Love Oregon

After being home in Tualatin for only 4 days, I am reminded why I love it in Oregon so much. Here are just a few reasons that I have been reminded of . . . in no particular order:

1. No Sales Tax - I got my hair cut really short on Wednesday. Since I now have hairs that won't fit up in my pony-tail, I decided that I needed to buy some hair clips. Annie and I made our way to ULTA (our new favorite beauty supply store) and I had only 8 dollars cash with me. I found some clips that I liked, but then stood calculating weather or not $3.00 and $4.50 would cost me more than eight dollars. Finally it hit me: I'm in Oregon. THERE'S NO SALES TAX! Overjoyed, I headed up to the counter, handed her my 8 dollars, and walked out of the store with 2 quarters. Hallelujah.
2. The Woodburn Outlet Mall - Not only does Oregon NOT have sales tax, it does have my absolute favorite shopping center. Guaranteed, 2/3 of my wardrobe is from the Woodburn Outlet mall. It is here where I find my favorite place to shop, Banana Republic, as well as a new favorite, Clavin Klein, and places like Leggs, Aeropostale, and Gap. All at cheap outlet prices. With no tax.
3. Decent drivers - need I say more than that?
4. The smell - when I got home on Tuesday night and stepped out of the car, I could smell it: the Douglas fir, evergreen, pine, and all over WET smell that is Oregon. Yumm.
   
5. The green - Like I said, the trees smell great . . . they look even better. I love looking out my window and seeing a forest of trees. I love pulling up next to a tree in a parking lot. I love driving on a freeway lined with trees. Trees trees trees.
   
6. The rain/weather - I love rain. Rain means softer hair, fresher air, moisture in my skin, and puddles. It also means that it is not cold enough to snow. Bonus.
   
7. HOME and FAMILY - Self explanatory :)

I am so glad that I will be back here in just 3 weeks.

New Mexico Football Game

It was freezing at the BYU v. New Mexico (thanks Cadence!) football game today. But Annie and I still had a good time!

Kiersten's Mission Call!

Today when I checked the mail there was a big white envelope! No, it wasn't an acceptance letter, but my dearest roommate's mission call! Since she's in the band, I had to wait until the football came until I could tell her! She was so excited and we made arrangements to get old friends together to watch her open it tonight. After a long and cold game it was finally time! Sister Kiersten Hammond has been called to the Budapest, Hungary mission! She leaves on January 14th! I am so excited for her . . . I love mission calls. She is so amazing and I know she's going to be the best missionary ever!!

True Blue

Today I went to Helaman fields and slid down a steep hill that was covered in a plastic sheet and a never-ending supply of thick, bubbly, blue foam. I then threw the foam, rolled in the foam and jumped on people to make them foamy. True and blue.

Things To Do:

1. School: There is always something to do for school, even when I think I have everything done, there is more. Reading, writing, meetings, class, tests, studying sessions, emails, presentations, the list goes on and on, and repeats daily.

2. Work: Everyday 9-12. But it is usually a nice part of my day. At least I don't have homework.

3. Sleep: This, I am actually doing pretty good at. Wake up everyday at 8:00 and usually ready to sleep around midnight (although Kiersten and I are good at delaying sleep and just talking about everything). But in the end, I still need more than 8 hours a night to stay alert and to not become "crabby Abby".

4. Have a life!: Life now consists of FHE on Mondays, tacos on Tuesday, meerkat reunions/Office on Thursdays, anything fun on Fridays, football on Saturdays, church (at 1:00!) on Sundays. Then add in my impressive list of physical activities: amazing inter mural football team, supporting the inter mural soccer team, running with Annie, and yes, Pilates! Also add in the long list of things to do this semester that Kiersten and I came up with (maybe sometime I'll even list all those things out)! I'm also trying to keep up on the piano (Bob would be proud), writing my missionaries, and making some amazing doodles in class.

5. Plan and Reflect: I'm also getting ready to go to China in January. signing up for training, researching about the culture, google-earthing etc. And I'm making a scrapbook of my fabulous study abroad to London.

6. Chill: This rarely ever happens.

Leaving

Tomorrow I am moving out of the "Glen-hood" into a condo on 9th East. I've been in Glenwood for a whole year now living with Riena. I made a comment to her tonight that for the past three years we have been nearly always together. And it is true. We had almost every class together our senior year of high school, and then roomed in the dorms our freshman year. It is going to be different living with someone new for a few months, and I'm going to miss Riena-na very very much.

