bloody mary, death by heat, and fuzzy hats

Hi! So today is my third day in London! We got up really early so we could make it in time for breakfast at 7:30. I had another pastry thing with yummy raisins in it. I also got that black pudding thing… I didn’t get the nerve to try it. It smells spicy and it looks like a burnt hockey puck… and I just couldn’t do it. Maybe tomorrow? (probably not.) haha. After breakfast, we went to the tour bus and drove around Hyde Park. We saw Trafalgar square (it has all of these statues and fountains… and it’s cool). We drove more through the streets with all of the neat shops… I loved it. After we went to Westminster Abbey and the Parliament building for about an hour. It wasn’t enough time to go inside of Westminster Abbey, so we decided we would come back after our tour. I ate a banana, thinking it would be no big deal. It turns out that there are no trashcans in London… that complicates the peel situation. I guess they don’t have trashcans because of trashcan terrorist bombs or something. We then went to Buckingham Palace. It was so cool! We saw the first two bands that walked into the Palace, and they were so good. They were all wearing those fancy furry hats. =) After we watched the bands walk down the mall (the main street going into the palace), we tried to cram up close to the gate so we could see any of the guards. That proved to be more difficult because I was a lot shorter than everyone else. So… no good. Today was short people awareness day. So basically, I couldn’t see any of the guards except the pictures I took when I put my camera up high in the air. I did get a few pictures though, so that was really fun. We saw the princes’ house; that was pretty exciting. It was amazingly hot and humid. I was not very happy about that, but we got into the shade and eventually I recovered. We had lunch at a little café and I had a BLT (and avacado…) sandwich. I also had a tomato salad! I really liked that… I even saved my crust so I could feed it to Freddy. Unfortunately I had to throw the crust away because I could not find any Freddys for a really long time. Hopefully tomorrow. After lunch, we walked through Trafalgar square! It was really beautiful and just so big! All of the buildings here are just so overwhelming because they are so fancy and big. I took a picture next to Aslan (por Aslan/por Narnia). Look how big Aslan is! Baby lion is all grown up. After we went to Trafalgar Square, we went to Westminster Abbey. It is the most amazing church I have ever seen. I can’t believe people still go to church there today. It took about an hour and a half to get through it all, and I am pretty sure we probably didn’t see everything. It is about 1000 years old. Pretty much all of the old kings and queens are buried there (like Bloody Mary!). Darwin and Newton were even buried there! The architecture was amazing. It was gothic style, and the ceilings were so ornate and high. I just couldn’t even believe it. I really loved it. I wish that I could have gone there right after my European history class. =) Also, there was even a part of the Abbey that had a hole in it from the bombings in World War II. I thought that was cool, and really appropriate, considering it was by the WWII memorial in the Abbey. After Westminster Abbey, we tried to figure out getting back to the hotel. The bus situation is slightly complicated, and the money situation is really complicated. I don’t remember being this confused about pesos, but maybe I was. Eventually we made it back, and then we just relaxed in the hotel. Fun stuff… Then we went to the Ivy, which is a famous restaurant for famous people. Seriously, I am not making that up. Ha. But I didn’t see any famous people, unfortunately. When we got bread before our dinner we didn’t get plates. This made me nervous because it was a really nice restaurant and I didn’t want to get crumbs all over the table. This, of course, is unavoidable and I got crumbs all over the table. So because I was nervous, I swept them all off the table onto the floor. I know, that was stupid… but it didn’t occur to me until later. Haha. So then the lady came out and swept everyone else’s crumbs onto a plate. Now I feel like a fat jerk. But the food was amazing, really. I got linguine with pesto, and then I had toffee pudding for dessert (aka, the best ever). Then we took a taxi home, which made me slightly ill. Haha, crazy taxi drivers. Now I am gonna go to sleep because I am quite exhausted from a long day of heat, walking, and seeing all of LONDON! Cheers!

