That's All, London!

Well friends, this is it... My grand and awesome adventures have come to an end. Today is my last day in London. It is a day full of mixed emotions! I think the closest I came to crying was when I had to tell the lady at the chocolate store I was leaving for America tomorrow and would never be returning again. It's been a rough few days, full of laughter and tears. I've never been more bipolar in my life! :)  I just wanted to write my one last post, to give London a final farewell... in a short 15 hours from now, I will boarding a plane headed for home. And though I'm confident I will miss this city, I can not deny that it has been the absolute best time of my life! An experience I will never ever forget!

I have learned so much, and made so many life-long friends since being here in London. So many incredible people who have touched my life in so many ways! They will never be forgotten, and forever loved!

There are so many things I am so excited for upon going home! And here they are:

1) My family... I've missed their jokes, their teasing, and just them in general.

2) My favorite person in this world... Eric Hutchinson! I pretty much love him!

3) Food. I'm sure at this point, anything will taste amazing!

4) My closet full of clothes! Cute ones! Ones that I will actually enjoy wearing!

5) My shoes....

6) My very own bed, in my very own room!

7) A warm shower. I love that Americans know what warm means...

8) Driving in a car, on the right side of the road.

9) My friends! (yes, surprise! I actually do have some... haha)

10) Seeing my new niece for the first time, and getting to play with my adorable nieces and nephews!

I can't believe that this is actually happening.... I feel like I'm living in a dream! It's so bizarre. Where has the time gone!? I guess it's true, what they say: time flies when you're having fun! And believe me... I've had fun! It has been the best four months of my life, and it's been a blast! I would not trade this experience for the world! I don't regret a single thing. And I am looking forward to the future and what it holds in store for me! So many great things are going to happen this summer! I'm sure I"ll keep you all posted! :)

Thanks for reading about my lame life, I hope you've enjoyed reading my stories, as much as I've enjoyed telling them! Thank you London, for the experience of a lifetime! I love you, and I will never forget you!

Until next time... over and out!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.... or if you'd rather: The Things I Will Miss and Not Miss About London

The Good: (things I will miss)
*My London Lovies!!! These are my roomies... just to clarify. They are the most amazing group of girls I have ever met in my life, They have changed my life in so many ways, and it will definitely be sad to say goodbye to these great friends! Thanks for the memories girls! :)
*My wonderful Professors, and the awesome London Classes. Best semester of my life!
*The gorgeous-ness of this great city! Everything about it is incredible! The buildings, the people, the streets, and most of all the parks! I wish America knew the secret to having awesome parks like London does! They are not even comparable... London dominates!
*The food... NOT the centre food of course! haha  But the wonderful cafes and pubs. So yummy!
*Markets. I have become a market junkie. I'm pretty sure I could go to markets every single day! They are the best!
*Yogurt covered banana chips. Enough said. They are heaven!
*The shopping!!!  I'm sad already, and I haven't even left yet!
*The rain... only because it creates the absolute best puddle-jumping worthy puddles! :)
*The sunshine. I'm sure that I will be going home to snow. Yuck!
*The history!
*"Please mind the gap between the train and the platform"
*The accents!

The Bad: (things I won't miss)
*The smokers. I can not even begin to express how much I hate walking down the street, and getting giant puffs of smoke in the face. It kills me!
*Nasty old men in speedos laying in the park...
*Dogs. I hate them. And they are everywhere!
*Having to dodge puke on the sidewalks at night outside of the pubs.
*Being hit on by nasty drunk men!
*The lack of personal space that Londoners have... I'm sick of people being all up in my business when standing in line, riding the lift, or while on the tube.
*Which reminds me, I will not miss the tube... It is dirty, nasty, and germy!
*The loud screeching brakes of every single bus in this city.
*The 66 stairs that I must climb multiple times every day.

The Ugly: (he bitter-sweet feeling)
Where in the world has the time gone!? My time here in London is limited... only 6 more days! CRAZY!!!  So many things to do, and so little time. haha  I am so sad to be saying farewell to the greatest adventure of my life! London has been absolutely fabulous, and there are many things I will miss. However, I am also very excited to get home! I have so many amazing people waiting for me back in Utah, and a very exciting summer to look forward to! :) Needless to say, I'm having tons of mixed emotions right now... I can't decide if I'm more sad or excited to be leaving! Either way, this has been the best 4 months of my life! I don't regret a single thing, and I loved every single minute of it! So... maybe it's not all the ugly afterall.  :)

Change Your Life

Imperial War Museum

Tuesday, April 5, I had the opportunity to take a little visit to the Imperial War Museum of London. And can I just say... it was incredible! Normally when you hear these kinds of stories, you hear all about the cool airplanes, submarines, and war tanks that people saw there, or about the cool exhibit on the best kept government secrets... This however, is a different story. For although all of those things were amazing and spectacular, the thing that stood out most to me, was found in the Holocaust Exhibit. Though it was tucked away in the small reaches of the basement corner, I feel like it was perhaps the most historically important room this museum had to offer. I absolutely loved it! It went through the entire story of the Nazi Party and the rise of Adolf Hitler, all the way to the Jewish persecution, concentration camps, and then the ending of the war. It was phenomenal. I have to admit, I usually have a hard time with this period of history. It makes me sick to my stomach to see those pictures, and hear those stories. But there was something about experiencing it first hand, that changed me. Looking at the real artifacts from this period of history really hit me. The wall of shoes... knowing that those shoes were actually worn by innocent Jews in a concentration camp, really touched me. I honestly think this is one of the most important lessons to be learned from history. The lesson that we must learn to get along, We can not afford to let anything like this happen again. And we have no excuse for it to either. Although we can't undo the past, we can still prevent the future. Acceptance and toleration is key! As I was walking out of the museum, I found this large piece from the Berlin Wall, with the words "change your life" painted on it. That is the ultimate lesson we should learn from history! If we don't learn from the past, and change the way we are living our lives, we are bound to repeat those mistakes of the past. So do it... change you life! Make this world a better place!