EARTHQUAKE!!!!

No, this is not about the fun icebreaker game we play during RA summer training, but that is one of my favorites, for sure.

Anyways, England experienced an earthquake last night just before one in the morning. The quake may have caused millions of pounds of damage, but luckily only one injury has been reported and no deaths. Preliminary readings have put it at about a 5.2 on the Richter scale, and this is the first quake of this size in the last 20 years or so. All of the girls in the house felt it, but we were all thoroughly confused as to what was going on. It's nice to know that it was an earthquake and not that our radiator was going to blow.

The site of the quake is the red dot/star, and I live by the purple dot.

A Good Day

• the smoke alarms went off before my set alarm went off
  
• lunch took longer than expected
• I finished my resume for the Senior RA position
• I started working on my cover letter for the same job
• the stain came out of my University hooded sweatshirt
  
• my laundry is done but not put away
• I successfully maneuvered the bus to and from Park Campus
  
• I got a free drink at the SU bar on campus
• we got food money
  
• I've been listening to great music courtesy of my housemates from itunes shared music
  
• I got a great message from a friend that I totally wasn't expecting
• another friend reminded me of an inside joke that always makes me smile
• I've been able to chat with some friends from home
  

Cinderella

My mom has this strange way of sending me e-mails that hit my heart. This almost always results in tears running down my face. She managed to pick out the song that my father will not be able to get out of dancing to with me at my wedding reception. I'm not sure if that's ironic at all, but I'm really thinking there's no real way that he will be able to say no to a song that had me in tears this evening after a wonderful day in London. Don't worry, the tears weren't hurting tears, and this strange gift that my mom has isn't a bad thing at all. It just means that somehow, she knows what I need to read to know that I am loved and missed. My parents are so amazing, and I really couldn't have asked for any better. I know that I will be a good parent someday because of all that I have learned from them.

And now a couple London pictures!

Hyde Park


Baker Street Underground Station...Baker Street is the home of fictional character Sherlock Holmes.

We should get Primarks in the USA

Somehow I only spent the equivalent of under $30 at this amazing store, and I came home with a coin purse for going out that will fit my IDs and my camera and house key, two cute summery tops (one was only 25 pence, which is 50 cents), a cute colorful polka dot shirt/dress, a big belt, and a pair of black skinny jeans! I can finally wear my wellies (rain boots) outside of my jeans. I went shopping in the wonderful land of Primark because I couldn't let Rosie visit me here without going there. She found jeans for herself as well, so we were both pretty excited about our cheap finds. She got here Wednesday night and left this afternoon, but it was so great to have her here. Last night was amazingly awesome, because we just had a great heart-to-heart and caught up on what our lives are like now. It seems so crazy, but I hadn't seen her since Thanksgiving break of our sophomore year of college and we've both been through some bad stuff since then. She's pretty happy in Southern France, and I'm so glad about that! We also watched "Superbad" last night, and I must say that although my expectations were that it would be a horrible movie; I ended up really liking it. I've seen two movies with Michael Cera in them recently, and I just think he's pretty much adorable. And Kyle, this summer we/I will be watching Arrested Development in the evenings, okay? I have decided to work with my two favorite girls this summer. It will be really nice to spend the summer watching Rachel and Bethany again. Well, in other news, I will be in LONDON tomorrow with Tiff and some of the other Elizabethtown College girls. So pictures will be coming soon, I'm sure.

Rugby

I went to my first rugby game yesterday afternoon. My friend Tiff plays, so the girls from the house went out to cheer her on. She scored once, had some great tackles and the team won! I need to get back to work on my paper, but decided to put up a picture here for a small/short brain breather.

Tiff is the one on the right.

If it weren't for all this schoolwork...

