Without Fear

I never post. I have a hard time finding the time! But sometimes, there is something screaming at me to post. My inspiration comes from a friend named Al Fox. She has an amazing blog that you definitely need to check out. She was in Dave's mission, and was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She now lives in Utah and is amazing at sharing what she believes in. There have been times where I wonder why it is so hard to share what you believe in. It has given me motivation to do the same!

I have found myself reading her blog more than others, and am amazed at her ability to post what she believes! It can be hard to do, as I am finding out as I write this post. But I want to share what I have been thinking and learning about lately. And that's it. Just thoughts that I have been having.

Today I am writing about faith. And patience. And trusting without fear. As I was reading my scriptures today in the Book of Mormon, Mosiah Chapter 23: 21-28 stood out. The question I had was having to do with trials and hardships. And finding relief during these times. In this chapter, Alma had forsaken King Noah, and had established a people who believed and followed God's commandments. They began to prosper and were doing so good, when the Lord decided to chasten them, and they were brought into bondage by the Lamanties. These scriptures deal with their trial of being in bondage to the Lamanites. However, they apply directly to our lives and our trials.

v. 21-The Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith.

The Lord sent us to the earth to be tried and to grow. He give us experiences when He will test our patience and faith. We are meant to be chastened. We all have to learn patience and faith. Patience can be waiting a long time to overcome a trial, or waiting for something we desire in our lives. Faith is knowing that you can overcome, receive, and looking up to a better day.

v. 22-Nevertheless, whosoever putteth his trust in him, the same shall be lifted up at the last day.

If you simply trust in the Lord, you will be lifted up-it's that simple. You WILL be lifted up and receive what you desire in His timing. When He sees it fit. So remember, you're learning patience.

v. 23- For behold, I will show unto you that they were brought into bondage, and none could deliver them but the Lord their God.

Only the Lord can lift our burdens and truly deliver us from sorrow, hardship, pain, and suffering. And because He has born our burdens. So who should we seek for comfort? Where can we spend all our efforts in seeking happiness? It is in Him. Only seek for help from Him, because in Him you will find deliverance. Put all your efforts in coming closer to Him and trust in our Savior. And as you do this, you will be delivered from your bondage-just as the people of Alma were.

v. 24- And it came to pass that he did deliver them, and he did show forth his mighty power unto them, and great were their rejoicings.

He DID. Because the people of Alma had patience and faith, and trusted only the Lord to deliver them, He did. Remember that they were a righteous people who kept His commandments and put forth effort in Him. Then, the Lord knew them and so He did- delivered them out of their trials because they trusted in Him. This makes me realize that I need to consistently strive to be one of His-one who know Him, because they serve and live their life through Him.

And then,

v. 27- Alma exhorted them that they should not be frightened but that they should remember the Lord their God and he would deliver them.(Don't lose faith and don't fear)

v. 28- Therefore they hushed their fears, and began to cry unto the Lord that he would soften the hearts of the Lamanites, that they would spare them..

Even after all of their faith, Alma had to remind them to not fear and trust in the Lord. Sometimes, we too, need reminders. We need to hear that the only way to be delivered from our trials is to trust in Him and to be patient-because He will deliver us when it is the right time. Until then, we must be patient and trust, and cast outside our fears.

Just always remember, we are here to learn, and the greatest lessons and learning come through the hardest times.

The biggest one for me is to 'hush my fears' or let go of fears. Because there is no fear in faith. So do not fear. Have patience, and trust in Him. There will a brighter day. Things will be ok. We will be happy.

"Look unto me in every thought,
doubt not, fear not"
D&C 6:36

The Savior suffered it ALL for us. So look unto Him, because in Him is peace.

Life.

In school everyday, we have a 'good news' minute where 3-4 kids share the exciting things going on in their lives.

News generally is as follows:

"Today, my mom let me change my earrings into these new butterfly ones that I've wanted to wear since i was 5."

"My brother's friend is going to this new big blow up toy place"

"My dad let me play this teenager game where you shoot people and it's not aloud for anyone but teenagers. But my dad let me play it and it's really fun..... anyone can come play with me at my house sometime."

or even better,

"Miss Maughan is coming to have a sleep over at my house tonight!"

