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!