I really would be a lot less stressed. I have a paper that I need to write tonight, and I'm also working on an interview project for my interpersonal and group behavior class. I'm trying to take breaks here and there to relax my mind, but it's hard to keep those breaks to a minimum as far as time goes. At this moment Melissa's music is keeping me from going crazy, so thanks for that, sis! Speaking of Melissa, I got measurements to her yesterday and will be picking out a bridesmaid dress soon enough. I know that there will be time when I get home before the wedding, but it's gonna be a pretty busy summer from what I can tell so far. I'll need to be working, and then I'll be busy connecting with friends that I'm missing right now. I'm hoping to get a job at Naked Clay Cafe by our house, but that's not for sure, and I'm not sure how many hours that would be. If any of you know of a good summer job opportunity in the Fort Wayne area, feel free to let me know.

Music is My Soul

I have been listening to music in my room most of today, and I really could not imagine life without music. It's difficult over here without a real outlet for my music. I tried the choir at the university, but I really didn't like it. I know that I would rather have to find my own way to get my music fix than to not enjoy the music that is provided for me. I guess I've been fairly lucky to have enjoyed most of my music experiences. Don't get me wrong, I have definitely had some bad music experiences, like say second semester of my senior year in high school. But regardless, I have been able to maintain my love for music, and I think aside from family and friends, music is my next greatest love. I can't wait to refresh my soul when I get home!

Valentine's Day

Well, I couldn't be with my Valentine this year because he is in Mexico. Fortunately, I had the next best thing: my housemates! So the housemates and I made dinner together, and then we spent the entire night together talking and just being silly. We also demolished an entire pan of brownies in a matter of minutes. It was a pretty small pan of brownies, but we ate all of it. By the end of the night we were just giddy, and there were times where we would just bust out laughing. I love my housemates so much and cannot imagine what my time here in England would be like without them.

After class I got purple tulips for the Purple House!

Comment away!!!!

Martha brought it to my attention that the blog would not allow her to comment anonymously. I went through the settings and have now changed that! So now all of you can comment on whatever you'd like! I'd love if you'd at least leave your name so that I can know where it's coming from. Love to you all from England on the lovely Valentine's Day!

Fish n Chips and other things British

I finally had my first experience with fish n chips on Monday. It's taken me this long because really, I don't so much like fish. I didn't want to waste money on food that I didn't like, so I chose Monday knowing that I could find something real at the house if I absolutely hated it. We also got food money Monday night, so I knew that I shouldn't worry about the cost and just try it. For the most part, it wasn't too bad. I did use tomato sauce (ketchup, not spaghetti) when I was eating the fish and obviously the chips as well. It was also a really big meal, so it pretty much lasted me the whole day, and I just had a small dinner with the fam that night.


My half-eaten fish and order of chips from the Master Fryer down the road from the house.

The rest of Monday involved me turning in my very first assignment and catching the bus to Park Campus with Josie for BCA stuff, but BCA stuff was pretty boring. We got to Park and met with our program coordinators, and they didn't have our money yet, so we decided to chill at the SU (Student Union: the on-campus bars) instead of being bored out of our minds in the refectory (cafeteria). Josie and I each got a pint to enjoy; she got a Kermit and I tried my first Snakebite. The Snakebites at the SU are basically half a pint of Strongbow Coder, half a pint of Foster's Lager, and just enough blackcurrant juice to make it pinkish-purple, and it was really quite delicious. We finished our drinks in time to meet the rest of the group to go to a guest lecture on British Politics. That was incredibly boring, and while I did learn some, I would have much rather heard it from one of my friends that knows about it. The lecturer just seemed to go on and on, and he was really rambling by the end of it. But we got our food money, and after catching a bus back to the town centre we walked home (stopping on our way at Tesco for some chocolate).

It must have been the combination of finally turning in an assignment, having fish n chips, drinking the Snakebite, learning about politics, and feeling somewhat comfortable on the buses that somehow made me feel really British on Monday.

Windsor Castle

It was a beautiful day to be walking around Windsor seeing the Royal castle.


The entire house finally together for a photo!

Hey Mom!

Before I get things started...HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AUNT MICHELLE!!!

Sorry guys, this post is for my mom. You can still read it if you want.