flaky, freddy, & fire... kinda

Hello again! Today has been great! This morning was a little rocky, but it definitely got better. I woke up at 6 to the wake-up call that no one asked for. And again five minutes later… still no one asked for it. Crazies. Anyways, then my blow drier almost started a fire. Well, it sparked. And then my straightener didn’t work. It still doesn’t unfortunately. I have to get some converter thing. We already have a bunch, but none of them are the right ones. Anyways, my hair is nappy in these pictures, but just pretend like it’s not. So yeah, after that whole experience, we went to breakfast downstairs. I had these really good croissant things (one had chocolate in it). Happy day! Anyways, I also saw this black circle burnt looking thing… and was kinda freaked out. Tomorrow though, I am going to eat it! I guess it is pudding. After our breakfast, we started walking towards Hyde Park (it is the London Central Park pretty much). On the outskirts of the park there’s a place called speaker’s corner. It is really the coolest thing I have ever seen. Pretty much anyone can stand up and say whatever they want. It’s like this huge discussion thing… and there are a bunch of groups all going at it at once. I guess that is where missionaries used to preach in London back then. I think it is really cool. Who said that England didn’t give us freedom of speech? So we kept on walking through Hyde Park… we ran into these amazing fountains that are right in front of the water. It is really pretty. And the park is so wild looking… like the grass isn’t perfectly cut. Max, my cat, would have a party out there in that grass. =) Eventually we made it to Kensington Palace (pretty much a vacation home for royalty). It was so cool to look at all of the architecture and paintings… everything. Like I said, I really like the old aspect of London. After we went to Kensington Palace, we ate at this cute little tea place right next door. It had tea and scones and all of that good stuff… I had an amazing scone with strawberry jam and some fresh squeezed lemonade, which was quite sour. Then we walked a bit further to the street by all of these embassies. It was really cool seeing them all- the flags were in the street, and the buildings were AMAZING. After that we went to Urban Outfitters and I got a really cute polka dotted mug. I quite like it. We then walked back to the hotel… and on the way we saw lots of squirrels. The squirrels are amazing here. They are posh, if that is possible… they are clean and well-groomed. And I bet they talk in squirrel British accents. Anyways, the squirrels respond to the name Freddy! People here call them Freddy!!! WHAT IS THAT ABOUT? I even tried it. And look at that picture, they came right up! Haha. Tomorrow, or soon, I am going to buy some peanuts and feed the squirrels. It looks way way fun. Speaking of posh animals, I feel that the dogs are more posh too. For example, I saw a dog just walking in the park with a stick in its mouth. Dogs don’t really do that! Also, they are all clean shaven… or poodles (which implies posh). Anyways, we also got some ice cream with flaky (basically a chocolate stick that is quite frankly… flaky!). It was really yummy, but kind of shocking at first because it tasted like whipped cream. So yeah, we had that and got back to the hotel in time for the meeting for our tour tomorrow. I stayed back in the room because I was working on my blog. After the meeting we kind of just chilled, and then we went to get some dinner! We ate at a real, legitimate English pub! I had fish and chips (way amazing) and the waitress even called me mate. She also said cheers. I was definitely a fan. That pretty much sums up our crazy day!!! Also, sorry for the jumbled mess of the past three days. Every once in a while you should just look and I will post more pictures from the older days. My internet kinda stinks so it’s hard. Adios! Have a lovely day!

