Home is Where the Heart is

Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you how much I love Arizona. Arizona is where I was born and raised and I intend to always call it "home". Arizona has some of the most incredible sunsets I have ever seen, the heat in summer, which as crazy as it sounds I absolutely love, the snow up north in winter and of course my family and friends! Approximately every 6 months my 6 best friends (Alex, Aiden, Jessica, Stephanie, Michelle, Katie) and I are reunited with each other and it always feels as though we have never been apart. I feel very, VERY lucky to call these girls my best friends because although our lives have taken us all across the country and even the world these past several years we continue to remain incredibly close. Social networking sites are of course always helpful with that but even once we are all together again it feels (to me) as though nothing has changed! I am truly blessed to have these wonderful, beautiful friends in my life and I don't know what I would do without them.

As for this lovely Christmas Eve Day I have been happily finishing up some last minute Christmas shopping, wrapping, and now watching a Friends marathon. I plan on watching a Christmas movie and playing some board games while eating pizza and wings (a tradition every year) before heading over to Alex's moms house to help with all the crazy wrapping whirlwind that ensues every year on Christmas Eve at their house. It's always so fun to help because there are so many children to wrap for and prepare Santa presents for and the Christmas spirit is exactly how I always want Christmas to be! Crazy and hectic with lots of laughter :) For anyone who somehow doesn't know, I consider Alex's family to be my second family and they kindly adopt me every holiday as part of their family so I get to celebrate with all the people I love through the days!

Christmas always has been and always will be my favorite time of the year! I am so excited for the next two weeks to spend time with my family, friends and as I have recently decided, to re-read Harry Potter! Every time I watch one of the movies again (such as last night) or read quotes on pinterest or see postsecret's anything Harry Potter related I get so sad that the series is over and I have to start reading them again! I LOVE HARRY POTTER! Who has an opinion on me getting a Harry Potter related tattoo?..........
While Javi is here I am also really excited to start exploring Arizona. Being abroad has gotten me even more excited about history and learning the stories that a city has to tell and I really want to know more about this great state that I love so much! I was doing a 100 question quiz in a magazine with my dad and it was all about Arizona (because Arizona turns 100 on February 14, 2012) and it was talking about all sorts of historical places and important places in Arizona that have so much history to offer and I want to see and visit it all! After I inform Javi this is what I want to do while he is here (hehe) I'm hoping that he is just as excited to explore with me! I'll keep you all updated.
A quick update on this terrible bug bite I had and cold I had- the bug bite is finally healed except for a small scab which yes, I am putting neosporin on, and the cold is finally gone except for a stuffy nose. I'm hoping to keep it that way.

Love from ARIZONA!
Kristin

Full of Surprises

Good Morning family and friends!

This past week has been crazy, CRazy, CRAZY with surprises from yours truly. Let me start by saying I finished off my semester at King's and am very happy with how both of my final essays turned out! They aren't due until January after I get back but I would never have been able to fully enjoy the holiday if I had to worry about writing those darn papers. Because I completed every thing over a week early (yes, I am an overachiever) I began to feel very wrestles wandering around London and I knew I just needed to get myself home. I spoke with British Airways and for relatively cheap I was able to change my flight and not only come home early but also switch airports so I could go to Los Angeles for a week! I wasn't sure I would be able to make it to LA at all this Christmas season and I was very sad about this because not only did I miss all my friends/family out there but I missed the beach a lot too! Let's backtrack again....
On Monday, January 12 I left my apartment around 630 am to head to the airport. I wanted to give myself 2 hours to get there. Being that there were no lines this early in the morning I got through baggage drop and security in just 20 minutes and had over two hours to kill before my flight. I wandered around and then read a new book I got at the airport. About 45 minutes before boarding I walked over to my gate and sat down waiting for everyone to board the plane. I absolutely HATE all the pushing and shoving people do to get on the plane first. I just don't understand it, everyone has an assigned seat!! Anyways, I happened to sit down next to a lovely girl, Cordelia, who was doing the same thing! haha and after exchanging small talk about no free wifi and eating carrot cake we became fast friends. It worked out PERFECT because Cordelia had an open seat next to her on the plane and we were able to chat and watch movies the whole way home.
Now keep in mind that only a couple of people knew I was leaving London a week early. I didn't want to tell too many people because I  didn't want anyone spoiling the secret and I couldn't have that happening since Javi didn't know I was coming! Yup, that's right, Javi had NO IDEA I was coming to see him in LA. Lisa picked me up from the airport and the first place we went to was the beach. Even though it was raining a little I just had to go put my feet in the sand. We only stayed for about five minutes and then went back to the apartment to rest and shower up. As Javi got off work, his sister, Irene, let me know he was on the way home and Lisa drove me over to their house. I knocked on the door and being that he was the closest, Javi answered the door! It couldn't have been any more perfect of a surprise. He opened the inside door and saw me through the screen door and he just stared. His mom and sister had to remind him to open the door and let me in out of the cold! Then he smiled and smiled and kept repeating "this can't be real!" over and over hahaha It felt so, so good to be back in his arms and back at home. It took two days for him to realize I really was there and we were both so happy.
It was a week filled with LOTS of sun, friends, and family! On Thursday night I woke up pretty sick and am still trying to recover from a cold that won't leave my nose. On a positive note, I did completely avoid jetlag! I've never been able to completely do that but I did well with staying awake when I needed to and sleeping when I was supposed to.
The second surprise came on Sunday, December 18. My parents were having their annual bridge Christmas party and my mom had already told me on multiple occasions that she wished I could be there so I decided to show up and surprise her (and as it turns out, all of the people at the party). It was so funny to see my parents faces as I walked in the door. I think surprise number two went over well.
The third and final surprise was to my most perfect, wonderful Godson, Aiden! I asked to pick him up from his dad's since I had not seen him in over three months! When I knocked on their door and he saw me outside he flung himself at me and hasn't let go of me for more than a few minutes at a time since he saw me. I love it and although I probably shouldn't be carrying him anymore I can't help it when he asks! He has gotten so big and I just can't believe he is already FIVE years old!!
This week is already shaping up to be a good one, I am still fighting this cold but making plenty of time to catch up with friends. On Wednesday I am having all my girlfriends over to have a cookie and present wrapping party! I can't wait!

