Mamma Mia is like Mary Poppins and so Wicked...

well... I finished school, packed up my stuff and hit the road with mom and dad... So much fun!! I absolutely love traveling with these two. Some might think traveling with your parents would NOT be fun, but I am here to tell you that it is quite the opposite, especially when traveling with my parents!!!! As you can guess from the title, while we were in London, we took time out of our very busy schedule to go and see a few musicals. Mom and Dad had never seen Wicked and I was so enchanted by it the first time that I was an eager beaver to go back for round two. Our seats were slightly better than mine the first time and the musical was great... Mom and Dad loved it as well. All day Thursday, we did our own little walking tour of London and saw quite a bit. Changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and the people practicing for the Opening ceremonies for the Tour de France at Trafalgar Square, altogether a very interesting experience and then later that night we went to the very kid friendly Mary Poppins, also exceptionally well done and enjoyed by all. Our seats weren't as nice as the ones from the previous night, but still great none the less. Friday, we devoted all day to sightseeing. We did a city bus tour (SO cheesy, but well worth it!) We went all around the city and got off the bus at The Tower of London which wasn't my favorite... Except for the Crown Jewels. It hardly seems fair that there are some really really expensive crowns in a case just sitting there when someone could be wearing them and getting some great use out of them!!! Just kidding... from there we did a little boat cruise and got back on our bus tour. It was an eventful day especially when Mom decided that she wanted to go to Trafalgar Square to watch the opening ceremony which was exceptional but crowded and not for the claustrophobic. From there we ate dinner at the Texas Embassy which is a restaurant that felt just like home, especially for Dad because Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was playing across the restaurant and he was still quoting it as if he could hear all the words. And then to Mamma Mia, which was different but i LOVED it!!! It had all the energy that I enjoy and it was just fun to watch!

And now today, as I am typing this I am in Scotland. We got here this afternoon and I was exhausted so I took a little nap after watching Venus Williams win Wimbledon and some of the timed trial for the Tour de France. Altogether a very low key week, but looking very forward to the beautiful sights that I will see in and around Edinburgh!

We Won!!! and I'm Done!!!!

ok... long story short... for the past two weeks the class that I've been taking (International Business) has been in the form of a real life consulting project. This non-profit organization called Oxfam had us come on and try to figure out a way to add technology to all of their 750 shops. And.... drum roll please.... WE WON! my group and another group won. And I kind of feel bad because we didn't really care if we won and other groups did... But none the less I'm still so very excited. We just got back from Oxfam this morning and we presented our ideas and the client loved them!!! I presented as well as this guy named Tyler Lewis. You might be wondering to yourself... self? why is that important? And the answer is in the fact that I'm not a business student at all and I presented Business information to a multi million dollar corporation!!!! So that is that... and oh!! we are done with school!!! I am officially done with school until August 28th!!!! Now I can really get my summer started!

Fairly Uneventful

Well... another week under my belt and I'm only 13 days away from coming home. Things around 9 Canterbury have been fairly uneventful and boring, except for a few things. Last Tuesday we had meetings with our professors and just tried to get back into the swing of things from Ibiza and to recover from the worst sunburn of my life. Wednesday, we took a day trip into London and went to Lloyd's which is the world's largest insurance market. Its a really neat organization in one of the coolest buildings I've ever seen. After our tour, we decided to check out Harrod's and perused there for awhile before getting a train back to Oxford. Thursday... uh nothing happened on Thursday except for more group work. Friday... well most everyone heard about it, but there was a bomb threat in London so we kind of just stuck around Oxford as well as continuing our group work. Saturday... we went to Wimbledon ALL DAY... and it rained ALL DAY... but it was sooo much fun to just get to go to a place that you have watched on t.v. countless number of times. Sunday... another just relaxed day here. Went to a movie and worked on more group stuff. Very uneventful I'm telling you. Except for the bomb threats which are really rather scary especially considering the fact that exactly one week ago I was sitting in the Ibiza airport waiting for my flight. That one hit a little to close to home and I think I'm going to be a lot more cautious around airports for awhile.

But as I sit here and type, I'm going to miss it more than I think. There is really only two more days left and I can't believe that its gone so quickly. It feels like just yesterday we got here with our jet lag and horrible fake British accents. I think I'm sure ready to be home, but I'm glad I still have a little more time with my parents to explore. I am so thankful that I have taken part in this though because I have met some amazing people who I will forever call friends and really broadened my horizons by making me consider maybe getting a degree in business. So much has happened that I am so thankful for and I have absolutely not one regret from this experience.

My one recommendation for anyone who ever gets this opportunity.... TAKE IT!!!!!