dress

I love this little girl

Too bad Grace isn't smiling. The three girls :)

The Thomson Family

This is my wonderful family. It was so fun spending time with them during the break! I miss you all lots!! Love you!

Christmas Time!!

2009-01-05T14:18:00.000-08:00

I love coming home from school for the Holidays!! Our family has so many fun parties. On Sunday, the 21st we had a family part with the Lindsley family out at the Featherstone's. On Monday the 22nd, we had our Curtis family party at the church across from Olympus High School. This is when our entire Curtis side (over 75 people) gathers for dinner, the nativity, and usually a gift exchange.

The "BYU" table at the Curtis Family Christmas party

These are most of my first cousins on the Curtis side

My siblings and Grace at the Curtis party.

Christmas Eve Curtis get together at our house for dinner, singing around the piano, chimes, and playing with the cousins.

Christmas morning is the best! We all gather together in one bedroom and wait for Mom and Dad to come down and get us. Then we make a train and march around the house (usually led by Dad). We end up in the family room to see if Santa has come! We had such a fun Christmas this year and we all were spoiled by Santa!!

After we open presents, we come upstairs and have the yummiest Christmas brunch that Mom has made. We eat homemade quiche, cinnamon rolls, and fruit. Christmas is such a fun time to spend together with our family. This year we were lucky to have Erin, James, and Grace join us for Christmas.

Looking Back at Fall Semester...

2009-01-02T15:48:00.000-08:00

It's crazy how fast last semester went by. Looking back at it, I would have to say that it was probably the best semester I have had yet at BYU. I have such awesome roommates and I am so grateful that I have been able to meet a lot of new friends. This year at our apartment, we are constantly laughing and having such an awesome time! Some of my favorite things we did:

Horseback riding at Kelsey's house up in Heber

True blue football. During homecoming week we went to the true blue football activity where there were games and a slip-n-slide with blue foam. It was such a blast to get all covered in blue foam!! We had to shower many times scrubbing ourselves to get all the blue off...and yes my blonde hair was dyed blue!

Roommates!

We love going to BYU football games. We have 9th row seats and they were so fun! We would try to fit as many people as we could into our seats because they were in a prime location.

Go COUGS!!

This is one of the funnest memories. For our ward party we had an auction and each apartment auctioned off different things they were willing to do for other apartments. We auctioned off a day horseback riding up at Kelsey's house in Heber. Then we were all given questionnaires of things we had done during the week to fill out (scripture reading, written a missionary, gone swimming...etc.). Then we added up the amount of points we had received with the rest of our apartment. From the amount of points we had as a whole, we received fake money. With this money we were to buy from other apartments the activity they were auctioning off. We bought a day canoeing from a guy's apartment in our ward. We actually went up to Deer Creek and went canoeing one night with them. We think they went with the intention of 6 canoes, 6 boys, and 6 girls...while we went for a fun ride around the lake on canoes. haha We spent almost the entire time trying to get away from the canoes of boys so we wouldn't get tipped over into the freezing cold water (it was so cold outside and we were only wearing swimsuits). I don't think they had quite the experience they were hoping for. WHOOPS!!

These were my roommates from freshman year in FOX 40. We often get together to eat dinner, catch up, go on random trips to STG (St. George), and go to midnight premieres of High School Musical 3 and Twilight. From left to right: me, Andrea Spencer, Mckelle King, Talia Finley, Madilyn Nelson, and Jessica Reese.

We used to "toast" about everything exciting in life (Andrea failing her chemistry test, "real dates," Madilyn going on ward dates, having friends leave on missions, and anything else we felt was important at the time) so of course we have to "toast" at every event we have together.

One of my favorite things about going to BYU is having so much family down there. These are all my cousins at our "cousin dinner" at Sam and Amy's apartment. We are all down in Provo together. From left to right: Jessica, Wilson, Jimmy, Daniel, Kelly, Scott, Lauren, Nicole, Amy, and Sam. Thanks for arranging such a fun dinner Sam!

Of course we had to go to make shirts and go to the midnight premiere of High School Musical 3

Halloween: Tiffany was an indian; Hannah was an 80's workout girl; Mckelle, Michelle, and I were BATMAN; and Kelsey was a gangster--she even had facial hair! We had so much fun "BATMANNING" as we would call it--meaning that we would run around acting like batman and singing the theme song. We also had a lot of fun with our make-up.

Anyone sick of school? Well we definately were!! We decided that we needed a little break so we spuratically went on a road trip! Mikelle, Michelle, Mckelle, and I jumped in my car and I drove us to St. George for the weekend. I don't think there was ever a silent moment in the car ride where we weren't belting at the top of our lungs or laughing.

One main reason we needed to go to St. George was to work on our tan.

Girls Night Out--we loved treating ourselves to dinner while we were in St. George.

We spent over two hours in TJ Max trying on clothes. And yes, we all spent over $100.

Of course we had to stop at the golf course in St. George where High School Musical 2 was filmed just to take pictures.

We love playing pranks on apartment 28

Our ward went downtown to Temple Square to watch the Joseph Smith Movie and to look at the lights. Hannah couldn't make it because she had to work so Robbie stepped in for her.

One of my favorite pictures ever with Kelle and Chells

People from our ward we went with

Joining Blogging

2008-12-26T13:36:00.000-08:00

Well, since I am going on a study abroad this Spring to London, I decided that I should start a blog so friends and family back home can see what I am doing. I am starting early so I can get some practice! Hopefully you all enjoy it :).

My blog is called Jamestown 12 because that is my apartment in Provo at Liberty Square. This is my front door the day I moved in (what you can't see is that I have a broken leg).

My closet--do you think I have enough clothes?

This is my bed and where I store all my extra stuff I have.

This is our kitchen--Mckelle, Michelle, and I are constantly cleaning it! We are obsessed with having a clean kitchen with NO dishes in the sink!! And yes that is a sign above our sink that says "Dishes are like boyfriends, you don't want your roommates doing them. But if you do someone else's, we don't want to hear about it."

This is our family room before we finished decorating it.

The other side of our family room. And yes that is a deer mount on our wall--Kelsey shot it herself last hunting season!

These are my roommates! I have been blessed with such wonderful roommates this year. Hannah Lockheart is on the very left. She is from Provo and is a freshman this year. She spends most of her time laughing with us at home, at work at Hot Dog On a Stick, or pulling all-nighters writing papers that are due the next day! On the right of me is Tiffani Charles. She is from Scottsdale, Arizona. She is very studious and is constantly going on dates with different boys. Next is Kelsey Berg. She is from Heber and is very proud of it. She is out outdoors girl and is the best cowgirl. Then there is Mckelle King who is my actual roommate. She is from my home ward and is one of my closest friends. We can't spend more than a few minutes together without laughing hard about everything that happens. On the very right is Michelle Cole. She is also from Heber. She is always there laughing with Mckelle and I about everything. She is so fun to talk to and I love to tell her everything!

My roommates at our first ward party

My roommates LOVE that I have my handicapped parking pass--we use it everywhere we go! I guess that's the only good thing about having a broken leg.

We love going to the BYU football games

This is my older brother Jimmy. It is SO much fun having him with me down in Provo at BYU. He is always there to look after me and make sure I am doing ok. He often calls me and says, "I just want to make sure you're doing ok. Is there anything I can do for you? Just let me know!" Man, he is the best older brother ever! I am so grateful for him and all he does for me. During finals week I had the worst migraine ever. When he found out, he had new medicine and "a treat" (Junior Mints in the freezer because those are my favorite) waiting for me at my apartment. He is the best and I love him so much!