Birthdays in England!

This year all of our birthday's will be spent somewhere in Europe or the UK. I originally chose Scotland, but that didn't work out, so I thought London would be a fun place to experience.

So we decided to go to the London Dungeons (it's close to Halloween so it was perfect.) Even before we paid for our tickets I was singled out. A zombie midget decided I need to get my head cut off. Apparently I was too cheeky.

Honestly it was a lot of fun, and a loads of laughs. A great start of the day.









After losing my head we decided to get our tickets and wait in the queue. We were all getting really excited and scared. It had been awhile since any of us had been to a haunted house. And this one is a historical haunted house. (So cool.)





Wow... it was way scarier than I thought it was going to be. But it was awesome. I was picked on to be the leader of our group. My new name is Brownlow. My favorite part of being Brownlow was when a little girl turned to me and said (in the cutest little proper British/English accent.) "You're our leader." It melted my heart.

All in all an awesome scary start to the day. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. Even as I was screaming.





It was then time for lunch. "Yo Sushi" was our destination! It was my first experience with conveyor belt sushi choices. It was an adventure, and so yummy! Annie was the sushi master!





After our yummy lunch we were off again. I quickly stole a picture of Annie and Kathleen on the car next to mine. Our travels that day were spent mostly on the tube or "chube" as the locals called it. =)



Our next destination was Covent Gardens to do a bit of sight seeing and shopping. I got a few scarfs and a cool book for Cherie that she had been looking for. It was in this awesome little Puppet Theatre book shop.





I also bumped into my future husband. Isn't he so dreamy! It was love at first sight.



We then decided to head towards Kensington Gardens, by way of Hyde Chapel, I really wanted to see that church building for some reason.

But we finally made it to Kensington Gardens to see the Peter Pan statue. I love that book/play/film. I loved that park. All except for the crazy old English lady who was feeding the ducks and swearing at them at the same time. It was funny, and yet really hard not to laugh at her.





We then headed towards St. Pauls Cathedral to head to "Paul" a restaurant that Allison, Jesse, and Kathleen have raved about. Sadly it was closed. (What places close at 7 on Saturday nights?) So we then decided to head towards are final train station and find something to eat by there.



We ate at Pizza Express, and in all honesty it was amazing. I was expecting something similar to Pizza Hut, but it was incredible. I got a pizza with a salad in the middle of it. It was genius!

On a side note, I really love this picture of everyone. How lucky am I to be loved by these people, and get to adventure with them!?!?!?!?!?



Kathleen and Jesse got some really good hot chocolate with their desserts. (Just wanted to put in this cute picture of the two of them.)



No fun Jesse (this facial expression) decided to eat his ice cream. Which was good from what I heard.



I of course got chocolate cake with vanilla gelato. It really was heaven (though not nearly as good as the cake Annie made me later on in the week.)



I ate the whole thing! yum!!!!



That was the end of our daytrip to London. It was incredible, and we fit quite a lot into one day. It looks like I tired them all out!



It really was one of the best birthdays to date. A day as random as I am.

They say you are as old as you feel. Then I would say I just celebrated my 10th birthday. I still am such a kid at heart! Can't wait to see what the next year holds.

Yay For Good Books

I just finished reading Pride and Prejudice, and I have to say that I loved it. I got the idea that I should try reading it again when we moved into our little cottage, and I have to say it was the perfect time to read that book. It wasn't hard to imagine myself in that time period when I live in the annex to an estate!

But now I am at a loss as to what to read. I still feel like I want that time period-y stuff... so... any ideas? (I already read Jane Eyre too, and I loved it. Oh and I've read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and thought it was awesome too.)

Please share your book ideas with me!

Where Else You Can Catch Me

So as you may have noticed I don't write on this blog too often. The problem is I am writing on too many other blogs. So I thought if you were interested I would give you those to follow if you wanted to.

First off I have a blog with my friend Samiee. It is here that I post my picture a day project. You can see those pictures at www.innerlightposse.blogspot.com

Then I have a blog with all my friends adventuring in England. We are posting about all our crazy adventures. You can read that at www.sillypilgrims.blogspot.com

So if you're wondering where I am, I'm probably writing on those blogs. I will try and post here too, but I might neglect this blog a bit. I apologize in advance.

Next Update!

So... once I arrived in England I thought it would be a simple thing to find housing. I soon learned I was wrong. Monday morning we went into town to do a few things, and then we took a train to Whitstable since we decided we would like to live in a village if we could. Well we soon learned that it was really hard to find housing as students. There was a new legislation that said that owners had to file a petition of some sort to let/rent to students, and there is an issue if you have more than three people who are unrelated. Also they refused to have shared rooms. Plus the smaller villages (Whitstable and Herne Bay) really don't like having students in the villages.

I've never wanted to love a village so much and then felt so disheartened upon leaving it. Whitstable was so perfect, and yet it just wasn't meant to be.

Then on Tuesday we decided to go to all the letting/renting agencies in Canterbury. Kathleen was our lucky one that day. She got us in the door for several "maybes" and at the end of the day we didn't feel quite so let down as we had the day before.

That Wednesday we had to leave our hotel room, it was getting way too expensive to stay there. One of the ward members had a tent we could stay in, in his garden/backyard. So we went to the housing office on campus and the did a few letting agencies and had our first viewing from the letting agency. That place didn't look right, but we had faith we would get a home. And we were excited to camp out for a few nights, and save some money.