This move also starts the beginning of another semester at BYU. This coming fall with be my 5 semester here in Provo. By the end of it, I will be considered a senior, according to my credit hours. It is hard for me to believe that I am 20 and half way through the university experience.

But that is where I am now: at BYU. I'll be working about 15 hours a week, and taking 16 credits hours. My course-load includes 3 linguistics classes for my major, my last french class, 2 new testament classes, and choir. I'm sooo excited for football to start in a week!! and I'm even more excited that my little sis is going to be here with me!!

So there's a lot of change going on, but I am happy about it! :)
and I'll keep the posting up to date as much as I can, as long as there are things going on worth posting about!

Great Tour of Great Britain

I'm finally back in Provo after our long week touring Great Britain. We saw some amazing sites, and had a fabulous time taking pictures and enjoying our last week together. Here are some highlights:


Our first stop of the tour was the little town of Bath. It was here that Jane Austen based many of her novels and even lived. It is also the site of the ancient Roman Baths, which I loved. After the audio tour I decided to take a swig of the water from the fountain! It was pretty funny tasting. But Bath was definitely one of the best stops on the tour.


On Wednesday we ended in the Lakes District. We stopped in Hawkshead which is the home to a bunch of Beatrix Potter sites, and then stayed in Ambleside. The next morning a bunch of us went on a boat cruise of Lake Windermere. If we hadn't had umbrellas we would have been soaked! But the lake was soo beautiful! It reminded me a lot of Waterton.


One of the best stops of the whole tour was Hadrian's Wall. It's a great site to see to better understand the divisions that exist in England and also the power of the Roman Empire. It was mostly fun because it wasn't raining and we got to take jumping shots and some funny group pictures.


I was so excited to get to Edinburgh!! The night we were there, a few of us got last minute tickets to the Military Tatoo!! Bagpipes and bands and marchers and wow. It was a great performance!!


We spent the next morning at Edinburgh Castle. Very cool.


Fountains Abbey was another one of them ruins! This, I am sure, is the most beautiful. Surrounding the Abbey is a long lake and trees all over, green as can be. It was great to walk around in the sun and just enjoy nature.


One of our last stops was Warwick Castle. Here they had a lot of performers and entertainment. We watched some jousting and were entertained by a "fool". I was disappointed that I didn't get to climb up the tower, because I love doing that.

And there we are. And those were just my favorite places!!

It is great to be back in Provo. I love the heat and the dollar and a shower with consistent water pressure and drinking fountains and everything else American. But I already miss the international London, the history, the tube, the new friends, and the travel experience! It really was amazing!!

Sad Sunday

Today was our last day in London. We went to church once more in the London North ward. We left the flat at 8:30 am and got back at 3:30 pm. Church starts at 10:00. Besides the awful commute, I was glad that I was assigned to that ward. The bishop was nice and there were some funny characters, just like every ward I guess. It was kind of sad to leave, even though I only went to church there 3 times.

Tomorrow we're leaving London to do a week-long bus tour of Great Britain. The places we are going are Bath, Cardiff, Liverpool, Lakes District, Edinburgh, Durham, York, and Stratford. Every night a different hostel. Should be fun? Anyway, I'm sad to leave this flat that I've grown accustomed to. Well, off to packing!

Hyde Park Gate 37

Our flat was the fifth floor, not in the picture, but just above it

What is it about Trafalgar Square?

After getting some work done this morning, I went to the National Portrait Gallery. It was actually really cool! I wish I could've spent more time there.

Then Kelsey and I waited in Trafalgar Square for about an hour and a half before we met up with Amy, Kirsten, and Cadence to do a "last dinner" type thing since we're leaving London on Monday. I don't know what it is, but being in Trafalgar Square makes me kind of goofy. I took too many pictures . . . here are a few.

Mamma Mia!

(you have to say this post title like Mario in MarioKart getting hit by a shell, please)

Today was Friday the first. But it just so happens that the first, was actually our last Friday in London. So we decided to make the best of it.

To start the day off Kelsey and I woke up early and went to the Prince of Wales theater to get tickets to Mamma Mia. We had tried a few other times to get tickets without success, so we wanted to make sure that we were there in plenty of time.

Me and Kels waiting in the tube.

Afterwards, we met up with Amy and went to Buckingham Palace. I have been looking forward to this all month! Probably because there are a few movies that mention Buckingham Palace, and I've always wanted to see what it looks like. We toured the state rooms and got to see the ballroom "dressed up" for a state banquet. Each setting was measured precisely and the glasses and silver sparkled. It was too bad that we couldn't take any pictures because I really thought that it was more beautiful than even Versailles. Oh, and yeah, the actual queen still lives there!! We walked through the gardens a bit too and they were very green.

