Just ARRIVED!

Getting ready for London!

How in the world is a person suppose to cram 8 weeks of stuff in 1 rolling bag?? Well, don't ask me how I did it (okay I'll tell you, I had help from my Mom, a bunch of help from my Mom) but I was able to get all packed! AND get it all to weigh less than 50 lbs. Now that's what I call a miracle people. A true miracle! However, there had to be some negotiation in the clothing department (apparently 5 jackets ISN'T necessary... go figure) but they were all so cute that I had to at least TRY and sneak them in my suit case. It was a no go.

So, I went to the SLC airport a couple hours before my flight, was dropped off by my Mom, and started making my way towards the gate. THEN you'll never believe who I saw! Do any of you watch the Bachelorette?? It's a guilty pleasure of mine that my roommates got me hooked on, but anyways: I SAW JEF HOLM!!! The Salt Lake contestant! I was absolutely star struck. He was walking in the other direction, so I thought I had missed my chance. BUT lucky for me he was on my flight. So being the nerd that I am, I asked to take a couple pictures with him. He looked at me like I was crazy. But chances are I'll never see him before so... who cares!?

Just chilllin' with Jef at Terminal 4

That's the good news. Bad news was my flight was delayed by 3 hours! We sat at the terminal waiting forever (but I ran into a group from my Study Abroad so they kept me entertained). After we finally got on the flight it was a 4 hour flight to JFK. Which I've decided is the worst airport. Ever. There were thunderstorms, which was why we were delayed in Utah. I BARELY made my connecting flight. I was racing from a different terminal, pushing people out of the way, making racing noises as I went. But I made it! And then it was actually delayed by 3 or 4 hours so I suppose I didn't have to rush quite as much. Luckily some of my friends were able to make it onto my flight so I wasn't all alone. But I didn't realize that until we finished the entire flight! (They got 1st class!!!!) On the flight they gave us food, which normally I wouldn't even consider eating. But I hadn't eaten all day and so it seemed like manna from heaven. I sat next to this cute woman from New York who was traveling to London and Rome teaching as she went. I accidentally cuddled with her the whole trip. So... that was an awkward conversation when we finally landed. It went something like this...
"How did you sleep?"
"Oh I slept well!!! When I finally got to sleep, I slept deeply!"
"I know!"
"Oh?"
"Yeah you were pretty cuddly."
And... end of conversation.

View outside my window! Welcome to the English countryside!

I got off the plane, through customs, and found the car that my parents got for me. They weren't to happy about how long they had to wait for me, but I was very grateful they did because I would have gotten VERY lost to my house!

I arrived at the BYU London Centre. Dirty, smelly, tired, but ecstatic! We are living in the most beautiful neighborhood! The homes are millions and millions, and that's in pounds! So basically this is the only time in my life that I will live somewhere like this. Let's face the facts people.

The lovely Centre

I arrived, checked in, unloaded my stuff, made my bed, met my AWESOME roommates, went to get my tube pass for the Underground, walked around the neighborhood (aka Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens).

My friends and I went to this local Arabic place, a little whole in the wall kind of place, called Taza's. DELICIOUS food. We got lamb shwarma's and sat in the park eating and talking. Simply picture perfect! After we headed home, we had a guest speaker who gave us our callings that we will have for church in neighboring village wards. Got ready for bed. And fell asleep sooooo quickly!
And that's the end of Day ONE :) A long, but exciting day! Let the adventures begin!

On my way to church, past the London Bridge!

My VERY FIRST TUBE RIDE!

Warm, rotating meat. My favorite :)