Well.....Great! At the beginning of the year, I got a kick out of all the 'exciting' things going on in my kids' lives. Now I am simply used to hearing about how exciting it is that someone's neighbor's brother is going to New York for the summer (seriously.)

It's a fact. Kids do say the darndest things.

However, lately, good news minute has turned into a "I have good news, funny news, and some bad news" from each student.

Examples of Bad News:

"My mom told me that I maybe can come to Miss Maughan's wedding"

or

"So and so doesn't want me to come to their house after school" .......sad.

Etc.

So after hearing these types of news for over 100 days of school, I was a little shocked today by the news my students' shared with me. I can't even remember the 'good news' from today because I was so taken back by my kiddos and their bluntness in such serious matters.

Kid 1: "My Grandpa died of old age and of sickness yesterday morning. He lived in Provo."
Kid 2: "My good news is that my mom and dad gave me 40 dollars last night. And I am saving it now to give to my uncle because we found out he has cancer."
Kid 3: "My uncle just divorced my aunt and is now living in my house because she is stealing his house. It's kind of fun cause I love my uncle."
Kid 4: "Did you guys hear about the big wreck on 9th East? Well, that was my cousins. One won't stop bleeding and one's arm was ripped out of it's shoulder."
Kid 5: "The bad news is, well, look at me!" (This student had a serious injury and is casted and on crutches)
Kid 6: "Yesterday, my neighbors brand new baby stopped breathing. And guess what. She died."

I was stunned! My kids are so innocent in their ways of bringing up serious matters. It became very apparent to me how young these guys are, by their lack of understanding the seriousness of life's challenges. Definitely an eye opener as a teacher. I have a totally new perspective and vision of my students now. And you would think I would know them inside and out after all this time.

I aslo had a moment of realization of when my kids are dealing with these hard things, the only place they go is to school outside of family and their hardships. My role as a teacher has suddenly changed.

I love my job so much. Nothing has ever tested my patience as much, challenged me, and brought me to a breaking point. But, every second is worth it for those moments. Moments like today where you realize that you do have a lasting role in these kids' lives. I wouldn't rather spend my day with anyone else. Helping kids get through life is definitely enough for me- as small and unnoticed as it goes.

Happy Wednesday!

MJ

Thought for Sunday....

I love Sundays. Time to reflect and rejuvenate. I found this video and would like to experiment
'remembering' in my life. I for one definitely know that life gets so busy that sometimes we do not realize the good in what we do have. And for that reason alone I want to remember each day, and remember the good things.

Enjoy!



MJ

I can't get up....

I think my body has become part of this brown, L shaped couch. I mean, I've only been sitting here for 40 minutes, but the sensation of mental exhaustion and physical fatigue seems to be taking over. Just recapping the prior week almost does me over.

This week was Parent Teacher Conferences. An amazing thing as a teacher, but also requires 10 minute intervals to cram in all a student is doing, (I slowly became amazed at how my mouth continued to talk while my brain was drawing a blank) from 4-7:30 work day on top of the craziness of teaching.

Fridays are crazy as a teacher. Fun rewards and activities to give, kids anticipating the weekend....which means behavior becomes again, crazy. You must be on top of your game in order to survive Fridays.

Fridays after Parent Teacher Conferences....let's just say I am loving this brown couch right now.

My life has changed substantially in the past 6 months. I have a hard time even remembering the life I held 6 months ago. There are so many stories that should have been told, stories to still tell, and many more to come. Hence, why I am writing now (and also due to the fact that I am becoming a sloth here on this couch). I'm starting to appreciate my experience in teaching this year only to the stories that it gives for me to laugh about.

So as I sit here, hearing the buzz of reruns of the republican debate, (laughing at the intensity of the man speaking as spit flies from his mouth, and noticing how everyone seems to be asked to only wear things that consist of red, white, and blue,) I hope to share some of the times I needed to laugh in class and couldn't, or the times where I shouldn't have laughed and I did, and many more.

