Crash and Burned... literally....

Well we returned from Ibiza safely, but just barely!!! We got out of London perfectly fine and had such a wonderful time there... except for the fact that we didn't buy any sunscreen until after we had laid out for a full day without it. Needless to say, we were toasted!!! Long story short, we miss read our flight information and missed our flight by about 12 hours... did you know there is a difference between 2:40 in the morning and 2:40 in the afternoon according to military time? So we waited in the airport for about.... hmm... nine hours and finally made it back last night/this morning at 4 o clock. We had such a fun time and I don't want to type it all out instead I'll let the pictures talk. Isn't it true that a picture is worth 1000 words?

This was the first day at Cala Bassa. It was gorgeous!

All the girls after dinner on Saturday night!

This was the second day at Cala Tarida. Equally as gorgeous, crystal clear water. Incredible.

Girls at the sunset in Ibiza. We ate dinner at this restaurant right off the beach and watched the sunset. Yet again, AMAZING!

We got friendship bracelets to commemorate our time on this trip.

Right outside our hotel before we went to the airport.

homesick? NO I'M NOT!

well another week is almost behind me... we started our challenge this past week which was somewhat of a challenge! And we have been diligently working on our presentations all week. I went today and presented for our group which I might add that I was the only non-business major which had the privilege to do so!!!! and now i'm packed and ready to go... off to Ibiza that is. Laying on the beach and coming back to Oxford with a beautiful tan!

I think if someone gave me the option to come home tomorrow I might take it. You know when you get to the point where you just want to be in your bed, eating the same food you always eat, and with the same people your always with... well I think I'm at that point. I'm very grateful for where I am, but I'm also a little restless for home or something from there... only a few more days till mom and dad come and then it will be like home in the United Kingdom and I'm alright with that.

Well until then, I'll keep praying that I can make it until July 16th!!!

"Lest I Forget Thy Love For Me..."

long time, no blog!!! This past week was spent in France and Boy oh Boy!! i have a lot to share....

Tuesday: Ashley and I (my roommate) decided that we would stay up late and then wake up on Tuesday morning and get ready (shower, shave, and all pretty for our travel day)... I woke up to our alarm and turned it off... I woke up again and realized it was 7:05 and that we had to be on the bus for France at 7:15!!!!!! thats right! so we freak out and just do what we can to get ready as fast as possible. We weren't the last ones on the bus though! so we take the one hour bus trip to London and get to the train station and see Dee Snider from Twisted Sister ("We're Not Gonna Take It") which was cool and he was on our train to Paris. We took the chunnel to Paris which took approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes. Got to Paris just to board a bus to Bayeaux which was 3 hours long and was HORRIBLE!!!! our bus driver did not know how to drive and instead of taking time during our breaks to learn how to all he did was smoke. We get to our Hostel in Bayeaux... thats right a HOSTEL!!! and it was gorgeous!!! The outside was beautiful. The inside however was like a child's play land. The large room that we stayed in was named the Peter Pan room. Peter, Wendy, John, Michael, Tinkerbell, Captain Hook, and the Lost Boys were painted all over the room... weird isn't even a good word to describe it!! We did a little walking through Bayeaux and saw this gorgeous cathedral that is featured below....


Wednesday: This day was fully devoted to explore the beaches of Normandy and all of the beaches that were a part of D-day (June 6, 1944: 63rd anniversary was one week ago!!) It was very intriguing. Our tour guide was packed full of knowledge about what happened. However, it became a little hard to understand him because of his thick Dutch accent. We went to Arromanches, the American Cemetery (pictured below), Utah Beach, a small church that was used as a make-shift hospital (its in Band of Brothers), German Bunker field that was bombed and Utah Beach. It was so neat to be a part of such a big day in history and hear it from a man who has made it his life to inform people of the truth of that day and as well as connect real life stories to the horrific events of D-day and the aftermath.

This picture is from the American Cemetery . The Statue that you see was made and the meaning is that the American Youth is rising up from the aftermath of D-day.

Thursday: We decided to sleep in. And it rained while we had to walk 30 minutes to the cathedral that is above and I of course did not have my umbrella. So i walked all the way with a sweater on my head and a towel around my shoulders. We took the 3 hour bus back to Paris and went straight to the Arc De Triumphe. We shopped awhile and just to get a literal taste of America we went and ate at Planet Hollywood. We started back for the train and all the way around the Arc de Triumphe was 4,000 Parisians all dressed in white having their annual Parisian White Picnic and I wish I had pictures because it was a mad house. Then we got back to our hotel and went straight to bed because we were ZONKED!!!