Gardens at Buckingham Palace

After a trip to a sit-down-and-be-served Pizza Hut we wandered over to Borough Market. Literally every breath I got a different smell: berries, chocolate, fresh fish, warm bread, smoke and alcohol, pineapple, produce. I guess markets are pretty cool. I wanted to buy some fresh pea pods and peel them on the tube, but I couldn't find any good ones.

"I love . . . I absolutely love . . . celery root"

We ran into the Golden Hinde (a ship) and I took pictures. We were also right by Southwark Cathedral and I wanted to go in, but we opted to going on Sunday for evensong. Then we came home to chill before the show. We transfered at Westminster station which is my favorite one!

Trying to capture the essence of Westminster station.

Going to Mamma Mia turned out to be quite an adventure. So, I've been using a blue bag this whole trip. I actually stole it from Annie a while ago because I like it so much. Tonight though I didn't feel like carrying it with me, so Kelsey let me borrow one of her purses. We headed out. It was just after 7:30. After traveling by bus to Gloucester Station, getting on the Piccadilly line, and pulling up to South Kensington station I suddenly realized that my ticket was in that blue bag, and the blue bag, which I never leave without, was in my flat, about 20 minutes away. "KELSEY! I forgot my ticket!" Haha, she didn't believe me, until I hopped off the tube and started making my way back home. I ran from Gloucester Station back to the flat and arrived at the top of our 5 flights huffing and puffing. After grabbing my ticket, I got to the bus stop right in time, eventually hopped on the Piccadilly again and rode the 6 stops to Piccadilly Circus. I ran to the theater and the kind usher escorted me to my seat. I sat down literally as the curtain was drawing up at 8:30. Whew. *sigh*. The show was fun. I enjoyed the beginning and the end the most, because they danced a lot. It was kind of silly and wild, and now I want to go see the movie.

Sorry this post is so dang long. I guess I just felt like telling my stories of the day. Tomorrow is really the last day that we have in London to do any more touring. I love London.

Canterbury and Battle

Since today was Thursday the group once again embarked on a day trip. As expected we spent more time on the coach than at the actually sites . . .
The first stop was Canterbury. I liked the cathedral and the story of the martyrdom of Thomas a Becket. The stained glass depicts some pilgrims coming to worship his shrine. We didn't have much time to explore the town, but it seemed cute and quaint. I wish we had learned a little more about Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, just because that's where all of his characters were traveling to.
The next stop was Battle, where we took an audio tour about the Battle of Hastings and wandered the battle grounds. We also looked at the ruins of the Abbey Church. I've learned a lot about English history on this trip and am actually fascinated by it. The other picture is the stone slab that marks the place where King Harold died in the battle, allowing William the Conqueror the opportunity to take his place as ruler of England. After that we had a 3 hour drive home. My i-pod died walking into the flat.

Victoria and Albert Museum

On Wednesday, Cadence, Kirsten, and I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum, located right near Hyde Park Chapel and our flat. We first wandered the fashion and jewelry exhibits, which were really fun, and sparkly (is that not a word)? I also liked the musical instruments exhibit. There were some crazy flutes and stringed instruments, but of course I liked the pianos/harpsichords/organ boxes the best. It was pretty cool stuff.

After the museum we took another shopping trip up High Street Kensington. I bought some shoes!

Winding Down

On Monday I had a book presentation on "Defining the World: the extraordinary story of Dr. Johnson's dictionary." Later that day we had the opportunity to go to the house that he lived in while he was writing the dictionary. I find the man and his work pretty fascinating, but the place was so dang hot!

Today Kelsey and I made a trip out to the Churchill Museum and the Cabinet War Rooms. I like World War II history and spent a couple of hours there. Later we went to the Hard Rock Cafe, but opted out of eating there because of the hour and a half wait and instead I just bought a t-shirt. Then we wandered Piccadilly Circus/Leicester Square and did some people watching.

Paris

As if I haven't written enough today, I still want to talk a little more about Paris and make a little comparison to London. Maybe I'll just make a list.

• The metro was really stinky, and it felt like an airport whenever we had to change lines. I'm grateful so much more for the London tube and my Oyster card.
• The weather was a lot muggier than I was expecting.
• The city of Paris seems like a tourist attraction in and of itself, whereas London seems more international.
• There are so many cool places to see in Paris!! (which is why it's so touristy!) I wish I had seen the Musee D'Orsay, and gone to the Latin Quarter like Cadence suggested to me. Maybe the Pantheon too, and done a little more shopping. But I think most of the main stuff can be done in just a few days.
• The Museum pass that we bought when we got our chunnel tickets was so great. It was 2-days into everywhere pretty much but the Eiffel Tower.
• They speak Francais! Oui, oui!
• Everything that I ate in Paris was delicious! Pastries and crepes and ice cream . . . yeah, well we did a lot of walking.

