lately = london blues

i can't believe that i have already been home for two months. who knows where the past 2 months have gone. there is so much that i miss about london and although i thought adjusting back to life here in utah would be easy, it has been a lot harder for me than i thought it would be. i miss the city and especially all of my friends that i made there. while in london, i loved the life i was living and i was changing constantly and i learned so much about myself. now that i am home, i am still trying to take in everything that i learned there and make it fit with my life here. the past few weeks have been pretty relaxing. which is good because after being gone for so long it was really nice to lounge at home and hangout with the fam. here's what i have been up to lately: (this is for you rach & mar, since you're the only peeps who read this)

quick girls trip to phoenix. 1st girls trip with steph & my mom since steph is officially a married woman.. and it better not be the last girls trip. it was so much fun!

[steph & i with our little cousin, caroline, who lives in mesa]

[so ghetto... but we had to go! plus steph got a pair of tory's exactly like my black ones for $70! can't beat that!!]

steph graduated from the u of u.

mother's day. i have the BEST mom in the world.

midway trip with friends from london & going down to provo to see london friends.

[with the birthday girl.. and our creepy form of a candle, a sparkler haha. happy happy birthday ash!!]

[carly got engaged! now she has a beautiful diamond ring.. and us 3 still have our claddagh rings haha]

congrats carl! i love you!

got a new nanny job & i love it! never realized how hard it is to be a {mom} and how i have so much to learn before i can be a mom haha.

memorial day in st. george with the fam... so so much fun!

[had to try & keep the tradition alive of taking this ice cream pic at dq]

[only in utah would you see this car on the freeway]

so that's some of what i have been doing the past 2 months. i hope that i will stop feeling the london blues soon! haha, until then.. i am just hanging out & waiting for utah to finally heat up and offically feel like summer!

goodbye london.

i am home from london and it feels a bit strange. although seeing my family, eating real food, sleeping in my own bed, and taking a hot shower was nice.. i have been in a weird mood for the past few days. maybe it's because i am having withdrawals and having the classic case of

missing london town.

which i knew would happen. there's nothing like the big city and being surrounded by your best friends. the group i was with really became my family, and it literally feels weird not doing everything with them. i never thought that i would miss the loud keyboard clicks and bedside lights blaring in my eyes as i'm trying to fall asleep at night, sleeping on a bed where liz could hear every move i made, climbing up 70 stairs, having washers that shred our clothes, eating creepy meals, and never being alone. haha that sounds like complaining, but i promise i'm not.. i am just saying that i miss e v e r y t h i n g about london. i wish that i could go back right now. i am so so lucky that i got to spend 3 1/2 months there. while i was in the uk, i did realize how lucky i was, but now that i am home... i am realizing it more and more each and every day. here is the full group:

too many funny times & memories with all of these people.

the night before i left to come back to utah, a group of us (there weren't many of us left.. this was on wednesday, and starting monday people began to leave the centre to go home or to travel other places) went to south kensington to get "ben's cookies" - one of our favorite treats there, and we of course got some yoghurt covered almonds from the so ken station. after getting our treats, we went to see big ben one last time. and we HAD to get the "must have" telephone booth pic.

after we took our last tube ride back home. which was really sad! haha, we have all come to love the tube and it's convenience.

when we got home, we hungout and finished up packing. our room was already feeling a bit empty, and i already missed everyone in dorm 4! liz & carly left this night at 2 am, carl went to bed at 1:30 haha, got a good 15 minutes of sleep, and liz and i stayed up chatting on {our} bed. i will miss my bunkmate! the london centre tradition is that you sign your bunk bed and give advice to the new students that will be coming. me & bevie signed it together.

after saying goodbye to both of them.. i climbed up the ladder to my bed for the last time and slept for 4 hours until kaylee woke me up to say goodbye and then 30 minutes later i got up and went downstairs to say goodbye to the next group leaving. i finished packing, ate my last bowl of crunchy nut (my fav cereal.. i literally ate this at least 2 meals a day), and then left the centre with taylor, geoff, and liz.

after dragging my huge 2 huge bags, 1 heavy heavy carryon, and 2 purses; catching my flight to detriot... then almost missing my connecting flight to salt lake because the line to get through customs took 5 years.. i finally made it to utah. i was greeted by my cute family, (geebs wasn't there because he had a baseball game) grandparents, my cousin caitlin, and my friend maria.

it is so fun to be home.. but i can't help but miss london now! i had the best few months of my life and i have made the greatest memories. i am so blessed.

and now.. i'm currently counting down the days until i get to see beautiful london again!

xoxo

m a r c h .

well another month has already come and passed me by. it is crazy how time is going by so fast and how i have really grown to love london, everything here, and all of the people that i have met here. i thought that i would never say this.. but i will be really sad to leave!!!! home is coming up so fast and although i am so excited to go home, i know i will miss it here so much.

besides all of the traveling we did in march, we also did a lot of fun things in & around london like:

..visited a mosque for one of our history classes..

..caught up on some sleep..

..went to my first opera..

..rode bikes in hyde park- i am loving the spring weather here!..

..had a few scary dinners cooked for us..

[salmon cake, mint covered peas, soggy fries]

[shrimp & mushroom ketchup based stroganoff]

..saw this movie -- in love..

..had a grunge day and went to borough market and then walked around downtown london..

[love these grilled cheese way too much]

..went to billy elliot..

..attended the england vs. ghana "football" match at wembley stadium..

[80,102 people attended the sold out game..... the stadium is HUGE!]

..saw jersey boys..

this past month has been such a fun and crazy one. i am so lucky to be here and to be experiencing all of this... it's so fun, especially when you are with some of your best friends! xoxo

the rest of travel week...

for the rest of travel week, my mom and i stayed in london. we stayed right downtown, and our hotel was in the perfect location. some of the highlights of the week were:

(side note-- if you know my mom, you know that she hates being in pictures but loves taking pictures way too much.. so for a lot of the pictures, it actually looks like i stayed in london by myself for travel week haha, but i did try and take some pictures of her & occasionally with her)

1. westminster abbey

2. harrods

3. parliament & big ben

4. tower bridge

5. river cruise & the london eye

6. st. paul's cathedral & climbing the 500+ stairs to the top

7. changing of the guard at buckingham palace

8. kensington palace

9. portobello market & notting hill

10. picadilly circus

[her favorite thing-- mcdonalds diet cokes]

11. taking brend on the tube-- even though she would rather take the cute taxis everywhere

12. windsor castle

[the royal standard flag flying-- meaning that the queen was there]

13. camden & borough markets

[best grilled cheese ever]

[creepy street performer]

14. our hotel

15. spending time and relaxing with one of my best friends for an entire week

miss you already mom! see you in a month!!