double-decker buses, stampedes, & fruit gums

Hello all! So lots has happened since being over Hudson Bay! I tried to sleep… that didn’t work out for me so well. I got about 2 hours MAX of sleep. There was some kid crying the whole time… I cannot imagine taking a kid on a flight that was that long. Awful… So yeah. Little sleep… However, I am in London now! It is SO COOL! A quick side note before I continue with my day- I basically went into the boys’ bathroom (toilets) on accident. My bad. Haha, I really thought it was the girls’ bathroom. I am losing my mind. Ha. I was pretty much exhausted when we got off the plane. We took a little van/bus thing from the airport to our hotel. I don’t know how long that ride was because I fell asleep pretty much instantly. Some of the first things I noticed are: the license plates (the cool shapes and colors), driving on the wrong side of the road, the wheel on the wrong side of the car, the amazing accents (my limited experience includes Harry Potter and Bend It Like Beckham), & of course the CrAzY double-decker buses. The time change, of course, is killing me. It is really disorienting and I feel like I have been doing Saturday for a long time. It is scarring. So after the bad driving of the crazy London man, I was sick and we finally made it to the hotel. I thought I was going to throw up, so I was kind of sprawled all over the lounge chair and coffee table by the check-in counter. OK, correction, my feet were touching the coffee table. The man came over and told me to take my feet off the table! I felt like such an idiot! Haha, but no worries. The rest of the trip will make up for that. After we rested for a bit and got all settled in, we went on our first London adventure!!! We took a double-decker bus (going towards the London Eye- don’t worry I’ll explain later). I even rode on the top!!! It was so awesome! London is so cute and perfect. I love how all of the buildings are old with some cool store. I saw about 4 H&Ms, so that is completely awesome. I also feel that London has some of the most choice people watching. People here are so posh. Really, everyone dresses really nice and fashionable. It’s really endearing I think. I pretty much love here. After about 30 minutes of insanity with the driving again, we got to the eye. Ok, I know you have been waiting for a long time to get a description of the Eye. What it looks like to me is a huge ferris wheel… it goes 135 meters up (whatever that means), and lasts for about 30 minutes. It is right on the river, and I was definitely a fan. You could see everything from that little glass room—like Big Ben and the parliament building. It was way fun. HA! Ok, so while I was waiting in line, I was pretty much stampeded. A little background knowledge, I HATE when people push, but I have no backbone. I just kind of shrivel back and let people charge. This is not necessarily a desirable quality in London. Anyways, I wanted to try these little gummy snacks called fruit gums (which taste like cat pee, highly NOT recommended) so my dad helped me pay for them. Anyways, these people of a certain race literally stampeded me!!! It was so scarring! They just pushed right over me! I felt like I was drowning! HAHA! I wish I had a picture, because I bet it looks really funny/pathetic. So yeah, like true tourist fashion, we went to the little gift shop afterwards. I didn’t get anything to do with the Eye, but I got the cutest little red, double-decker bus keychain! It is really cute. And it says London on the side. Very grand. =) After we went on the Eye, we took the bus going back to our hotel because the man at the hotel told us the Hard Rock Café was just around the corner! How ideal, right? WRONG. Well, I guess right if you have 3 hours to wait and 30 minutes to walk. So ridiculous! Anyways, we kept walking and found an excellent little Italian café. I had lasagna. We also experienced our first cultural/language problem. So you know how in English (American) everyone says, “I’m good” meaning “No, I am fine.” For example… “Would you like dessert?” “I’m good.” It seems like maybe everyone would say that, but don’t assume that. English people don’t apparently, because we confused about 3 waiters. The poor dears kept bringing us stuff we didn’t need. We thought it would be funny to say “Thanks, but no thanks” just to completely throw everyone off. Haha, but we refrained. So yeah, we will have to watch our colloquialisms from now on. We walked home from the restaurant and got there at about 11. London never sleeps! There were cars everywhere, and people everywhere! It was amazing! (And definitely different from Provo, Utah) Anyways, now we are home and I am getting ready for bed. Michael and I just watched a Michael Jackson special. It definitely rocked. I guess old Michael Jackson got to Michael (my brother), because he just slept walked over to the TV mumbling about Michael Jackson and pony horses. I honestly have no idea what that was about, but I laughed at him and told him to lie down and he said ok. Ha, so I guess that wraps up my Saturday in London! YAY! Cheerio! Frosted Flakes! Talk to you all soon! Loves.

