Twenty-Four and Back From Wales!

As some of you may or may not have known, my birthday was on January 16th! 

On Thursday at the office, Luisa, Derek, and Erin sang me Happy Birthday complete with chocolate chip muffins. 

On Friday, I received a Happy Birthday sticker from the Head Teacher at the school we visited. Erin and I enjoyed the final Harry Potter movie that night at Luisa's house, complete with After Eight mints, my favorite! 

Saturday, I got together with a few YAGM's in London to enjoy my "Last Burrito as a 23-year-old" at the Chipotle near the Tottenham Court Road tube station and Soho! I am not ashamed to say that I ate the entire burrito bowl as well as chips and guac. TOTALLY worth it! While at Chipotle, Erin even brought out Birthday Brownies for us to enjoy as well!

Sunday, Ann and the boys sang me Happy Birthday in front of a cake with one candle! It was one of the cutest birthday songs yet!

And finally, on Monday, my real birthday, I celebrated with Erin by getting double chocolate chip muffins at Morrison's before hopping on a bus for five hours on the way to Wales. Although my actual birth moment wasn't the greatest, spent in a bus where I felt sick a majority of the time, I did have the bus sing me Happy Birthday as well. When we got to the conference, Erin even made  a point of having the entire group of 90+ volunteers and staff sing me Happy Birthday once again.

Needless to say, I haven't been able to get away from my birthday for more than a week! Without a computer and a strong internet connection, I returned home on Thursday to find all the birthday wishes on Facebook and in my email as well as a package from my Aunt Joanie and cards from my mother and grandmother! I certainly felt the love!


The Time for God BIG Conference in Wales was an awesome experience! I met a few new friends, had the chance to step back from my hectic life with Act 4 to reflect on my own life, and spent plenty of time relaxing and laughing with others. Talking with the other volunteers from South Korea, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, and many other places, reminded me of why I am in England and just how fortunate I am to be here at all! The conference ended on a high note with a talent show where we taught the other volunteers how to line dance to Cotton Eye Joe. :) I never thought my line dancing days from elementary school would come in so handy!

Coming home to Potters Bar, I finished the week off by going into London this Friday to meet up with some Gustavus professors who were on a J-Term trip!  It's crazy how small the world can be sometimes! Although I am slightly jealous they get to return to Minnesota so soon, I know that I'm here for a reason and before I know it, it will be August 9th and I'll be the one flying back to Minnesota! Enough of the forward thinking for now! Cheers!

It's Newsletter Time!

As the title suggests, it's Newsletter Time again! If you didn't end up getting my newsletter, but still want to see it, feel free to let me know! No pressure though!

Happy Wednesday!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

These past two weeks have flown by and now it's already 2012! There's a lot to catch up on!

I was fortunate to spend the Christmas Holidays with my Gustavus friend, Megan Mundt, in Sevilla, Spain! After 20 odd hours of traveling, I finally made it from Potters Bar to Sevilla, only to be taken to Alcala, Malaga, and Granada over the course of the week. By covering so much ground, I was able to see three different cathedrals in three different cities in three consecutive days! Highlights of the trip include Megan's Staff Christmas Party and Student Christmas Party, climbing the Giraldi Tower of the Sevilla Cathedral, touring the Alhambra in Granada, seeing the Mediterranean Sea for the first time ever, and tasting all the wonderful Spanish food, including the gambas (prawns) I peeled. Megan was indeed a gracious host and knew all the right people to make the trip an amazing success. If only I had friends like her in every country I want to visit!

After coming home and not sleeping for another 30 some hours as a result of travel, I was eager to relax in Potters Bar. As New Year's Eve approached, I was quite keen on the idea of spending the holiday in London with friends. Due to the threat of train strikes in London, however, I unfortunately did not see Big Ben strike midnight live. Instead, I toasted in the New Year watching Big Ben on the tele with my host at home in Potters Bar. Someday I'll be back to watch Big Ben properly on New Year's Eve.

Only a few more days of holiday left, then back to work! Lucky for me and the rest of the Time for God volunteers, our BIG Conference in Wales kicks off January 16th! Although I am glad to be home right now, I know that another change of scenery is always good! Hopefully I'll update this before then, otherwise, Happy New Year and best wishes for a blessed January!

Here, of course, are some pictures from Spain!

 The palm trees and Mediterranean Sea!

The Alhambra at night. We climbed and climbed and climbed to get to this spot. Then we watched the sun set. 

 Inside the Alhambra the next day. My picture of the reflecting pool would look cooler if I had the chance to stop and take a picture. So many people kept getting in the way! It's a popular spot, I suppose.

The view from the top of the Sevilla Cathedral. This is looking over the courtyard and into the King's Palace which we toured before climbing the 34 ramps to the top of the tower. Yes, ramps, for horses, rather than stairs. Those Spaniards are smart.