Pussy cat pussy cat where have you been.....

I've been to London to see the Queen!!

Last weekend was the Trooping of the Colours in London, the Queens birthday parade. We decided to go in and see the Queen to wish her a happy birthday on a day that isn't even her birthday. There was a band and soldiers in the parade before the Queen.

There were more soldiers and more police lining the Mall to protect Her Majesty. You almost couldn't get pictures in between them. It took a lot of time for them to get them straightened up. A few people in the royal family drove by in their carriages.

Men came through on horses to make way for the Queen.


Finally the moment had all been waiting for...


It was very cool to see the Queen but almost a let down. It happened so quickly. I felt like a child waiting to see Santa at the end of the parade. Unfortunately I remember being much more satisfied with Santa.

Greenwich Mean Time

Today I went for another adventure. Although this time, it was pretty much the opposite of a beautiful day. It was a gray cloud light rain day. I decided to go to Greenwich as it is something I wanted to do before I leave here. I went to an indoor market and then headed to the Royal Observatory.
At the Royal Observatory you can find many attractions. The most famous is the Prime Meridian line, the center of time.
So there I am in both the Western and Eastern Hemispheres at one time. The Time galleries were interesting. It all kind of makes sense now.
Another part of the Observatory is an Astronomy Exhibition. It includes London's only planetarium. I was going to go but it was sold out for the showing at the time I was there and didn't want to hang around for 2 hours. Although looking back, maybe I should have. The Royal Observatory is on the top of a hill. Some argue the highest point of London. You can see a good view of the city.
In this picture you can see the closest building. This is the Queen's House which just happened to close 5 minutes before I got there for some sort of event. There is also a wartime museum. By this time I was getting wet and cold so went in search of a Starbucks. Evidently everyone else in London had the same idea. It was a good end to the day though.

A beautiful day

Today I had the day off because I am going to a conference for work on Saturday. It was a gorgeous day, warm and sunny both, so I decided to take advantage of this. I started my day with flip flops and a tank top which was amazing. It hasn't been nice enough here for that since one day back in July. That was a good day. So I went into London and went to Dutch pancake house for lunch. Of course I got the ham, cheese, and pineapple pannenkoeken.
then washed that down with the glorious poffertjes.
Sadly I was unable to eat all of either of these. I really wanted to but knew my stomach just wasn't quite big enough. It was so much food but incredibly delicious. I would say authentic too except the menu said the poffertjes came with maple syrup. I asked for icing sugar instead.

Then I walked out side opened my handbag and to my misfortune found this. UGH!! Broken sunglasses on what could be one of the sunniest days here. But I wasn't going to let that ruin my beautiful day.
To my great fortune I was headed to the sunglasses capital of the world. This is huge market. It has anything you could ever want. There were even some Central Asia guys selling some good food. I had a small sample as I walked by of Gozleme which is a Turkish pancake. Anybody see a theme for the day? I couldn't eat anymore, I was so full from lunch. Anyway, there are more sunglasses in this market than I have ever seen in one day. So that was helpful but now I had to choose one.

I searched and searched for the right pair. Me and sunglasses in general don't exactly get along. It is hard to find a pair that doesn't make me look like a bug. A random salesman of whom seemed to be of Central Asia decent helped me pick out the perfect pair. And according to him they were Gucci. Since they were only 6 pounds, I am a little skeptical. But they looked decent and I was desperate. Here I am with the new sunglasses.
I went along with my day walked through the markets and then went to the park to read. It was so sunny. It might be the only time I have felt warm in the past 11 months. It was glorious. I even got a slight sunburn which should be a tan by the morning.

It came time to head back to the rail station to head home. I was exhausted and hungry. I didn't really know where I was going when I walked away from the park. I knew the general direction I needed to go. I wanted to see a little of London that I had not seen before which indeed I did. I came up to the part of the city with the expensive name brand shops. It was pretty cool to see all of the shop workers in suits and waiting by the door.

In all these stores I felt a little out of place, but thankfully I had my Gucci sunglasses. And the brand name written on the side hadn't even worn off yet. However, I am thinking it will only be a matter of days.

Bump it!

There are many distinct differences between Americans and Europeans. When I was home in March I saw many bumps which reminded me of the prevalence of this hairstyle in America. Then I started wondering if anyone in England did their hair like this. I have been watching closely everywhere I go to find a bump in someone's hair. I recently went to Bluewater shopping center. This is a huge mall and has many American stores. It has a Hollister. I went in thinking surely I would see a bump, but there were none to be found. This weekend I attended a conference led by Americans in London. There were people from all over the world at this conference. I finally saw a girl with a small bump. I thought well I guess my theory is incorrect. There are a few in England. Later this same girl walked by me speaking to her friend. She was definitely American. haha. I guess it is a good thing that I can spot Americans from far away even if it is just because of their bump. I am not going to lie, but I am pretty happy I have not been in America for the past year and a half and have missed a small portion of the bump popularity.

Under my umbrella

I was recently back in Oklahoma and remembered why I always used to check the weather every morning. I still check it each day here, but for a different reason. In Oklahoma you need to know whether to wear your shorts or your ski jacket. It could be 80 degrees one day and then 30 the next. One nice thing about the weather here is that it will probably only vary in temperature from day to day by a few degrees. However I still have to check the weather to determine what umbrella to bring with me that day. I carry the little umbrella every day. Then some days I have to switch to another umbrella depending on the amount of rain. Some days are rain coat days, some are medium size umbrella days and some are big umbrella days. This is a very serious situation. I is quite embarrassing if you bring the wrong umbrella. You might get funny looks because it is barely raining and you are caring an umbrella that can also work as a small boat. Or you might be soaking wet because the little umbrella may not be quite enough. Here is a picture of me and my umbrellas.