And there you go. Paris in 2 and half days. It was a blast.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I was really excited to have my 20th birthday in Paris. This is what I did:

We took the metro down to Notre Dame and I picked up a pain au chocolat for breakfast. The line to get into Notre Dame was kind of long so most of the girls opted to do their own thing. But, while M'kynzi and I waited in the long line there was a Quasimodo-masked guy walking through the crowd scaring people. It was soo funny because most of the girls screamed. We finally got up the spiral staircase and the view was great!! We were both glad that we waited in the line to go up. I've decided that climbing up things is one of my favorite things to do as a tourist.

After taking lots of picture we decided to walk a ways to Saint Chapelle to see the stained glass that Kelsey had talked about. Because we had a museum pass we got in free and skipped the line. At first when we got into the first floor we thought "wow, good thing we didn't wait in that line" - it was just under-whelming. Finally we realized that there were some stairs to the next level and once we climbed them we were amazed. The windows are incredibly beautiful and it was nice to just sit and try to figure out which bibles scenes we were looking at.

We had a plan to meet Kelsey at the Louvre at 2:00 so we wandered along the Seine and looked at all the vendors. I bought myself a small pocket mirror with the Eiffel Tower on it. Anyways, the Louvre was huge! We split up and looked at whatever we wanted to look at. Yes, I saw the Mona Lisa. What is even better is that I actually recognized more than I thought I would, probably because of my Music Civ. class where I had to memorize art like crazy. I wrote down most of the artists I recognized. Anyways, I pretty much just saw the paintings which I was excited about, though I also wandered through some sculptures to find the Venus de Milo. What's funny is that I was most excited to take my picture in front of the pyramid.

The next item on our list was to climb up the the Arc de Triomph. All of us finally met up at the Louvre to walk over there. It was about an hour walk down the Champs Elysees, which really does have some cool stores along it. When I compare climbing the Arc and Notre Dame I come to this conclusion: the Arc is more exhausting because of the spiral went forever, but you can see a bigger view of Paris all around. Notre Dame was cooler because of the architecture and the giant bell that we got to stand by.

By this time we were all super hungry. The girls treated me to dinner at a funky French restaurant with fuchsia walls. I had penne aux 4 fromages and ordered in French. It was the best penne I've ever had. Yummmm.

And of course we decided to go to the Eiffel Tower again. M'kynzi, Kelsey, and I were up for climbing it, but the other girls weren't so we again split up. The line actually wasn't too bad. We met a couple from Canada and had a nice conversation going. While talking with them, a lady slipped into line right in front of us. We were a little confused but thought, who cares it's just one person. After a few minutes though she waved to all her friends and they joined her in the line. M'kynzi had the guts to ask her to move, but she claimed she had been standing there forever, and we couldn't do much else but make them stand behind us and the Canadians. We forgot about them as we rode the elevator up to the middle level. But as we stood in the line to take the lift to the top, we see the same lady duck under the rope to cut in front of us once again!! I was astonished! Who does she think she is? She thinks she can "budge" us twice in one night?? I don't think so. We made her and her cutting entourage go to the end of the line, and I was growled and cursed at. haha wow. Some people. But anyways. We made it to the top and, oh my, the view was spectacular. We went at just the right time, because the city lights we just turning on. Then the flashing lights on the tower went off. It looked like a strobe light. I enjoyed the view, a little rain, taking pictures, and soaking in the fact that I was on the Eiffel Tower on my birthday! Since it was such an occasion, I used M'kynzi's sharpie to write "Abby Leigh 20!" on the structure. It was a fun moment. We made it down, after all that, just in time to sit a while on the grass and see the lights go off once more.

We bought some cotton candy on the way to the metro station. and I almost had a man draw a caricature of me for 5 euro. Those guys kept asking me all weekend to draw me; I didn't know if I should really be flattered. We got to the hostel around 12:30 and then Kels and I talked until 3:00 am. A day in Paris was a great way to quit being a teenager!

A night at the tower

After we went to Versailles we had a nice dinner at a French restaurant near the Eiffel Tower. Our waiter was really funny and kept laughing at us when we asked him to please get us some more tap water. He wouldn't even let me pick up a bottle cap when I dropped it on the floor.

