happy monday- oh crud. happy saturday.

What you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment.  And this is the moment you can choose to make everything new.  Right now.

-Unknown

* explanation of title: for the life of me i couldnt remember today was saturday. it felt like a monday. tonight preston mentioned seeing me at 7 30 tomorrow, and i was so confused. he had to mention it was for church before it clicked. im glad he said something, otherwise i might have missed church. phew.


*explanation of the quote: i didnt know what quote would adequately fit today. but this morning running we passed a quote about the past that i loved- however, i dont remember what it was, so i was looking online and came across this one, which i love, enjoy.

this morning started bright and early with a 7 am run to buckingham. which is surprisingly a fairly quick run. you can get there in 25 minutes. which is shocking because it takes about 45 on the tube. it was a beautiful morning though and the run was invigorating. along the way though we passed someone who yelled "go cougars" which made my morning. five miles later we returned to the flat to stretch and do abs and talk to amber. i adore her. she asked our opinion on a controversial show she is wanting to do which sounds fascinating with what she wants to accomplish with it.


breakfast, shower, get ready, and then we were off to portobello with ashlee, cali, and elly. we headed down to gloucester to hit up the atm (which still was not working) and take the tube (which was crazy busy, and the other girls needed to top off their oyster card) both of which failed. so we headed back up and just walked to the market. the market was wonderful. i love the smells, the sounds, and just everything of portobello. we explored and all came away with a good amount of loot. i got a cardigan, more scarves (only a pound), and a watch. now the only worry is getting everything home.


after portobello it was home to work on homework that was due at midnight. can i just say how much i dislike writing papers when there is a great big world to explore.


after getting the majority of the paper done we headed to the British Museum. which was grand. my goal for going. see the rosetta stone. which was amazing! it is amazing to think what that one rock has done for societies knowledge. it made translating hieroglyphics possible. we also saw cleopatra's mummy, and statues from the parthenon in greece. but once again we were all museumed out so we went at an incredible speed which was perfect.

rosetta.

unfortunately the reading room was closed. so we just pretended. and becca this ones for you. dum dum want gum gum? how i love night at the museum, and my sister.

with cleopatra.

ready for the masquerade at the gift shop.

up close and personal.

funny story of the day: i put on pants i hadnt worn the whole time ive been here. and i was a little worried. after all chocolate has been high on the list of foods eaten. and as my mom said "be careful- you dont want to come back a porker" oh mothers. but no worries, they fit. and not tight. it was a very happy moment in my life. moment shattered when they ripped while at the museum after sitting criss-cross apple sauce on the floor. i am now in desperate need of new khaki's considering we have to wear them monday of efy. also at this moment i was very very grateful for having a long shirt.

good-bye pants. you did me well.

then it was of to hampstead to get the most amazing crepes of my life. elly and cali had gone on tuesday while i was at the ballet and swore we had to go back. i see why. i got an asparagus cheese crepe and oh brother. most delicious thing in the world. they were just at this cute little crepe stand off to the side of the street, but oh brother! we ate our crepes as we walked to a park to eat our crepes at. however, they were all gone before we got there. but the park was beautiful.

yum.

so excited for our delicious crepes.

the beautiful view from the bench we sat on.

we then headed back, but made a quick stop at king's cross station to get a picture at platform 9 3/4. unfortunately the station is under construction, but they have a fake one set up outside you can take your picture with. while we were there this two drunk guys came up to us and were going on about taking a picture of them. it was odd. oh london after a futbol game ends. the tube was packed but we eventually made it home to finish papers and get to bed.

livin' the harry potter life.

on the way home we made a quick stop by tesco to get food for sunday. and corners were on sale. corners are our love. they are the best things in this world. meet delicious yogurt. meet delicious mix-ins. put them together and you have corners. we are all obsessed. we blame rodger who brought them for devotional treat once. they are grand. we eat them like candy.

living another life.

But I believe above all that I wanted to build the palace of my memory, because my memory is my only homeland.

-Anselm Kiefer

Today was a day back on the coach to explore more of wonderful England after another wonderful (well not too wonderful, Macbeth gave me nightmare's apparently because according to cali i was tossing and turning and stole all the blankets. sorry love- but i woke up feeling rested so its a winner) night.