Krispy Kreme

I have eaten more Krispy Kreme doughnuts in the past 8 months than I have in a really long time. It was exciting to be able to get a good doughnut in England once moving from Turkey so it was a big deal. The past few months at work have been a little crazy. Because of this, at least twice someone has brought them in for us. These are always exciting days. Most of the Krispy Kremes here are little stands. I guess they have to be made somewhere, so last weekend we went with some friends to a real Krispy Kreme. It was a huge store compared to the ones in America. We got to watch them be made. The hot sign unfortunately wasn't on but it was still a fun trip.

Basketball Season

I used to look forward to basketball season. Sometimes I wish I never quit in high school. I still love playing. I joined a county club here in England. Our team is called the Reigate Falcons. We don't actually practice in Reigate but usually close to where I live. The ladies on my team range from age 21-43. I really enjoy playing with them. They are all very nice. Many times we are referred to as nice Reigate girls, not the posh London girls. We have training twice a week and quite a bit of games. My team is trying to decide if they will continue over the summer. I really hope so. I would miss playing with them. It has been great to be involved in the community and meet people here. We are a developing team as this is their second year as a team. We aren't very good, but we won a game a few weeks ago. It was the highlight of my week. My kit (uniform) is a bit big. For some reason they only have size Large. Here is a picture of me. I really want to get a picture of our team. Last season many pictures were taken, so I hope to get them soon.

A new concept for cloudy.

I realized in the past few days that the Oklahoma meaning for overcast and cloudy is completely different than it is here. This morning I looked at the forecast for the next 5 days and it said 'White Cloud.' This really means a cloudy overcast day. The sad thing is that I was really excited. Compared to 'Grey Cloud' which it has been for the past few weeks, white cloud feels sunny. There is really no comparison for a grey cloud in America. I guess it would be what the sky looks like during a thunderstorm except covering the entire sky and not raining. That is what it is like here most of the winter. When the weather says white cloud, which again is Oklahoma's cloudy day, it means you will see a small speck of the blue sky behind the clouds at some point in the day which is incredibly exciting when you haven't seen this for a couple of weeks. I am thankful for the white cloud days this time of year.

It does rain a lot here, but not all of the time. It is really just dark all of the time. I am so ready for Spring and Summer to see a few bits of sun and blue sky.

In your own dialect

So many people always say we need to learn the language of the people we live among. This is helpful in so many ways. It is easier to make friends and share with them if you speak their language. I knew this was important and have always heard this. It never really made complete sense until today. This morning at church we heard the message brought by an American. This is the first time I have heard an American at church in over a year. In Turkey at the international church we had a South African preacher, here the speaker is British or sometimes Irish, which is another completely different dialect. It was so sweet this morning to hear the Word in my American southern heart language. I realize that the others were English but it made a huge difference for it to be in American English. The style, pronunciation, and meaning of words is just so different. Normally I really have to concentrate to understand what the speaker is saying. It was so nice to sit and relax and soak it up and not try to translate the words. This sounds silly but just hearing Isaiah pronounced they way Americans say it was food for the soul.

One Year!

I have now lived overseas for an entire year. 9.5 more months left. It still doesn't always seem real. It seems like it was just the other day when I was filling out the applications for the job. I am so grateful for this opportunity to spend some time in another culture, 2 at that. It has been an experience of a lifetime. I have made so many memories and met so many people that will always remain dear to me. It has been very hard to be away from family and friends and normal life I knew in America. It has been a challenge to learn to travel, cook, shop, and simply live in foreign cities. So many times I have longed to move back to America and I am sure there will be more. There have been many tears of loneliness. But through all of this, Father has been with me every step of the way just as He promised. He is always faithful even when I fail. I still have so much to learn, and I am excited to see what Father has for me for the next bit of my life that I spend here. I cannot believe how much Father has shaped me and drawn me closer to Him. Thank you Father for this past year. It has truly been a blessing.

2009, where did you go?

Wow what a year!

I figured like everyone else, I should recap my year.



January- I said some very hard goodbyes and got on a plane headed for Turkey. This brought challenges learning to live in an Asian culture. I started taking language classes and learning more and more each day.



February- I contemplated a move to England or taking another job in Turkey. It was a very emotional month full of more culture shock and decisions on where to spend my time. I finally decided to move to England.



March- My parents and sister and soon to be brother-in-law came to visit. We all took a trip to Greece, Ephesus, Troy, and Cappadocia. I joined a great group of people to worship with who have become family to me.



April- I found out I was going to move to the London area in June. I spent a lot of time at the English club and being out in the city with anyone and everyone. I loved every minute of it.



May- I applied for my visa to the UK and got it in one week. I enjoyed the spring weather with parks and tulips.





June- I saw as many things in my city as possible knowing I was leaving. Once again I said a hard goodbye to so many lovely friends and a country and people I grew to love. I moved to England and began learning yet another new culture and language. It really is a different language.



July- I experience culture shock to a new level. It was not America and definitely not Turkey. A new roommate moved in with me. We moved the office from one part of town to another. I kept busy with a few visitors and also a trip back to Turkey.



August- I enjoyed a visit from my parents and Patrick and went with them to Scotland, Holland, and Germany. I turned 23.



September- I joined a basketball team and began training with them 2 nights a week. I went to a rugby match. Everything in the office was set up working like a real office with most of the employees finally here.





October- I began to truly enjoy living in England. I went on many weekend outings with some other single ladies. My old college roommate came to visit.




November- I at turkey in Turkey on Thanksgiving. I sprained my ankle pretty bad in a basketball game.



December- I worked a lot with so much do to. I went to America for Christmas with my family and friends.





Well that pretty much sums up 2009. I was probably more fun for me to look back than it was entertaining for you. Oh well.