I just LOVED this picture!!!!

Friday: We got up so early and went straight to Versailles and spent about um.... 4 hours? That sounds about right. It was beautiful though!!! We toured the entire Palace, the gardens and Marie Antoinette's House. It was gorgeous. From there we went to the Eiffel Tower. I have a recommendation for those going to the Eiffel Tower anytime soon: wait in the line for the elevators!!!! DON'T TAKE THE STAIRS!!!! Thats right... Elle, Lauren, Neil, Ryan and myself all walked up to the second level of the Eiffel Tower and once we got there bought the ticket to the top but those stairs are BRUTAL!!! but it was worth it once we got to the top. Its incredible to see all of Paris from the top of the tower. From there we went on a boat tour. Which was great. THen went back and went to bed because yet again... we were EXHAUSTED.

If you were in the Palace looking outside this is what you would see. Its an absolutely gorgeous place!!!!

The Eiffel Tower at night was better than during the day... but thats my personal opinion!

SATURDAY: We hit the ground running and didn't look back. We got up and went straight to Sacre Cour in Montmatre. Its incredibly beautiful but you can't take pictures inside but its worth the trip out there to see it!!!! Then we went to Notre Dame Cathedral and it was still as beautiful as it was 8 years ago when I saw it. Then to the Louvre and saw the 3 things we wanted to see there (Mona Lisa, Venus De Milo, and The Winged Victory) From there we roamed and I don't know how but we ended up at the Galleries Lafayette, WOOPS! We spent only an hour and a half in there and had to come back to Oxford. The trip wasn't so bad this time. I kind of enjoy taking a train, its a nice change of pace from a plane.

Sacre Cour... breathtaking! A pain to get to but absolutely breathtaking!

This was my favorite by far and away. There was a service going on when we went in. It was just really neat to see such an old church still being used to this very day.

And my pictures of the Louvre weren't that great so I choose not to post them! I'll show them but only by request!

Sunday: we woke up and went to the Church of Christ here in Oxford. Four members make up the church so with the group that went we more than tripled the church. It was so neat to know that there are people in the United Kingdom praising the Lord the same way we do in Texas. I think I always knew that people did but just never really got to experience it. It was a wonderful experience and I hope we get to go back in a couple of weeks (we can't next weekend because we will be travelling on our long weekend to Spain!!!) We sang some of my favorite songs (hence the title for my blog... Lead Me To Calvary) we also sang Holy, Holy, Holy. Our professors talked to us about how uplifting it would be for the congregation if we went and I didn't believe him until I set on the front row and looked at the preacher's glowing face as he looked out and saw almost a full church building. He was beaming. I think he may have been a little nervous too, but who knows. All I know is that if ever in Oxford and looking for a church, you won't find a more humble congregation to praise with.

So that is all I have from our week away in France!

I thought about it and there is a million and one things to say about each day but I narrowed it down so that my blog wouldn't be a mile long. Also, I add the pictures because I feel like it validates what I say as well as proving that I actually went to these historical landmarks :)

"Never is an awfully long time...."

WELL.... as previously mentioned in my earlier post I went to London this past weekend... my oh my! what an experience. First of all, Elle, Ashley, Mendy and myself were so enamored by the fact that we were going to London that we forgot to do a couple of things that were vital to us moving in and about London. For example: knowing how to get to our hostel from the train station.... knowing how to get anywhere from the train station for that matter!!!!! Thankfully, a guy that is in our program and has been to London before was able to direct us and from there on out it was smooth sailing. We located our hostel... words don't describe my feelings about hostels but just know that tears were shed! Pretty much if you want to feel unsafe and dirty... GO TO A HOSTEL. and you see while most people know that fact, I did not! Thank you friends and family for not making me aware!!!! Anyways, Friday was just low key night of getting settled in and find our bearings in foggy London-town.

Saturday we woke up to realize that if we wanted to take a shower that we had to trek down the long corridor of the hostel to the community shower. very similar to freshman dorms at ACU but a longer walk. Once we showered and got ready we decided to take the train to the Apollo Victoria Theater and to get our tickets for Wicked so that we could sight-see before the show.

One of the guys from our trip proposed to his girlfriend in this park on Saturday!!!

It was the most surreal feeling ever to be standing in London looking up at Big Ben having seen in dozens of movies and always feeling like I would never come that close. We saw Big Ben, Parliament, The London Eye, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace. British people are very into detail. The very details on the gates around everything was enough for me to marvel at not to mention the architecture of it all. It was absolutely amazing!!! Then we made it back in time to get to our seats at Wicked.... now I'm not complaining by any stretch of the imagination because our tickets were a steal of a deal, but our seats were the VERY LAST ROW. It finally became clear why they call it the "nose bleed section." But... it was worth even sitting in the very back row. Wicked is AMAZING!!!! the performers were excellent and the wicked witch of the west was PHENOMENAL!!!! I highly recommend it and I would even go see it again.

