Mustachio the Master of Midgets

It's been awhile since I have been able write! The day after I got back from my trip, my dear friend Marie Giles came out to visit with another friend, Ryan Tippetts. It was so exciting to spend time with them! Luckily, I only had to work a couple days that week so we were able to go out and have some good times.

On Monday night they got in really late because they missed their flight... it was mess but I was so excited while I waited for them to arrive. That night we caught up a bit but they were tired and pretty frustrated so I just fed them and sent them to bed. The next 2 days I had to work so I just caught up with them afterwards. They were able to come to institute with me on Thursday and meet friends in my ward. Marie and Ryan are very friendly and nice so they jumped right in with everyone in the ward.  

While Marie and Ryan were in Ireland they stayed with some people that Marie's boss back in Salt Lake City knew.  During the activity I introduced Marie and Ryan to a girl in my ward, Kim, from Ireland.  After talking for about 2 minutes they figured out that they stayed with Kim's Aunt and Uncle in Ireland!  Random eh?  

I didn't have work on Friday so we decided to go out to Greenwich. It was about an hour and twenty minutes away from my house so we had a little day adventure there. Greenwich is an adorable town with markets and of course, the Prime Meridian. The Prime Meridian is a line of longitude that sections the world in half from the North Pole through the South Pole. Some how I had the bright idea to Michael Jackson the Prime Meridian so yeah... this is me being a nut.  

We also went to the Royal Observatory which is one of the coolest museum type exhibits I've ever been to! There were interactive programs about space and time that blew my mind. I was able to touch the oldest thing on earth (a rock) and be a goofball in front of big telescopes! We also had a little picnic and it felt great to enjoy the sun and good times.

On our way home, we saw that newspapers were reporting a fire. We didn't think much of it till we realized that the fire was in the chunnel- the very chunnel that was to take us to Paris the next day. It was bad. Marie and Ryan were going to fly from Paris back to the USA so we spent soooooo many hours on the phone trying to get refunds and flight information. I couldn't afford to spend the money to find another way to go so they decided to fly out of London on Monday instead.

On Saturday we still had so many problems with the airlines so we really didn't get out to do anything until midday. Marie had a good meltdown... I felt really bad because I know this was her trip to visit Europe and have fun.... not spend daft amounts of money.  I decided I would do my best to help her have the time of her life!

We took a trip to the Science museum that afternoon.  It was another one of those remarkable museums that have interactive displays.  We found thermal cameras, astronaut suits, and learned how kitchen appliances work.  The museum had a random assortment of displays but thats what made it amazing.  

That night we went to the Thames Festival.  We met up with a crowd of kids from my ward and wandered around South Bank for hours. It was a random festival. We walked across a bridge that was blocked off and set up with food and tables. Randomly, there was a bunch of hay! I saw the hay and ran toward it then realized I was the only one skipping through the hay. A random girl came up and threw an arm load of hay into my face and it was on! I ran around like a little kid throwing at at all my friends! So fun!

We walked down farther into the festival and got some good Carribean food. There were a few entertainment stages set up under the London Eye. We watched this stuff called Free Running.  It's basically where people climb, jump, run over things like ninjas or something.  After that this guy came on to beat box for the next half hour.  I was skeptical but he was amazing!  I was really entertained and by the time he was done, we were in the mood to dance!    

We walked down to a place called the Green Room cause one of the guys in our group knew the bartenders.  I'm sure they were a bit disappointed when our big group rolled up and ordered soft drinks and water but it was cool.  For some reason that night I was really hyper and I was all over the dance floor.  Believe me, I don't dance good/cool either!  This guy in our group from California (who is a total surf bro) told me I was making a fool out of myself cause I can't dance.  I said, "Hmm.  You know what?  I don't care!"  He leaned in closer and said, "Well, I think you should stop because you're embarrassing yourself!"  I got really close to his face and smiled and said, "Just like everyone else, I don't care what you think either!" and I started dancing even crazier!  What a hater... He thought he was so cool cause he could dance all freak nasty and smooth... I really had a lot of fun and it felt good to truly not care what anyone thought.

Church on Sunday was lovely.  It's always funny when your Sunday school teacher says irreverent things like, "One minute you think you're ok when you're in hot water (in trouble from sin)... next thing you know, YOU'RE BURNING IN HELL!"  That one brought down the house.  (It was a joke... but... kinda not... haha!)  Marie and I couldn't stop laughing the rest of class.  It's always funnier when it's said in an English accent too.  =)  On the way home from church we saw this random old man on the bus and had to take a picture.  We called him Mustachio the Master of Midgets (shake em up!).

On Monday we said goodbye to Marie.  It was sad... I loved having her over.  It was so good to chill with someone who has known me for awhile.  It can be hard making new relationships with people because it feels like it's only for such a short time... 

Since Ryan didn't have to go home for anything special he stayed a few more days.  We went to the Natural History museum.  I was really disappointed.... I mean, they want to be a cool museum and all but we had already touched a rock that was 4.5 BILLION years old.  Why would we care about something thats only 3,850 MILLION?  

We also went to a place I've been really wanting to go... PLATFORM 9 3/4!!!!  Karli, I'm sure you are so jealous!  It was wicked!  I felt like I should build a Potter shrine on the side or something!  Right when we stopped to take a picture there were others who followed suit.  I wondered if they were embarrassed to stop themselves but once they saw me in a frenzy they thought they should too!  Ahhhh... I love Harry Potter...  curse you Warner Brothers!!!!  

Ryan left on Thursday and us girls were sad to see him go.  He would come up to our rooms at night and have girl talk with us.  I didn't know him before Marie brought him out with her but he was an exceptional guy.  We tried to set him up with a girl out here but... it didn't work.  Maybe he'll come back and sweep her off her feet!  Best of luck to him on his travels to Wyoming/Idaho.  Since Ryan and Marie left, I've been trying to get some rest!  Work gets in the way of that but I feel very blessed to have lots of work coming in.   

Today I did something interesting... I bought my ticket home.  I had a one way ticket out here (a graduation gift from my grandparents) but my working/holiday visa only lets me stay for 6 months.  I have been watching ticket prices for the past few weeks and  as I clicked the "purchase now" button I felt a bit of anxiety.  I love London.  I love the weather, the history, the culture.  I love the people in my ward.  I love my Aussie roommates.  Time is running out... 

I feel like my home in the United States is in different places.  They say home is where the heart is and my heart is in different places.  I miss California because that's where my family is.  My best friends are all split up in different states so that doesn't help.  I will always love Las Vegas because its where I became Misty Barrett.  London has a piece of my heart because it is my mirror.  My future residence is to be determined and I feel like wherever I go, I'm leaving something behind.  It's going to be hard to decide where to live but I am praying about where the Lord would have me go but... I'll go wherever... maybe even Utah.  =)