LIfe is about living. And if you don't write down what you live, it can easily be forgotten.

-MJ

Read Read Read

‎"If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are. Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads." - Robert Pattinson

ok ok... Robert Pattinson (edward from twilight...blugh) but to those readers out there, you know how it is....

Source: blog.freepeople.com via Jessica on Pinterest

MJ

Decisions

When you make the right decision... you find yourself happier than you thought you ever could be.

When you make the wrong decision... your life becomes a living nightmare.

No pressure.

Reeeeaaaad Me!

So I sit at work a lot. This means I sit at a computer. Alot. I was reading on lds.org trying to you know, feel spiritually uplifted. And BAM this is what I found. I had no intentions of posting on my almost abandoned blog, but after reading this, I wanted to share. I hope you enjoy!

This story came from an article titled The Lord Needs Missionaries by President Monson.

Bike to the Future

By Peter Evans and Richard M. Romney



Lots of young men prepare financially to serve a mission. In Africa part of that preparation is earning enough money for a passport. Sedrick Tshiambine earned what he needed in an enterprising way: by selling bananas from the back of a bicycle.

Sedrick lives in Luputa, Democratic Republic of Congo. He’s one of 45 young men in the Luputa district who is working to save money for a passport to go on a mission. In DR Congo a passport costs $250, which is about two-thirds the cost of building a house.

But Sedrick was undaunted. He earned his mission money by cycling 15–30 kilometers (9–19 miles) from Luputa to small villages, where he purchased bananas, then cycling back across the hot African savanna, his bike heavily laden with fruit to sell in the city. Each week he traveled about 180 kilometers (112 miles) along the sandy roads, and only once did an unbalanced load cause a tumble.

For his efforts Sedrick earned about $1.25 a week, or $65.00 a year. It took him four years to save enough to purchase his passport, but now he knows his future will include a full-time mission because he is financially ready to answer the call to serve.

After reading this, I felt so selfish. How many of us would be willing to do what Sedrick did? 250 dollars to me, is nothing. That is a weeks worth of money for me. After reading this story, I do not understand why I have been so blessed. However, I hope to recommit myself to being grateful, serving, and giving because "where much is given, much is required."



May we all find more ways to serve in our daily lives:)

MJ

Be Not Afraid

I was was reading my friend Jordan's mission blog and came across this and really like it. I hope you do to. It was what was written on an art display of Christ. This was the caption under a sculpture of Jesus walking on water.



IT is I, Be not afraid.


Matthew 14:25-31


25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.

26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?


"And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them saying, Be of good cheer. It is I; be not afraid.”



Fear is one of the most powerful and common human emotions. But it is the opposite of faith. Faith in Jesus Christ gives us strength to face and conquer the challenges life brings. Having faith in Jesus Christ means relying completely on Him. Knowing that even though you do not understand all things, He does.


We can overcome anything through Him if we simply have faith.

Imagination

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."-Albert Einstein

I love this. I like this because as a little girl and as a grown girl, I have an imagination. I always find myself dreaming crazy dreams, and thinking crazy ideas. I always felt like those with imagination had more substance...(not that I'm saying I do), and more personality, because they have more passion for life. This is because they don't try to KNOW what is already known in the world- but they try to CREATE something that has never existed before.

So what do you think? Is imagination more valuable than knowledge?

Warmth

Tonight is one of those nights where life has offered a simple gift to me. Life sometimes is hard. Sometimes, we hurt. And sometimes, we find ourselves in rough patches that we so desparetely tried to avoid. The beauty of life though exists within those small moments where despite the pain, all feels right in the world. Tonight I write not to share with anyone. I am assured that no one will read these thoughts. I write simply because I feel the need, and the need to express the beautiful things in life that we all seem to simply forget.

To me, I measure how well my day was by how exciting I ended that night. Generally the more people I saw and the crazier stuff I do, makes me feel satisfied. I found myself tonight, realizing how selfish we all are and how much we are cheating ourselves from life by spending so much time looking towards the next party, the next fling, and the next excitement. We overlook the simple things that Heavenly Father has given us, the simple things that bring true happiness.