Thursday was our miracle day. We went back to the housing office on campus and they told us of a new place opening up in Chilham, and that it might be perfect for us. That afternoon we got a hold of Emma (our landlady) and we able to come view the place that afternoon. WE FELL IN LOVE WITH IT, and the rest is history. We got to move in the next day, and it has been the house of requirement* ever since.

(We call it the house of requirement because it's like the room of requirement from Harry Potter, it seems to have everything we need, even down to the details. It's awesome.)

Our hotel room was a bit crowded... for people to a bed. We ended up sleeping the opposite way. We were able to fit then... Jesse on the end, Kathleen next to him, me and then Annie... it was really crowded!



This isn't a great picture, but it gives you an idea of the HUGE tent we got to live in for 2 days!

Update!

Now that things have settled down a bit I feel like I can post about my crazy adventures to England. I'm here, I'm safe, and we have a place to live that is perfect for us! Now on with the fun stuff.

Let's go back to Saturday September 18th. I was in Spokane, packed, ready, and waiting on the UPS man to deliver my much anticipated UK Visa, and my passport. My flight is scheduled for 12:30 to Seattle, and everything was supposed to run smoothly. (We had paid 80$ for it to be overnighted to us and arrive by no later than 10am) Well 10 passed, as well as 11. My mom and I were frantically calling UPS trying to figure out what on earth had happened. The UPS agent told my mother that she would refund the 80 dollars and she could promise us that it would arrive my noon. That would do no good, because it was at least a half an hour drive to the Spokane airport from the Thorson home, and my flight was at 12:30. But there was nothing we could do but wait.


At 11:50 the UPS truck arrived at the Thorson home. We met him in the driveway and signed for the package. We were going to try to make it to my flight. If not we would go from there. We hit every traffic jam and construction sight known to man. Sadly we didn't make it for my first flight. We arrived at the airport at 12:20 and they wouldn't let me check in. However there was another flight leaving at 1:45. We scheduled my flight and checked me in. I gave Jesse's dad a hug and told him if he didn't hear from me that was a good thing and I made all my flights. That man really is a life saver!

I survived my first flight,and got to the baggage claim at SeaTac and grabbed a cart for all the giant bags I got to transport. Then I headed to the check in desk for IslandAir. By some miracle the "Mark" I was supposed to meet was working and remembered my situation. By another miracle I made it on the plane. I had to check my carry on luggage and pay for the extra bags. I really didn't care, it was better than buying a whole new ticket. And then I ran for the gate. I had to, they were checking people on as I ran.

By some miracle they had to stop boarding for a problems with the toilets. (For a 7 hour flight I am really glad that made sure those were working properly.) I sent a quick email to the school that I did made my flight and I was needing a lift from Heathrow. I also shared that I probably wouldn't be able to check my email until I landed in London. So I only prayed I would find them. Then I boarded the plane and thanked my lucky stars that I made it.

I now know why my plane ticket was so inexpensive. You have to buy anything you want to eat, and the only thing for free is the soda. But still I made it!

Landing in Heathrow was fine, and getting through the airport security was fine. I had to run around the baggage claim to find all my bags, and then I headed towards the exit. Then there was yet ANOTHER miracle. With hundreds of people around me I found the University of Kent people and knew that I would make it at least as far as campus. My only concern at that moment was finding Jesse, Kathleen, and Annie.

Again, another miracle.. they were right there at the school where the school dropped us off. I was finally here, with my friends, and we were all safe. I thought that would be the end of all the craziness, but little did I know that was only the beginning.

** I will post the next update soon, my hand is cramping, and it is close to lunch time! I love you all and hope you are well!

My So Called Life

Okay my life has been crazy like non other the past 3 weeks. I have lived in three states, moved out of an apartment, quite my job, visited family and friends, missed a flight, waited on UPS like a little kid trying to spot Santa on Christmas Eve, and watched three people I love leave the country without me.

Now before I go and be all depressed I just want to say that I know all of this has happened for a reason, and I know I will see the hand of the Lord in all of this very soon I am sure. I think I've seem glimpses already.

So here's where it gets really crazy. I now know that my visa was approved and being sent to me. (I found out about an hour after I dropped Annie, Kathleen,and Jesse at the airport.) My mom received it at 8 am this morning. She then turned around and overnighted it to me. I will receive it by 10 am tomorrow. Then I will catch a plane at Spokane at 12::30 that will land in Seattle at 1:30.

I then get to run to the Icelandic Air desk and speak to the manager that Jesse talked to and pray I get on that flight at 4:30 otherwise I will be stuck in the SeaTac airport without any phone or anyone within 6 hours of me. (FUN!!) I always pray for adventures and say I dislike "boring" but this may be a bit extreme.

**On a side note the reason I need to get to this flight is because Jesse talked to the manager at the airport yesterday and explained my situation. That manager said he works Saturday and if I could make it to the same flight on Saturday that he would put me on that flight, with my old itinerary.)

So yes it's crazy, and I really hope it works. Everyone keep their fingers crossed and say just a few more prayers for me! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all your prayers and support! I really am just so close!

I will keep you updated as it all unfolds! For now I will go play with Mollie and Judd!

I Think I'm In Love

Last night Cherie, Erika, and I went to the cheap movie theater, and saw "A-Team" and oh my gosh I think it's my new favorite movie. I was laughing so hard. Now I have to say that before I watched this movie I was not a fan of Bradley Cooper. I just don't like the characters he has played and I have not been impressed by him... but that changed when watching this movie. I had a perma-grin all throughout the movie. He was fantastic, as were the rest of the actors.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves action movies!