Lots of love,
Kristin

Life Is Burritoful

My favorite time of year is here and I can't explain to you how excited I am to be going home soon. I have been missing home a lot lately, more so than in the beginning of my adventure out here. That's probably because the novelty of being in a foreign country and everything being new has kinda worn off and I'm ready for familiar faces, family, friends, and fun. Today being the first day that Christina, Mariel and I all had a free day with NO SCHOOL WORK to do we went on a mission to find Chipotle and guess what. WE DID IT! It's probably a good thing that I found it now and not earlier or I'd probably half live there haha. It was nice to have a little taste of home even if it came from a quick serve restaurant (which Javi has informed me is different than a fast food restaurant). It was only a few weeks ago that I found out Chipotle was even in London and I just haven't had time to go find it. Then last week in the evening paper there was a full page spread about how burrito's are becoming a trend in London and I laughed so hard on my bus ride home because it seemed so funny to me that burritos....BURRITOS....are such a craze all of a sudden. Not that I'm complaining or anything, the lack of Mexican food out here is depressing so if it wants to pick up as a trend or whatever, hey! don't let me stop it.
After we stuffed our faces (yes, I did actually finish my entire burrito bowl with an entire bag of chips, thank you very much!) we walked off the food coma by heading over to the Victoria and Albert Art Museum. We didn't stay more than an hour but we were able to see some statues of people and stuff (sorry for that pathetic description) and also art from the Renaissance which had a lot of church icons, relics, paintings, tapestries etc...and that was much more interesting to me. We were exhausted and sleepy and decided to head home to rest before we head out for the night.

Love from London,
Kristin

Ich Liebe Bremen!!

Hi family and friends! 

I'm writing this with a happy heart as I just had a wonderful weekend in Bremen, Germany! It was a very busy weekend with lots of new friends, tons of sightseeing and general Christmas cheer! I left for Germany on Thursday evening after my class got out and after minor (ok annoying major) delays at airport security I was finally on board and ready for take off. I landed in Bremen around 930pm and found Thorsten right outside of customs. Although I'm officially fed up with Ryan Air I'm glad that they have their own little section of airport so no wandering aimlessly through terminals and baggage and what not for me. We headed back home via the "scenic route" aka we hopped on the wrong bus haha and were back at the apartment in about 45 minutes. After trying gluvein (mulled wine) for the first time and catching up a little it was off to bed! 

Friday morning I was lucky enough to sleep in until a little after 10am! For those who know anything of my sleep habits that is LATE for me. Thorsten was already off to work and I decided to have a lazy day watching movies I hadn't seen (Avatar) and eating what felt like 5 pounds of Christmas cookies his mom made me. They were unbelievably good and I even got to bring some home with me! I'm telling you....these cookies were serious Christmas cookies. Friday evening we were off to the Christmas market to meet up with friends. I got to try a few different types of gluvein AAAAAND I was even allowed to keep the cups I drank out of! I have a lovely collection of 3 cups now haha The Christmas markets were so magical, you guys. A cold evening, a hot drink, and everyone happily spreading Christmas cheer. This really should take place in the states. After the Christmas markets we bar hopped a little and ended up at one called the heartbreak hotel and another that looks like a real life cave when you walk in! It was SO neat. 

We handmade sushi for lunch on Sunday!

Saturday was very eventful as well and although all the sightseeing was SUPER awesome I think the funniest part of the day was the pajama party we went to that evening. It was funny to see so many people in so many different types of pajamas from footie pajamas (yes, like the ones I have) to slippers and boxers. Any excuse to wear my pajamas I'm not going to say no to! I made lots of new friends and even talked to a fellow Californian. It took us a while to be friends because he cheers for UCLA and I cheer for USC but we managed to be friendly enough hahaha

Swinging at the Science Center

Sunday afternoon we headed over to this really awesome interactive science center! We played around like kids for a couple of hours and even got to see the new laser show that recently started. Exhaustion was starting to kick in at this point so things like the maze you had to walk/crawl through in pitch dark seemed extra fun AND funny to me. I could have stayed there for hours....days even....so much to see and I can't wait to be back in the spring to go again. 

I feel very lucky to have been able to stay with Thorsten in Germany because traveling is so much fun when you have an insider perspective and get to do more than just typical touristy attractions. Not that I'm against that because who are we kidding, I LOVE being a tourist sometimes haha but it's fun when you have someone who knows short cuts through the city and how to use the buses and I think it takes a lot of the stress out of traveling. So thank you, Thorsten for showing me such a WONDERFUL time in an awesome country! 

I got caught taking just a littttttle nap while
 skyping after the pajama party hahah

On another note, I am getting very tired of London at the moment and can't wait to come home. Don't get me wrong, I've come to love this city but I miss having the simple pleasure of customer service. No one here cares about customer service and it drives me insane. I could go on about this for hours, especially after a few situations Thurs going to bremen and Monday coming back to London but I've dwelled on it enough and need to let it go. But as long as I'm on this topic....other things I desperately miss back home: I miss eating Mexican food 3 (ok 4) nights a week. I miss driving. I miss calling friends to catch up frequently. I miss the beach. I miss each and every one of you reading this. Before this post turns sad I'm going to sign off but I can't wait to catch you up soon on my brief time left in London this term. I am back to the states SO SOON! 

Love from London,

Kristin

If You Say So....

I was skyping with my oh so loving boyfriend, this morning and he asked me what I had done yesterday. I said my usual, "not much, read a lot, walked around town a little, ate at some point....nothing exciting" and we then started talking about movies and football and I forget what else (sorry, Javi). Towards the end of our conversation I said something along the lines of "oh! at the Natural History Museum yesterday I saw...." to which he replied, "Kristin! you said you didn't do anything!" Now in my defense, I was only there for about 2 hours and I wasn't nearly as in love with this museum as the Imperial War Museum but I know what he meant. After (gently?) reminding me that some people actually do care about what I do on a day-to-day basis out here I decided I would blog a little about this museum as I've now been there twice this week. 
For starters, I wish I had not begun my tour of the museum with the "creepy crawly" exhibit. It really, honestly was creepy AND crawly and I certainly did gag a few times at the life size spiders and MASSIVE crabs. However, I did enjoy learning about how much more dominant female spiders are over their male counterparts! I'm pretty sure I knew this at one point but reading it and seeing videos showing it was pretty cool. This crab here on the left is 3meters and all I could think was, "I really, really, really hope I never ever, ever, EVER see that in real life." That shouldn't be too hard as I'm pretty sure this guy lives at the bottom of the ocean BUT point being, I was disturbed. Even worse in this exhibit was finding out about the bugs that live in ALL (it continually said nearly all but that means all right?) of our eyelashes that are supposedly necessary to keep our eyelashes clean. I hate the idea of that so much I wanted to cry right there on the spot but hey! I guess I haven't noticed them up until this point so I'll keep letting them do their thing. *insert shudder here* 