Tonight, I chose to spend with my grandma, mom, and aunt for dinner in celebrating my Grandma's 77th birthday. This is the closing of the first week that my grandma has gotten through without her husband of 58 years in the home. After much debate, we put Papa in a rest home a block away from grandma. This way grandma can stop taking care of him as if he were a baby, and can start to live again. This was extrememly hard for grandma, but she knew it was the right answer as she also noticed her health dwindling. Nontheless, my grandma has never given up in trying to bring my Papa back. She has never stopped loving him, and has never stopped missing him. You see, Papa's health has been bad for a long time. After his cancer, loss of eye-sight, and constant mini strokes, he now has also forgotten how to use his body. Some days he cannot walk. And somedays he cannot talk. And on the worse days, he forgets how to eat and even breathe. But he is still here, his body is, and while he is my grandma still talks and spends hours with him everyday.

The simple joys tonight that brought warmth to me, started as I watched my grandma's eyes light up as they brought her at least a liter of a root beer float. I enjoyed watching my grandma eat almost the whole thing, because I knew that grandma was back to her old self again. Next, she told us that she promised Papa we would all come visit tonight. Deep down, we all knew that if we didn't show, he would never know, but we went anyways. As I walked into the home, and saw my grandpa sitting in his wheelchair, hunched over all by himself, I instantly wanted to cry. I went on to say hello and remind him that I love him, and could tell this was a day he did not remember me. As we proceeded to take him to his room, another old lady named Hazel came rushing to great us and took no shame in telling us that it was time to but our grandpa to bed because he had been sitting there all day by himself. As we took him back, I could not help but chuckle as this senial, yet happy women thanked Heavenly Father that we came to put granpa to bed.

As I entered Papa's room, I was happy to see all the pictures that were up of our family around. As I looked at a collage of my mom and her dad growing up, I could not help but smile at all the memories she had of them, riding motorcycles, tipping him in his chair, and dressing up like hobos together. As I sat here, with my family, I could not help but feel peace. Here I sat with my family. With people that had unconditional love for me, with people that have lived their lives, have gone before me. I then realized the beauty of love. As cheesy as it sounds, I was so content. Here I had family that has been there for me through every challenge in life. They have always been there to support, and have truly cried with me in my times of sorrow. And as we left my Papa for the night, and my mom said goodbye with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes, I realized that life is about these moments. Our lives are defined each of our hard times we undergo. But more importantly, our lives are shaped by the people we choose to love, and the ones we choose to love unconditionally. As I watched my grandpa mutter Happy Birthday to his wife, and watched my grandma kiss Papa on the head, I could not help but think how miraculous this simple gesture was. And how miraculous it is all around me, the lives of the older couples, that are still together, and have gone through life together. They have overcome every trial together, shared every fear, and doubts. They also have shared life's greatest moments together. But the beauty of it all is watching a love, still stronger than ever after 58 years, as two people strive to take care of each other. It is all around me. I see it fromt a gentle touch of a husband, to hearing my parents get excited to see eachother still, and exchange I love you.

I know it seems so simple, but tonight I am so grateful. Despite my desires i have been at home for the past 5 months. But now more than ever, I realize how much of a better person I have become because I get to love. I get to love unconditionally, and I get to watch those around me be so happy in their love, whether it is the love of my newly wed brother, to quiet exchange of I love you from my parents, or the kiss of my grandma to her dying husband. I see so much what life is about. I want to take part in it. I want to love unconditionally. I am so blessed that I have been given family, where I can experience this beautiful gift that has been given to us all everyday of my life. I can't wait to one day have a family of my own, and to leave a legacy of my own.

Serenity

Serenity-The absence of mental stress and anxiety. The ability to relieve the body of worries, troubles, and to just feel. To for a moment get in touch with our inner self and soul. It's simply peace. How can one attain this desirable feeling?

