the "final" days in London.

alarm clock. i hate you. this morning it went off at 5 30 for Cali to wake up to do her final. I woke up, woke her up, and was very grateful to get to go back to bed. 7 00 alarm goes off again. i dont wake up. i wake up to cali on top of me. literally. she had flopped down across me to wake me up. a funny way to wake up. yes. now why did the alarm go off at such an early hour? for a "goodbye london" run. 


we had finished our theater final so we didnt have class until 10 30. so we laced up our running shoes. put our hair back. and headed out the door. one hour and forty-five minutes later, and 8.25 miles later, we were home after seeing the following on our run.

• Hyde Park
• Buckingham Palace
• Westminister Abbey
• Parliament (Big Ben)
• The London Eye
• The Thames
• The National Theater
• St. Paul's Cathedral (the dome of)
• and much much more.

it was a wonderful run. im not going to lie, i was feeling great when we decided to do it, but then was really worried about it considering the run yesterday was pretty rough. but it was perfect. getting out to the center of london kept my mind busy and visually stimulated. and talking with cali made the time fly by. 

we got home. stretched and worked out a little more. and then had a wonderful breakfast of muffins, corners, and orange juice together. it is so nice to sit down and eat with someone, rather than just eating on the run.

we were then off to take our last final. we walked in with preston who started singing "after today" from the goofy movie. ah best song ever. we got to the top of the stairs and phil was standing there laughing telling us to "shhh people are still taking finals" we just smiled sheepishly. whoops. the final itself wasnt bad at all. just two essay questions. one hour later i was on my way home.

ashlee and i then ran over to H&M for some last minute shopping with the 40 pounds we had gotten in class today. thank you rodger and phil for giving us the left over money. one skirt, three shirts, and 26 pounds later we walked out of the store. i love that store. so cute.

then it was home for lunch. the apartment was surprisingly empty. but it was perfect. i was able to talk to a girl on the program, Amber, and it was just wonderful. she is just so inspiring to talk to and such an example of trusting in the lord. the rest of the day wasnt too exciting before the show. just worked on some stuff and took a nap. oh how i love naps. and then it was off to our final show as a group. haunting julia. sounds creepy. yes. looked creepy. yes.

before the show. we were so nervous for what was going to happen.

i remember walking into the theater wondering what Rodger had gotten us into. where we normally talk about the shows beforehand, we hadnt talked about this one at all, and it looked weird. the show ended up being great. it was in real time, same scene the whole time. it talked about a child prodigy "little miss mozart" who had committed suicide. her father had created a memorial to her in her old room. the play showed him, julia's old boyfriend, and a man who lived in the building trying to figure out what happened and trying to connect with her. the whole time we were on edge waiting for julia to appear. there was many a moment that elly and i grabbed eachother's hand or arm. when the climatic point came i learned what it will be like for my husband when im in labor. i havent squeezed someone's hand that hard in my life. there was one point that the trunk flew open and i almost jumped into elly's lap. she laughed as my leg cam flying towards her. the show was good. scary. and had us all on edge leaving. but wasnt as creepy or demonic as i was expecting.


one thing that was said in the show that i loved was when one character was talking about being a psychic. he was saying how you have to switch to the receive mode, but that we are all stuck on transmit mode. and even when we think we are listening normally we are trying to come up with the next thing to say. while i didnt think of it in the way he was talking (connecting with spirits) what he said about talking to people is so true. how often do we listen to someone's story thinking about a story we can share right after. its hard to truly listen to someone- and not think about what to say- because the time will come when they stop and expect a response- but how wonderful would it be if we truly listened to one another. that we were fully present when talking to people. our mind was there, and not thinking about the hundreds of other things we have to do that week. how much better would communication be? so that is one of my goals. to truly listen, to not think about what i can share, to be fully present.


then it was home for an efy fashion show. aka making cali make sure there is no question whether it is modest or not. while they all come to my knee and are great, i dont want to be close to "skirting" around the line because i am supposed to be an example. it was grand, and it was nice to have a stamp of approval from cali and elly.


ps. efy is in three days. three. oh brother! meaning only two more days in london. sad day.