After being sufficiently scarred by this exhibit I moved on to.....DINOSAURS! Why is it that something so far removed from our past still continues to fascinate us? I know I came home and immediately started googling more about dinosaurs. How crazy that these animals ruled the world before humans were even a possibility! 64-65 MILLION years before humans are known to have been on earth. Oh history, you never fail to blow my mind! Anyways, I of course spent much more time among my new prehistoric friends than among the creepies and crawlies and actually learned a lot about the different types of dinosaurs and what they ate and who would have one battles against who.....Don't ask me to tell you any of it offhand because I won't be able to but it was fun to read about! This "little" guy over here on the right was probably one of the smallest replica's of dinosaurs they had on site but I thought he looked funny because he looks like he's searching for someone or something. I think he would have been one of the more friendly dinosaurs but what do I know.... 

Today I ventured back to the Natural History Museum for lack of anything else to do and not in the mood to wander to another museum today, and I walked upstairs to the exhibit on Darwin. Now, as controversial as this may be to some peope, the man makes a point! First off, I loved walking in on the side with all the cute lil monkeys!! I love monkeys! Probably because I wish I could move among the trees like they do, I just loved climbing trees as a kid! Ask my parents, I'm pretty sure I gave them a heart attack or two growing up. They'll probably claim more than that. I digress... DARWIN. Although the exhibit started with him and talking a lot about his ideas I was more intrigued by the comparisons between humans and the many different kinds of apes humans, or should I say homo sapiens, have similarities with! There are of course significant differences that distinguish us from the monkey family but did you know that some species have the same size brain as us?! Did you know that some of them even know how to make tools? There was even a video example of how certain monkey's understand the idea of seeing something from someone else's point of view. In the example it showed how a female monkey was hiding behind a rock with a male monkey who was not the dominant male monkey of her group so she should not have been with him. On the other side of the large rock the dominant male could see only her but not the other male monkey. It was all quite scandalous really, I guess it didn't matter since the screaming children were more interested in running around and through the exhibit hitting each other rather than actually reading anything about it. Though in fairness to them, a lot of them weren't tall enough to read the signs anyways...Side tracked again....
ANYWAYS. I didn't stay long at the museum today because I was tired and need to pack because tomorrow I fly to GERMANY!!!! 
I cannot express how excited I am to be going to see Thorsten (for all who don't know Thorsten is Javi's sister's boyfriend and he lives in Bremen, Germany) and spend time in the Christmas markets and enjoying more time traveling abroad! It still amazes me how easy it is to travel around Europe and reminds me on my more homesick days why I want and love to be here! I do have class tomorrow so I need to get off to bed now but I of course will keep you posted on my next adventure!


Love from London,
Kristin

A London Thanksgiving

I know it was almost a week ago now and I'm just getting to posting about it but Thanksgiving in London was lovely! Although it took trips to 4 separate grocery stores to find all the ingredients we needed to make everything, Thanksgiving dinner went off without a hitch! We had everything we would have had at home! Turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, broccoli casserole, bread, cranberry sauce and pie! It was actually a lot of fun to celebrate such an American holiday here. I had class all day on Thursday and because I was going over to Caitlin's house after class to cook dinner I had to carry a glass pan and ingredients with me haha I must have been quite the scene walking around waterloo, Covent Garden, Oxford Street and then finally Kengsington with all my bags.
Upon arrival I was introduced to some new English friends of Caitlin's as well as meet up with friends I had not seen in a few weeks. We opened a bottle each of red and white wine, poured us each a glass and toasted to productive cooking! The turkey was in the oven, the casseroles just needed to be warmed up and the rest was ready to go. The hardest part of Thanksgiving to explain to our English friends was why we put marshmallows in our sweet potatoes. They just couldn't understand why it would be necessary to sweeten sweet potatoes anymore! After a (nearly) heated discussion they decided it was just a weird American tradition and let it go. I wouldn't trade that dish for anything, make fun all you want!

In the end I finished three HUGE plates of food and didn't even have room for pie. Sad day but I guess that means at Christmas dinner I'll have to have extra dessert. Anyways, this plate I have here on the left doesn't even begin to tell how much I piled on that plate. Don't tell anyone but I definitely had to undo the button on my jeans after finishing the third plate. As I was getting ready to leave a while later it was still quite painful to button them up again but I figured no one on the tube needed to see me being such a slob after having stuffed my face for over an hour.
Thank you Caitlin and friends for helping us celebrate one of my favorite holidays! (because it involves food of course!)

Love from London,
Kristin

My First Visitors

I have finally had some visitors here in London!

My mom and sister came to visit and let me tell you, it has been a VERY busy couple of weeks.

Lets go back to November 7.....My mom flew in to Heathrow on November 7 and I picked her up from the airport and headed back to my flat in Greenwich. It's about a 2 hour journey but it seems to go pretty quickly (I think so anyways.) I think she realized very quickly how much walking I do in this city as we had to switch tube stations multiple times and then walk back to my flat once in Greenwich. We didn't do much that evening besides relax and catch up on things because early the next morning we left for Edinburgh, Scotland! I had been wanting to visit this city since before I moved to London so I was thrilled to have the chance to travel more this term!   

We had 4 full days of seeing castles, and cathedrals and meeting locals at a pub nearby. We took a tour bus all around the city and learned a lot about the history of the city and the people who live there. It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL and worth the 4 1/2 hour train ride. Because we were so close, we also had the opportunity to visit Glasgow for an afternoon as well where we walked around the city center, had some dinner, and found ourselves laughing hysterically while shopping in the north face store. That story is for a different time ;) I can't wait to go back to Glasgow though because we literally only had about 5 or 6 hours to walk around and I know there is so much to see in such a historic city. We passed old universities you can tour and an old cemetery that I want to walk through, even though that seems creepy and weird. It was beautiful and for some reason I just wanted to walk through and read all the old headstones.