Things are going fairly well, and I have 3/4 of my paper done! Could I e-mail it to you to have you proof read it for me? I have a few sources left to work with for the last quarter of the paper or so. I've used seven so far and have four at the most that I can still use. I'm thinking that should give me enough material to analyze. I was feeling pretty warm this morning when I woke up this morning (yes, it was technically morning) so I've had my window open all afternoon, and I've been drinking cold fluids to hopefully equal out my body temp. I'm seriously hoping that it's not a fever or anything, because we have so much to do this weekend. We're going to Windsor Castle tomorrow! I've had my camera batteries all charged up so that I can take lots and lots of pictures. When we went to Bath my batteries died the first time I turned on my camera, so I'm making sure that won't happen tomorrow. Sunday a few of us are going to Birmingham for the Chinese New Year, so that should be an interesting experience at least. Dinner tonight was pretty great. The E-town girls and I made a dish with chicken, potatoes, carrots, peas and cream of mushroom soup as our sauce, and it was really yummy. Erin made each of us a biscuit while Kylleen and I went to the library. I had a book that was due, and they don't have a drop box, so you have to turn in books during normal office hours. Strange, but it got me out of the house for the first time today. The weather has been really nice the past week or so, with rain randomly in the day but not too much or for very long. I'm hoping for some good weather for the weekend adventures! I'm sure you're glad it's the weekend. Hopefully this last day wasn't too bad for you. I hope you have a good weekend, and tell John and Myra "HI!" for me. Have fun with the labradoodles tonight!

Alright, back to my paper. Lots of love to you, and everyone.

Gimme a Break

I have been working on my English paper nearly all day! I have taken short breaks for food and the occasional internet break, but overall it has been reading and writing for me today. I am almost a fourth of the way done with the paper, so it shouldn't be too much more work to get it finished with time to spare before it's due on Monday. Here's a plus, no class on Monday because our paper is due. Next week will hopefully go smoothly and I'll be able to get ahead on my next paper.


By the way, they have Orange and Mint Kit Kats over here in the grocery store in bulk! So far I have resisted them, but we'll see how long that lasts. I have not been strong enough to resist Nutella. It is a house favorite!

Something completely random

On my walk home from class today a man and his dog were walking in front of me. About halfway from campus to the house the dog stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and started peeing. Maybe dogs over here aren't shown where to and not to take a wee. Either way, I just walked around the largest puddle of dog pee I've ever seen.

Emotional Mayhem

I have been lucky enough to have had some conversations with friends from home via the wonder of instant messaging. This has been great for me, but it also caused quite a bit of emotional distress for me this afternoon. It hasn't been anything life threatening or anything, but it has made me assess my life and what I want for myself. I also found that I have truly amazing friends from Manchester. I know that I have great friends elsewhere too, but it's just nice to know that the people that I spend most of my time with really do care a lot about me. It was difficult to be feeling so insecure over here with little to no one to really talk to about it, and to be able to talk to my friends at home is almost as good as having them here with me.

Tonight Tiff and I are going to a pub in town to watch the Super Bowl! I know that it won't be the same, but it's worth experiencing over here. Go Giants!

My days are bipolar

Today was a WONDERFUL day!

I didn't have class so I slept in, and after a relaxing lunch I went out shopping. My purchases were...two pairs of flats for the equivalent of $10, white leggings (they wear leggings with everything when they go out) for $2, a scarf for $1, a trinket for Nyssa for $1, and finally, my favorite purchase of the afternoon, a Glasgow Rangers (Fort Wayne native Demarcus Beasley plays for them) soccer jersey for $36!

Also, I had a message in my facebook mailbox waiting for me this morning from a friend at MC. Josie and I went shopping at the big Tesco (equivalent to a Kroger at home) tonight to buy some food and snacky stuff, and it was a huge success! I think we will be set on snacks for a while. Josie made some really great mac and cheese tonight (Carol, your daughter is quite the talented cook!), and we had amazing tiramisu ice cream for dessert.

I have been chatting online this evening with friends both here and from home, and it's just nice to talk to people even if I can't be down the hall anymore.

My ROCKIN-AWESOME Glasgow Rangers jersey!


Oh yea, I can't believe that it's already February!