This is a question I do not know the answer to. But, I do know what brings serenity into my life. C'est Musique! It's music. To me music is a mysterious thing. It is something that can not be seen. It is a feeling that is indescribable. One cannot explain the elation that comes from listening to music in the times it touches something deeper within you. My whole life I have grown up in music. Luckily, I come from family that has music in their blood. As a little girl, it was my dream to play the violin. As I begged to learn, and finally got my way, I experienced the way music made me feel. My love of music has taken me on many journeys from Seattle, San Francisco, LA, and even to New York. Not only have I experienced physical journeys, but every time I engage myself in music, I am emotionally fulfilled.

From my love of violin, my interest has led me to playing in many orchestras, the piano, guitar, viola, and teaching music. I have found much pleasure while attending college by getting a minor in music. BUT it's not just the classical that gets me. It's any music. I am obsessed. I have music on everywhere I go. I will literally listen to any genre as long as I enjoy the band. If only my voice sounded good....then people wouldn't mind my boisterous singing all the time!

But as to serenity-music is what puts me in this ease and carefree state of mind. I spend countless hours at the piano or guitar when life sucks, or I just need to think. I have yet to find something else that can heal me and help me feel at peace after only an hour.

Welp about me!

My friend Jordan asked me to complete this survey she had recently completed. Since I have had nothing in particular to blog about lately, I decided I would do so! Yee haw!

Birthday: August 8, 1989

Birth Place: Camarillo, California

Height: 5'4''

Eye Color: simply brown:)

Hair Color: Auburn/reddish brown

Favorite Relatives: To me it seems rude to choose a "favorite" relative since all my relatives are family, and I am obliged to love them regardless of what they're like:) haha but in reality I love every single relative I have. I love my Maughan cousins, only because someone is guranteed to get hurt becuase of all the crazy things we do together. I love my Morris cousins because there are only a few of us so we are able to get together more often. I love my Grandma and Grandpa Morris, my Grandma and Grandpa Maughan, all of my dad's crazy brothers, and of course my immediate familia. I love my dad for who he is (if you know him you know what i mean) and my mother because she is my best friend. I love Scott because he is always there for me, I love Matt cuz I can relate to him and he lets me attempt to beat him up. And of course, I love my sister Kelsie because she is the sister I prayed to have as a 6 year old girl. So as for a favorite? There is not one. But I do absolutely love my cousins Kamry and Melanie. We are the closest in age and share some pretty good memories:)

Summer Memory: For the rest of my life I think my favorite Summer memory will have to be when I spent a summer in London/Europe. Extrordinary things happened there, and I felt like an extraordinary person. I was able to see the world and make unexpected friends. The memories that took place here are too many, and because of that reason alone it has become my favorite:)

Favorite TV Shows: Lost, 24, America's Next Top Model

What is on your Mouse Pad?: blue nothing

Favorite Game: Hmmm... Mario Party, Speed, Eygpitian Rat Screw, Big Booty (inside jokes)

Favorite Drink: Barqs Rootbeer! or Horchata

Favorite Color: definately purple

Favorite Sound: music. or birds in the morning

Favorite Smell: The smell of the pages of a new book

Worst Feeling in the World: Losing someone you love

Favorite Singer: Seriously? I don't have just one. but I will choose Celine Dion because she changes my life...everyday;) and i'm obsessed

Where will you be in 10 years: a mother of hopefully less than 3 kids, living in a foreign country(dream on), teaching music and in schools with a man i am still madly in love with.

First thoughts in the morning: Where am I? What day is it? Why did I sleep in an hour after my alarm went off? (haha this is soley because I am a deep sleeper and am disoriented for the first 30 mins I wake up)

Chocolate or Vanilla? chocolate. duh.

What do you drive: white scoot scoot in the summer, blue '00 jetta elsewhere.

Thunderstorms cool or scary? I encourage them. I could spend hours in a thunderstorm. like them better than a sunny day.

Do you eat the stems of the broccoli? why not

Favorite brand of gum: Trident

Righty, Lefty, or both? Righty

Innie or Outie? outie

What color are the walls in you room: apartment room white. home room: various shades of pink and orange.