It is a hard to wrap my mind around the fact that this city is so old that the headstones I could see had dates in the early 1800's! I want to say some were even before that but....anyways. If nothing else, being abroad has made me realize EVEN MORE how much I absolutely love history and trying to follow as much of it as I can.  It's also funny to think that even when the US is as old as these countries are, it will still be a baby compared to Europe. (Duh, Kristin, Europe gets old along with America...you know what I mean, ok?!) After 4 days in Scotland, we headed back to London...for less than 12 hours haha we got back to my flat around 11pm and repacked for our next adventure to Paris, France! We left at 8am the next morning to get to the train which would take us through the tunnel and into France! It was hectic and I was exhausted but I guess I've always moved quickly in life so overall it worked out. That afternoon we walked around and gathered our bearings and had dinner at a lovely restaurant where I ate the BIGGEST salad I have ever had in my life. It was so yummy! The next morning I got up bright and early to go pick up my twinnie from the airport where she flew in to meet us!! I am proud to say that I managed to figure out their metro system, and the replacement buses being used because they were doing repair work on the line that went all the way to the airport and I did it allll by myself :D For those of you who know how directionally challenged I am, I know you are smiling right now. I have actually become very good at using public transportation out here. Mostly because I don't have a choice but hey! still a huge accomplishment I think. ANYways, I picked up Kimberly and we made our way back to the hotel and the three of us hopped on a tour bus and began the most touristy few days you can imagine. we saw the eiffel tower, the louvre, champs elysee, sacre coeur, and the arc d' triomphe! The tour involved buses and boats and it was actually a good way to see the city for the first time. Due to the fact that I had school work to work on (boooo) I didn't get to see any of Paris at night but I guess I'll just have to head back soon for that experience!!  My favorite part of being there was going to the tippy top of the Eiffel Tower and seeing the magnificent view.  There is nothing to compare it to that I have ever found. It was stunning and romantical and Kimberly and I kept waiting to see someone propose haha especially since they sell champagne (by the glass AND bottle) up there. But really, it was great and as cliche as it is, I LOVED IT. It has especially been fun to travel with my mom and sister and have the time to spend more than a day or even just a few hours in any one of these places. On previous family trips we've been able to travel to France, Spain and other places but they were on cruises and you only have a few hours really in the actual city. Point being, I LOVE TRAVELING and actually getting to explore the cities I am in. The three of us left Paris together, back through the tunnel and in to London! I had a lot of fun showing both my mom and my sis how good I have gotten at using the public transportation and how much I've learned about city. We walked a lot around central london....mainly covent garden area and on Thursday, when I had class they were able to do a lot of shopping around Oxford Circus. Both of them went home with more than enough souvenirs ;). We were also lucky enough to see two amazzzzzing plays! One was called Backbeat and is about the story of the Beatles. It starts in the eeearly days when there were 5 beatles (which I didn't even know) and goes through how they ended up with 4. I thought it was incredible and all the actors actually played their own instruments and well, I was impressed. We also saw a play called the Million Dollar Quartet and this one was even better! Absolutely INCREDIBLE. It is about the one and only night that Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins all played/recorded together. These actors/musicians were so impressive. I would definitely go back to see this one with ANYONE who wants to visit. *hint hint* 

Kimberly and I also had a lot of fun celebrating our birthday together for the first time in 5 years! I'm always in CA and she's always in AZ so we haven't been together on our actual day of birth in forever! We went out to a club called koko which is in Camden and we had fun dancing and such. 

We were fortunate to have really good weather in all our travels! Sun shining every single day in Scotland (crazy!), Paris, AND London! I think even the weather knew they were leaving today though because it was so foggy all day I couldn't see a foot in front of my face and it was very cold. I know it's only supposed to get worse so I best prepare myself!  

So as I said, the two of them left London, back for good 'ol Arizona and I'm sitting here alone in my apartment, skyping with my Javi and trying to get myself focused on school again. I need to start figuring out how to write my second essay because on Thursday we were told we would have to give a 30-40 minute presentation basically with all the information we will be putting in our paper. SO. I need to get on that. It was a lovely couple of weeks of distractions and I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to travel so much so far this term.

Next stop: Bremen, GERMANY!

Wait....where did October go?!

I can't believe how quickly the time is going. I feel like I blinked and all of a sudden it is November! Not that I am complaining because I can't WAIT to go home for Christmas but it hit me this week just how much work I have to get done for school in the next 6-7 weeks. I still have a lot of reading to do for both of my classes and I still need a topic for one of my papers and....well more on that later because more important things to say on this special day....
HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WONDERFUL BOYFRIEND, JAVIER RAMIREZ! 
It's a little bit sad to be so far away from family and friends on special occasions like birthdays, holidays and what not. I know at least that it is only for one year and then I will be back in the states and celebrating next year will be even MORE exciting! On a more exciting note, my mommy and sister are going to be here to celebrate our birthday in London! I am super duper excited to travel with them (I won't give away yet where we are going) and even more excited to have my twinnie with me on our birthday. I think it has been a lot of years since we have been together on our actual day of birth. 
This past week has been a busy one with lots of reading (always) and more time at the Imperial War Museum. On Friday though I was very happy to go to St Paul's Cathedral for the first mass since the church closed due to the Occupy movement going on outside its doors. I can't say I know enough about the movement to give my opinion on what is going on but I can say it is incredible how many people have organized outside the church. It was closed for one full week at a (supposed) loss of more than £20,000 each day the church had to keep its doors closed. There are approximately 200 or so tents set up in front of and around the church though they have peacefully agreed to shift as the church requests so they may keep their doors open to the thousands of tourists who flood their steps each and every day of the week. Now what else I don't understand is how other people see their position in this occupy movement that is sweeping the world. It honestly blows my mind that this is something happening to countries everywhere, it's not just a movement where people can say "oh those Americans...." or "what are those Brits doing...." (just to use the countries I currently identify with) but it's happening everywhere! I should take more time to read in to this whole situation but let's be honest....I'll probably just ask Alex and my dad as I do with all things political. 

