p.i.n.g....

I am proud to say that I know the best female ping-pong player at BYU. yes folks, that's right. I have friend's in high places.

the beautiful Maggie Sigler competed in BYU's Ping Pong Tournament and she dominated. I felt slightly bad for the boy she beat not once, but twice (it was double elimination). After that he cheered harder for her than I did. It was great to go and cheer her on. Did I avoid taking a test to go...yes. Did I miss a CAG meeting because of it...yes. Was it worth it to be there to cheer...yes!

Most intense part. Maggie and Matt's game for the championship. Friends faced off. it was epic. the score was 10-10. i didnt know what to do with my life. (you can tell how intense it was based on matt's walk away from the table during the game). Matt won at the last second. but it was wonderful!

Other random tidbits.

I had a water drinking competition with a friend. 110 ounces later, I won. However, I learned that drinking an entire water bottle before sitting in an hour long class is not the smartest thing in the world. What spurred this random competition, you ask. Well folks I realize I fail at drinking water and I am constantly dehydrated. Not healthy. Plus did you know half the time you are hungry you are actually thirsty. Amazing right.

Have you ever made a connection months later that blows your mind. Quick tangent story time. Tori (older sister's best friend growing up) has had this friend Maddie that I have heard about for the last forever. They went to EFY together and life was just great. I think I can even remember her coming to Chicago once and meeting her. Nate (boy I dated once upon a time) has a roommate Stu who has been dating and now is engaged to a girl named Maddie. Don't worry after 6 months of knowing her, and after years of hearing about Maddie. today the connection was made that they were one in the same. I freaked out for a good 10 minutes.

Dinner groups are the best thing ever. but really. Delicious home-cooked meals every night Monday through Thursday and you only cook once every two weeks. its perfect. but while the meals are wonderful, and not having to cook every night is grand, my favorite part might be having a group of people to eat with every night. People to talk to. Oh dinner groups how I love thee.

Swimming. there is something about swimming that I just love. It might be staring at the bottom of the pool. Or the feeling of being surrounded by water. It might be the complete exhaustion I feel with no pain. It might be that for thirty minutes my mind goes blank, or that I feel like I am doing something with my life, or that I strengthen relationships by going with people. It might be all of those things. This Tuesday when we went we saw one of the most inspirational guys ever. He must have weighed only 80 pounds, his body was literally skin and bones. Looking at him you could tell that physically something was wrong, and that he had struggled with health. Yet he hurled his body through the water. It was amazing to watch him just go and go and go. It seemed constant that he was swimming. I would stop and catch my breath, let my body rest, but I never once noticed him stopped. It was amazing. He was amazing.

just singing in the rain...

And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. 

Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.

Gilbert K. Chesterton 

today was a water day.

to start. funny story from yesterday, i forgot about. we were sitting in our room right before we left for camden when i suddenly felt wet. a guy was washing the sidewalk out side and it was spraying in through the open window...there was a lot of yelling and scrambling and "oh my goodnessing" but the window was closed in a matter of seconds, but not without getting my bed. so so funny.

beautiful kew gardens.

hanging out in the rainforest.

on the sky walk at the rainforest- ps cali's new shirt- so cute.

there was an aquarium exhibit. this one was my favorite. if you look hard enough- like real hard- there is a sea horse that blends in with the coral. he was the cutest.

my aquarium buddy, Chelsey- we swam with plankton 3D style.

the waterlily house. so so beautiful.

amber is the bravest person ever and touched the little guy. he looked creepy and mean from his stance, and moved fast and scary like. i was scared just looking at him and she touched him. brave. yes maam.

we love kew gardens, even if it rains.

cocoa. aka chocolate. aka the best tree in the world.

the most ironic display.

finding shelter under a tree while it was pooring. amber, lauren, chelsey, kristen (you cant really see her) and cali

prettiness.

the view down from the tree walk. i then realized i was wearing a dress, so people could probably see up it. no worries.

the tree walk. the one thing we wanted to do, even if it was raining.

today we went to kew gardens. beautiful. woke up. showered. decided to straighten my hair. ate. left thinking we were running late. got there right on time. and then the rain started. our extremely long streak of perfect days was broken. we explores the jungle, the desert, and all other parts of the world. we walked above the tree tops and hid underneath them for shelter from the rain. we cut our visit a little short due to the rain and cold, but the walk home was an adventure with getting soaked. while it was chilly, it was the best thing ever and so fun to get drenched together.

the ride home was grand, i talked with kristen which was great. we talked about how a lot of times we dont know what people are going through. unfortunately when someone is facing something hard a light doesnt appear over their head letting you know. it made me thing of the song "lord, i would follow thee" the line that say- in the quiet heart is hidden, sorrow that the eye cant see- it is so important to be kind to everyone, because most of the time we dont know what is going on in their life. Marjorie Pay Hinckley said, ""Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." so that is my goal. to be kind to all, to not judge because i dont know, and to be a person that people can turn to when life is rough.

at home we immediately got into warm cozy sweats and popped food in the oven to warm. after eating, finishing a paper, and skyping it was time for a nap. the most wonderful nap, even if we didnt have sheets.

side note: a friend's facebook status said "Sometimes a little discomfort in the beginning can save a whole lot of pain down the road" I hate pain, I hate hard situations, and more than anything I hate causing pain, especially to people i care about. It is hard to determine what the best course is, what should be done, what will be the best in the long run- especially when it means causing yourself pain. But we have to have faith, we have to have faith in Heavenly Father and step into the darkness- even if it means there is discomfort. but the longer you wait, hoping everything will just easily fall into place, it will cause even more pain than had you done what you should have earlier. Not saying its easy, or fun, but it will get harder and more painful for all parties involved. side note ended.

it was then off to Hampstead theater to see Silence. another hit at hampstead. the show was great.

cami, cali, me, and elly before the show.

side note 2. cali and i were twins tonight. not wanting to change out of our comfy clothes we both wore our sweatshirts with bright scarfs and jeans rolled up/ capris as to not get them wet. it was grand. 

but back to the show, it was contemporary theater, meaning it wasnt your streotypical show. you could see the actors sitting off to the side, and the stage manager doing his thing, people would change on stage and there wasnt a concrete set. but they made a set with the space there was. you could imagine exactly what was going on. there was a great deal of sound, which enhanced the show (even if it did cause some people to cover their ears) and great use of multimedia. the ending was perfect because it was left open. it allowed you to decide what happened, which was perfectly because i didnt like either ending. The story was of a woman who had fallen in love with a man named Alex from russia- however he had to go into the army and the government had kept all the letters. she eventually got married because she hadnt heard from him. but she gets a tape from him in the mail and sets out to find him. there are sub stories within the play. her husband is a documentary maker and is working on a story, and there is his sound guy who likes the girl next door. the show was well performed with no "weak link". I was glad i knew it was different going in because it made me more open to the experience which left me loving the show.

walking back from the play was a hoot. i had gotten a huge waterbottle- 2 liters- from tesco before the show and was saying to elly how i needed to use the bathroom because i had drank the entire thing- but then remembered i still had a good deal left. elly then challenged me to drink the rest before we got home. well being the competitive type, i started chugging. oh yes and there was a candy bar in it if i finished. i successfully finished the waterbottle in a block- but elly and kiersten's laughing made it hard to drink. elly then spotted a bus pulling into the stop a few yards in front of us and pointed it out to me. i started of running. no worries i caught it just in time. it was perfect.

chug. chug. chug.