What is under your bed? my collection purses and my assortment of different tights. yoga mat.

Pets: I've had love birds, golden retrievers, border collies, brittany spaniel, fish, crabs, bunnies. currently my family has a little yappy pomeranian named Kota. He drives me nuts. But he is cute nontheless. The second I'm aloud to own a dog, I will buy a chocolate labrador.

Favorite Holiday: Christmas.

Favorite School Subject? humanities, music, math

Your lucky number is: 8

I'll eat sushi but not: olives, ketchup, meatloaf. yuck.

Hobbies: reading, tennis, friends, road trips, music, rock climbing, snowboarding, being outdoors.
Absolute must-have througout the day: chapstick. social event.

Rollercoasters-deadly or exciting: bring it on baby

Favorite stores: Urban Outfitters, Nordstroms

How many siblings do you have? 2 brothers, one sister.

Cool. Now you can say you know random facts about me:)

MJ

Ahhhh Stress Relievers

No matter what you do, it's gonna happen. You will become stressed. For me, the simplest things stress me out. From waking up late, to big decisions in life, sometimes life can be hard to handle. One thing I do know, that despite all the bad things that happen in life, we have been given MANY things to make life amazing. We just have to utilize them.

Here's my stress relievers:

Feed the Birds
Stop and smell the roses (I really do)
Go on a long scooter ride
Take a bubble bath
literally dance in the rain
Talk and vent to a trusted friend
Watch a movie with someone you Love
Get out and Enjoy Nature (regardless of which season)
Run...and don't look back
Write in a journal
Lay in the Grass
Go to the Temple
Have a one song dance party...and dance your heart out
Plant a garden, or simply some flowers
Laugh until you cry...for no reason at all.

What are your stress relievers?

MJ :)

The New Kite Boarding..Yea Baby

Most of you woke this morning March 5, and felt mixed emotions of anger, sadness, and bitterness when realizing the skies had dumped fair amounts of snow, hence, erasing any signs of Spring that began to shine only yesterday morning.

I just smiled.

To me, snow brings happiness. Yes it is cold, but there are many things that I absolutely adore about it.

One being snowboarding.

Some of you may have heard about the a new sport called "Kite Boarding". It looks a little something like this:


Yes I would classify this as an extreme sport. I am sure it is thrilling. I am jealous. Wish I could try. But, for those not so extreme and lack such resources, compensation for this sport can be made.

And it looks something like this:

Hahaha. With some planning, we highly anticipated this moment. Only resource needed: a dollar ninja kite from Wal mart. Unfortunately, when we tried to board and fly the kite with the actual string, it resulted in diving to the ground each time. We still found a way. But still... I believe I turned many heads, and heard many pleasant and unpleasant remarks as I went down this run.

Regardless, it didn't matter. We had fun.



The White Ninja.And if only you could see up close, you would see my face of pure excitement.

Best part is.....Round 2 begins today:)

Back to Blogging?

I have debated for days whether to return to the blogging world.

And yet I sit here typing.....which I assume means I have given in.

My reasons?

1. I work everyday, which involves sitting at a computer for hours and hours. Occasionaly, this leads me to slight madness. So after revisiting my blog, I found it had been deserted, while also looking quite pathetic. Solution? You guessed it.

2. Since I do sit at a computer, I find myself always reading my friend's blogs which helps me keep up with them in their crazy lives. Also, I have had a few requests that I should update my blog... and I find I agree, since there have been events in my life that exist ever since I have left Europe.

3. Lastly, I have an amazing friend, Jordan Lee who personalized my blog for me. Because of this reason alone, I decided it is better to use this gift then let it sit and rot away. Thanks Jord by the way=)

Plus, I am one who is constantly thinking. I think of everything from music, to crazy dreams of mine, from friends, laughter, love, unfortunate things.....anything about life. It'll be nice to get these things outta my head!

Basically, the things I write here are things I don't expect anyone to read. The things I write will be things I simply would like to write down, and hopefully can look back at and laugh at the things I come up with and think about. But... if your eyes ever do come upon this blog, I hope that you will find yourself laughing and learning, just like I am.