On a lighter note....Halloween was a hit this year! I wasn't really sure if I wanted to do anything at all and I didn't want to spend any money on a costume I probably wouldn't want to waste precious suitcase space with later on when I go home but Sharlene convinced me there were plenty of fun things to do around the city and we couldn't waste a holiday in another country! (Thank you, Sharlene). After a night spent looking up clubs, events, and other things going on for this holiday where the British actually thank us for giving them something....we decided on a club called Brixton Electric. We weren't going to dress up but 2 hours before we left we were at Tesco, the grocery store below my apartment building, and....we saw cat ears. and masks. and tails. And so we became Tesco Kitties for halloween. hahaha we thought we were pretty funny and it was the perfect addition to the black dresses we were going to wear out that night anyways! We danced for a few hours and even though the dj didn't play one specific type of music it was a lot of fun. There was a lot of old music played and it felt an awful lot like high school dance music but that kind of made it fun because we were able to jump around and sing to music we knew! 
And tomorrow! To celebrate the actual day of Halloween I am going with Caitlin to.....A BRITNEY SPEARS CONCERT!!! I can finally let go of the fact that I wasn't allowed to go to shows/concerts as a kid because....I get to see Britney. Whom Caitlin and I both still happen to LOVE. (Thank you Laura Michelle for bringing me back to her Sophomore year of college.) I am beyond excited BUT I now need to go read, read, read since tomorrow night I will be out! 


Love from London,
Kristin

Venturing Beyond London

For anyone who actually reads my blog, I am sorry it has been so long since I last posted. I guess I feel like so much of my life has become ordinary here as I have tried to focus on school a lot. I know I don't have class often but that means a lot of work to do on my own outside of class on top of the small homework assignments from my teachers. Anyways, this past weekend I was able to go visit France! No, not Paris (though I will be headed there in a few weeks!) but Strasbourg. Let me back up a bit....
When Kimberly and I were in high school our mom signed us up to be a host family for girls from France each summer. Manon was the third (and BEST!) girl to come stay with us and we have kept in touch, first through email, then through facebook, for the past 6 years. We have always talked about visiting each other but it has never really been a possibility until I moved here!
After briefly discussing travel options and dates we were both free my flight got booked and off I flew to Strasbourg! I can't even tell you HOW ADORABLE I think this city is. Not only did Manon grow up in this city but her parents AND grandparents grew up there! It has an adorable city center and it is on the river so we were able to take long walks all around the city by following the river. It was really fun to see another country and city from the eyes of a native. In my opinion, that is the best way to travel when possible.
I'll walk you through my weekend:
Friday morning  I woke up at 4:45am to get on the first tube and off to Victoria Station where the train would take me to the airport. I travelled to the airport and got on my flight without a hitch. I arrived in Basel-Mulhouse-Frieburg airport around 11am. This airport is actually in Switzerland because Manon lives closer to this airport than the ones in France haha. Quick side note.... it literally borders Switzerland/Germany so my phone kept sending me messages "welcome to Switz." wait "welcome to Germany" WAIT "welcome to..." so I turned it off since I didn't need it anyways. Back to our day....
We had lunch at the cutest little restaurant where I had meat and potatoes of some kind and it was DELICIOUS. Then we walked and walked and walked all over the city which actually isn't very big, quite quaint, but SO much history to see and talk about. We picked up her nephew Friday afternoon and it made me homesick for Aiden. I miss that little boy so much. We also climbed the stairs to the top of the Cathedral! We were both super out of breath by the top. It had an incredible view from the top though and definitely worth it. Friday evening we went to a beer fest of sorts and we got to keep our glasses as souvenirs. There were beers from all over the world and it was so fun! I was able to meet many of her friends and everyone was super nice about speaking English to me. Another side note...I was the only person who couldn't speak more than one language. Manon speaks four. FOUR. I need to work on that.....

Saturday involved sleeping in and walking around the city again. We went to visit/meet her parents which was so awesome! I love their house a lot :) And Saturday night we went to a friends party where there was lots of music and dancing and more people practicing their English with me haha. They love practicing languages and it's so awesome! We ended up staying out until after 5am and had to get up at 8 to head to the pub for the Rugby World Cup! Sunday morning we were so tired I don't know how but we got up with plenty of time to get  a good table to watch France and New Zealand play. Although France lost it was still a great game and France played REALLY well. It was fun to get so in to the sport. Side note part 3: I had my first traditional English breakfast at this Irish pub. In France. hahahah I find this amusing. After the game we just had to nap for a while as we were exHAUSTED from the night before.

We then walked to the park where they have a mini zoo and it was so fun to see all the animals including a couple rams stuck in a staring contest and some really cute kangaroos! I also ate a waffle with nutella and it was super yummy. I LOVE FOOD! Sunday evening we went back to Manon's parents house for dinner which was so lovely! Her dad cooked for us which apparently only happens once a year so I felt honored it happened while I was there haha I was telling her dad that the meal was delicious and her mom started laughing and told me to please tell him that several more times so that he starts to cook more!  I made sure to mention it a few more times before we left that evening ;)  It was such a lovely weekend and it went by way too fast. I can't WAIT to head back in the spring when the weather warms up. It was VERY, VERY cold the entire weekend. Lucky for me I had my warm coat and a jacket that Alex got me right before I left that fits under it as well. I am becoming a fan of scarves because they really actually do help quite a bit! With the help of boots, coats, scarves and gloves I think I'll be set for winter in London. I have been told it won't be as cold as in France but that the rain will probably make it seem that way. My first adventure outside of England was a big success and I can't wait to continue my traveling experiences.

Some good news has come my way this past week or so as well! My twinnie and Mommy will be with me on my birthday!!!! We are going to travel around England as well as go to Paris and I can't WAIT to explore with my family. Although I don't feel the need to make a big celebration out of our birthday anymore it will definitely make me feel less homesick to have people I love with me on this day. It will be fun to celebrate in another country too!
I visited the Imperial War Museum again today and spent another 4 hours in the place and still didn't finish the entire Holocaust exhibit. I probably could have but I was getting tired and wanted to really pay attention to the whole exhibit so I decided it was a good idea to leave and go back a different day when I wasn't feeling so tired.
I actually need to go now and work on some homework for class this week. Lots of reading to get done tomorrow as I haven't read another book for this class in over a week. EEKS.


Love from London,
Kristin

My Second First Day of School

Yes, you did read that right. I get TWO first days of school. Because each of my classes is only once every other week I started my second class this week. This class was my Christian Education class and I really liked it! There are only 3 of us in the class but the other two women in the class are very nice and we each have a different perspective to bring to the class. One woman is Anglican, one is Salvationist (she is a minister in the Salvation Army, which I had no idea was a religion until yesterday) and then there's me whose Catholic of course. The teacher is also Anglican but he is SO knowledgeable on every other religion it is almost scary. He is just a very intelligent man in general and I know I am going to learn a lot from him. He likes to talk a lot so the class was a lot of lecture but because he has so much to say I was mostly just enthralled with everything he had to say. He gave us an assignment for next class which is going to be a little difficult. He asked us to give a 10 minute presentation on what our theology is and why it is that we believe it. Now at first it seemed easy: "I was born Catholic, raised Catholic, so I believe Catholic" but of course it needs to be a little deeper than that. Being that we are older now and our beliefs/practices are our choices not just parents pushing their religion on us it is important to understand why it is we believe what we believe. On a completely different note I realize that it has been over a week since I last updated my blog so I have a few moments to comment on. 1. Caitlin's birthday! Caitlin is so great and we celebrated her birthday out in Camden at a club called Electric Ballroom.