First stop. Winston Churchill's Birthplace- Blenheim Palace. It was beautiful. I want a palace. We explored the ground and the rose garden, before heading inside for a tour. i love tours. i love the little details you get from the tour guide. i love hearing the stories. and i love having a person tell me them instead of reading them. its like getting told a bed time story rather than reading one. its just so much better. The palace is still a private residence for the Duke of Malborough, but they open up part of it for the public to come and view. and i am very grateful they do. Also fun fact. they were setting up for a triathlon while we were there. adding to the bucket list. triathlon at Blenheim Palace- how amazing would that be?

beautiful blenheim.

the italian gardens. yes that is a duck cut into the hedges. amazing.

rose gardens.

love of flowers- include roses. especially perfect ones like this. also ive realized that red roses, not my favorite.  i dont know if that  disqualifies me as a girl but its the truth.

the secret garden.

cali helped lauren climb a tree, and helped her down. a little scared for lauren's life...but cali is a "rock"star

more exploring at the bridge. they had rooms in the bridge. it was intense.

we made our way back to the bus and waited out on the grass. once again they gave us 3 1/2 hours when 2 would have been perfect. but we dilly dallied, at one point elly got a piece of cake at the cafe so we were able to spend time sitting. eventually it was time to get on the bus but two people were missing. one downside of no one having cell phones. but eventually we saw two figures running towards us, they had gotten lost in the maze. phil was funny and said it was okay because they followed the snyder rule of being late- out of breath, and sweating. but then we were of too...

OXFORD

did you know that oxford doesnt have a central campus, but its rather a ton of buildings around the city and there a bunch of different colleges that are all considered oxford. i did not know this. learn something new every day. but oxford was great. we looked around some college stores- i resisted buying a t-shirt considering i already have a box full of t-shirts from life. no need to pay for them when you get them for free.

this was probably the most impressive street performer i have seen yet.

we eventually made our way down to christ's church which is absolutely beautiful. it cost money to get in so the group split. cami, ashlee, and i were the only ones who cared enough to go in...

outside the church.

waiting in line.

now why would these three girls care about going in so much? well there's this kid named Harry Potter. he is pretty cool. and he went to this place called hogwarts. now in said school of witchcraft and wizardry there was a great hall. and i stood in it. yes this church is where the great hall is filmed for the movies. amazing. yes.

the great hall.

there was also a field where they played quidditich. 

the gift shop had lots of harry potterness. loved it. there was a book called harry potter on location- or something along those lines. which basically went through all the places where the movies were filmed so you could go see them. i was tempted.

while harry potterness was amazing and so cool, the rest was also amazing. the chapel was gorgeous, and the tour guides were so very friendly.

after christ's church we started to make our way back to the bus pick up. we were warned if we werent there on time they would leave us and we would have to take a train back. on the way we passed this wonderful cafe with delicious cakes in the window. of course we stopped. but they also had sandwiches. very yummy cheap sandwiches. they were only 2.95 and they were huge. best dinner ever. but it was by divine intervention that we found the sandwich place because it turns out we were walking in the completely wrong direction. luckily we figured it out quickly and were able to get back to the meeting place with ten minutes to spare.

we had a grand group picture taken at the monument we met at and rodger went into photographer mode. it was grand. he is one of my favorite people in the world. so grand.

then it was another hour bus ride back to london. it was supposed to be two, but we made way good time. our bus driver said he has never made it that fast. i was grateful. it was nice to be back "home." i feel like home is such a fluid word. i feel like i am in the stage of life where i dont have a home- or five homes. i have my batavia home, my provo home, my london home, and then wherever im sleeping that night.


we set all of our stuff down, checked email and such, and then were off to the V&A which doesnt close until 10 on fridays. the museum was fun, but we were all kind of beat from the day. but i had one goal and one goal only for the museum. it was to see the painting that President Monson always talks about by Joseph Turner, which he has renamed "to the rescue" and we found it! (see below)

favorite part of the museum though. the theater section. who would have guessed, being on a theater study abroad and all. but it was amazing. they had so many interesting costumes on display. it was amazing to see them so close, and to see the detailing you dont see from the audience. the display was very interactive. you could try on some costumes, and there were videos you could watch about the behind the scenes of the theater. i went behind the scenes of wicked. it was grand.

costumes from the lion king.

playing dress up. my dress was the heaviest, and super hot. it didnt help that they room was already quite toasty.

then it was home to try to catch up on life. and have a dance party with everyone. it was in the front room, and they had moved the tables out and moved the couches. it was way fun, i realized my dance moves need some drastic improvement before efy...which is tricky considering it is in...a week! exactly one week from today i will be getting off a plane in minnesota. oh brother. such a mix of emotions. but it will be wonderful.

the end.