Then we met up with the other girls and we each got "une glace" and ate it on the grass under the Eiffel Tower. It was so surreal to actually be there! What a pretty place.

Versailles

I went to Paris this weekend with 5 other girls on the program. We grabbed the chunnel at 5:00 in the morning. After making it to the hostel, 3 of us decided to head over to Versailles.The gate at the front of the Palace. This place was so elaborate. The French really know how to be royal. Compared to Hampton Court Palace, the was phenomenal.Me in the hall of mirrors pretending to be a lady in waiting. Next to the hall of mirrors, my favorite part of Versailles was the Queen's room. The walls were covered in floral designs and the furniture was really cool. Chandeliers galore!
The gardens were really pretty too. It was kind of hot but we made the rounds anyways. I'm really glad I made it out there. It was fun to switch gears and learn a little more about French history.

Les Miserables

Today after class Lillie, Leigh, Kelsey, M'kynzi, and I went to the matinée showing of Les Miserables, at the Palace Theatre. As much as I enjoyed Wicked, this show tremendously outdid it. It was amazing! The set, the songs, the story . . . it nearly made me cry. And we had 9th row seats! I must say it was a very good day.

The past few hours, us girls have been planning our 3-day trip to Paris. Our train leaves tomorrow at 5:30 am, and then the adventure begins. I won't take my computer with me, so until Sunday probably!!

Clocks

Here are some sweet clocks that I've found in and around London.
The oldest clock that is still working. Dating to the 13th c. Located at Salisbury Cathedral.
The Clock Court at Hampton Court Palace.

Big Ben! Okay, I seriously love the houses of parliament here. They are so pretty and the spires are way cool.

Hampton Court Palace

Today we all went to Hampton Court Palace. This was the living space of Henry VIII, who I've discovered to be amazingly intriguing, along with his 6 wives. We toured all of the King's rooms, and the Queen's rooms and also the gardens.
The pictures I wanted to put up from Hampton Court don't want to go up . . .

Westminster Abbey

On Monday I went to Westminster Abbey for the first time. I was really excited to see all the famous dead people! However, my favorite thing ended up being Henry VII's Lady Chapel because the ceiling was so beautiful. I also liked the old wooden chair. It took me about an hour and a half to get around the whole building listening to the audio tour. I took a break to write down this poem that I found on one of the tombs:

What so thou hast of nature, or of arts,

youth, beauty, strength, or what excelling parts
of mind and body, letter, arms, and worth,
his eighteen years, beyond his years, brought forth,
then stand and read thyself within this glass,
how soon these perish, and thyself may pass.
man's life is measured by the work, not days,
no aged sloth, but active youth has praise.

Westminster has made the top 3 now on my favorites list. Definitely a must-see!!

Weekend Shots

Jumping shots at the Bury St. Edmunds ruins. We got some air. (oh, and this was taken with Amy's camera, she's so good to let me steal the good ones).
Cadence, Kelsey, Me, and Kirsten chillin at King's College.

My two favorite parts of most buildings: the organ and the ceiling.

Cambridge

This weekend Amy, Kirsten, Kelsey, Cadence, and I went to Suffolk to visit Cadence's family on the air force base. On our way down we stopped at Bury St. Edmunds, walked around the Cathedral, and had some McD's. On Saturday we toured Cambridge University a bit and wandered through King's College, which is now at the top of my list. We wandered down to the River Cam and grabbed the handsomest young man to take us punting on the river! The rest of the weekend was filled with free food and dessert, squeaky air mattresses, jumping on the trampoline, dying hair, and watching Persuasion and Jane Eyre. It was a really great time.

Adventures

Here are a few more pictures from my adventures.Here's Lily, Kelsey, and I in front of the British Museum. We liked the Lion, but the "museum shuffle" gets old after you've been to so many.
There goes Todd, Rachel, Kelsey, Lily, Cathy, Leigh, and M'kynzi through Hyde Park. It's right across the street from our building! So pretty. We were on our way to Nando's for dinner. mmm, so good.
That's me straddling the prime meridian in Greenwich. It took us two hours to get there when it shouldn't have taken one. Had we had a better traveling experience, I'm sure it would have been more enjoyable. But hey, when do you get to be in both hemispheres at the same time?
That's me at the Tower of London in front of the "traitors gate". I'm trying to look like a traitor . . . the tower was great fun because we got to see where people were executed, got to see the crowned jewels, and here stories of the kings and queens of England. yay.
And finally Kelsey and I are in front of Tower Bridge. Fun fun fun.