 Lots of dancing and lots of fun!
I have also been trying to cook or bake something new each week. So far I have tried chocolate cream cheese brownies and this pasta casserole type deal. Both came out really well if you ask me! I will keep you updated on what else I end up making. If you have any suggestions I will gladly take them.

Besides lots of reading and researching I have not been up to much in the last week. I have figured out what I want to write about for my youth ministry essay so I can start really looking in to that but for my Christian Education class I am really going to struggle. I'm hoping to have some sort of epiphany at my next class but as for now I am going to continue reading and reading and reading and....reading. 

Love from London,

Kristin

First day of school! First day of school!

I haven't been this nervous and excited for my first day of school since.....well my last first day of school senior year at LMU haha but point is, I am SO happy that classes have actually started for me. This morning I woke up, skyped with Javi and even made myself some breakfast so my stomach wouldn't make all the obnoxious noises it likes to make. I got ready (picture to the right hehe don't worry, Mommy, I wore a jacket and scarf) and being that I didn't want to be late for school on my first day I left WAY too early and ended up sitting in the computer lab for an hour before class began. Better early than....late? right? Ok that was a silly way of putting it but I hate being late and this solved that problem!  It was startlingly cold this morning when I left my apartment and I was very glad I wore my boots! I need to remember that sun does NOT equal warm anymore. I am still very grateful for the sun though :)

In my  youth ministry class there are 8 people and I am definitely the youngest by several years. I am the only one who has never been a youth minister (I managed to make Life Teen relate during our discussions) and/or a pastor. I am the only one who isn't married/engaged and have a family.  (wait, one guy isn't married yet! That was the one thing we were able to connect about ha) And I am the only one from the US. It is definitely going to be an interesting term as I am on a different page and stage in life than the rest of them but I can honestly say I fully enjoyed my first day of class. The four hours FLEW by and I hardly had time to even realize how quickly time was moving when BAM. class over. It was a good feeling really! We had a lot of really good discussions and it made me wish even more so that I had class more than every other week. But at least now I know what to expect.

The book we were asked to read for today was written by our teacher and it was kind of funny discussing HIS book with him, it made me more nervous to speak up because I didn't want him to catch me misinterpreting him in some way but he was happy with people contradicting him or disagreeing because he said it's a good challenge.
So now I am going to start reading for my class next week and my teacher today made me even more nervous by informing me that there were no longer five (yes, 5) people in that class and only THREE. Holy cow I better be on top of things or I'm in trouble. I'll have to give you another update on that next week though.
After class I enjoyed a cup of coffee with one of my new friends, Sophie and then thoroughly enjoyed this BEAUTIFUL sunset on my train ride home. Why does this never get old to me?! So, so pretty.



Love from London,
Kristin

If anyone would find a beach in England it'd be me

Yes, the heading on that is correct. Thousands of miles away from the warm sunshine of Los Angeles, California I found a beach. London has been abnormally warm this past week and I have more than taken advantage of it. The temperature has been in the high 70's to 80's this entire week/weekend which apparently has not happened this time of year since approximately 1885. I did not make that up, I read it in the paper. Now I originally found out about the beaches in England when telling a new friend out here that I wish I could go to a beach on a beautiful day like this. She mentioned that Brighton is the place to go for the beach experience. I was able to meet up with one of my friends from LMU and after spending oooo about an hour and a half figuring out what tubes/trains/etc...to take to get there we began our journey! A quick one hour train ride later we arrived in Brighton...along with 3838960 other people anxious to enjoy the beautiful weather at the beach as well! hahaha but that is ok, I had sunshine and ocean and I was excited. Now the really funny part about this beach is that it isn't covered in sand like a "normal" beach rather it is covered in pebbles. Yes, you heard me, stones/rocks/pebbles. Now they don't hurt like I thought they would but it did feel funny to lay on compared to sand.
After spending a couple of hours enjoying the sun we decided to walk down to the pier. I can't explain to you how cool it was! It was about twice as long as the Santa Monica Pier and much wider at the end with several types of roller coasters/rides. They also had funny wooden photo cards to take pictures with haha
We enjoyed taking a couple at this one and another one nearby.
It was while walking back down the pier that I got my first feelings of homesickness. Not just the daily dose of "aww I miss ____" but completely sad that I could not be with family or friends enjoying such a beautiful day. It seems silly that being in a place I feel at home (WOW I really love the beach) in would make me feel more sadness than being back in London. Maybe it is the small part of me that still doesn't feel like I'm here doing anything but having an extended visit. It seems silly because I have been able to keep in contact with family and friends on a daily basis thanks to all the social networking sites I have caved in to (including twitter and this blog) so I am definitely grateful I am not complete cut off from everyone I miss so much.

On a happier note! I was able to do one of my most favorite things in the whole wide world....watch the sunset :) And it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. This pictures does not do it justice but I had to try of course. As the sun set the colors got brighter and darker all at the same time and then the clouds slowly filtered in front of them....oh I wish I could write poetry because it would be filled with cheesy lines about love and hope and new beginnings.
After sunset we wandered around this cute little beachy town and were able to sit in a pub and have a drink before we caught the next train home. We met a few other people from London as well and I laughed because while we were talking to them, for the first time since I've been here I realized that I no longer really notice the English accent. I feel like I have become more conscious of my own "accent" but I already imagine how funny it will sound to go home at Christmas and not hear it for a few weeks.

More good news from today as well! I FINALLY made it to church after 4 attempts! The bus route is messed up for a a few weeks while a new gas line is being put in nearby so instead of bothering to figure out the new bus route that would take me closest to the church, Javi helped me look up the route from my apartment to St Joseph Catholic Church of Greenwich. (Yes, I am lucky enough to have a boyfriend who not only gives me directions when I'm living in LA but also when I am thousands of miles away in a city he has visited once before.) It actually only took me about 25 minutes to walk to and it seems unnecessary to use the bus, at least while the weather is still semi decent. Once it gets to be "real" cold here I'm sure I will reevaluate that statement.
Tonight I went out with the roomies to a comedy club that is down the street and we had heard was fairly popular. IT WAS HYSTERICAL. My ribs hurt from laughing so much and I don't need to do ab work outs for a week. Seriously. Come visit me just to go to this place. It is somehow almost 1am and I am exhausted so I think it is time for me to get ready for the week ahead.

