THE ADVENTURE BEGINS!!

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! :)

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

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

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

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

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

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!