32/24 hour days, airplane bathrooms, & dog people-DAY ONE

If you are moving at a speed of 400 kilometers an hour over the Hudson Bay will your day be 32 hours instead of 24 hours? Will you appear thinner? Will the moose have some gravitational effect on the Earth? ALBERT! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING???
Greetings from Hudson Bay!!! Right now I am in a cramped airplane… some people find it possible to sleep. However, since I cannot even sleep in my own bed in the most pristine conditions, I am awake. So far, my 32-hour day has been lovely! Right now, I am a little confused by the whole time situation. In my world, it is 10:15, but in England it is 6:15 on Saturday morning. What happened to my sleep? Sad day for me tomorrow and extremely sad day for my family. I imagine they will have a rough life dealing with all of my grumpiness. Also, a lovely side note, it is -59 degrees outside. Warm? I think not.
So here is a little recap of what happened today. I got up early this morning and got all ready, packed, etc. You know the drill. At about 10:00 we finally left for the San Francisco International Airport. On the way to San Francisco, we saw a man driving, but his dog was slightly sticking its head out the driver window. Basically it looked like a dog man. It was pretty much some awful Sims creation gone wrong. It was so completely eerie looking… but really funny. I tried to take a picture, but it didn’t turn out as funny as it actually was.
Also, do you know that girls’ camp song that is about Black Socks? It goes something like this… “Black socks, the longer you wear them the blacker they get. Someday I think I will wash them, but something inside me says don’t do it yet.” So basically that song does not apply to black pants, because in a matter of a few hours, I already spilt nacho cheese and other drinks all over my pants. I now look like a three year old.
I also got carsick on the way there. I have been sassy enough about my dad’s driving, so I will leave it at that. We finally got to the park and fly (where I realized yet again the importance of going to college), and we took a shuttle to the airport. I love international airports. I don’t know, but they are so cool. Maybe it is because they provide the ultimate people watching experiences… there are so many people and I just gawk and wonder about their life stories—where they are from and what they are doing in San Francisco. I got a cool new book at the airport that I started reading called The Lullaby. It seems pretty good. (Not that it is benefiting me right now, because I would feel bad turning on the light to read. Anyways, we got to the airport super early so I read through all of my magazines… sad day. I am now quite knowledgeable on Jon and Kate’s separation. ANYWAYS. As you can see, my day has not been too adventurous. Ever since my experience with flying into Mexico (see old blog entry about the Mexicans crossing themselves due to the deathly turbulence), I really do hate flying. I really hope that in five seconds I don’t plummet into the Atlantic Ocean. I have watched Titanic a lot lately… and I wasn’t really a fan of the whole cold water, sinking parts. Oh, by the way it is now -61 degrees. Brilliant. So yeah, just a little while a go, I got up to go to the bathroom and almost got sucked down into the toilet… I will not be doing that again. I don’t remember ever using an airplane toilet, and I think that was my last time. Ever. Definitely not a fan. I also watched He’s Just Not That Into You. Oh. My. Gosh. Holy depressing movie… It makes me want to never speak to males again. I was genuinely angry and pretty much nothing is wrong. So yeah, if you want to be depressed about love or anything, I would highly recommend that movie. My dad watched that Taken movie… I think it is the one about the girl who gets kidnapped in France. Ha, I think I will steer clear of that movie for today. Thank you very much…
Boy oh boy, tomorrow is going to be a REALLY long day. A REALLY long day. Maybe my bedtime can be at like 2 PM. Hehe. Highly doubt that.
It’s finally here! I am going to Europe legitimately!!! CHEERIO! (Is it spelled like the cereal? Ha! Who knows? I will stick with the classic, ADIOS!)

post-traumatic stress disorder

hello everyone! sorry it has been so long... honestly not much has happened! i can tell you about one event, though. oh man, buckle down. it's a long story! (but a good one...)

once upon a time, i had to get a gum graft surgery. what is that, you might ask. well, the tissue on the roof of your mouth is scraped off and sewed over the exposed area... in my case in the back of my bottom front teeth. (by my tongue). so i had quite the nervous week before the surgery because i was afraid of what could happen... blah blah blah. so the day of the surgery came... i had 2 sedatives, it was really freaky and i hated it. mckay picked me up and i scarred him by smiling and my teeth were all bloody. haha. anyways, the recovery went well. (besides the usual drugged stupor, bad taste in my mouth, and occasional blood). that is, it went well until sunday morning when pretty much the most scarring event of my life happened. so i woke up way early in the morning feeling like i was drooling all over everything. i laid there for about ten minutes thinking it would stop. eventually i used my phone and looked on my pillow and saw blood everywhere. i ran into the bathroom and looked in the mirror and blood was literally pouring out of my mouth. i ran into my parents room and woke them up and the whole process of trying to make it stop began. i started hyperventilating and my mom was trying to calm me down... it was pretty scarring. anyways, we tried for about two hours to get it to stop, and it wouldn't. we eventually had to go to the doctors and i got more stitches on the roof of my mouth. now i live and sleep in fear... waiting for it to happen again pretty much. SO SCARRING.

moral of the story, don't let people touch your teeth. thanks.