Love from London,
Kristin

Nothing Like Undergrad

Induction day has finally come and gone and I have received answers to a lot of the questions I've had the past month (already a month?!) that I have been out here. I now know what classes I will be taking, who my teachers will be and more or less what is expected of me in these coming months. I knew going in to this that doing post graduate study is not supposed to be like undergraduate study with constant classes nearly every day of the week and with homework, quizzes, and tests to keep me constantly occupied but the schedule that I have for this upcoming year almost seems a little ridiculous to me. 

Let me start with my classes. This term (oct 6-dec 5) I am taking two classes, one is a compulsory class called Educational Issues in Christian Ministry. In this class I will be studying theological frameworks, current practices, contemporary contexts and professional insights in to the world of Christian Education. Thrilling to most of you, I know. My second class, Patterns in Youth Ministry, I am much more excited about. I will be studying theological approaches for Youth Ministry, frameworks affecting ministry with you people and issues of gospel and culture. 

Now two classes does not seem like much to me but at induction I found out that I am the only student in my program attending full time. Most everyone else in my program (and the other theology programs) are doing part time. Due to the fact that I am one of the only "young" people in the department who doesn't have a family and children I guess this shouldn't surprise me. But get this, each class that I only take is only twice a month. YEP, twice a month. I know. I don't understand it either. Again, I didn't expect class to be as frequent as previous educational experiences but really?! Each class only has 5 lectures each and rest is self study. Because I am expected to write a 6000 word essay for each class I have already been to the library this morning and checked out 10 books that I want to start reading. I'm not going to even try to hide it, I was pretty upset yesterday when I learned how little classroom learning I would be having. I got very discouraged and frustrated and if it wasn't for the fact that I am excited for the Youth Ministry class I will be taking I would be even more upset. 

Lucky for me, I have an amazing boyfriend who cheered me up with positive thoughts about all the opportunities I'll have to travel and relax in between holing myself up in the library to read mountains of books. It will be nice to have plenty of flexibility when family or friends come to visit and not be stuck in class all day but....*sigh* 

After Christmas I will have two new classes Theology, Church, and Worship & Theology in Practice. Theology in Practice should be interesting because it is a compulsory class for the entire department. I almost wish it was this semester so I could meet more people than the few in my program but that's okay. I need to stay focused! 

For anyone who is interested here are my breaks: 

Fall Break- Nov4-Nov 16

Christmas Break- Dec 16-Jan 11 

Spring Break- Mar 16-May 2 

Really after Mar 16 I will only have two more lectures to attend and they are on how to write your dissertation. So I will have the entire spring/summer to research for and write my dissertation. I think what I begin to write my essays on will help me determine what to pick for my dissertation topic. I can't even fathom writing a paper this big right now but hopefully by the time I pick my topic it is something so exciting and fascinating the words will just come flowing haha

Off to start reading some of this stack of books now on my bed.


Love from London,
Kristin

And they said it's just a bunch of stones....

 Well family and friends, it was a BEAUTIFUL day yesterday and I have officially visited Stonehenge.


 I  found it to be absolutely stunning! Before my visit I had people telling me "it's not that exciting", "it's just a bunch of rocks"and "you can't even get that close"....but from the time I arrived I was in awe. Maybe it is the part of me that gets excited to be in the presence of so much history but I just stood and stared for some time before I remembered the audio guide we had been handed and started to listen. It was very informative and I was fascinated by everything the tour voice had to tell us from theories of how and why the stones were moved there to funny myths that have circulated about Stonehenge. Each stone weighs TONS (literally) and they were somehow moved from over 200 miles away?! How does that even happen?! And what really blows my mind is how they were able to get the stones that lay flat across the vertical ones up on top. It is SO HIGH! There are huge festivals that celebrate the summer solstice and I think it would be so cool to go. As you watch the sun rise it comes right between the center and rises through the rocks. Incredible right?! Without any type of modern technology, people thousands and thousands of years ago were able to create a type of calendar based on the sun using HUMONGO stones. Seriously, I'm still in awe. Anne and I ended up spending over an hour walking around in a circle around Stonehenge. It doesn't seem possible but let me tell you....each side and angle is complete different! Maybe we were lucky because it was such a sunny day but it was really cool to watch the shadows move around the circle as well. You are able to use the sun to determine which month it is by counting from the center stone and going around. We were skeptical but did it and sure enough, the sun we peeking through the "September" space.

As if Stonehenge wasn't enough to excite me for one day, we were then taken by bus to Old Sarum Castle. I should have taken notes or something so I could remember what King lived in the castle but when he moved out (to be near where the new Cathedral was being built) no one else moved in. Years later it was deemed uninhabitable and the next King ordered the castle to be torn down and the stone used for other buildings around the city. When an excavation team came in around 1912 they began to discover that the foundation of the castle is still there! Somehow they claim to know where everything was likely to have been located from the dungeons to the toilets haha but it was really cool to imagine how intimidating this castle must have been back in the day. There is even a large ditch (really it looks like an empty moat, very deep and probably impossible to climb out of) going around the entire perimeter. Here where I'm standing there was no sign so we weren't sure what this room was haha It went waaaaay down so I of course had to run and take a picture.

The final thing we saw in Salisbury was the Cathedral. It is absolutely stunning. The architecture....the stained glass windows....this history!! There are Bishops and important people from the early 1000's buried in there. We were also able to see the Magna Carta! We arrived at the Cathedral around 425 and the room that holds this important document closes at 430! We literally sprinted through the Cathedral (we apologized to the church later haha) and to the back courtyard of the church. The man was just about to lock the doors and we put on our saddest puppy dog faces and he let us in for 2 minutes to take a look at it. I am SO GLAD because it would have been unfortunate to go all the way there and miss it. Again, something else that would probably just seem like a silly piece of paper but I think is SO COOL because it is so old and there is just so much history behind that. It is by far one of my favorite things about being in London so far....all the history that is EVERYWHERE I go.