After Wicked, we just shopped around by our hostel and then did our own walking tour of Leicester Square which was like New York City with better accents. We got blisters so we called it an early night and went back to the hostel.

Sunday we were so ready to be back that we didn't tour anything and got on an early bus back to Oxford so we could have time to study for our brutal finals today.

ALL IN ALL... it wasn't what I expected but it wasn't a huge disappointment. I will say something that I'm learning is that there is a HUGE/COLOSSAL difference between traveling with school and parents. And I'm loving the time with my friends, but I'm going to love traveling with Mom and Dad and NOT staying in hostels!!!

i felt like i just typed a lot, but with all the stories and funny comments that's only the tip of the iceberg from this weekend!!!!

oh and I feel as if the pictures are self-explanatory!!! except for the minute detail that Elle and Ashley match (white shirts, jeans, and coach purses!)

not so bad after all...

well so it is officially day 3 for us and its not so bad after all... I mean this in more than one way:

1) Not everyone in Oxford is mean. It may have only been that one lady (look to previous post) or it could have just been a rough day for her.

2) Business classes are not so bad after all!!! I really enjoy my Production and Process Management class. I've learned a lot and I don't exactly feel like I'm completely lost.

3)The food is really pretty good. I've eaten at one restaurant twice and cooked dinner twice and it has all been really really good.

But today was so much fun! We did our tours of the Morgan Sports Car Club and the Wedgewood China Company.
Morgan Sports Car Club was so neat and it was incredible to see how they make cars. It takes them 4 weeks to custom build every car. However, it is a year long waiting list to get your car. Every car is different and no two Morgans are alike. You might be more familiar with this car if i called it a Cruella Devill car. The frame underneath the metal body of the car is entirely made out of wood. Its really neat to see. (don't worry. I'll post a few pictures)

This is a picture of the Morgan Car that I think Dad should get!!!

I think Dad would also like this car... Ashley, Me, Mendy and Elle decided that we should all match today and wear Polo OXFORD button downs. We're crazy!!!

Wedgewood China Company seemed so boring as we started to go through the tour. It was a self-paced deal and you had to hold these little phones up to your ear and listen to the information about the different chinas. Which lets be honest, that's not really my forte and so we sped through the tour and went on into the hands on stuff and that was AWESOME. Imagine the scene from Ghost with me for a second and then imagine me in that scene (no Patrick Swayze and no unchained melody playing). It was so much fun. My pot didn't actually turn out how I liked but the fact that I made one was soooo much fun! Then I made a little something extra for a little souvenir.

This is Elle, me and Ashley right before we broadened our horizons by taking up a hobby in ceramics.

This is during the middle of me making my beautiful clay creation... I would post the final product but you'll just have to wait to see it!!

The only downside to today was that we had to drive a really long ways to get there in a bus that reached a peak speed of about 45 mph. However, who am I to complain? I'm in England and having a wonderful time.

This weekends plans: go to London, tour the city, Saturday @ 2:30 (14:30 if you prefer military time) go see WICKED!!!!!, and tour the rest of London on Sunday.

so expect a very large post sometime on Sunday or Monday.

cheerio chaps!

And it begins..

Well yesterday, I started on my voyage across seas and finally made it here at London time 9:50. Only got an hour of sleep on the plane and haven't slept all day.

Its really pretty. Oxford is turning 1000 years old this year and that is definitely evident in their architecture. We did our own little walking tour when we got to the house and it was just great. Walked from university to university and ended up in University Park (which is an actual park and not the apartments at ACU). Similar to Central Park in New York City, not quite as pretty.

I already miss home because they are mean here. Yesterday, on the sidewalk there was a lady who pushed me and said, "MOVE OUT OF THE WAY GIRL!!!!" I was so shocked I didn't know what to say!!! It was funny but at the same time, how rude??

Everyone who has come to Oxford has said eat at this place called On The Hoof and I kind of thought "yeah right, its not going to be that good!" but I'm here to say that it is absolutely wonderful. I've already been twice and we have only been here for two days.

Class is okay I guess! but it will definitely be kind of tough. I'm enjoying the material and learning about business stuff which is definitely a change in pace to the Family Studies classes I've been taking for a year.

the first picture: us at the airport
the rest of the picture is us from the walking tour... so much fun!!!

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