So Long Scotland

Today we woke up and went to Arthur’s Seat which is one of the tallest hills in Scotland. We hiked up to the very top and it was beautiful. Edinburgh is starting to grow on me, I guess its because I was able to get out of the city. The hike was beautiful and we could see out over the city for miles. On our way we saw this exhibit that showed a bunch of crazy street signs. They were so funny! I will post a few pictures of them. We then went to my favorite store (marks and Spencer’s) which is probably the thing about Europe that I will miss the most. We stocked up on some last minute groceries and then came back to the hostel to pack. It was our professor’s birthday today so we made a few cakes. We got really into it and went all out. The only problem is that people here do not know what frosting is so we had to improvise. For one of the cakes we found some marzipan and tried to make that work, and for the other one we melted a giant chocolate bar and used that for frosting. We made some really awesome chocolate covered strawberries to top the cakes off. Even though we had a hard time getting the right ingredients the cakes turned out really good.
I am really sad to be leaving Europe tomorrow. I definitely could have stayed in London a lot longer. Im ready to get out of this hostel though… I feel like this is worse than camping… it will be good to see my family and friends but I am not ready for this adventure to be over. I am really so lucky to have been able to participate on this study abroad. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I am really grateful to be here. Im heading home tomorrow morning at 6 am and get into salt lake at around 9 pm. Lets just say its going to be a long long day.

Funny Signs

Last few days.. (August 10th)

Top picture is of me and my professors... from the left (Larry, Diane, Me, Rachel our TA, and Wendy)

Yesterday we basically worked on our paper all morning and got most of it done. After we went out to lunch to the café that J.K. Rawlings started to write Harry Potter. It was called the elephant café. It was decent food, nothing too special but it was fun to be there. After we walked around Edinburgh and saw a lot of the city. This place is still not one of my favorites. Its dirty and crowded. In one store I thought I was going to go crazy because there were a billion people, not enough space, and annoying bagpipe music playing way way too loud. The day did get better though. We had our closing banquet last night and we went to this really good restaurant. Dinner was so good but the best part was dessert (white chocolate cheesecake with blackberries)!! We watched a slide show of all of our pictures and everyone was given an award. Mine was “so much fun we forget she’s a vegetarian.” It was a fun night and a good time being with everyone one last time.

Yes.... I am in London!!!

So London is a pretty sweet place. That about sums it up. There is MUCH to do, and people from all over the world. Literally. There are a million of Indians here.. suprise suprise. They are like our Mexicans in America. Anyways, after getting to London, we kinda hit reality again and realized we had to study. So the first few days were spent catching up on homework, which consists of visiting various sites in London. (hard school isn't it?) One night... we sat in our flats having done homework all day.....
and me being in one of my weird Mandie moods... really needed to get out!! Me and my friend Kenzie literally went crazy. We bought scarves and are pretty sure these are the sweetest ways to wear them.... after a while, we heard of a rumor, that it was Big Ben's 150 B-day party that very night... It took much effort, but finally we pulled our friends out of the apartment. 

When we got off the tube, I finally got to see London as we all think of it... This is WestMinisters Abby... huge church where kings and queens are buried, and where current kings and queens are crowned..
House of Parliament... Big Benny!!! Happy birthday little guy
Isn't he a beauty?

It was pouring rain, but we didn't care! Come to find out, the "huge celebration" for his b-day was displaying a Happy BIrthday on the building. Pretty exciting... we were looking for a huge party but alas there was none to be found. We did enjoy talking to the hot dog man though! and just being in London..
This is our freakin out picture... Basically, every time we get really excited about something, we have our own signs.. me, i freak out by making noises with my armpit. Real original.
What a perfect picture...The good ol London eye... with me! and the purple building in the background. Gotta love purple.  One of my traditions on this trip is everytime I am completely content with the moment, I try and record a little montage of it. Otherwise known as "mandie's Montage" (thanks to my friend Sara). Here we are documenting Ben's birthday! 

London is amazing. That is all i have to say. Despite the rain, I was dazzled....