It was a very long, very exhausting day of walking and exploring this cute little town of Salisbury but I am so happy I was able to go on such a beautiful day. I wish I could bring you all with me to see this. It is funny how going to see the sights has made me miss home more than going about my daily routines here. It is really nice not to feel completely like a tourist in a city that seems to be mainly tourists (that was a funny sentence) but when I go out exploring it makes me wish I had you guys with me to be excited with!

I finally have induction on Thursday afternoon so I am excited to find out what my course schedule will be like and to start studying! YAY!

Love from London
Kristin

Third Times....Not a Charm

Well, I am sad to say that after 3 Sunday's in a row of trying to go to Mass I have still been unsuccessful. Last week I showed up to St Joseph's Catholic Church at 4:30 for what was supposed to be a 5pm Mass to see a note on the door alerting all parishioners that there would be no Mass at 1700 (5pm) until further notice. I sighed and started the walk home which is luckily only about 20 mins on foot. This week, one of my roommates, Christina, and I decided to leave at 9:30am so we could get to the 10am mass with plenty of time to spare. We went outside to our bus stop just as the bus was approaching and we hop on for our 10 minute journey. 5 minutes in to our trip the bus driver tells us we are being diverted because of a marathon taking place in Greenwich today. Thinking we will still have plenty of time because we left early enough we do not take notice of the detour.

The detour turned out to be much more than your average detour. The bus driver managed to get lost and an hour later we ended up at the bus stop back in front of our apartment. I was really upset at first because I have missed mass for 3 weeks in a row but at least I can say I did everything I could to make it there. After fuming about it to each other for a few minutes we began to giggle because it seemed so ridiculous that a bus driver, in London, who is fully trained and supposed to be on top of the bus routes, would get lost just as easily as we would in a town we are still getting to know.  Cross your fingers for next week!



 As for the rest of the weekend, Christina, Mariel and I spent a lot of time at Greenwich Park yesterday which is so, so beautiful! It was a fairly warm and sunny day and we had lots of fun taking pictures and being silly.

Tomorrow I venture to stonehenge with one of my new friends, Anne! I will keep you updated with news and pictures as soon as possible!






Love from London!
Kristin

I feel very lucky today

While I continue to wait for school to start I have tried to take advantage of all my free time by seeing as many sites as possible. Twice this week I have been fortunate enough to visit the Imperial War Museum. They have a special exhibit going on until the end of the month called "Once Upon a Time: Classic War Stories For Children" and it is an exhibit dedicated to how children were affected by the war. Now earlier this week when I first walked through I spent over TWO HOURS reading every book, looking at every picture and trying to comprehend how a child could have survived such trials at these very young ages. Today, on my return trip with Mariel, I spent another 3 hours in the same exhibit but for over 2 of those hours I was lucky enough to speak with an evacuee, Ken Lester, who was a child during the war! WOW. The stories he had....the happiness he has discovered since the war....He was an inspiration. He told us about a Christmas he was lucky enough to spend with his whole family (mother, father, brother). He told us about air raid shelters and all of east London being on fire after the bombings. And he was more than willing to answer any and all questions we had for him. He was very kind and had a jolly laugh (he looks a little like Santa Clause too!) It wasn't just the war he was interested in talking about though. He asked us about what we were doing in London and was very curious about many of the current events and happenings of the United States (as everyone seems to be when they find out we are American). I feel very lucky to have been able to speak with him and for so long! He told us that we were like family after having talked to him for so long and he showed us pictures of him as a child and him with his family. He also still had his last ration card for food and clothing and some of the old money that England used before the early 70's when they changed to their current system.
I have always been fascinated with history and even growing up I remember reading a lot of diaries. This was even cooler because well....because it was in person!
After spending over 5 hours in just one exhibit in this museum I can not wait to go back and explore the other 3 1/2 floors! I am already certain this will be my favorite museum in London.

Mariel and I also had fun taking touristy pictures of Big Ben and the London Eye. We have done A LOT of walking these past 2 days and we were joking around about getting a pedometer to track how many miles we walk this year. Anyone have one of those cereal box ones?! haha We decided that one of these days we are going to go on a walking tour of all of London and do a tourist photo shoot. We will be obnoxious and in the way of everyone. It will be perfect.
Maybe I will wait for people to visit as all the places I want pictures other people are bound to want pictures as well.
Well family and friends, this has been the majority of week 3 here for me. I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring my new city and I can't wait to show it off when you come to visit!






Love From London!
Kristin
 XxXxXx

Making New Friends

Well family and friends, good news.
I survived international orientation and even made a few friends! There was a welcome dinner, a Thames river cruise, and different sessions set up to help us with common questions that come up when moving abroad especially for such a long period of time. Of course I took a picture of how I dressed to impress....It was a sad but funny feeling being back at orientation, realizing that I was no longer a senior who had conquered LA (okay, I'm dramatic) but was basically a freshman again but this time, I am even less familiar with my wherabouts and King's definitely doesn't hold your hand through the welcome process like LMU did. But overall, the other students that I have met have been kind and we have stumbled through the past few days together. The orientation-like process with be complete on September 29 when we have induction. At that point I will finally be able to know my class schedule along with any holidays we get and what my workload will be like. My "I like to know everything in advance so I can make a plan" personality does not like waiting until 5 days before classes start to know what my classes will be like but....what can I do.

The Thames River cruise was really cool as well! here is a picture of us on the boat with history all around us: The boat was packed with international students snapping photos and wondering how on earth we were lucky enough to be spending a year of our lives in this beautiful city.







Like I've mentioned before, we have been very fortunate to experience lots of beautiful weather. Saturday evening, as the sun was setting behind my building I looked up and saw how clear the city looked. This picture does not even begin to describe how beautiful this scene was. I wish you all could have seen it with me. The rain has been around too, but it usually blows through within 15 minutes and then the sun shines on through! I am keeping pictures like this for the near future when (I have been told) the sun will not be around quite so much.



This church here is St Joseph Catholic Church. It is about 10 minutes by bus from our flat and about a 20ish minutes walk. I took the bus there this evening because their website it said there was a 5:30 mass which I wanted to go to because I missed the 10am mass. Unfortunately, when I got there at 5, there was a sign on the doors saying that the 5:30 mass was cancelled until further notice. I guess I will have to make sure I'm up in time for the morning mass from now on!
 It seems like a fairly large church from what I can tell and I am excited to go next week!


That's all I've got for this weekend!

Love from London,
Kristin